I must admit that I thought of going to see this because of “The Big Picture 2,” an order that makes me feel a little ashamed; I must also admit that I would not have been able to stand watching the niche “Happy Yellow Movie” before watching the Chinese knockoff.
The Big Picture 2, which was acquired for adaptation, strives to show the pursuit of ideals by small people in the hustle and bustle of the end of the year and the gimmick of newlywed education, and does a good job of making fun of the various elements of the year, including the legendary “golden armor” passage that was cut due to scruples of a certain director. The director is very entertaining, the actors are very entertaining, so that the people who have worked hard all year can look back on the gossip they happened to miss last year without much effort, and think that it was really so – we can’t ask for more than that for a Chinese entertainment comedy with a clear price tag.
As all reports say, the “localization” of “The Movie 2” was a success. In the adaptation to remove the part that does not fit the national conditions: the wife cheating must be purely to help her husband to achieve the ideal sacrifice, can not be mixed with their own personal thoughts of wanting a child, and must not lose their bodies in front of their husbands and more outsiders, and even this scene will be shown again and again on the big screen. So Liu Xinyu drunken disorderly, only to cause our sympathy, Guo Tao will also keep the secret of the child has been concealed, a total reunion ending.
However the original work is stunning. There is nothing more frightening than the truth, nothing more cruel than knowing the truth and still being able to laugh. A Happy Yellow Movie does it. A husband and wife make a sex education film and get paid to improve the environment (which is actually like adding sets to a movie), which always smells a little bit like a little shame to the country. Even the husband’s former colleagues (Westerners) don’t think it’s very honorable – “I think you really need a life insurance policy right now.” But the couple laughs lightly and only cares if the other is happy. When the wife thought of accepting the script adaptation, which would help her husband realize his vision and give her a child of half blood, her heart was already in agreement. While her husband was still trying to salvage the situation, she had already walked into the elevator with the producer; while her husband was calling her name in the hallway, she had already changed her clothes and memorized her lines. When the husband actually walked into the room where the shooting took place, he faced the producer and the rest of the crew (the very group of people who directed the tragedy of his family), but could laugh out with tears in his eyes and openly accepted the job of directing the last scene. What kind of ideal is an ideal? How much does it cost to pursue an ideal? This is not the answer to the question of the director and the two crowd actors shouting “We are the three bitches” on the rooftop. In the other place, I just feel a breath of air, here, I can deeply feel what is “happy” yellow movie.
Guo Tao from time to time popped out of the famous director’s quotes probably very shocked a group of people, indeed, some people asked me, Chinese audiences understand it? In fact, the Chinese audience does not need to understand, the director did not think that the audience would listen carefully to those tongue-twisting and difficult to understand sentences, Michelangelo Antonioni, the name is similar to a jingle. Those sentences in “Happy Yellow Movie” are no longer a fancy embellishment, he is practicing step by step. After making a few sex education films, he came up with such a boring feature film as “Torremolinos 73″, I really admire his directorial talent, and it’s not in vain that the director’s horn with Bergman written on it.
Torremolinos 73” insisted on black and white film, the hero dressed up in death, the heroine with clear eyebrows, the empty amusement park, and the famous coffin of Bergman’s parody, really artistic, really can be used by us to pretend X, and in the final credits of “Happy Yellow Movie”, it says “Torremolinos 73” in Spain to The Strange Case of the Slutty Widow, which was released under the title “The Strange Case of the Slutty Widow” and was seen by only 1,373 people, but took Scandinavia by storm. If this is true, I don’t think it’s because of that last passionate scene, because it’s really not passionate. There are other places to go for sensual stimulation. The light and shadow, the slow narrative and the unrealistic plot of “Torremolinos 73″ are probably the reasons why European audiences are attracted to it.
Torremolinos 73” is a parody of Bergman, and “Happy Yellow Movie” is an effective study of its predecessor. The soft and dark lighting and the long fixed camera position make the characters’ silhouettes as if they were engraved in the picture, clear and beautiful.Finally, I must admit: this film is very good.
