news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Source: Chen Luyu's movie sofa (lyyy_scndgs)

Text｜Pigeon

I haven't seen such a tasty film for a long time——

The 100-minute film accurately captures the complex and subtle mental state of today's young people, which is high-spirited, romantic and unconventional.

It does not jump back and forth between boredom and melodrama, but finds a clever balance between eccentricity and reality.

The ambiguous interactions between adults give people a feeling of being tipsy, and the fantastic settings allow people to escape from real life for a short time.

It's not cliché, but it resonates with people.

It doesn't preach to you, but it's very effective.

Without further ado, let’s eat something delicious.

Negative Negative Equals Positive

⚠️ Friendly reminder: This article contains spoilers

01

Friendly to the audience's eyes and mental state

Some people say that this movie is like an "absurd patient exchange meeting", which is very consistent with the mental state of young people today.

If you check out the behind-the-scenes team of the movie, you will find that this feeling is not without reason.

Director of photography Feng Yuchao, his representative work is "Jiao Ma Tang Hui", Douban score 8.6;

Color supervisor Tang Qiang, his representative works include "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and "The Last Night on Earth".

Editing director Kong Dashan, whose representative work is "Cosmic Exploration Editorial Department", is another patient exchange in last year's theatrical movies;

Wang Yitong, one of the leading actors in "Space Exploration Editorial Department", also participated in the performance of "Negatives Make Positives", playing the role of "alien" in the movie.

No wonder many netizens would sigh that you guys in “Negatives Make Positives” are really tight-lipped.

How should I put it? I believe that many viewers are willing to go to the cinema just to see the behind-the-scenes cast.

What's more, there is Zhu Yilong, who finally uses his face correctly, with his broken blue hair overflowing the screen, and Qiu Tianze's red hair collides with brilliant colors on the screen.

In short, it is very friendly to the audience's eyes and mental state.

The way the film tells the story also reveals a sense of quiet madness.

Huang Zhenkai (played by Zhu Yilong), an "urban hollow man", always feels that he is living in a life script that has already been written.

It's like filming a movie, day after day, with no escape.

The director team of this life movie is a group of aliens dressed in human clothes.

Study hard, go to school, work hard in a big city, find a stable job, and have a stable relationship...

Following the established trajectory of life, it seems that one can gain recognition in the secular sense, but one's heart becomes increasingly numb.

Happy things are not that happy, and sad things are not that sad.

He wanted to make a change.

There wasn't much that could be changed. Changing his hair color and moving to a new place were all he could do. Unexpectedly, the butterfly effect would begin.

The mysterious roommate Li Xiaole (played by Qiu Tian) broke into his life.

They are so different.

Compared to the lawful and numb Huang Zhenkai, Li Xiaole is a disorderly liberal.

Huang Zhenkai eats the same rice balls every day and goes to work in the cubicle, following a routine.

Li Xiaole changes his look every day, wears different wigs, and even gives himself different names. One sentence may contain three lies. He is mysterious, changeable, and free as the wind.

They were so different that their schedules were opposite, and they lived under the same roof but rarely had the chance to talk to each other, until one day - they appeared in the same screen.

At this time, the alien director burst out a golden sentence -For love to happen, it is not necessary that they are the same people, it only requires that they have the need for love.

The aliens were eager to advance the story, and they were busy creating momentum for Huang Zhenkai. The lights, music, and pink bubbles that controlled the romantic atmosphere... Huang Zhenkai's face was full of embarrassment and helplessness - again?

But the camera turned, and Li Xiaole stretched out his hand to pop a bubble, looked in the direction of the aliens and asked Huang Zhenkai: Are they your friends?

Huang Zhenkai didn't understand and was shocked: You can see them too?

Yes, yes. One, two, three, four, five, six, Li Xiaole counted their number clearly.

The director uses this wonderful and unconventional way to express the simplest emotions and ties between people - I understand you.

Maybe someone understands the strong feelings I have had for many years but have nowhere to vent, the grievance of having my father tear up the alien manuscript paper I drew on it when I was a child, the desire to escape but being unable to do so, but still having to make small changes.

The lights dimmed and the ambiguous atmosphere reached its peak.

Heartbeat will define us first, love will break the rules and pop up pink bubbles.

02

What is love?

They set three rules for this relationship:

Rule One: Never spend the night in one room;

Rule 2: Never talk about or define this relationship;

Rule Three: Always turn off the lights.

