Divide Shen Teng and make bad films
After the release of "Super Family", Happy Twist fell into a "crisis of trust" again.
This film is the second cooperation between director Song Yang and Allen and Shen Teng after "Iron Fist of Shame", shouting the slogan of "hilarious summer", but the actual viewing experience of many audiences is "like sitting on pins and needles, like a mang's back, like a crow in the throat".
As an adapted film, the script as a whole failed to achieve localization, with a loose structure, confusing logic, exaggerated acting skills, and forced sensationalism... The film almost touched all the "thunder points" of the comedy, and what is more terrible is that although it is labeled as "starring Shen Teng", the reality is that Shen Teng appeared in only ten minutes and no surprises in the 2-hour film.
The decline in the film's reputation also affected Shen Teng to a certain extent. Some viewers commented on his Weibo: "Shen Teng, I sincerely hope that you will stop taking bad films." ”
Since the fame of "Charlotte Troubles", "content" has become a golden sign of happy twist. "The Richest Man in Xihong City", "Iron Fist of Shame", "Walking on the Moon Alone" ... Shen Teng has appeared in the comedy of "Twist" in various capacities, and once became a guarantee of box office and word of mouth.
Nowadays, the audience is beginning to doubt the "content", and gradually lose patience with Happy Twist, which was once regarded as "the funniest comedy group in China".
Is Shen Teng really not funny? Is happy twist really not funny? It's about individuals, it's about groups.
Is the success or failure of a comedy movie in the actors?
Why are the pure comedy movies of the past gone?
Why are domestic comedies getting more and more embarrassing?
In an age when the masses are particularly eager to be amused, the dignity of comedy should also be restored.
Although the evaluation of Feng Xiaogang by public opinion was not friendly later, it must be admitted that in the development process of domestic comedy, he did have a groundbreaking dazzling record.
At the end of the eighties of the last century, the public entertainment mode transitioned from novel text to television images, and the literary big names led by Zheng Xiaolong saw the opportunity and planned to make a few TV series to stimulate the nerves of the public.
At that time, "Longing" was in the filming stage, Zheng Xiaolong looked at the plot and felt that it was too bitter, so he planned to save a comedy to reconcile the depressed atmosphere of the market.
Soon after, Zheng Xiaolong approached Wang Shuo and said that he wanted to get a TV work to take over "Longing" now, it was best to amuse everyone, and wanted to ask him to advise on the script. Wang Shuo thought it was very interesting, agreed, and recommended another person - Feng Xiaogang before putting down the phone.
Wang Shuo, Feng Xiaogang
When he joined the "editorial office", Feng Xiaogang was just a small artist in the literary center, although he was also born and raised in the capital, but he was known as "alley stringers" and has always lived at the "bottom of the food chain".
Fortunately appreciated by Wang Shuo, Feng Xiaogang had the opportunity to talk at the same table with Zheng Xiaolong, a "big name in the literary world in Beijing". When he participated in the planning meeting of "The Story of the Editorial Department" for the first time, Feng Xiaogang was so nervous that he kept rubbing his hands, only dared to look up at the ceiling, and heard someone say "Thank you for participating", he immediately turned his head and asked Wang Shuo, is he also among the thanks?
At that time, Feng Xiaogang was a standard "little person", at the "bottom", accustomed to observing and fawning over everyone with an admiring attitude. This is one of his talents for creating comedy, because only by being close to the ground can he perceive the most real society and life, and write funny jokes that the people like to see.
In fact, this is also the characteristics and highlights of early domestic comedy: whether it is the plot or the content, it all comes from the masses and returns to the masses.
A successful film and television work can reflect the spirit of an era.
"The Story of the Editorial Office" comes from an era when everyone is eager to "laugh" and likes "laughter".
Screenshot of the line "The Story of the Editorial Office"
Looking at "The Story of the Editorial Office" today, you can easily see the hot topics in the society at that time, such as poetry fever, Qiong Yao fever, as well as disco, newspaper blind dates, landline phone calls and other elements of the times.
At that time, the screenwriters and directors were not far from the people, and they could still go out for walks, eat and chat. They know real life so that they can accurately ridicule life, and this is the premise of "comedy".
In 1992, "The Story of the Editorial Office" was officially launched, and since then China has had its first TV series comedy, and the aesthetic character of Chinese TV dramas has been expanded, or more bluntly, in addition to crosstalk and sketches, Chinese audiences have seen the appearance of "comedy" concretely for the first time.
