What does the movie "The Promise" mean? I read it twice, but I still can't understand it. What thoughts and feelings is he expressing?

"The limit of love is to give up, the limit of speed is to be free, and the limit of life is infinite", which is Chen Hong's explanation of "infinity". Chen Kaige said: "The infinite world is our world", and "infinite" means "awakening and liberation".

The annual blockbuster "The Promise" directed by Chen Kaige (340 million RMB) was "detonated" and only "shown" on the day before the premiere date of 65438+February 15. The national * * * revenue1100000 box office, and Shanghai Yonghua Film City opened the record10.

People can't help comparing The Promise with Hero three years ago, not only because both directors are the most famous directors in China, but also because of their determination to face the market and their exploration of large-scale production. But the so-called "Made in China" blockbuster didn't exist three years ago, and people's initial enthusiasm exceeded rational evaluation. Now, audiences who eat too much delicacies will be more picky. On the other hand, the ticket price of Hero around 50 yuan was a new record at that time, but three years later, the ticket price of Promise was significantly higher. Will the ticket price be the decisive factor in the final box office?

Philosophy or joke

Different from the movie With You, which made the audience shed countless tears before, the venue where The Promise was shown burst into laughter from time to time (this phenomenon also appeared in Hero three years ago), which was incompatible with the atmosphere that The Promise hoped to create. Maybe Chen Kaige wants to tell the public a myth, but the audience is more willing to see the reality.

The Promise tells a story about love and fate. In the preface, the little girl cheated the little boy in order to rob him of his food. Shen Man, who had insight into her own destiny, said to the little girl, "I let you get all the splendor, but you just can't get true love. Even if there is, it will be lost immediately. Will you? " The little girl replied: "I do", so there was an irreversible promise and an irreversible fate. The English name of Promise is The Promise, which is probably about the promise of a little girl. Chen Kaige said it was from an American publisher. I think the publisher must have seen this film. It's a good name, at least better than Wuji.

The little girl later became a princess who combined beauty and wealth. The slave "Kunlun" wore the flower armor of "Guangming" to save the king surrounded by the northern duke "Wu Huan", but in order to save "Qingcheng", he killed the king by mistake. Everyone thought that the general had killed the king, so he wanted Guangming. In order to bet with Shen Man, "Guangming" tried to get "Qingcheng" (Qingcheng thought that "Guangming" fell in love with him because he risked his life to save her) and became the owner of the flower armor (representing the god of war and fame and fortune) again. Unexpectedly, he really fell in love with "Allure" later. The Senate wants to try the criminals who kill the king, and Kunlun admits that killing the king is to save the master's "light" and win the true love of "the whole city". At the last moment, Wu Huan arrested Qingcheng and Kunlun. Guangming gave his life to save them. Kunlun put on a black robe, came back to life, and took Qingcheng to find a new world.

Personally, I think Chen Kaige's storytelling skills are better than Zhang Yimou's. He wrote the promise himself. Although the story draws on many western myths, it is at least not as puzzling as Hero and House of Flying Daggers. The problem now is that director Chen Kaige feels that it is not enough to entertain the audience with stories and scenes. He said that "thoughts are the motive force of all entertainment", so he, a director who never lacks thoughts, must spice up this mainstream film aimed at the public (the more people there are, the bigger the market will be). So, there is a popular scene on one side and a philosophical dialogue on the other, which is a bit weird. This is probably the reason for some jokes.

The names "Allure", "Light", "Kunlun", "Unhappy" and "Ghost Wolf" are all symbolic. I asked the director if these characters have become symbols because of this, giving people a feeling of being ahead of their ideas. Director Chen replied: "I don't think it is a symbol. Because this is not a real movie, so don't measure it by the standard of measuring real movies. Our narrative begins with the characters, not the concepts. " Director Chen's words point out the fact that the audience (at least some of them) will find the tragedy funny when they look at The Promise from a realistic perspective (most people in China have this aesthetic habit).

There are countless philosophical dialogues in the film. For example, the "ghost wolf" who is also a snow country and has the ability to run like a fly said to Kunlun: "You are not running, but on the run. Only when you have a desire in your heart can you learn to run. " He also said: "I am eager for you to find it yourself, and others can't give it to you." It is under the inspiration of "Ghost Wolf" that "Kunlun" really evolved from a slave who can only "kneel" and "crawl" to a free man who can "stand" and "run".

There are many such reasoning scenes in the film, but there are often jokes. It seems that people can't stand the interruption of coherent plots by reasoning and don't want to stop and think in the process of visual entertainment. The biggest laugh was at the end, when Wuxi told Qingcheng that he was the little boy cheated by her, "You made me stop trusting anyone and let me lose a chance to be a good person"; And "you can get everything in the world as long as you are bad enough." Looking at these words alone, I really can't tell whether this is a philosophy or a joke. Chen Kaige, on the other hand, stubbornly injected "thoughts" during two hours of shooting and three years of preparation, hoping to "suit both refined and popular tastes". I really don't know whether it is success or failure.

Fate or struggle

There is a bright little tail at the end of the film-"Kunlun" with "Allure" gives her another chance to choose. It is really "back in time, people come back from the dead", and the proverbs of fate are broken, which symbolizes that they have finally defeated the god of fate. Without this last paragraph, the whole movie gives people a sense of destiny.

The agreement in Shen Man and Allure: "A man is greedy for luxury, but he will never get love, even if he gets it, he will lose it immediately", which is more like a witch's curse. Qingcheng was rescued by Kunlun, but the pursuers arrived immediately, and Kunlun had to jump off the cliff. For Allure, it really proves that you just felt love and lost it immediately.

