During the 2024 Spring Festival, realism-themed movies represented by "Hot", "Flying Life 2" and "Article 20" have become popular choices among audiences. Whether it is the inspirational-themed movies "Hot" and "Flying Life 2" where little people counterattack, or the legal-themed movie "Article 20" that combines comedy, they all choose to present and discuss dreams and ideals under the shell of comedy. , the three films together reflect the different stages from pursuing dreams to realizing ideals, and together constitute a complete process of pursuing dreams.
"Hot and Spicy": Find yourself in confusion and bravely take the first step to pursue your dreams.
"Hot and Spicy" is the second work directed by Jia Ling. With the delicacy of a female director and the inspirational power of Jia Ling, Attracted the attention of many audiences. Jia Ling used herself as a tool to tell the audience about Du Leying, an older woman who faced accusations from her family, betrayal from friends and lovers, and exploitation by relatives. She survived from a desperate situation and found her own beauty in confusion by practicing boxing. story.
What attracts the most attention in the film is Jia Ling's topic of losing 100 pounds in one year. In the film, the audience also witnessed Du Leying's process from having fat to having abdominal muscles. However, weight loss is by no means the theme that the movie "It's Hot" wants to convey. Jia Ling's abdominal muscles are not only a symbol of her personal efforts, but also convey to the audience a positive concept that if you love yourself, everything is still possible. From character creation to plot design, from pictures to music, the film demonstrates the tenderness and tenacity of the female director. By capturing every touching and reasonable emotional point, the film shows the audience the difficulties that an ordinary person may encounter in life. , and how to rediscover the meaning of life through hard work.
suffered double betrayal from friends and lovers, and conflict with her sister. The successive blows made Du Leying take the first step to leave home. However, at this time, Du Leying had not yet completed her self-awakening. She pinned her hopes on boxing coach Hao Kun, and somehow developed an emotional connection with him, and took care of him both in life and materially. She advanced her salary in exchange for Hao Kun's qualification to participate in the boxing match, but found out that Hao Kun had given up his so-called dream for 30,000 yuan. Then, Le Ying, who still had good intentions towards the world, suffered another blow. Her cousin Doudou sold her miserably in exchange for Le Ying's trust and allowed Le Ying to participate in a TV show that she originally did not want to participate in. However, she was maliciously edited. Ying's world completely collapsed. She gave both apples to others, but all she received was neglect and use. The film uses a long shot of Le Ying going upstairs to show the process of Le Ying walking towards the room step by step and towards despair. After jumping from a building and finding she was still alive, Le Ying finally understood that she had to rely on herself to realize her dream. She came to the gym determinedly and asked to participate in a boxing match. After countless days of hard training, she finally grasped her own apple. Changes in body shape are just a companion product of mental experience. "Hot and Spicy" wants to convey the enthusiasm that every ordinary person, regardless of gender or age, can explore themselves, pursue their dreams, and realize their dreams. And the beginning of it all is love yourself.
"Flying Life 2": Burning with passion, the speed and passion of chasing dreams with all your strength
If "Hot and Spicy" is an inspirational love letter to ordinary people on how to find themselves, then "Flying Life 2" is It is a fairy tale about self-transcendence woven for all frustrated middle-aged men. Movies are the art of dreaming. In movies, the protagonist can break through the shackles and pursue his dreams with all his strength. "Flying Life 2" continues the racing theme from five years ago, focusing on the expression of stories related to racing, weakening the emotional elements other than dreams. The only remaining father-son love and brotherhood are only the driving elements for chasing dreams.
The plot of the film is both infinitely close to reality and also transcends reality. It tells the story of a frustrated middle-aged man who accepts the past, regains confidence, realizes his dreams, and transcends himself. Although the protagonist Zhang Chi saved his life after falling into the sea in the last competition, his results were invalidated because he lost a key seal. For the next five years, he lived a miserable life.When he once again faced the dilemma of having to close his driving school, he accepted the invitation from fans and reorganized the team to participate in the last Bayinbrook Rally. However, his goal is just to appear in the game and then exit immediately to ensure the maximum profit.
Manager Ye, who was fired in order to help Zhang Chi in the previous film, became the villain in this one. In order to ensure that his team won, he used many despicable means to prevent Zhang Chi from participating, and even used dangerous methods to block Zhang Chi's route during the game. This contrast between before and after is impressive. After losing everything for their feelings and dreams, how many people can still stick to their hearts? The tension of losing dreams and surviving, and Manager Ye as the villain enhance the closeness of the film to real life, allowing the audience to find the shadows of themselves and the people around them in these characters. Even if the audience has never had racing-related experience, they can still sympathize with the situation and difficulties faced by the characters in the film, and place their expectations on Zhang Chi. At the end of the movie
, Zhang Chi found the lead seal to prove his innocence and said goodbye to the past. He rekindled his fighting spirit and broke through many obstacles in the game to win the long-overdue championship with his teammates. Although Zhang Chi's final result was no longer the fastest five years later, it was proof that Zhang Chi had achieved self-transcendence. "Flying Life 2" uses a passionate fairy tale to tell all viewers who have experienced troughs or are currently experiencing troughs. Winning or losing is not important. What is important is having the courage to go all out to chase dreams and achieve self-transcendence.