Screenshot of the line "The Story of the Editorial Office"
In 1993, Yingda's partners Wang Shuo and Liang Zuo who returned from studying abroad made China's first sitcom "I Love My Home" with reference to "The Cosby Show", with which Yingda became a "godfather" level figure, and "Ying's Comedy" began to dominate the screen.
The success of "I Love My Home" is actually the successful landing of "sitcom" as an "imported product" in the field of Chinese art. It has learned from the form and technology, and the specific expression is still the "Chinese story".
"I Love My Home" stills
The small TV screen is full of people, but the big screen of movies over there has ushered in new challenges.
In 1994, the Hollywood blockbuster "Desperate World" entered the Chinese film market for the first time, and in the era when the average ticket price of a single ticket was 6 yuan, it created a box office miracle of 25 million. Later, "True Lies" starring Schwarzenegger grossed 102 million at the box office, becoming the first imported blockbuster in mainland theaters with a box office of more than 100 million.
At the same time, a large number of Hong Kong films have successfully entered mainland theaters, and "Double Monday Cheng" has long been the box office champion, causing several phenomenal discussions.
"Red Fan District" is the first Hong Kong film introduced to the mainland
In contrast to the variety of film genres and the bustle in the cinema, mainland Chinese-language films have completely lost their competitiveness except for "Alive" and "Sunny Day".
A still from "Sunny Day"
Also bleak were Feng Xiaogang and Wang Shuo.
In 1996, Feng Xiaogang's heart was dark.
After the success of "The Story of the Editorial Office", the two partnered to open a film and television company called "Good Dream". In order to run the company, Feng Xiaogang did everything in his power to please all kinds of bosses, leaders, and peers, and he stretched out his hand not to hit the smiling person, he did not ask for anything else, he only hoped that when he encountered difficulties in the future, the "masters" could pull themselves.
But human favor returns to human favor, and the purchase and sale must still be done. After the establishment of "Good Dream", Feng Xiaogang and Wang Shuo invested in the production of 5 films, all of which were planted in the review stage.
The number of failures increased, Wang Shuo and Feng Xiaogang lost confidence, the former ran abroad for vacation in frustration to heal, the latter moved to the outskirts of Beijing to read "Liaozhai" daily to relieve their distress.
Feng Xiaogang said to himself
At this moment, a noble man appeared - Zhang Heping, who took the lead in producing and filming "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" and "Addiction" to "Great God-level" figures. He took the initiative to find Feng Xiaogang, and the first thing he said when he met was:
"I have to fish it out for you and get to work."
This year, Zhang Heping had just moved to the film track, and seeing that mainland films had been "squeezed" by Hollywood blockbusters and Hong Kong films, he very much needed a "game breaker", no matter what theme and artistic techniques, as long as he could make a work that was acclaimed and popular, then everything was good to say.
For this reason, Zhang Heping has found Zhang Yimou, and people are pondering literary and artistic films, which are not suitable; Later, I went to find Chen Kaige, and people were busy filming "Wind and Moon", and there was no time. Left and right combined, then Feng Xiaogang! Idle, not clear, and a little talented.
One day in the summer of 1997, Zhang Heping met Feng Xiaogang to talk about the script. Feng Xiaogang first said a few proud works, which were not interesting; After that, he took out a New Year film comedy "Hot Heart Than Fire" that Han Sanping (then the director of Beijing Film Studio) proposed him to write.
Zhang Heping listened, fun! Reliable! It's that the name is too round, and it has to be changed - Chinese mainland first New Year movie "Party A and Party B" was born.
"Party A and Party B" poster
"Party A and Party B" invested 4 million yuan, the shooting cycle was only 45 days, from the start of August 14, 1997 to the release at the end of the year, the entire production cycle did not exceed 4 months.
For this "short, flat and fast" production model, industry peers scoffed, asserting that the film must be a "bad film". One of the leading actors, Ge You, also had no bottom in his heart, and asked Feng Xiaogang on the first day of entering the group: "How much did this film cost?" If you don't pay it to others, how can you make such a movie? ”
Ge You's stills from "Party A and Party B"
The outside world was constantly talking, and Feng Xiaogang had no time to take care of it - work first, and talk about the rest later! In the blink of an eye, the film review passed, and Han Sanping, as one of the producers, received a treasure, and an instruction to "open" all departments of Beijing Film Studio: nothing can prevent the movie from being released on time!
