Preface
"Article 20" reflects the suffering of the lower classes of Chinese society with the experience of an ordinary person, this film directly points to the light and darkness of human nature, is a mirror that reflects the evils of the times, and is a cry for fairness and justice!
The heroine Hao Xiuping, an ordinary disabled mother, just wanted to treat her daughter's illness, but she was humiliated and tortured in despair. What happened to her is just a portrayal of thousands of people at the bottom. Can you and I stay out of the tragedies caused by all kinds of injustices? When this mirror shines on everyone, will our hearts also be shocked by it? This examination of human nature, a hazy pursuit of justice, is unfolding......
01. The plight of Hao Xiuping's family
Hao Xiuping, a woman who was born with a disability, lived the life of the most ordinary people in obscurity, until one day, the gears of fate turned silently, and her life and that of her family were swept into an unpredictable whirlpool......
Disability has brought Hao Xiuping a lot of inconvenience, and she could have chosen to rely on government subsidies to survive, but her stubbornness and perseverance made her unwilling to succumb to fate. Hao Xiuping worked hard to support herself, and even later formed a small family. Her husband, Wang Yongqiang, was also an ordinary migrant worker who worked tirelessly, and the two could have lived a small life until one day, when their daughter was born with congenital deafness......
The child's illness undoubtedly brought a heavy burden to this family, which was not wealthy. Expensive hearing aids and frequent rehabilitation treatments left them unbalanced and forced them to borrow money from friends and family to get by. Wang Yongqiang also worked overtime, but life was still stretched. Facing her daughter's blank and helpless eyes, Hao Xiuping and her husband both had red eyes. They are going through the most helpless phase of their lives.
It has been said that when a good situation is suddenly disturbed, it is the devil who is secretly waiting for an opportunity. In order to raise more medical expenses, Wang Yongqiang finally met Liu Wenjing, who had some local forces, under the introduction of a colleague. This marginal figure who has been entrenched in the shadows for many years makes a living from usury. They didn't want to deal with such shady people, but they had no choice at the moment......
Everything is gradually sliding into an unknowable abyss. And Hao Xiuping and her family didn't know what kind of cruel fate they were about to face. Liu Wenjing, this name is like the messenger of hell, the god of death quietly lurks out of people's sight, but in fact controls the fate of many little people. What kind of harm will he do to Hao Xiuping's family? How will they deal with themselves? All of this is light and light in the whirlpool of fate......
02. Hao Xiuping was violated
Wang Yongqiang found Liu Wenjing and borrowed a huge amount of money, thinking that he could solve the immediate need. However, the yoke of loan sharks has plunged him and his family into a deeper desperate situation. A few months later, Hao Xiuping found that her husband had become extremely anxious and irritable. It turned out that the date for repayment was approaching, and they were nowhere to be found......
Just as Hao Xiuping was about to discuss countermeasures with her husband, a demon that made her creepy come to visit. Seeing Liu Wenjing breaking into her house in a hurry, followed by two big men, she had a hunch that nothing good would happen. Sure enough, Liu was aggressive and wanted to recover the debt immediately, and Wang Yongqiang asked for forbearance, but was beaten violently. "You don't want to die if you want money, right?" Liu Wenjing looked angry, and just as Hao Xiuping hurriedly stepped forward to plead, the eyes that followed her suddenly became greedy and cold......
What happened next was like hellish punishment and torture for Hao Xiuping. She was forcibly violated by this demonic being in her own home, in her bedroom! From that moment on, her dignity and soul were trampled on, and the whole world collapsed before her eyes. At this moment, the wails of her family and the cries of her children are all left behind, and only the shame and grief that go deep into her bone marrow almost want to swallow her......
When it was all over, Hao Xiuping left this warm place where there was no longer a home like a walking corpse. Her eyes were blurry, and tears soaked half of her clothes. As the twilight grew thicker, the familiar street was now so unfamiliar, as if it had taken her into another cold and cruel reality. Where should she go? Will her husband, daughter, and entire family all face greater disasters? What kind of physical and mental torture will this trauma bring to them?
03. Zhao Liying's wonderful acting skills
When they knew that Zhao Liying would play Hao Xiuping, the heroine of the new movie, everyone thought that it would be another gentle female character in a romance film. After all, Zhao Liying's beautiful and sweet appearance is easy to be fixed as a standard heroine image. However, when the movie was shown and the audience saw this ordinary woman with a disability on the screen, but struggling to maintain her family, everyone was stunned......
No one can imagine that the gentle and sweet Zhao Liying can deduce this low-level woman with a tragic fate, she is so integrated into this role, as if Hao Xiuping is herself. With messy short hair, a tired face and red and swollen eye circles, Zhao Liying, who has no makeup, has successfully created a middle-aged frustrated woman who has experienced hardships and hardships.
