Let’s talk about the subject matter first. The first part of "The Return of Uncle Nine" was released online, with a box office share of 9.016 million yuan. The second part was released with a box office total of 18.708 million yuan. Judging from the box office split, netizens' recognition of this series of movies is gradually increasing. From my personal experience watching "The Return of Uncle Nine 3", I think the online box office split of the third part should be higher than that of the second part, achieving another growth. "The Return of Uncle Nine" has basically confirmed its place in the zombie film heritage after three episodes.
We often say that for zombie movies, we must learn from Lin Zhengying. There is a reason for this. The zombie-themed movies brought by Lin Zhengying are different from some European and American vampire movies. The biggest fundamental difference is that Lin Zhengying's zombie movies have their own Chinese culture. At this point, it is very similar to Mr. Jin Yong ’s martial arts novels with their own Confucianism tradition. Because of this "bringing", the work itself has national cultural characteristics, creating a sense of difference from other cultural works.
The biggest "cultural essence" of Lin Zhengying's zombie movies is not the glutinous rice, dog blood, peach wood sword, etc. on how to deal with zombies, but the Confucian tradition of benevolence and love, benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, trust, etc. In the Confucian tradition, righteousness is used to eliminate evil. Although in zombie movies, the male protagonist is dressed as a Taoist priest, but the philosophy he pursues to settle down and live his life is Confucian . In particular, the benevolent thoughts in Lin Zhengying's zombie movies allow his movies to achieve sublimation. Watching Lin Zhengying's zombie movies, what you finally see is Confucianism that is unique to the Chinese. This point is the same as that of Jin Yong's martial arts hero.
The reason why I recognize the zombie movie "The Return of Uncle Nine 3" is not only because it has real zombies, martial arts, and comedy, but most importantly, it inherits the Confucianism in the tradition of Lin Zhengying's zombie movies. For example, in this movie, the character of Uncle Nine is dedicated to the public good. Because of his integrity, he is deeply loved by the residents of the town, and even respected by the buffoon police in the town who have the power of soldiers and guns. This is actually a very clever design. In the Confucian tradition, it is necessary to develop a true academic orthodoxy in addition to the power orthodoxy. Even academic orthodoxy controls the power orthodoxy. In "The Return of Uncle Nine 3", behind his cynicism towards the police leader is his obedience to Uncle Nine. This is a typical Confucian realm.
At the same time, in this movie, real zombies give birth to violent little zombies, but Uncle Jiu and others have different opinions. In the beginning, is human nature inherently good or inherently evil? This itself is the content of research in Confucianism. Confucianism believes that after human nature is educated, what it wants to achieve is good nature. In "The Return of Uncle Nine 3", Uncle Nine and others did not harm the little zombies, but protected them. In the end, the little zombie also stood with everyone, fought against the evil bad guys, and protected the little human lives. This is what Confucianism teaches. This kind of content can also be found in Mr. Lin Zhengying’s zombie films.
The primary stage of film and television drama works is more about creative skills. But the ultimate stage must be more than cultural cultivation. The reason why Lin Zhengying's zombie films are worthy of respect is not only because they are full of skills, funny, and good-looking, but more importantly, when analyzed to the end, the work shows a strong sense of cultivation of traditional Chinese culture. Many of our current zombie movies are imitating others and cannot learn the essence of Lin Zhengying. It is not because the technology is not up to par, nor because real zombies are not allowed to appear, but because the creators themselves have no Confucian cultivation. Just like the current martial arts novels are becoming more and more vulgar and fantasy, it is the same. If those online authors are asked to imitate Jin Yong, they probably won’t even know many of the words.
Because the work has Confucianism, the zombies in the film have their own personality charm. At this time, even if real zombies appear, it is not a feudal superstition or a heresy. Just like the movie "The Return of Uncle Nine 3", there are indeed zombies, especially an ugly little zombie, but it does not have the ghost transformation of feudal superstition, but the benevolence and justice of Confucianism. Are zombies like this still scary? Cultural charm gives the zombies personality charm in this work. With this kind of charm, there is actually no need to fear feudal superstition.
Therefore, when creating zombie-themed movies, we should not focus on heresy and myths, but should focus on this cultural inheritance. Many of our current creators are uneducated and can only inherit the superficial knowledge. This is the most noteworthy thing. (Text/Ma Qingyun)
