Tomorrow, the first Indian film "Tuner" introduced in China this year will soon land in theaters. This "exotic wind" that blows from India every year has arrived much later this year.
You know, at this time last year, there were three films" "Mysterious Superstar", "Little Lolita's Monkey God Uncle" and "Starting Line" released in China, with a cumulative box office of 1.242 billion yuan.
The late arrival of Indian movies has also satisfied the appetite of Indian film fans.
"The Tuner", which took the lead, is not small, it is the box office dark horse of Indian films in 2018, and it has won more than $10 million in India at a cost of $4.6 million; after its release last year, the film immediately jumped to the third place in the TOP250 IMDb Indian film of all time, with a rating of 8.6. Rotten Tomatoes has a freshness rating of 100%, and the domestic Douban score is at 8.4, which has been high.
Many people call it the best suspense film of 2018, which is a brain-burning film full of reverse charm like "The Invisible Guest", and it also provides an opportunity for domestic audiences to understand the other side of Indian cinema, in addition to inspirational, song and dance, realistic issues, suspense films are also an indispensable and important part of Indian films.
Speaking of this film, we have to mention the 2010 French short film "The Tuner", written and directed by Olivier Treyne. This 14-minute short film tells a story of thrilling suspense.
Piano genius Adrian loses confidence in a contest defeat and later discovers that dressing up as a blind tuner not only earns the favor of his employers and increases his income, but also has the added "convenience" of peering into the lives of others.
French short film "The Tuner"
And all of this suddenly changed after he worked for a family that had just started a life case. The "blind man" Adrian played Schumann's "Poet's Love" under the "attention ceremony" of the dead husband and the wife of the perpetrator. After the end of the song, who lives and who dies is hidden behind the black screen...
In 2013, director Sriram Lagwan watched the short film on the recommendation of a friend. The setting of the character identity in the short film, the unpredictable direction of the story, and the condensed volume of the short film contain a lot of space for imagination and extension. Lagervan has said that this French short film is the "germ" of The Tuner.
Directly in front is director Sriram Lagwan
Although it was adapted here, and Lagwan included Olivier Treyne, who had not been directly involved in the creation, into the screenwriting team, the short film was actually just an introduction, and Ragwan made a drastic adaptation on the tone of thrilling suspense.
The protagonist of the Indian version of the story, Akash, is no longer a tuner, but a talented pianist, and the purpose of playing the blind man is more simple, that is, if the eyes cannot see, whether the piano can play better.
The protagonist, Akash
As a blind man, he "witnesses" the process of actress Simi and her lover killing her husband, which is the beginning of everything. Given Akash's identity, the Chinese translation of the title "Tuner" seems inappropriate, and the original name "Andhadhun" was biased toward blind, daring to play, and some people translated it as "Rushed".
In addition, the big reversal points in the short film can be summed up in two, Adrian playing the blind man and his entry into the crime scene. In the 139-minute "Tuner," these two reversal points are explained in the first third of the story. That is to say, the continuous reversal of the follow-up and the network of character relationships woven around Akash and the Scorpion Woman are important lessons done by Ragwan and his team.
Scorpion Woman (left) Akash (right)
Ragwan runs through the inspiration he drew from the master of suspense, Hitchcock, throughout his collective work with four other screenwriters. Lagwan said, "A good suspense movie is unpredictable, you think something is going to happen, and what happens next is completely different from what you expected, from beginning to end, it is unexpected." ”
How can it be unexpected? It's because each of us has blind spots. In order to achieve the necessary effect of each reversal, Lagwan completely synchronizes the audience's sight, perspective and amount of information known with Akash, sharing his blind spot, so he often has a thrilling emotional experience while being surprised.
Even better, 15 minutes before the end of the film, the climactic scene comes to an abrupt end. The viewer is liberated from Akash's perspective, from going through everything with him to listening to him tell stories. After experiencing 120 minutes of witness perspective, the audience returns to the audience's perspective, and who to believe in has become the biggest suspense and the most unfinished place.
