1905 movie network news The curtain opened, the screen lit up, and a good show was finally staged. The absurd comedy movie co-starring Andy Lau, Andy Lau, Andy Di Zhijie, and Guoyi Qian, which was produced and directed by the producer, was officially released on February 12. Life is like a play, all based on acting skills. When the movie shines into reality, how can the unknown people "surge" on the stage of their own lives? The movie "Crowd" tells the story of the top "killer" Zhou Quan (Andy Lau, played) and the lonely group actor Chen Xiaomeng (Xiao Yang, played) who exchange identities in an accident. In the process of falling to the bottom, the "killer" re-examines love and life; in the process of pretending to be a "killer", the group actors completely reshape their lives.
The film released the ultimate trailer for the version of "Life is like a play". Under the variation interpretation of the famous song "Swan Lake", killers, group actors, self-media people, liars, directors, and hot pot restaurant owners take turns to play, and the strength of all the members is "drama essence". The teacher inherits the experience school, inherits the method school, and carries forward the expressionist school. At this moment, the stage is "Wutai", and the masters play tricks regardless of the school, and the real and fake have their own strange tricks. In addition, under the red curtain, money flying everywhere, packages with multiple identities, gun confrontations, and heavy machine racing… The main creators are absurd.
Aspect 1: Quality lineup! Rao Xiaozhi joins hands with Andy Lau, Xiao Yang Wanqian to interpret urban fairy tales, and change their way of life together in 2021
From the fledgling to the sharp-edged, director Rao Xiaozhi broke into the 2021 Spring Festival with his third movie "Crowd". It is still a story about "people", and the camera is still aimed at one little person after another living in the city, but this time he uses an adult fairy tale to express the reality. When non-meat-eating wolves, thieves and greasy rabbits, and arrogant swans meet, the city turns into a jungle, and the adult world is far more cruel and absurd than fairy tales. The "alliance" with director Rao Xiaozhi this time is Andy Lau, the national idol who has debuted for 40 years, Xiao Yang, who is known as the "comedy koi", and Wan Qian, who is known as the "drama throwing" face. The acting school has joined forces to create a quality lineup. In the movie "Crowd", the top "killer" swapped identities with the down-and-out group and began to experience life again, examine themselves, and change their way of life. Outside of the movie, the creators are also experiencing their own "change of life".
Andy Lau, who has been in the entertainment industry since 1980, has played more than 100 classic roles, and this is the first time he has played an extra actor. He admits: "Suddenly I changed back to my 25-year-old self." At the same time as exuding personal charm, Andy Lau also revisits how to be an actor in the film. "If an actor stops trying to find security, the real creativity will be full of space." Andy Lau borrows thoughtful lines to express his attitude as an actor, and performs in Mandarin for the first time in his acting career. Easy and difficult, Andy Lau, who can act, plays Chen Xiaomeng, who can’t act, which is undoubtedly the most anticipated highlight of the movie "Crowd". Xiao Yang, who is his partner, perfectly interprets "the ups and downs of life seem to be on a roller coaster" this time. He portrays the frustrated and down group performance Chen Xiaomeng, and the once-successful fake and comprehensive portrayal, which makes people hate and pity. In the movie, Chen Xiaomeng’s sentence "Acting is my major, big brother" is also Xiao Yang’s self-expression. As a net-born actor, she has never been noticed and recognized. To enjoy the famous acting of the role, actor Xiao Yang once again uses her works to prove her acting skills after entering the forty-year-old life stage. Her sister Wan Qian, who has just returned from riding the wind and waves on the stage, returns to the big screen and plays the single mother Li Xiang. As the editor-in-chief of the official account of 100,000 plus, she has made small achievements in her career, but she is always bound by reality in her life. How will she interpret independent women in the indifferent city, how to face her true self, and how to face the love so close and so far? It is also a big highlight of the film.
