When I walked out of the movie theater, several friends asked me on WeChat whether the movie was good or not, and what I felt after watching it, and I was gagged for a while, not knowing how to express it accurately. A simple praise sentence seems too lame, and I am worried that my evaluation will have a bias in the guidance of others. So, this psychology made me click on Baidu and search for a detailed background introduction to "auspicious and ruyi"... Speaking of the cause of shooting this movie, it is the regret that director Dapeng had when he was separated from his grandmother, and he had not returned home for many years to celebrate the New Year, and he had the idea of making a movie about how to celebrate the New Year. But before everything was ready to start shooting, the news suddenly came that Grandma was hospitalized due to illness, which also made the extended family centered on Grandma face an unprecedented test. After experiencing many difficulties and finally with the support of his family, Dapeng decided to transfer the protagonist of the story to Wang Jixiang, the "third uncle" who spent the most time with his grandmother, and continued the shooting.
The vast majority of the audience, like me, after watching this film, subverted the impression of Dapeng's previous comedians, and what Dapeng did was not comedy? I can say to you responsibly: when you watch this film, your feelings about it are not honey, if not necessarily arsenic.
Movie posters
So, what kind of movie is "Auspicious Ruyi"?
Speaking of director Dapeng, I think everyone's expectation for "Auspicious Ruyi" is that they will watch a comedy with a lot of laughter, and indeed, Dapeng, a name that has long been labeled. From the earliest talk show "Dapeng Bo Bar" to the "Di Si Men" that later made the "Big Health" meme a popular culture, as well as "Pancake Man", "Sewing Machine Band... Dapeng's name grew like Shen Teng on the audience's laughter. However, this time brought a great sense of disparity to the audience, although the film is not sensational, but it is real enough to be close to the rural reality. Family conflicts, survival problems, trapped in this life.
In summary, it is a documentary family film with a certain authorship. The theme is full of meaning and local atmosphere. Most of the lines are mainly dialects, except for the heroine, almost all of them are vegans, which is also a point that amazes me. For a moment, you will feel that Dapeng has broken the line between image and reality, and the film and the audience have a kind of soul exchange.
The film is divided into two parts: "Auspicious" and "Ruyi". "Auspicious" tells the story of a Spring Festival reunion, Dapeng exists as a "director" in this part; and in "Ruyi", Dapeng plays himself, from "photographer" to "filmed", the film behind the scenes becomes the film content, the expression of the same story "mirror image", the novel form of Director Dapeng can be said to break the traditional film art form, although it is a private record image, it is also the epitome of thousands of Chinese families.
Promotional posters
Faced with the death of an old mother and who else to take care of Wang Jixiang, who has suffered brain damage, a large family has launched a conflict and reconciliation within the family. These plots are both life-and-death stops that occur every day in ordinary rural Chinese families, and dramatic arrangements deliberately chosen by director Dapeng.
In the film, everything erupts at the moment when the traditional flavor of "Chinese New Year's Eve rice" is the strongest, and the words of the second uncle in the film are prickly, and "Li Li" cannot raise her head in front of the elders, and has to prostrate her head to express guilt. This is a test of the comprehensive ability of actor Liu Lu, who integrates into the characters under the documentary conditions of "one pass" and "ends" the scene in this way. Although the words of relatives became more and more intense, in fact, everyone was just talking in a hurry, and there was no malice. Both sides also have their own difficulties, brothers and sisters have their own families, "Lili" also has a family and career, everyone is helpless, and taking care of auspiciousness has become a burden. Perhaps before the grandmother was born, as a mother, taking care of her son was a permanent role, and a milk compatriot would not abandon it. Grandma must know that she can't fall, and the most she can't let go of is auspiciousness. But when Grandma is no longer capable of acting, she has to let go, and the care between siblings is not a long-term solution, and the burden of taking care of the auspicious naturally falls on "Li Li". This is the only child of this generation, the real dilemma that adulthood will inevitably face, can not escape, the pressure of the inverted pyramid pension is so sudden. Although some relatives expressed great understanding: "It is not difficult to take care of one of the four." ”
The image is from a movie
The implementation of China's one-child policy for many years has led to the discontinuation of the big family of brothers and sisters who are related by blood, and this generation has rarely had a big family like the previous generation. The care problem of the elderly is the burden of this generation of only children, and it is perceptual to think that parents raise us as adults, take care of parents until they are old, and feedback the grace of parenting is a natural thing. In reality, the road to care is long, and the only child who works outside the home has limited energy and no time to take care of it. As parents continue to enter retirement age, their pension problems begin to appear. In this way, the film also shows the significance of multiple sets of contradictions and opposites, both the old generation and the middle-aged generation, the middle-aged generation and the young generation, as well as the opposition between a milk compatriot and an only child, and the opposition between the declining countryside and the city. Wang Jixiang, as a generation sandwiched between the old and the young, also hides the current situation of aging in the rural areas of Northeast China. Everyone took a group photo in front of their homes, and the slogan on the wall read, "Implement a comprehensive two-child policy to promote balanced population development." "In a word.
