It had been kept secret for so long before, and it was naturally impossible to keep it secret after it was released.
Even though it hasn't been officially released yet, some things can be released.
When the poster of Nie Xiaoqian played by Dong Bing'er was released, it can be said that people are completely convinced.
At the same time, film critics' evaluations of the film have further increased people's expectations for the film.
The famous film critic Du Xianghai wrote: "This is really a perfect commercial movie!"
Yes, if we say that before the millennium, domestic films were called commercial films, it was really not a compliment, because the domestic market had not yet been formed at that time, and domestic films were mainly literary films.
After all, what is a commercial film without a market?
But now it's completely different, and the audience is no longer a novice who doesn't understand anything. How can a commercial movie be called perfect?
“All the elements that make up a commercial film are close to extreme perfection in this film:
It has to be said that Director Li Yi is excellent in casting and has a vicious vision.
Judging from the actors and character settings, it goes without saying. I believe that as soon as you see Nie Xiaoqian and Ning Caichen, their images are almost fixed. In addition, the wild and uninhibited yet simple and kind-hearted Yan Chixia is androgynous.
The tree demon grandma and even some supporting characters such as the female ghost Xiaoqing, the county magistrate, etc. are all vivid and vivid on the page. You will never forget them after watching the movie.
The art props, costumes, etc. are all very sophisticated, even the special effects. In this film, the special effects are not as big as the current mainstream, but they just highlight the effect of the film.
Special effects have never meant that the bigger the scene, the better, because special effects only serve the plot of the movie.
Let's talk about Nie Xiaoqian's bun and Ning Caichen's scholar's scarf. It can be said that they are absolutely exquisite. I can even bluntly predict that once "A Chinese Ghost Story" comes out, all the "female ghosts" and "scholars" in the future will
All shapes will be shrouded in its shadow.
The costumes inside are not the heavy and realistic opera style in traditional costume dramas, nor are they the exaggerated and tacky shapes that are full of chemical fiber gauze today. Instead, they are simple, elegant and full of ancient flavor. It can be said that it is very consistent with the "classical legend" of the movie.
style.
Let’s talk about the soundtrack, which is definitely a highlight. “The Road Follows the Man in the Blurred Road”, “Don’t Come at Dawn”, and “Tao Dao Dao” are all amazing. What’s even better is that every interlude is both melody and
The lyrics perfectly fit the corresponding plot, and the style is grand, distant, melancholy and romantic. It is a genius work that cannot be copied in today's era.
Let's talk about the plot. The plot is the best part in my opinion. If I ask you now, what kind of movie do you think "A Chinese Ghost Story" is? Is it a tragedy or a comedy? Is it a romance movie? Or a ghost movie? Or is it a ghost movie?
A relatively relaxed entertainment film? Different people may have completely different answers. Because the style of this film itself is a mix and match. As an audience, your emotions will always be pulled by various elements, which is fascinating and never wanders for a moment.
At the same time, it also takes into account the aesthetic taste of the vast majority of ordinary viewers. The atmosphere of this movie switches freely between three completely different styles: romantic - funny - horror!
These three elements overlap and blend with each other like a layer cake, and are extremely natural. They are all run through the plot and are very balanced. This not only requires that kind of commercial film to be meticulous about the "industrialization" of the script, but also needs that kind of "industrialization" of the script.
The "talent" that leaks out.
Let’s talk about “funny” first. I think the so-called “funny” element has always been an iconic and popular style of Hong Kong movies, but it’s also quite hard to describe. In Hong Kong movies, the first thing is that everyone wants to know martial arts, and the second thing is that they want to know everything.
You have to be funny, but there are actually very few people who are really funny. It is much harder to make people laugh decently than to make them cry. Many so-called funny people adhere to the "clown" and "lower three-way" funny styles, or they are useless.
Moderate nonsensical and popular memes.
Although Director Li Yi is also a director from Hong Kong, he did not follow the rules in "A Chinese Ghost Story" and did not do it purely for the sake of being funny. The funny or humorous elements in "A Chinese Ghost Story" not only promote
The plot and character creation are very good, and they are full of cunning and irony. After watching the movie, you will remember a lot of funny plots, but they are not just funny for the sake of being funny!
For example, at the beginning, Ning Caichen had a "dummy challenge" with passers-by. Later, Ning Caichen accidentally broke into Lanruo Temple and was held up by two swords while making a declaration of "love & peace"; or was Ning Caichen afraid of the wolf's spot?
He walked at night with three lanterns and recited Tang poems to strengthen his courage, but the lights were instantly extinguished amidst the howling of wolves; or when he first met Nie Xiaoqian, he said, "Miss, why are you so heavy? I can't hold you!"
