The points that attract me the most about the novel:
1. Reverence for nature. People shepherd sheep (people eat sheep), sheep eat grass, and wolves eat sheep. When a person dies, he is buried in the sky, the body is eaten by wolves, and returned to the grassland, and the soul rises to Tenggeri (Mongolian: sky). Humans are not the masters of the grasslands, they are just a link in the biological chain. The wolf harms the sheep, but the sheep harms the grass. If the grass is gone, the grassland will be gone. If the grassland is gone, how can the Mongolians live? Therefore, Abba Billig is opposed to fighting wolves indefinitely, for the "big life" of the grassland.
2. One after another man-wolf battle. There is a strong sense of presence in the text, which is thrilling.
3. A deep sense of history and a strong sense of reflection. The Mongolian hero Genghis Khan's iron cavalry swept across Asia and Europe. They were as fierce, intelligent and team-spirited as wolves. The wolf's military talent and organizational division of labor were once the natural instructors and evolutionary engine of the Mongolian army's expedition to Eurasia in the 13th century. Mongolians fight wolves, fear wolves, hate wolves, and respect wolves. Wolves are their enemies, friends, teachers, and totems. Today, this bloody wolf nature has been replaced by the sheep nature of the farming people. The grassland is degrading, the spirit is degrading...
I am a fan of the original book, and I watched the trailer of "Wolf Totem" again, so you can't expect it.
1. The producer made a special trip to invite the French director Jean-Jacques Arnault, who is said to be the director who is best at filming animals. Representative works include "The Bear's Tale", "Battle of Fire", "Tiger Brother and Tiger Brother", "Barrier on the City", "The Lover"... The most familiar to Chinese people should be the Chinese lover played by Liang Jiahui in "The Lover", I have not seen it. Before watching "Wolf Totem", I watched "Bing on the City". In World War II, the defense of Stalingrad, the sniper duel between the heroic sharpshooter Vasily and the German sniper Konny. I have to say that Jude Law in 2001 was handsome (I can't believe it was the same actor as Alexander Karenin in 2012's "Anna Karenina"), and the light blue eyes made people deep If you are trapped, just rush for this face value, this film is also worth watching, not to mention there are hidden murderous and tense sniping scenes. Because of this film, I am really looking forward to Director Arnold.
2. It is said that China Film Company bought the film adaptation copyright of "Wolf Totem" as early as 2006, but the adaptation was too difficult, and it was difficult to restore the "man-wolf confrontation" and "wolf-horse war" depicted in the original work with Chinese film technology at that time. ", "Flying Wolf" and other thrilling scenes.
It is said that Jean-Jacques Arnault excitedly accepted the invitation of the producer before he finished watching the French version of Wolf Totem.
It is said that the crew specially invited Canadian Andrew Simpson, the best wolf trainer on earth. Andrew had read the novel "Wolf Totem" in 2002. After that, he had been waiting for someone to find him to train a wolf. He waited for the call for seven years. Then, tame wolves for 4 years.
3. The background of the story of the novel "Wolf Totem" is the specific era of the educated youth going to the mountains and the countryside in the last century, and the film does not want to highlight political criticism, but emphasizes the theme of environmental protection. Personally, I think this is a more global perspective, and it is also a tricky perspective for domestic distribution to pass film censorship.
The crew went to the grassland to shoot the scene, and really practiced "environmental protection".
In order to protect the grassland, the car was abandoned far away from the scenic spot. The crew carried equipment on their shoulders and walked for more than an hour to enter the shooting location.
When the large equipment has to be pulled by a car as a last resort, a plank is put on the grass to form a car path.
4. In order to reproduce the novel scene, the producer not only raised wolves, but also raised grass. When shooting snow scenes, I bought real snow from the north. I was also afraid that the snow would damage the grass, so I first spread a layer of isolation cloth on the grass...
I don't need to say anything about the actors. Now, everyone should know why the film spent 700 million in investment.
Watching these trailers over and over again, the cold and sharp-eyed wolf rushes towards you. Listening to Wang Feng's "Song of the Canglang", my heart is full of excitement, and I'm not happy to see it!
I was really excited and full of expectations. I didn't buy popcorn or Coke, and went to the movies. After more than 2 hours, the hot water that was already 60 degrees before did not heat up to 90 degrees, but became cold.
Yes, the film can be called a blockbuster scenery: during the day, the sky is blue and white, the sky is high and the land is wide, the grassland is green and yellow, and it is soothing and long like a long Mongolian tune. Shepherds rode on horses and drove the sheep. The clouds in the sky turn into flowers for a while, and dogs for a while, that long tune gushing out from your heart and humming slowly from your mouth...
At night, the night in the grassland is a real night. On a night without stars, the grassland is as dark as a bottomless hole. Only the bonfires lit by the herdsmen brought a light and heat in the vast darkness, which gave rise to popularity and warmth. The herdsmen sat around the fire, talking and laughing, drinking kumiss, playing the matouqin, and humming ancient songs.
