I've already watched the screening of "Decryption".
7 p.m., IMAX Auditorium, 156 minutes.
After reading it, I realized that I completely misunderstood Chen Sicheng.
Before watching it, I thought that Liu Haoran, Wang Baoqiang, Xiao Yang, Pan Yueming were all here, plus John · Cusack, Chen Daoming, Wu Yanzu, Yu Feihong, this is not a commercial blockbuster in the style of "Tang Detective 2"?
Unexpectedly, Chen Sicheng gathered the power of Chinese film industrialization to make an unprecedented spy war biographical blockbuster.
However, even so, I still recommend that when you go to watch "Decryption", the first choice is the IMAX theater. Expensive is expensive, but such a visual effects blockbuster is only enjoyable to watch with the best equipment, because Chen Sicheng really spent money to make a real blockbuster this time!
And the biggest suspense of the film is: can this unprecedented spy war blockbuster made by the best commercial film director in China win another box office miracle?
Okay, let's not talk nonsense, let's share the first wave of feedback from a wave of netizens and my own viewing feelings, and decrypt it for you, "Decryption".
Remember, just a reference. This never-before-seen spy war film is destined to be the most controversial movie in the summer file.
If you can decipher this movie, you have to be yourself.
1: How does it feel?
After reading "Decryption", if you want to ask me what is my most direct impression, I will describe it in 2 words, unexpected!
Why the accident?
I was surprised, not because Liu Haoran's style is so subversive, and the sense of genius in the lonely world is so amazing.
I was surprised, not because of how explosive the visual effects of the movie are, how dreamy the transition between dream and reality is!
I was surprised, not because Wang Baoqiang played Ah Bing again after 18 years, the smoking scene is still so amazing.
I was surprised, it wasn't Wu Yanzu's appearance that returned to the peak, and he also played a father.
I was surprised that it wasn't the movie that used so much space to show Rong Jinzhen's ten dreams.
I was surprised because the original work, which is almost impossible to adapt from the Mai family, is perfectly integrated with Chen Sicheng's film industry aesthetics and cool visual effects, and the life of a mathematical genius is deciphered.
The film not only has a very good atmosphere of spy war suspense, but also shows the charm of code breaking, and the emotional processing and life situation of many subtleties are also very delicate, which makes me nervous and embarrassed.
The domestic spy war blockbuster tells a story of spiritual decryption, and also captures the feelings of the family and country with the hidden front as the starting point. You can believe it, friends.
In the past, I always thought that director Chen Sicheng was good at making commercial blockbusters because he was the smartest filmmaker in China and knew too much what the audience wanted. Now, it seems, this is not the case.
Chen Sicheng's ambition this time is to complete a breakthrough in the genre of domestic films.
Seriously, before watching "Decryption", I really went for the special effects of the movie.
But after watching it, I was really attracted by the plot.
Here, I want to say it seriously: the door of domestic spy war films was kicked open by Chen Sicheng.
2: About the adaptation
Because I can't be overly spoiled, I'll pick up the official plot introduction and give you a little interpretation.
Many people say that this "Decryption" is the Chinese version of "Oppenheimer" + "Imitation Game".
I have a different opinion, I think it is closer to the first unit of the movie version of "Secret Calculation", that is, the unit of the blind man Ah Bing.
This time it's not "listening" but "counting", and Liu Yunlong's TV version of the plot protagonist A Bing also appears in the movie.
After reading the novel, you know that "Decryption" is not like "The Wind", which has the ultimate suspense of who is the "old ghost", but more about the "decryption" of the life of the character Rong Jinzhen, so it is far more difficult to make the story exciting than ordinary spy movies.
Judging from the story of the movie, it is about the genius Rong Jinzhen (played by Liu Haoran) who has shown amazing mathematical talent since he was a child, and was raised by the university president played by Wu Yanzu and the wife played by Yu Feihong.
After entering the university, he was amazed by solving the already great problems arranged by the mathematics teacher Sheys (played by John · Cusack) on the spot, claiming to be able to solve them in a few years, including Zheng Mou (played by Chen Daoming), director of the 701 bureau.
It was under the guidance of Zheng that Rong Jinzhen walked into the door of code breaking, where there was a biggest enemy waiting for him, "Zimi".
In my opinion, there are three major highlights of the story: one is "secret calculation".
The story is set in the 40s and spans decades. In the spy warfare of that era, it was very important to decipher the enemy's code in a timely and accurate manner.
And the main stage of "Decryption" is the 701 bureau where geniuses gather.
The task of the protagonist Rong Jinzhen is to decipher the code through "secret calculation", so as to unravel the assassination plot against the chief, disintegrate the enemy's bombing of our atomic bomb base, and so on.
