Who will carry the box office in the second half of the summer file? I chose the hottest "Heat" this summer
July 23, 2023 | Issue 3305
On July 19, the passionate inspirational film "Warm" directed by Dapeng and starring Huang Bo and Wang Yibo held its premiere in Beijing. Subsequently, high evaluations such as "can burn everything", "the first 100 minutes are endorphin restrained mental vibrations, the last 20 minutes are complete dopamine release", "can't help but applaud" and other high evaluations are spread on social media such as friend circles, Weibo, and Douyin, and quickly fermented.
From 14:00 to 16:00 on July 22, "Warm" will open a small-scale screening nationwide. Although less than 20,000 performances were non-primetime, they produced a box office of 22.09 million yuan, with an average of 25.5 people per game and an attendance rate of 18.1%.
According to the observation of film and television monologue, the hot trend of "Hot" is expected to continue until the official release of the film. Because the number of people who want to watch the film on major platforms is very high. The limited scale of screening cannot digest such a huge enthusiasm for watching movies.
After half a year of recovery, the mainland cinema film market completely got rid of the three-year haze in the summer. "Disappearing Her", "In the Octagon Cage" and "Chang'an 30,000 Li", three consecutive high-quality, topical hits, you have not yet sung My convenience has appeared. Going to the cinema to watch movies has once again become the first choice for Chinese leisure and entertainment.
Once this trend is formed, the subsequent momentum depends on the quality of the relay. As long as the new films in the second half of the summer file continue to satisfy the audience in terms of content and perception. This year's summer box office record is just around the corner.
"Warm" is such a work that can be expected to be. Solid stories and characters, high-burning scenes, deep reality care, strong emotional resonance, and icing on the cake laughter and tears make it the most competitive head player in the second half of the summer season.
The hottest this summer? Not excessively!
In fact, as early as after its debut as the closing film of the Shanghai International Film Festival, the high quality of "Warm" exceeding expectations has been spread by word of mouth among industry insiders. Among them, "burning", "hot blood", "hormonal explosion", etc., are all keywords that appear frequently.
Although the summer file was still in the warm-up stage at that time, and many blockbusters did not appear, there were still theater managers who had seen "Heat" who privately made bold predictions such as "box office 3 billion", "scheduled films full of summer files", and "scheduled summer box office champions".
The data under the influence of comprehensive factors such as the box office is difficult to guess. So, is the title of "the burnest this summer" excessive? Referring to the first wave of audience feedback from the premiere and the screening, this statement is not exaggerated.
"Heat" tells the story of Ding Lei (played by Huang Bo), a legendary dancer who was injured and turned coach in the National Street Dance Competition, and recruited a newcomer Chen Shuo (played by Wang Yibo) into his exclamation point dance troupe. Ordinary, ordinary and introverted, Chen Shuo used his love for street dance to complete the first collective integration in the dance troupe, and won honors and proved his story with the encouragement of Ding Lei and the help of his teammates. Ding Lei also got along with Chen Shuo, and gradually came out of the contradiction between dream and reality.
At the story level, this film passionately tells the counterattack of the little people. Dance is just a vehicle for story expression, representing the passion that each of us has. From Ding Lei and Chen Shuo, the audience can easily see their own shadows.
Ding Lei's original dream came to an abrupt end due to the cruelty of reality. Like everyone in society, he must keep smiling in the face of failure and ridicule. The grievances he received in reality became a huge motivation for him to seize the flame of his dreams. When Chen Shuo let him see the flame, Ding Lei no longer cared about the pros and cons of reality, and opened up everything.
Chen Shuo will remind everyone of himself who has just stepped from the family environment and the campus environment to the social environment. There are no connections, no resources, not even a fair chance, just your own body and time. How many notches of knowledge and skills you let time leave on your body determines who you are in the future.
The biggest charm of the big screen is that every audience can get inspiration from the fate of the characters, and can resonate emotionally at the moment when the characters make choices. "Heat" captures this essential charm, how can it not burn?
However, the counterattack story of the little people is not enough for "Heat" to dare to call it "the most burning". It also has hip-hop elements that provide audiovisual pluses.
How to present the charm of dance on the screen has been a difficult problem for filmmakers. After all, dance shooting can't rely on the computer special effects and Wiya stunts commonly used in action movies. Kung Fu can be fake fighting, dance cannot be fake dance.
Fortunately, the advent of more advanced photographic equipment and auxiliary equipment has led to more freedom of camera position and lens movement. Director Dapeng integrates cinematic shots and editing, coupled with the choreography and personal appearance of the street dance god, to achieve an innovative restoration of the street dance performance.
The two paragraphs of the vigorous dance performance and the national competition in the film correspond to the two mainstream forms of qi dance work performance and improvisational battle in street dance culture. Not only are the dancers' performances at the top of the circle, but the scene construction and the reaction of the audience are also appropriately matched in the circle.
The strong sense of scene and the tension of the duel bring the audience's empathy to the top.
The actor's DNA is moving
The casting of "Heat" is a successful case of domestic films in recent years. The fit between the actors and the characters in the film is extremely high. Whether it is Huang Bo, Wang Yibo, or Caspar, Wang Feifei, or Zhang Haiyu and Zhang Youwei, they all give people a feeling of "DNA moving".
Huang Bo's most popular characters are "little people" who fight tenaciously with fate. For example, Niu Er in "Bullfighting" who won the Best Actor Award at the 46th Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards, Niu Jiushi in "Killing" who won the Best Actor Award at the 20th Beijing College Student Film Festival, Wang Haibo in "Under the Ice" who won the Best Actor Award at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival, and Geng Hao in "Heart Flower Road", which once broke the box office record of the National Day file.
