Xu Guanghan sacrificed so much, it can be regarded as waiting!
Time Contributor | Gummies bears
Don't walk gently into that good night.
In August, the competition for summer movies has not ended.
The discussion full of "All or Nothing" is menacing, the fantasy giant "Fengsheng" is full of stamina, and Nolan's new film "Oppenheimer" is also watching at the end of the month.
It is hard to imagine that in such a month, there are still non-theatrical films that can break through the siege and occupy the enthusiasm and expectations of mainland audiences.
Whether you are a lover of comedy, supernatural or same-sex themes, it can meet expectations at one time -
"About the Ghost and I Became Family"
(This article contains some spoilers, it is recommended to read it after watching the movie.) ）
Laughter
This is the fastest film in Taiwan to exceed 100 million at the box office this year.
The production cost of NT$60 million and the box office of NT$364 million made it surpass "The Name Engraved in Your Heart" and topped the box office list of gay-themed movies.
The big explosion must have its special bright spots.
Different from the heavy and melancholic background of traditional same-sex films, comedy and supernatural sugar-coated shells are the secret magic weapon of preemption!
The first half of the film adopts a two-line parallel mode.
Wu Minghan, a homophobic straight male policeman, is investigating a promising young man in a drug arrest case.
After finally arresting the medicine head, he was about to follow the vine and call out the boss behind it, but because he offended the congressman's son earlier, he was sent from the sub-bureau to the police station.
This is one of the bad lucks.
While searching for the garbage dropped by the medicine head, Wu Minghan accidentally picked up the red envelope used for the underworld marriage, and his luck has been declining ever since.
In order to save his life, he had to marry Mao Bangyu, a ghost of the same sex who had died in a car accident.
This is the second bad luck.
In order to continue the investigation, Wu Minghan needs to return to the precinct as soon as possible.
And the sudden appearance of the "dead ghost husband", with the temptation to help him return to the precinct, asked Wu Minghan to help him fulfill his last wish and find the murderer who hit and run.
As the investigation progressed, one person and one ghost found that the murderers of the anti-drug case and the fugitive case all pointed to the same person-
Drug dealer Lin Xiaoyuan.
A hilarious and unlost journey to chase the murderer began.
The overall tone of the movie is comedy, the laughs are quite dense, and many memes that young audiences like to see are also used quite naturally and skillfully.
For example, the first time Wu Minghan saw Mao Bangyu was when the soap suddenly fell when he was taking a shower in the bathroom.
When picking up soap, I happened to bump into my dead ghost husband. Everyone knows it.
During the ceremony, the emcee called Mao Bangyu's paper person "Groom No. 1", but Wu Minghan was "Groom No. 0".
At the end, I have to explain that I have done my homework on purpose before. It's really unbearable.
It is said that Jolin Tsai is the hottest female singer in the gay circle, and the director simply let Mao Bangyu possess Wu Minghan and run naked to the street to sing and dance "Dancer".
The theme song of the film "Dear Object" was also sung by Jolin Tsai.
Yan Yalun, who was denounced as a "scumbag" due to controversial news events, also played Mao Bangyu's ex-boyfriend in the film.
Cheating during the love period and cheating on each other to want to get married, indirectly causing Mao Mao to drink too much and have a car accident when crossing the road.
It can not only make the audience smile, but also know how to improve the topic, naturally break the circle smoothly, so that audiences of different sexes are willing to enter the theater and find out.
In addition, the director knows what everyone wants to see.
the two leading actors Xu Guanghan and Lin Baihong, the former for playing the sunny handsome and affectionate Li Ziwei in "Want to See You", which became popular across the strait and three places; The latter takes the sweet boy route and is the face of Taiwan's young generation of actors.
The styles are different, but the two who are equally eye-catching stand together, without dialogue, which is enough for the audience to make up for the excessive brain and die of death.
The insoluble relationship between the husband and wife also makes the characters ambiguous and sparked.
Xu Guanghan also contributed a large-scale nude scene in the film.
It's just hard to help but exclaim "can't believe it" while taking crazy screenshots.
There are gimmicks that attract attention, and can accurately step on the audience's itchy points, for commercial films, it has been more than half successful.
In fact, if you talk about the connotation in detail, "Ghost Family" is also not bad.
Tear off the label
For mainland audiences, director Cheng Weihao is no stranger.
The last film "Soul Hunting" directed by him and released in the mainland also has many supernatural thriller clips, which are impressive.
Looking back at Cheng Weihao's past resume, the first feature film "Little Girl in Red" was a box office hit, and the subsequent "Eyewitness Chase" was also on the high-scoring suspense film list.
"Strange Tales in the Pond" integrates sand sculpture, suspense, fantasy, comedy and other elements, and "Soul Hunting" adds LGBTQ topics in addition to supernatural horror.
This "Ghost Family" is undoubtedly the culmination of the above elements, and it is a summary and transcendence of Cheng Weihao's past self.
Stripped of the entertaining shell, what he really wants to discuss with the audience is how different ethnic groups can break stereotypes and tolerate and understand each other.
It can be seen that everyone who appears in the film has been labeled as their own.
Wu Minghan's labels are "straight man" and "homophobic".
