First, there is no air and no soul.
Chen's version of Orphan of Zhao did not capture that kind of "qi". The spirit here is not only the specific individual spirit such as chivalry and loyalty, but also the "spirit" of the whole society at that time, which is much bigger than this. In a big way, this spirit is the sense of the times. The expression of "Qi" can be embodied in various aspects. Such as clothing, language, body, expression, eyes, position and so on. Movies could have used these means to express the spiritual outlook of people and society at that time. But Chen Kaige abruptly made it into a drama. In addition to clothing and location, the language, expressions and eyes of the people inside are mostly modern and too modern. Take lines as an example. Needless to say, there are two clips in a large-scale Beijing film, which impressed me deeply. One is that Han Jue saw Wu Zhao run away and said to Cheng Ying like a rogue: "The child ran away. How is it possible? " Second, 8-year-old Wu Zhao was angry with Cheng Ying. "You are so annoying!" . Language is a very important part of movies. I don't object to the use of modern language in historical dramas, but we must always grasp a degree, and distance produces beauty. In historical plays, lines are slightly different from modern life language. As long as it is handled properly, just like the old version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it will not only cause obstacles in understanding, but also make the sense of the times immediately manifest. By contrast, Mel? In order to achieve this sense of the times and show the spirit of the times, Gibson often uses languages that have been lost in modern times. Even if the audience can't understand the lines, it is easy to feel that there is something spiritual in the film. This can be observed in films such as passion of the christ and Revelation directed by Gibson.
Even the basic sense of time has not been produced, let alone the spirit that higher-level characters should have, such as chivalry, loyalty, loyalty, hostility and tyranny. At this point, as an ancient film, Chen Kaige's films are not even qualified for Kurosawa's shoes in creating "anger". In a series of costume movies such as Rashomon, Chaos, Seven Samurai and Heart Stick, Kurosawa vividly shows the "Qi" of the time when the story happened and the kind of "Qi" that every role should have through the eyes, lines, voices, intonation and body movements of each actor. The Devil Comes by China and Jiang Wen is comparable to Akira Kurosawa in gas production. Hu Jinquan's series of martial arts films, such as Longmen Inn, Chivalrous Woman, Strange Destiny in the Mountain and Martyrdom Map, are filled with the unique charm of the Ming Dynasty in dialogue, shooting and costumes. The next best thing is that the controversial banquet directed by Xiaogang Feng, who is equally famous with Chen Kaige, has a good overall portrayal of "Qi" except for some lines such as "It's getting late, I still push the quilt at night".
In Chen's Orphan of Zhao, there is a lack of chivalry, and Han Jue lacks loyalty, hostility and domineering. The role of Han Jue is the biggest failure. It's not necessarily that Huang Xiaoming's acting skills are not good, because he was directed by the director, and it can only be said that it was the failure of director Chen Kaige. Cheng Ying's wife Christina and Zhao Shuo's wife Fan Bingbing only played a striking role. Not surprisingly, Ge You and Wang Xueyin were mediocre. But three small roles, well played. First of all, counselors in Tu'an Gu can use their eyes and expressions to give people a sense of reality that is rare in this film. Unfortunately, in all kinds of official publicity materials, it is difficult for us to find specific information about this actor. Later, in the credits at the end of the film, his name "Wang Jinsong" was found. Secondly, the actor Peng Bo (this actor has great potential) is the one who plays Xie in Crazy Stone. Note that this actor is not promoted by propagandists, because he is not a big name. Third, Zhao Dun, played by Bao Guoan, has a short appearance time, but full of aura.
"Qi" is the soul of the film. Without it, movies are like walking dead. No matter how well dressed, no matter how famous the actors are, and no matter how gorgeous the location is, it is hard to hide the pallor and emptiness of the film itself. Unfortunately, what Chen's version of Orphan of Zhao lacks most is this "qi".
Second, it is unreasonable and illogical.
The story of The Orphan of Zhao is fictional, which has long been confirmed by scholars. We don't pursue the truth of history, but as a film, we must at least tell the story as true to impress the audience. Everyone knows that Avatar is fictional, but anyone who has seen Avatar will be moved by this movie. Therefore, fiction itself is not a crime, but its illogicality. Almost everyone will have such a question after watching the Chen version of The Orphan of Zhao: On the surface, Cheng Ying hated killing his wife (in fact), and she "stood on the wrong side" in the political struggle with the Zhao family. In this case, it is very strange that Tu'an Gu didn't kill Cheng Ying. Why did he take Cheng Ying as his guest so easily and trust Cheng Ying so much? In fact, in the original story, there is a confession. It was designed by Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu. Gongsun Sheng deliberately hid Cheng Ying's son, claiming to be Zhao Shuo's son, and then Cheng Ying deliberately tipped off Tu'an Gu. The purpose is clear-in order to get paid, he is accused of betraying his friends and seeking glory, so that Tu'an Gu will not doubt it. However, in the movie, Cheng Ying came to Tu'an Gu with his children and property, vowing to follow Tu'an Gu all his life and easily become a doorman. This makes us doubt the IQ of Tu'an Gu in Zhao Dun, who is smart enough to kill the king and defeat the first-class politicians in Jin, and then doubt the IQ of the director and screenwriter, and then wonder if this is the director and screenwriter deliberately insulting the IQ of the audience.
What is even more questionable is that in the first half, except for a few shots, whenever Tu'an Gu appeared, he was basically surrounded by people. As a senior official and general, this is of course necessary. But in the second half, even until the final duel between Tu'an Gu and Wu Zhao, Tu'an Gu was a big shot and a big official residence. He didn't see any family, servants, waiters or any other public guests. When did Tu'an Gu become a loner?
