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*This article contains minor spoilers*

The documentary "Never Ending" was shortlisted for the main competition of feature films at the 18th FIRST Youth Film Festival. Director Xu Huijing of the documentary "Great! Boys" that we strongly recommended at the FIRST Film Festival in previous years once again came to the Xining FIRST Film Festival with a sports-themed documentary film.

Last night, at the Documentary Day and Honor Night, "Never Ending" also received the honor of Special Mention of Documentary at this year's Xining FIRST Youth Film Festival. The jury commented on the film:

"People should be the purpose, not just the means." When the halo given by the outside is stripped away, the dignity, value and richness that individuals should have originally enjoyed will have a chance to be revealed. The film observes the emotional ups and downs, dilemmas and social pressures in this process with a sincere and calm gaze. The material arrangement is mature and complete, opening up more ways to watch.

"Limitless" is a documentary about China's first UFC boxing champion Zhang Weili. It is passionate enough that it is hard for the audience not to be moved; it is also sincere enough that people can see the most real Zhang Weili and the team behind her through the screen. Such an evaluation may be enough for a documentary, but when it comes to film festival competition, we have to put aside the emotions that this movie gives to the audience and carefully unfold the interesting aspects of this movie from different aspects.

Don't disappear in the sea of ​​mediocrity

Although the content of "Never Ending" spans three duels after Zhang Weili became the world champion, the time span and space span will also change dramatically. But even if you have no idea about mixed martial arts, you can still sort out the context of the story in the narrative of this film, which is its outstanding and mature narrative.

There are not many characters in the film. Apart from the protagonist Zhang Weili, the one who appears most in the film is her head coach "Brother Cai". The relationship between athletes and coaches is always delicate. In the film, we can see a lot of plots and shots of the two competing against each other. As the head coach, Brother Cai would constantly increase Zhang Weili's training and forbid her from thinking about it before the game. Zhang Weili also never stopped complaining about him in front of the camera, whether it was complaining about his negative words or dissatisfaction with his physical overtraining.

But the subtlety of the two lies in the fact that the confrontation between the two is for a unified result, which is "champion", "win", and "knock down the opponent to win". And the use of a confrontational relationship to achieve a consistent result also confuses the audience outside the screen: who should be credited with the victory?

In the natural setting of the "plot", with the addition of the American coach, the audience can see the conflict between the American coach and Brother Cai in teaching concepts. The victory brought by high-pressure training that Brother Cai firmly believes in is like "children's mischief" in the eyes of the American coach. The story does not give a clear answer to "who is good and who is bad", but the audience will make their own judgments in this "cultural conflict".

Of course, although we all know that the core of the athletes and coaches' goals are the same, the oppression of confrontation always exists. We can empathize with Zhang Weili's desire for emotional value from Cai Ge's strict training, and the irrelevant communication can also arouse the audience's impatience. This link of conflict and confrontation is also one of the most thought-provoking parts of the film.

As a documentary about athletes, it is not difficult to be passionate, and director Xu Huijing has already proved to the world with "Great! Boy" that he is really good at making this type of feature film. The attitude of athletes towards their so-called career and work must be different from that of many ordinary people, because this is a profession that really pushes people to the limit to explore the peak of physical fitness.

We can see countless training clips in this film, and the director did not shy away from recording a lot of sweating shots. Even if we were sitting in an air-conditioned theater, we could see Zhang Weili punching and hitting at high speeds in the film, and it was hard not to be moved. The reason for all these efforts is actually perfectly matched by the film's soundtrack "Wild Heart", but in such a sport, the author would like to change the lyrics: "Don't disappear in the sea of ​​mediocrity." This is the continuous improvement that athletes desire to pursue, and this is also a kind of endless pursuit for Zhang Weili herself.

All are your own

"Everything is mine" comes from Zhang Weili's own words in the film. After facing a series of failures and doubts about her training plan, she narrated her life philosophy to the camera: "Everything is mine, be grateful."

The second half of the sentence is taken from "Be Thankful" said by her American coach who had taught her before, while the first half is a concept similar to Buddhism that "all sentient beings are oneself".

This is related to another thread in the film: Zhang Weili's parents.

Zhang Weili's parents are an ordinary elderly couple living in a mining area in Handan, Hebei. They don't appear much in the film, but this is an important clue in Zhang Weili's life that cannot be ignored. Zhang Weili's mother is a Buddhist. You can see her praying devoutly for her daughter in almost every game. Even when she talked to her daughter on the phone after the game, she blurted out "Amitabha".

The author believes that the most unique design of this movie is the two sets of shot switching involving Zhang Weili's mother when she steps onto the stage for the duel.

When Zhang Weili entered the arena draped with the national flag and the cheers of the audience around the octagonal cage rang out along with the host's voice, the noise on the scene and the tense atmosphere of the game reached an unprecedented height. After this shot intended to "show the results of training", the film chose to avoid the fighting scene and immediately switched and aimed at the cornfield in her hometown in Hebei. Zhang Weili's mother introduced the pests that bit the crops to us in front of the camera, but the next shot immediately turned to Zhang Weili who was locked to the ground by her opponent, announcing the end of the game.

This combination of movement-stillness-movement is obviously a deliberate one, linking the crops in the field with Zhang Weili's fate in the competition, as if telling the audience: All living things are you, and you are all living things. This philosophical concept with the shadow of her mother is exactly what Zhang Weili believes in.

I believe most viewers are familiar with the news of Zhang Weili's victory. The Zhang Weili we can see in the news is the athlete who "will not disappear in the sea of ​​mediocrity". She is strong and strict. But what most viewers are not familiar with outside the news is the Zhang Weili who believes that "everything belongs to her". She will not be able to get over the sadness of her puppy being hit to death. She will cry and cry a lot.

People tend to put professional athletes into a "great and tough" framework, deifying their perseverance and making them the symbol of willpower in everyone's heart, while hiding the softness and sincerity that all humans have in the blind spot of the brain, refusing to associate such strong people with tears and sadness. In fact, there is no conflict between the two.

The film can do this honestly, allowing the audience to clearly see Zhang Weili's truest self, which is exactly what a full-bodied character needs to have. As for the title of the film, "Never Ending", we can understand that this is the "unlimited" that Zhang Weili pursues in her continuous training and improvement. Similarly, this may also be the philosophy of "all for oneself" that she is constantly looking for.

"No Limits" at the FIRST Film Festival Documentary Honor Night

/TheEnd

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