On December 20, 1997, "Party A and Party B" was launched on time, cultivating the audience and completing Feng Xiaogang——
Feng's comedy, a dream come true.
Ge You's stills from "Party A and Party B"
5 years after "Party A and Party B", Feng's comedy went smoothly, and Feng Xiaogang gradually reached the peak of his life. The market recognizes him, but the doubts and opposition from his peers have not decreased, but increased.
Keen on literature and art, he attacked him as "vulgar", saving a movie in dozens of days, and he didn't even want his face in order to earn money; Those who studied the script accused him of being "rotten", and bluntly said that the essence of "Party A and Party B" is "skit series".
It is extremely interesting that the exact same evaluation still applies to today's domestic comedy, the difference is that the "bottom line", which is the standard, is falling again and again - sketches, more ugly.
"Party A and Party B" stills
Although the debate about Feng Xiaogang himself and Feng's comedy never stopped, they did aim at what the audience was thinking, in other words, they knew exactly what the audience wanted.
When everyone's enthusiasm is high, he uses "Party A and Party B" to compare ideals and reality; The 21st century is coming, and he made a film "Endless" to look forward to the future and remember the past.
By the peak of Feng's comedy in "Big Shot", the script used a lot of irony to criticize Vanity Fair's frivolity and contributed some god-level prophecy.
Screenshot of the "Big Shot" line
The black humor composed of "absurdity" and "irony" is the style of Feng's comedy, and it is also the most adept "amusement" method used in domestic comedy at that stage.
This applies not only to films, but also to television works. The sitcom "Idle Sister Ma" broadcast at the same time focuses on the daily life of laid-off workers after the restructuring of state-owned enterprises; "Northeast Family" tells the transformation of heavy industry in the northeast, and after fading the aura of "eldest son of the republic", northeasterners can still live a steamy life with optimism and open-mindedness.
"Northeast Family" stills
At that time, comedy could ridicule everything, screenwriters were good at recording the era in playful language, and the audience could gain the identity of the "big time" in the stories of "little people".
Accurately selecting the greatest common divisor of group preferences is the premise of the rapid development of domestic comedy, but the good times are brilliant, but they are also short-lived.
Ge You's stills from "Party A and Party B"
On May 19, 2001, comedy master Liang Zuo died at home due to a sudden myocardial infarction at the age of 44, and his best friend Wang Shuo was overwhelmed with grief. In the same year, Wang Shuo's brother and father passed away one after another, and under the multiple blows, Wang Shuo almost had a nervous breakdown, "just crying for several years", in order to relieve his inner distress, he stopped writing for 2 years.
The sitcom lost Liang Zuo, Feng's comedy bid farewell to Wang Shuo, and the exit of the two "soul figures" dealt a heavy blow to the domestic comedy, and many people lost their way.
Liang left
In 2000, the producer of the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" approached Zhang Yimou and asked him if he wanted to try to make a martial arts action movie? Zhang Yimou hesitated, "Ang Lee has already won the 'Oscar', and if he goes to make the same type of movie, the audience must feel that it is following the trend, how shameful."
The producer constantly encouraged: I invited Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Daoming all here, do you do it?
Zhang Yimou: You can't just look at the actors.
Producer: Can I give you the world's top art direction?
Zhang Yimou: I can do this work.
Producer: I give you 250 million, do you shoot it?
Zhang Yimou: Shoot!
Maggie Cheung's "Hero" stills
At the end of 2002, the movie "Heroes" was released, and after the global box office grossed 1.4 billion, the Chinese film market officially entered the "blockbuster era".
A year later, "Mobile Phone" directed by Feng Xiaogang was released, and although it successfully became the box office champion of the New Year, Feng Xiaogang was a little impatient.
Seeing that Zhang Yimou has opened up the second line of commercial blockbusters with "Hero" and "Ambush on Ten Sides", Chen Kaige, who is addicted to poetry and painting, also made "Wuji" break 7 movie box office records.
After "No Thief in the World", Feng Xiaogang, who was unwilling to spin in comedy, was determined to give up humor, follow the call of the times, and plunge into the field of blockbusters, and finally made a "Night Banquet" adapted from "Hamlet" in 2006, which received a lot of scolding, and the audience jokingly said: This movie is too much like a cold joke!
