Reflections after watching "The Master"

Reflections after watching the 2017 movie "The Master" 1

Lu Zhengyu's "The Master" reflects the carnival and crazy entertainment spirit everywhere.

At that time, a film critic from the New York Times once commented on Hong Kong movies in the 1980s and 1990s: "They are all excessive, they are all crazy." Perhaps, this sentence was not a compliment to Hong Kong films at the time, but now it seems that the arrogance and indulgence in early Hong Kong films and the original creativity contained in the works have become a mark of honor for Hong Kong films. In fact, this sentence also applies to this "Peerless Master". Maybe many people can't accept this movie because it seems a bit excessive, but also because of its madness, I believe many people will fall in love with it.

The madness of "The Master" is actually a reflection of director Lu Zhengyu's still childlike innocence. He instilled all kinds of wild imagination into this work, and it is everywhere. The combination of the "Four Heavenly Kings", the names of "Tom and Jerry", and the inclusion of nostalgic hits such as "The Same Song" and "Speak From the Heart" can all evoke the audience's childhood memories in a timely manner.

The main scene of the movie takes place in a place called Fallen Street. It is said that the street name was inspired by Fallen Street in Changsha. Lu Zhengyu hopes to use this street to restore the childhood memories of a generation. Therefore, the audience can see the dazzling array of nostalgic and retro shops in the film, such as game arcades, food stalls, billiard halls, barber shops, etc. It is like a paradise, hidden in the city with many high-rise buildings, but full of the atmosphere of the city, and living here All of them are "peerless masters".

When representing these "peerless masters", Lu Zhengyu still uses a childlike perspective to portray the girl Xiaoman played by Guo Caijie who looks weak, but is actually a violent girl with a King Kong Barbie figure; Fan Wei The grandfather played by the teacher has a variety of looks and is obsessed with knitting sweaters; the most subversive role is the villain played by Cai Guoqing, who sends 365 blessings to people everywhere, but does all kinds of bad things, which directly broke the hearts of more than one billion viewers The solid image established, this huge character contrast has a dramatic impact and enhances a lot of comedy effects.

The style of "The Master" is closer to a comic book. Both the art setting and the lens design exude a kind of liveliness and tension, making this fairy tale about adults appear more interesting. Be persuasive. Especially for the performance of food, the director used his two-dimensional imagination and boldly mixed food with various elements, giving him a strong ghostly temperament. Kodak plays a barbecue master who spins and jumps back and forth on the horizontal bar while closing his eyes, using the lever to vibrate the meat to cook amazing food. The scene where Fan Wei's Yumian Huang Jierui and Chen Chong's Tang Mu Ke Lusi competed to cook soup, even more in the style of a martial arts movie. The director visualized a simple soup-making competition, and a big pot was separated by In the form of Yin Yang Tai Chi, both sides are turbulent and murderous. Teacher Fan Wei has transformed into the Super Saiyan in "Dragon Ball", full of childishness.

"The Master" is like a rhapsody written by Lu Zhengyu. The secret book Lu Xiaoyu has been pursuing in the film is just the "love book" of Jerry and Tom. Kurata Yasuaki, who can cook a sumptuous meal in minutes, met Teacher Fan Wei, who was an expert in knitting sweaters. How could he have imagined that Teacher Fan Wei would be able to find the time to create such a tricky yet elegant pattern while playing against him? The woolen pants that conformed to the public's aesthetics were thoughtfully put on for him. In the end, he cried bitterly after losing and resigned himself to defeat. ?Reflections after watching the 2017 movie "The Master" 2

The evaluation of "The Master" may be polarized. People who like it will give it great approval, while those who don't like it will find it very embarrassing. This kind of polarized evaluation was also targeted at Hong Kong's nonsensical comedies in the early years. Even "Kung Fu", which may be Stephen Chow's most popular work, may have a poor story quality in the eyes of some viewers who emphasize the logic of the movie's story and the relationship between the characters. And movies like "Super School Bully" that have no logic and rely solely on making friends and showing off may seem really embarrassing now. But Hong Kong comedy has developed step by step like this.

Hong Kong comedy movies were no different from Hollywood comedies at first. After a series of talented creators added fuel to the fire, they finally became the master of Hong Kong nonsensical comedies.

