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Xu Zheng's crying scene in "Reverse Life" is a textbook example, and the audience empathizes in one second: the sadness of the lower class

It has been some time since Xu Zheng "disappeared" from the film industry.

As an actor, he has not appeared in a leading role since he starred in "Love Mythology".

As a director, Lost in Russia was made five years ago.

Looking back, different themes and different identities reflect a complex Xu Zheng.

This year, a"Reverse Life" will52-year-old Xu Zheng was pushed to the center of public opinion。

On the first day of the movie's release, it took first place in screenings, single-day box office, and number of moviegoers.

The popularity, topicality and discussion are all on the hot list, and CCTV Video and Xinhuanet also collectively called for support.

But the audience's discussions continued, and the final Douban score fell to 6.9 points.

Brother Pi also watched the film as soon as possible. Judging from the feedback from the audience in the theater, there were a lot of laughter and a lot of crying.

The whole film brings togetherXu Zheng, Xin Zhilei, Wang Xiao, Jia Bing, Feng Bing, Ding Yongdai, Ding Jiali, Wu Jiakai, Yu HeweiA group of actors with super high national popularity, including "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", spanning three generations of old, middle-aged and young people.

But after watching the whole film, what Pi Ge wants to say most is actuallyFive smiles around these characters。

These five smiles have different characters, occur in different situations, have different smile forms, different difficulty levels, and express different meanings.

They are progressive, like peeling an onion, and the more you peel, the more interesting it becomes.

The First Smile: Yang Dashan (Wu Jiakai)

Difficulty index: ★★☆☆☆

The story of "Reverse Life" is about the fall of the middle class and the life of a deliveryman.

The former is the inside, and the latter is the outside.

The one who connected the two was Yang Dashan.

Although the audience knows the delivery man and understands him, their perspective follows Gao Zhilei.

But it was Yang Dashan who introduced Gao Zhilei and the audience to the "takeout" industry.

He is a microcosm of all ordinary deliverymen, and even more so, a microcosm of all low-level workers.

The impression Yang Dashan left on Brother Pi was smile and optimism.

He is young and energetic, has a clear mind and knows what he wants.

He worked in a factory as a screwdriver and as a Tony teacher. He wanted to marry the girl he liked and start a family, so he stepped into the food delivery industry and started delivering food.

There are two bunny ears on his hat, which is a symbol of his optimism.

He was delivering takeout while doing live streaming. It was because of this opportunity that Gao Zhilei was able to get to know him and was introduced to him by him.

Yang Dashan's optimism comes from his mentality.

He was very enthusiastic and passionate, helping others without reservation. Even though Gao Zhilei was a stranger to him, he was happy to help him and familiarize himself with this unfamiliar industry.

Not only did he help the webmaster when he refused, but he also introduced him to the situation of the site, the characteristics of his colleagues, and the precautions of delivering food in detail.

He even helped him buy an electric car and took him to work to familiarize him with the road conditions.

Yang Dashan never gets impatient with Gao Zhilei, an older programmer who is a little dull.

Even when it came to the final competition for the single king, he did not resort to underhanded tactics just because Gao Zhilei was the one he brought up.

Fair competition is his bottom line, and facing life with a positive smile is his foundation.

I think Yang Dashan's smile is the most contagious and touching.

This character is the one that receives the most attention among all the deliverymen because he represents the overall positive state of the deliverymen group.

Every time he's on camera, it's always a lot of fun.

Therefore, seeing him finally get the girl, everyone, including Gao Zhilei and the audience, would be happy for such a young man.

His smile is the main theme of "Reverse Life" and it is also the goodwill that Xu Zheng spreads to the entire group of deliverymen.

The Second Smile: Old Stingy (Wang Xiao)

Difficulty index: ★★★☆☆

In the whole film, the character of Lao Kou was the one that moved Pi Ge the most.

To be precise, Gao Zhilei's relationship with takeout food started because he was stingy.

