Last year's Golden Horse, good films were released frequently.
"Removing the Three Evils Everywhere" and "Old Fox" have won a good reputation.
Recently, another award-winning work has been launched.
It was this movie that helped actor Wu Kangren, defeat popular players such as Ruan Jingtian and Xu Guanghan, and won the Golden Horse Award in one fell swoop.
Today, Uncle Yu is here to talk to you about it-
"Fudu Youth"
The biggest attraction of this film is undoubtedly Wu Kangren.
At last year's Golden Horse Awards, he was shortlisted for the first time and won the Best Actor trophy.
For a time, the scenery is the same.
As the pillar of the new generation of Taiwanese film and television, Wu Kangren has been praised by many big names in the industry.
Not long ago, "social fear" Tony Leung praised in a high-profile manner-
"I really admire Wu Kangren."
"He's so good."
Ang Lee also praised Wu Kangren's performance in "Fudu Youth" backstage at the Golden Horse Awards.
A thumbs up and a piece of loyal advice:
"I'd rather make mistakes than boring. 」
Such a simple sentence aroused a strong resonance with Wu Kangren.
If you look back at his acting career, you can find that this sentence is almost a true portrayal of his past.
Wu Kangren's early acting career was not smooth.
He has not been systematically studied, and he has taken on many small roles.
It wasn't until the success of the idol drama "Next Stop, Happiness" in 2009 that he really tasted the joy of acting.
In 2015, Wu Kangren ushered in a turning point in his acting career.
The three starring dramas have been broadcast successively, and all of them have a good reputation.
"Outbound Office", about the funeral industry.
"Anesthesia Storm" focuses on the medical system.
"A Handful of Green" shows the ups and downs of fate in turbulent times.
A series of outstanding performances have made many people really know the actor Wu Kangren.
After becoming famous, he also just caught up with the transition period of Taiwanese dramas.
Sweet bubble idol dramas have become history, and reality-focused themes have entered the mainstream.
Wu Kangren's insistence on "not boring" has made him one of the most eye-catching Taiwanese actors in recent years.
"The Distance Between Us and Evil," a human rights lawyer who defends death row prisoners.
Even if he is not understood by his family and arouses the anger of the people, he still insists on his pursuit of democracy and the rule of law.
In "The Raising of a Vulgar Girl", he is the heroine's irresponsible uncle.
There are not many scenes, but the image of a selfish and hard-working loser is vividly displayed.
and then to "She and Her Her", he became a perverted sexual harasser.
The moment the true face of the well-dressed beast is revealed, it instantly makes people physically uncomfortable.
When it came to "In My Life", everyone seemed to have forgotten that he was still a "pervert" not long ago.
In front of him, he has become a young man who is a waste of wood.
Of course, Wu Kangren is not all masterpieces.
In addition to those popular works and characters, there are also some works with a bad reputation.
However, these correspond to his own choices.
It's better to make mistakes and learn from them, rather than being limited to the same type of characters and themes.
That's why he has a lot of faces.
Doctors, lawyers, prosecutors, psychopaths, etc., and even ordinary people who have nothing.
even played a "casual queen" in "The Beginning of the Lights".
This time in "Fudu Youth", it is another big attempt.
From the characters, to the subject matter, to the core expression, it is different from the past.
Wu Kangren's past accumulation has been released in this movie.
Wu Kangren was able to win the Golden Horse actor this time, relying on a hearing-impaired character.
There are almost no lines in the whole film, and it all relies on sign language to communicate.
Such a role is also the first time for him.
Disability characters have always been easy to impress and have been recognized by performance awards.
Tony Leung once played a deaf and mute man in "City of Sadness", which went down in history along with the movie.
Last year's big hit domestic drama "The Long Season" made Jiang Qiming, who played the mute, out of the circle.
Wu Kangren's role this time has something special.
The character he plays is called Abang, and he lives with his younger brother Adi.
Because the two do not have Malaysian citizenship, they can only do low-level jobs and make a living.
To put it bluntly, it's a black household, and you can't do a serious job.
Abang kills chickens in the market and does the work when he has it.
Always hard working and hard work.
During his lunch break, he only nibbles on bread.
The Indian immigrants next to him couldn't stand it, and they were kind enough to share some sauce with Abang.
Abang doesn't have much in mind, and has only one goal in mind.
That is to help himself and his younger brother get legal citizenship and have a stable life.
That's enough.
The younger brother Adi is the opposite.
He is bent on making money, whether the means are glorious or not.
Adi has never understood his brother's desire for stability.
Sometimes, there is even a clear sense of resistance.
He doesn't care about identity, he only cares if the brothers can survive.