In the movie, he and A Bing played by Wang Baoqiang, one listened, the other calculated, and finally completed "listening to the wind".
The second is spy warfare.
Spy war films, of course, must have spy wars, but this spy war is not a deep tiger's den in traditional spy war films, looking for internal ghosts.
Instead, it revolves around "purple secret" and "black secret", a high-level psychological warfare and technical warfare between different countries and different fronts, and it is also a master-apprentice duel between Rong Jinzhen and her mentor Siys, who is also an enemy and a friend.
Of course, the elements of spy war genre films are basically present in the film, such as the thrilling train shootout when Rong Jinzhen was attacked.
For example, the night streets, the sudden start of the raid.
And, of course, the explosion of life and death.
The protagonist Rong Jinzhen will also have a life and death adventure.
However, these spy war elements are not all.
Chen Sicheng's real breakthrough this time is definitely not only about these commercial things.
It's the third point of interest: deciphering life.
This time, Chen Sicheng will have a strong "sense of luxury".
It's a vague word, but in the movie, it's obvious.
But the decryption here does not only refer to the "mathematical genius" Rong Jinzhen cracking the "purple secret" and "black secret".
Rather, it refers to how Rong Jinzhen went from a high-spirited teenager to a bald middle-aged man, how to solve the puzzle of life.
In addition to deciphering the code, the movie Rong Jinzhen also has three important emotional lines: one is the emotional bond with the Rong family, the second is the teacher-student relationship and fateful duel with the tutor, and the third is the love line with Xiaomei.
My favorite is that mentor Xies returned to the United States to participate in intelligence work, and fought against Rong Jinzhen in the air.
When I first watched the movie, I also wondered if it was a spy movie.
However, the further back you look, the more complete the story becomes, and the further back you look, the more flavorful it becomes.
The length of the movie is 156 minutes, which should be Chen Sicheng's longest movie, but there is no urine point in the whole process, and by the end of the movie, I have a feeling that I am still a little unfinished.
Seeing the end, in fact, it is not only a spy war, but also the fate of people and the appearance of all beings in the world.
In fact, the whole movie is filming a sentence, "Everyone is a unique password, and this life is the process of decryption".
3: About Liu Haoran
Like everyone, before the release of "Decryption", I was a little worried about Liu Haoran playing Rong Jinzhen.
Although Liu Haoran's perennial roles, from Qin Feng to Song Ge, are not low in intelligence, which is indeed in line with the character design, he has never played a role with such a large span in his life.
But after watching the movie, Liu Haoran slapped me in the face with an amazing performance.
He plays Rong Jinzhen, first of all, in terms of appearance, which is very consistent with the original work.
Lost weight to 120 pounds for the role, creating a sense of emaciation, no wonder the Mai family commented that Liu Haoran was "reborn".
Judging from the performance, Liu Haoran's performance in the first half has an obvious sense of youth, and his eyes are always deliberately avoided when talking to people, and he will only show confidence in the process of decryption.
The further back on, the more the character shows the loneliness of that genius, the fragility and sensitivity of the character, and even a kind of paranoia and madness.
Liu Haoran not only contributed a plastic surgery-like look, but also gave a very convincing performance in the details of his actions and demeanor, and in the end, the movie not only deciphered the code of mathematics, but also deciphered the hearts of the characters for the audience.
I think that with the eye play of Rong Jinzhen leaning on the head of the bed, Liu Haoran is very likely to be nominated for the next Golden Rooster Award actor.
4: About Chen Daoming, Wu Yanzu and John Cusack
I have to say that Chen Sicheng has found a perfect lineup.
He found 3 big names for Liu Haoran to help, Chen Daoming, Wu Yanzu and John Cusack.
Chen Daoming plays the role of Zheng, director of the 701 Bureau, which can no longer be suitable.
The aura is strong and restrained, in the face of arduous tasks, but always with a sense of calmness, not only the leader of the male protagonist, but also his guide to enter 701.
I don't think there is a more suitable candidate for Chinese films than Chen Daoming.
As for Wu Yanzu, his age and temperament are prepared for the role in the movie.
Rong Jinzhen's role as an adoptive father and university president has a bookish atmosphere, a foreign background, an old-fashioned intellectual demeanor, and a temperament as warm as jade.
As soon as he stopped there, it was already there.
and John Cusack, after watching him play "Fatal ID", you will know how stable he is to play this kind of role of a chess opponent with a genius, a teacher and a friend.
The best thing in the film is also the fateful duel between the professor played by John · Cusack and Rong Jinzhen.
