Ma Li won the Hundred Flowers Best Actress Award for "Article 20". This may not be the most brilliant performance of her career, but she deserves it.
"Popular Film Hundred Flowers Award", in terms of appeal among the people, Ma Li deserves this honor:
Of course, judging this actress only from the perspective of commercial value, she is obviously underestimated.
In 1995, Ma Li, who was still a little girl, had no idea about acting. Her mother planned to let her develop into sports. However, her stepfather later sent her to art school on the recommendation of a friend;
In 2005, Ma Li was in middle school. He graduated from two major institutions of drama and Peking University Institute of Drama, becoming a rare academic actor in the industry. However, because her image was not favored by film and television works, she could only work tepidly in the drama circle;
In 2015, "Charlotte Trouble" was released. Ma Li was not the original heroine, but she was appreciated by the director for her stage skills. Ma Li worked hard for this role, and even lost 10 pounds, and finally became famous overnight with the movie;
In the next ten years, we are still experiencing it together with her, but the current achievements are already remarkable.
As the saying goes, "the road is far away to know the beauty of the horse".
At first glance, she seems to be such a down-to-earth and simple woman, but if we take a closer look at her career, each stage has its own surprises and drastic changes, which shows the ups and downs of a woman's life.
Ma Lizheng is special. Everyone thinks that she is invisible to everyone, but she has written her own life into a strange story.
The starting point of all this is something that many people have not seen in her:
Talent.
The career curves of mainland comedian actresses tend to be similar. Most of them became famous as comedians. Since then, they have devoted themselves to overturning the old image and proving that they can not only make people laugh, but can also be serious.
Yao Chen, Yan Ni, and Ni Hongjie who appeared in "Wulin Gaiden" all had similar struggles, and Jia Ling and Zhang Xiaofei were also on the road.
In 2020, Yan Ni achieved the "Review Grand Slam" after obtaining Magnolia.
Ma Li is an exception.
She is a typical example of the ancestors who enjoyed their meals. Her time in college was much smoother than that of many of her peers. After graduating from the Chinese Opera, she entered the training under Lin Zhaohua, the director of the Arts, and immediately began to share the stage with artists like Pu Cunxin.
Just imagine, on your resume it is written: "After graduating from college, I performed in a drama in the People's Art Theatre." Is this not allowed in your industry?
Her career started on the most serious and noble stage, so Ma Li has always had a high self-esteem in terms of professional ability, and she has never said "prove herself".
has a calm attitude toward those who don't appreciate him.
However, although Ma Li fully affirmed the founder's affirmation, she was once very dissatisfied with God.
To put it more bluntly, as an actress, she is not beautiful enough.
Naturally, she has never hit a wall in terms of strength, but because her appearance is not outstanding, she often suffers and is suppressed.
What’s terrible is that a proud person can hardly tolerate not being outstanding.
Ma Li knew that she acted well, but the color was never with her, which was a kind of torture for her.
I acted like this
and it was done very well
The director also recognized it very much
The audience also recognized it
But there is no luster
You will always be in someone else's world
Playing someone else
The role she wanted
Grandmaster and God gave her two The rice bowls were of varying quality, but together they were still not enough to satisfy her appetite.
Ma Li’s character therefore presents a “two sides of one body” model of arrogance + inferiority complex.
On the outside, she has an overwhelming aura, as if there are no setbacks that she can't chew or swallow, and she can plow the road ahead alone.
"Article 20" below is the same as
But looking sideways, she always shows a fragile and susceptible side, with tears often hanging down her face.
Perhaps this is God's will. Ma Li's life context is completely in line with the aesthetic orientation of "comedy":
There should be big and exaggerated drama on the surface, but there should be small, deep tenderness and even tragedy on the inside. .
Domestic entertainment has a genetic disdain for ugly behavior, so actors who started out as comedy often seek transformation in a hurry.
Ma Li is different.
She came to the comedy stage as if she had answered the call, and she respects comedy from the bottom of her heart.
In 2005, Ma Li first performed in a comedy theater and was shocked by the audience's reaction. Like wild beasts being released into the forest and fish returning to the sea, she suddenly found the world that was most suitable for her release.
The most important thing is to find the light that you long for.
The audience burst out laughing
I was so frightened
From then on, I became
a comedian
At that moment I shined
How else could it be said that Ma Li was born to eat this bowl of rice?
Her screen images that are both popular and popular are almost all manifestations of her "two sides in one body" personality.
Ma Dongmei in "Charlotte's Sorrow" is fierce and straightforward, daring to love and hate, but she always has the deepest inferiority and powerlessness in her heart.
She didn’t know how to make Charlotte look at her seriously, nor how to persuade Charlotte to live a decent life. No matter whether this prodigal son turned back or not, she would bear the price.
Ma Lanxing in "Walking Alone on the Moon" is the commander of the human salvation plan, with outstanding ability, perseverance and ability.
