Text/Yangcheng Evening News All-Media Reporter Hu Guangxin
The 2022 movie " still thinks you are the best " made Chen Yongshen from a behind-the-scenes screenwriter who has been working quietly for more than ten years to the director of Hong Kong's best-selling comedy. The film collected HK$77.34 million in box office in Hong Kong, and the mainland box office also exceeded HK$100 million. With such good results, a sequel is a natural thing. In the second part of
, almost all the original cast members return, except the backbone Huang Zihua is missing. Without him, how would the Chen family's story continue to be told? Chen Yongshen shifted the main stage of the story from the dinner table to the wedding, telling the wedding story of the second brother Chen Li and his girlfriend Monica, and the third brother Chen Xi and his girlfriend Zhuzhu. Chen Yongshen used three lively wedding scenes to break down what love and marriage are in detail, allowing the three female characters who had a little space to play in the previous film to take the lead this time.
Chen Yongshen is good at writing romantic comedies. Before he became a director, the " new junior sister " series and "Next Stop... The Queen" he wrote were among the best in urban romantic comedies; and the "Still Think You're the Best" series held high the title of "love" The character banner adds a warm and bright color to the current Hong Kong movies where police and criminal themes are the mainstream.
conducted an exclusive interview with Chen Yongshen and felt that he is a director who is willing to "stand at the center of the world and call for love." He told a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News: "I believe there is still love in this world. Tomorrow will definitely be better than today. I hope my movies can always maintain this feeling and become my characteristics."
Huang Zihua's absence creates the story of Meow Meow
"Still Think You're the Best" was a hit at the box office, but the second film is not a follow-on. Chen Yongshen revealed that the sequel plan had been finalized long before the release of the first part: "When I handed in the synopsis of the first part, the company boss (Kevin Kong) felt that this story could be made into two parts. But I am a new director, so I have to concentrate first Do the first part well. As you can see, the story of the first part leaves no suspense. When the first part was about to be released, the boss mentioned the sequel again, and I started preparations."
wants to talk about "Still "I Think You're the Best 2" cannot avoid the absence of the soul character - Huang Zihua, who plays the eldest brother Chen Hong. Without Huang Zihua, Chen Yongshen has regrets, but he is still confident in the current story: "Everyone who makes movies knows that it is impossible for everything to go as everyone wishes. Since my eldest brother failed to participate this time, I might as well face his absence in the story. : When faced with a major event in life, very important people fail to participate, how do you face this difficulty?" He revealed that the original script did have the role of the eldest brother, and the current structure is the same as the original script, which is connected through three weddings. This story is just a little different in the twists and turns and everyone's experiences. The biggest and most outstanding change of
is the story of Meow Meow, which has changed from a love line to one of finding oneself. In the first part, Meow Meow is as beautiful as the perfect girlfriend in an otaku's fantasy, the key to unlocking the big brother's heart; in the second part, she has more flesh and blood, and she starts to ask: Who am I? Chen Yongshen put a lot of effort into the role of Miao Miao: "Miao Miao loves this family very much. Although her eldest brother left without saying goodbye, she still stays in this family, but she will also wonder: What is my identity? What should I do? Getting along with them? After revising the script, I found it more interesting. Other movies may not have the opportunity to write like this."
In the second part, Chen Yongshen also laid a clue for Miao Miao's love life: Miao Miao and Wei Junsheng played There seems to be a possibility of development between the big stars Mark Gor. "Mark gor pursues Miaomiao, but Miaomiao still has a big brother in her heart. She will not consider mark gor if she has not dealt with the previous relationship well. But is there no spark between them? I don't think so. This is a kind of stillness. A relationship that cannot be defined is interesting in my opinion."
Marriage is a challenge, and "making a lie come true" is not bad.
The eldest brother is absent, but Chen Yongshen insists that "the family cannot be separated." The story still revolves around the Chen family, with the wedding of the second brother Chen Li and his girlfriend Monica, and the wedding of the third brother Chen Xi and his girlfriend Zhuzhu becoming the main line. Without the intervention of a third party, opposition from elders and other common external forces, several weddings in the film were still full of uproar.The two weddings in
did not happen naturally, but were caused by accidents: Zhuzhu's beloved grandmother was admitted to the hospital, and she proposed marriage to her third brother in order to celebrate her grandmother's wedding; the second brother's public proposal to Monica was originally just for her wedding company They created a gimmick, and later misunderstood that Monica was pregnant, so they went ahead and held the wedding. The biggest resistance in both weddings lies in the protagonists themselves: No matter the man or the woman, they have a huge question in their hearts - do I want to get married?