Of course, I think the most classic one is the part where "the scholar who didn't know the truth found an inkstone and killed a room full of ghosts." The audience who had just been scared to death by these zombies felt extremely sympathetic to these poor little people at that moment, and that
Duan Ning Caichen went to sue the official, the county magistrate who exaggerated the situation in a dramatic way. This scene of a corrupt official asking for bribes was very interesting, and the phrase "quit for free" was really impressive.
And the most amazing thing is that a movie that is already so interesting, so magnificent and wonderful, you can't imagine that it can be made into an extremely romantic and gorgeous movie. The so-called "antique romance" in the minds of our contemporary young people is actually very
Modern products can be said to be vividly displayed in this film - from the small pavilion in the water, the beauty in white playing the piano on a moonlit night, to the song "Ten miles of flat lake, the sky is covered with frost, every inch of blue silk stockings are worried about the old age. Looking at the moon shape to protect each other.
, I only envy mandarin ducks but not immortals.
This widely circulated "ancient love poem", at first I thought it was a reprint of an ancient poem, but I didn't expect it to be original to the movie!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Of course, I believe that young people will never forget the beautiful "underwater kissing" scene after reading it!
Even better is that compared to the original version of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" where the relationship between Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian was driven by "virtue", this "A Chinese Ghost Story" highlights the role of "love and desire": Ning Caichen
Ning Caichen fell into the water, and Xiaoqian stretched out her jade feet to pick him up; in the bathtub at Xiaoqian's house, Ning Caichen saw the half-naked Xiaoqian, and was kissed by Xiaoqian in the water, and they were confused and infatuated; the two fell in love the next day
When they met at the small pavilion in the water, Xiaoqian said that she would go there tomorrow, and then she lay softly in Ning Caichen's arms...
Up to this point, Xiaoqian took the initiative in the relationship between the two, but these extremely charming plots did not show her frivolity at all, but her charming charm and purity. At the same time, I can even say more bluntly that Nie Xiaoqian and Ning Ning in the film Caichen's passionate scene is the most beautiful of all the "sex scenes" I've ever seen. I can't even find another movie that can make the "climax" look both "lustful" and "beautiful" as well as ritually holy. .
Therefore, those literary and artistic directors should really learn more. Sometimes, the more you reveal, the more "lustful" you become!
From all the above, it can be said that it is difficult for any audience to say: "it doesn't look good" when the movie reaches this point!
Throughout the past 30 years, it can be said that there are very few people who can achieve such perfection in all elements of the film!
Of course, is this movie really just a commercial movie?
As I deepened my understanding of the film "A Chinese Ghost Story" and related information, especially after I read the original work of "Liao Zhai", I felt that the connotation of this film is not only that, but there is much more under the shell of a commercial film. What I want to express has been ignored by the public for so many years.
What is it? First of all, the whole movie has a strong "apocalyptic plot"!
Yes, apocalyptic plot!
From the beginning of the story, there was a killing on the road. The two parties involved in the killing were just one party stealing the other party's wallet, and a killing took place.
The key point is that the murderer did not have any other attitude towards it, as if that was the way it should be.
In the county town, indifference and depression pervade this chaotic world, with brutal gang members, soldiers, etc., all of whom are obsessed with money.
Xinyi is worthless here. The innkeeper, paper shop owner, painting shop owner, etc., these people are all very unified in their settings. Even the county magistrate is "demanding money!"
Except for money, other things here, including propriety, justice and integrity, seem to have become worthless. In addition, the demons in Lanruo Temple are rampant, depicting a disorderly and chaotic ancient apocalypse.
Therefore, in such an apocalyptic world where no one cares about propriety, justice and integrity, Ning Caichen appears to be so precious, as bright as a firefly in the dark.
Talking about the negative characters, most people think that the protagonist of "A Chinese Ghost Story" is the female ghost Nie Xiaoqian, but in fact, the entire movie, both from the main perspective and the director's emotional projection, falls on the Confucian scholar Ning Caichen. What the director wants to depict is not He is a cute poor scholar, but a "Confucian knight" who still sticks to his image in the end of the world when etiquette has collapsed.
Yes, although Ning Caichen has no power to tie a chicken, the so-called chivalrous person does not lie in his martial arts skills, but in being able to "help each other when the road is rough" and "even if there are thousands of people, I will go there". That's what a chivalrous person is at the beginning. How small and down-trodden Ning Caichen was, how tall and shining Ning Caichen was when he later learned the truth and swore an oath in front of Xiaoqian's grave to fight against demons with a mortal body to save Xiaoqian from reincarnation. So it's the same as the beginning. Corresponding to Ning Caichen walking alone in the windy and rainy wilderness, he evolved into a chivalrous figure with Xiaoqian's ashes, and Yan Chixia rode a horse in the windy and rainy wilderness.
