Wen|The Favor of the Gods
As the New Year's Eve movie of 2019, "The New King of Comedy" had been given high hopes. However, the film was released after word-of-mouth flopped, the box office was dismal, and to this day, the Douban rating is only 5.7.
In the face of such an ugly result, director Wong Jing said that it was shot very well. Wong Jing is recognized as a big man in the Hong Kong film industry, he graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and in his early years, he and Stephen Chow made a number of classic comedies such as "Counting Deadly Grass", "Nine-Pin Sesame Officer", "The Story of the Luding" and so on.
In Wang Jing's view, the audience has different tastes, and it's normal for a movie to be liked by some and disliked by others. Wong Jing feels that there are two flaws in the movie, one is that the role of Wong Po Keung is a bit stiff, adjustments will be better, and the second is that the acting skills of the other actors can not be compared to Stephen Chow himself, the whole movie is not as good as the King of Comedies, which makes sense.
There are many ways to measure how good a movie is. But there is one standard that is recognized, that is, a good movie, will definitely be in the details to do a good job. All of Stephen Chow's movies are notable for their attention to detail.
Take The New King of Comedy, for example, which has several soundtracks. Three of them are particularly good, not only set off the main character's psychological state in different situations, but also point out the theme of the movie - the little guy has to work hard. After reading these details, it may change your view on this movie.
The theme song is the general tone of a movie. From the theme song, you can often see the theme idea of the movie.
At the beginning of the movie, a group of square-dancing amazons appear. Immediately afterward, a hand holding the Actor's Self-Mastery enters the camera. At this point, music plays in the background, which is Chan Pak Keung's "Blast". The song, which is the theme song of the movie.
"Blistering Wind", it is easy to remind us of "Blistering Wind knows the grass, Board Dang recognizes the sincere minister". These two lines are from the poem "Giving Xiao Yu" written by Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty. The general idea is that difficulties can often truly test the quality of a person's will.
The song goes, "If you have a dream inside you, then follow it with all your might / You don't have to count on the day to get there / If you have a dream inside you, then follow it with all your might / It's like a strong wind in the sky." In the movie, Rumon suffered all kinds of insults, but still cling to the dream, she is not the "strong grass" in the "strong wind and strong grass".
If you pay attention, you'll realize that whenever Rumon is working hard, the soundtrack is "The Wind". For example, when she was soaking in cold water for a group performance, when she was hung upside down, when she went to deliver food ...... These images are only a few seconds long, but they epitomize RuMeng's daily life. Every day, she was inspired by her dreams to move forward bravely, never asking whether it was worth it. And Eileen Chang said, love, is not to ask whether it is worth it.
By the end of the movie, Dream has become a big star. In the face of dream chasers like her, she gives encouragement, not blows. At this time, the "Blast" once again sounded: no matter how far and near / willing to harbor naivety / Phi Qingfeng / silently go rushing / even if the pain is also with a smile. This is the heart of Ru Meng, but also the seven years of Stephen Chow's career as a dragonet.
Stephen Chow is very nostalgic, and most of his movies use old songs. Stephen Chow believes that the lyrics of "Blast Wind" are intriguing and can give a kind of power to the small people who follow their dreams. That's why he chose it as his theme song.
Indeed, the song is highly compatible with Ru-Meng's inner world. Whenever the song plays, Ru Meng will revitalize his spirit and go on the journey again. When we watch the movie, we may not think much of Rumon at first, but as we watch, we will be touched by the song and give a thumbs up to Rumon's perseverance.
In the movie, the Swan Lake soundtrack appears three times.
The first time, after Ru Meng has secured a role as a drag queen, is when she is eating a boxed lunch in a van, the meal stumbling in mid-air, with Swan Lake playing in the background.
The second time it played was when she was playing the witch double. Before Kisame can figure out what's going on, she gets beaten up by seven dwarves. After the beating, she was dragged out of the shot, and when the main character finished showing her face, she came back on and took the next beating.
The third time it rings out is when Kisame is riding her bike on a rainy night. Previously, Ru Meng had come to a great realization that she knew that she was not cut out to be an actress, and that she would never become a star in this life. Not long after, she had an accident.
The film intercepts the climax of Swan Lake, a sometimes dark, sometimes mournful, stirring piece of music. So the question is, why would a New Year's comedy choose the classical masterpiece Swan Lake for its soundtrack. Speaking of which, it's time to talk about the ending of Swan Lake.
