Author: Yan Xinchao
From the Xihaigu area of China, which is the most miserable place in the world, to the Yankee Stadium in New York, the United States, which is regarded as the palace of baseball, a group of youth baseball teams composed of left-behind children have achieved a change in their life situations through sports. This is what happened recently The documentary "Great!" was released in domestic theaters. The story told by "Youth".
As a sports-themed documentary that is rare in domestic theaters in recent years, "Great!" "Youth" won the Best Documentary Award at this year's FIRST Youth Film Festival, and also won the "Jury Special Recommendation for Outstanding Documentary" award at the China (Guangzhou) International Documentary Festival. The film has attracted the attention of many movie fans due to its excellent reputation. It currently has a Douban score of 8.7.
Baseball and Life
The charm of sports lies in its ability to intuitively present human strength and spirit, and to demonstrate challenges and breakthroughs to one's own limits. This is also what many sports documentaries focus on. "Great! "Youth" is a sports documentary with strong storytelling, three-dimensional characters and smooth editing. The film sometimes makes people cry, sometimes makes people laugh, and sometimes makes people think deeply. It is a very enjoyable film.
film director Xu Huijing's lens focuses on a powerful Angels baseball team formed by left-behind children. Most of the members of this team come from mountainous areas. Some parents work outside all year round, and some have been orphans since childhood.
The film’s subject matter is unique and makes the audience curious. Baseball is a very niche sport in China and is difficult for many people to access. However, in "Awesome!" In "Youth", baseball and charity are combined. After retiring, Sun Lingfeng, the former captain of the national baseball team, devoted himself to promoting baseball. He founded a baseball training base with a public welfare nature to recruit teenagers from impoverished areas. The base opened its doors to them and provided them with free food and accommodation, as well as baseball training, cultural and educational courses, etc. This is completely different from the Japanese and Korean campus baseball movies that many viewers are familiar with. This is not a youth idol drama. There are no handsome players and romantic love, only real life under the camera. This film has special meaning for both the photographer and the photographed. Sun Lingfeng is a baseball fanatic, because baseball changed his life. Now, he uses baseball to pass on the sports spirit of unity, tolerance and tenacity to these children, making it a lifelong asset for them.
The ability and dignity to survive
《Great! The plot of the entire film "Youth" mainly revolves around the two protagonists Ma Hu and Xiao Shuang. Sloppy, hot-tempered and young, he became a problem boy when he first joined the team. Xiaoshuang is delicate and introverted, has great psychological pressure and has no sense of security. The two of them have very different personalities, but the shadow of lack of family care and poverty brought to them is the same. They came to the metropolis from their hometown, and the baseball team became their new home. But rather than choosing baseball, baseball chose them. Before coming to the baseball team, they knew nothing about baseball and had no idea what changes baseball would bring to their lives. Sun Lingfeng, the founder of
Baseball Base, and Zhang Jinxin, the children’s “grandpa”, not only regard the Baseball Base as their children’s home, but also regard it as a melting pot to cultivate, shape and achieve their achievements. Sports are about the human body and can shape the human soul. Sports have educational value, "Awesome!" "Youth" gives the audience a new understanding of competitive sports. We can clearly feel the growth of the two children in the camera. Baseball is a team sport. Ma Hu is unruly and full of thorns. How can he integrate into the team and form synergy with everyone? Success or failure in competitive sports is unpredictable, and Xiao Shuang is sensitive and fragile, and is prone to psychological pressure due to performance. How can he untie his knot and deal with it calmly? These difficult problems require Sun Lingfeng and his coaching team to guide the children bit by bit and patiently, just like parents. These patience and dedication can warm the children and truly impress the audience in front of the screen. The efforts of Sun Lingfeng and the coaching team were not in vain. The two children later gradually understood the meaning of baseball and the importance of teamwork.
What’s interesting is that from an educational perspective, although the film is a sports-themed documentary, it is similar to the French film “Springtime of the Cowherd”.The baseball game in the film is less about the intensity of competitive sports and more about using a moisturizing and silent educational method to soothe children's hearts, give them strength, and make them strong. These left-behind children can earn respect and dignity for themselves through baseball.
Xu Huijing believes that in sports movies, sports are just a carrier, and the essence lies in the portrayal of people. This documentary wants to show hope, show the joy that baseball brings to young players, and give them the ability and dignity to survive.
The bigger world outside the stadium
It is not uncommon for sports-themed documentaries to be released in recent years, but most of them are biographies of star athletes, such as "Na Is Me" about Li Na's retirement life, and this year's popular documentary about Jordan's sports career " "The Last Dance" etc. In these films, the camera focuses on the famous athletes themselves or on the playing field. Even if there are details of life shown, they all serve to set up the characters. Such documentaries are deeply loved by sports fans, but it is difficult for them to "break out" and resonate with ordinary audiences. Compared with these purely sports-themed documentaries, "Great!" "Youth" is different. It is rich in humanistic care and social concern, and its consideration of reality gives it a value that transcends sports itself.
《Great! "Youth" is a very down-to-earth documentary in which the audience can feel the larger world outside the stadium. The camera's faithful recording and the director's careful contrast design can lead the audience to think about deeper realities of human nature and society. The first shot of the film shows the protagonist Xiaoshuang sitting alone on a rocky hill in a deserted village in Hebei, surrounded by barren and desolate surroundings. This is in sharp contrast to the rapidly developing metropolises and foreign countries in the subsequent images. The focus on left-behind children is what makes this documentary particularly interesting. Careless father and Xiaoshuang's second uncle hope that their children can stay on the baseball team, not because they like baseball, but because this is the only way they can see their children.
from "Great!" In "Youth", all viewers can feel the sincerity and persistence of Sun Lingfeng and the team behind him. The Baseball Baseball Base of the Sluggers Angels has been operating cautiously in the face of ups and downs, and has been in danger of losing its home on several occasions. However, he combined charity support with the sports he was good at and found a way out for these children in adversity.
The ending of the film does not fall into the cliches of many sports films, but ends with a thrilling, twists and turns and heart-wrenching victory that ends all conflicts and ushered in the final climax.
The loss of an international match put Xiaoshuang into a trough. He left the team and returned to his hometown. However, the author firmly believes that Xiaoshuang will return to the team. Because "Great!" With the documentary "Youth", these children will receive more attention and support. Other children from poor areas can see the light of life and can hit a beautiful "home run" in any game of life. (Yan Xinchao)
Source: Hainan Daily
