"Preach in the text." --Tang Tears"
In 2008, "Mei Lanfang" directed by Chen Kaige was released.
The mainland box office of 117 million, ranking eighth in the year, this result is actually not bad, but the Douban score is only 6.9, which is a very failure for an influential biography film.
Simple a feeling, a movie, see two plays, but not fused, but pieced together.
"Farewell to the Overlord" and "Half-Life".
I have always believed that no matter from which point of view, as a director, Chen Kaige must be powerful.
At least, the texture of his images is not to be said.
For example, in the first 52 minutes of this "Mei Lanfang", the chapters of the young Mei Lanfang and Thirteen Yans are compact in plot and the rules are like rules, which makes people grab it.
The only place that feels a little flawed is the kind of unsophisticated Geng Of the teenager Mei Lanfang, which is slightly unreal, so that the character personality is not so full, and later when Dawn first appeared, the look when he spoke still had a similar performance, which was deliberately emphasized by the director, but did not feel properly handled.
As a biography of the character, I can understand the practice of seeking perfection, but frankly, no flawlessness is not the best policy, Mei Lanfang is not only a master of Beijing opera, but also a flesh-and-blood character, too inedible to human fireworks, bringing a hint of delusion.
And the texture, rhythm and scheduling of the first 52 minutes, like "Overlord Farewell", which may also be the consensus of most people.
Wang Xuexi deserves a sentence of the best in the whole film, it is simply the resurrection of the living thirteen Yan, a year later, his skills and performance in "October Siege" shocked a number of Hong Kong actors, and the role of Zhu Di in the TV series "Daming Fenghua" in the past two years has also shown his skills.
Others, such as Sun Honglei, Yingda and Wu Gang, needless to say, are all characters that can be played as monkeys with hair.
So if the film is moderately expanded based on these 52 minutes, and then the second half is made into the next episode, at least one of them may be able to help Chen Kaige correct his name.
But now or can only be called, a small half of the classic.
All the rhythms suddenly changed after Dawn and Chen Hong appeared.
The texture of the first half of the section recedes like a tide, and the non-cannibalistic fireworks of the famous Peking Opera have become chicken and garlic skin.
Of course, you can understand that the first half of the scene is on stage, and the second half is offstage.
As far as the performance is concerned, Chen Hong's role is decent, and there is no special plot for her to play, and the appearance of Dawn brings the audience directly into "Half Life", yes, the first impression is Shen Shijun, not Mei Lanfang.
It's okay to get older, everyone will get older.
Mei Lanfang stepped into middle age from youth, after the wind and rain, but should not even erase the spirituality of the character, only the fear of the internal state, in the face of anyone is a light and light introverted, after watching for a long time, it shows deliberateness.
The scene with Meng Xiaodong is even more introverted to the point of almost no reaction, Zhang Ziyi's affection and eyes seem to be thrown to others, but it has also forcibly become a kind of "life and death" meaning, which is really embarrassing to see, but more embarrassing is still behind.
A casual costume play exposes the defects of Dawn's body and body language, especially compared with Yu Shaoqun, Wang Xuexi and Zhang Ziyi in the play, which is simply a disaster.
The ups and downs of Mei Lanfang's second half of life and the sense of accumulation from history are gone.
Go back in time to the shadow path of dawn.
Starting from "Urban Love" in 1994, he found the right direction, focused on breakthroughs in literary and art films, and successively laid the status of literary and artistic students with films such as "Fallen Angel", "Sweet Honey" and "Half-Life", "City of Glass", and in 2002, he took the lead in winning the Golden Horse Film Emperor Award in the Four Heavenly Kings with "Three More Homecoming", during which there was also a commercial film "True Heart Hero" by Du Qifeng, which can be described as a good situation.
After the conquest of the emperor, there is actually no shortage of resources, "Double Male", "Infernal Affairs 3: The Ultimate Infinity" and "Seven Swords" have begun filming, but from this time on, the adduction and solidification of his performances have become more and more serious, reaching its peak in 2008's "Jiangshan Beauty" and "Mei Lanfang".
In fact, curing is not terrible.
The terrible thing is to lose the ability to create new roles, an actor, if he plays any role, will always use the same means to shape, more lack of explosiveness and emotional tension, how can the audience be convinced?
When your characters are completely the same except for their names and costumes, they will inevitably be abandoned by the audience.
Just as the movie says, Thirteen Yan did not lose to Mei Lanfang, but to the times.
Therefore, actors must maintain their creative passion and ability.
It is a pity that Dawn not only did not, but also strides backwards, the explosive tension in "Dragons And The Seas", the unruly in "Urban Love", the dashing handsomeness in "Fallen Angels" and the gentleman In "True Heart Hero", these flashes in his career are all worn away in time, leaving only the introverted expression of "Sweet Honey" and "Half Life".
Extrinsic factors aside.
In any case, the movie "Mei Lanfang" is an enviable resource of the year.
But it failed to help Dawn reach the top again.
It ends up being a Waterloo.
What a pity.