People's Network praised by name, and what I admire is that Wang Baoqiang has preserved the last dignity of the "poor"
I don't know when, the people at the bottom of domestic film and television dramas began to collectively lose their dignity.
Over the years, in the domestic film and television dramas of the fire, it is rare to see the hardworking and honest bottom people like Zhou Tie played by Stephen Chow in "Yangtze River No. 7".
On the contrary, the faces of the poor began to "distribute according to wealth", and their dignity also became a little girl dressed up by anyone, and how to have a gimmick, how to come.
For example, in "Life Home", Qiu Xiaoxia, played by Liu Mintao, not only lives at the bottom, but also has a poor and short mind.
To save money, she used a funeral van to move, almost stampeding on the ground with her dignity.
Not only that, she also treated the free tasting in the supermarket as three meals a day, invited a large family to eat, spent less than 50 yuan, and was complacent.
For example, in "Ode to Joy", Fan Shengmei's mother, in order to raise her son, became a vampire on her daughter's body, to the extent that the six relatives did not recognize it, and the audience shouted "can't stand it".
For example, Feng Qianqian in "Home of the Heart", in order to live a decent life in a big city, completely lacks the dignity of being a human being.
First parasitized in her sister's house, not wanting to support herself, and then knowing three things and hooking up with a husband with a woman.
In order to gain profits, they will stop at nothing and finally become scheming and utilitarian, losing all etiquette, righteousness and shame.
For example, in "Children of the Qiao Family", the dregs father Qiao Zuwang is not only selfish, but also irresponsible, only caring about his own food, drink and fun, even for his wife's urn, he is reluctant to buy a better one.
There are many such images in domestic film and television works.
In addition to the common "bottom label" on their bodies, the character traits are completely kneaded according to the template of "evil".
In the eyes of the screenwriters, it seems that the poor should be like this, cold and cowardly, mercenary, despicable personality, and lack of dignity.
The bottom people who have not been scandalized have not been seen for a long time.
However, a newly released movie has set a sample for the poor and also recovered all the dignity lost by the people at the bottom in domestic film and television works.
It is Wang Baoqiang's "In the Octagon Cage".
People's Daily wrote a long review, praising it for showing the spirit of the mountain fighter, "born like a weed and indomitable".
The film was released for 2 weeks, and the box office exceeded 1.7 billion, steadily occupying the double-day crown of the box office.
There have been too many analyses and interpretations of the story and connotation of "In the Octagon Cage", and Pico does not want to repeat them one by one.
But as a director from the bottom, as the only "second generation of farmers" in the film and television industry.
Wang Baoqiang's three "careful thoughts" in this movie, but with an almost sharp sensitivity, poke through the bloody reality.
This kind of careful thinking is something that many high-ranking domestic screenwriters and directors cannot notice.
Perhaps only he can give dignity to the bottom of the film, grayscale to social rules, and equal attention to suffering.
This is also the topic that Pico wants to discuss with you today.
Think carefully: the corners that are tightly grasped protect the dignity of the people at the bottom
The scene where Sister Su Mu appeared for the first time, I believe everyone remembers it well.
Because he was pulled away from two truckloads of sand, Xiang Tenghui took Sloppy and Su Mu to his house to collect debts.
It's an adobe house halfway up the mountain that can hardly be called home.
Looking past the two little girls playing in the mound in the doorway, a sister with paralyzed lower limbs, a hair scattered, and a dirty face lying on the bed.
Seeing Xiang Tenghui, her sister's eyes seemed to be dodging, but she revealed a calmness that did not match the situation.
She asked Su Mu and Sloppy to go out and bring the door.
Only she and Xiang Tenghui were left in the room, a lone man and a widow, and the meaning was already obvious, she had no money, and she wanted to pay off the debt with her body.
We don't know how many times she's done something like this before.
But the hand that trembled and picked up the jar, and the eyes that kept dodging, had already explained the resistance and helplessness in her heart.
Seeing this, Pico was very scared.
Afraid that the movie will fall into the trap, use the audience's curiosity about desire to turn this scene into a gimmick of "poor sister pays off debts as a younger brother".
This kind of treatment is simpler, more direct, more in line with the public's cognition of the "bottom", and can also create a topicality.
The only price is to trample on the dignity of the poor.
Fortunately, Wang Baoqiang, who came from the bottom, used his gentleness and delicacy to make a positive blank for this drama that should have been a large-scale play.
After the sister lay down, she clutched the corners of the quilt and silently waited for the upcoming exchange.
But Xiang Tenghui, at this time, chose to look at it from afar, and did not dare to look directly at the girl in front of him.
And all the while, he never approached her.
Later, Xiang Tenhui took out the money and gave his sister a white lie: they worked in my battlefield, and I came to pay the wages.
Then, another detail.
Xiang Tenghui took out the money, and did not put it at the foot of the bed closest to him, nor on the pillow, or shoehorned it into his sister's hand, but placed it in the farthest window, where the sun shone in.
