In 2006, even though he had the two excellent works of "Incense" and "Green Grass", was still unknown in China, Ning Hao, finally ushered in his life turning point.
relied on the investment of the "New Asian Star Guide" initiated by Andy Lau, and he shot the work that is enough to be recorded in the history of Chinese comedy movies, "Crazy Stone".
has been unstoppable since then.
From the "Crazy Series" to "Heart Blossoms" to this year's National Day hit "My Motherland and Me" in the "Hello Beijing", the label of "Ning's Comedy" has already taken root inadvertently. In the hearts of movie fans, it has become synonymous with "high quality".
And while Ning Hao is constantly advancing, he has never forgotten Andy Lau's kindness to him. So in 2016, his Bad Monkey Films led the launch of the "Bad Monkey 72 Movie Project" with the intention of gathering aspiring people. Young filmmakers discover the new power of Chinese film.
In other words, Ning Hao is doing what Andy Lau did 10 years ago. The later story of
is very clear to you and I. If Lu Yang’s "Xiu Chun Dao 2" was "the first shot" for this project, Wen Muye's "I am not the God of Medicine" is true It makes all movie fans across the country feel the powerful movie power of "bad monkeys".
And this time, it was the young director's turn to bid for the Olympics and brought his first feature film "The Beneficiary" to the show.
1. The low-profile version of "Ice and Blood Storm"
I would like to borrow a passage from Mr. Li Chengru, who has been very "hot" on variety shows recently, as the beginning of this section, "What is the factor of comedy often? Just one person It is impossible to do what he wants to do."
is right, and the farther the person's psychological distance from what he wants to do, the stronger his sense of comedy absurdity.
"Beneficiary" uses the not-so-new segment of "killing wives and cheating insurance" as a clue to the main storyline, so we can indeed see a lot of shadows of similar classic black comedies in this film. The movie I want to compare with in this article is the Coen Brothers "Ice Blood Storm".
The story of "Ice and Blood Storm" is unfolded by a plan of "tipping a wife for extortion", but the strategy that was not difficult to implement has become more and more troublesome due to a series of accidents and deviations, and it will not end.
I always think that the core content that the Coen brothers wanted to express in the work "Ice Blood Storm" was once "clicked" by a TV line.
"Something kind of small, but it might be a big problem (sometimes some small things may also become a big problem)".
Jerry (male protagonist) initially didn’t even think of “hiring a murderer”. He just wanted to plan a “kidnapping” in order to get a ransom from his father-in-law Willie to complete his parking. Field plan. But who would have thought that ruining the beginning of all this, was only because the two stupid bandits didn't put a temporary label on the brand new "Sira". The shot of
was like the beginning of the "butterfly effect", and the fate of the protagonists was completely changed at this moment.
The extraordinary thing about the Coen brothers is that, under the ridiculous and humorous shell of "Ice Blood Storm", we can understand the heart of every character in the film. Their behavior is reasonable and true, and they are all moving step by step. My destined ending.
Jerry has always been looked down upon by the rich old man, because he is almost middle-aged but still has nothing to do. The fact is like the "little man" used to swear in the parking lot, "Go to your Jerry, so simple Nothing can be done!" ; Father-in-law Willie regards wealth as life and is stubborn. This character helped him succeed in his career, but it eventually led to his death; 's funny nagging "little man" is His words and deeds paid for his life; the "tall man" who drew his gun at the sight of others fell under the shooting of the policewoman...
It can be said that it is precisely because of the above highlights and excitement that it makes "Ice and Blood Storm" stands out among a large number of similar films. In contrast, the protagonist of this article "BenefitThe performance of "People" is undoubtedly much weaker.
"The Beneficiary" is almost always unfolded in the way of "results in advance" in the plot transition and design. The audience clearly understands the next step of the plot, everything is done step by step, and there is basically no surprise at all.
This directly leads to the ceiling of "The Beneficiary" is destined not to be too high, and it is even less likely to become a classic film and television work, and its current Douban score (6.7 points) is also well confirmed. at this point.
But even so, Jia Qijun still wants to say that "The Beneficiary" is a movie that I like very much and is worthy of being recommended. , because it is in the frame of its own existing not outstanding story, shows the extreme High degree of completion and maturity. The first thing
has to say is the details.
The details in "Beneficiaries" can be roughly divided into two categories: "short-term" and "long-term". The former
is used to provide short-term instant laughs and answers, such as Wu Hai's "being honest" when he taught his son, and the reason why Yue Miaomiao madly practiced eating chili.
and the latter's role is more to assist the series of films, to achieve the promotion of small bridges and complete the plot. This is the reflection of the “pushing porcelain” behavior at the beginning of the film and the “fraud 400,000” at the end.
I was particularly pleasantly surprised that many of the absurd elements designed by for the film’s Olympic bid were actually designed to portray characters. For example, , such as Miaomiao, didn’t realize the other party’s after discovering that Wu Hai practiced signing her name. The true purpose, on the contrary, mistakenly thought it was a kind of "proof of love." Another example is that Wu Hai took the opportunity to reveal the truth to Miaomiao after being drunk, but found that the other party was always wearing headphones. The former is meant to express Miaomiao's innocence and kindness, while the latter highlights Wu Hai's inner struggle and struggle.
This kind of shaping of the overall image of the character adds a lot of points to the film. If a person can’t do what he wants to do but still do it, it symbolizes comedy factors, so if it’s for this person His motives are given a kind of helplessness and forced, and that layer of "tragic core" is brought out.
Just as Li Zongsheng said, "think but not get it, how can you live?"