Zhou Xun's "Night Banquet" stills
Perhaps in order to "save respect", Feng Xiaogang contributed another "Do Not Disturb If You Are Insincere" in 2008, Feng's comedy briefly returned to the "peak", but it was limited to the box office.
In "Do Not Disturb If You Are Insincere", Feng Xiaogang, as a director and screenwriter, completed the framework of black humor, and the content is slightly messy. When preparing the movie script, Feng Xiaogang tried to explore reality and human nature with a simple and absurd marriage story as before, but after Shu Qi joined the crew, Feng Xiaogang greatly deleted the story of the male protagonist Qin Fen's (Ge You) marriage, making the entire story line become "love".
Shu Qi's "Do Not Disturb" stills
By the time of "Private Order", the confusion became more and more obvious. Referring to the model of "Party A and Party B", Feng Xiaogang once again used the concept of "Good Dream Day Trip", and also invited his old partner Wang Shuo as a screenwriter, the form is still the same, but in 2013, they no longer know what the audience wants to watch.
In a simple taste of praising some of the praised, criticizing some of the criticism, the ending of the film with the plot of "all mankind apologizes to the mountains and rivers" leads the film to the grand theme of environmental protection, netizens sharply commented: Is this a recitation of a sketch poem?
When Feng Xiaogang began to be "profound", Feng's comedy was difficult to knock on the laughter in the audience's heart, to borrow a line from "Private Order":
"I used to be quite grounded and a director, but now my feet don't stick to the ground."
"Customized" poster
To this day, "Private Order" still has a score of 5.9 points on the film review website, which has not reached the passing line, and was selected as the "Golden Broom Award Most Disappointing Film" that year.
The collapse of the movie's reputation completely angered Feng Xiaogang, and he sent 7 short articles on his personal social platform to scold:
"I understand that audiences are passionate about popcorn comedy, but I have no intention of serving."
"Your (referring to film critics) ridicule and just reflect your shallowness, I look down on you, stop leading the audience with a shy face, shame."
"I am not afraid of offending you girls, and I will always be at odds with your girls."
Maybe it's really heartbroken, after which "Feng's comedy" disappeared in the rivers and lakes, and then looked at the past, I couldn't help but sigh that "it's better to see each other than to miss."
"Private Order" stills
When the fifth generation of directors indulged in commercial blockbusters and Feng's comedy encountered Waterloo, a young man named Ning Hao also came to a crossroads in life.
In the past nearly 30 years, Ning Hao has worked hard in literary and art films most of the time, and the end can be imagined, and he lost a mess. In 2006, Andy Lau launched the "Asian Rising Star Guide" program, Ning Hao was successfully shortlisted and received 3 million investment, and the gears of fate began to turn.
In fact, there were three opportunities in front of Ning Hao at that time, the first two were "old routines", and investors hoped that he would continue to cultivate literary and artistic films. Ning Hao finally chose Andy Lau's proposal:
"I will have many opportunities to make literary films in the future, but only one chance to 'shoot whatever you want.'"
Andy Lau, Ning Hao
Everyone saw the story later, and with this money, Ning Hao filmed "Crazy Stone", which instantly illuminated the dark Chinese low-cost film market at that time, and also completed the comedy road of Huang Bo and Xu Zheng.
When filming "Crazy Stone", Xu Zheng was the biggest "wrist" in the group, and "Spring Splendid Pig Bajie" gave him fame, but it also trapped the drama road, and he urgently needed a "breakthrough".
After seeing the script of "Crazy Stone" in the shared mailbox with Tao Hong, Xu Zheng took the initiative to find Ning Hao and told him that he wanted to play a role in this "story that Chinese audiences really like", regardless of the role or salary. Ning Hao felt overwhelmed, and wrapped Xu Zheng a cash red envelope of 10,000 yuan on the day of start-up, and Xu Zheng directly transferred it to the assistant, "This is a reward for the staff, I don't need it."
Xu Zheng "Crazy Stone" stills
It was a time when everyone was pure and naïve.
When he received Ning Hao's invitation, Huang Bo had already been given the opportunity to teach at an art school, but because he loved movies and acting, he gave up his stable job, took a salary of 10,000 yuan, followed the crew to Chongqing, drilled into the sewers, bit the bread and ran wildly on the viaduct.
Huang Bo's "Crazy Stone" stills
This scene is difficult to replicate today, because "success is famous" throws people into huge cost logic. The so-called "ideal" is no longer a private matter, it is about the market, the effort and return, and the jobs of many people.
