The 2024 Spring Festival period is obviously a "win-win" period.
Under the accumulation of many strong films and healthy competition between theaters, more than one winner has emerged.
Looking at in terms of box office revenue, female director Jia Ling became the biggest winner;
During the Spring Festival, her " Hot Hot " led the box office and won the box office championship for the period.
From "Hello Li Huanying" a few years ago to this "Hot Hot", Jia Ling, who won twice in the Spring Festival, has become an emerging force in the Chinese director world.
Judging from the reputation improvement, winners also include Han Han;
After last year's Spring Festival movie " Four Seas " failed to hit the market, Han Han, who mustered up the courage to compete in the Spring Festival movie again, has gained something.
" Speeding Life 2", which integrates male romance into racing, has received a good reputation beyond expectations. The performance of breaking 8 points also allowed Han Han to regain his place.
Looking at from the perspective of market stamina, Zhang Yimou is increasingly becoming the final winner of the schedule;
Originally, his " Article 20 " had a mediocre opening at the box office during the Spring Festival, and its data was once defeated by the cartoon "Bear Bears" .
However, as the theater chain deepened, "Article 20" fermented with word-of-mouth reputation from the audience, and made counterattacks along the way.
In the past week, the film's reputation has continued to rebound and its performance in theaters has continued to be strong. Starting from the tenth day of the first lunar month, it has directly dominated the single-day box office rankings and won consecutive championships.
As word of mouth grew, the film also received collective praise from the public prosecutors, prosecutors, and even major official media.
From the Ministry of Public Security to the Supreme Procuratorate to the official accounts of various local courts, they all combined the plot of the film to popularize the definition of the legal provision of "justifiable defense" for us.
Official media such as the People’s Daily have also published articles many times calling for Article 20.
Well-known scholar Luo Xiang also spoke out publicly and talked about the social significance conveyed by "Article 20".
The frequent praise and praise from official Weibo celebrities also gave the film a strong reputation and made Zhang Yimou's new film a hot hit in theaters.
So, how did Director Zhang, who is now over 70 years old, impress so many people with his works this time?
In Qingshi’s opinion, the reason can be summed up in one sentence:
"Article 20" was shot very "Chinese"
Throughout the film, various cases are used, all of which show Chinese characteristics in a down-to-earth manner.
In the film, Zhang Yimou's arrangement and bold presentation of many scenes have deeply touched the hidden pain points of countless Chinese people.
Perhaps we have not experienced the experiences of the characters in the film, but more or less, we have experienced such examples in reality.
In Qingshi's view, there are at least three scenes in "Article 20" that are enough to amaze the whole country and generate strong staying power...
01. This dinner scene has torn apart four kinds of "Chinese people's face" "
"Article 20" not only captures legal cases, but also some human relations and worldliness that Chinese people understand instantly.
The most typical example is the dinner scene in which the protagonist Han Ming and his wife plead for their son. In the plot background of
, Han Ming's son injured the son of school leader Director Zhang to stop bullying at school, which led to the other party choosing to call the police.
In order to avoid ruining their child's future, Han Ming and his wife broke into Director Zhang's private dinner and tried to apologize.
And in this dinner scene, by tearing apart the "face" of the four main characters, we can instantly understand the helplessness of adults who are bound by their identities.
From the apologetic Han Ming couple, to the mediator, Lawyer Chen, and the arrogant Director Zhang, their performance at this dinner was more or less affected by their respective social identities.
They "lost face" one after another, which also shows the helplessness of adults who "talk what they mean".
The child's mother Li Maojuan (played by Ma Li) was the first to lose face;
was the mother's identity, which made her take the initiative to lose face.
From beginning to end, she did not think that her child's behavior was inappropriate, and she even got angry because her child was retaliated against.
But even so, in order to prevent her child from being affected by the college entrance examination, the mother chose to bear the unwarranted "mistakes" for her child.
The stern apology cup after cup also reflects the deep love of a Chinese-style old mother to protect her calf.
The next person who lost face was the child's father, Han Ming (played by Lei Jiayin).
In addition to concerns about his parentage, Han Ming also had an additional layer of professional (prosecutor) considerations.