After all, the black Americano he ordered on the day he was laid off was brought to him by Lao Kou.

The two of them became acquainted after a fight. Gao Zhilei scolded Lao Kou, but after he joined the delivery team, Lao Kou spit at him at the right time.

However, because of this intersection, the two became good friends.

In the film, Lao Kou's two smiles made Pi Ge feel mixed emotions, and also made him understand that behind the optimistic background, the deliverymen face difficulties.

The first time was when Gao Zhilei agreed to let Lao Kou use his broken bicycle that he left at school, and he showed that smug smile on his face.

Lao Kou is as his name suggests, extremely stingy.

All problems that can be solved with tape will never be solved by going to the repair shop.

He feels pain when spending a hundred dollars to buy insurance, and delivering the bill is his unshakable belief.

After a car accident, he stood up with blood all over his face. His first reaction was that the takeaway had not been delivered yet.

Fear of overtime, fear of bad reviews, fear of money being deducted, this is the "discipline" engraved in the bones of deliverymen.

Compared with that stingy smile, what's more, there is bitterness condensed with blood and tears.

The second time was after he escaped death, when he faced his wife who blamed him, with that flattering and slightly coquettish smile.

Lao Kou said that this was a gift from God.

Because the young man who hit him was compensated 15,000 yuan without even thinking twice.

His child has leukemia, his wife has no job, and they live in a house next to a garbage dump.

The old man worked very hard to save money for his children's medical treatment.

For this reason, he ignored traffic rules, often ran red lights, and got into many accidents.

That's why his wife was worried about his safety.

However, being stingy is the responsibility of this man. Apart from being stingy and using other methods, how can an ordinary deliveryman afford the expensive medical expenses?

After dinner, he and Gao Zhilei sat on a bench outside the door.

He pulled up a small yellow flower and gave it to Gao Zhilei. He was still smiling, but the next thing he knew his eyes were filled with tears.

When he was knocked down, the wheel of a cargo truck behind him was only a few centimeters away from his head.

He was terrified at the thought: if he was gone, how would his wife and children live?

At this moment, that smile was sublimated.

It represents the family and the responsibility of the family breadwinner. Every deliveryman is the most important member of the family as a social unit.

No matter how difficult or tired they are, they are the pillars of the family. Lao Kou is like this, and so is Gao Zhilei.

From a specific person to a small family, in terms of the profound meaning of "laughter", "Reverse Life" also completes a kind of inheritance and transition through the characters.

The Third Smile: Qiu Xiaomin (Liu Meihan)

Difficulty index: ★★★★☆

Both the camera and everyone's attention may be focused on the male delivery man.

For example, the stingy old man of the Gu family, the optimistic Dashan, the single king Dahei...

But there is one supporting role that is indispensable, and she is the only female among the main delivery roles.

She is Qiu Xiaomin, played by Liu Meihan.

Xiaomin is a single mother who works hard in the big city of Shanghai with her child.

Among the male deliverymen, she stands out, not only because of her personality, but also because of her thin body and delicate temperament.

In fact, women are a minority among the entire delivery worker group.

According to a big data report released by a certain group last year, women account for about 10% of all riders, which means that among every 10 deliverymen, there is only one woman.

This ratio actually coincides with the ratio of the characters in "Reverse Life".

What we should pay attention to is not Qiu Xiaomin’s female identity, but the fact that she brought female power into the takeout industry.

Nowadays, all walks of life like to tell stories about "strong heroines", and read about how the "strong heroines" counterattack to become domineering bosses, or successfully start their own businesses.

But the real female power is often contained in the most ordinary group of female workers.

The film specifically captured Qiu Xiaomin's life, and Gao Zhilei's interaction with her was very impressive.

After a night of heavy rain, Gao Zhilei came across Qiu Xiaomin taking shelter under the eaves with a little kid next to her.

Qiu Xiaomin said that this was her child and she was a single mother.

Normally I would bring my children with me to deliver food at night, but because it was raining heavily that day and I forgot to bring a raincoat, I was trapped.