As for the style of The Tuner, Lagwan borrowed from the Coen brothers' Ice Storm and the American series Ice Storm. The tone of "weird and realistic" is very much in line with the look of "Tuner" in his mind. As Ragwan puts it, "The Tuner is a creepy and funny movie that contains moments of evil and cruelty. ”
Ice Storm
The emergence of "The Tuner" also brought another kind of doubt, is Indian film also good at doing suspense films? Are the adaptations and remakes rarely seen on the big screen in China one of the mainstream forms of Indian cinema? The answer to both questions is yes.
The IMDb Indian movie TOP250 mentioned above, although it is an American website, but Indians generally have a good level of English, so this area has almost become a barometer of Indian film fans' preferences. Nearly seven of the messages on IMDb for "The Tuner" have been left by Indian compatriots, which shows the popularity of the film in India.
Looking closely at the top ten of IMDb's Indian film TOP250, in addition to "The Tuner", "Contest" (2013), "Na yakan" (1987), "Ecstasy Hero" (2017), "Black Friday" (2004), "Glitz Shackles" (1993) are all genres related to suspense, thriller and crime, and surprisingly are the favorite genres in India. In stark contrast, the most acclaimed "WrestleMania!" in the country! "Daddy" is only in ninth place.
Among them, "Contest" has grossed more than $750 million worldwide, and there is no doubt that the main audience of this Malayalam (one of the Indian languages) film is in India. Several other suspense crime films, either because of their age or because they are related to The history of India, are not highly disseminated overseas.
Contest poster
But at this point, we should understand the popularity of the suspense crime genre in India. In addition, India's imitation and application of Hollywood genre films has laid a solid foundation for the maturity and refinement of suspense crime films.
For adaptations and remakes, the Indian film industry has always maintained an open attitude. Indian versions of blockbusters such as Superman, Star Wars, and Transformers are emerging in an endless stream. Last month, Amir Khan, one of the "Three Khans" of Indian cinema, announced his appearance in the Indian version of Forrest Gump. Previously, his role in "Unknown Death" was adapted from "Fragments of Memory".
At the same time, Indian filmmakers also have a lot of ideas about East Asian films. "Infernal Affairs" has been remade for a long time; the Korean movies "Lone Agent", "Catch that Guy", "Only You" have been remade, and even the news that "Miss" will be remade; Jackie Chan's "Double Dragon Society" has been remade three times in India, spanning 1994 to 2017.
Indian Edition of Double Dragon Society
There are two reasons why I am so keen on adaptation and remake.
First, the Indian film market is too large, with 2 billion moviegoers in 2018, for example. The main force behind these 2 billion visitors is farmers, who make up 70% of its total population. Therefore, India's fares are uniformly stipulated by the state and are relatively cheap, with an increase of between RMB 5 yuan and 15 yuan.
Almost every day, 14 million people go into theaters to watch movies. Audiences need a steady stream of stories to fill the gaps in their lives. India's 1500 films a year just need to borrow foreign films to provide a source of creativity.
In addition, the situation of domestic films remaking each other often occurs. India is a multi-ethnic country, and the film industry needs to provide films for hundreds of regional languages. It often happens that a film is remade into a different language.
For example, the well-known "Three Fools Bollywood" is mainly in Hindi in northern India, and "Our Friendship Years" ("Three Fools Bollywood 2"), which has confused many people, is a remake of The Tamil language of South India.
"Three Fools Bollywood"
Second, remakes by Indian filmmakers are usually very Indian. Whether the quality is good or bad, there is always its unique label.
If you summarize the "three axes" of Indian film adaptations and remakes, it is probably from the original story to find the most characteristic places to take and embezzle, other parts can be discarded, such as "The Tuner"; the length of the film is usually extended, ranging from tens of minutes to more than an hour; love elements, songs or dances are indispensable parts when adding.
The Tuner
The upcoming "Tuner" is a successful business case polished under this Indian film system. Weakening cultural differences, absurd stories, thriller effects with black comedy, and suspense fans love the reverse narrative, presumably "The Tuner" will have a good box office performance in China, making a good start for this year's Indian import films.
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