When Tchaikovsky completed Swan Lake in 1876, the ending was supposed to be tragic. In the face of all the temptations of the black swan, the prince finally gave in and broke his oath with the white swans, who could never change back to human form, and eventually, the prince and the white swans both threw themselves into the lake to martyr themselves.
Unexpectedly, this ending came out, the audience not only did not buy, but also strongly opposed. Later, under pressure, Tchaikovsky had to change to the current happy ending.
It can be seen that this kind of open-ended ending was deliberately made by Stephen Chow. As for what the real ending of the movie is, it's a matter of opinion.
The reversal at the end of Swan Lake, and the end of The New King of Comedy, are quite similar. Many people think it's illogical to think that with Ru-Meng's qualifications, she couldn't have become a big star a year later. In fact, illogical on the right, this is exactly Stephen Chow left the audience a glimmer of hope. Stephen Chow said, the end of the movie so dealt with, is not to let the audience too desperate, people live, there must be a little hope.
If life is always dark, then the struggle is meaningless, people will not go to struggle. It is precisely because the darkness breeds light that the struggle becomes more precious. Like a match in the darkness, Ruimeng illuminates those who are searching for light with a glimmer of light.
In the movie, there is a very warm episode. Millet was selected as an actor, Ruimeng lost his mind and returned to the rental house. At this time, Charlie hugged Ji, and sang a song to RuMeng "need you every minute". Charlie sang with deep emotion, and Ru Meng listened to the corner of her eyes with tears.
Minute need you was born in 1980, the original singer is Lin Zixiang. The song says: *** you two pairs of / good chi good pleased / the dark sky collapse as idle / even if the turn of the wind and rain / just see you / like to see the sunshine millions of miles / with you happy a little / so all satisfied / salted fish cabbage also good taste / I and you forever *** gathering minutes need you / you seem to be the sunshine air ......
Ruimeng day-to-day Eating noodles, chewing sausages, living at the bottom of the heap, and giving Charlie a few thousand dollars a month. When Charlie held the guitar and sang the song, but she heard love and hope from the song, that moment, she felt she was the happiest person in the world.
And what is the real Charlie, a complete fraud. Charlie's deep love at this time and later shameless, a different person. But Ruimeng has been living in the illusion created by Charlie since the beginning, without any knowledge or awareness. This strong irony and contrast adds to the tragedy of the movie. What's interesting is that the lyrics of the song, "Being a fake you're relative to each other every day/doing a play on a wooden doll," are not only about Charlie's false love, but also about Ruimeng's infatuation.
The Diamond Sutra: All existing laws, such as dreams and bubbles, such as dew and electricity, should be viewed as such. Stephen Chow understands Buddhism, and the name RuMeng is meant to say that life is like a dream, and everything is like a dream.
It's good that people are self-aware. But too much self-awareness is not necessarily a good thing. Compared to those people, RuMeng looks silly, but she lives a very sober life. She always knew what she wanted and worked hard towards her goal. Even if the universe is destroyed, she will try her best to realize her dream.
There is no such thing as RuMeng's perseverance, but also ridicule her perseverance, such a person, how pathetic.
RuMeng's story reminds me of a commercial. A few years ago, a well-known domestic cell phone made a short film called "May you never know the heights of heaven". In the case of Ru Meng, I saw what it means to "never know the heights of heaven". It is the same as Hemingway's old man who fought for 84 days at sea. A person who is more courageous than ever is always worthy of our respect.
People live, can be humble, but not lowly. On the promotional video of this movie, Stephen Chow himself, shouting at the camera, "Spirit point, mass actors are also actors!" In the movie, Ru-Meng is a drag queen, and when she plays every drag queen, she becomes the protagonist of the movie.
In life, the vast majority of people go with the flow, and whoever is able to firmly swim against the current is truly strong. However, unfortunately, not every strong person can achieve success in the worldly sense. Stephen Chow saw the strong people who failed in life, and this movie is his anthem to all the losers.
In any era, a serious and persistent person should not be ridiculed. The ones who should really be mocked are the insensitive dead souls.
It's normal for strugglers to encounter trials and tribulations. If life deceives you, as Pushkin said, "Do not be sad, do not be anxious! Melancholy days must be tranquilized: believe, happy days will come!"
In the face of life's tribulations, may you and I be as naive and never give up as we are in our dreams. May all those who struggle be as they wish!
Written in August 2020
Revised in September 2020