Short hair close to the scalp, bronzed skin, typical masculine straight male image.
Mao Bangyu's label is "dead gay".
Relatively feminine makeup, delicate curly hair and dressing are in line with the basic impression of gay men in people's minds.
At the same time, he also despised the aesthetics of the straight man Wu Minghan, asked the other party to change the ugly puppy underwear, and ridiculed Wu Minghan's arrogance when facing women.
The label of the policewoman Lin Ziqing is a vase.
In Wu Minghan's eyes, because she is good-looking, she only needs to pin corsages for the leader to remember the award, and she also has physiological leave, which is simply thorough in gender welfare.
In the mouth of a male colleague who speaks more ugly, she has never had real skills, and relies on sleeping with her to get to the top.
Mao Bangyu's father's label is "East Asian father".
He did not accept his son's sexual orientation, rudely interfered with the other party's decisions, and never listened, which eventually led to Mao Bangyu running away from home and dying in a car accident.
Everyone has good reason to conflict with others, and Cheng Weihao even asked the actors to "pull up a little higher and make the offense stronger" when performing.
Because only if you see the presence of the label first, you can tear it off later.
Only after misunderstandings and conflicts are resolved can people understand and tolerate each other.
In the process of Wu Minghan and Mao Bangyu's interaction, the former saw the kindness and affection of the other party, and the latter felt the enthusiasm and integrity of the other party.
From looking at each other, to cooperating with each other, to protecting each other. In the end, he was forced to marry and became a family member who could truly care and understand each other.
Needless to say, the reversal of the female policeman Lin Ziqing, the most sassy thing in the whole drama is her.
On and off the screen, everyone who underestimates her will be slapped in the face!
The most touching is the subversion of Mao's patriarchal image.
I thought that he did not allow Mao Bangyu to marry because of homophobia, but later it was revealed that he had already put down his heart and accepted his son's sexuality.
It was because he accidentally discovered that his dating partner was cheating and could not bear to tell his son directly, which caused misunderstanding and led to tragedy.
Afterwards, he tried his best to collect clues and find the murderer, and even knelt down to Mao Mao's negative boyfriend, begging the other party to tell his son's mobile phone password.
Pay attention to one detail -
When buying three servings of oyster fried and preparing to find his son to reconcile, Mao's father brought his own lunch box and told the store that he did not need disposable tableware.
Because he knew that Mao Bangyu was an environmentalist.
He saw his son's every move in his eyes and remembered it in his heart, but he was not good at expressing it.
Fortunately, before Mao Mao's soul dissipated, the father and son finally resolved the misunderstanding. The audience can also experience the love and sincerity of this sad old father for his son.
Love can eliminate all prejudices and barriers.
All we need to do is stop pretending to be blind to the strengths of others and embrace kindness and love.
Mildly offensive
In 2018, Taiwan's "Who Fell in Love with Him First" was born and was a blockbuster.
The dispute between homosexuality and heterosexuality, the debate between true love and family, the ethical and moral dilemma...
Whether in terms of emotional thickness or profound meaning, the film pushes same-sex film and television works in Chinese-speaking areas to a new height.
In contrast, the same hit "Ghost Family" did not bring a similar sting to the audience.
The film's co-screenwriter Wu Jinrong, who has participated in the creation of happy twist films in the past, has also written stage plays, and is good at arranging dense laughs and golden sentences.
And laughter is the best way to smooth out sharp issues and possible offensiveness.
Underworld marriage is an unacceptable and highly controversial act.
But Wu Minghan's series of hilarious and unfortunate events after losing the red envelope of the underworld marriage will make the audience look forward to when he will compromise with heaven.
The grandmother who planned the marriage is also a completely enlightened, kind, and loving image of her grandson, which is even more unbearable.
As for why Wu Minghan can't get rid of Mao Bangyu, a fairly reasonable explanation is also given in the film.
Because their fate is not over, Wu Minghan was actually the other party's favorite in his previous life...
Dog.
The homophobic Wu Minghan said things that offended the gay community during the law enforcement process.
And the "revenge" method in the movie is to let him be thrown to the ground in exactly the same way by the villain's subordinates while playing homosexual.
Who doesn't laugh and shout "relief" when they see it?
The problem of coming out faced by gay people in East Asian families is also solved in a warm way in the face of life and death.
At the end of the day, "Ghost Family" is not really a queer movie, it is just a hilarious commercial film with a full range of elements.
Turn contradictions and conflicts into popular comedy, making the plot and the issues behind it more acceptable to the general public.
After laughing until their stomachs hurt, people really begin to think about the situation of those who are discriminated against and excluded.
It may not be profound, but it is more universal.
I hope to turn misunderstanding into understanding and break down barriers between different groups.
As screenwriter Wu Jinrong said, "We really hope that the world after Mao Mao is reincarnated is a better world for polar bears, turtles, gays, women, straight men without criminal intent." ”
As the audience sees in the film, homosexuals are still facing the incomprehensible gaze of society and their families.
The change of the overall concept of society and the acceptance of people's hearts are more important and will certainly be a longer and necessary road.
If in the future, there are more movies like "Ghost Family" that contain same-sex issues, but are weighty, and suitable for different groups of people to watch, the "better world" will probably be closer to us.