"Man Jianghong" is a "suspense + comedy" genre fusion movie, which has achieved the first place at the box office of the Spring Festival stalls in 2023 and the sixth place at the box office in Chinese film history.
The movie tells the story of the remnants of the Yue family army hidden in Qin Hui's army hidden in Qin Hui's army and Qin Hui's party before the talks between Qin Hui, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the story of Yue Fei's posthumous work "Man Jianghong" being circulated in the world.
During this period, the plot was reversed many times, and several forces fought to the death in the limited space of Qin Hui's temporary camp, a large mansion. As a commercial film, if "Man Jianghong" wants to achieve the expected box office, it must carefully consider the audience's aesthetic expectations.
On the premise of respecting history, the film reconstructs the historical story and expresses it innovatively, fully considering the audience's expectation.
The film not only brings a novel and unique aesthetic experience to the audience, but also completes the creative transformation of such historical background themes from grand narratives to micro narratives, so that the audience can be more infected by the fate and choices of "little people".
In order for a film to truly generate social value, it must go to the audience, connect with the audience and achieve emotional interaction, and "Man Jianghong" has undoubtedly achieved this.
01 Surprise collision of comedians
The content of commercial films is inseparable from entertainment attributes and consumption attributes, and suspense movies and comedy films, as important genres in commercial films, naturally have strong entertainment attributes and consumption attributes.
As a result, such film productions have a wide appeal to audiences around the world. Comparatively speaking, suspense and comedy movies are more difficult to create.
For example, suspense movies require the film to have a meticulous narrative, complex and well-organized clues, and a structure that is not only complete, but also to maximize the suspense elements.
With the rapid development of the film market, the supply of domestic suspense movies continues to increase, and many high-grossing films have appeared, such as "The Devotion of Suspect X", "Detective Chinatown" series, "On the Cliff", and "Disappearing Her" released in the summer of 2023 and so on.
However, there are also some domestic suspense films that are relatively rough in production, only pursuing the sensory impact of sound and painting on the audience, or imitating foreign works and applying the narrative structure, which reduces the artistry of the film itself, and the market response is mediocre.
This not only requires the creation of domestic suspense films to require new changes, but also illustrates the difficulty of creating high-quality suspense movies.
The same is true for comedy movies, from the popularity of "Thai Embarrassment" to the later comedy films such as "Charlotte's Troubles", "Iron Fist of Shame" and "Hello, Li Huanying", which continue to create market hits, allowing practitioners to see the huge market value of comedy genre films.
The creation of comedy movies is also difficult, in addition to those excellent comedy movies that are familiar to the audience, many movies that advertise comedy have become nondescript because of the lack of creativity, and even become "farce" that is not recognized by the market.
"Suspense" and "comedy" are both popular genres with audiences and the market, and the combination of these two genres can expand the breadth of the film's content and also help to enhance the aesthetic value.
However, in actual creation, the combination of these two types of creative difficulty is a great test of the creator's skills.
Focusing too much on one aspect can be counterproductive:
pays attention to suspense, and the comedy is abrupt; Focusing on comedy leads to the reduction of suspenseful atmosphere.
Therefore, taking both into account should be regarded as the premise of this type of integrated creation.
In this sense, "Man Jianghong" is a success.
As a genre fusion film, "Man Jianghong" has excellent commercial and artistic qualities, and is also innovative in the form of the film.
The comedy elements in the film alleviate the depression and urgency brought by the suspense story, and at the same time, the tragedy and absurdity wrapped under the comedy shell can also arouse the audience's empathy.
"Man Jianghong" has made useful explorations and attempts in the integration of film genres, and it is also ingenious in casting.
comedian Shen Teng plays Zhang Da, a soldier who sacrifices his life for righteousness; Yi Yang Qianxi lost his immature student spirit and played the decisive deputy commander of the pro-military battalion Sun Jun; The traitor Qin Hui and the poisonous chief He Li are played by Lei Jiayin and Zhang Yi respectively.
It is easy for the audience to psychologically trust these professional actors who are experienced in acting.
Most of the roles played by these actors deviate from their own consistent image positioning, which makes the audience's eyes shine, innovates aesthetic expectations, and gets a different viewing experience from the past.
Compared with other types of actors, comedians are mostly able to switch emotions more freely, and their performances are free to blend between exaggeration and plainness, and they can create images with a sense of humor more flexibly and naturally.
Therefore, choosing a comedian to play in a suspense movie may seem unconventional, but it has unexpected dramatic effects. Shen Teng and Yue Yunpeng showed their excellent comedy talents in the film, and many of their live performances were used in the feature film.
Just like director Zhang Yimou's evaluation of the comedian in the film:
"They have a lot of smart and wise things, and a lot of baggage pops out between laughter and scolding on the scene, and even between a bit of an indecent atmosphere. ”
Comedians are able to adjust the atmosphere of the film and let the audience breathe a sigh of relief when the tense and oppressive atmosphere of the story reaches its climax, injecting more drama into the film while also enriching the viewer's viewing experience.
02 "Little People" and "Big Feelings" have become unexpected highlights
The movie "Man Jianghong" better balances the content of the story and the audience's aesthetic tendencies.