Aspect 2: absurd comedy! Life is like a play, it all depends on acting skills, serious humor can also hit the joke without shaking the burden
The movie "Crowd" is adapted from a Japanese film. Director Rao Xiaozhi made a new interpretation of the original story in the preparation stage of the script. The lines are more localized, the comedy elements are more down-to-earth, and the story presentation is more in line with people’s viewing habits. Unlike the hilarious comedy turning over patterns and shaking bags, Rao Xiaozhi continued "Hello, Crazy!" " The absurd style and dramatic texture of "No Name" make the audience seem to be in it during the viewing process but clearly perceive that they are watching the play. Looking at Andy Lau’s comprehensive performance is like "Andy Lau, a stupid child". Looking at Xiao Yang’s performance of Chen Xiaomeng is like an "old boy". Looking at Wan Qian’s performance of the aloof and independent sister Li Xiang, this unique "dramatic sense of separation" constantly guides the audience to look at the real world in a humorous way. The real and absurd intersection, as the plot advances, can’t help but laugh, and a knowing smile comes naturally.
Life is like a play, and it all depends on acting skills. The movie "Crowd" brings the drama-like bridge into reality, and all the staff are "drama experts". After Zhou Quan lost his memory, he acted as a "group performance" and studied acting from scratch; Chen Xiaomeng incarnated as Zhou Quan as a "killer", who didn’t dare to breathe and also stepped out of the boss’s pace; Li wanted to put in the performance of "not moving", and whether she was brave or not was always "just a little bit"; there was also Sister Hui, the owner of the hot pot restaurant, who was repeatedly deceived and could only play "fierce"; the female liar Zeng Jiurong, who was able to play in the world but couldn’t help but play "tempted"… As the plot progressed, the audience often jumped repeatedly in "unbelievable" and "reasonable", and the sparks from the collision of reality and illusion formed an invisible sense of humor, which made people laugh again and again.
Aspect 3: Your story! When the unknown gather the crowd, heal you and warm you "Thank you for meeting you"
"Crowds, thank you for meeting you." 2020 holds a special meaning for many people, and everyone hopes to gain more courage to face life. And the movie "Crowds" is such a story about every "you" in life. We hope to see ourselves in the movie, and at the same time, we also hope to bring the audience a warm healing and spiritual massage. "We always miss the people around us with a’thank you for meeting you ‘." Director Rao Xiaozhi hopes to thank the crowd of unknown people through the film: "2020 is such a special year, we begin to form a new understanding of life, we begin to learn to be grateful, every step we take, we will meet many people, whether it is love, family or affection, we should say’thank you for meeting you ‘to them." The film may not solve the problems in our lives, but in "Crowd", we can always see the shadow of our own life from the characters, hoping to bring courage and encouragement to everyone in the new year. Just like Zhou Quan and Chen Xiaomeng, who exchange identities in the film to "change their way of life", they are more like two stages of life in real life. We may be confused at the age of 20 and 30, and we may have everything at the age of 40, but we have lost our passion after being smoothed out. But maybe these two characters can bring some thoughts to your life.
The movie "Crowd" still continues the style of director Rao Xiaozhi in the past, focusing the camera on the lives of small people. This time, we want to "take care" of the lonely people in the city. In the crowd, many people are alone and lonely, just like those who choose to spend the Spring Festival in different places this year. You can choose to watch the movie alone to find answers; you can also take your lover to experience the romantic atmosphere of the movie; it is also suitable for the whole family to watch the movie and feel the laughter from the bottom of your heart together.