And Yan Chixia, Ning Caichen's assistant in completing the "Tao of Chivalry", is a typical Taoist character, or the image of a Taoist swordsman. She is aloof and aloof from the world, even cynical.
But Yan Chixia not only bears the force value of the righteous side, but is also a key figure in the plot that connects the two realms of yin and yang, "humanity" and "ghost realm". The director expresses the core idea through his mouth from time to time: In fact, humans and ghosts are not the same.
There is no innate distinction. Ghosts can be kinder than people, and people can be eviler than ghosts. The flash of swords and blood and the human world without warmth and order at the beginning of the plot even hint that the apocalypse under the director's lens is actually a real Shura hell. And
In the end of the world, those who abandon human nature and choose animal nature are the real ghosts!
In fact, once the main theme has been revealed to this point, we can easily discover the core of the tragedy of "A Chinese Ghost Story". It is Nie Xiaoqian's true life experience.
While watching the movie, I couldn't help but think about a question: There is no problem that Dryad Granny needs to suck the blood of living people to practice, but since she is so powerful, why should she raise two girls to seduce innocent passers-by while they are still having sex?
How to actually start? Just lock it with one tentacle and start eating. And Xiaoqian, a female ghost who seems to have "superpowers", still only uses the body and sex to deal with her victims. If we put aside the fantasy setting,
Looking at the essence through the phenomenon - an evil old woman controls several girls and asks them to seduce men to have sex with them at night - in fact, this is a typical case of forcing girls into prostitution.
However, Nie Xiaoqian, who has fallen into prostitution, is not like the kind of woman who engages in flesh and blood business. She is more like a lady. She behaves elegantly, speaks softly, can play the piano and compose poems, and has a kind nature. However, she is forced to use her body to seduce her every night.
The passers-by lived miserable lives, and were given as gifts by their grandma to the powerful "Black Mountain Master".
The film clearly states that she was the daughter of an official, who died on the road, and her soul was controlled by a tree demon. However, the strange thing is that the official never came back to bury his daughter's ashes. If we combine it with the background of the previous troubled times.
, you know that Xiaoqian’s life experience is the epitome of countless miserable women in every troubled time.
The real Nie Xiaoqian in the world may have been a lady of an official family, but during the war, her father and brother were killed or died in battle, and the family was scattered. She, a weak woman, could not escape the fate of being kidnapped and sold, and eventually fell into prostitution and lived a miserable life.
Life.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There were so many such characters in the troubled times of ancient times! Look at the daughter of an aristocratic family in Wuhu, the chaos of the Tang Dynasty, the noble lady of Chang'an in the chaos of the late Tang Dynasty, Jingkang Zhi
The shameful princess of the Northern Song Dynasty... The peerless beauties watered by poems, books, rituals and music are like famous flowers in a greenhouse. They need the care of civilization. However, when the end of the world comes, gentlemen can still choose to fight to the death or live in an ignoble existence. However, these have been lost.
The women protected by the family can only be slaves, concubines and prostitutes, just like those exquisite civilizations being torn apart and trampled by barbarism.
Therefore, "A Chinese Ghost Story" is essentially a story about "two heroes from Confucianism and Taoism save Feng Chen". If we put aside the ghosts and gods and return to the human world, it will be a cruel and helpless story: in "Blood smeared with weeds, the jackal's crown is gone"
In the troubled times of "", a scholar who had the ambition to save the world but struggled helplessly in reality met a woman from a noble family but fell into the world. They had similar poems and fell in love with each other.
The scholar hated himself for being incompetent and unable to save the country, but he thought that at least he must save this woman himself, so with the help of his friends, he went through all kinds of hardships to sell the girl who was about to be sold to a bully (perhaps a traitor who sold himself to the enemy for wealth and wealth, and wanted to take advantage of her).
He was rescued by a girl (the beloved daughter of a loyal minister who died for the sake of justice). However, in the troubled times, everyone was precarious, and the scholar could not give the girl a home and a stable life. After a brief love, the two could only fall in love again.
Separated, forgotten in the rivers and lakes, never to see each other again. Bones as white as mountains and forgotten surnames, nothing more than a young master and Hongzhuang!
In this way, you can deeply feel the powerlessness of life in the wind and rain. People cannot escape the times. Every ordinary person struggles hard in the world for their dreams. As a result, a big wave of the times comes and everything is gone. So there is
Some people sink with the tide, and some people still stick to the light but have to fall into inner pain, so that the beautiful things in those people's hearts, such as youth, love, integrity and virtue, generous ambition, and chivalrous spirit, are fleeting like a dream.
Fading away, becoming more and more blurred, leaving only the young man who once was walking alone on the rugged and boundless road of the world!"