Director Wen Shipei summarized the relationship between Huang Zhenkai and Li Xiaole in an interview:

They started with sex, then kissed, then hugged, and finally held hands.

It seems to be a flashback to the traditional relationship, and it also coincides with the slogan of the movie:

“Even more intimate than exposing your body is exposing your vulnerability.”

They all have their vulnerabilities.

Huang Zhenkai, who grew up in a traditional and conservative family, felt that his life was just a movie with a weak plot.

He hid in the room and drew aliens, and told his father that they were in the corner of the room. His father tore up the painting and beat him up. His classmates also isolated him and thought he was abnormal.

When he grew up, he was dragged by his colleagues to attend parties, and he was the one who didn't know when to raise his glass.

Li Xiaole, your father is a liar. The only thing he taught Li Xiaole was how to weave three lies in one sentence.

He told Li Xiaole that when he came back, he would take her to Buenos Aires to eat ice cream, and then he never came back.

One was manipulated, the other was abandoned. Neither of them liked the life script they were given. One chose to be numb, the other chose to pretend.

Two completely different people found an opportunity to "change themselves" because of their meeting.

They test each other and explore themselves in constant collisions.

There is a very touching scene in the movie.

Huang Zhenkai and Li Xiaole enter each other's childhood, appear when they need company the most, teach them how to vent their emotions, listen, comfort and accompany them.

All the old pains from the original family were gently healed.

We outside the screen were also deeply moved by this moment.

Obviously, "Negatives Make Positives" is an unconventional love film.

The scenes of traveling back and forth through childhood are so moving that they make people sigh: Can they be filmed like this?

We can also see many other elements in the movie, aliens, vaporwave, dreamcore stream of consciousness, the setting of Galaxy Film Studios, and the scene where Huang Zhenkai fights aliens.

It is special, unconventional, fresh and romantic.

But the more we watch, the more we realize that the film uses wild imagination as a shell, but it actually contains the ancient lesson of love:

What is love?

This was also one of the original intentions of director Wen Shipei to make the film.

A common feeling is that many young people today no longer believe in love and marriage.

But he feels that not believing in love does not mean not needing love. Most people have the need for love, but for some reason, they don’t know how to love or dare not love.

He really wants to make this movie so that those who don't believe in love, or those who have given but have been hurt, can gain a little "ability to love" and the ability to perceive the world in the process.

“Everyone can find that one person who can make their negatives a positive.”

03

A good romance movie doesn't just talk about love

In "Negatives Make Positives", actor Zhu Yilong served as co-producer for the first time.

Huang Zhenkai in the movie wants to break the script of his life, and Zhu Yilong outside the play is also not content with his comfort zone. He repeatedly breaks the audience's impression and expands his boundaries.

At the Beijing premiere of "Negatives Make Positives", during the post-screening exchange session of the Luyu film viewing group, Luyu asked director Wen Shipei how he initially found Zhu Yilong to play the role of Huang Zhenkai.

Wen Shipei said that this was a process of slowly getting closer to each other. After giving the script to Zhu Yilong, they had a long conversation. Zhu Yilong even dyed his hair blue a long time before the filming started.

Wen Shipei felt that Zhu Yilong with blue hair had truly turned into Huang Zhenkai.

For Zhu Yilong, playing the role of Huang Zhenkai is also like an attempt to break the script of his life.

Zhu Yilong said that when he encountered this role, his state of life could be described as "full of emptiness". Although his daily work schedule was very fulfilling, he still longed for change.

He hopes to bring such a character to the audience so that everyone can resonate with it and have the courage to change a little.

I believe that the 7.2 rating on Douban has given him some answers. Many friends have ignited the urge to change after watching the movie——

“There was a tsunami of wanting to escape and be free within me.”

“After watching the movie, I felt like I should start doing something.”

“If you encounter a life script you don’t like, rewrite it yourself.”

A good love movie doesn't just talk about love.

It is more like a life movie, in the process of finding and meeting love, you are also finding and meeting yourself.

Director Wen Shipei said that movies are a dream-making instrument and a portal for audiences to escape from real life.

Let’s open this imaginative door together, question life, and escape for a short while.

Just like the ending song of the movie goes -

The people who originally lived in the Arctic chose to take risks.

Those who decide to set out will meet each other.

- Luyu Film Group ✖️ "Negatives Make Positives" -