The content that can be discussed and extended in the film is very rich, and it is worth reflecting on whether the distance between us and our families is close enough.
As we work outside, we must cherish the "third uncle" who always wants to go back and have a few drinks with him.
After watching the movie, the most intuitive feeling is to witness a parental short and family dispute from the perspective of a bystander. In a way, that's exactly the life that every "I" who is wandering in the big city at this moment wants to escape. In the film, Wang Lili, the auspicious biological daughter, hid in another room to look at her mobile phone when she was facing the family's quarrels about where to go for her father, and did not dare to face it. At this time, the actor Liu Lu, who played her, had already had an emotional breakdown. But Wang Lili and Jixiang's siblings face a very practical problem - who will take care of Jixiang. After her father's brain problem, Wang Lili was taken away by her mother and did not return to her hometown for ten years. If she took her father back to the city to take care of her, whether she had the ability to do so or not, the quality of life would definitely plummet. The same is true of auspicious brothers and sisters, who are very old and have their own families, and taking care of an old man is an extra burden on themselves and their children.
auspicious
Insiders and outsiders have different moods.
Unlike the 2018 "Auspicious" short film, "Auspicious Ruyi" shifted the focus to the younger generation, and the two short films combined to complete the record of the plight of two generations. What I can't forget is that it's talking about the life of our generation that can't be escaped. We come out of the world of our fathers and establish our own lives in the city; first, Wang Lili cannot escape by pretending to look at her mobile phone all her life; second, her life is not auspicious and satisfactory, nor can we escape.
Dapeng filming scene
I majored in journalism and communication in college, and I know a little bit about the art of photography. Seriously, it's not an easy thing to do with private images, whether it's a record or a plot. Private videos inevitably inject a lot of personal experience and emotion, and then nakedly show it to the audience, which is tantamount to self-harm. When the audience watches the image, it will establish a direct connection with the creator, and the empathy effect will be amplified. It's like listening to a friend of your own tell about his past and empathize with his experiences, shedding tears, it's a hard thing to do. So back to the original intention of the creation, Dapeng you have been doing comedy before, why did you think of making such a movie? Yeah, he just wanted to take a picture of his grandmother's New Year.
Both kinds of reunions face the suffering related to relatives, both lives are the same can not change the most cruel parting in the world, behind the name of "auspicious and happy" is a deepest sustenance and wish for the feelings we most attach to and rely on, the deceased rests in peace, and the living are strong. As long as we are alive, we must bravely find a better way out, so that every day will become a witness and prayer for life.
In the end, "Third Uncle" is the most untouchable gentle township in our hearts, he represents the family, represents the memory represents understanding, and represents the motivation for us to work hard outside, we are not to make the family live better and make every reunion more long.
I think this film has gone beyond the scope of "movie", Dapeng projected a heavy private emotion without doubt to complete such a record: "Auspicious" used a little director intervention to record a series of chain reactions caused by the death of an old mother in this ordinary northeastern rural family, and "Ruyi" then through "recording" this record, starting from the most authentic perspective, and finally reached the depth of human emotions, bringing empathy, so that the audience can feel the value of universal affection.
I also hope that the epidemic will end as soon as possible and that the drifting people will go home early. May all families be happy and healthy, and may everyone who is working hard outside be auspicious!