As a 20 19 New Year's film, New king of comedy has been given high hopes. However, after the film was released, word of mouth hit the street and the box office was bleak. Today, the douban score is only 5.7.
Faced with such an ugly result, director Jing Wong said it was good. Jing Wong is recognized as a big shot in the Hong Kong film circle. He graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In his early years, he made many classic comedies with Stephen Chow, such as Counting Dead Grass, Nine Grades of Sesame Officer and Duke of Lushan.
In Jing Wong's view, the audience has different tastes. It's normal that some people like a movie and some people don't. Jing Wong thinks this film has two shortcomings. One is that Wang's role is a bit stiff and should be adjusted. The other is that other actors are not as good as Stephen Chow himself, and the whole movie is not as good as king of comedy, which is understandable.
There are many criteria for whether a movie is good or not. But there is an accepted standard that a good movie will definitely work hard on the details. All the films in Stephen Chow are remarkable in detail.
Take New king of comedy as an example, there are many soundtracks in the film. Among them, three songs are particularly prominent, which not only highlight the protagonist's psychological state in different situations, but also point out the theme of the film-little people should work hard. Knowing these details, you may subvert your view of this film.
The theme song is the general tone of a movie. From the theme song, you can often see the theme of the film.
At the beginning of the film, a group of aunts dancing in square dance appeared. Then, one hand holds "Actor Cultivation" and enters the camera. At this moment, the background music started. This is Danny Chan's "Explosion". This song is the theme song of the movie.
"Blast" easily reminds us that "the blast knows the grass and the board swings to know the loyal minister". These two poems are from "To Xiao Yu" written by Li Shimin in Tang Dynasty. The general idea is that difficulties often really test a person's will quality.
The song sings: "If you have a dream in your heart, try your best to pursue it/Don't expect it to end one day/If you have a dream in your heart, try your best to pursue it/Just like the wind in the sky." In the film, Ruru suffered all kinds of insults, but still clung to her dreams. Isn't she the "strong grass" in "strong grass"?
If you pay attention, you will find that whenever you work hard like a dream, the background music is Blast. For example, when she was performing in a group performance in cold water, when she was hung upside down, when she went to deliver food ... These photos were only a few seconds, but they were the epitome of daily life, just like a dream. She is inspired by her dreams every day and never asks if it is worth it. And Zhang Ailing said that love means not asking if it is worth it.
At the end of the movie, the dream became a big star. In the face of a dream catcher like her, she gave encouragement, not a blow. At this time, the "high wind" sounded again: no matter how far away/willing to be naive/wearing the breeze/rushing silently/smiling even if it hurts. This is the voice of dreams and the experience of Stephen Chow's seven-year walk-on career.
Stephen Chow is nostalgic, and most of his films use old songs. Gao Feng was born in 1982, written by Lin Zhenqiang and composed by Bao Bida. Stephen Chow thinks the lyrics of "Blast" are thought-provoking and can give strength to the little people who pursue their dreams. So he chose it as the theme song.
Indeed, this song is highly compatible with the dreamlike inner world. Every time the song rings, dreaming will reinvigorate and go out again. When we watch a movie, it may not look like a dream at first, but when we watch it, we will also be moved by the song, and then give a thumbs-up to the perseverance of dreaming.
In the movie, the score of Swan Lake appeared three times.
For the first time, after dreamily winning the role of a walk-on, when she was eating a box lunch in the van, the food fluctuated in mid-air, and the background music was Swan Lake.
The second time it rang, it was when she played body double, the witch. Like a dream, I was beaten by seven dwarfs before I knew what was going on. After being beaten, she was dragged out of the camera. After the protagonist appeared, she went on stage again and got the next beating.
When it rang for the third time, it was like a dream when riding a bike on a rainy night. Like a dream before, she knew that she was not cut out to be an actress and would never be a star in her life. In a short time, something happened to her.
The film captures the climax of Swan Lake, which is sometimes dark, sometimes tragic and sometimes stirring. Then the question is, why do you choose the classic swan lake as the soundtrack of a New Year's comedy? Having said that, I have to talk about the ending of Swan Lake.
