The audience is willing to double standard for Wang Baoqiang

Rhino Entertainment Original

Text|Xiaofu Editor|Park Fang

There are not many new films that can survive the overwhelming offensive of "Disappearing Her", and "In the Octagon" has to be counted as one.

Before the release day, more than 300 million points were made by the point screening alone, breaking the film history point screening record left by "The Eight Hundred". To be able to get such amazing screening results, it is inseparable from the flexible and bold publicity strategy of the filmmaker, but also the full support of many audience masters.

To a certain extent, "In the Octagon Cage", which is still continuing to be screened on a large scale, is almost equivalent to a file release. As Wang Baoqiang's second self-directed and self-acted film after six years, the current results are enough for us to conclude that it has been successful at the box office.

So, what about quality?

Schrödinger's "In the Octagon Cage"

"In the Octagon Cage" belongs to a good Schrödinger movie.

You say it's okay, box office numbers can't fool people, and there are indeed shining points in content.

After experiencing the fiasco of "Big Trouble", Wang Baoqiang, who has regrouped, chose to return to his realistic theme comfort zone. Six years of sharpening a sword, this time, he really found a wonderful topic.

This film is deeply rooted in the true biography of "I Am Not the God of Medicine", marginalized groups + social issues, and the gimmick of the story alone is enough to arouse the interest of the general audience.

The left-behind children in Daliangshan rely on martial arts to change their fate, and the social news prototype has left an indelible layer of truth for this work.

In the film, Wang Baoqiang played a character like Cheng Yong in "I Am Not the God of Medicine". Originally a provincial martial arts champion, he accidentally ruined his career and saddled with a previous conviction. Later, in the process of doing a battlefield business, he came across martial arts and met a group of left-behind children from the mountains, which eventually became an opportunity for the children in the mountains to break out of the cage of life.

The standard two-way redemption script is extremely gripping under the interpretation of Wang Baoqiang and the amateur young actor. The narrative style with anti-commercial colors brings a stronger realistic and tragic color to "Octagon Cage". Accustomed to watching Wang Baoqiang's comedy movies, suddenly withdrew back to such a profound realistic theme work, it is false to say that there is no surprise.

In addition, the art style of this film has also been praised by many audiences. Under the control of a good photographer, the right use of light and shadow, tone, and unexpected montage greatly added color to the texture of the film.

When the audience is still recalling the psychological shadow left by watching "Big Trouble", this "In the Octagon Cage" is enough to dispel most of the stereotypes about Wang Baoqiang's entry into the director.

But if you say it sucks, it's really not out of nowhere.

In the interview during the publicity period of "Octagon Cage", Wang Baoqiang never concealed the difficulties in the filming and production of this film, and even bluntly said that he hit a wall everywhere when pulling investment in the early days. The uncertainty of director Wang Baoqiang's skills and the film's anti-commercial theme type are the main reasons why many investors are not optimistic about "In the Octagon Cage".

The doubts proved justified.

If you put aside the precondition that the director is Wang Baoqiang and look at "In the Octagon Cage" with a strict eye, it is a tacky reality genre film that has been filmed badly. The beginning and end of the story are so expected, and the few passages where you can see the director's personal expression of the brilliance are fleeting.

Many viewers agree that "In the Octagon" has a good story, but that's about it. In addition to a good story, the film's narrative, rhythm, editing, character shaping and many other aspects are difficult to hide the rough texture, and there is still a long way to go compared with mature commercial films on the market.

This is naturally inseparable from director Wang Baoqiang.

The second time he picked up the guide tube and returned to the familiar field of reality themes, Wang Baoqiang seems to have a strong desire for expression in "In the Octagon Cage". However, on the one hand, he encountered many trade-off problems that young directors encounter, and he wanted to express too much content but could not distinguish between priority and priority; On the other hand, due to the limitation of professional ability, he could not find the most suitable method of expression. In many bridges in the film, the audience can clearly see the expression that the director wants to make, but the content itself lacks the strength it should.

Many viewers realized that the pace of this film is very problematic. The connection between different plots is abrupt, which in turn leads to the emotional progression of the film is not coherent enough. Just like the recently popular "Disappearing Her", in the final analysis, the audience is watching a "cool" word. Refreshment begins with emotion and amplifies in resonance – and "In the Octagon" is missing exactly this part.

Including the all-amateur cast that is an important publicity point of "Octagon Cage", which is both a plus point and a minus point for this film. Amateurs can bring authenticity to a work that is difficult for professional actors to have, but the lack of corresponding acting experience also means that the director needs more guidance, and Wang Baoqiang, who is still a new director, obviously lacks tuning skills.

On the film's Douban homepage, a long review described the film as a "sincere mediocre work", which is a bit straightforward, but it is what it is.

The limitation of professional ability dooms director Wang Baoqiang's desire to express himself into a system. "In the Octagon Cage" is destined to be a work of regret that cannot keep up with ideas.

Good or bad, the audience decides

For the film "In the Octagon Cage", there is a current performance, and I have to thank the audience of the double standard.

Passers-by have always been metaphysical problems, and it just so happens that Wang Baoqiang has excellent passers-by.

Grassroots origin, early popularity in the country, in the glamorous Vanity Fair but always maintain a simple temperament, making Wang Baoqiang one of the few well-known objects in the current film industry that can make ordinary audiences empathize fiercely. Not to mention the private life experience in 2016, which made him feel pity.

He is one of the few honest people in the entertainment industry - many ordinary viewers judge this way.

With this understanding, even if "Big Trouble" made a super low score of 3.7 on Douban, the audience is still willing to believe director Wang Baoqiang again. Such a precious second chance is probably rare in the industry.

And this time "In the Octagon Cage" also made the audience unbearable to be ruthless, just seeing Wang Baoqiang concentrate on creation, even if it is only beyond his past self, it is enough to let go of stereotypes and be moved by it. And in the face of the audience's negative voice, Wang Baoqiang has never quibbled and accepted all evaluations with an almost sincere attitude, which makes more audiences can't bear to criticize a sincere creator.

Rhino Jun dares to assert that the same type of project, assuming that the main creator other than Wang Baoqiang is dominated, even if the final content level is similar, it will inevitably not get the current market results.

Moreover, objectively speaking, "In the Octagon Cage" is indeed not too bad. In the slightly routine film structure, there is a brand that Wang Baoqiang as a director has carved with his heart. Although these imprints may hide a lot of clumsy imitation learning traces, and there are also a lot of insufficient content expressions, it is already a huge improvement for Wang Baoqiang's directorial works.

The evaluation criteria for movies are never unique.

The main creator is the golden signboard of the movie, and it is normal for the audience to buy for the film for a certain actor or director. Compared with the traffic movies that have been popular in the market, buying it for the sincere Wang Baoqiang will surely make more audiences willing.

And "In the Octagon Cage", which has thus become "Schrödinger's good movie", is just another "flower into each eye".

Can director Wang Baoqiang do it?

The audience said yes or no.