In this way, the emotional connection between the brothers has become the most inked part of this film.
Although the two have different ideas, Abang has always understood his brother's mind very well.
His partiality and love for his younger brother are condensed in those daily details.
Every day, the two eat together.
Abang boiled two eggs, one for each of the brothers.
Sit down at the table and break eggshells on each other's heads.
This move has long become a tacit understanding between the two.
Abang also gave the shirt he had tried on to his brother to wear.
Obviously he fits better, but Adi is wearing too big.
But Abang still insisted that his brother wear it.
In his opinion, if his younger brother wants to have a good job, he must dress well.
It is his responsibility to make his brother's life better.
Wu Kangren's natural acting skills make people feel that the actor and the role are one.
Unable to speak, he only relies on body language and facial expressions to convey the emotions hidden in his heart.
Most of the time in the movie, Abang's eyes are in a state of numbness.
Godless, resigned to fate, unable to see the future.
When it was about his younger brother, his eyes flashed again.
In the face of volunteers who are enthusiastic to help them solve problems, they will always show a rare sunny and gentle side.
The most brilliant scene is the scene where Abang meets the mage in prison.
In just a few minutes, Wu Kangren deduced the multiple emotional changes of the character.
At first, he was dismissive.
Hand in hand, I have no relatives and no reason, what's the use of talking to the mage.
Subsequently, he became confused.
He couldn't understand why his life was like this.
All I want is to be loved.
Later, he became angry.
Angry about your origins, angry at your hearing, angry at your life.
He was angry that he was born without a future.
In the end, Abang was relieved.
After a short period of catharsis, it returned to its original indifference.
Having said that, it doesn't change the status quo.
For a while, Uncle Yu almost forgot that Wu Kangren was not hearing-impaired.
From his demeanor to his body movements, he is very well controlled.
Especially when he screams "I want to die" in a muffled voice and repeats it over and over again, at that moment, anyone will be shaken by his expressiveness.
The life experience of the past few decades has given him the ability to skillfully control various roles.
The role of Abang seems to be an inevitable result of his acting for so many years.
Aside from the lines, it is all about body movements that can present us with a vivid character.
and then made the whole movie shine a lot because of him.
Wu Kangren's participation in this film is not just because of the character's hearing-impaired identity.
At a deeper level, the film projects a focus on the low-level Chinese in Malaysia.
The most valuable thing about "Fudu Youth" is that it broadens the horizons of Chinese films.
The problem of illegal foreign workers in Malaysian society is extremely serious.
In 2021, it was reported that there were as many as 1.2 million to 1.4 million illegal foreign workers in Malaysia.
Such a large group naturally leads to various social problems.
Because they are easy to get caught without identity, they often live in remote areas.
Just like the "Fudu" in the movie, it is a gathering place for foreign workers.
And the living environment is naturally not much better.
The dwellings are small and the environment is dirty and messy.
It's like in the Abang brothers' house, there is only a dim lamp, and the two of them squeeze into a bed.
has no identity, which makes these foreign workers live in fear every day.
They can only do the lowest level of labor.
When you see the police, you subconsciously just want to run.
They don't get the respect they deserve.
At the beginning of the film, Abang was given less money after finishing his work.
It is because the boss has no fear, it is expected that these foreign workers will not go to the police and ask for trouble.
It can be seen that the whole society is full of discrimination and prejudice against them.
The survival dilemma shown in the movie is only the tip of the iceberg in reality.
In fact, these foreign workers in Malaysia support the country's low-end labor industry.
But as a result, prejudice and discrimination have deepened.
Locals and foreigners are treated differently, and the oppressed latter can only dare to be angry.
The oppression of foreign workers has almost become an unspoken rule of the entire society.
The government that is supposed to be in charge has turned a blind eye.
The government both needs them and rejects them.
Once you start it, it's very harsh.
This is all in response to the sentence said in the film:
"At first the government let them in, and now it's arresting them. 」
Such a story background makes people sigh.
In recent years, the Golden Horse Awards have continued to expand their horizons to Chinese-language films outside of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The Best Film at the 50th Golden Horse Awards was awarded to the Singaporean Chinese film "Parents Are Not Home".
At the 58th Golden Horse Awards, "American Girl", which won Best New Director, focused on the cultural conflict caused by Chinese Americans returning to their hometowns.
Another example is "Nanwu", which won the best new director at the 57th Golden Horse Awards.
It's a Malaysian thriller.
The expansion of horizons can undoubtedly inject new blood into Chinese films.
It also allows us to see the stories of different Chinese groups in different corners of the world.
This is precisely one of the important values of film art.
With the help of the screen, you and I can see different, but similar.