The ending of the movie is that the good-for-nothing male protagonist found a trace of strength in his cowardice for love, and she also found a trace of human softness in the process.
There is also this year's "Catch a Baby". Chunlan, played by Ma Li, is the rich lady of a wealthy family, and her pretentious temperament is armed to every fingernail.
But in this huge scam, she also symbolizes the mother's instinct to protect the chicks. Even though she is unable to compete with her husband's will, the compassion and heartache she always shows is a rebellion against this sick educational concept.
Oh yes, there is also the righteous and powerful sports reporter in "The Shy Iron Fist".
When forced to a dead end, he immediately acted coquettishly and begged for mercy. How can this not be considered a kind of toughness on the outside but softness on the inside?
In fact, you will find that, except for Ma Dongmei, who has a relatively complete growth line, most of Ma Li's roles are more or less foils, and are the second-in-command of Shen Teng or some other actor.
What is even more obvious is in works such as "This Killer Is Not So Calm" and "Keep You Safe". Her existence seems to be just a lead in the plot, and there is no character arc to speak of.
This is a common problem faced by mainland female comedians. Their roles are small, their scenes are few, and their quality is not good.
But at this time, another advantage of Ma Li came to the fore:
aesthetics.
’s experience with China’s top performing artists has given her a deep understanding of what a good performance is and what a good comedy performance is.
In domestic comedies for a long time, actresses have never escaped from the performance mode of acting ugly and funny. This is really the most straightforward and superficial method.
But Ma Li has always believed that acting is about being intentional, about becoming the character completely, and not relying on self-destruction to impress the public.
This is not a criticism of this type of performance.
On the contrary, she understands the difficulties of these actresses very well, and does not want to see them sacrifice their dignity to cater to vulgar aesthetics, so she always wants to clear her name and theirs.
I have seen some comedies before
Actresses starring
When I watched them myself
I would feel very distressed
This distress is because I know
She may not be willing to do this
But no approach
i am right actor Always generous with compliments.
Because the value of good actors lies not only in creating excellent works, but also in their ability to truly change the direction of the industry and uphold right knowledge and views through their own influence.
For example, "Walking Alone on the Moon" is a typical narrative about a male hero saving humanity. Ma Li's role in it is nominally a strong woman and commander, but in essence she is the hero's fantasy object and the original motivation to save the world. .
In other words, she was constructed corresponding to the male protagonist.
And the director's hope for her is just to use those exaggerated and externalized methods to make the audience laugh.
But Ma Li made her request to the director very solemnly:
Keep the role straight.
may sound like an ordinary sentence at first, but for comedians and actresses, "role" is a rare thing.
More often than not, all they can get is a bunch of bad jokes about self-humiliation. No matter how many lines they have, they can't form a human figure at all.
Therefore, even in this male-led drama, Ma Li did not compromise on the subjectivity of the character.
even directly "bet" with the director, filming the director's desired acting method and the acting method she understood, and finally comparing to see who has better aesthetics.
Actors competing with directors is a behavior that is not widely recognized.
But Ma Li maintains the dignity of the character and comedy with the professionalism of an actor.
Ma Li once roughly summarized her methodology, how to fully integrate into the character carefully, and at the same time control the rhythm, and use the collision with her partner and her own vocal performance to make the character look cute.
Once a person becomes cute, the audience will laugh.
At this time, the academic foundation is clearly revealed, and every sentence is a serious and hard-core performance material.
Did Ma Li complicate her comedy performance?
On the contrary, she brought comedy performances back to the most basic order.
In any performance, the complex should be simplified, and the core of the character should be reached. The character should be established first, and then the humor will have layers and depth.
The most respected actresses in the industry, such as Maggie Cheung, Ning Jing, Zhou Xun, etc., have two biggest characteristics. One is that their talent far exceeds their academic ability, and the other is that they are good at starring in serious and artistic film and television works.
Compared with them, Ma Li seems very strange.
Of course she also has talent, but as an academic, she has always consciously summarized her performances into "systems" and "theories."
She can sum up her experience in a clear and logical manner, like a walking textbook.
At the same time, she has always been rooted in commercial comedies, which are the most despised by academics.
Therefore, no matter how knowledgeable she is, without high-level roles and serious works to complement her abilities, Ma Li is still not the one who is respected by others.
I have no doubt that she loves her profession from the bottom of her heart. After all, comedy performance is so noble in her mind, which fulfills her natural arrogance.
I acted in comedy
Comedy saw me
I am the lucky person
I was passive
I was seen by comedy
But, I also believe that she will always have unwillingness in her heart.
The entire industry is aware of the profitability of commercial comedies, but they never think that such films are valuable and can produce good performances.
Everyone knows that Ma Li can act, and she could have won some award long ago.
But this time The Hundred Blossoms is a realist film by Zhang Yimou, rather than a pure comedy.
The proud Ma Li is trapped in the same shackles as domestic comedy, and it is difficult to break free:
is not taken seriously, lacks resources, cannot establish characters, cannot output masterpieces, and then the cycle starts all over again.