Looking at the child, Gao Zhilei took off his raincoat and gave it to Qiu Xiaomin without saying a word.

Qiu Xiaomin returned home safely, while Gao Zhilei fell asleep in a corner.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Qiu Xiaomin.

No one expected that this female delivery woman, after sending her child back, would call a group of delivery brothers to go out to eat with Gao Zhilei, who had helped her.

It is obvious that she has long been familiar with the life of a deliveryman and is well versed in the human relationships there.

Qiu Xiaomin is not weak. In the final single king competition, she represents a mysterious female power.

It is precisely because of the existence of the character Qiu Xiaomin that "Reverse Life" seems less monotonous.

Because behind the female characters such as wife and daughter, there is a person who can walk shoulder to shoulder with Gao Zhilei, interpreting another member of society and contributing to the entire industry.

From Brother Pi’s point of view, the delivery girl Qiu Xiaomin is extremely beautiful.

The fourth smile: Gao's father (Ding Yongdai)

Difficulty index: ★★★★☆

There are individuals, groups, families, and women.

In the "smile" level of the entire movie, there is still an important missing link, that is, the elders.

What Pi Ge can't forget is the smile facing the sunset of Gao Zhilei's father, played by Ding Yongdai, after he suffered a stroke and became unable to move.

That smile, although it was a patient's smile, made people feel particularly at ease.

In fact, in terms of role function, Ding Yongdai is just a part of Gao Zhilei’s “midlife crisis”, namely the “retirement issue”.

However, Xu Zheng did not turn the old father Ding Yongdai into a functional symbol. Instead, he injected different meanings into him through rich character creation.

That last smile actually contains the double transformation of Ding Yongdai and his previous generation.

The first level is professional concept.

When he learned that his son had lost his job and was delivering food, the person who reacted strongest was not Gao Zhilei's wife, but his father.

“How can you deliver food?”

These words were deafening and pierced Gao Zhilei's heart.

In Ding Yongdai's heart, he has raised his son for so many years, and his son was admitted to Tongji University and works in a large factory after graduation. He is the pride of his father, the pride of his daughter, the backbone of the family, and the pillar of society.

How can a Dongliang do such hard work as delivering takeout?

The stereotype made the old man unable to let go for a long time, and he was eventually admitted to the ICU due to overwork.

It was not until Gao Zhilei became a deliveryman and expressed his true feelings many times that Ding Yongdai realized that survival is not easy and that deliverymen should be treated equally.

The tide of economic downturn cannot be stopped by one individual. In the rolling torrent, the benefits enjoyed by the previous generation are no longer there.

It’s just that Gao’s father’s ideas are still stuck in the era of “iron rice bowl”. With the help of this character, “Reverse Life” condenses the rapid social changes and its impact on individuals into a line and a smile.

The second level is the attitude towards life.

At the beginning, Ding Yongdai was actually very negative.

He saw his son lose his job and was worried.

After being discharged from the hospital, she even had a big fight with her son, which led to discord among the entire family.

But later, a birthday party made Ding Yongdai realize the importance of family.

Gao Zhilei also understood the silent greatness of Chinese fatherly love after discovering his father's suicide note.

It was also after this time that Gao's father finally let go of his obsession, began to recover seriously, and continued to run the convenience store business downstairs.

Under Gao Zhilei's inspiration, he found himself, the value of his life and the direction to make use of his remaining energy.

The attitude of the older generation completes the loop here.

The role of Gao's father is actually very difficult to portray, and it was Xu Zheng's vision that the role was given to Ding Yongdai.

Facts have also proved that it is because of the close cooperation between Ding Yongdai and Ding Jiali that the image of the older generation of the Gao family shines.

The fifth smile: Xiao Ni (Xin Zhilei)

Difficulty index: ★★★★★

For Pigo, the role of Xiao Ni is the most shining one in "Reverse Life".

