Recently, his short film has added new content and expanded into a feature film The Reunions, which is being discussed in the cinema. Last year, the film was nominated for the Best Film Award at the Shanghai Film Festival. This article takes us into good luck to see how Dapeng interprets this sad and happy family comedy.
She came, she left, they witnessed, he recorded.
Text/Zach
Typesetting: Liu
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"I still don't understand why he hasn't come back for ten years."
This is an elephant in his room. The repressed feelings of those who choose silence (when the whole China is shrouded in a happy and peaceful atmosphere, the true feelings accumulated in the hearts of compatriots with different worries, whether they are dissatisfied or unwilling) have been thoroughly vented.
Because of the imperfection of human nature, they quarrel, hurt each other, escape and never return for ten years; Because of blood relationship, they can be hit by sudden heartache at the moment of quarrel ("one milk compatriot", "four people take care of one person") ...
The air in the room solidified; Outside the house, the old man in the center of the whirlpool wandered in the street, drifting away from the war and miraculously getting along with it.
Lessing pointed out in Hamburg Drama Review: "Humor comes from contrast, that is, ugliness is not humor, but humor produced by the combination of ugliness and beauty." ①
I think Dapeng, who has performed in both skits and comedies in the Spring Festival Evening, may be born out of his sketch comedy creation technique. Because the similarity between the two is that they both keenly capture the contrast in life. But it led to two completely different atmospheres and endings.
This is a country that values peace. Paying attention to the sketch-style "family happiness" will inevitably avoid those real core issues. So I can understand the contradiction about "grading system" ("family fun" means it is impossible to grade).
But I really didn't expect that Dapeng, the fifty-third disciple of Zhao Benshan, who appeared in many comedy movies and appeared in the Spring Festival Evening, could think and observe so calmly and restrained. Ignoring the hustle and bustle of the festival, I wrote a song "Fire and Ice".
Not afraid of the courage to analyze the core issues, it obviously needs a strong sense of faith. Even at that famous height, Dapeng still didn't choose to please the public for money during the Spring Festival.
He insists on such sincerity, which I have only felt in a director who specializes in art films before. His name is Lou Ye.
The world is full of laughter.
Only you bear the burden.
walk along...
Fireworks are flickering.
Reflect your lonely back
Projected on the snow
The sound of piano in the distance.
Soothe your heart on this snowy night.
Lead you
Like ripples
Duckweed floating on the water.
"We are blood relatives."
There are many contrasts in the film:
"Go home often" if you don't come back in the third year after ten years.
Come back to see grandma/come back to shoot a documentary for grandma. Grandma died.
The loyalty of the third child before his illness embarrassed everyone after his illness.
The peaceful atmosphere of the Spring Festival When it comes to taking care of the third child, the atmosphere in the room drops to freezing point.
……
This emotional tear has created a unique impression, and this feeling of tearing is deeply understood by everyone. In all the joy, people can't ignore the problems that must be solved. China's tradition of "harmony is precious" has passed the test of human nature.
The director dares to face all this, dare to uncover the red carpet of the Spring Festival Gala, and reveal the truest side of human nature hidden by everyone. Conflicts, contradictions, and emotional catharsis are all natural expressions of all people.
This is an unsolvable problem. Only endless regrets and thoughts flow into the hearts of every listener with the melodious violin sound. No one is a bad person, because we all cry for our loved ones suffering from fate.
In "Auspicious", Xiaoli faces this problem-she ends her escape and goes back to her hometown for the New Year; But in Ruyi, she showed the timidity that still exists in her heart.
The plot is intriguing, because there is a hint of fatalism: grandma "sacrificed herself" and made an exchange with the gods-her departure brought an opportunity and a challenge-an opportunity for everyone to face this problem directly and make efforts to reconcile, and the greatness was ultimately the mother.
At the end of her life, will there be a moment when she feels like a child in the emperor's new clothes? It is pointed out that the elephant in that room woke up its children before the elephant fell down and caused disaster. (Maybe grandma is an elephant. She fell down gently, but woke her children ...)
Maybe no one really wants to admit that he made a mistake. Everyone is arrogant. But in the end, someone must help you deal with those "mess" about you. At least in China, family ties have such power. Relatives will be willing to be your "Jesus", help you carry the burden forward, help you hide, and prevent your pride from breaking and escaping.
Even if you go home for the New Year, they will still hang red cloth to cover the elephants. Dry your tears and smile. Affection, blood is thicker than water, but like water, it is all-encompassing. Perhaps, no matter what mistakes we make, in the eyes of our relatives and elders, we will always be just children, not criminals.
So please don't be afraid and let go of your worries. It's Spring Festival now, so I often go home to have a look.
①: Excerpted from the master's thesis of Heilongjiang University, A Study on Verbal Humor of Spring Festival Evening Sketches from the Perspective of Relevance Theory, by Li Xi.