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Text | Ding Jiao, Author | Wang Lu, Editor | Wei Jia

"The first day box office was 133 million yuan, and Maoyan's estimate of the total box office was lowered from 768 million yuan to 501 million yuan." This was the result of "Decryption" on its release day. Such figures obviously did not satisfy the theaters that had high hopes for it. "Before, Chen Sicheng was scolded and it did not affect the box office, but this time it did not work." A theater manager said.

As of the end of July, this year's summer box office revenue was 7.6 billion, far from the 12.8 billion of the same period last year. Except for "Catching Dolls" starring Shen Teng and Ma Li, which is expected to reach 3 billion, there are no dark horse works so far. "Decoding" was once regarded as a blockbuster that could save the cinema.

"But it's difficult at the moment. The film's reputation is polarized, and the popularity has been diverted by the Paris Olympics." A staff member of a theater that did a live broadcast of the Olympics told "Dingjiao" that there were a lot of people coming to watch the Olympics these days, and the seats were almost full, but there were very few people watching "Decryption". Maoyan Professional Edition shows that the box office of the film was less than 200 million in two days. Seeing this situation, many theater managers have given up in advance and placed their hopes on the upcoming "Reverse Life" and "White Snake: Floating Life".

"Decoding" is adapted from Mai Jia's novel of the same name. It is set in the 1940s and tells the story of a genius mathematician Rong Jinzhen (played by Liu Haoran) who dedicated his life to deciphering codes for the country. The film also stars well-known actors such as Chen Daoming, Daniel Wu, and Yu Feihong. The film is nearly two and a half hours long, making it the longest film of this summer.

"Chen Sicheng's new masterpiece in the past decade" is the label of the film. Ten years ago, Chen Sicheng debuted as a director and invited Liu Haoran, who was still a student, to star in "Beijing Love Story". Ten years later, the Chen-Liu combination is still working together, and "Decryption" is Chen Sicheng's first challenge to adapt a heavy subject.

The film's Douban score was 6.9 at the beginning, and then dropped by 0.1 on the third day of its release. Some viewers praised the film's visuals, and some even watched it twice for the IMAX version, but some were very dissatisfied, saying that the story was long and boring, and that the last hour was very uncomfortable.

Is "Decryption" good? Having given up the Southeast Asian suspense crime elements that he is good at, can Chen Sicheng still do it?

(The following content contains spoilers)

A visual effects blockbuster, imitating Nolan?

Many people's impression of Chen Sicheng is thatA product manager who knows the film market well.Most people interpreted his foray into the biographical genre as an attempt to break the public's stereotype that he can only make suspense films.

Although the current reputation is seriously polarized,But everyone generally recognized the film's visual effects.

The protagonist of the film, Rong Jinzhen, is a talented young man who can crack difficult codes. The original work contains many surreal elements, and the film transforms these elements into Rong Jinzhen’s ten dreams, which are presented in a large amount of space.

The golden reed marshes, the shining Ferris wheel, the giant walrus, the deep underwater whirlpool, the huge computer, the abstract egg man and other spectacular scenes have such shocking effects that the audience directly regards "Decoding" as a visual effects blockbuster.

Chen Sicheng spent a lot of money on visual effects.

The entire film was shot with IMAX. Director of Photography Cao Yu had shot the world's third and Asia's first commercial film shot entirely with IMAX - The Eight Hundred. The ALEXA 65 IMAX camera used in The Decryption is considered to be the highest specification among IMAX camera models, and there are only 66 of them in the world. The advantage is that it can capture a wider range of images, allowing the audience to see higher-definition and larger-viewing images.

There are also a lot of real-life scenes in "Decryption", such as the red beach in the film, which is called one of the classic scenes by the audience. However, this is not a special effect, but a super-large artificial beach built by Chen Sicheng himself, with 105 tons of specially dyed and cured red sand and 75 LED lights simulating sunset. Although Chen Sicheng did not directly respond to how much it cost, the amount of materials is worth a lot.

The film also strives to restore the real scene of the top-secret intelligence agency 701, where the main location of "Decryption" takes place. It is located in an abandoned sanatorium built in the 1950s in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, a building that is almost hidden in vegetation.

