This year's Cannes International Film Festival was dominated by Chinese-language films. Young actors traveled around and participated in two of the shortlisted works, namely " The Romantic Generation " directed by Jia Zhangke and " Dog Formation " directed by Guan Hu. ”, plus the 2020 Cannes-selected “ Wild Horse Split Mane ”, the “Cannes-included” rate of travel is really high enough.
"Dogs" won the Best Film Award in the "Un Certain Regard" category at the Cannes Film Festival, and the film is now being screened across the country. As a work of director Guan Hu's highly personal expression, the diverse aspects of the times and the complex depth of human nature presented in the film are indeed worth entering the theater to experience in person. Zhou You plays Peng Yuyan's "little boy" Nie Shili, which is equally impressive.
Since his debut, Zhou You has given the impression to the public that he is a handsome and cool boy, whether it is Youta in " Left Ear " or Yao Ji in " Qinghe Nan Gao ", etc., but Zhou You seems to be constantly broadening the boundaries of his acting. This can be seen from Zuo Kun, played in another Cannes Film Festival shortlisted work "Wild Horse Parting Mane", and the photographer played in " The Mistake by the River " A spot.
Although there have been many characters with distinctive and vivid characters in the past, it was still a surprise to see Zhou You in "Dog Formation" for the first time. The Nie Shili he plays this time is a northwest man who disappears into the dust and smoke. Erlang, who had been in prison for ten years before being released, returned to his hometown. People around him were still alienated and even hostile to him. Only a good friend like Shili stayed with him, allowing us to see a kind of friendship. warmth.
Zhou You's appearance in "Dogs" is undoubtedly not refined enough compared to his previous roles, whether it is some rough skin, quite rough hair, old clothes with traces of time on his body, and his open-mouthed northwest dialect... ...If you don’t identify it carefully, you won’t even be able to easily recognize that this is the Zhou You that we are very familiar with.
played the role of Nie Shili this time. He lost all his sharpness during his travels and settled into the life world of a young man from a northwest village. He staged scenes surrounding the protection and companionship of lonely friends. This character seems simple, but there are indeed many elements of joy revealed. For example, after suspecting that a friend was bitten by a dog, in order to determine whether the friend has rabies, the test method adopted is to look at the water basin and sunlight, and the so-called "Ten Days" "Observation method" and so on, you can feel that this is a warm-hearted partner who is as taciturn as Erlang, but is rough in detail and considerate.
Of course, when you see a friend taking good care of his dog, his sentence "How good are you to your dad?" will also make people laugh. As a good friend, he will not blindly obey, but will also wake up the other person at critical moments. And the subsequent scene of taking a "document photo" of the dog also brought a little sense of relaxation to the overall atmosphere of the film, which was slightly heavy. This kind of ease comes from the relaxation and ease of the actor's performance, which makes the lines and characters complement each other. Not only is it not obtrusive, but it makes the characters more vivid. It has to be said that challenging a character style that has never been interpreted before, and this more concentrated tour, actually allowed us to see his sharp edge on another level.
In the entire "Dogs", there is another scene that is impressive. Erlang grabbed Shili's hand and asked if he had stopped practicing the piano. But then, Shili picked up Erlang's guitar and played "Memories of the Alhambra" with ease. The music accompanied the roar of Erlang's motorcycle, bringing a sense of rebellion against surrendering to fate. This is another breakthrough for Zhou You as an actor, and it is also the depth of expression in "Dog Formation".
Let me make another digression. Friends who know music will know that "Memories of the Alhambra" is an extremely difficult guitar song. However, during the entire filming process, "hand replacement" was not used, but by Zhou Yu. Do it yourself.Although there are only a few scenes, it is said that Zhou You found a teacher specifically for this and practiced guitar hard for more than a month. If an actor really works hard, he will do it at any cost. This kind of professionalism is awe-inspiring.
Good actors and good works are always going in both directions. After watching the movie "Dogs", I am even more eager to see Zhou You's other work "The Romantic Generation" as soon as possible. I don't know where he is, but What a radiance it will be. At the same time, I look forward to seeing more and better works from Zhou You in the future, and looking forward to his continued breakthroughs and challenges, because no one can know where his upper limit is.