Before the 1970s, there were three main types of comedy in Hong Kong. The first type was the joke comedy set in old China, represented by the works of Li Hanxiang. These comedies are often a mash-up of various joke lists from history. Bed jokes and jokes about deception and abduction in the market are told one by one. Each section is about three or four books (each book takes ten minutes). Just like a storyteller, three or four paragraphs are told. It's just a movie. To avoid this incoherence, three or four stories are often grouped under one theme. The second type is the Hong Kong High School Musical film represented by Wang Jing’s father, Wang Tianlin. Such movies are often light comedies, creating a lot of comedy effects in order to reflect the lively and joyful atmosphere in musicals. The third category is family ethics comedies. This type of comedy is often produced by D&M, Shaw Brothers' former rival. The boss, Lu Yuntao, is a local elite. Different from the strong foreign temperament of Shaw Brothers earlier, he always believes that movies should educate the people, not just the entertainment industry. Therefore, it pays close attention to the lives of middle-class citizens in Hong Kong. Such films often imitate the comedies of Hollywood's golden age, and are mostly chamber dramas, telling stories about offices or families. Among these three types, the second and third types have more serious themes, which are completely different from the crazy and funny style of Hong Kong's golden period. Although the first type is absurd and nonsensical, the themes are often outdated and the background is out of touch with Hong Kong. It is also quite different from future Hong Kong comedies. In 1973, "Seventy-Two Tenants" written by Chu Yuan broke the box office record. This film was different from the previous three comedy genres. The actors spoke Cantonese and the content was rooted in the local area. It already heralded the arrival of a new era.

In the 1970s, Xu Guanwen's comedies dominated Hong Kong movies. Five of his films, "The Ghost Rider" (1974), "The Genius and the Idiot" (1975), "Half a Thing" (1976), "The Pact" (1978), and "The Modern Bodyguard" (1981) won the box office championship that year. Now it seems that these five works have the prototype of the Hong Kong comedy style in the golden period of the 1990s. Different from Li Hanxiang's use of an abstract motif as a clue, in Xu Guanwen's film, the clue became three tasks for him and his two brothers, Xu Guanjie and Xu Guanying. This kind of Cantonese-speaking, integrated into Cantonese pop culture (Xu Guanjie's theme song), the background of the story is set in Hong Kong, the characters are all low-class citizens of Hong Kong, and the things they experience are the most common things in Hong Kong life. The most important thing is, Various plots based on language, action, and scene settings have gradually become exaggerated, becoming more and more whimsical and nonsensical. This style has been continuously promoted by various heroes in the 1980s.

In 1980, Huang Baiming (Happy Ghost), Mai Jia (bald guy), and Shi Tian (Long Si) established the "New Art City" company, which has dominated almost the entire 1980s. The secret of New Art City's success lies in its collective creation method. Mai Jia first decides what subject to shoot, and then discusses the story with Huang Baiming, Shi Tian, ??Tsui Hark, Shi Nansheng, Eric Tsang and Teddy Robin. This method also To become a "bridge" means to connect various ideas and bridges with stories. With the power of seven, New Art City has launched several blockbuster series. The "Best Partner" series, starring Hui Guanjie and Mai Jia after they separated from Hui Guanwen, integrated Hong Kong-style comedy and action film elements into the 007 story. Seven films were made in one shot, and the first few films were all box office hits. , a small-budget comedy series of "Happy Ghost", which is small and broad, and has a good box office. In order to compete with New Art City's "Best Partner", Jiahe put together the "Five Lucky Stars Series" with a strong lineup and excellent production. The two series have been competing for nearly ten years. Debao, established in 1984, produced the "Rich and Rich" series produced by Gao Zhisen, Yongsheng produced in 1984, and the "Hardcover Girls Chasing Girls" series created by Wang Jing also achieved good box office success. Looking at Hong Kong comedy at this time, it can really be said that the eight immortals cross the sea and show their magical powers. At that time, the Hong Kong film industry was developing rapidly, and various types of films were maturing. The Taiwanese market, the Southeast Asian market, and even the European and American markets were all very popular.

In order to produce works that are more attractive to audiences, various types of movies are constantly becoming more specific. The "hero movie" craze created by John Woo, and the action comedies of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung are all becoming more extreme, and comedy movies are even more crazy. In order to stimulate The audience's laughter continues to increase, the plots are getting denser, the postures are lower, and the more vulgar plots are constantly breaking the lower limit. The jokes, action scenes, and stories in various languages ????are constantly exaggerated. Everyone seems to be fighting against each other, all for the comedy. As they piled more firewood on the fire, the comedy climaxes of the 1980s came one after another, raising the level of exaggeration, craziness, and nonsensicalness of the entire comedy. Until the 1990s, Stephen Chow emerged as a trend-setter standing on the shoulders of giants, heading towards The pinnacle of Hong Kong's nonsensical comedy.