When Tchaikovsky 1876 finished Swan Lake, the ending was tragedy. In the face of all kinds of temptations from the black swan, the prince finally gave in and broke his oath with the white swan, and the swan could never change back to human form. Finally, the prince and the white swan both threw themselves into the lake for double suicide.
Unexpectedly, after this ending came out, the audience not only refused to buy it, but also strongly opposed it. Later, under pressure, Tchaikovsky had to change to the happy ending now.
It can be seen that this open ending was deliberately arranged by Stephen Chow. As for the real ending of the film, different people have different opinions.
The ending of Swan Lake is reversed, which is quite similar to the ending of New king of comedy. Many people think that it is illogical to become a big star with fantastic qualifications in one year. In fact, illogical is right, which is a ray of hope left by Stephen Chow to the audience. Stephen Chow said that the way the film ends is to prevent the audience from being too desperate. People should have a little hope when they are alive.
If life is always dark, then struggle is meaningless and people will not struggle. It is precisely because there is light in the darkness that struggle is more precious. Dreams are like matches in the dark, illuminating those who are looking for light with a glimmer of light.
There is a warm plot in the film. Xiaomi was chosen as an actor and returned to the rental house like a dream. At this time, Charlie sang a song "I need you in minutes" with Ji in his arms and fell asleep. Charlie sang affectionately, like a dream, tears welled up in his eyes.
Minutes need you to be born in 1980, and the original singer is George Lam. The song sings: * * * * You are both right/so proud/meddling in the darkness/only seeing you/seeing the sunshine thousands of miles away/being happy with you/enjoying salted fish and cabbage/I need you to be with you for a minute forever/you are like the sunshine air.
Like a dream, I eat instant noodles and chew sausages every day, live the lowest life, and give Charlie thousands of dollars every month. When Charlie sang this song on the guitar, she heard love and hope from it. At that moment, she felt that she was the happiest person in the world.
Who is the real Charlie? He is just a liar through and through. Charlie's affection at this time is completely different from his shame later. Dreaming, but living in the illusion created by Charlie all the time, ignorant and unconscious. This strong irony and contrast add to the tragic color of the film. It is worth pondering that the lyrics of "Be a fake, you play with the wooden doll every day" are not only about Charlie's fake feelings, but also a dreamlike infatuation.
The Diamond Sutra says: Everything has its way, like a dream, like a bubble, like dew, like electricity, so look at it this way. Stephen Chow is well versed in Buddhism. The name "Like a Dream" means that life is like a dream and everything is like a dream.
It is good for people to know themselves. But being too self-aware is not necessarily a good thing. In the face of a cruel life, how many people retreat from difficulties and drag out an ignoble existence every day? Compared with those people, dreaming looks silly, but living an unusually sober life. She always knows what she wants and works towards her goal. Even if the universe is destroyed, we should try our best to realize our dreams.
Such people laugh at how pathetic it is for her to insist on not dreaming.
The story of the dream reminds me of an advertisement. A few years ago, a well-known mobile phone in China filmed a short film called "I hope you never know how small you are". In my dream, I learned that I never knew what the height of the earth meant. It is exactly the same as Hemingway's old man who struggled at sea for 84 days. A person who is more frustrated and brave will always be worthy of our awe.
People can be humble in life, but not humble. In the promo of this film, Stephen Chow personally went into battle and shouted at the camera: "Come on, extras are actors!" In movies, dreams are a walk-on. She plays every walk-on and becomes the protagonist of the movie.
In life, most people go with the flow. Who can go against the current firmly is the real strong one. Unfortunately, however, not every strong person can achieve success in the secular sense. Stephen Chow saw the strong men who failed in life, and this film is his hymn to all the losers.
At any time, a serious and persistent person should not be laughed at. What is really worth laughing at are those insensitive dead souls.
It is normal for strugglers to encounter hardships. If life deceives you, as Pushkin said, "Don't be sad, don't be impatient! Keep calm on a blue day: believe in it and a happy day will come! "
In the face of the hardships of life, may you and I be as naive as dreams and never give up. May the strugglers get their wishes!
Written in August 2020
Revised in September 2020