At the end of 1997, Beijing Forbidden City Film Company launched " Party A and Party B " directed by Feng Xiaogang for the first time in the name of "New Year's Eve film". The market response was enthusiastic, with a box office of 36 million yuan, ranking No. 1 in the Chinese movie box office rankings in 1997. 9 people (including imported films). Since then, Lunar New Year films have become an expectation for Chinese audiences every year during the Spring Festival, and the main target of their expectations is Feng Xiaogang. Feng Xiaogang once said in an interview in 2003 that his New Year films have two characteristics: one is people's nature, and the other is legendary. "People's nature" means that the films he makes are understandable and acceptable to ordinary people; "legendary" means that the films have some unique stories and add some assumptions into the films. In fact, it may be more accurate to replace "people's nature" with "citizen's nature" or "civilian nature". This passage undoubtedly reflects Feng Xiaogang's accurate grasp of the market positioning of his films and audience psychology.
At the same time, he did not equate Lunar New Year films with comedies, but emphasized that the film "must be attractive and well-filmed. It must be very funny, tear-jerking, or an in-depth analysis of human nature. If it is not filmed well, there will be no label." use". In other words, what can satisfy the audience is by no means cheap laughter. It can make the most sincere revelation and reflection on our living conditions and historical past. It has a certain artistic taste and can bring aesthetic enjoyment to the audience. It is also a good way to celebrate the New Year. The artistic realm that a film should pursue. It can be seen that Feng Xiaogang has a broad understanding of Lunar New Year films. The Lunar New Year films he later made, such as " assembly number " and "1942", are not comedies.
However, audiences still equate comedy films represented by "Party A and Party B" with Feng Xiaogang's New Year films. These comedies reflect the following characteristics: the plots are highly game-like and hypothetical, and they adopt a civilian perspective to focus on the living conditions of ordinary people. The themes are somewhat critical, but the tone is relaxed and gentle. Moreover, the characters' cunning and clever lines have almost become an inherent label of Feng Xiaogang's comedies. Sometimes, these lines can create comic effects independently without resorting to the characters' actions or plot development. This has obvious characteristics of cross talk and sketches, and will dilute the film's cinematic quality. For example, "Party A and Party B" consists of several independent stories connected together, like a skit; in "Big Shot", compared to the comedy of language, the plot is regressive and the film is more like a cross talk.
The gameplay element allows the plot to be moderately exaggerated and fictional, but Feng Xiaogang's comedies are not completely empty and empty, but "small absurdity, big reality". Some situation settings may be too dramatic, but it is possible to face them head-on. It is the most realistic survival dilemma of the characters. Whether it is the detailed presentation of the dreams and desires of ordinary citizens in "Party A and Party B", the reproduction of the Chinese people's difficult survival in the United States in "See You or Not Separated", or the bitter criticism of the consumer society in "Big Shot", they are all somewhat related to reality. kind of response and interaction, and even some reflection and criticism of reality.
Although Feng Xiaogang’s New Year films focus on the entertainment function of commercial films, they also focus on the return of traditional moral and ethical order. For example, Yao Yuan ("Party A and Party B") gave up the house where he got married in order to help a couple who had been separated for many years realize their dream of housing, showing a kind of human warmth and human kindness. In "A Sigh", Liang Yazhou, who once cheated on his wife, finally returns to his family, and in "Cell Phone", the restless man has a tragic ending. They are both a call to traditional morality and a kind of gentleness to the audience. exhortation.
When the first two films of "If You Are the One" and " Private Customized " appeared, we have already discovered that Feng Xiaogang has formed a path dependence on the creation of comedy films, that is, he is satisfied with the patchwork of sketches and shows off the cleverness and humor in his lines. Relying on the contrast in the actors' performances, or the absurdity and exaggeration in the plot setting, it brings superficial and instant joy to the audience. Although "Private Customization" also contains satire and ridicule of the current social situation, the too bizarre plot ultimately seems to be alienated from the audience's real-life concerns.
In this context, the market of " If You Are the One 3" suffered a failure - it was released for 33 days and the box office was less than 100 million yuan. This was not entirely because the audience did not want to watch elderly actors perform love scenes, but because of the "love" in the film. It is too far away from reality to create a real sense of breathing and sharing fate with the audience. You know, "I love you!" " also focuses on the love of the elderly, but its market response and artistic achievements are both commendable - it has a box office of 430 million yuan and a website score of 7.9. This is because it is sincere enough and uses a compassionate and respectful perspective. Explore the emotional world of the elderly. The problem with "If You Are the One 3" is that the age of the actors should be classified as middle-aged and elderly, but the plot also adds a dilemma between a "perfect robot" and a "real partner" with a sci-fi setting. The love in the film also strives to be fresh, romantic, light, and playful, ultimately making the plot and emotion completely suspended. The audience cannot find a point of empathy in the film, and can only be surrounded by embarrassment while watching the movie.
"If You Are the One 3" actually has a certain depth in its discussion of "ideal love", but the audience is obviously unwilling to think about such metaphysical life propositions in a comedy. More importantly, the film lacks the most important "citizenship" in Feng Xiaogang's comedies. The love psychology it expresses may have a certain philosophical meaning, but it alienates the mainstream audience's real-life confusion and desire, and does not rise to the anxiety and anxiety of the times. The height of universal social mentality. Feng Xiaogang's creative concept still stayed in the past. When he shot the film in the way he was familiar with, he did not realize that the audience had changed a generation, and he did not keenly capture the inner anxiety of the current audience, thus making his film different from most The audience is psychologically disconnected.
Before Feng Xiaogang's success, Chinese film creators once thought that New Year films should be comedies and should be sketches. As long as they can amuse the audience, they can reap market dividends. The 2024 Spring Festival stalls are basically full-scale comedies, which can be regarded as the "evil consequences" of this habitual thinking. Therefore, the box office failure of Feng Xiaogang's "If You Are the One 3" is not a cause for alarm. It just proves a simple truth: What audiences are really obsessed with in comedies is emotional satisfaction and spiritual comfort, rather than physiological laughter.
Excellent comedies are never exaggerated and superficial. They still have serious artistic pursuits. The creators will try to find the conflicts within the mundane or the noisy and restless life, and write about these conflicts with wit and humor. Although we do not insist that every movie can understand the survival aspects and social sentiments of a specific era, comedy films should still explore the relationship between people and themselves, people and the times, and make the audience laugh while laughing. Can be thoughtful. (Gong Jinping)