However, when the camera switched to the clip of Hao Xiuping taking care of her disabled daughter at home, Zhao Liying's contrasting acting skills once again firmly grasped the audience. She gently stroked her daughter's hair, and her face was full of the radiance of maternal love; She patiently told her daughter stories with her mouth, and there was the warmth of family affection between her eyebrows. This is in strong contrast to the bleak and desperate faces of the previous scene, and successfully highlights the three-dimensionality and richness of the inner world of the characters.
When Hao Xiuping left like a walking dead after being violated by a bully, Zhao Liying's pale face and dull eyes moved all the audience. didn't have a single line, she just used empty eyes to express Hao Xiuping's despair. And when the camera cuts back to Hao Xiuping coming out to work again in order to earn money and pay off debts, the perseverance and fearlessness in Zhao Liying's eyes are moving. This kind of processing technique that repeatedly promotes the emotional turns of the characters highlights Zhao Liying's excellent acting skills......
04. Zhang Yimou's directing skills
When the audience thought that they would see a social film in the standard sense, director Zhang Yimou's genius stroke was eye-catching - this is a comedy with entertainment first!
That's right, incorporating comedy elements into serious social issues can be described as a difficult creative technique. Many directors tend to prefer a single emotional expression, but Director Zhang uses a light-hearted and humorous tone throughout. This makes the audience sometimes sigh and laugh during the movie, and the ups and downs of emotions are like a roller coaster.
For example, when Liu Wenjing, the villain, made his debut, Director Zhang deliberately set up a funny soundtrack; When he stared at Hao Xiuping with a beastly expression, he actually inserted a voiceover into the narration: "I accepted this beauty!" It makes people laugh and cry. This kind of banter and ridicule skillfully shatters the gloomy atmosphere and balances the rhythm of the film.
For example, in the description of Hao Xiuping's family life, Director Zhang arranged a lot of warm and humorous details: the disabled daughter is naughty, and Hao Xiuping and her husband flirt and scold each other...... These hilarious elements lighten the tone, allowing the audience to take a breather in those undercurrent transition scenes in the film, and gather strength for the next storm.
It can be seen that Director Zhang has profound skills in dealing with the suspense atmosphere. He controls the emotions of the audience with precision, like a master conductor. This clever blend of entertainment and education, lightness and depression undoubtedly makes the audio-visual experience of this film perfect! It not only allows the audience to understand the cruelty of social reality in laughter, but also allows them to find emotional balance after tragedy. This is the charm of Zhang Yimou's style, and it is also the reason why his works have endured.
05. The social significance of the film
Each of us has encountered life's problems to a greater or lesser extent, but few of us have experienced the ill-fated torture of Hao Xiuping. As a disabled woman, she could have received more care and help from the state, but after all, she fell into the darkest despair in the trough. Is this the world's attitude towards the vulnerable?
When Hao Xiuping's whole person is on the verge of collapse, when she walks on the dark streets worse than dead, do you also feel the same way, and your heart is full of questions: A disabled mother is desperate just for her children to be able to hear the voice of the world, is this what she deserves?
What happened to her is just the tip of the iceberg, how many Hao Xiuping are still struggling in the dark in reality, but no one cares. The impact of this film lies in the fact that it is not just telling a cruel story, but through these cruel lenses, it directly points to the social scars hidden beneath the surface around us.
It tells people not to turn a blind eye, this is a reality that we must face up. It makes people unable to calm down for a long time after leaving the cinema. Because Hao Xiuping's experience has made people see the terrible side of human nature, and it has also made people reflect on how to build a more fair and just society.
This is the power of cinema, which can touch the hearts of millions of people with the fate of a small person, and then trigger great social change. It can be said that "Article 20" is a mirror that reflects the evils of the times, and it is also a cry to the bright side of human nature!
epilogue
Looking back at the ups and downs of Hao Xiuping's life, we can't help but feel infinite regret and heartache for her. An ordinary person who could have lived a simple and contented life has endured such a huge trauma in the cruel reality. However, it is worth pondering that the social problems reflected in the film are not unique, and there are many people at the bottom who are experiencing the same struggle.
We cannot turn a blind eye and allow this injustice to exist. Every citizen should have their voice heard and fight for a fairer and more just society with their votes and actions. Formal equality and equality of opportunity are not enough, but substantive equity is also needed in resource allocation and institution-building. On this long road, you and I are both participants in the pursuit of social justice. Let's start from the small things around us, infect others with love and positive energy, and promote the trend of change with actions, and we will finally usher in a bright day.