It is almost the New Year, and when I think of the New Year, all kinds of joyful New Year's greeting words unconsciously jump into my mind. Happy New Year, Wishing you prosperity, Happy Family, Happy New Year...
Although this Spring Festival may be many foreigners will respond to the call to fight the epidemic and stay at work for the New Year, they cannot say "auspicious and happy" to their relatives and friends in their hometown, but everyone's heart for reunion is the same. Being able to go home more is the common wish of the wandering wanderers.
Recently, there is a movie that is closely related to the Spring Festival from the title to the content - "Auspicious Ruyi", from a series of stories of a large family in the northeast returning home for the New Year, through the screen to take us back to the real hometown without mannerisms and full of local atmosphere.
In a village in Ji'an City, Jilin Province, the white snow covers the entire village, the empty country lanes look a little cold, and the red lanterns and red couplets on the gates reveal a hint of the new year. Together, this simple and realistic picture outlines a simple idea of home.
The place where the story of the film takes place is the hometown of the director of this film, Dapeng Dapeng, yes, it is the director and actor Dapeng Dong Chengpeng that we are familiar with. But this time, his "Auspicious Ruyi" has nothing to do with the comedy genre he was good at before.
The origin of the story is that Dapeng is preparing to make a literary film related to his family, and the protagonist of the story is his grandmother, and what is the specific shooting?
In Dapeng's original plan, it was to photograph some of the things that happened between two generations of different women during the New Year. So he hired actress Liu Lu to play himself.
Yes, you read that right, Dapeng found an actress to play herself.
"In fact, Liu Lu originally played the role of me, a north drift away from home for many years, a dialogue between women and women in different generations. That's why I wanted to make this film in the first place. "In Dapeng's plan, the core of the story is like this.
But this plan was soon shattered by reality, and Grandma suddenly fell seriously ill and fell into a coma.
After difficult discussions and adjustments, the main line of the whole story has completely changed, revolving around Wang Jixiang, the third son of Grandma.
After Grandma became seriously ill, did the third son, who suffered from mental disabilities and needed to be cared for for many years, live with a sibling, follow his daughter who had not seen each other for ten years to the big city, or go to a nursing home?
The story has changed, and the role played by Liu Lu, the only actor in the whole story, has also changed, becoming Wang Jixiang's girlfriend Wang Lili.
But the only constant is the form of the whole story that has long been confirmed.
"In 2016, when I decided to do this, the structure of the film was determined, and I was very clear about doing the auspicious ruyi that I am doing now."
"It has two crews, one crew to shoot "Auspicious", and the other crew to shoot how I shoot "Auspicious", which is "Ruyi"."
The idea is wonderful, and the most unique thing about the whole film is this exquisite idea.
The film is divided into two paragraphs: "Auspicious" and "Ruyi". Even the initial screening was "Auspicious" as a short film to meet the audience first.
The first half of "Auspicious" won the best short film for Dapeng at the 2018 Golden Horse Awards.
By the time the second half is completely edited, it will be two years later.
For two years, Dapeng's main job was editing, and more than half of the editing was spent fighting against the emotions that rolled in when facing the material.
Because he recorded a family event that was closely related to himself, and even included the whole process of his grandmother's death.
This bursting emotion of pain is constantly awakened-coped-re-awakened in the edit again and again.
This is the process of Dapeng as a director constantly emotionally dying with Dapeng as a grandson.
Of course, the uniqueness of "Auspicious Ruyi" in structure makes it difficult to be defined, if you have to say it, it can be regarded as a very novel reality film, and at the same time has a profound reality background and humanistic observation.
The first half of it is an extremely realistic pseudo-documentary, in which the only actor, Liu Lu, plays Wang Lili, The daughter of Wang Jixiang, who has not returned home for ten years.
In this highly hypothetical story situation, "Auspicious" has a sense of realism that breaks through the dramatic attributes.
Every character in the film is not performing, but living and feeling.
Even actress Liu Lu makes it difficult to tell whether she is an actress or a member of the family.
In this story film, realism has become the strongest trait.
The second half of "Ruyi", a veritable documentary, honestly records the entire process of filming the first half of "Ruyi", including the fierce conflict and quarrel between the family members who suddenly broke out in the middle.
However, the paradox is that "Ruyi", as a documentary with no story setting, has a stronger drama than "Auspicious".
Story and reality achieve a certain contrast between these two short films. For the audience, this is definitely an unattainable movie experience.
Sure enough, life is the best director.
In "Ruyi", we see that Wang Lili, who had not returned home for ten years, suddenly returned after learning that someone was going to play herself in a movie.
Yes, it is Wang Lili, played by Liu Lu, who really came back.
Drama and reality intersect with the real Wang Lili in the play.
Liu Lu, the only professional actor in the film, became a member of that family during the entire filming process, collapsing and crying, and the real state not only made it difficult for us to identify her as an actor.
Even Liu Lu herself also showed a strong sense of identity substitution in "Ruyi", and she really regarded herself as Wang Lili in "Auspicious".
Look at the real family member Wang Lili herself in "Ruyi". The state she presents is significantly different from Liu Lu's state in "Auspicious". In the affection for the father, there is affection and warmth, but at the same time it is also full of alienation and escape from real problems.
That's interesting.
The actors act too realistically, but the archetypal characters look at it coldly.
The authenticity of this drama and the drama of reality form a very strong dislocation, colliding with a new viewing experience.
Half is "Auspicious" and half is "Ruyi".
In this feature film "Auspicious Ruyi" combined from "Auspicious" and "Ruyi", there is no baggage and joke about our stereotype of Dapeng, it is the most trivial and real appearance about hometown and life.
"Auspicious Ruyi" is a story and a life.
And when the live screening of "Auspicious" in the China Film Archive was cut into the main film, the boundary between drama and life was completely broken.
The audience changed from spectators to performers.
Drama and life, in the theater to see and be seen in a complete a kind of integration.
In the snow-capped Northern Spring Festival, "Auspicious Ruyi" presents the truth of the hometown in such a unique and subtle way.
It uses this invasive way to let us penetrate the warm intention of home and seriously think about the responsibility and commitment of home.
It is no exaggeration to say that it is the most stunning Chinese film of the whole month.
Even, in the entire 2021 Chinese Top Ten sequence, "Auspicious Ruyi" will have its place.