Shen Man told General Guangming that the owner of the flower armor would kill the king. Guangming thought it was impossible, but the fact is that Kunlun killed the king of flowers. "Shen Man" added: "You are no longer invincible, and the real owner of the flower armor (God of War) will have the love of the whole city." I don't want to give up because I am competitive and indomitable. He bet Shen Man that he was the God of War, and Shen Man only needed a tear. As a result, "Guangming" played along and made "Qingcheng" fall in love with him, thinking that it would win. Unexpectedly, the last thing was finally revealed. He had fallen in love with Allure, and he really shed tears.

"Shen Man" said: Begonia flowers fall, the sun and the moon meet, and they (God of War and "Allure") will meet. "Allure" left him to prevent "light" from becoming the victim of that curse. "Guangming" has been standing on the porch waiting until the begonia flowers fall, and he began to despair, thinking that he really could not see "Qingcheng" and he would not be a god of war. At this time, "Kunlun" appeared, and he found the "Allure" with "light" on his back before the rendezvous of the sun and the moon. The general was very happy, but suddenly he found that the real meeting was "Qingcheng" and "Kunlun".

The characters in the play are constantly fighting, but the result is often that fate wins, which makes the whole play have the tragic color of Greek mythology. The reporter asked the director why he was so resigned. Chen Kaige replied: "Life is doomed to some extent. Fate does exist. It is fate to meet one person in the vast sea of people instead of another. My growing background determines that I am pessimistic, such as mutual distrust in interpersonal relationships, but this film finally gives dreams and hopes. Tell everyone that if you fall, you can get up again. "

The key clue of the whole play is the fate of "Qingcheng", her love and being loved. Chen Kaige thinks that she is a woman who encounters the fate of a patriarchal society (women's happiness is given by men), like Princess Diana. "Because she is not a proud princess, she is a secular little girl and a woman cursed by fate, so the desire to be redeemed is stronger."

Perhaps, the tragedy caused by irreversible fate and the unremitting struggle of mankind exist in the infinite world at the same time. "At the end of the film, everyone's original value system has changed. For example,' Guangming', who originally aimed at victory and served fame and fortune, finally learned to love and sacrifice for his lover; Another example is' Kunlun', which has grown from a slave to a person who has the right to love and be loved; There are also' ghost wolves'. He used to be a man who was most afraid of death. He once surrendered to "unhappiness" in the case of genocide, but later he understood that to live must live with dignity. His sacrifice is similar to the death of Leslie Cheung in Farewell My Concubine. " Chen Kaige said. But the question is whether the audience who have never heard the director's "explanation" can understand these.

Magic or reality

Chen Kaige has repeatedly stressed that The Promise is a magical film. In recent years, the success of The Lord of the Rings series and Harry Potter series has made magic movies popular all over the world. Obviously, China filmmakers also began to explore magic. The Promise is a movie clearly under the banner of magic, followed by The Sage of Epilepsy, which also added aliens to the theme of Journey to the West to show "magic".

However, unlike the perfection of the western "ghosts and gods" system, China's traditional "ghosts and gods" often appear as "demons" and "immortals". However, at present, China's magic movies still draw on some western elements. On the other hand, the art of western magic movies is more realistic, such as Middle-earth and The Magic Capital of The Lord of the Rings, which is quite different from The Promise. The art of "commitment" is illusory.

Chen Kaige explained: "I have always felt that in our own blockbusters in China, there is an invisible task, which is to convey the beauty of China culture. I have been to Australia, and The Lord of the Rings has typical New Zealand scenery, but this is not enough to express my feelings about China culture. For example, in the first scene,' Shen Man' appeared in front of the little girl, and the whole picture was like' a mirror full of flowers and moons'. Our computer stunt is to create the feeling of China ink painting, not to give westerners the right to explain China culture. For another example, in China's traditional classical poems, how many of them use "falling flowers" to express life, such as "falling flowers in spring", "falling flowers flying all over the sky" and "I don't know how many flowers have been folded". Life is short, but it can be brilliant. This is an element accumulated in our own ancient culture in China. Our film uses a lot of' falling flowers' scenes. " Director Chen's words made it clear that the Promise is not a realistic film in terms of content or form.

At the beginning, in Hero, Zhang Yimou also used water drops, swords, tea and chess to express China culture, while the element of China in Promise was more abstract, all in order to create an oriental aesthetic mood.

Although there are martial arts scenes, Wuji is not a martial arts film, so the design of martial arts movements is not complicated, only the actors are "flying" and hanging out with Weiya. However, the choice of some scenes is very painstaking. For example, there is a fight between "Ghost Wolf" and "Kunlun" in a semi-circular iron cage, which reflects that these two fast snowmen are chasing on the cage wall under the action of centrifugal force. Another duel between "Kunlun" and "Wuhuan" was held in a five lines of gossip organ, and all the pictures would rotate randomly, which not only showed the fantasy of China elements, but also added a mysterious atmosphere.

The Promise tells a story with no specific time and place, just like a computer game, with no background of the times. This is very different from Chen Kaige's previous films. Chen Kaige also admitted that he was influenced by computer games and comics. On the one hand, because "it is safer to shoot this subject", he dare not take such a big investment to take risks. If he fails the exam or is not allowed to broadcast on CCTV 6 like Farewell My Concubine, it is too unworthy. Secondly, "it will make young people like it more" and will not affect them from seeing some of their own shadows in movies. "This is not a realistic movie, but it is still a movie that hits people's hearts." I believe that as long as you are willing, the audience can still see the reality from this fairy tale, but it is not so clear at a glance.