Gong Jinping.
Article 20 is a melodrama reinterpretation of the law, which, if not properly grasped, may fall into an awkward position: more vivid than a TV feature film, but pale and blunt than a feature film.
Judging from the final effect, the film has regrets in the state of walking a tightrope, but on the whole it has achieved a relative balance. Through three emotionally appealing and authentic stories, it makes the complex legal concept of "legitimate defense" real and palpable, thus effectively highlighting the human nature and emotions behind the law, and breaking the true face of society in subtle ways, reflecting the people's simple and sincere desire for fairness, justice, simplicity and sincerity.
The "intertextuality" of the three cases outlines the arc of the characters.
Although it shoulders the heavy responsibility of "popularizing the law", the film is still attentive enough at the plot level, and chooses three cases to complete the argumentation process with emotional strength on the theme: Zhang Guisheng acted bravely but was convicted of intentional injury and sentenced to three years in prison. After Wang Yongqiang was bullied, injured, and threatened by the bully Liu Wenjing, he resisted angrily with scissors, and after Liu Wenjing was seriously injured and died, Liu's family insisted on killing people to pay for their lives; Prosecutor Han Ming's son Han Yuchen stepped forward after seeing Zhang Ke's bullying on campus, but Zhang Ke's father called the police to file a case, and he was about to delay his future.
The three cases involve different families, thus having a broad social radiation area, making the theme have a certain degree of realistic universality, which can arouse more viewers' personal feelings and deep thinking. The film also establishes an ingenious internal connection between the three cases, which strongly promotes the development of the plot and completes the expression of the theme: Zhang Guisheng's case belongs to the "past completion tense", Wang Yongqiang's case is the middle stage of the "present continuous tense", and Han Yuchen's case is the early stage of the "present continuous tense". From the perspective of intertextuality, three cases can be regarded as the three stages of a case, and in each case, we can see its causes, developments, and consequences by using the other cases as mirror images.
All three cases were handled by Han Ming or had a stake in him. In this way, the three cases can have a cumulative or intersecting emotional effect on Han Ming, he will anticipate various consequences with the help of past cases in the cases at hand, and when he reviews the cases he has completed, he imagines whether there are more possibilities when the cases are prosecuted because of the reality of the situation.
The main plot line of the film is the trial of Wang Yongqiang's case, which is extremely complex and special, involving issues such as rural governance, combating rural underworld forces, and protecting the disabled. In the prosecution stage of the case, the film meticulously presents the differences and contradictions within the procuratorate due to different ideas for handling cases and different understandings of the law. Chief prosecutor Han Ming could have directly prosecuted Wang Yongqiang for intentional homicide in accordance with custom and tradition, but because of the consequences of Zhang Guisheng's case and the anxiety of his own Han Yuchen case, he began to re-understand the essence of "legitimate defense" and reflect on the mechanical dogma and simplicity of previous precedents.
Starting from the authenticity of the characterization, if the film makes Han Ming incarnate as a "messenger of justice", with a natural compassion for the heavens and people, stand up for Wang Yongqiang, actively resist the pressure of the outside world, and become an indomitable fighter, although he is hot-blooded, it is easy to appear false because of his high profile. When Han Ming felt guilty because of Zhang Guisheng's case, and his son was deeply involved in similar cases, he was able to empathize with the situation of Wang Yongqiang's family, so as to promote him to complete the reinterpretation of the legal provisions, and even be willing to overturn the existing precedents with his own efforts, so as to truly realize fairness and justice at the legal level for Wang Yongqiang, and highlight the temperature and human feelings behind the boring legal provisions. Such characters do not stand on the moral high ground, but enrich the shaping of the characters through "moral advancement" again and again, so as to arouse the emotional resonance of the audience to the greatest extent.
The film outlines a touching "arc light" on Han Ming, who has begun to have a deeper understanding of the law from a prosecutor who follows the rules and regulations of the law, and has a more humane insight into the nature and purpose of the law. The characters are intimate and touching, the trajectory of psychological transformation is also clearly visible, the related "motivational events" are solid and moving, and the audience also conforms to the value orientation of the film in the identification psychology of the characters.
The emotional narrative is full but the comedic expression is lacking.
The film is good at creating a full emotional atmosphere in a specific ethical situation, and through a considerable amount of emotional rendering, it completes a deeper inner touch and ideological shock to the audience.
The restraint and nervousness in the actor's expression amplify Zhang Guisheng's frustration and unwillingness after his release from prison, which makes people feel pity. Especially after Zhang Gui died in a car accident, his minor daughter tried her best to restrain her tears because of pain and self-blame, which was also moving. These situations undoubtedly formed great moral pressure on Han Ming, and they were a strong emotional stimulation for the audience. Especially in Wang Yongqiang's case, in terms of character setting, the film arranges the image of Liu Wenjing, a cruel village tyrant, on the one hand, and sets Wang Yongqiang's wife Hao Xiuping and daughter Juanjuan as deaf and mute on the other side; In terms of plot, Hao Xiuping has been bullied by Liu Wenjing for a long time and even forced to jump from a tall building, Juanjuan was kidnapped again, etc., which are all tear gas bombs, making the audience feel embarrassed in anger and sympathy.
Through the full emotional narrative, these parties who have been hurt but have not been effectively protected by the law make it impossible for Han Ming to be indifferent, and he realizes that the right thing has a price, but there is a price and it must be done. After witnessing what happened to Zhang Guisheng, Han Ming realized that the prosecutor "is not handling a case, but a person's life". When dealing with Wang Yongqiang's case and his son's case, Han Ming further realized that the law is never a cold article, it is a natural principle and a national law, but it also has human feelings. If the law does not meet the people's expectations of fairness and justice, then such a law is both incompetent and indifferent.
The film is ambitious, and it should be in a serious atmosphere, allowing the audience to see the helplessness of the victims, see the difficulty of justice, and then clarify the necessity and urgency of redefining "legitimate defense". However, in the context of the Spring Festival "family carnival", the film needs to insert a considerable proportion of "comedy" segments, and this part of the content is mainly arranged within Han Ming's family. How to keep serious and profound issues from being disturbed and diluted by comedy elements, and how to make the strong and full tragic narrative not be truncated and turned by comedy elements, all test the artistic skills of the main creator.
When completing the comedic question, some of the dense dialogues provided by the creator seem to be meaningless. For example, regarding the fact that Han Ming and Lu Lingling were lovers in college, his wife Li Maojuan was jealous and went crazy many times. Regarding how to deal with Han Yuchen's apology, the husband and wife also broke out many quarrels. These sketchy quarrel scenes do not help the development of the plot, and they are not necessary for the expression of the theme.
Can a movie with such a heavy theme as "popularization of law" or "judicial theme" be compatible with "comedy" and "popularity"? In fact, Zhang Yimou's earlier "Qiu Ju Fights a Lawsuit" gave the answer to a certain extent. Comedy does not necessarily have to be achieved by shaking off the baggage, it can also be achieved by capturing and condensing the absurd landscapes in real life, the contradictions and complexities of the characters, etc., so as to ask more profound propositions. From this point of view, it seems that Article 20 has produced a separation and discord between content and form, which has to be said to be a pity.
The author is a professor at the Art Education Center of Fudan University).
*: Wen Wei Po.