Such logic can be seen everywhere in movies. A story based on such a broken logical chain will not make people feel credible, let alone express the so-called spirit. Only with the means of life that move people's senses can we further talk about the so-called "spirit", "thought" and "emotion". A story that lacks logic and truth will certainly not express any "thoughts".
Third, "I only recognize big names."
It has long been noticed that Chen Kaige, as a big-name director, is very arrogant to those second-and third-line and even middle-class actors. In his eyes, he only pays attention to those popular movie stars or actors with status. In his talent view, there is a strong hierarchy among various actors. Therefore, in Mei Lanfang, we can see that although Yu Shaoqun's performance is excellent, if we can continue to use this actor in the second half of the film, people may have another evaluation of the film. But he flatly chose Dawn, which was Mei Lanfang's biggest failure. Although Yu Shaoqun is very talented, it may not bring commercial value. As a big-name star, Dawn is the guarantee of box office appeal. Therefore, Chen Kaige would rather give up talent than wealth in employing people. I would rather believe in names than technology, not only the skills of actors, but also my own directing skills.
Under the influence of this concept of actor hierarchy, Chen Kaige still adopted the big-name strategy in The Orphan of Zhao. However, in the face of familiar faces, it is difficult for us to have the original excitement. To tell the truth, actors have nothing to say about their acting skills, but sometimes acting skills don't mean everything. Almost no one in China doesn't know the true face of Ge You. As soon as he appeared, he felt a strong sense of "happiness", which is extremely unfavorable for shaping the orphan Zhao into a "tragic" atmosphere. Despite Ge's hard work, his previous impression deeply impressed everyone's mind seriously hindered people's recognition of his new role. Wang Xueyin's performance in Mei Lanfang can be described as superb and impeccable, but it is for this reason that neither he nor the audience can easily get rid of the role of Thirteen Swallows. In addition, in the image, Wang Xueyin lacks the kind of domineering that Tu'an Gu should have as a military commander. There are many recent works, from bodyguards and assassins to Yu Jian, and then to Orphan Zhao. Every director wants something from him. However, Wang Xueyin is not a universal actor, and his potential has been exhausted. It is necessary to give him some time to recover the technology. Huang Xiaoming's version of Han Jue is the biggest failure of his role. He lacks the spirit of loyalty and the imposing manner of a strong and mighty military commander. The phrase "how to make it" makes the general look like a street thug who has lost in a fight but has no ability to save face and can only complain. Maybe Huang Xiaoming is too famous for Chen Kaige to direct him too much, or maybe Chen Kaige doesn't have his own fixed position for each role at all, so he can only let each actor play himself. It is of course necessary for each actor to give full play to himself, but it can only be limited to a certain extent. The director should have a general orientation for each role, otherwise it may lead to the situation that the role is incompatible with the plot. Like Gibson, Kurosawa, Hu Jinquan, etc. In their minds, they already have the positioning of various roles, so when actors perform, they mostly carry out the spirit of the director, and the spirit of the director is the main clue of all film spirits.
Zhao Wenhao's young Wu Zhao has a good image, but he is impetuous rather than calm. This is not very demanding for a child of 15 years old, because Wu Zhao, as a great politician in history, is famous for his calmness and steadiness. Christina didn't appear many times, and the scene of breastfeeding two children in a few seconds became a hot spot in film promotion. Using this method to promote sales is really degrading-not to mention the poor taste of the film itself. For Christina's performance, except the scene of breastfeeding, I was deeply impressed by effective publicity. Fan Bingbing's version of Zhuang Ji is not only beautiful, but also strong, and there is almost no difference before and after giving birth. Zhang Fengyi's version of Gongsun Chujiu gives us a glimpse of Cao Cao who changed his clothes. Chiu Man-Cheuk, Bao Guoan, Ethan, Peng Bo, Wang Jinsong and others played the role of soy sauce, but they were all passers-by. Nevertheless, Bao Guoan is still full of aura, and Wang Jinsong and Peng Pengyuan are more impressive than others or even several leading actors. This Wang Jinsong, to some extent, looks like Dahongni, and both of them are extremely suitable for costume dramas. If you don't mention it deliberately, Chiu Man-Cheuk is easy to be ignored, because his occupation is a kung fu film, and this drama is generally a literary drama. Ethan's Timmy is impressive, but it is not so much acting as plot. No matter who it is, playing a human wheel, plus a few seconds of close-ups, will be impressive.
Perhaps it is the arrogance of the director, or perhaps it is the arrogance of the business. In the publicity, Chiu Man-Cheuk, ZhangFeng yi, Fan Bingbing, Christina and other first-line stars who have not appeared for a long time, and Bao Guoan, who has a high status, were all given the titles of "starring" or special performance and friendship performance, and their names were played separately. Peng Bo, who plays the role of Jin Linggong, and Wang Jinsong, who plays the role of Tu'an Gu's counselor, have no less playing time than the above-mentioned people, but their performances are better than the above-mentioned people. We can't see their names on the official posters, only their names are listed at the back of the cast.
A good director can turn decay into magic, and a bad director can turn magic into decay. In Mel? In Gibson's Revelation, all the actors are unprofessional, making movies for the first time, but everyone's performance is shocking. In Ning Hao's Crazy Stone, most of the actors are unknown actors or extras, but everyone's performance is in place and the film is quite successful. In fact, it is not the actor himself, but the director who blows this shocking atmosphere into the film or character. There is no difference between good and bad actors, only the choice of director and whether the director is appropriate. When a director puts more hope on the actor's acting skills, even just on the actor's fame and status, rather than his own independent creative spirit, he will be exhausted in Jiang Lang. Chen's Orphan of Zhao shows us the failure of a director who is at a loss. It tells us that Chen Kaige is getting farther and farther away from the master.
There are many words, choose by yourself.