2. Cold and warm real human relationships
Wu Hai (Dapeng) is a marginal figure at the bottom of society. His wife has already left him because of lung cancer, leaving only a son with severe asthma to accompany him, He is eager to change this bad life situation, but he has no clue in the face of reality.
was bewildered by his desperate friend Zhong Accounting (Zhang Zixian), who had embezzled a huge amount of money, and agreed to participate in the other party's plan to "kill his wife and cheat for insurance".
Wu Hai is responsible for marriage and signing; Zhong Zhenjiang is responsible for derailment and accidents. After finalized the details and modus operandi, the two men's strategy was only the last step-to find the right "prey".
Finally, the network female anchor "Little Fox Fairy" entered Zhong Zhenjiang's vision. The choice of
is not unreasonable. In his eyes, the female anchors of generally love vanity. As long as fans are willing to pay for gifts, it is only a matter of time before they show up. Doesn't occupational discrimination with "tinted glasses" also exist in real society? What's more, "Little Fox Fairy" also revealed in the live broadcast that she can't swim.
's seemingly perfect plan eventually turned into a round of bubbles. Even though Zhong Zhenjiang did countless emergency treatments for Wu Hai’s various “mistakes”, he still missed two points: Wu Hai’s heart The "sense of justice" has never been obliterated, and Yue Miaomiao is far from the "fake and noble coquettish bitch" he once evaluated. is on the contrary, she has a clearer and more transparent heart than ordinary people.
So although Zhong Zhenjiang has woven countless lies and scams in the film, he is not the one who really "crossed the sea". On the contrary, is Yue Miaomiao who is innocent, just to prevent fans from asking for live swimming. The little lie did just that.
But if we think about it carefully, we will find that the story told in the film actually has many loopholes and unreasonable points. However, when we watched the film, we did not jump out of the rhythm of the film. This should Thanks to the wonderful performances brought by the three leading actors. zThe performance of 2z
as the hero of the Dapeng should be the worse of the three. There are many similarities between the character image of Wu Hai in
and the "Liu Xiaojun" character in his recently released work "Look at Risks", and Dapeng's two interpretations are almost the same- "excessive force."
But to be fair, this time’s performance is much better than "Risk", because we can see the process of Dapeng’s "receiving in", is facing the crying scene on TV and during prison visits All of his words are supported by his expression alone, which deserves our applause for Dapeng's progress.
And that fluent Chongqing dialect also proves to us that Dapeng is getting closer and closer to the goal of excellent actors.
In comparison, Zhang Zixian's interpretation is much more mature.
After deliberately smoking and tempting Wu Hai’s son to have an asthma attack, he can accept the other party’s "good thanks" with peace of mind; he can also talk about the lives and deaths of others without any trace of guilt; even When desperate and desperate, he can still remain calm and use the noise of the range hood to cover up his conversation...
Between these words and behaviors, we can clearly feel that Zhong Zhenjiang has both Vicious, cunning, and "hypocrite" unique to the corrupt officials of the institutional enterprise. If
has to talk about some shortcomings, I can only say that this character is also a little "face-like", is dark in human nature and lacks arc.
And Liu Yan, whom we talked about last, is just as many of my friends have said, he is the most brilliant one in this film.
Yue Miaomiao played the first scene, I was convinced of her role.
looks decent and elegant in front of the camera, which seems to match the tonality of a western restaurant, but when she opens her mouth, the disguise is revealed. A very lame mandarin, which explains a little knowledge of the menu content, and ordering only asks for high prices but not quality... The image of Pianpinan, a female network anchor who is also a marginal person in society, is clearly established .
I still remember that in the adaptation of the film of the same name in "Waiting for the Wind", although I was not satisfied with the quality of the whole film, there was still a section that made me feel a little surprised. The editor-in-chief of
Cheng Yumeng reprimanded her while eating the skewers, took out the "air freshener" and sprayed it into his mouth twice before walking back to the bustling dance floor with a "noble" attitude. .
Isn't this the "realism" we often talk about?
And in that “makeup remover show” that was widely praised by netizens, Liu Yan did indeed “unify people and play”.
, both in and out of the play, have been controversial and rushed to make a living. Yue Miaomiao's whitewashing is just like the mask Liu Yan took off.
At that moment, she was no longer what people hoped for, she truly became herself. In "The Beneficiary", Liu Yan perfectly did what Dapeng could not accomplish in "Pancake Man".
I like the scene where Wu Hai confessed the truth very much at the end of the film. The Olympic bid very cleverly chose to use the lens language of the driving recorder to explain it, eliminating the need for characters to talk and leaving space. At the same time, also created An irony of "looking at the world coldly".
When right and wrong are no longer affected by emotions, the most true truth tears the former beauty and confusion to pieces together. Another thing worth mentioning about
is the end of the film. Jia Qijun does not think that Wu Hai’s approach to Hainan is a kind of weakening of the depth of the film. On the contrary, this description makes the film more complete and complete. Orderly.
Because Yue Miaomiao’s main line of life has long been outlined, she had a husband as she wished, and she also "got" a child, but the road in Wu Hai's heart has not yet been completed, he must embrace the air in the bottle , He must see the sea.
As the end of this article, I still want to return the text to the "inheritance" mentioned at the beginning. The bid for the Olympic Games mentioned more than once in an interview that the movie It is a tribute to Ning Hao.
So can I also interpret the two meanings of the title "Beneficiary"? In addition to the literal meaning expressed in the film, what Ning Hao and Bad Monkey Pictures are doing now is to cultivate more "beneficiaries" for the film director community?
The picture in this article comes from the Internet, plus seven thanks for your reading~