For them, love has been running for many years, and maintaining the status quo may be the most reasonable choice. In Chen Yongshen's view, the problem of love is actually a problem of life: "Every relationship in "I Still Think You're the Best 2" contains the same question: Do you dare to face your true self? Everyone keeps guessing Others, but have not thought clearly about what they want. In fact, when you have confidence in yourself and the other person, you will not care so much about other people's opinions. I think that in this story, the biggest growth of the five protagonists is to learn to love themselves .”
If marriage is not a must, then what exactly is marriage? Chen Yongshen said: "I think marriage is a neutral relationship. It is not necessarily good or bad. But for the characters in the film, marriage must be a challenge. The love between two people has since become two people. The relationship between family members, and the wedding ceremony is the entrance to marriage. Love is exposed to the eyes of the world, and they take a good look at themselves and this relationship. How to make the final decision depends on their hearts." In the
film, there are two scenes The wedding "makes the fake come true": the second brother and Monica both overcame their fear of marriage and made up their minds to enter into marriage hand in hand; the third brother and Zhuzhu opened their hearts and realized that loving each other and loving themselves are not contradictory. Chen Yongshen said with a smile that "making fake things come true" seems to be a good idea. After all, people cannot exhaust all the possibilities of love. "I think people who have dated may have experienced this kind of mood. They asked, 'Is it really her?', fell in love, and finally got married. This is a lifetime. The result may be very good."
Golden Quotes Resonating, "love" is the answer to the problem
Chen Yongshen has written a love column for many years. There are many golden sentences in the film, such as "Marriage is a dream, wedding is a tough battle", which resonated with many people. In reality, he got married early and built a happy family with his wife. His self-evaluation: ""Still Thinking You Are the Best" is more technical, while the second part is more about my true inner thoughts." Chen Yongshen should be a romantic person. He regards "Still Thinking You Are the Best 2" as a A love letter written to his wife, the affectionate confession between the second brother Chen Li and Monica in the film originated from his real dialogue with his wife; and the splendid "Chen Feng Marriage" sign at their wedding was also a small easter egg specially arranged by him: The director's surname is Chen and his wife's surname is Feng.
As a romantic family comedy that has been rarely seen in recent years, the first part of "I Still Think You're the Best" achieved great success at the box office and word-of-mouth; the second part was released in Hong Kong during the Spring Festival and has so far grossed over 30 million Hong Kong dollars, ranking first in Hong Kong. It ranked first at the box office during the Spring Festival. Reviewing the secret of the success of this series, Chen Yongshen boiled it down to one word: love.
"Zihua said before that there is a very pure feeling in my movies, a kind of love without hesitation. No matter how noisy a family is, they will come together in the end. There is love between everyone. " Chen Yongshen said, "Twenty or thirty years ago, writing this kind of drama might have been a bit corny, but now it is not. First, there has been no similar story for many years, and second, now we can find good actors to perform it. The audience will like this kind of drama. A warm and loving atmosphere."
The "Still Think You're the Best" series is very popular in the Cantonese-speaking region, but the question is, can Hong Kong-style comedy break through language and geographical restrictions and reach a broader market? Chen Yongshen believes that the word "love" is still the answer to this question. He is optimistic about the potential of romantic comedies: "The key is to bring resonance to the audience, and the feelings are common. Language is undoubtedly a major feature of Hong Kong-style comedies, and "I Still Think You're the Best 2" also has a lot of Cantonese jokes. point. But this time we consciously tried to use emotion to create tears and laughter, rather than relying on language itself.For example, the most interesting thing about the wedding scene is that no matter how difficult the situation is, there is always love in it. They love themselves and each other. Many things cannot be explained clearly, and the dislocation created becomes the punchline of the film. "
talked about his expectations for "I Still Think You're the Best 2", Chen Yongshen said: "This is a movie with laughter and tears. I was very happy when I watched it and I was very moved when I left. I hope everyone will believe that there is still love in this world after reading it. Tomorrow will definitely be better than today.
Director's statement:
Three weddings, the true meaning of marriage was written
Wearing gold and silver, specially designed wedding dresses
The previous film "Still Think You Are the Best" used five dinner table scenes to tell a story. This time I tried Three weddings are used to tell the story. Each wedding has its own characteristics. The first "wedding" between Miao Miao and the third brother is fake. It is actually a press conference, mainly used to introduce the story. After the first part, The lives of everyone in the Chen family have changed: the eldest brother ran away and went to Africa to take pictures of animals, the second brother and Monica started a wedding business together, and invited Miao Miao, an Internet celebrity, and the third brother, an e-sports champion, as spokespersons; Zhuzhu ran his own business The cooking channel is lively and colorful. The second wedding between the third brother and Zhuzhu, and the third wedding between the second brother and Monica are "fake things made real". Both weddings have their own characteristics.