Ma Li, who has shown first-class professionalism in various second-rate movies, is like Stephen Chow in "The King of Comedy", who had to design a character to play a corpse. Is there any difference between
? There are
, but probably not many.
But such a slight difference, even difficult to detect by a layman, is where Ma Li's self-esteem lies.
When filming "Article 20", Zhang Yimou did not give any baggage or laugh points in advance, because he believed that it was impossible to write a comedy about the flow of life, and could only rely on the actors themselves to collide and create jokes.
In other words, this requires actors to both act and write.
After knowing this section, and then looking behind the scenes of the movie, you will understand how much Ma Li contributed to this work, and why Gao Ye, who was in the same crew, praised her so highly.
is contrary to common sense, but consistent with her consistent pursuit. Ma Li's creation starts from serious analysis and design:
How big is the scale, how many performance traces, character logic, detailed design...
The foundation of creation, It's still about the four words "stand firm in the role".
The rest is just following the logic of the characters to allow all kinds of laughs to happen naturally.
Li Maojuan, played by Ma Li, is a housewife with a hot temper and hatred of evil. She can do anything when she is angry.
The scene where the peace talks with the school leader played by Zhang Yi turned into a fight was completely improvised by her. She followed the character's personality and reacted, and the effect was unexpectedly great.
But after this scene, she immediately contributed a heartfelt and sincere crying scene.
She relented, blamed herself, and her fierce image disappeared.
Ma Li naturally had some arguments beforehand.
She believes that no matter how fierce a female character is, she will not be reckless about the consequences. Only as a mother, with the sole purpose of protecting her children, will she completely ignore herself.
This woman must not be a shrew who lets off steam
and hits him by mistake
but as a mother
she has her own tasks
She must be protecting her children
I feel like
usually looks cheerful. Haha, such a woman
She is careless
but in the face of
so-called own destiny
and the fate of her children
she will definitely give up her
In "Article 20", Ma Li's weight is still not outstanding, she is an ordinary housewife. Her image is no different than those who fight for justice and ideals. She just wants to keep her little home.
But her creations can completely let us see what kind of energy a good actor can unleash from a role with a little room for development and a work that is higher than the market average.
And as a leader in the industry, Ma Li also has a quality of caring for others.
When receiving the Hundred Flowers Award, Ma Li said "representative" twice:
One represents all outstanding actresses, and the other represents all comedians.
Comedians and actresses are disadvantaged groups in the industry, but Ma Li always wants to fight for people who are in a similar situation to herself.
People often provoke her in front of her and compare her with actresses such as Jia Ling who are in the same ecological niche as her. Ma Li always sneers, and then gives the simplest and most powerful response:
We are all actresses, comedians. .
People always like to speculate on the disputes and internal strife between female stars, but as everyone knows, Ma Li's only enemy is herself.
But for those women with similar fate, she only has respect and love.
Sharing life and death with the weak is the softness in women’s bones.
As she gets older and her status becomes higher, she returns to her original nature and discovers the empathy in her nature.
No one can truly understand the problems faced by
actresses
I say we only feel sorry for ourselves
Ma Li's last ten years happened to be a shift from the "female man" in the public impression to a more typical woman. process.
As mentioned above, she has always had a low self-esteem and a withdrawn side in her character. She was not willing to be outdone, so she blocked the side she considered vulnerable and only showed herself in an almost masculine image.
But now, she is embracing her femininity with great enthusiasm.
is obsessed with skin care and is passionate about dressing up. She likes to look like an older sweet girl. She also likes to take feminine photos and even appeared in "Menswear" to show off her body curves.
Of course, while accepting herself, she can't help but absorb the thinking of the previous generation.
's understanding of issues such as marriage, family, and childbirth, as well as her gender division of labor and role definitions, all have the feel of a traditional little woman.
Ma Li urges Jia Ling to marry online
But because of this, Ma Li looks even more lively and lovely. She is fully enjoying the femininity that she has missed for many years, and fully experiencing the life experiences of the disadvantaged.
This was something she had never recognized before.
is willing to admit his own weakness, but it is the ultimate self-confidence.
Ma Li, who used to be stubborn, was persuaded by her teacher to change careers, because no matter how tough she behaved, her inferiority complex would always prevent her from moving to the center of the stage.
But now she is no longer like this.
Because we know ourselves, we are strong and calm.
I remember she once said that if one day she could win an award for comedy, she would feel a sense of release and sublimation.
The golden moment that we have been looking forward to for so many years has now arrived.
The only regret is that Ma Li is already the complete Ma Li and has reached her most high-spirited stage. But the internal entertainment is still the same incomplete one, unable to give her any works that really allow her to show her talents.
It is ironic that he can be the protagonist of his own life, but can only be the supporting role of others.
Ma Li has won the battle with herself. Next, it is her battle with the world.
