The disaster scenes are intense and thrilling, the relief operations are heroic and moving, and the high-level game is full of tension... The currently being screened movie "Burning City" touches on a blank area in Chinese disaster films, showing the audience the huge harm after

The disaster scenes are tense and thrilling, the relief operations are heroic and moving, and the high-level game is full of tension... The movie "Burning City" that is currently being screened touches on a blank area in Chinese disaster films, showing the audience the huge harm after the leakage of radioactive materials. , with certain social significance and humanistic care. The film is directed by Pan Yaoming and stars Andy Lau, Karen Mok, Bai Yu, etc. It has become the film with the best reputation and market performance recently.

Disaster special effects shots are thrilling

A batch of electronic "foreign garbage" containing a large amount of toxic substances suddenly leaked, which will endanger the entire city of Hong Kong within 24 hours. In order to prevent this disaster in time, environmental expert Fan Weili, played by Andy Lau, urgently served as a technical consultant; fire captain Li Jiefeng, played by Bai Yu, and his teammates were immediately ordered to rush to the unknown front line. As the crisis approaches, a black interest chain gradually emerges...

As the first work in the Chinese film industry to show the radiation disaster, "Burning City" boldly imagined a sudden crisis that occurred in Hong Kong, China. breakthrough.

Jiang Zhiqiang, one of the film's producers and producers, said that the creative inspiration for "Burning City" came from a news report about the "transshipment of toxic foreign waste." Reports say that some developed countries transfer toxic electronic waste to Hong Kong, China, and the harmful substances contained in these wastes will cause serious harm to the environment and residents' lives. "Hong Kong people like to watch disaster movies, but they never thought that disasters would happen in their own homes, so I wanted to make a disaster movie about our Hong Kong, with certain social issues."

Pan Yiu-ming, director and screenwriter of "Burning City" As a photographer, he has served as the photography director for "New Police Story" and "Baby Project", etc., and has certain experience in handling large-scale commercial films. "The Burning City" has more than 2,000 special effects shots in the entire film. Fire and smoke are blowing in the face, creating a tense atmosphere. In particular, one scene simulates the shocking image of nuclear radiation leaking and exploding, and the entire Hong Kong being reduced to wasteland. At the film's previous premiere, director Zhang Yimou praised "Burning City" for "the special effects shots and disaster shots are very well done and realistic, and there are many big scenes that fill the gaps in Hong Kong movies." Director Fan Guo said It was commented that the film brought "a shock to the face".

Andy Lau and Mok Wenwei's drama is full of explosive content

In addition to the exciting scenes, the tense game between different groups and different positions after the crisis in the film is full of realistic meaning and thought-provoking.

The film is divided into two narrative lines to carry out disaster rescue. One is the game between Fan Weili and the high-level politicians represented by Wang Huiming, and the black-hearted businessmen headed by Gao Peide. He did not hesitate to be jailed for violating the confidentiality agreement to uncover the truth behind the ecological disaster. The human factors and profit chain informed the media that they turned the tide and completed their own spiritual redemption; the other was that the firefighters led by Li Jiefeng went deep into the front line of the accident and practiced the spirit of "the most beautiful retrograde man" with dedication and sacrifice. How should authorities make decisions in the face of disaster? How should executors respond? This is a social issue raised by "Burning City".

Following the 2005 "Children's Dream", Andy Lau and Karen Mok once again acted together after 19 years, becoming a highlight of "Burning City". After years of experience, Mok Wenwei perfectly fits the temperament of the character Wang Huiming. She performed the character's strong aura and the conflict between power and responsibility. Her explosive rivalry with Andy Lau made the audience hooked.

"I haven't seen such a conscientious Hong Kong film in a long time! I thought it was just a common apocalyptic disaster theme, but I didn't expect that it was not only thrillingly shot, but also had so many realistic expressions." Film critic Lu Zhiyu said that "Burning City" is very popular in the film industry. Multi-line narratives are intertwined into a panoramic network of character relationships. Whether it is a disaster relief scene where lives are hanging by a thread, or a high-level game of verbal conflicts, there is an extremely real sense of presence."The spirit of sacrifice of firefighters who bravely rush into the fire scene, regardless of life and death, shines with the glory of life; the warm details of ordinary people's collective evacuation also moved me; and the group portraits of high-level officials who use power for personal gain are full of irony."

Braving unpopular schedules and receiving good feedback

In the past two years, domestic films have increasingly believed in big schedules. Popular schedules such as Spring Festival and National Day are often packed with films. "Burning City" went in the opposite direction and chose to be more popular in a relatively market. Released in cold November. In Jiang Zhiqiang's view, as long as the movie content is good enough, "every schedule can be a Spring Festival schedule." "Several of my previous blockbuster movies, such as " Chill ", were released in November. I believe that as long as the movie is good enough, the audience will come out to support us."

With good reputation, "Burning City" was released in 4 The diva counterattacked the reputation and began to win one-day grand slams in box office, attendance, attendance and other data, and maintained the advantage for many consecutive days. Her behavior of "bravely entering unpopular schedules" received positive feedback from the market. As of the morning of November 8, the film's cumulative box office has reached nearly 140 million yuan.

film market analyst Zhu Qingtian believes that the box office performance of "Burning City" is gratifying. "Jiang Zhiqiang's willingness to take the initiative to release such a rare disaster film on ordinary weekend schedules and boldly open it to screenings is a manifestation of courage and responsibility. It also echoes the fire-fighting heroes in the film, forming a certain degree of interaction both on and off the screen. Text. The reputation and ratings of "Burning City" are worthy of such results. As a rare disaster film, the overall quality can indeed hold up, both in terms of scenes and expressions. It deserves better box office and support."

From the perspective of the transformation of Hong Kong films, "Burning City" also allows people to see Hong Kong films' attempts in genres other than action films and police and gangster films, becoming the second film in 2024 after " Kowloon Walled City" "Fortress Besieged " is another surprise from Hougang Films.

reporter/Yuan Yuner

source/Beijing Daily client