, who came to the local area as a temporary employee, obviously did not want to be affected by more disputes, so when dealing with his son, he also tried to "minimize major issues".
Firstly, he was afraid that his son would be affected in the future, and secondly, he was constrained by his official status, which prevented him from expressing his emotions openly. He could only act as a peacemaker and be submissive at dinner parties.
Looking at the bully's father's strength, he did seem a bit "useless" after being so snarky and silent in the early stages.
Of course, those who lost face also included the bully's father, Director Zhang ( Zhang translated as );
Throughout the dinner, Director Zhang refused the apology from Han Ming and his wife and insisted on asking the child to apologize in person.
In Qingshi’s view, the reason why Director Zhang is so insistent is that the big factor behind is to protect his own face.
From the perspective of public opinion, "the director's son participated in bullying" was a huge public opinion storm for Director Zhang, who is a senior executive of the school.
As the saying goes, it’s just that I can’t stand it.
Therefore, Director Zhang’s insistence on apologizing is obviously to allow the other party to admit their mistakes to eliminate the impact of the bullying incident.
Only in this way can he avoid the outside world's doubts about his "lack of education."
As the Han Ming family never asked their children to apologize, the face that Director Zhang had maintained was gradually losing its hold.
What’s interesting is that there is a fourth face-saving character in this dinner party.
He is Lawyer Chen (played by Jiang Qiming) who mediates between the two parties.
In Qingshi's opinion, he was the most embarrassed and the one whose face was torn the most during this dinner.
Whether it is facing the prosecutor Han Ming with whom he usually works, or facing Director Zhang who supports him, Lawyer Chen has reasons that he cannot afford to offend.
Therefore, in the subsequent plot when Han Ming and his wife had a fight with Director Zhang, Lawyer Chen felt awkward and had nowhere to go.
He neither dared to get angry at Han Ming and his wife for "rejecting his son's apology", nor did he dare to react in any way to Director Zhang's anger towards him.
He was caught in the middle and did not dare to have any emotions, and he became the most frustrated and aggrieved person in the dinner.
Throughout the dinner scene, these four different characters' "losing face" appearance also unlocked various human ways that adults can understand instantly.
02. This "Going to the Rooftop" scene was the "three straws" that overwhelmed a person.
When it comes to the highlight scene of "Article 20", Zhao Liying must mention the rooftop scene that made the whole Internet cry. .
In the plot, the mute girl Hao Xiuping she played was forced by a family of bullies to "walk up to the rooftop." In this performance, Zhao Liying brilliantly interpreted the image of a tragic woman with no way out.
Not only did netizens leave comments saying, "I cried watching this scene," but even the actress Gao Ye, who plays opposite Zhao Liying, said that she couldn't hold back when she saw Zhao Liying on the set.
In Qingshi’s view, the success of this rooftop scene is not only due to Zhao Liying’s performance, but also largely relies on the foreshadowing of the director’s team.
The rooftop scene is certainly eye-catching and tear-jerking, but the scene that prompts the characters to "go to the rooftop" step by step is even more terrifying to think about.
In fact, the mute girl Hao Xiuping had a strong will to survive.
Although she was bullied in various ways by the bully's family, she still actively looked for variables, including taking her daughter to avoid the bully's family and working hard to exonerate her husband, which showed that she wanted to live a good life.
At the beginning of the rooftop scene, she also wanted to help her husband get out of guilt and went to the construction site to find witnesses.
The mute woman with a strong will to survive was finally forced to go to the rooftop. In essence, it was caused by a series of external factors.
In this scene where a mute girl "goes to the rooftop", director Zhang Yimou also experienced the character's experiences and filmed the "three straws" that break a person's will to survive.
The first straw - others stood by and watched;
After finally finding a witness who could clear her husband of his guilt, the mute woman knelt down and begged him for help.
But the mute woman's earnest eyes gradually dimmed due to the other party's avoidance.
When the witnesses refused to help, the mute woman's first hope of continuing to live was extinguished. The second straw for
was the fierce pursuit by the bully camp;
After the bully and his family rushed to the construction site after hearing the news, the mute girl was once again surrounded by the bully.
