1905 Movie Network Special ArticleLooking back at the first half of 2024, which films and filmmakers impressed you the most?
In late June, the movie channel's "Today's Film Review" column specially launched the "2024 First Half of 2024 Film/Filmmaker Popularity Survey", which issued a survey invitation to more than 100 well-known film critics across the country, aiming to professionally sort out the most high-quality screen masterpieces and moving performances among the works released in the first half of the year. In the end, two heavy "Top10" lists were released - "Three Evils Everywhere", "Dune 2" and "Hot and Hot" led the film list, and Ruan Jingtian, Jia Ling and Zhao Liying ranked the top three on the filmmaker list.
The experts' choice is highly consistent with the public's reputation and market response, highlighting the new achievements of the high-quality development of Chinese films in recent years. From June 26th to 27th, "Today's Film Review" officially released the survey results through two episodes, and specially invited Ni Jun, an associate professor at the Central Academy of Drama, and Tan Fei, a film critic, to interpret the mystery behind the list.
Top 10 Films
Realistic themes and comedy genres are favored
Experts look forward to originality and diverse expressions
From the commercial hits that lead the major schedules, to small and beautiful literary and artistic masterpieces, and overseas works of various genres - the "Top 10 Films in the First Half of 2024" list selected by 101 film critics gathers the word-of-mouth leaders among the films released in the first half of the year.
The movie "Removing the Three Evils Around the Week", which "unexpectedly" set off a small climax in the market in the spring, led the list with 80 votes. This small-budget film from Baodao not only received 665 million yuan at the box office in Chinese mainland, but also won the favor of nearly eighty percent of film critics with its extremely tense and high-completion criminal suspense expression. The Hong Kong film "The Siege of the Walled City", which is also based on crime stories, ranked eighth, has upgraded the traditional action Hong Kong film "New School" with a strong style of "comic adaptation", and has received praise both in China and overseas.
Stills from "Removing the Three Evils Around the World".
From "Article 20" to "Let's Shake the Sun Together", looking at the films on the list, realistic works that have continued to excel in recent years account for more than half of the list. In addition, the comedy genre is also outstanding, especially in works such as "Hot and Hot", "Article 20", "Flying Life 2", "Stop-and-Go", etc., the sense of comedy and the realistic background of the story have achieved a good integration, and the creative expression that transcends the genre is fulfilled with laughter and tears.
Stills from "Hot and Hot".
In terms of foreign films, Hollywood's visual effects blockbuster "Dune 2", Cannes Palme d'Or "Falling Trial" and Hayao Miyazaki's re-screening of the animated classic "Howl's Moving Castle" made surprise appearances, reflecting the breadth and depth of works released in the Chinese film market in the first half of the year, and also reflecting the call of professional audiences for more diverse market types.
Stills from "Dune 2".
As a professional screenwriter, Ni Jun, who was invited to be a guest on "Today's Film Review", saw "people" from reality in these works on the list. Whether it is Le Ying, who has transformed from a "fat house" to a boxer in "Hot and Hot", or Wu Di, who was "expelled" from a big city and returned to his hometown to complete his movie dream in "Stop-and-Go", she has seen the life nirvana of a frustrated individual, which is precisely the setting that can best give the audience healing empathy.
Stills from "Stop-and-Go".
As for the high-frequency word on the list of "comedy", Ni Jun and many film critics who participated in the survey believe that this is not only a "basic plate" to attract the audience, but also an outlet for the audience to output strong emotions through images. However, Ni Jun also pointed out that although the films that have won the top spots in the major schedules are comedies, creators should not "repeat without progress" just because comedy is popular, and should still make more attempts at the level of genre diversification and story originality.
Top 10 filmmakers
The "track" breakthrough helps the character succeed
Shaping the heart will eventually make the "treasure" shine
The film market is booming, and a group of filmmakers who have contributed outstanding screen performances have also won the favor of film critics. After a valid vote by 90 film critics, ten actors who have created outstanding roles on Chinese screens in the first half of the year are on the list.
Recognized by more than half of the film critics, Ruan Jingtian's stylish and qualified performance made "Removing the Three Evils Around the World" once again topped the film list. Tan Fei used "three points into the wood" to describe Chen Guilin, a "contradictory" who combines chivalrous spirit and criminal identity, Ruan Jingtian's performance endowed the character with progressive delicacy, and his personal charm also greatly added color to the role.
"Eliminating the Three Evils in the Week": Ruan Jingtian as Chen Guilin
Jia Ling, who successfully lost weight "synchronously" with the role of "Hot and Hot", ranked second. In Tan Fei's view, Jia Ling is a talented creator who is also looking forward to a breakthrough and hopes that everyone can see their true self, and this performance is worthy of the word "reborn".
"Hot and Hot": Jia Ling as Le Ying
With the role of the insulted and damaged hearing-impaired person in "Article 20", Zhao Liying, who has gathered great popularity in the field of dramas, has been recognized by professional film critics for her breakthrough performance. For such a character who can only "speak" with sign language, Tan Fei saw Zhao Liying's tenacity through expressions and movements, and thought that it was more difficult but more layered than her previous performances.
"Article 20": Zhao Liying as Hao Xiuping
The outstanding group portrait of "Article 20" made Lei Jiayin and Ma Li, who played the protagonist couple in the film, also on the list. Together with the Actress of the Year honor previously won at the 2023-2024 China Film Big Data and Movie Channel M List Honor Night, Ma Li, as a Chinese comedy film label character, has been professionally recognized, which proves that the good performance of the "comedy track" can not only gain the love of the audience, but also be noticed by industry reviews.
"Article 20": Lei Jiayin and Ma Li as Han Ming and Li Maojuan
Similar to Lei Jiayin's role in "Article 20", Hu Ge's performance in "Stop-and-Go" was also classified as a "waste track" by some audiences. However, Tan Fei believes that such a "track" should not be the comfort zone of middle-aged actors, and the two actors on the list have performed outstanding characteristics on the "track", especially Hu Ge has broken through the "extravagance" of previous roles, and there may be greater possibilities in the creation of small characters.
"Stop-and-Go": Hu Ge as Wu Di
In terms of "treasure actors", in addition to He Saifei, who has won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress for the role of Teacher Qi in "Chasing the Moon", Peng Yuyan, who played the role of a prisoner in "Dog Formation", and Peng Yuchang and Li Gengxi, who played the "anti-cancer couple" in "Let's Shake the Sun Together", also made a surprise on the list. The last three actors who are also "dirty" in the movie are either handsome "fresh meat" in the past, or young stars who are on the rise. Regardless of the image of the affectionate force, it is also making them emerge the strength of "treasure" after getting rid of the constraints of "traffic" and "topic".
"Chasing the Moon": He Saifei as Teacher Qi
"Dog Formation": Peng Yuyan as Erlang
"Let's Shake the Sun Together": Peng Yuchang and Li Gengxi play Lu Tu and Ling Min
The outstanding results of the films released in the first half of 2024 and the filmmakers who appeared in the first half of 2024 have made professional critics and more Chinese audiences have more expectations for the performance of films in the second half of the year. The curtain of the summer file has opened, and a large number of high-quality new films are released every week, which can't help but make people look forward to the new changes in the year-end film/filmmaker list.
As a professional film review column of a national media platform, "Today's Film Review" shoulders the mission of reviewing Chinese films, and continues to build a bridge of communication between professional reviews and the public. At 19:45 in prime time every night, "Today's Film Review" will be seen with audiences across the country on CCTV-6 Movie Channel!