In "Warm", Huang Bo once again gave the little people great wisdom, great courage, and great emotion, bringing laughter to the audience while causing the audience to burst into tears several times.
Slightly different from Huang Bo's past characters who often fall into absurd plot vortexes, Coach Ding Lei's experience is not absurd, but there is also a strong internal and external pull. He loves street dance, has a dream of being a champion, and has a strong driving force in his heart. At the same time, he must face the rent and party A in real life, and his body is shrouded by a strong pull.
Between this push and pull, we once again saw Huang Bo's signature delicate acting skills - eyes that kept dodging because he said something against his will, and his mouth pursed because he wanted to say something.
Dapeng gave Chen Shuo Wang Yibo's cold outside and internal heat and love for street dance, so Wang Yibo's performance in this film is very relaxed. Especially in many conversations with Ding Lei, Chen Shuo often gave some "unexpected" verbal responses.
For example, Ding Lei said that his trick only told his ex-wife. Chen Shuo's first reaction was to ask, "The former master and mother also practiced head turning?" ”
This line that was complained by Ding Lei that "emotional intelligence is not enough" may be just a joke with design traces if it is replaced by other actors, but Wang Yibo himself is a bit of an I person (introvert), and such a line by him is very close and smooth.
Although not everyone is Type I, anyone who is stepping into a new environment and challenging the beginning of a new life is Chen Shuo. In Chen Shuo, the audience saw himself who had worked hard and fought silently. This self, maybe the senior self, maybe the graduate school self, maybe the self who participated in a certain competition, maybe the self during the probation period...
Chen Shuo's encounter in the film made the audience feel like a roller coaster. Between the ups and downs, his stubbornness and momentum have become a true portrayal of every young man who longs for recognition. At the end of the film, Mayday's classic song "Stubborn" sounded, and every lyric was a footnote to Chen Shuo.
"Heat" is not only the story of the protagonist, many supporting characters also outline a distinct character arc in a short scene.
Zhang Cuibiao, a veteran player played by Zhang Haiyu, was the earliest student of Ding Lei's coach, but due to his limited talent, he was surpassed by his juniors in dance ability. In order not to become a drag on his teammates' way to win the championship, he chose to "retire" and return to his hometown to work, earn money and support his family.
Why can this character deeply empathize with the audience? Because Zhang Haiyu was once a famous dancer in Qingdao, but considering that street dance did not make money back then, he gave up the path of professional dancer when planning his career. After graduating from the Central Academy of Drama, he also worked as a clerk for a stage production company for a while.
Zhang Cuibiao's tears when he announced his withdrawal from the group, Zhang Haiyu flowed; Zhang Cuibiao's shouts when watching the live broadcast of the national competition in the office, Zhang Haiyu also shouted. It is precisely because of personal experience that Zhang Haiyu and Zhang Cuibiao's psychological state has reached an agreement, true and sincere.
"Heat" nests the performances of professional actors and the assistants of professional dancers well. Only if the actors do not have dancers, the story and themes will be suspended; Only dancers without actors turn into hip-hop documentaries. Dapeng did not favor one over the other, but let them perform their respective duties, and worked together to create this masterpiece that is recognized both inside and outside the circle and has high coverage for all ages.
Zhang Haiyu
Continuing the law of reality and caring for blockbusters
Dapeng's previous directorial works, except for "Auspicious Ruyi", which was originally planned to be made into a documentary, were all starring himself. "Heat" is the first work that Dapeng only directed but did not star. After focusing on his directorial work, Dapeng's creative expression has reached a higher level.
Although Dapeng's works have a distinct genre framework and like to join pop culture, his initial personal expression is still a concern for reality. And the proportion of this realistic care has become an upward trend in his works.
The realistic care of "Sewing Machine Band" mainly focuses on feelings, and the realistic care of "Keep You Safe" rises to the issue of life and death and women. The score of 7.7 and the box office of 700 million on Douban of "Keep You Safe" prove that the audience can experience Dapeng's original intention.
Although "Heat" has such an imposing point as street dance culture, its profound realistic background is not weaker than "Keep You Safe". Dapeng's grasp of scale is more precise and his control of rhythm is more proficient. Ding Lei, Chen Shuo, Zhang Cuibiao and others are all sweaty and muddy in society, and they are all flesh and blood, and they can be seen and touched.
Street dance is a way to reflect the value of their lives. In this path, their fall is the same as the head they have suffered, the sacrifices they have made, and the rewards they have reaped in other ways. People from all walks of life can grasp their own life insights from the spirit of street dance in the film.
Nowadays, the mainland cinema film market has entered a new form of blooming with a hundred flowers and returning to the sect. There is no one type, or combination of them, that can take it all. Types, elements, casts, visual effects and other "highlights" need to be implemented in realistic care to become "selling points".
"Disappearing Her" is a suspense genre film, but what touches the audience the most is its reflection of the real wife murder case; "In the Octagon Cage" seems to be a fighting theme, but it does not win with action scenes, but writes about the two-way redemption of the underlying characters.
At present, people are more and more concerned about the people and things around them. Those superheroes who save the earth at every turn often can't really pull the box office because they don't land enough.
According to the trend of the first half of this summer, the second half is still a work with realistic care that is more likely to explode.
For now, "Heat" is the most promising blockbuster seed player to continue this law. It has the same standardized genre framework as "Disappearing Her", the same professional landing point as "In the Octagon Cage", and the same in-depth refinement of culture as "Chang'an 30,000 Li", and at the same time can fall on solid realistic care, which is very in line with the choice of the current mainstream audience.
Such a work full of sincerity, positive spirit and blood is fully qualified to become the next stick in this summer's domestic explosive relay race.
【Text/Full Hoard】