In terms of character building, each character is full and real, an ordinary person with both advantages and disadvantages, and witnesses the big waves in the long river of history from the perspective of the little people at the bottom.
In terms of the setting of the relationship between the characters, Sun Jun played by Yi Yang Qianxi and Zhang Da played by Shen Teng are not only subordinate relationships, but also the relationship between the third uncle and his nephew, and the traditional generational relationship is deconstructed.
When Zhang Da went to beg Commander Sun to spare his life in the tone of his nephew, he said:
"Third uncle, you can see clearly that it's me, your eldest nephew. ”
His helpless behavior made the audience laugh.
Zhang Da is very comic at the beginning of the story, and the audience doesn't know what heavy responsibilities this character can take.
He was originally an idle man, because he was inspired by Yue Fei's righteousness of "loyalty to the country" to embark on the right path and swore to follow Yue Fei to the death, and the feelings of righteousness Bo Yuntian were well interpreted in Zhang Da.
After Zhang Da told Qin Hui about the strategy of erasing the traces of the golden envoy, this character began to slowly fade away from the comedy, both good and evil, brave and strategic.
Sun Jun is a figure wandering in the gray area, his political stance and behavioral motives have been vacillating, he has killed countless people in order to protect himself in the case of mutual slaughter in the army and mutual killing of his comrades, but after Zhang Da was imprisoned, he saw his true heart clearly, and since then he has been determined to return Yue Fei's innocence and the truth of history.
At the end of the film, Sun Jun took off his armor and became himself again, he is no longer a victim of the power struggle, nor is he no longer a pawn who has no choice but to cross the river. This depiction of the psychological details and mental journey of the little people is very delicate, real and powerful.
It is precisely because of the three-dimensional portrayal of the little people in the movie that the "righteousness" embodied in them can be better presented and sublimated when they "kill themselves", so that the audience can feel the fierce generosity and heroism of these "little people".
When conveying emotions to the audience, it should not be too rigid and blunt, forcibly sensational, and only promote grand themes, but should carry out a complete image construction of small people, so that the film can move people's hearts in subtleties.
There is an important concept in Chinese philosophy and art theory, that is, to see the big from the small, to attach importance to the direct experience of the moment, to promote the beauty of simplicity and purity, and to exalt the faint and subtle atmosphere.
As an art, it is necessary for the film to naturally infiltrate the grand theme ideas, patriotism and other great feelings into the film, not just blindly and deliberately confessing and preaching, although this straightforward expression can also stimulate the audience's emotional resonance.
But in the long run, how to grasp the audience's ever-changing viewing tastes and how to prevent the audience from aesthetic fatigue when watching this type of movie requires film creators to think deeply and innovate continuously.
Although Yue Fei is not the protagonist of the movie, Yue Fei, as a historical hero with tragic colors who was born at the bottom but has established extraordinary achievements, his name has a unique attraction and appeal to ordinary audiences.
And the movie shows the loyalty of this historical hero through the fate of the little people at the bottom, and this unique perspective makes it easier for the audience to accept the emotions conveyed by the movie.
In terms of emotional expression, "Man Jianghong" pays more attention to the embodiment of common values, tells the story of big feelings from the perspective of small people, pays attention to the delicate display of characters' emotions, and highlights the good and evil in human nature.
Conveying human care is an important element of film works to impress the audience, and it is also a topic that film creators need to continue to study.
03 Poetry arrangement and singing "family and country feelings"
"Man Jianghong" starts from the "nameless" little person and points to the macro history, which provides new ideas for the narrative expression of domestic films, and also innovates and enhances the aesthetic expression of patriotism and dedication.
Not only that, "Man Jianghong" integrates a variety of traditional cultural elements such as Song Ci and Henan Opera into the film in terms of artistic expression. Although the origin of the poem "Man Jianghong, Angry Hair Rushing to the Crown" is still controversial among scholars, there is no doubt about its wide circulation and great influence.
The movie cleverly uses this poem to weave a story: let Qin Hui be the only person who has seen this Yue Fei's "masterpiece", and then pass on the lyrics through him to continue Yue Fei's loyalty, patriotism and influence.
There is no Yue Fei in the whole movie, but Yue Fei's loyalty and patriotism are highlighted everywhere. The artistic expression adopted by the film also convinces and resonates with the audience, especially the psychology of the characters close to reality and the sublimation of the feelings of the family and country at the end of the movie, which greatly improves the ideological connotation and cultural value of the film.
In the movie, the late Song Dynasty lyricist Jiang Jie's "A Cut of Plum Blossoms, Boat Crossing the Wujiang River" was also adapted into a song:
"When will I go home and wash my robes? Silver word sheng tone. The heart word incense burns. Streamers are easy to throw people away. Red cherries. Green plantains. ”
This is what Yaoqin sang to Zhang Da before she decided to die, and the cherry that the peach girl gave to Zhang Da is the brightest color in the whole movie.
This is one of the reasons and motivations for Zhang Da, Liu Xi and others to set up a situation with their lives and sacrifice their lives for righteousness, they hope that future generations can clear the clouds and live in the sun, and remember who is the loyal and righteous person who sacrificed their lives for the country.
The two Song lyrics, one for the country and the other for the family, also skillfully and implicitly convey to the audience the feelings of the family and country that the movie wants to express.