Ignition Dimension (ID: chaintruth) original
Produced by Burning Finance
Author | Kong Yuexin
Edit | Deng Shuanglin
The cold December 2021 film market ushered in two domestic "word-of-mouth works" at the end of the year: one is the animated film "Lion Boy"; the other is "Love Myth" starring Ma Yili, Ni Hongjie, Wu Yue, Xu Zheng and other powerful factions, and directed and written by newcomer director Shao Yihui.
After the launch of "Love Myth", it ushered in a piece of praise, and the Douban score also rose all the way from 8.1 to 8.3, and even some netizens commented: "The 2021 Douban annual list was released too early, leaving behind the "Love Myth", the best Chinese language in 2021." ”
After watching "Love Myth", the audience who was brainwashed by the Shanghainese "Spirit Ah Ling" could not help but leave a "spirit" in the comment area when douban scored. However, compared with the applause of industry insiders and senior film fans, this movie has not resonated with ordinary audiences, and on the ticketing platforms such as Cat's Eye and Taobao Tickets, which are often 9 points +, the rating of "Love Myth" is only 8.5 and 8.7, respectively.
As of January 1, 2022, "Love Myth" has grossed 133 million yuan for more than a week of release, while Maoyan's box office prediction for it is 291 million yuan.
"Love Myth", which has received many praises in the industry, has not only become a "little dark horse" in the film market at the end of 2021, but also a "dark horse" behind the director Shao Yihui in the film industry. In 2020, Shao Yihui stood on the podium of the FIRST Venture Capital Conference, and her debut film "Love Myth" was released a year later. This also set a record for the fastest filming of a FIRST venture capital project from filming to release.
The depiction of love, friendship and family affection of middle-aged groups from a female perspective is very intriguing, which not only allows the audience to see more possibilities from different perspectives, but may also bring new attempts and opportunities to the film market.
But why does "Love Myth", which has a good reputation, not create a box office myth?
Middle-aged love from a female perspective
The story of "Love Myth" is not complicated, it mainly tells the "love-hate entanglement" between several middle-aged people living in Shanghai.
It seems to be a middle-aged "Jack Sue" plot of a man and three women, but the film greatly weakens the sense of greasiness and suspension through the expression of life performance and extremely pyrotechnics, and at the same time allows the audience to see more expressions and views from the perspective of women.
The old white played by Xu Zheng appears to be the big male protagonist of "three women competing", but in fact, it is separated from the greasy middle-class elite in the previous self-directed and self-acting movies, and the "little citizen" Xu Zheng has become a "background board" and a connector for the story that sets off the three female protagonists in this film.
Miss Li, played by Ma Yili, played by Lao Bai, Played by Lao Bai' ex-wife Bei Bei, played by Wu Yue, and Gloria, an old White student played by Ni Hongjie, three ladies who should have no intersection in life, know each other at the dinner table of Lao Bai's family.
This dinner, which can be called "Shuluo Field", also contributed one of the highlight scenes of the whole film. Film critic Tao Tao Linlin said that this is a scene that he was particularly impressed with, "The 'tit-for-tat' scene where the three women meet for the first time in Lao Bai's home is very dramatic, and it can be clearly felt that this is a film made by a female director, because it is difficult for male directors to grasp so delicately the very subtle changes in the hearts of several women and the transformation of their relationships." ”
At the same time, the personalities and psychology of the three female protagonists are also pointed out by one of their lines, the traditional women shaped by Bei Bei's "a woman who has not raised children in this life is incomplete", Gloria's "A woman has not stepped on a hundred men in this life is incomplete" to create a dashing rich woman, Miss Li's "a woman who has not earned a million in this life is also incomplete" highlighted as an independent woman. In this dinner conversation, the three women also completed the relationship transformation from strangers to "love enemies" to mutual understanding, and also laid the foundation for Miss Li and Gloria to eventually become friends and open a painting exhibition together.
Other characters also show a very three-dimensional image through a few strokes. The little cobbler played by Ning Li loves to drink hand-ground coffee and loves to talk about philosophy; the old Wu played by Zhou Yemang is a wandering child on the surface and actually has the "soft rib" of Sophia Roland in his heart; Lao Bai's son Xiao Bai is a non-traditional "masculine boy" image who likes makeup...
In addition, Lao Wu told his "love myth" at the last dinner, the famous scene of the little cobbler "talking about women" with shoes, and the contrast group of Xiao Bai and his girlfriend Yang Yang, who fell in love with middle-aged people, etc., all showed the director's very meticulous and excellent observation ability. In Tao Tao Linlin's view, although the director is not a Shanghainese, she has lived in Shanghai for many years, and perhaps during which she has observed many samples similar to the characters in the play in Shanghai, so that she can present it to the work in such a realistic way.
"The most unique thing about this film is that it is filmed from a female perspective, it is not so utilitarian, and it really shoots a little bit of ambiguity and fatigue of middle-aged people, and many details are interesting and unique, which we have not seen in such middle-aged movies in China before." Peach Grove said.