Screenshot of the line "Crazy Stone"
After "Crazy Stone" attracted great success, Ning Hao became the "biggest dark horse" in the domestic comedy industry. People began to analyze and interpret everything about him - the "crazy" era belonging to Ning Hao had arrived.
In fact, in this famous work, Ning Hao borrowed the performance techniques of Guy Ritchie's "Two Big Smoking Guns" in many aspects, but both in the overall plot and the processing of details, he has done a very successful localization treatment, reflecting the director's independent personal expression. For example, dialect lines, ethnic soundtracks, and the magic of the ad placement "Brand!" Baleno! ”。
Huang Bo's "Crazy Stone" stills
Successful, effective borrowing will produce a 1+1>2 comedic effect, so "Crazy Stone" succeeded. Looking at today, the "borrowing" of many domestic comedy films has become a lazy means, and "plagiarism" and "tribute", "remake" and "translation" are only one step away.
After successfully launching the "crazy" signboard, Ning Hao began the preparations for "Crazy Racing" non-stop. The same multi-line narrative structure, the same black humor, even the starring role is "old acquaintance" Huang Bo.
As expected, Ning Hao once again created a miracle, with a cost of 10 million, he won back 130 million box office and a relatively good reputation, and he became the fourth mainland director to enter the 100 million yuan club after Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Feng Xiaogang.
This is almost the beginning of a great story, but Ning Hao does not like it, because he clearly feels that comedy is "not brave".
"It (referring to the movie 'Crazy Racing'] was not born for movies, it was 'born' by the market." Ning Hao said: "It has become a technical work, and I want to express less things. ”
Huang Bo's "Crazy Racing" stills
This is not a tangle exclusive to Ning Hao. When capital continues to flow into the market, flow determines success or failure, and how to quickly and efficiently create a "box office myth" has become a survival issue that every practitioner must face.
After "Crazy Racing", Ning Hao, who thought that he had not achieved a self-breakthrough, stopped and rested for a few years, until 2019, he returned to the track with "Crazy Alien".
Compared with the first appearance of the "crazy" series, both the market environment and the audience's aesthetics have undergone tremendous changes. "Crazy Alien" is adapted from the science fiction novel "Village Teacher", the script took 8 years to create, and after several drafts, even the original author Liu Cixin wondered in the end, is this really related to his own novel?
Shen Teng, Huang Bo, Xu Zheng "Crazy Alien" poster
This is the 13th year that Ning Hao began to be "crazy", in the process he directed "Heart Flower Road Fang" and supervised the production of "Embroidered Spring Dao 2", he tried to think about the form of comedy with another path, and ended up handing over a "particularly not crazy" answer.
"Crazy Alien" abandons the multi-line narrative with Ning Hao's characteristics in expression, and adds the funny baggage of popular comedy. People who can understand will find it very funny, and people with high laughing points will find it very boring, which also makes the film evaluation seriously polarized.
The audience can vaguely feel that the director wants to discuss something, but because the film gathers too many elements, the theme is blurred.
Huang Bo, Shen Teng "Crazy Alien" stills
In the end, "Crazy Alien" became the highest-grossing and lowest-rated of all Ning Hao's works, which was almost a predictable ending for him.
When preparing for filming, Ning Hao invited half of the comedy industry of Huang Bo, Shen Teng, and Xu Zheng (alien prototype) as the starring actors, and used multiple special effects teams before and after, challenging to complete the world's most difficult biological special effects, and the objective material conditions reached the "top match", but people's hearts will not remain static:
"Filming Crazy Stones was like a bunch of idealists playing, and everyone was so intent on telling the story well. Later, when shooting 'Alien', everyone seemed to be rushing a job, and they were particularly anxious, because there was still a lot of work waiting for them. ”
The tide of the times pushes people forward, so the concept changes, and the industry changes. Ning Hao began to feel that making movies was painful, not because of creation, but because of things other than creation.
He temporarily put aside his role as a director and continued his film career with another identity. In 2019, "I Am Not the God of Medicine" produced by him caused heated discussions; Some time ago, the movie "All or Nothing", which was also produced by him, achieved box office results.
Talking about comedy again, Ning Hao said that "Crazy Alien" is the last work in the "crazy" series, and he will not direct other works in the short term:
"There are fewer and fewer things worth making comedy, so don't waste the audience's time."