This detail means a lot.
Money is clean, sister, too.
Compared with those directors who are well versed in business rules, Wang Baoqiang uses this scene to give the warmest dignity to those at the bottom who are struggling on the poverty line and are forced to give up their dignity.
He did not consume his sister, did not use women or even scale as a selling point, but carefully maintained their self-esteem with his kindness and gentleness.
This kind of care is moving.
Compared with the ugly poor in other domestic film and television dramas, it is true that only the directors from the bottom understand the bottom people best.
Careful Thought Two: Three "not bad" villains who puncture the bloody reality
No matter how many tall preachings you experience, in order to survive in this society, you must always follow some well-known "unspoken rules".
These rules are given rudely and directly in some movies, such as the exchange of money and power in crime films, and the collusion between officials and businessmen.
Some movies are secretive, such as power and color trading in business war films, profit transmission.
But what kind of social rules can such a realistic movie illustrate through a few poor children?
Wang Baoqiang's cognition is simple and sincere, and he knows these rules well from the bottom.
As People's Network commented, the film has a certain autobiographical nature.
In the process of narration, Wang Baoqiang obviously added more or less his own experience.
These experiences, on the contrary, puncture some illusions of social operation and touch the essence of social phenomena.
Such as well-intentioned deception.
The owner of the beverage factory played by Xiao Yang first set out to create a fighting club with Tenhui, and its real purpose was to take advantage of the "sports fever" of the successful Olympic bid to deceive the leaders and investors.
"You are a champion and you can definitely develop champions."
This set of rhetoric hides the greatest idealism, but both know that the other is full of business.
It's just that this layer of window paper, they know it, and they don't want to break it.
This is the biggest and most powerful irony in "In the Octagon".
The original intention of helping these children of Otaki Mountain to get out of the countryside and broaden their horizons was to deceive.
The motive is not shy away, but what is highlighted is Wang Baoqiang's honesty in the narrative.
He did not shy away from the moral flaws of the whole thing, but bravely recounted the logic behind the incident.
Some things in society, if not false and deceptive, may not begin at all.
But once it starts, its direction is controlled by people, and in the hands of a good person, deception can also become a white lie.
For example, it is for profit.
After the fight club was first established, it was the "Full of Stars" bar that made a profit.
Xiang Tenhui took the attitude of a boss, held a cigar and found a bar that was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the two hit it off on the fighting performance, so far, Xiang Tenhui finally made money and profit.
Although this kind of profit is in a gray area.
But substantively, it brought benefits to both parties, with Tenhui having the money to keep the club going, and the club owner having a show to attract customers and win attention.
But as the fighting became more and more popular, Xiang Tenhui had a bigger goal.
This little "starry sky" can no longer carry his ambition to make a lot of money, and under the temptation of a richer contract, he decisively abandons the boss who saved himself from danger.
Even the request for another fight at the end was ruthlessly rejected.
On a moral level, Xiang Tenhui is oblivious, which is like doing a big business and abandoning partners, although this is the unspoken rule of the adult world.
It is always right to seek profits, but the operation of Xiang Tenghui has also laid a big thunder for his future road.
The owner of this little bar never appeared again.
But after Xiang Tenghui became popular, the short video that exploded public opinion is very likely to be the tricks and feet of the small bar owner.
The debt owed, sooner or later, will have to be repaid.
Under seemingly reasonable social rules, the undercurrent is always unfathomable in the human heart.
Another example is charity for the purpose of extortion.
In order to find a way out for the children, Xiang Tenhui found the principal of a private school.
When the principal heard this, he was kind, and without saying a word, he agreed to the request to give the children the opportunity to study and their school status.
Just when Xiang Tenghui thought that he had met a living bodhisattva and clasped his hands to thank him, the principal changed his style and asked for a sponsorship fee of 2 million.
Wrapped in kindness is the greed of the lion's open mouth.
In the rules of social operation, there is no good for no reason, and most goodness needs to pay a heavier price than no "goodwill".
When Xiang Tenghui made up his mind to sell the house and give the children a learning opportunity, the principal ignored him.
This also shows that what is even more frightening is that even this kind of seemingly blackmailed goodness is sometimes a rare opportunity.
Some people say that what can be done with money is often the simplest thing.
Because some things, with money, you may not necessarily find a way, and looking for a school from Tenhui is such a thing.
Missed the opportunity to be "blackmailed", and even the other party's door, can not knock, this is also the iron law of human relations and social affairs.
Found no, the plot has gone all the way, and all the things experienced by Xiang Tenghui are covered with a layer of grayscale.
This layer of grayscale wanders between utter majestic light and extreme darkness.
It's hard to say that two bosses and one principal must be bad guys.
What they represent is just a living node between the grayscales of this society.
Our society is made up of these nodes.
Social reality is not black and white, and it is a matter of common sense, and it may not function properly.
On the contrary, it is these realities that burst the bubble of justice, talking about the law of the jungle of society, telling us the true truth of living in society.
