The reputation of "Reverse Life" is polarized. Where does the controversy of "Reverse Life" come from?
2024-08-15
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Is it focusing on the little people, or is it exploiting the deliverymen? Since its release on August 9, the movie "Reverse Life" has encountered polarized word of mouth.
Data from the Lighthouse Professional Edition shows that as of 17:50 on August 14, the box office of "Reverse Life" reached 232 million yuan, and more than 50,000 people participated in the Douban score, which is currently stable at 6.8 points. Compared with Xu Zheng's previous reality-themed film "Dying to Survive", which had a Douban score of 9.0 and a box office of 3.1 billion yuan, this is destined to be an outcome that is difficult to surpass.
But in fact, 6.8 points is already a passing score among many movies released in the summer of 2024, and the performances of Xin Zhilei, Wang Xiao, Jia Bing, Ding Yongdai and other powerful actors are not bad. Why did "Reverse Life" encounter more controversy?
Perhaps, the root lies in the word "reality".
"Reverse Life" reflects the various problems of modern society, such as economic pressure, family responsibilities, and workplace competition, through the living conditions of a new type of labor group, the delivery boys. Gao Zhilei played by Xu Zheng, Lao Kou played by Wang Xiao, and Dahei, the "single king" played by Feng Bing, all represent the real dilemmas encountered by different characters. They have to devote themselves to the hard and dangerous work of "delivering food" for the sake of their children's education or their family's medical expenses. The delicate lens language and the actors' emotional interpretation allow the audience to feel the pain and struggle of the characters.
"I actually cried a few times when I was watching the movie." In the opinion of citizen Mr. Wang, the movie does not just show the group of delivery boys, but also displays all kinds of life and shows thousands of families who are constantly running forward for their lives. From this point of view, "Reverse Life" is worth going to the cinema.
However, many viewers have higher moral expectations for realistic themes. They believe that since the theme is realistic, in addition to the plot setting close to reality, it should go further in criticizing reality and revealing the root causes of problems.
Obviously, from the release poster, "Reverse Life" has stepped on a "minefield". In the center of the poster, every deliveryman played by an actor is laughing from the bottom of his heart, while behind them, the real deliverymen are busy and expressionless. "Poor people spend money to watch rich people make movies" has become an important reason why many viewers are not interested in "Reverse Life".
"To be fair, the movie talks about the unreasonable customers, rude security guards, traffic problems, ruthless industry rules and other problems that deliverymen encounter, but the reasons behind these conflicts, big and small, are only briefly touched upon. The criticism is not criticism, and the happy ending is not a happy ending." On the evening of August 13, Liu Hongji, who works in the service industry, expressed his disappointment with the movie after watching it. Liu Hongji said that the real predicament is very clear, but it lacks some criticism, which makes people feel uncomfortable.
When ordering takeout has become a daily habit, the public also pays great attention to the deliverymen. "Should we order takeout in severe cold and heat, windy and rainy weather?" has also become a hot topic of discussion. Delivering food in bad weather is certainly difficult, but if we don't order takeout, this group seems to have no stable income. What should we do? There is no clear answer, just like the story presented in this movie, which is born out of reality but lacks the power and courage to analyze and criticize.
Realistic themes are not easy to come by, and masterpieces like "Dying to Survive" are even harder to come by. I hope that more film and television works can face reality and stimulate people's thinking about reality.