Not only did they use various violent methods to force the mute girl to sign an agreement to exonerate the bully, the bully's father also used an elder attitude to reverse the situation and said that the mute girl's sexual assault by the bully was consensual.
Although the mute woman shed helpless tears at this time, judging from her deep eyes, she was obviously considering giving up the "prosecution" to avoid her family being entangled again.
In Qingshi's view, others watching and bullies intimidating her made her feel disappointed in society, but the following incident really made her fall into despair.
Then came the third straw that broke the mute girl's heart - her family was affected;
After discovering that the child who had been given to Han Ming's family for "care" disappeared mysteriously, Hao Xiulian directly fell into a state of collapse.
She regards her children as the last bottom line. After this bottom line is touched, she no longer trusts the people around her.
Panic-stricken, she rushed to the rooftop in a blink of an eye, desperate for the hearts of society and the rule of law.
From having hope to being hit hard, and then to complete despair, in just 10 minutes, Zhang Yimou captured a person's "collapse process" extremely realistically.
This scene of forcing good people to the rooftops also uses a shocking style to make us realize the importance of ensuring the rule of law.
03. This speech scene captured the pain points of Chinese people and also captured the conscience of Chinese filmmakers.
The third stunning scene of "Article 20" appears at the end of the film.
At the end of the film, prosecutor Han Ming, played by Lei Jiayin, finally became more independent after being cowardly for most of the movie.
At the briefing on Hao Xiulian’s husband’s case, he faced the camera and eloquently discussed the meaning of the four words “legitimate defense” in thousands of words.
In Qingshi's view, this scene not only allowed actor Lei Jiayin to contribute the strongest acting skills in his career, but the depth of the entire line design will also make this scene mentioned in the industry and outside for a long time to come.
In the film, the character's thousand-word discussion about "excessive defense" vividly touches on the pain points that countless Chinese people can relate to.
In Qingshi's eyes, this highly inflammatory speech can be condensed into five questions with no standard answers.
These questions may have different answers in the eyes of different people, but the root causes are similar.
The first two questions come from the core case of this film - Wang Yongqiang's murder of a bully;
The first question - Why did the mute husband Wang Yongqiang stab the bully 26 times?
The second question - Why did the mute woman leave her husband and children alone and choose to jump off the building?
The third and fourth questions bring out the other "two cases" in the film from the perspective of the male protagonist;
A bus driver was forced to go to jail for accidentally injuring a pervert on the bus. His daughter sadly asked:
What on earth did my father do wrong? ?
Han Ming's son stopped bullying at school but was accused instead. This passionate young man also raised his question:
What did I do wrong?
It is not difficult to see that whether they are the victims in the first two questions or the brave people in the last two questions, they are all good people in the traditional sense.
The triggers that caused the good people in these cases to fall into mental internal conflict were different, but the underlying factors were similar.
is just three words - forced.
If they don't take some measures, the evil happening around them will continue.
As a result, they are "forced" to do things that appear to violate rules or laws.
After using the case to trigger thoughts, the fifth question that followed clearly echoed the previous four questions.
With the shouts of the male protagonist Han Ming, it was proposed to prevent good people from being "forced" from a legal perspective:
This The "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" contains only four words from beginning to end: fairness and justice!
Isn’t this what every common person wants!
If we can't save a mother and give her hope again, what qualifications do we have to wear this dress?
This deafening rhetorical question also takes the film's purpose to a new level.
As director Zhang Yimou said off-screen, they hope to use this work to awaken the outside world's awareness of the "sleeping Article 20" and initiate thinking from all walks of life on legitimate defense issues.
Whether it is the Hao Xiulian's family who resists the bullies, the bus driver who upholds justice, or the Han Ming's son who stops bullying at school, they are all the epitome of ordinary people outside the play.
When people in real life experience similar situations in the film, knowing how to use legal provisions to protect themselves is the real original intention of this film.
From this point of view, "Article 20" has obviously surpassed the movie itself and exudes more charming humanistic care.
There is no doubt that in the first month of 2024, Zhang Yimou's powerful "Article 20" really shocked the whole country.
Congratulations! The conscience of Chinese filmmakers has once again been filmed.
I think it deserves our standing applause!
Qingshi Movie | Lelede
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