Looking at the entire development history of Hong Kong comedy, it is a history of "little people" defeating everything. In his early years, Xu Guanwen began to focus his camera on the little people on the fringes of society, defeating the previous old-fashioned comedies in one round. However, although Xu Guanwen also portrays a small person, he uses an intellectual-like perspective that keeps a certain distance from the small people, looks down on the small people, extracts the bitterness of the small people, and expresses the ridiculousness of the small people. In the 1980s, when all kinds of heroes came together, people from all walks of life showed off and expressed the little people without restraint, and kept a distance from the little people. Xu Guanwen was defeated by the self-proclaimed little people. In the 1990s, there emerged Stephen Chow, who was a little person himself and was willing to see the world as a little person. He changed from satirizing little people to self-deprecating. At this time, Hong Kong's nonsensical comedy reached its perfection. This kind of complete comedy does not rely on stories, but only relies on characters and "bridges" that are so dense that the audience can't breathe. This "everything is crazy, everything is over the top" style has completely become a style, a kind of comedy movie that is different from the logic of the story and relies only on characters and various ideas. A good work at this time is to be able to find a complete story among such characters and ideas. The better it is done, the more successful the movie may be. Looking at Stephen Chow's early successful works, all of them are sure to have a story, but despite this, the problem of nonsensical comedy itself cannot be avoided. ?Reflections after watching the 2017 movie The Master 3

Changsha’s “Lushan Commercial and Civilized Street” is known as the “Degenerate Street” in the world.

This narrow street is tightly sandwiched between Hunan University, Hunan Normal University and the Xiangjiang River. Because it is close to universities, it is full of small restaurants, small hotels, hair salons, grocery stores, Internet cafes and karaoke OKs.

It is dilapidated and cheap, but also prosperous and precious. Various contradictory elements are self-consistently integrated here and complement each other.

Youth is another main dish here, and the flavor-enhancing condiment is called hormones.

This is also Lu Zhengyu’s youth and hormones.

Lu Zhengyu turned "Degenerate Street" into "Pig Cage Walled City" in the movie. It was the place where the story of Stephen Chow's movie "Kung Fu" took place, and it also has the memories of his youth. Poor and dilapidated, harboring filth and evil, yet crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

In short, the myth of a small person becoming a big hero, the passion to fight against the evil forces of society, and the beauty of young love can all happen here.

The opening of the movie is completely another version of "The God of Cookery", even the use of lenses and editing are following Stephen Chow's path.

As a star fan, Lu Zhengyu’s tribute to his idols is “pixel-level”. The whole movie puts aside the superficial story and is basically a reshoot of "Kung Fu". The Fallen Street corresponds to the Pig Cage Walled City, the chefs and the retired martial artists sneak into the funeral parlor and the mental hospital, and Tang Po and the Fire Cloud Evil God are dying. The ferocious blows opened up the two channels of Ren and Du, and even this little A Fei who went astray but finally saved the world.

There are also movies such as "Domestic Lingling Paint", "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Westward Journey". Stephen Chow's shadow is everywhere.

Lu Zhengyu’s own experience is very inspiring. He came from a grassroots background and made his fortune through online movies. Then he actually participated in his idol’s movie, becoming an actor, screenwriter, and assistant director. Finally, he was featured in the title of this movie. name, it was released in theaters with high standards and on a large scale.

Perhaps it has been dormant for too long, and there is too much that I want to express and express. Compared with the dexterity of creation in "Hip-Hop Trio" and the relaxation of performance in "Mermaid", "The Master" It seems too impatient, too demanding, and too cautious.

Almost from the first second of the movie, Lu Zhengyu was eager to make jokes with all his strength, one after another, at an unbearable speed. It seems that before you have time to chew on the previous point, the following jokes come rushing in.

A lot of jokes doesn’t necessarily mean a good show. A good comedy always has to give people an aftertaste. Putting a bunch of jokes in front of the audience in such a hurry and forcing them into their mouths will only make people feel irritable. Therefore, there is obviously a problem with the rhythm of the first half of the movie. Regardless of whether it is funny or not, it will make people feel tired after watching it. The eyes are tired and the heart is tired.

