literary films has always been a problem that plagues film distributors. Although there have been encouraging voices over the years that the film market has become more and more diversified, and the audience's tolerance has become higher. But it is still undeniable that literary films (especially those with less conventional artistic expressions) are still niche.
From the perspective of film promotion, on the one hand, the publicity team hopes to win more audiences, and to tap more potential audiences who are capable of appreciating and interested in literary and artistic films. On the other hand, it has to worry about the overwhelming crowd of audiences. After entering the cinema, they are troubled by recognition and acceptance, which will directly affect the reputation of the film. The most tragic case before
was "The Last Night on Earth". Although some people in the industry do not like this film, the overall reputation of the film in the industry is at least not bad. However, its method of publicity without picking the audience at all allowed a large number of couples who regarded it as an ordinary love movie to enter the theater, and suffered a serious backlash from word of mouth, and the box office also showed a rare historical diving trend. "The audience who likes it will especially like it, and the audience who doesn't like it will be completely unbearable." This sentence is used to describe "The Last Night on Earth". But there are only a few people who know that they like it, but they don’t shy away from letting most of them walk into the theater together, and there is nothing wrong with the bad reviews.
"The Gathering at Southern Station" currently being screened is more or less similar to "The Last Night of the Earth" (Speaking of which, Bi Gan's little uncle Chen Yongzhong has appeared in both films). But so far, it has not had a group reaction as strong as the latter. This of course also contains some visible factors.
In fact, there are more specific divisions of literary films. Some literary films are more grounded in the selection of themes, but the shooting methods and narrative methods are still in line with the general laws of commercial films. For most viewers, the whole film can be understood without barriers. There is no major problem with the content. For example, the posthumous work of director Wu Tianming, "Hundred Birds Face the Phoenix", and "Sherlock on the Plain" released a while ago. They are flat and straightforward in narrative, and the themes are obvious. So for viewers who are used to commercial blockbusters, even if they don't like them, they won't be disgusting or even cursing.
But there are also some films. Their niche is not only in the subject matter, but the director has a lot of his own ideas in the way of expression. From the beginning, they did not want to make everyone understand. For example, the previous "Yangtze River Map", as well as Bi Gan's "Roadside Picnic" and "The Last Night of the Earth", more or less fall into this category. Such literary and artistic films are usually called art films. They are like those that appear in art exhibitions but do not know what they are painted at first glance. Miaozai leaves a lot of room for interpretation, but not all of them. Visitors have enough appreciation level to interpret it. Even if you have enough ability to interpret, whether you are willing to bother to do the work of interpretation is another matter. Such films are destined not to become popular dishes.
"Gathering at Southern Station", or Diao Yinan's own work style, is somewhere in between. He has some personalized expressions, but it has not reached the level that most people cannot understand. So in terms of personalization, it was originally milder than "The Last Night on Earth", or more grounded.
Furthermore, although Diao Yinan and Bi Gan have had famous works before, the popularity of "Fireworks in Daylight" is much higher than that of "Roadside Picnic". It is not difficult to see from the box office that "Fireworks in the Day" was released nearly a year and a half earlier than "Roadside Picnic", but the box office was more than ten times that of the latter, reaching 104 million. Then, regarding the incompatibility that the director’s style may cause, because more people have watched "Fireworks in the Day", more people have been vaccinated against "The Gathering at Southern Station", and the risk of backlash will naturally decrease. Some.
also has the scale and direction of the announcement, as well as the fit of the film itself, which also led to the different destinies of the two. Both "Last Night on Earth" and "The Gathering at South Station" chose to conduct pre-publication through the popular short video platform. But obviously, "The Gathering at South Station" is basically the same as the suspenseful crime film it advertises. However, the "love film" "The Last Night on Earth" that promotes "One Kiss" and "The Last Night on Earth" are probably not many ordinary couples. After watching it, I think this is a romance.
From the perspective of movie viewing scale, "Last Night on Earth", which had a box office of 263 million on its first day, faced a very rapid impact on the reputation of audiences who were not suitable for the film, and its final box office was only 282 million. "The Gathering at Southern Station" was screened for three days at a box office of 136 million, so even if there are controversial voices, the fermentation is far less rapid than the former.Of course, there is also the influence of the actor's own appeal and fan enthusiasm. I have no intention of degrading or raising others by comparison, but the fanaticism of Hu Ge fans is generally stronger than that of Tang Wei fans, and they also know how to subconsciously control the trend of public opinion on social platforms. Although some fans may not be able to easily understand such movies, there are always people who try to make themselves fall in love with works that are not within their aesthetic category for their favorite stars.
Therefore, "The Gathering at Southern Station" does not appear to be as exaggerated as "The Last Night on Earth" in terms of word-of-mouth and box office trends (referring to trends only). Art films are always taking risks at the commercial level, but such adventures must have its significance for the development and exploration of the film and television industry. Trying to experience the joy of exploration is always more meaningful than hysterical criticism.