In addition, many viewers feel that although the background of "Decoding" is the country's war and patriotism, it incorporates many fantasy elements. In terms of storytelling techniques, "Decoding" interweaves the timeline of reality and dreams, and is not a traditional spy film or biopic. Therefore, many people in the industry commented thatThis time, Chen Sicheng made an innovative attempt in the main theme narrative.

When it comes to keywords such as complex narrative, brain-burning plot, and stunning visual effects, people will naturally think of the genius director Nolan. After the release of "Decoded", there was also a heated discussion about whether Chen Sicheng was learning from Nolan.

Nolan has won multiple Oscars and nominations. His representative works include "Inception", "Interstellar" and "Memento". "Oppenheimer", which was released last year, swept seven Oscars and earned nearly $1 billion at the global box office. Chen Sicheng has also publicly expressed his appreciation for Nolan.

Nolan likes non-linear narratives, and he interweaves and runs multiple lines of the past, present, and future in parallel, and even superimposes multiple layers of dreams to create four or five timelines, thus bringing the audience into a rich and suspenseful picture.

Real shooting is exactly what Nolan insisted on. In "Oppenheimer", he restored the scene of the first atomic bomb explosion through real shooting, which attracted many audiences to go to the cinema.

Some viewers said that they could indeed see some of Nolan's shadow in "Decryption", but some others felt that it was still far from that and they had not learned the essence.

However, overall, in terms of audio-visual language and genre innovation, "The Decryption" is a blockbuster and has won recognition from the audience.

Fast food products, form is more important than content

Although "Decryption" has the feeling of a blockbuster, it does not mean that it has no flaws. "Form is more important than content" and "It's like a fast food dish cooked with exquisite audio-visual language" are the feelings of some viewers.

"The film's photography, color, and composition are all first-rate, but the plot is a major flaw. The protagonist relies more on dream interpretation to crack the code, and the supporting characters are also treated like tools. The story is advanced more through the images in two and a half hours," said a film critic.

The audience unanimously commented that the film has a weak storyline.

Sisi, an industry insider, approves of the innovative subject matter of "Decryption", saying, "It does not follow a very serious and rigid main theme narrative style, nor does it incorporate too many irrelevant comedy elements in pursuit of an entertaining commercial filming method. Instead, it incorporates elements of dreams, family, country, and spy wars." However, he also feels that the film's story itself is rather impetuous.

This is reflected in the fact that, apart from decrypting, Rong Jinzhen has hardly encountered any difficulties in his life, and he has been supported by everyone.

Rong Jinzhen was born into a family of poverty, but his growth story is better than most people. When he was a child, he was accidentally taken care of by Mr. Yang and taught him to interpret dreams. After Mr. Yang passed away, he was adopted by Principal Li (played by Daniel Wu). He also met Professor Xi Yisi, a mathematics professor who appreciated him, and the two became good friends. Jinzhen met many talented people along the way.

Later, Jin Zhen and Xi Yisi became rivals, but it did not hinder his career advancement. In less than a year after entering the 701 Bureau, he cracked the mechanical code - Purple Code and became the director.

The original novel "The Decoding" itself gave a relatively simple description of the decryption process. The film adaptation not only failed to make up for this shortcoming, but instead continued to deify the characters.

Film critic Jingwei feels that "Chen Sicheng shows a genius story of a special era, presenting his subjective world with various dreams. The first half is very good, but the rhythm of the second half is problematic, a bit like a TV series, and the plot is dragged out."

The film's portrayal of the protagonist's inner world also caused dissatisfaction among many viewers.

"The film is about the life of a genius, but the director didn't capture too many 'human' aspects of Jin Zhen, which best reflects his inner dreams. Apart from the presentation of wonders, there isn't much extra content." Sisi feels that although this technique makes the film look gorgeous and exquisite, the core is hollow and shallow. "They are all very straightforward image references, such as the dancing girl circling in a circle corresponding to the rotating code. Apart from this, there is no other extended meaning. A skilled director can use an image to trigger the audience's infinite reverie."

The film shows Rong Jinzhen's ten dreams. Although the audience feels the visual shock, it is difficult to truly experience the true spiritual world of the genius.