Another problem with the movie is the state of the actors. Exaggeration, all kinds of exaggeration, even too much exaggeration. Stephen Chow's performance is also exaggerated, which is his signature. The Ng Mang-tat or Jimmy Lam he brings are also flamboyant, but there are always composed characters in his movies. Take "Kung Fu" as an example. The male protagonist is exaggerated, so the heroine Huang Shengyi will accept it. The chartered wife, the gay tailor Jiang, is exaggerated. Coolie Qiang and the fried guy have to be more normal. The Ax Gang leader Wada Qiwen is exaggerated, and Liang Xiaolong is hot. Yun Xieshen needs to restrain himself, so that there is looseness and tightness, tension and relaxation, and the movie will be good.

But in "The Master", Lu Zhengyu is exaggerated, Kong Lianshun is hoarse and exaggerated, Guo Caijie is strange and exaggerated, Fan Wei is changeable and exaggerated, Yang Di, Huang Ling, Kodak is exaggerated, and Cai Guoqing is especially exaggerated. It seems that exaggeration is the only way to perform comedy, and everyone is competing to see who is more exaggerated. Later, Chen Chong's appearance was able to suppress the scene, but that was already the second half, so this is also the reason why there were problems with the rhythm and atmosphere in the first half of the movie. There is a problem with the pacing, which also affects the overall quality of the film. In the end, it gave people the feeling that the whole movie was filled with jokes, with only superficial appearance and lack of soul. It looks too much like Stephen Chow, but lacks the charm of Stephen Chow. In the end, it just feels like a high-end imitation of a masterpiece, which is okay, but far from a classic. In fact, I didn’t really laugh too much at first, and it wasn’t until Yasuaki Kurata came out that I felt something about it.

The part with Kurata Yasuaki is the most interesting part of the movie in my opinion, and it is also the only place that made me laugh. The obsessive-compulsive disorder in his debut novel, the distorted "Japanese song", knitting sweaters, the multiple changes in the character's status and the sense of comedy brought by the many contrasts, Lu Zhengyu's aura is fully revealed in it.

Cai Guoqing’s performance is also surprising. The performance is in great contrast to the inherent image of the star, the fierce self-deprecation, and the female follower who speaks Mandarin with a Changsha accent and has a run-in with Liu Haoran. She acts like a group of thugs, full of aura, and naturally vicious and vicious.

The repeated appearances of the Four Heavenly Kings are also interesting. At first they seemed redundant, but after appearing many times, they actually gained a sense of presence. In addition to being funny, it also plays a big role in advancing the plot.

On the contrary, comedians like Yang Di, who are already somewhat famous, do not have a strong presence in the movie.

In the movie, Lu Zhengyu’s little wisdom always appears from time to time, but the whole movie is still too full. There is a problem with the pacing, and the several transformations of the character's motivations are also unconvincing. Compared with "Kung Fu", the scene of hitting the head with a small wooden stick is clean and crisp, with laughter in the tears, while "The Master" rambles on for a long time, and it still doesn't work. It feels far-fetched and abrupt, but the idol is still much smarter.

Of course it is not fair to compare Stephen Chow to Lu Zhengyu. There are differences in experience, changes in environment, and after all, Lu is just a newcomer to the film industry. As a debut work, "The Ultimate Master" is already quite well completed. Although Kaixin Mahua, Ning Hao, Xu Zheng, and Dapeng are all still producing good-quality comedy movies for the audience, Stephen Chow's light is so dazzling that his mantle and style need to be passed on after all. The successors are unlikely to be Wen Zhang and Deng Chao, and even less likely to be Wu Yifan. He must be able to write, direct, and act, and he must have the kind of nonsensical tone. Lu Zhengyu, apart from not being as handsome as his idol, has learned about everything else.

I have high expectations for Lu Zhengyu, so I was inevitably a little disappointed with "The Master" in the end. He can actually do better, and he can obviously do better. But after all, it’s just the first movie. There is too much to say, and I still don’t understand that less is better. I still want to support this movie. This is a good start. I hope the movie will be a hit at the box office and he will be more confident and relaxed in the future. When Stephen Chow is no longer Stephen Chow, when Fallen Street is shattered into rubble by the roar of excavators, and youth is gone, we still have Lu Xiaoyu to laugh and comfort.