Please, stop imitating Stephen Chow.

After watching Bathing Friends, the first film that comes to mind is the peerless master of 17.

The two films have nothing to do with themselves, but it is quite complicated to watch Lu Zhengyu and Xiaoxing Yi, two earlier "short video network celebrities", still clinging to the comedy dream and feeling of the big screen …

On the bright side, as a director, Xiaoxing Yi has really improved-this is a fact-his cinematic technique and sense, including telling a fairly complete story, all of which belong to cinematic thinking and are much better than the last one.

The question is naturally how to improve the film thinking, or the overwhelming logic of online drama in the bones.

Of course, for most people who buy tickets, laughing or not is the only criterion for evaluating a comedy-so Cat's Eye Taobao still has a high score of 8.8.

I have no prejudice against domestic comedies. I can pass 6 points for Bathing Friends, and there is not much to say about the film itself. I finally decided to talk about it almost a week after its release because I wanted to tell Xiaoxing Yi what I said to Lu Zhengyu and Beautiful Master three years ago:

I know it's hard to make comedies on the big screen, but please, let's really stop imitating Stephen Chow.

1.

Where is Xiaoxing Yi smarter than Lu Zhengyu?

Let's talk about the advantages of Yuba first.

In other words, compared with Lu Zhengyu, Xiaoxing Yi, who also started with online drama thinking, is smart.

I don't know how many times you still remember the peerless master. The publicity was full of momentum and explosions. But when it was released in summer, it was timid and finally barely exceeded 100 million. In a platform with tolerant scores like Cat's Eye Taobao, it has a low reputation of only about 7.5 points.

Why was it a fiasco?

In short, I didn't know what the mainstream audience wanted to see from the beginning.

As a huge fan of Stephen Chow, it is not a problem for Lu Zhengyu to imitate Kung Fu from structure to details. Focusing most of the jokes on tribute and nostalgia is the fatal reason for word-of-mouth box office.

For example, I did laugh at the following song, which borrowed from the old song "Say something from my heart", but the younger audience may really look indifferent. ...

Another example is the performance of two supporting actors, Fan Wei and Yasuaki Kurata. I was amused several times, but how many young viewers know about Yasuaki Kurata? How much can Fan Wei's role-playing sell?

This is not harsh criticism, it is a generation gap.

Since it is a commercial film, it is natural to serve the mainstream audience.

Busbuddy obviously learned a lesson:

Xiaoxing Yi's cleverness lies in his cleverness. He didn't indulge in narcissism and pettiness when he debuted. He has a clear purpose, and he is not important at all. Serving the mainstream audience is the first priority.

As a result, class conflicts, amnesia and lies, warm family, deep brotherhood, defeating the strong with the weak, the whole assembly line has been done, there is no bright spot, but the victory lies in cleanliness and understanding, and the audience seems to have no threshold.

Finally, a profound bathing culture in China was packaged, and 12345 words about bathing were written between the lines, which made a difference and improved the goodwill.

Moreover, Qiao Shan, who rarely had the opportunity to lead the film, propped up most of the jokes in the film. If he changes actors, the overall joke will be greatly reduced.

These are probably the advantages.

Next, it's time to talk about Stephen Chow.

2.

What's the difference between a bath buddy and a gourmet?

Bathing friends are very similar to Stephen Chow's The Gourmet, and many people should have seen it.

Steven Zhou, a character in Stephen Chow's works, was split into a rich second generation illegitimate child in Peng Yuchang and a down-and-out bathing worker in Qiao Shan. Together, they completed the growth route from domineering to down and out to rising.

From the title of the film to the turning point of the whole story, we can probably find a contrast from the Gourmet.

I don't want to go into details, but I'm interested in comparing myself. On the contrary, I want to ask a question:

There is also the problem of illogicality. Why is the logic problem of bath friends so dazzling, while gourmets can be ignored by most of us?

The logical problem of bath friends mainly focuses on the character Peng Yuchang:

The conflict with Peng Yuchang began, because Peng wanted to take a bath and relax before flying in a spacesuit. What is this wonderful habit of the rich second generation?

Later, amnesia was tricked by Qiao Shan into taking a bath, and a band casually put on a disc to broadcast a party, and the bathhouse that was about to close down came to life instantly. Which parallel world is this entrepreneurial miracle?

After that, searching by memory was basically forced all the way. Finally, relying on the hard feelings of grandma and brother, I became the king of bathing, although I lost. Therefore, it is necessary to tell the audience that China amateur masters who practice in the street for a few days are Korean professional masters who never lose their muscles.

There is a saying that the story of "God of Food" actually has some logical problems:

For example, Stephen Chow was framed, became a rich man, and ended up penniless on the street overnight?

For example, in order to regain the throne of the god of food, a person ran to the mainland without a clue, looking for what pheasant China Cuisine Institute? And why Hunan?