As for the portrayal of supporting characters, their "tool man" attributes are even more obvious.

Rong Jinzhen, who is aloof, unable to get along with the opposite sex, and not good-looking, makes his "sister" Rong Biyu and his wife Xiaomei, who are not related by blood, fall in love with him without hesitation, but the film does not explain in detail the reason for this affection. This makes many viewers feel that Chen Sicheng's move is more to highlight the aura of the protagonist.

And the "chess madman" played by Xiao Yang appeared in the 701 game. Many viewers thought that he would play an important role in promoting the plot, such as helping Rong Jinzhen crack the code, but in the end he only served as a guiding tool in the dream.

"Rong Jinzhen's image fits all the public stereotypes about the label of genius. He is a loner and aloof, always immersed in dreams, and rarely gets his feet wet in anything he does. You can't see his joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness as a real person, yet he is always loved by the people around him," said Sisi.

The slow-moving plot and unreliable characters even made some viewers unable to concentrate on the second half of the film and left early.

Are Chen Sicheng’s box-office hits limited to suspense films?

The box office revenue was less than 200 million in two days, and Maoyan's box office forecast was lowered from 768 million to 501 million. Now the performance of "Decryption" is obviously lower than expected.

In the easter egg at the end of the film, Chen Sicheng appeared as an "interviewing reporter" and appeared in a mirror with metaphorical meaning. Some viewers thought that this was Chen Sicheng adding more drama to himself and that his act of equating himself with the male lead was a bit narcissistic. Some netizens even wanted to deduct points from the film because of the easter egg.

Chen Sicheng later explained that the role of "interview reporter" was originally intended for the original author Mai Jia, but he declined and had to take on the role himself. His final appearance in front of the mirror was also to express that movies are a dream, and life is also a dream.

While the idea was great, it was clear that most viewers didn’t get the message.

According to Maoyan's box office forecast, "The Decryption", a movie that Chen Sicheng spent a lot of money on, has missed the top ten box office of this year. Among the 11 works in which he served as a director, screenwriter, and producer, the box office was only higher than "Mozart from Outer Space" released in 2022 and his first directorial work "Beijing Love Story" in 2014.

From "Beijing Love Story" to "Decryption", Chen Sicheng's directorial career has lasted for ten years. Maoyan data showsAs a filmmaker, Chen Sicheng's box office performance has closely followed directors Tsui Hark and Zhang Yimou, ranking third., surpassing Lin Chaoxian, Chen Kaige, Xu Zheng and others.

In the past ten years as a director, the strengths and weaknesses of Chen Sicheng's works are very obvious.

Initially, he was an actor but was unwilling to follow the director's arrangement. He chose to write, direct and act in the TV series "Beijing Love Story". Later, he adapted the play into a movie and became a movie director. Then he launched the self-written and directed movie "Chinatown Detective", which used comedy as a shell to wrap the core of reasoning, creating a new type of domestic film, earning more than 800 million box office and establishing its market appeal.

Chen Sicheng, who has a keen sense of businessman, also applied the experience he learned in Hollywood to his works, developing the Detective Chinatown series and the Accidental Detective series, and made a fortune with a series of "universes".

Chen Sicheng's adventurous spirit + his ability to find breakthroughs in creative genres + learning from successful foreign experiences have made him an excellent product manager in the film industry, creating many high-grossing films.

But his shortcoming is that he likes to focus on visual effects too much, and he also likes to attract users by mixing various elements. As a result, once he enters a genre he is not good at, he will easily fall into the bug of form being more important than content and the story being suspended.

For example, in order to attract more audiences, the film "Mozart from Outer Space" released in 2022 added various elements such as family, music, and science fiction, which resulted in the film's exploration of each element not being deep enough, and was even criticized for being a bit childish. In the end, it failed both in terms of reputation and box office. The same is true for the current "Decoded", which has beautiful pictures but not deep enough in its core.

Some people in the industry believe that Chen Sicheng is now one of the most successful directors in China. Any film he is involved in has the potential to be a hit, but the strengths and weaknesses of his films have become increasingly apparent in recent years. "Chen Sicheng is more likely to be good at suspense films," said a theater manager.