Original title: Watching “The Mistake by the River”, some people are confused and others are keen on reasoning (introduction)
The more you focus on the details after watching the movie, the more fun it becomes (theme)
Text/Guangzhou Daily All-Media Reporter Huang An
Recently, the domestic film “The Mistake by the River”, adapted from Yu Hua’s original work and shortlisted for the “Un Certain Regard” section of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival, was screened, giving rise to a unique phenomenon: after the film screening ended, the audience was reluctant to leave. Insist on waiting for the end of the subtitles to see if there will be any “Easter eggs”. For such a movie, some people called it “full of stamina”. After watching the movie, they couldn’t wait to review it, digging into details and looking for clues. Their “desire to discuss” was high, and they even read the original work to “find answers”. Some people think it is too literary, too obscure, and incomprehensible.
On the one hand, you are making complaints, and on the other hand, you are immersed in the fun of solving puzzles. How is this suspense film made by the “post-90s” director Wei Shujun?
After reading it, the audience “picked out the details” and even wanted to buy the original work and take a look.
Audience reviews of this film have been polarizing. Audiences who didn’t like it bluntly said they were confused by it, “It’s hard to understand. What do you want to express?” “The first part was okay, but the second part was confusing.”
Audiences who like it think that the movie is rich in meaning and philosophical, and they feel a different kind of movie-watching experience.
Netizen “Chongchong” said, “The biggest feature of the movie is that it is gloomy and calm, without redundant explanations, but leaves a lot of blank space for interpretation. Various details flow slowly like a river, as if it is a Luli dream. Through the dream Revealing the secrets of each character. This moviegoing experience is unprecedented.”
And more viewers still “can’t stop” after watching the movie. After the movie is over, the audience is still not satisfied, and they are reluctant to leave and wait for the “Easter Egg”; after watching the movie, fan Xiaobao has a crazy discussion with his companions, “I have been I’m ‘picking out the details’, and even want to order and buy the original book to read, but I just can’t wait to sort out the context of solving the case and know who is the murderer? What happened to Ma Zhe in the end?”
The original work is difficult to adapt, but the director strives to be “more life-like than the novel”
However, there are no answers in the novel. “The Mistake by the River” was created in the 1980s and is one of Yu Hua’s pioneering works. It tells the story of an old man being killed by a mysterious river, and the criminal police captain Ma Zhe is responsible for investigating the case. The evidence showed that the “madman” in the town was the murderer, but in the end, Ma Zhe became the madman in people’s eyes. The novel does not answer questions such as “who is the murderer”, “what is the motive” and “what is the process”.
The industry recognizes that this is an extremely difficult work to be adapted into film and television, but Wei Shujun, who was born in 1991, challenged it. Before him, many directors including Zhang Yimou had considered adapting the film. Yu Hua once said that Zhang Yimou wanted to make “The Mistake by the River” into a thriller and wrote a version of the script, but he always felt that it would not work and he didn’t know how to tell the story well through a movie. For this reason, this novel is considered extremely difficult to adapt by the industry.
The strategy adopted by Wei Shujun is to not only retain the original temperament of the novel, but also make the characters in the novel more realistic, add a more complete story background and logical chain, and inject more reality and reality into this “illusory” story. The power of life makes the plot more watchable.
For example, the image of the criminal police captain Ma Zhe in the original novel is relatively vague. In the film, he is a living protagonist: while being overwhelmed by the serial cases, he has to face the conflicts and pressure of his family, and his heart is almost broken. In the movie, Ma Zhe’s vicissitudes of life show helplessness and vulnerability, but he is always persistent in finding the truth in his heart. On the other hand, the details of the relationship between him and his wife are not copied in these novels, and they also serve as a good complement to the film.
Wei Shujun said that when adapting, he tried to understand the author’s intention. Later, he believed that the feeling of the novel was more important. After thinking for a long time, he finally gave up the detective genre film mode, and instead created it with the mentality of making a movie that “doesn’t understand, it has to be felt”.
“The Mistake on the River” was shot entirely on 16mm film, giving the film a retro tone. As a “post-90s generation”, Wei Shujun accurately captured the quality of life in the small town at that time in the film.
The theater-style cinema, furniture, and sweaters are all full of period characteristics, which made many viewers feel “immersed in the theater”. Audience member Ms. Liu spent a long time “studying” the clothes of the characters in the play after watching it. “It feels so much like our era, especially those sweaters, they are beautiful and friendly!”
Five works have been shortlisted for Cannes four times. Wei Shujun, a “post-90s” director, is regarded as the leader of the new generation of young directors, showing his ability to control different themes. For this suspense novel, Wei Shujun created his unique style: it has the excitement of a suspense film, but does not completely follow the routine of a commercial film. Leave enough room for imagination and interpretation, allowing the audience to experience the pleasure of solving puzzles.
The suspenseful and brain-burning movie is full of topics and satisfies the fun of reasoning and social needs.
In recent years, suspense movies have become a popular theme for domestic films. These movies set up a lot of suspense, arousing the curiosity of the audience, digging for details and looking for clues. After the screening, they still attract the audience to search for the unknown truth in the clues.
“Rescuing the Suspect”, which is currently in theaters, is directed by Zhang Mo and stars Zhang Xiaofei and Li Hongqi. The film’s layers of twists and turns keep the suspense until the end. Many people do not know the truth but speak wantonly on the Internet, which may hurt many innocent people. This social reality topic raised in the film has also aroused heated discussions. Another film currently being released is “One and Four”, which is also a suspense theme. The film is produced by Hou Keming as the director, produced by Wanma Tseden, directed by Kumi Chenglie, and starring Kimba and Wang Zheng. It tells the story of the 1990s. One day at the end of the day, a snowstorm was about to come to a primitive forest farm on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the forest ranger was involved in a case where the police were chasing poachers.
Prior to this, “She Disappeared”, the plot was reversed layer by layer, peeling off the cocoons, and firmly attracted the audience. In addition, extended topics such as sexual emotions, anti-fraud and anti-gambling also attracted a large amount of traffic, making it a phenomenon-level movie.
Next, there is a wave of new suspense-themed films on the way. Including “The Pursuit” released on November 11, “Wading the Angry Sea” released on November 25, etc.
Ms. Dai, a movie fan, said she was happy to see the suspenseful and brain-burning movie sparking heated discussions. Recently, she just finished watching “The Eighth Suspect” and “The Last Truth”. “They are very powerful and I couldn’t help but discuss them with my friends for several days. For example, after the two brothers in “The Eighth Suspect” returned to China, How do they live? How did true love develop between Jin Ximei and Lao Ma step by step in “The Last Truth”? I am very interested in these answers.”
In her view, movies themselves have strong social attributes and are a popular form of entertainment for young people today. Especially the suspense themes are very topical. “This type of movie is not only good-looking and exciting, and satisfies people’s curiosity, thirst for knowledge, and the fun of reasoning, but also gives young people something to talk about after watching it. This is probably why this type of movie is so popular.” Dai Dai said the lady.
Regarding the audience’s different interpretations of “The Mistake by the River”, Yu Hua expressed respect for the film-related activities, “The film brings different feelings to each audience, and the right of interpretation is also given to the audience. I hope everyone will abandon their past experiences and habits. Enjoy the movie with a blank mind.”
