Text|Linghu Boguang
13 days after the release, the box office of " Changjin Lake" has officially exceeded 4.2 billion. It is currently predicted that the final box office of this film will exceed 5 billion, which is very stable, surpassing " hello Li Huanying" The probability of is also very high, but surpassing the 5.7 billion of "Wolf Warriors 2" at present seems unlikely.
In this way, in addition to the top two Chinese movie history box office lists are Wu Jing (and now ranked fourth, and will be ranked fifth in the future " wandering earth"), the top Chinese movie box office The second is also the "main theme" movie, if you count the top 20 box office in Chinese film history, it is even more powerful.
Because there are 8th " Operation Red Sea", 11th " and my motherland", 14th " China Captain", 15th " China Captain" My hometown and I have a very high proportion of this movie. "Wandering Earth", " Yao" and " I am not a medicine god" are certainly not the main theme of the movie.
At this time, there are usually many people who say that the current "main theme" is the password of Chinese film explosions, plus some "main theme" movie quality is indeed lacking, and combined with certain current trends of thought, mockers There are many, but is the "main theme" really the box office code of Chinese movies?
If the "main melody" is so good, it would be great. In fact, the main melody movie is the most difficult to shoot.
Chinese film enters the era of "main melody"? Have you asked about the main theme movies that are thrown away?
Since Wu Jing’s " Wolf Warrior 1 " in 2015,Then to Lin Chaoxian directed " Mekong Operation ", until the end of Wu Jing's "Wolf Warrior 2" in 2017, the development of Chinese movies has a clear dividing line from the previous one, and there are indeed more and more themes of themes.
There are realistic objective and even subjective factors behind this, that is, with the further improvement of China’s national power, economy and comprehensive strength in the new era, the cultural confidence of Chinese audiences, and the confidence of great powers indeed follow. increase.
For example, the "Wolf Warrior" series directed by Wu Jing, and the "Action Series" directed by Lin Chaoxian can appear because of the adaptation of the real "evacuation incident" earlier. Chinese audiences have always been more authentic in the core expression of film and television culture. It is not like the Korean movie "Mogadishu" that puts historical events in other countries on its own.
After this, China's main melody film and television dramas have indeed increased, and after Li Chen 's " sky hunt " failed. This kind of modern military action movie has come to an end. We rarely see similar movies again. It just so happens that the Sino-US relations have undergone tremendous changes in reality, and then the "epidemic" event in 2020.
This tremendous change in the real environment has caused Chinese audiences in the new era to have cultural self-confidence. The self-confidence of the great powers has not diminished, but has become more concentrated, and compared to the main theme works of previous years. Nowadays, the audience's requirements are higher, and film and television works must restore the history and restore the true spirit of the revolutionary age.
Under this kind of environment, there are indeed more and more thematic works of mainstream Chinese film and television circles. For example, the field of mainstream Chinese movies is basically a combination of genre film framework + main theme. The top blockbusters in recent years have basically been in this mode.
Disaster film "Chinese Captain", " Chinese Doctor ", " Peak Burst ",It's not all the framework of the disaster film + the foundation of the main theme. The sports film " wins the championship ", " climber ", and the future " Chinese table tennis " are all the framework + the foundation of the main theme of sports films.
It turned out that the Chinese war movie was still the work of the sixth generation of directors such as "Yaobai" with obvious personal expression. " King Kongchuan" and "Changjin Lake" are both official departmental platforms + multiple The main theme blockbuster of China's top directors + all-star lineup + big investment.
Not to mention, "Me and My Trilogy" is a Chinese theme movie born under this background.
Therefore, after Wu Jing's "Wolf Warriors 2" in 2017, this "main theme movie" in Chinese movies has indeed risen rapidly, but it has an objective and even subjective environment behind it. This is a fact and does not need to be denied. It's not something to blame.
However, many people think that the "main theme" has become the box office password of Chinese movies? This is because I really don’t understand the development of the film and television industry. Just like domestic TV dramas, dozens of themes are officially aired every year, but only " Mountain Sea Love" and " Awakening Age" are really well received. ", and then to " Meritorious" which is currently on the air.
This is the same in the main melody movie. There are dozens of the main melody movies released every year, but there are only a few that have a trinity of word-of-mouth, quality and box office. Many viewers say they are "good luck" to people who come out of the environment of a certain era, but they don't consider how they seize the opportunity.
"Changjin Lake" burst because of the "main theme"? Why didn’t you see its breakthrough in Chinese war films
"Main theme" movies are never a problem,The problem is how to shoot the main melody well. The main theme movie is really difficult to shoot, especially the new era Chinese films are shot in the past era; this era has been commercialized, and popular culture is deeply influenced by the West, but the revolutionary era is collectivism and revolutionary spirit.
Chinese audiences have gone through the changes in the "Sino-US relations" and are very demanding to restore history and the revolutionary spirit. This is good for shooting? It's too difficult to take a picture, okay. Especially for the Chinese film and television circles that have gone through the business era and then to the " traffic economy ".
In terms of the main melody film, the biggest problem of Chinese films is not the film and television industry, but the core expression. And most of the main theme movies are collectivism (a true history) and are entangled with individual heroism (artism, or learning from the art of the West).
In recent years, regardless of the main theme of the movie, the biggest problem is the director and screenwriter's understanding of the above set.