Dong Wenxin, manager of Jinan Paragon Cinema, believes that Shao Yihui is a very talented director, "She is particularly good at understanding life, and then extracting an angle from life that the audience finds very interesting, and telling it in a ridiculous tone." For example, Bei Bei and Lao Bai said in front of the tango ballroom, 'I just made a mistake that all men in the world will make', a joke, not only caused the audience in the theater to laugh, but also pointed out the reason for Bei Bei and Lao Bai's divorce. ”
And Bei Bei, a character whose personality seems to be traditional, but in fact rebellious, has changed the character shaping of "virtuous wife and good mother" in previous film and television works, and the difference in gender cognition has made the audience see Lao Bai and Bei Bei in the eyes of the audience, with a "perverse" male-female relationship. This way of shaping consciousness and storytelling is completely pioneering in Dong Wenxin's view.
There are also the "Red Breeze Supermarket" and "Night Running Cafe" that Lao Bai often goes to, the "all-Shanghainese" dialogue full of Shanghai style, and the exquisite design in the movie, which accurately hit Douban users and some senior fans who prefer a partial literary style, which is also the reason why this film is widely praised in the industry and senior film audiences.
The "petty bourgeois dilemma" that is difficult to get out of the circle
"Love Myth" has gained high reputation while also facing the challenge of "going out of the circle".
As soon as the film was broadcast, many people in the industry predicted that this would not be a "big hit" film, and Tao Taolin said that he had this feeling when he first watched it, "Its box office will not be particularly high." ”
This prediction is first based on its content level. In Dong Wenxin's view, this is a work with a certain bias and some petty bourgeoisie, and several protagonists are in a class and atmosphere of money and leisure. The Shanghai life shown in the film is very realistic in many ways, so it sells very well at the box office in Shanghai. "But the content of the film has a certain sense of distance for audiences in other places, especially small-town youth, and even some plots or lines will make some people feel offensive."
Non-pure commercial films without "cool feeling" are naturally difficult to get the likes of mainstream audiences. "This is a normal and reasonable market phenomenon." Peach Grove said.
Secondly, the producer's choice to release a dialect version of the (Shanghainese) film nationwide means that they already have certain expectations for the box office of this film, which is equivalent to setting a certain threshold for watching movies and actively "shielding" many audiences.
As a northerner, Xiao Yu said that she stared at the subtitles almost the whole time when watching the movie, otherwise many lines would not be understood. "This is also a choice for the producer, Shanghainese is more conducive to presenting an original Love Sketch with Shanghai style, and while choosing to present it better at the artistic level, it means giving up the work to get more popular and popular recognition, as well as giving up a higher box office." Peach Grove said.
In addition, the schedule has also become an important reason for hindering the box office fermentation of "Love Myth". In Dong Wenxin's view, the release of the film during Christmas is not the best schedule for "Love Myth", because the reputation of this movie is constantly fermenting, but the current schedule shortens its fermentation process to within a week, because other scheduling films in the New Year's Day file will be ushered in immediately, which will directly cut off its schedule and popularity. "Unless any of the new films released during the New Year's Day suddenly collapse in word of mouth, 'Love Myth' may have a slight complement on the schedule, otherwise it is difficult to have a chance to get it out of the circle."
Now the box office of more than 100 million yuan is considered to be the box office within the scope of acceptance by the producer. However, Dong Wenfang also predicted, "If this film is placed in a cold period to slowly ferment word of mouth, it is not impossible to get two or three hundred million or even three or four hundred million box office." ”
This judgment based on word-of-mouth fermentation is an affirmation made by industry insiders based on the unique perspective and plot content of the film.
In the eyes of many people in the industry, although it is also telling the story of middle-aged people, "Love Myth" made from the perspective of female creators is very different from the works of male creators. "When Lao Bai and the three girls were eating together, the focus of the film suddenly fell on the three women, and the whole story developed into a group drama, unlike the middle-aged films we saw in the past, which focused on the story of a middle-aged man." Tao Tao Lin Lin sighed.
Including the recently concluded web drama "Love is Delicious", and "I am good in other places" and other popular female theme works in 2021, they are different from male perspectives. These creators, especially female creators, can shoot and create through multiple perspectives and entry points, and also allow the audience to see a more complete world.
After watching the film, many viewers have different views on the connotations expressed in this movie. Film critic Mu Mu believes that this film is typical of "a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand viewers", from any angle of interpretation, it has its meaning. In Mumu's view, although the title of the movie is called "Love Myth", what it wants to express is that there is no myth of love, there is no only form for the sex to get along, the prodigal son can be a love species, boys can wear makeup, and women can also advocate freedom more.
Miss Li is determined not to be involved with Lao Bai anymore, bluntly saying that a pair of high heels can only accompany herself for a ride, but the end gives Lao Bai another chance. People can't even think through themselves, let alone want to understand love. True love is not a kind of love in the myth, but to follow the original heart, confused or sober, the joy and sincerity of the moment is their own love myth. ”
*The caption and the inner text illustration are derived from the "Love Myth". In the text, Xiaoyu and Mumu are pseudonyms.