" Homecoming " saves the expatriates, " Ordinary Hero " saves the little boy in Xinjiang, "Search and Rescue" dad saves his son. The three National Day blockbusters are all rescue themes, and they all tell the thrilling stories of extreme rescue and life hanging by a thread.
uses two common techniques in these three life-and-death films—“last minute rescue” and “Russian roulette.” These two tricks endure for a long time, what's the benefit? Let’s break it down with pictures and texts.
Last minute rescue
"Give me two more minutes, we won't give up!" In the climax scene of "Ordinary Heroes", Dr. Lin played by Feng Shaofeng turned the tide and successfully completed the recovery for the little boy when the 8-hour golden treatment was about to end arm surgery. From 8 hours to 2 minutes, the countdown narrative of "Ordinary Heroes" captures the emotions of the audience and is thrilling.
This narrative method first originated from the films " The Birth of a Nation " and " Party Contradictions " directed by Griffith a hundred years ago.
Towards the end of the film, use parallel cross-cuts to juxtapose several storylines. On the one hand, there are the victims who are getting closer and closer to death, and on the other hand, there are rescuers who are racing against time to come to the rescue. The story line switches faster and faster, and the atmosphere becomes more and more tense. Usually at the last minute, at the critical moment, the rescue is successful and the crisis is resolved.
Over the past century, "'s last minute rescue of " has been used and evolved by a large number of movies to achieve extremely tense and exciting effects. Taking domestic films as an example, in a single scene, the most common example is " Jiupin Sesame Official ". One second before the decapitation of an ancient prisoner, the phrase "Leave a man under the knife!" is the most common in action movies, and the action master always comes forward at the last moment and successfully saves the victim. For example, in "Baby Project", Jackie Chan turned over on the escalator, jumped out, and rescued the rapidly falling baby.
Also in " Fury · Serious Cases ", Donnie Yen drove and rode a motorcycle Nicholas Tse struggled, suddenly there was a passing child in front of him, about to be hit, Donnie Yen jumped out of the car, hugged the child, and successfully rescued.
"Last Minute Rescue" is often featured in bomb disposal movies. " bomb disposal expert 2" Andy Lau was locked, and a time bomb was tied to his body. Liu Qingyun came to defuse the bomb, and finally successfully unlocked it in the last five seconds, leading Andy Lau to escape, saving the danger.
is even more common in rescue movies such as " Fire Hero ", " Emergency Rescue ", " Peak Explosion ".
Some movies use a countdown as the overall narrative structure, which is different from "Ordinary Heroes" and "Search and Rescue". The audience is told from the beginning that the protagonist is determined to die, and then the story is told from the beginning. " Revolutionary " uses the 38 hours before Li Dazhao was executed as the main line, interspersed with flashbacks, flashbacks, flashbacks, interludes, etc., showing Li Dazhao's magnificent life.
The documentary film "The World" focused on two terminally ill patients, and set a "countdown to death" at the beginning. Looking back on the countdown from death to see the gradual passing of life, although there is no unknown hangingThought, it makes the film full of tension and heart-wrenching.
The Russian roulette game
"The Way Back" uses another common technique in the narrative of extreme rescue: "Russian roulette". This is a duel game of life and courage, which is said to have originated in Russia in the nineteenth century. The rule is: put a bullet into the six magazines of the revolver , turn the reel at will, and close the reel. Participants take turns pointing pistols at their heads, pulling the trigger, and whoever survives is the winner. In the film
, in order to rescue the local tribal translator and the little girl, Zong Dawei, a diplomat played by Zhang Yi, faces two roulette challenges initiated by the rebel leader. Before the last shot of the last showdown, Zong Dawei flashed back many past family times in his mind, and made a contradictory choice between inner fear and righteousness. This complex entanglement of life and death highlights Zong Dawei's heroic image and the light of humanity.
"Homecoming" uses the plot of the roulette game to show Zong Dawei's bravery, and compares the fox and tiger power of the rebel leader. Although there are no intense action scenes, it achieves the effect of "silence is better than sound", which promotes the narrative and emotional climax of the entire film. Russian roulette has appeared in many film and television works, and "The Deer Hunter" is the most classic, revealing the absurdity and cruelty of war.
In Hollywood 's latest movie "Bullet Train", "Elder" and "White Death" face off to the death. "White Death" held a pistol, played roulette, and pushed each other's heads, but instead gave the "elder" a chance to survive.
Action films and crime suspense films in the Chinese movie often use this plot to strengthen tension and suspense and enhance the drama. In
"I'm a Special Forces Blade", Wu Jing was captured by a foreign mercenary , forced to play Russian roulette, and he was not afraid at the juncture of life and death. In
" Disappeared Bullets ", the detective unraveled the secret of murder, guessing that the revolver was not loaded with a single bullet at the time of the crime, but was quietly replaced with a full chamber of bullets. In
" Operation Mekong ", a child controlled by a drug dealer shoots himself in a roulette game. Such an anti-human game, it is chilling.
On the contrary, there are also film and television works that use a comedy approach. In a scene of the online drama " Chinatown Detective ", Qiu Ze thought that the pistol was not loaded, but he accidentally shot his opponent and even said sorry.
"Supreme" Andy Lau grabbed Guan Zhilin's pistol and played roulette, successfully getting her to confess and tell her secret. However, Andy Lau sneaked out "Old Thousand" and put one of the bullets in his mouth. This is exactly the same as the operation of the leader of the rebel army secretly hiding bullets in "The Journey Home".
Watch "Russian Roulette" and "Last Minute Rescue" in Extreme Narrative. These two common tricks in movies, have you got them all?
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