Movie: "Auspicious"
Genre: Drama, Family, Documentary
Director: Dong Chengpeng
Starring: Wang Jixiang, Dong Chengpeng, Liu Lu
Release date: January 29, 2021
Awards: The 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival main competition unit - Golden Jubilee Award For Best Film Finalist
"Auspicious Ruyi" a feature film directed by Dong Chengpeng is also a documentary, with actors participating in a real family life, and the script that has not been prepared in advance is a very real and private family story. But it doesn't feel like an ordinary movie, the first half is a complete short film, called "Auspicious", the second half is the process of shooting short films, called "Ruyi", together called "Auspicious Ruyi".
This film is different from Dong Chengpeng's (Dapeng) previous comedy works, the style has changed greatly, and he has also ushered in a large wave of word-of-mouth praise. But this film looks uncomfortable, maybe a clearly talented person suddenly does not want to "fake hi", but wants to say something serious, suddenly come so suddenly, a little suddenly.
On the one hand, the first half of the film gives people the feeling of being too real and cruel, these stories are all things that happen in the daily life of ordinary people, life, old age, illness, death, sadness and joy, are all major events in life, and every family is playing a similar drama. On the other hand, not wanting to go so deep into the family life of a stranger gives a sense of oppression to expose oneself.
The background of the story is about this, originally the director wanted to go back to his hometown to record how the grandmother's family in the countryside spent the Spring Festival and shoot a lively and festive reunion story. As a result, on the eve of the Spring Festival, my grandmother suddenly fell ill and died, the shooting plan was disrupted, and the family gathered because of the film also ushered in a profound family conflict at the moment of reunion of thousands of families.
The most impressive thing in the film is a line that Wang Jixiang repeatedly recites: "Wenwu Xianggui, one two four five", representing four brothers and sisters, the eldest brother Wang Jiwen, the second brother Wang Jiwu, Xiang is the fourth elder, but also the director's mother, Gui is the fifth, Wang Jixiang is the third. Originally, Wang Jixiang was the chief of the security section in the oil field, and was the person who contributed the most to the family in the first twenty years, but because of the illness brain was burned out, it became the IQ of a child, the wife strongly advocated divorce and took her daughter Wang Qingli away, Wang Jixiang returned to his hometown to be taken care of by the old mother and the second family, after the sudden death of the old mother, Wang Jixiang's raising problem became the core of the family conflict.
In addition to Liu Lu, you can occasionally see the cramped uneasiness of ordinary people facing the camera, interspersed with independent interviews with their families, which is to record the true story of their families. The contradictions in this story are real, even unsolvable, and the director cannot solve the family conflicts as a family member, but he will ask the actors to use their own strength to promote the development of the story and see how things will develop.
In the ice and snow, Liu Lu changed his name to Wang Qingli and began a painful spiritual journey. This actor's eyebrows are a little serious, grumpy, cold, a little arrogant, and she looks quite atmospheric, like a big woman, and her performance in this film is reminiscent of her previous film and television dramas.
In the previous popular network suspense drama "He is coming, please close your eyes", it is the TV series that has achieved Huo Jianhua's "eyelash essence" and made him a walking picture. At that time, Liu Lu played Lin Yuxuan, a strong woman in the workplace, who hid many secrets of illegal crimes, which were capable and cold on the surface, but in fact, they were also used very badly. Playing Junko Yamamoto, a Japanese in the TV series "The Pretender", is also a similar character.
Later, in the movie "Mountains and Rivers Old Man" again saw her, she is the second male Liangzi's wife XiaoLu, from the urban white-collar worker to the wife of the migrant boy, husband Liangzi did not compete with Zhang Jinsheng, unable to face the beloved woman Shen Tao, so he went to other places to work and dig coal, got a very serious lung disease, and soon died. She ran with her husband everywhere, holding the child everywhere she went, and taking care of her dying husband, not much to say, quite miserable.
In the movie "Auspicious Ruyi", Liu Lu wants to join a real family as an actor, she must play Wang Qingli well, complete the shooting task, and forget that she is "acting", otherwise she will not be able to integrate into this family. If you look closely at her performance, most of the time she is bowed and silent, especially when the elders are arguing fiercely, a particularly strong sense of powerlessness, as if she really wants to solve this contradiction, as if she is the culprit of this contradiction.
What is even more unexpected is that during the shooting, Wang Qingli, who has not returned home for ten years, returned. In the lens outside the film lens, the real Wang Qingli pulling her father Wang Jixiang is naturally close, not as "expressive" as in the short film, that is, it must bring a certain emotion and express what meaning. Wang Qingli herself is silent about the reason for not returning for ten years, and seems to be less committed to how to solve the problem of raising her father Wang Jixiang.
As a result, the only actor in the film, Liu Lu, is more like "Wang Qingli", she has to soberly carry out the director's orders and show the content she wants, so it seems that she is more involved in the play than "Wang Qingli" who sits on the side. In particular, Liu Lu knelt in front of a group of "relatives" and ran out of control to another room to cry, while the real "Wang Qingli" sat on the side and brushed his mobile phone, what a wonderful scene.
Probably this is filming, after the camera is turned off, this "home" has nothing to do with Liu Lu. Turn on the camera, you can see what you want to see, turn off the camera, life is still alive.