Clip of "Crazy Alien"
Even though he has made a lot of commercial comedies, Ning Hao still considers himself not a commercial film director. What made him so firm in his self-positioning may be the "No Man's Land" that almost ran aground.
In 2009, Ning Hao, who was trying to transform, filmed a movie "No Man's Land" that was completely different from comedy, but for various reasons, the film was delayed in passing the review.
Ning Hao was very frustrated and turned around and plunged into the filming of "The Great Gold Robbery"; And as one of the leading actors, Xu Zheng also returned to the field of commercial films and filmed a "People on the Road".
Xu Zheng, Wang Baoqiang's "People on the Road" stills
There's no way around that.
For example, Xu Zheng, who has always been eager to use "No Man's Land" to transform, was forced to return to the field of comedy when the film had not been reviewed for 4 years; Later, because he was not addicted to acting in the crew of "People on the Road", he had the idea of investing in a comedy; Later, because he couldn't find a suitable director, he had to go into battle himself, and the result was "Thai".
A series of unintentional moves pushed Xu Zheng to the commanding heights, and domestic comedy turned a new page.
Xu Zheng's "Thai" poster
In 2012, the New Year file "Thai" was released, and it bumped head-on into Feng Xiaogang's "1942", and it also successfully received 1.3 billion box office. Referring to the reason, Xu Zheng said that "everyone just needs to smile too easily".
Since then, the character image of "Yijing and Yihan" has become a funny trump card in the "Yi" series. In addition to the acting skills of Wang Baoqiang, Huang Bo and Xu Zheng that are almost integrated with the characters, the most rare thing about the early "Ji" series is that in the impetuous market environment, it tells a funny story relatively completely.
The movie chooses to keep a shrewd person unlucky, but the party who implements redemption is the seemingly stupid and straightforward person, plus the "stupid villain" played by Huang Bo, irony and absurdity go hand in hand, and the comedy effect is immediately full.
Xu Zheng, Wang Baoqiang, Huang Bo "Tai Yan" poster
When creating the script, Xu Zheng used the contradictions of three different classes of characters to satirize the value orientation of money-only theory, and finally pointed to a particularly simple view: people cannot only look at "money" in this life, and some things are more precious than fame and fortune.
Living trembling for a year amid rumors of the "end of the world" is very touching and beautiful.
Xu Zheng, Wang Baoqiang "Thailand" stills
Later, Xu Zheng also tried his best to reproduce this resonance, but unfortunately, he did it too deliberately, so that people can only see "routines" and those funny jokes that are not advanced.
When "Hong Kong" was released, the male protagonist changed from Wang Baoqiang to Bao Bell, which was a risky attempt, and as a result, the actor's acting skills and character characters collapsed completely, the box office went up, and the word of mouth came down, followed by another question "Did Xu Zheng and Wang Baoqiang fall out?" ”。
Xu Zheng and Bao Bell "Hong Kong" poster
5 years later, "Mother" was released, still not as strong as Wang Baoqiang. Since then, the relationship between the two has become confusing, until some time ago Xu Zheng chartered the scene to support Wang Baoqiang's new movie, and when asked whether he would still cooperate, Wang Baoqiang answered: This still depends on the script.
At the beginning of 2020, affected by the epidemic, "Mother" announced the emergency withdrawal and sold it to online video platforms for free viewing at a price of 630 million yuan.
As soon as this move came out, the discussion of Xu Zheng gradually changed from "comedy creator" to "successful businessman", he became more three-dimensional, on the contrary, the "Ji" series became more and more flat.
"I felt like I was kidnapped at the box office." Xu Zheng, who has always been shrewd, is also a little tired.
Xu Zheng's "Mother" poster
Making comedy requires talent, followed by hard work.
So when describing those successful comedies and directors, "fame" is a high-frequency word in the story.
Whether it is the original Feng's comedy, or the subsequent "crazy" series, the "Ji" series, together with the TV sitcom "I Love My Home", "The Legend of Wulin", "The Story of the Cooking Class", and the biggest winner of the recent domestic comedy "Hello, Li Huanying", these are the works that are "peak" at the beginning.
The sense of humor is the natural wealth of comedians, and it is the ability that is difficult to cultivate by acquired efforts, which can explain why there are works like "Villain Angel" and "Breakup Master", which seem to work hard to make jokes, but are actually very embarrassing.