Xiao Ni and Gao Zhilei are one and the same. She represents a group, the image of a middle-class woman who is willing to sacrifice herself, become a full-time housewife, and bear all the risks of the family.

It is worth mentioning that Shawni in the movie actually cries first and then laughs.

On the road of questioning her husband, understanding her husband, and becoming her husband, she also completed the transformation from crying to laughing.

The smile that bloomed during the last drum section was the result of the accumulation of tears from earlier times.

There was a scene that really touched me and was very real.

Gao Zhilei lost his job and became a delivery man. Almost everyone in his family knew about it, except his wife Xiaoni.

Xiao Ni calmly settled the bill for him and told him about the financial gap in the family.

At the same time, she was furious with Gao Zhilei - the reason she was angry was not that her husband was incompetent and unemployed, but that he carried the entire family on his shoulders in a self-touching manner.

This kind of doubt about the relationship between husband and wife made Xiaoni very sad.

Because she is the mistress of the family and the most important member of the family, but she doesn't know that her husband is unemployed and is supporting the family alone.

Rather than blaming my husband, it is more like a deeper self-blame.

This is the first tear-jerking moment in the whole film. A middle-aged couple, facing the pressure of unemployment and economy, both shed tears late at night when their parents and children are asleep.

And all this is silent.

When watching this clip, Brother Pi not only thought of himself and his friends who graduated from big companies, but also thought of real events happening everywhere in society.

Everyone should remember that a few months ago, there was a video that went viral on the Internet, which was almost exactly the same as this plot.

The 38-year-old husband lost his job as a delivery man, and his wife was very angry when she heard the news.

But what made her angry was not that her husband couldn't make money, but his concealment of the truth.

Brother Pi doesn’t know whether Xu Zheng’s inspiration for this scene came from this real event, but such things can most touch the hearts of ordinary people.

The deepest emotion between a couple is mutual support in adversity. Combined with Xin Zhilei's performance, the tension of this scene is incredible.

It was also this scene that made his wife Xiao Ni gradually understand her husband's painstaking efforts, and she even lowered herself to work as a waitress in a nail salon, which laid the emotional and factual basis for her.

The sensibility and rationality that a housewife should have, as well as the accomplishments and qualities that a strong woman should possess, are all displayed in Xiaoni.

In fact, although she is a "middle-class" person, Xiao Ni is also one of the thousands of "delivery man's family members".

The huge army of takeout delivery people relies on their silent support behind the scenes.

And I also believe that Xin Zhilei’s warm smile will be the most gentle comfort to Gao Zhilei in his life.

The five smiles seem to be unrelated, but in fact they are progressive and penetrate into the deepest emotional connections between deliverymen, between the industry and individuals, and between juniors and seniors.

"Reverse Life" captures the most sincere emotional details of ordinary people in the form of a smile, and brings each of us into the warmth throughout our entire life under the premise of the fall of the middle class.

I always hear people say that "Reverse Life" is promoting suffering and praising suffering.

But if you can understand these five smiles, you will find that "Reverse Life" has never been a cunning movie that deliberately presents suffering, sells anxiety, and uses these to reap profits.

It uses the "takeout" industry to talk about economic trends, social issues, the midlife crisis, and industry realities.

But the final destination is a group of living people.

What makes the people in "Reverse Life" beautiful?

It is not because of suffering, but because of the true feelings they find in the relationships between people in the face of suffering, the courage they burst out from the collision between people and things, and the strength they draw from the entire industry and the entire group.

Yes, sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can’t change anything.

But working hard can change your mindset and make everything positive.

Sometimes, life and even destiny may change because of this positive attitude, instead of complaining and blaming others in the storm.

It is better to spread the fishing net when the wind and waves are the strongest.

We cannot become the old man in "The Old Man and the Sea" who fights against nature, but at least, we can ride on a lonely boat and have a mentality of going with the wind in a life full of headwinds.

Only in this way will the other shore not be farther away.

Text/PiPi Movie Editorial Department: Mayfly

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