1. Because the living environment of Hong Kong directors is completely different, they don’t understand the revolutionary spirit and people’s lives in the Mainland at all. They complete their tasks completely based on experience. The advantage of is that their experience in the film and television industry has always been quite rich, and they complete their tasks. There is no "yin and yang", the disadvantage is that you can't shoot the true revolutionary spirit without understanding, and the sense of historical heaviness and realism that mainland audiences want.
As netizens comment on the Hong Kong director’s filming of the main melody film and television series, you can film it as a "gangster fight", no matter what. Several war films before
Peng Shun 's " my war ", and Liu Weiqiang 's " founding army " is the case. Other Hong Kong directors have also made many commercial blockbusters with genre + theme, but the combination of theme and genre is very rigid.
For example, the first half of "Chinese Doctor" has done a good job in professional work and character emotion processing. The biggest problem lies in the imbalance of the narrative structure in the second half, the lack of a large number of details, and the line of Guan Xiaotong is a waste of pen and so on.
For example, "Chinese Doctor" released this year, the narrative structure of this movie, the emotional processing of the characters is basically the medical profession, followed by sensation; the doctor’s difficulties, followed by sensation; the patient’s difficulties, followed by sensation——
The 2019 " Heroes of Fire" looks at the enlarged version. The disaster scene and rescue scene in the previous section, the second half of the whole movie is full of sentimental, structural narrative and emotional advancement are very out of balance, as for the "Everest Love Story" of "The Climber", let alone talk about it.
The only Hong Kong director who handles the main theme and narrative structure best is Chen Kexin. From " Chinese partner" to the realistic theme " dear", the era and environment are even better than many mainland directors. The pity of "Winning the Championship" is that it didn't find the historical positioning and didn't solve the problem of real characters.
2. The problem of mainland directors. The fifth and sixth generation directors have had life experience. Their film and television industry is no longer inferior to Hong Kong directors. To a large extent, they have a more profound sense than the more westernized Hong Kong directors. Pursuing the expression of core art, there is a mindset that both art and business want.
This shortcoming is said to be bad, that is, their concepts at the time were deeply influenced by Western and Japanese thought and culture at that time. In expressing collectivism and revolutionary spirit, they are totally different from each other. As a result, a large number of main theme movies made by mainland directors are also quite ugly, and this ugly is divided into two sides.
First, some directors are also trying to take the path of "macro narrative", but the roles are all used by popular stars to pile up, and they want to use the traffic set to bring the audience. Many star castings are completely inconsistent with historical figures. There are too many characters and major events in the macro narrative, and they are all carefree. The movie is ugly and the box office is very low.
There is such a main theme blockbuster this year, so I won't mention the name here (because it seems that I can't say it well).
The second is that the fifth and sixth generation directors tried to use Western ideological and cultural narratives to interpret, and even deconstruct, the Chinese spirit of that era. You think it can be right.
Finally, we return to "Changjin Lake", why can it become a hit?
Except that it appears at the right time at the right time, this movie has a lot of problems if it simply talks about the quality, but a major mainland director + two major Hong Kong directors actually circumvented the problem of the main theme movie before, and the combination of both parties is unexpected. There was a wonderful "chemical reaction".
The first half an hour was obviously taken by Chen Kaige , his poetic romanticism. In the past, the whole movie was always concerned about one and the other, but this movie was just right to express the spirit of the volunteer soldiers who went to the battlefield to "defend the home and defend the country." Wu Wanli opened the carriage to see the Great Wall, which is even more magical.
The part of the bombing tower in the middle was obviously filmed by Director Lin Chaoxian, and the war scenes match "Operation Red Sea". It not only shows the good-looking scenes of the war (entertainment), but also restores the tragic (authenticity) of the war at that time.
Tsui Hark The director may be responsible for the special effects of the entire movie, which is not really outstanding in this respect.
"Lake Changjin" can explode. The three directors may not be able to shoot well, but the combination is still better than other themed movies.At least in the genre film + the main theme is not too off-track. Although the structural narrative and the emotional expression of the characters are insufficient, the taste is finally right.
Like most viewers after watching "Changjin Lake", they feel that this movie is too long and imperfect but acceptable.
epilogue
Is the "main melody" really the box office code of Chinese movies? The answer is that the main theme movie is precisely the most difficult to shoot.
Let’s think about it carefully, the quality of "Wolf Warrior 2", the first in Chinese film history, seems to be worse now. However, when it appeared at the time, it was the peak of the "flow economy" of the Chinese entertainment circle. Various ip + traffic stars + shoddy work + traffic promotion can make a lot of money.
"Wolf Warriors 2" not only swept away the sluggishness of the Chinese film and television industry at the time, but also seized the trend of the times to create the trend of modern Chinese military action movies. This is for the Chinese commercial genre. Blockbuster movies are promoted, just like "Wandering Earth" is to Chinese science fiction blockbusters.
and then "Operation Red Sea" is to make this war scene the ultimate domestic movie, so it succeeded.
"Changjin Lake" is the same principle, it is just as imperfect as the quality. But it also captures the context of the new era and the new environment. At the same time, there has been tremendous progress in the film and television industry and other aspects, which is the reason for the success of this film. ,
If the next " Anti-US Aid Korea " version of "Operation Red Sea" appears after "Changjin Lake", the influence of this movie will come. What's more, the influence of this movie goes far beyond that.
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