For example, at the end of the God of Food War, not to mention the internal strength of various cooking competitions, and finally a Guanyin Bodhisattva suddenly appeared. What does this mean?

Why do many people, such as me, find it hard to understand Busgo's bad logic, but when they look at the god of food, they laugh and see tears?

Whether Explosicum peed in a cow pill or ate a fascinating meal, these unforgettable classic memories are actually superficial.

I'll say the answer:

Because Stephen Chow's comedies with heavy personal traces are tragedies in their bones.

Or compare "gourmets" with bath friends:

What kind of world does Stephen Chow live in? The rich are dishonest and hypocritical, and there is no bottom line for humiliating and scolding the people below; Poor people are ugly and stupid, vulgar and ignorant, and they kill each other at every turn.

To put it bluntly, no matter rich or poor, they are all villains.

Even the turkey sister who is full of human highlights can only get the love of the god of food if she finally becomes beautiful.

Funny is funny, but this smile is also full of sad tears.

What about the world of bath friends?

Peng Yuchang started out as an asshole, and Qiao Shan was a great guy who was tricked into selling bathhouses. But these things are completely superficial and posturing.

How much of an asshole is Peng Yuchang? It's nothing more than rude to the bath owner, but also because I was stabbed in the heart.

How badly was Qiao Shan cheated? No, I still live with my grandmother and sister's family of three, and life seems to have no impact.

Some people say that grandma is not going to cure diseases? Yes, but the film didn't focus on the difficulties of life. Grandma's illness was more comic.

All subsequent developments are idealistic.

Aside from other details, it is only said that the rich second generation and the washerwoman really became brothers, and the bathhouse also opened in Las Vegas. This fairy tale plot will only appear in movies.

Still want to emphasize:

Comparing these, it's not that Brother Bath can't shoot like this, let alone move out of Stephen Chow to bully the younger one. The director's level is not high, and his ambition is not high. There is nothing wrong with the audience having fun and getting what they want.

What I want to say is:

Although it has borrowed a lot from The Gourmet (and other Hong Kong films, such as Celebrating the Birthday of a Fool and Memorial Hall of Lucky Stars), Bathing Friends is essentially a Hollywood family comedy and a Stephen Chow comedy, which are totally different in temperament.

I am depressed, even angry, here:

Since we are taking such two completely different roads, why do we have to imitate them forcibly?

3.

Why can't Stephen Chow be imitated?

You mainland comedians who are greatly influenced by Stephen Chow have paid enough tribute, so let him go.

Moreover, it doesn't matter whether you like Stephen Chow's comedy or not, but we have to admit that it is really unique in the world, and it can't be imitated or copied.

After careful analysis, we will find that:

Stephen Chow's personally branded comedy is not only tragic in nature, but also extremely cruel on the surface.

And many people didn't really feel his cruelty until the last ten years of Journey to the West: Demonization and Mermaid.

The Tang Priest's hair was pulled out one by one, the Monkey King in Bo Huang was ugly and cruel, and the arrested mermaid was covered with injuries.

Including "Gourmet", the scenic Gourmet humiliated employees endlessly, and that kind of bad performance has exceeded the bottom line of being a man.

The down-and-out god of food was beaten by the poor in the street and fainted directly on the street corner full of garbage rats and passers-by urinating everywhere.

Looking at such a picture, you will feel that it is a bit cruel to shoot like this.

But Stephen Chow wants to show you these cruel, ugly, unbearable and desperate things in life.

These are things that domestic comedies will never touch or have the ability to touch.

The characters in Stephen Chow's movies often reveal a kind of "I'm a rogue and I'm afraid of who"-that's how many jokes come from;

But behind this, there is often a sadness of "I will destroy it for you"-how many tears are there.

The more I watch his comedies repeatedly, the more I can feel the pain of "broken bones and tendons" described by film critic Mei Xuefeng.

What do you mean?

Look at the lollipop in Kung Fu, and you will understand everything. It not only represents A Xing's kindness in childhood, but also represents his degeneration as a street thug when he grows up, and even represents his last persistence in life.

A Xing's life seems to be such a failure, so ridiculous, but so desperate and heartbroken that the tears we just laughed out soon mixed with a lot of sadness.

Such a Stephen Chow, which any film maker deliberately imitates, is tantamount to blasphemy.

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In fact, judging from the box office performance of New king of comedy last year, Stephen Chow may still be the same Stephen Chow-still cruel and bloody-but this era is obviously not his own.

A contrast:

Douban score of New king of comedy, 5.7;

The douban score of bath friends is 6.6.

Didn't mean to pick things up, just sigh with emotion:

Nowadays, from short videos to long films, all the beautified comedies stripped of their cruel side and coated with a beautiful filter really make you and me happy?

If you are happy, let Stephen Chow and his comedies be forgotten in the wind.

Just, please, please stop imitating him