Jia Ling, Zhang Xiaofei "Hello Li Huanying" poster
In the days when the domestic comedy "Big Guy" withdrew one after another, Happy Twist is one of the few comedy groups with talent.
After the launch of "Charlotte Troubles" in 2015, Happy Twist was once considered the "funniest comedian" in China, and its representative characters Shen Teng, Ma Li, Chang Yuan, and Allen also spent several honeymoon periods with audiences who love comedy.
When "Charlotte Troubles" caused phenomenal discussion, many people shouted that domestic comedy had a new hope, not wanting reality to move forward as expected.
Shen Teng and Ma Li "Charlotte Troubles" stills
After "Charlotte", the Happy Twist Group referred to the existing successful model and turned a large number of dramas into film and television, and in the process of shifting from the stage to the big screen, most of them were jerky and even failed.
In addition to "Donkey Gets Water", "The Richest Man in Xihong City", "Iron Fist of Shame" and "Walking on the Moon Alone", most of the works of the Happy Twist Group cannot get rid of the curse of "bad movies".
Ma Li and Shen Teng "Walking on the Moon Alone" poster
As a guarantee of box office and word of mouth in the group, "Shen Ma" was once regarded as a "golden oil", no matter how many scenes, it was promoted according to the "starring" before the film was broadcast, for which the audience also came up with a proper word "content".
But comedy without laughter is like a plate of sand, which does not need to be blown by the wind, and it disperses after walking a few steps. In recent years, while consuming "Shen Ma", Happy Twist has also consumed the trust and patience of the audience, and what is more deadly than the actors are the repeated "tickling" quips, homophonic memes and Internet jokes in the script.
"Warm Hugs" poster
8 years after the release of "Charlotte Troubles", Happy Twist still has not achieved a self-breakthrough. This situation may be related to the cold winter of the industry, perhaps the tightening of audits, or the tightening of capital control, but outside the general environment, what happened to the comedians?
Some time ago, Wang Jing revealed for the first time in an interview the reason for her withdrawal from the comedy stage, one is that the script creation is too difficult and too tired, and the other is that there are fewer and fewer excellent comedians.
In the process, he mentioned his old friend Stephen Chow, saying that when Stephen Chow became a director in the later stage, the way to tell the actors in the crew was to act it himself, and then let the actors imitate, even then he could only achieve "likeness".
Stephen Chow's "Mermaid" tidbits
So why not star yourself? Wang Jing's idea is that when people reach a certain age, they will value dignity more and more, and they can no longer convince themselves to "play ugly" to make the audience laugh - no one can "disgust themselves and complete others" for a lifetime.
Therefore, Wang Baoqiang walked into "In the Octagon Cage", Huang Bo harvested "A Good Show", Xu Zheng talked about "The Myth of Love", Xiao Shenyang gave up the sketch, and Jia Bing's masterpiece also changed from "making dumplings" to "Crazy Racing".
"Now the only comedian who plays better is Shen Teng." Wang Jing said: "But you can see from his role in "Flying Life" that he doesn't want to act either, he wants to play his father, he wants to die. ”
Soon after, Shen Teng really played a role with a big heart and sacrifice for justice in the movie "Manjiang Red".
"Crazy" Jia Bing's classic lines
In addition to actors, good scripts are even rarer.
In recent years, domestic comedy has often been criticized for forcibly sensationalizing. Therefore, Ma Dong also deliberately avoided similar scripts and topics when preparing for the variety show "Annual Comedy Competition".
It can be seen from the success of "Goodbye, Lao Zhang" and "Hello, Li Huanying" that the audience is not disgusted by moving, but by the blunt plot design and the embarrassment of mistaking "farce" as comedy. Similarly, irony and absurdity are not through pompous acting skills and actions to show ridicule and ridicule of flaws.
"Annual Comedy Competition" Season 2 Runner-up "Young Master and I"
"I've ruined myself so badly, just laugh."
When comedians ask for laughter with such a low profile, what domestic comedy loses, why is the joke?
I remember that after "Party A and Party B" won the box office championship in 1998, Chen Kaige said to Feng Xiaogang that he liked a line in the movie very much.
Feng Xiaogang was shocked, this kind of "common thing" actually entered the eyes of Director Chen? Which line is it?
Chen Kaige continued, it was the last sentence Ge You said, and the tone was good, and Feng Xiaogang listened to it and chuckled in his heart.
"1997 passed and I miss it."