Since its first release on February 10, the total box office of the movie "Flying Life 2" has exceeded 2.5 billion yuan, and the score on Douban was once as high as 82 (currently 7.)7）。As a representative writer of the "fifth generation of China" and a well-known film and television actor, Han Han's name has become a household name in the Chinese film industry. Han Han's work has reached new heights in terms of word-of-mouth and box office, and this is also one of the works with the least outstanding personal style since he became a director.
In the movie "Flying Life 2", Han Han no longer focuses on describing the confusion and confusion of the "small-town youth", and at the same time eliminates the realistic expression he is not very good at, but focuses on simple competition and chasing dreams, which instead shapes a commercial film.
In the stills of the movie "Flying Life 2", the young man in the small town does not show the characteristics of realism.
It's been five years since the release of the first installment of Flying Life. During the Spring Festival in 2019, "Flying Life" was affected by "The Wandering Earth" (box office 20.3.2 billion yuan) and "Crazy Aliens" (box office 146.2 billion yuan) and finally nearly 10The box office performance of 5.4 billion yuan won the third place in the Spring Festival box office.
Racing Life is a work about former champion racing driver Zhang Chi, who was banned for five years for unlicensed racing and had his driver's license revoked, but decided to bravely return to the world of racing in order to regain his dignity and honor. Driver Zhang Chi suffered a painful defeat and suffered physical and mental damage. The storyline of Flying Life 2 still revolves around an unexpected opportunity for a middle-aged racer who struggles and emerges victorious in the face of adversity. Zhang Chi realized that returning to the game was not just about chasing honors, but also about redefining himself. Five years ago, Zhang Chi returned to racing, but after breaking the record, he accidentally fell off a cliff and lost his car seal, and although he suffered a serious injury, his results were not recognized. In the Bayin Brook Clara Race, Zhang Chi faced fierce competition, with firm faith, and sprinted all the way. Although he lost his championship and his family was ruined, he was a driving school instructor but was unexpectedly funded by the "Old Man" depot to regain his qualification for the Bayin Brook Clarion Rac.
While there's nothing new about the plot of Flying Life 2, it shows a more concise and clear goal. The film tells the story of a young driver, Zhang Chi, who goes from an ordinary driver to a supercar racer to a racing hero. The first half of the focus focused on how teams such as Zhang Chi managed to build a team and finally qualify for the competition despite financial constraints and competitors. The second half tells the story of how racing drivers achieve their dreams through a series of thrilling and twisty races. After qualifying, the comedy element makes way for the racing action scenes, Zhang Chi returns to the field and surpasses himself, and the progressive and bloody racing scenes push the story to a climax.
Another aspect of the compactness of the story is the simplicity of the characters' settings. In the first work of "Flying Life 2", the author tries to reveal the deep affection between father and son and the meticulous polishing of the real life of middle-aged people. The background of the character in this work is very close to the real world - a race car driver who has no family and life pressures, and he just wants to show his strength again.
Stills from the movie "Flying Life 2".
By simplifying the relationships and desires between the characters, the story focuses on the areas that Han Han, who was once a race car driver, is most proficient in and familiar with. With a unique perspective, he used the language of the lens to show us a racing years full of passion and dreams. While the first film shows the deep emotions between the racers, this time they focus more on the unfairness and ruthlessness of the race. Racing is a spiritual symbol that embodies one's values and worldview. In motor racing, drivers and teams who are willing to invest more money have more resources and opportunities, and they can even change the rules of the race, while the organizing committee turns a blind eye to cheating in the pursuit of profit. In such an era full of contradictions and conflicts, Han Han seems to be closer to public life, and it also shows the fate of ordinary little people in this era more realistically. In the racing industry, the lack of money supremacy and justice, combined with the humility, dissatisfaction, and pain of ordinary people in the face of unfair treatment, are actually closer to real life than the "small-town youth" that Han Han had previously envisioned.
The female character has completely disappeared.
"Flying Life 2" has won Han Han's best reputation so far with its compact and passionate story line, arc-filled character setting and relatively realistic film texture. However, the all-male cast has also been questioned and criticized by some viewers. The term "daddy" has become the focus of controversy, but this does not hide the emotional resonance of the film. Rating from 82 points reduced to 77 points, "daddy" has become the core vocabulary of low-scoring comments on Douban, and this kind of comment is often mentioned in Han Han's previous works.
Han Han has created many key female characters in her works, either initiating important plots or saying golden sentences from the film. For example, in "The Future", Liu Yingying, played by Yuan Quan, gave a well-known line: "If you like it, you will be presumptuous, but love is restraint." In "Four Seas", Zhou Huange played by Liu Haocun directly promoted the hero's adventure across the Pearl River. In his creation, Han Han's setting of male characters and depiction of female characters have obvious flaws, which leave a deep imprint on the hearts of the audience. However, these characters have also repeatedly demonstrated the powerlessness of creators when it comes to portraying female characters.
Comic creator Kelly Sue Deconi once put forward a point called "Sexy Lamp Text": if the female characters in the film and television work are replaced with ** table lamps without affecting the progress of the story, then there is a problem with this work. From this perspective, the film industry needs to be more reflective and innovative, rather than following the old model. Prior to this, all of director Han Han's works did not pass this evaluation. Wang Helen held the trophy and stared at the ** table lamp beside her. Assuming we replace the heroine of "Four Seas" with a table lamp, then the story of the male protagonist crossing the Pearl River in order to get this table lamp is still true. The existence of female characters should go beyond flashy idealizations, but show real, independent and multidimensional individuals. In Han Han's creations, female characters are often portrayed as idealized images of male characters, and inappropriate character design has also become the focus of controversy many times. The female characters disappear in the film as if they never existed. In the movie "Flying Life 2", the female characters were directly abandoned.
In the fierce showdown between the movie "Flying Life 2" and the movie "Hot and Hot" directed by Jia Ling during the Spring Festival, gender issues are undoubtedly one of the key factors in evaluation and consideration.
Stills from the movie "Hot and Hot" are shown.
Judging by the structure of the story, the two works have a striking similarity. "Hot and Warm" is an inspirational film about a young woman who gives up her studies, love and family in order to pursue her dreams. "Hot and Hot" is from the perspective of the heroine Le Ying, describing the experience of a middle-aged woman who reinvigorates herself after experiencing boxing training; Both of these themes are women's narrative styles. "Flying Life 2" is from the perspective of the male protagonist Zhang Chi, describing the experience of a middle-aged man re-showing himself in a racing race. In "Flying Life 2", the sport of racing is given a male role, whether it is talented, tenacious or misbehaving, whether it is on stage or behind the scenes, it is a male figure; "Hot and Hot" is a work that shows both male and female characters in boxing.
If the existence of women is ignored, then naturally no one will see them as objects worth gazing at and imagining. In this male-dominated screen world, women seem to have become transparent beings. So, instead of thinking that "Flying Life 2" does not offend women, it is more appropriate to say that this film does not involve female characters at all. Filmmakers should examine their own creative concepts and not ignore the existence of female audiences. According to the statistics of Lighthouse Pro and Maoyan Pro, more than 60% of the ticket-buying audiences of "Flying Life 2" are women. Filmmakers should be more cautious in their creations, not only to avoid ignoring the presence of female audiences, but also to avoid falling into gender-based stereotypes. Including a female character in a filmmaking that is only for the audience to enjoy does not mean that there is more equality and respect than removing the female character altogether. The excessive focus and concealment of gender in commercial films is inappropriate, and this practice deserves our attention and criticism.