"Article 20": Find a balance between ideals and reality, adhere to justice and fairness, idealism has never been extinguished
"Hot and Spicy" and "Flying Life 2" tell stories about personal dreams, and "Article 20" directed by Zhang Yimou focuses on the ideal pursuit of fairness and justice related to the entire society. As a Spring Festival film, "Article 20" is slightly heavier in subject matter and content than several other films, but it still does not affect it as a film with social, commercial and artistic value.
The film shows the audience three stories: Zhang Guisheng, a bus driver, was sentenced to three years in prison for bravely beating an assailant. At the request of his daughter, he persisted in seeking justice for his self-defense behavior and kept petitioning, but he lost his job as a result. Finally, on the way to petition, he encountered a car accident and his life came to an end. High school student Han Yuchen bravely stopped bullying on campus and injured the perpetrator, but almost lost the precious opportunity to study in a prestigious school. When his mother was arguing with the other parent, she accidentally tripped the other parent, causing his fracture and was placed in administrative detention. Villager Wang Yongqiang borrowed a loan shark to treat his daughter's illness. He was bullied by the village bully for a long time. Faced with the bully's evil deeds, he couldn't bear it. In the end, he killed the village bully and almost ended up in jail. His wife Hao Xiuping, who is deaf and mute, was forced by the village bully and his family to jump off the building in despair. These three stories jointly point to a heart-wrenching question: Why is the good and the righteous side repeatedly harmed in the battle between justice and evil?
When the law becomes a tool for evildoers to avoid responsibility and even harm good parties, how should we maintain fairness and justice? Prosecutors Han Ming and Lu Lingling made different choices when faced with this problem. Lu Lingling represents a group of people with firm ideals and beliefs. She insisted on finding evidence for Wang Yongqiang's case and postponed the prosecution under tremendous pressure. She did not hesitate to conflict with her bosses and colleagues. Han Ming represents the majority in real life. He handled Zhang Guisheng's case in a smooth manner, respecting the precedent and providing help to Zhang Guisheng after he was released from prison, which earned him recognition from his superiors. However, when he faced the possibility that his son might be detained for acting bravely, he was helpless. What happened to his son, Zhang Guisheng's unexpected death, and Hao Xiuping's suicide caused changes in his heart. At the hearing, he shouted loudly: The law makes it more expensive for bad people to commit crimes, not for good people to take action. Received applause from the audience. His active fighting also saved Wang Yongqiang from prosecution.The law protects the people's simplest fairness and justice.
Han Ming and Lu Lingling each used their own way to maintain fairness and justice, and also continued the ideals they had as students. When he was a student, Han Ming believed that all right things have a price, but you can't stop doing them just because they have a price. As a prosecutor, Han Ming's change stemmed from his undying idealism.
The three young people in the film, Han Yuchen who stops bullying, Yaya who encourages her father Zhang Guisheng to fight for fairness, and the deaf-mute girl who wrote on a note that my father is a good person, all of them have a firm belief in idealism. When middle-aged people face the conflict between realistic pressure and ideals, the questions of these young people shining with idealism become the motivation for them to find and realize their ideals.
Using dialogue to create a comedy effect, "Article 20" allows the audience to calm down and listen to this story about the pursuit of fairness and justice during the Spring Festival holiday when families are reunited. Since its release, it has attracted more and more viewers into the theater. As a work with a relatively serious subject matter, the reason why the film is loved by the audience is precisely because it carries people's praise and expectations for idealists. They may have suffered unfair treatment, or they may be on the road to pursuing justice. They paid a huge price, but it was they who proved with their actions that their idealism has not been lost. In their own way, they stick to their inner beliefs and contribute their own strength to social fairness and justice. This ideal, which is closely connected with society, is worthy of more people to pursue and stick to. It is the highest state of realizing the ideal.
Although the Spring Festival season has come to an end, the touching moments of the film continue. Three movies, three different stages of dream pursuit, together show a complete dream pursuit process. The realization of dreams does not happen overnight. It requires us to go through multiple stages such as confusion, passion, persistence and balance. In the process of chasing dreams, we may encounter setbacks and feel tired, but as long as we take the first step bravely, pursue our dreams with all our strength, and adhere to justice and fairness, we will surely be able to realize our dreams. I look forward to more movies in the future, allowing the audience to feel the warmth of life and find the direction of their dreams through laughter and tears. (Author: Pang Shengnan, postdoctoral fellow and assistant researcher at the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University)
