Director Huo Jianqi who I have always admired, what's wrong with you?
When I was studying in Japan, I learned about the director Huo Jianqi. Because at that time, the box office of "The Mountain, the Man, and the Dog" not only surpassed the Japanese box office of "My Father and Mother" directed by Zhang Yimou, but also was repeatedly asked for additional screenings by many audiences, and the spread was very wide. So when I accidentally talked to Japanese classmates about outstanding Chinese filmmakers, what they blurted out was the name of director Huo Jianqi.
After watching Director Huo's latest work "Shadow Follow Your Heart", I can't help but feel bitter. The director who once felt the most warmth and the most sincere emotion in his heart! Are you in line with the contemporary young people’s taste for melons and dog blood, to open up the box office and the market, and to abandon your original intention and tone of filming?
What kind of charm does the highly praised "Nashan, Man and Dog" of Huo Dao have before, will it be a Chinese reverse export work that will be paid by many Japanese audiences?
I think there are two reasons. First of all, this film not only captures the pristine beauty of the southern countryside, it is as beautiful as a postcard, and it perfectly shows the great scenery of China. Secondly, the beautiful human nature of closeness, mutual trust, and mutual assistance between people is fully demonstrated. Even the implicit and prolonged relationship between father and son, which the Chinese are not good at expressing, was also shown by Huo Dao with progressive changes in details, which made people cry, and subtly made the audience self-reflection on the affection.
I still remember that after watching this Chinese original soundtrack with Japanese subtitles "The Mountain, the Man and the Dog", I walked out of the theater, and I went to the emerald green international telephone booth at the first time, just to make a call and listen to it. The voice of the family.
According to reports, Huo's "The Mountain, the Man, and the Dog" is particularly competitive. It was also designated as an educational film by some government agencies and individual parties in Japan, requiring subordinate staff to watch it. Moreover, for a period of time, all posters of this work were posted on the outdoor wall of the Japan Post Office.
If "The Mountain, The Man, and the Dog" is a Chinese work that makes me feel proud when I live abroad, then the director Huo Jianqi's "Like a Shadow with Your Heart" has made me feel awkward. Heart movie.
I even thought that this might be a film by another director with the same name. But seeing the very personal colors, art, and the angles and applications of some distant shots, etc., I had no choice but to force myself to believe that this is the work of the director Huo I once knew and appreciated.
Speaking of the plot story of "Shadow Follow Your Heart", it is both dogmatic and crooked. Moreover, the three views of this work are not correct, which is simply better than "A Story More Sad Than Sad", which I have complained about before.
The actor played by Chen Xiao has a wife and children, and the heroine played by Du Juan also has a husband. However, they both turned their backs on each other's family directly and frankly in the name of "true love". To be honest, this kind of conception of being unable to control one's own desires, and nicknamed "love", really makes people feel very compelled.
"Shadow with Heart" is outrageous not only the collapse of the three views, but also some of the plot settings. Those plots seem to me to be weird and unbelievable.
For example, the sex scene between the male protagonist and his wife is simply the most exotic and passionate scene I have ever seen. When the fire was dry, after the woman took the lead, she did not perform any actions, but instead chanted poems. The man feels helpless and controls the woman, wanting to continue the intimacy between husband and wife. I don't want the woman to reflexively occupy the dominant position, then intoxicated by chanting poetry, and finally abruptly recite the man out of interest. Even if this is a literary and artistic drama, it shouldn’t have set up such an extremely embarrassing “literary and artistic” approach, right? The wife of the protagonist
is played by Ma Su. It was also because of the strong contrast in this movie that made me feel for the first time that Ma Su's acting skills are so professional. She brought such a wonderful role to life, and she performed it with great integrity. There is another plot of
, the heroine husband played by Hua Shao. After the heroine cheated and filed for divorce, not only did he not feel angry, but began to analyze dopamine and the feeling of "love" in the human species. Chemical synthesis. The series of machine-gun speeches made me jump into the scene of "The Voice of China" he once hosted in minutes.
actor Chen Xiao's actingQuite unstable, this is quite worrying. He needs to revise his performance in time by relying on the opposing scene of the playmaker. Therefore, when Chen Xiao and Ma Su are in the same picture, the performance is relatively stable, but when it comes to the same frame as Du Juan, it is indeed somewhat difficult to describe.
The heroine played by Du Juan this time is very different from the performance in "Chinese Partner", it can be said that she is just reading the script. No matter what emotion it is, the poker face is always light and windy, and the calm eyes are like a deep pool, without the slightest ups and downs. Looking at the stiff shots of Du Juan, I really want to ask one more question, is Director Huo switching from a director to studio photography?
I don’t understand why the story of two men and women who have their own families cheating can be filmed as "love" worthy of promotion. This is obviously a distortion of the Three Views, it's a naked cheating promo! I have seen environmental protection public welfare videos, adoption videos, and promotional videos advocating family harmony and happiness, but it is the first time I have seen such a derailed video with such direct expression and beautiful pictures. In addition to the “morbid” concept of
, due to the trivial incompleteness of the plot and the messy narrative, coupled with various slow motion and close-up displays, some people say that this is a "C position" of the cuckoo station. "Shadow, like your heart" theme photography; some people say this is a segmented MV, or a blockbuster photo show of supermodels with clothing endorsements. That’s why I couldn’t help but ask, “Director Huo Jianqi, who I have always admired, what’s wrong with you?”
Do you still remember that your "The Mountain, the Man and the Dog" was once caught abroad. Appraised as "excellent works representing the current level of Chinese films", in addition to this, it has also won awards from the Montreal Film Festival in Canada, the Indian International Film Festival, and major judging agencies in Japan.
Do you still remember that you made Mo Yan's "Baigou Swing Frame" into such a brilliant literary drama. In one fell swoop, he won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Feature Film and the Tokyo International Film Festival Golden Unicorn Award.
Do you still remember that Zhao Wei, who had a sluggish career for a while, won the Best Actress Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival for filming your "Lover Knot".
Until now, I still don't quite understand what you want to express in this "Shadow Follow Your Heart"? What is it that you want to convey through the film in your heart? Or is it just to match the eye-catching cast and use "pseudo" literary films to earn a box office for commercial movies?
I hope that in this era of strong commercialization and profit-seeking, you can still maintain your original appearance and bring deep-rooted works that are deeply affectionate. Until now, my subconscious mind is still resisting, resisting to label this "Shadow Freedom" as yours. Because this work is not like the idea and tone of your work.
is fancy box office and market today, the audience actually has no choice, but also poor. Because the audience can only see the works that the capital is willing to present at the end, and make a single choice among the only works.
We don't want to be numb, afraid that we will have no choice. Therefore, what we are eager to see is the unique work like "The Mountain, the Man, and the Dog", rather than the "foot-squeezing" work like "The Shadow Follow the Heart".
I sincerely look forward to the next work directed by Huo Jianqi. Moreover, I look forward to seeing the real "Huo Jianqi" again.