Caution 3: Do not sing about suffering, but present the true humanity with equal eyes
Is "In the Octagon" bitter?
It's so bitter.
The children in the film not only do not have enough to eat and wear warmth, but most of them even have no father or mother, and they are left to fend for themselves.
But Wang Baoqiang, who told about their suffering, chose a valuable heads-up perspective.
He did not bend down, and in a high position, he took pity on the suffering.
Nor did he squat in the dust, as an artist, playing with suffering.
Instead of romanticizing suffering, he did not sing about it in return, but focused on the individual in suffering, the fortitude and the indomitable temperament.
This point is very valuable, and it is also the degree that most domestic film directors today cannot grasp.
And this way of looking at eye level is simple and crude.
For Wang Baoqiang, it hides his most simple understanding of the truth of human nature.
For example, structural intertextuality.
There are two scenes of taking medicine in the film, which is quite sad and fatalistic.
Fighting champion Xiang Tenghui was drugged for listening to his coach's nonsense, resulting in disqualification as an athlete and even imprisonment.
Xiang Tenghui's fate is obviously full of suffering.
The scene of returning home to say goodbye to my mother is full of regret and regret for this fate.
But Wang Baoqiang did not think too much about the coach's deception and the severity of punishment, but used the extremely restrained emotions of seeing his mother and the contradictions of tense emotions to express the character's personality in the face of suffering.
This personality, in his apprentice Su Mu, seems to have been inherited.
After entering the new club, Su Mu chose a different path from his master, he did not listen to the coach and took medicine to compete, but his leg was broken by retaliation.
Because of the broken leg, the fate of Su Mu and Sloppy was changed again.
Their fate is like riding a roller coaster, from trough to peak and back to trough.
Even if they go back to the old road of robbery, the two brothers still maintain a white lie to their sister.
The violation of the law forced by reality did not completely destroy their humanity, although in the face of two diametrically opposed choices to take medicine, there was no good result in the end.
But in terms of structure and narrative, the subtext of this intertext of fate is unfairness, powerlessness and despair.
They struggle upwards, not because of their suffering, but because of their own personality.
Some viewers criticized that the "prison" scene appeared too many times in the film.
Wang Jingfu played by Xiao Yang, Wang Feng played by Wang Xun, Sloppy played by Chen Yongsheng, and even Xiang Tenghui have all been in prison.
The dialogue through the prison glass is an important dialogue in the movie.
So many prison scenes, redundant?
If you look at it from the point of view of film fluency, there is a point.
But from the point of view of the director's expression, maybe just right.
From the prison scene, it can be seen that Wang Baoqiang has not exonerated people who have committed crimes due to suffering.
In his world, "prison" represents punishment, responsibility for one's own actions.
Whether it is cheating, fighting, taking medicine or robbery, as long as you commit a crime, you should go to prison, which is Wang Baoqiang's most simple view of right and wrong.
Unlike the presentation of social rules, Wang Baoqiang here has an exceptionally clear attitude.
Everyone is equal before the law, and the perspective that comes with it is actually level-headed.
In the face of the suffering experienced by the people at the bottom, Wang Baoqiang's story does not even promote a certain positive attitude.
Instead, it is saying the simplest thing: these children, these lives, have no choice but to fight hard.
In social news, in social interviews, we have seen countless such people at the bottom.
What they pursue all their lives is to work hard and work hard, and desperately and desperately.
What they do is not even to live well and achieve much in the future, but simply to find and be human dignity.
Like Sloppy said:
Their fate, like the stone that floats in the water, no matter how it floats, it will sink in the end.
This gives the film a deep sense of powerlessness, and also interprets the heaviest core of the entire film, opening the ceiling of Chinese interpretation of "living".
Stones are hard to float, just like some people in life, there is no choice at all.
But this still can't stop the minds of those at the bottom looking up to the blue sky and their struggle to survive and gain the dignity of hope.
At the end of the film, the ending designed by Wang Baoqiang actually has a force that penetrates reality in it.
Watching Su Mu win the championship in the spotlight, he turned around instead and silently disappeared into the dark passage.
At this moment, in addition to being like a tragic behind-the-scenes hero, he is more like those who have carried him in real life.
Along the way, Wang Baoqiang thought about their goodness, just as he gave Feng Xiaogang millet and knelt down to Andy Lau.
Deep down, Wang Baoqiang actually wants to be such a person.
Help the people who come to the throne, and hide their merits and fame.
"In the Octagon" is not perfect, from the perspective of commercial films, it has some jerky techniques and some narratives, sacrificing fluency.
But for Wang Baoqiang, these shortcomings can be tolerated by everyone.
Because we have too many shrewd and greasy commercial film directors, but there are fewer stupid people who are rarely confused.
From these three careful thoughts, Pico saw Wang Baoqiang's potential as a director.
Chinese films, instead of having more businessmen who make work, should have more sincere storytellers.
Will his next movie be a sea change?
Probably unlikely.
But Pico is full of confidence: it must be better than this one.
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