This casting, wonderful.
5: About Wang Baoqiang and Xiao Yang
Finally, let's talk about the biggest secret weapon of this film: the collective team building of Tang Detective Universe actors.
Not only are the people coming, but even the characters are performing their own duties, which is similar to Tang Detective.
Wang Baoqiang once again challenged the classic role - the genius A Bing, and joined hands with Rong Jinzhen to overcome the "purple secret" in the film, one listened, and the other counted.
Wang Baoqiang played Ah Bing, wore sunglasses and held a cigarette, sat there, pricked up his ears, and he was.
But the audience who has watched "Secret Calculation" should be very emotional, it is really "Old A Bing"!
The chess maniac played by Xiao Yang, like Song Yi in Tang Detective, is a character who inspires the male protagonist to break the game, and there are not many scenes, but without his sentence "Mendeleev", it really can't work.
With Pan Yueming, Tang Detective 4 can really start filming on the spot.
6: About Chen Sicheng
If Chen Sicheng is said in the past, in works such as the "Tang Detective" series "She Who Disappeared", he constantly buried "little cleverness......
So what I think can be seen this time is the great wisdom of self-breakthrough.
This is the first time he has attached himself to the original literary book to make a movie. It was also his first attempt at a period drama with a span of ages.
It is the first time he has made a movie from the perspective of the fate of the characters.
It was the first time he challenged a spy war film.
As we all know, spy movies are not easy to make.
In the past 30 years, spy war dramas have been classics, and the audience can name several of them.
But spy war movies come and go only in the Blizzard Villa mode of "The Wind", and "On the Cliff" full of Zhang Yimou's style.
Why so little? Because spy war movies are more difficult to shoot than spy war dramas, or in other words, the spy war theme is more suitable for TV dramas.
So how to shoot "Decryption"?
One subtraction, one addition.
The subtraction is: use editing to cut out all the details of the novel, leaving only the core plot, and then use the lens language to tell the story.
Use the aesthetics of the film industry to show the dreams of the characters.
That is, dream decryption.
The abstract and esoteric numbers and decoding are transformed into visual projections of the protagonist's inner world.
Whether it's the red waves of the beach,
The blue ocean, the green wheat waves, and the huge chessboard are all impressive.
Coupled with Cao Yu's lens language and aesthetic texture, as well as the composers of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Mission Impossible", the epic soundtrack of Lone · Balfe and Kevin · Ripple, artistic transitions.
In the end, the original 210,000 words were reduced to a movie by Chen Sicheng with special effects and movie narrative.
There is also addition: it takes two and a half hours to install such a large volume of spy warfare.
"Decryption" is still an "atypical blockbuster", the movie has the changes of the times across the war, the decryption game in the grand history, and the human thinking in the dense plot, which is equivalent to stuffing an elephant into the refrigerator.
In the end, the movie is not only a spy war film and a suspense film, but a life biography, not only Rong Jinzhen, but a biography about the collective fate of the heroes in the hidden front in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
This is a real "spy war blockbuster".
7: About the box office
Of course, this huge breakthrough will inevitably bring some controversy.
also made the box office of the film not as predictable as Chen Sicheng's movies in the past.
But Chen Sicheng chose this adventure himself.
Just like Rong Jinzhen in the film, he knows that he is opening an unknown magic box. Know that this box has to be opened.
I also know to be prepared to take the full consequences.
I think it's worth the risk of breaking the game for Chinese films.
The movie is called decryption, but in fact, it is not just the password that is decrypted, but the fate of an era and a group of invisible guardians.
In my opinion, this is the real background of spy war blockbusters.
It is also the due meaning of the TV series version of "Decryption" that year, which was not filmed.
In the past 20 years, there have not been many spy war films that can be released in theaters, and spy war films that have exploded at the box office are even rarer, only "The Wind" in 2009 and "On the Cliff" in 2021 are counted.
Before the movie was released, I estimated that the box office of "Decryption" might be around 2 billion, and if it could be won in the end, it would be a box office victory.
Summer file, is there a lack of explosive models? There is no shortage.
But is there a lack of a real spy war hit in the summer file?
Lack.
When the vast majority of popular models are hung with the name of "entertainment blockbusters". Stuff it into a silly blockbuster that you can forget about at a glance.
There are already few people, what new genre, new universe to develop.
As smart as Chen Sicheng, of course, he can foresee the difficulty.
Why do you still do it?
On the one hand, it is the courage to "gamble".
On the other hand, "Decryption" deserves the audience's trust.
A Chinese spy war blockbuster about the heroes of the hidden front can also become a hit.
This time, I hope Chen Sicheng can succeed.