Aspect 4: Real love! When the Spring Festival meets Valentine’s Day, the only strong love movie in the same period
The highlight of the movie "Crowd" has to be said to be the love story between Zhou Quan and Li Xiang, played by Andy Lau and Wan Qian. In the film, Zhou Quan and Li Xiang meet by accident, while the director Rao Xiaozhi writes a romantic and realistic love story for the two. This also makes the film the only strong love element film in the Spring Festival. Speaking of love in the film, director Rao Xiaozhi said: "In 1990, I watched Andy Lau starring in’Heaven is Love ‘, a love tragedy between a underworld youth and a rich lady. This story of’falling in love with a prodigal son’ accompanied my growth and also influenced me in my boyhood." This kind of love story that transcends class is exactly the urban fairy tale that Rao Xiaozhi wants to show to the current audience. " The relationship between Wan Qian’s character and Brother Hua in the movie, I think it has a fairy tale feeling. This relationship is difficult to happen in modern society, but it is a fairy tale when it happens, and is it possible? I think it is possible. "It is this obsession with love fairy tales that makes the movie" Crowd "a romantic color under the interaction of the two protagonists.
Valentine’s Day in 2021 happens to be during the Spring Festival period, and this wonderful fate seems to be like every love encounter. "People who really like you will not rate you", "I don’t want to be defeated by material things, and I will never believe in pure feelings.", one love golden sentence shows the truest emotions in the movie, like a fairy tale, but also contains the most realistic life. Andy Lau lamented the emotions of the two characters: "As we get older and experience more and more, we don’t seem to have the innocence of a child. But Zhou Quan, a forty-year-old man, has lost his memory and started over again, and his thoughts also retain the innocence of a child. It is this innocence that can move Li Xiang." The movie "Crowd" uses the most realistic story to tell the most fairy tale love, and the wonderful interpretation of Andy Lau and Wan Qian also adds many unexpected gains to the characters. Director Rao Xiaozhi once confessed: "Everything was unknown before seeing Andy Lau and Wan Qian play against each other, but the first time the two played together, I knew that my choice was right, and they had a sense of harmony with each other." Even Andy Lau himself shouted to netizens: "The combination of me and Wan Qian, did you’hit ‘it?"
Aspect 5: Surprise gifts! Full of feelings and surprises, the fun of watching movies continues to double
In the early screening of the previous film "The Crowd", many viewers said that there were many unexpected surprises and easter eggs in the film. As the director said: "The movie’The Crowd ‘is a gift for the audience. I will integrate some fan stalks into it, and everyone is welcome to count the easter eggs together." For Rao Xiaozhi, a director who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, Andy Lau is synonymous with Hong Kong cinema and the enlightener of his own understanding of film. So in the script writing stage, the role of Zhou Quan was automatically brought to Andy Lau, so the audience can see the tribute film, "Tian Ruoyou Love", "Five Tigers Will Break" and other classic works of Andy Lau in the movie, and the director Rao Xiaozhi also revealed: "During the filming process, Brother Hua was very excited, and often played on the spot to enrich the original role and cover it." It is particularly worth mentioning that Andy Lau, who had a handsome role in the movie back then, once again recreated the classic in the movie "Crowd", riding on the chariot of fire again after 26 years – Honda NSR250. But this time it is no longer "Tian Ruoyou Love" in the back seat of Andy’s motorcycle, but Chen Xiaomeng played by Xiao Yang. As the director put it: "In the movie’Crowd ‘you can feel the wonderful sense of unity of actors and characters, you can see the characteristics of the overall character, you can also see the characteristics of Andy Lau himself through this character, and even the imprints of Andy Lau’s previous characters are integrated into this performance – like a play, in the theater I know it is fake, but I am still moved. In this film they achieve a wonderful harmony."
In addition to paying tribute to the classic movie Easter eggs, director Rao Xiaozhi also attracted his relatives and friends this time. For example, he made cameos with the two directors, and the three Spring Festival films of "The Crowd" were linked. Guo Fan and Lu Yang starred as the directors of "Wandering Planet" and "Assassination of the Playwright" in "The Crowd" respectively, and staged the play within the play. Rao Xiaozhi broke the news: "In the script creation stage, the two good brothers have already arranged roles." In addition, the film also incorporated a lot of ingenuity from the director in the plot design, which can be said to be a surprise. Of course, the biggest Easter egg of the film needs you to go to the big screen to reveal it yourself.
