The barbaric growth of the city and the madness caused by a stone gave birth to a unique black humor.

What do you think of when you mention Chongqing? Is it the bustling night scene known as "Little Hong Kong", or the sultry summer, or the punching place for various tours of online celebrities? These are the images of modern Chongqing in the eyes of outsiders. In the eyes of foreigners in Chongqing, there must be that once "cool" Chongqing, as well as rivers and lakes. In 2006, Crazy Stone described such a Chongqing, a different city full of "black humor".

Some people call this movie China's version of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but I don't quite agree. I agree that this is a new type of China film created by director Ning Hao with a deep understanding of humor and urban culture. I think Ning Hao is infatuated with this city. Whether in Crazy Stone or Spring Festival in Bayer, we can see Ning Hao's perfect grasp of urban culture. So I want to talk about the humorous stories I saw in this film and the breeding of black humor in Chongqing, where it was filmed.

Black humor was born in the 1960s. This is a kind of absurd and morbid special humor. It usually bases humor on pain, resulting in an absurd asymmetry, which has the comic effect of revealing despair.

For example, a robber kidnapped a person, and the robber called his family to pay a ransom of 10, but the family said, kill the ticket.

In this joke, through a conflict between low ransom and ticket killing, the despair of the kidnapped person is finally created, and the audience will be amused by this morbid joke, which is black humor.

Since the emergence of black humor, a large number of related literary works and film and television works have been born, such as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Trainspotting, etc ... Most of the black humor in these foreign films is based on the plot stories of gang warfare and uneven distribution of spoils. In China, black humor has plots that are more in line with the national conditions, such as the intrigue between the powerful and powerful in Let the Bullets Fly, the struggle with the Japanese army in Evil Doesn't Suppress Righteousness, and the intrigue of various bottom people in Crazy Stone.

Ning Hao, on the other hand, thoroughly pondered the psychology of various characters in the film, and everyone's darkness and disgrace were exposed in front of the camera, which matched a different style, that is, "madness" in the title.

① language

Humor is very information-intensive and needs efficient expression, and language is the best carrier. Ning Hao chose to shoot in Chongqing, and one of the factors is Chongqing dialect. The fast-paced and aggressive tone of Chongqing dialect adds icing on the cake to the "black humor" element.

The lines in the film have an ironic style, which is one of the forms of humor. The eldest brother in the trio is called "Brother Dao", which means the eldest brother who stresses morality. But he can always break his word and betray his faith at the critical moment: Heipi, who was trapped in the sewer, finally got through to him for help, but he hung up directly.

After the jade was stolen, Bao Hongshi shouted at the top of her lungs, "Is it a public toilet?" Come whenever you want, or leave whenever you want? "

The international thief Mike went to the store and bought a rope to hang the stolen jade in the air like 007. The profiteer told Mike the real quality and quantity, and cut the rope while he was not paying attention. Later, when Mike was about to steal jade, he was a few centimeters shorter and could only swear and hang awkwardly in the air.

The plot of these language collocations is the perfect form of black humor, which is full of conflict, absurdity and despair. One person's happiness is based on another person's pain.

② Multi-line narration

Another reason why this film is accused of copying Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is the multi-line narrative structure. Throughout the film history, most excellent comedies are equipped with such a narrative structure, which cannot be said to be plagiarism. So why do comedies always use multilinear narration?

Non-linear narrative means that multiple story lines advance together, and the plot is more complicated and full of changes, which requires the director's extremely high scene scheduling and excellent script blessing. Multi-line narration can arrange unrelated characters step by step and create dramatic conflicts. Ning Hao also used this shooting technique in his later Crazy Racing, which also produced unexpected results.

What is "madness"? It is an incomprehensible behavior beyond ordinary people's expectations. In this film, it is crazy to look at everyone's main line alone with multi-line narrative. Bao Hongshi passed the thief every time, even made a big circle, and did a lot of useless work before he suddenly realized. The trio is arranging a theft plan against the map on the wall, but Bao is nailing thumbtacks on the partition wall.

Multi-line narration can make things develop in a direction that makes the audience feel incredible when it has happened, and then it seems reasonable after it has happened.

There are many elements of black humor in the film, such as the portrayal of little heroes and the intrigue of anti-heroes ... To integrate these perfectly into the plot, an incubator of black humor is needed, and Ning Hao chose Chongqing.

Chongqing is a rapidly developing city. Many skyscrapers soar into the sky, and various industries develop here. The Yangtze River and Jialing River meet here, and there are many ports, which breeds Chongqing's unique dock culture and rivers and lakes.

Bare-shirted trackers are pulling ropes and sticks in rubber shoes are carrying poles, which is in sharp contrast with Chongqing's modernization. It can be said that Chongqing is a "barbaric growth" city. It seems that there are no rules, but everyone has a unique way of life and does not disturb each other.

Matching the cultural background is the unique terrain of Chongqing. At first, the scene of the trio cheating took place on the light rail, and the scene of Xie chatting up took place on the Yangtze River cableway. Chongqing is famous as a mountain city, and the rugged terrain makes the city's wind shadow interesting. At the end of the film, the road where Huang Bo gallops with bread is the Qiao Rong Peninsula overpass in Chongqing. The unique circular road with drama chase is really "crazy".

Jade, the protagonist of the whole story of the film, is in the temple of Chongqing: Luohan Temple. All the fierce competitions took place in this Zen-filled place, and all the thefts took place under the eyes of Lohan Buddha. Tourists worshipped during the day and hid clouds at night. Again, it corresponds to the black humor style.

When the media interviewed Ning Hao, they asked him why he chose to shoot in Chongqing. He said: "This place is suitable for telling such stories. We think this story is absurd, so a place that is too new and too long will not work. The most suitable city is a mixed city of old and new. Chongqing is very suitable. " Chongqing is indeed such a city, changing with each passing day, with old and new cultures and buildings coexisting, with a "cool" style, which is suitable for the development of "black humor".

Crazy Stone seems to be a crazy story triggered by a piece of jade, but it actually expresses the experiences and development of each character in a rapidly changing city. Some people are confused, some people are crazy, and some people giggle.

Black humor is not far from us. In the era of asymmetric information, there is always pain that belongs to us. In the eyes of some sober "chess fans", will we be lost in the dilemma circle like the bag in the film?

Text | Hu Hua Film and Television

Editor | Ye Huang Qiu Zhi