The initial reason for Zhuzhu's marriage was to make grandma happy. She and her third brother actually didn’t want to get married that much. So we designed a very typical modern Hong Kong wedding to be held in a hotel. It should be gorgeous, pompous and beautiful. This is a wedding for others to see. In short, it should be Let relatives and friends be happy.
I believe many viewers were amused by the scene where Piggy appeared wearing a set of gold items and walking heavily. The movie exaggerated, but only a little. I have indeed seen the scene covered with gold items. The bride. The customs in Hong Kong and Guangdong are similar. I believe friends from Guangdong will understand, haha. Of course, many of the gold objects on Piggy’s body are props. I am especially grateful to the art director Zhang Zhi and the art department. Piggy wears It is a Chinese-style skirt and coat, but Zhang Zhi specially designed a Western-style skirt that spreads out, so more gold objects can be hung on the skirt, and the whole look is more exaggerated and funny.
The wedding of the second brother and Monica combined the two People's preferences. The second brother wants face and glory, so he turned the whole wedding into a business, which is very complicated; and Monica studies old folk customs, so we designed the wedding as a traditional wedding with a nostalgic flavor.
The scene is more Big, the stage changes from a dinner table to a wedding
The style of "Still Think You're the Best 2" is indeed more exaggerated than the first one, but the consensus between me and the actors is that the comedy should be treated as a serious drama, and the plot and laughter are still designed to follow the characters The character is gone. It’s just that this time the stage has changed from a dinner table to a wedding. There are more people and a larger scale. The dramatic conflicts that can occur are naturally richer. The filming has a bit of a crazy comedy effect. For example, the design of the clothes. First The main scene is at home, so the clothes are very plain and life-like. But most of the scenes in the second part are weddings, press conferences, etc., so I want to make the clothes more eye-catching to fit the plot. Every piece of clothing They are all based on the characters' personalities, and there is a meaning behind them. For example, the third brother is an anime geek, and he doesn't really want to get married. He was a little rebellious at first: Since I can't control everything about the wedding, I can always choose what I wear, right? So I made him dress up in a very outrageous way. He was both the Golden Saint and Conan. As for Monica's shark fin dress at the wedding, what I want to express is that she must love her second brother very much to be willing to make such a sacrifice: on such an important life occasion as the wedding, wearing an ugly dress in front of many relatives and friends skirt.
One of the characteristics of Hong Kong comedies is that they can play but not close, and they will not end until the show is no longer available. But in my world , I will not do this. I will follow the story line, and when I feel like enough is enough, I will stop.
In addition to the five leading actors, "Still Think You're the Best 2" is also fortunate to have a group of golden supporting actors, including Hu Feng, Luo Lan, Michelle Xue, Xie Junhao, Wei Junsheng, etc., including three generations of actors, old, middle and young. I like to do this, not to pursue big-name actors, but to believe that when actors of different generations are put together, their acting styles will collide with different sparks, and this movie also proves this. When casting, I felt that the image of some actors fit the role very well, without any need to "add fuel and vinegar". For example, Sister Michelle, as soon as she stepped out, you knew that this mother-in-law was difficult to deal with. For some actors, I deliberately arranged for them to challenge some roles they had never played before, such as Xie Junhao. It turns out that he has never acted in a comedy in film and television. This time I asked him to play the role of Uncle Liu, the shark fin king, which was very fresh.
Whether there will be a third part depends on the audience's support.
"Still Think You Are the Best" has achieved very good results. Thank you to the audience for their support. But my life hasn't really changed that much. I also have a formal job as a teacher; I still take the bus and subway to work as usual. But there are more opportunities to be recognized, and passers-by will ask me for photos.
As for whether it is easier to start a drama now, I think there are two sides to it. On the one hand, it is true that more investors have approached me, but on the other hand, I am more cautious and must think carefully before starting a new project. Because I cherish the support given to me by audience friends, I must do a good job in every drama and cannot waste everyone's trust. Because of "Still Think You're the Best", I collaborated with my idol Huang Zihua, and I hope to collaborate with more idols in the future. For example, Tony Leung, this must be every director's dream. There are also Andy Lau, Chow Yun-fat, etc. They haven't acted in a comedy for a long time. So I hope that "Still Think You're the Best 2" can achieve good results and give me the opportunity to start a sequel and also have the opportunity to cooperate with superstars.