Yes, it is also worthy of the sincerity of raising wolves and taming wolves for 4 years. The wolves have cold and sharp eyes and strong posture. The shots of running on the grassland can be matched with the commentary of Mr. Zhao Zhongxiang. Director Arnold's resounding reputation for photographing animals is not a cover.
But so what!
The man-wolf battle in the novel is so intense, the scenes are vivid, and the implication is profound.
At the beginning of the chapter, the educated youth Chen Zhen was surrounded by wolves. He used the loud metallic sound of hitting the pedals to frighten the wolves away and escaped by chance. This reflects the deep memory of the wolves who used iron tools to fight against the wolves from ancient times to the present.
In the battle of the wolves to encircle and suppress the yellow sheep, the wolves have deliberated, made plans and then moved, fought in groups, responded to each other, drove the yellow sheep into the snow nest, wiped out the yellow sheep, and the wolves had sufficient food throughout the year. Write about the coyote's hunting ability at the right time and place.
The greedy people took all the yellow sheep of the wolf pack, and madly killed the wolf cubs. The wind was blowing white hair. The two horse herders wanted to protect the horse group. The wolf came, and it was a good time for them to take revenge. They attacked the horse team. The horse was startled and ran desperately. The horses rushed into the ice lake, the ice cracked, and the horses fell into it.
Flying wolves into the sheepfold is a team of wolves fighting. In the mad hunting and snatch of human beings, the wolf has truly become a very hungry wolf that people hate. The front of the wolf found the lowest point of the sheepfold, the other wolves filed in, the last wolf stood on the wall and watched the wind, and the sheep in the sheepfold were slaughtered. There were voices in the distance, torches swayed, and the wolf retreated, dragging the sheep. The entire sneak attack was short, flat, and fast. People cut off the life of wolves, and the conflict between wolves and humans became even more intense.
Where are the vivid scenes presented in words in these novels?
The scene of Chen Zhen confronting the wolf is just a close-up view, a close-up of the wolf; in the distant view, the wolves surround people. Close-up, close-up of Feng Shaofeng's face, touching the pedals with his hands, hitting the pedals, making a metallic sound that was not loud at all. Vision, the wolves that have escaped. The tension in your heart? Where is the strength and tension of the man-wolf confrontation? Human-wolf confrontation, it's okay to be out of breath.
In the battle of the wolves to encircle and suppress the yellow sheep, the sheep ran in front of the sheep in the snowy field, and the wolves chased after them, plus the off-screen dialogue: Let's see the results of the wolves tomorrow! My God, is it good to be a little professional? The paparazzi have to ambush day and night to shoot lace news, attacking back and forth, and shooting real pictures. This film actually uses lines to tell the audience to use their imagination to make up for the wolf encirclement and suppression scene. Didn't it invest 700 million, who wants to just watch the corpse of the yellow sheep, where are the special effects?
It's not that the director doesn't understand the audience's demands, but he lacks imagination. In winter, the black night is as black as a black hole, and there is a white-haired wind (like a typhoon on the grassland!), crazy heavy snow. The two horse herders couldn't stop a group of horses that were chased by the wolves. The horses rushed into the ice lake. The messy horses' hooves stepped on the ice surface. . The horse got stuck in the lake and became an ice sculpture. The scene of last night's siege of the wolf against the horse was frozen in front of him. The director tried his best to make the most exciting wolf-horse battle in the whole play, and then, there is no such thing as a scene where your emotions really reach the boiling point.
Indeed, the novel "Wolf Totem" is not known for its plot. I hoped that the director would make good use of strengths and circumvent weaknesses, film grasslands, wolves well, and handle the plot of characters well. But the reality is that the grasslands are beautiful, the wolves are beautiful, people? Ugh!
The educated youth Chen Zhen is the narrator, participant and reflector of the novel, and Feng Shaofeng is responsible for raising and selling cute pets in the play. What is the use of Yang Ke played by Dou Xiao in the play? How did the "seeker man" who came out of this Yimou film run away and make soy sauce. Several Mongolian actors look very good, and at first glance they are Mongolians with Mongolian spirit. As a soul character, Abba Billig is empty and preaching (some drama critics say that it is selling "goat soup for the soul", God approves!). The actress who plays Gasmai has a goddess-level face, a straight face, and a real Mongolian beauty. But it is this group of actors with good looks and straight plates, who can't produce a chemical reaction in the film, and there is no drama. The director also couldn't, the drama was not enough, and the love came together, and Chen Zhen fell in love with the Mongolian sister-in-law Gasmai (I was fascinated by the lack of love in the original book). The story of the novel is weak, and the film is almost weak. No wonder some people say that the starring is only the wolf.
Good subject matter, good director, good actors, and big investment, shouldn't there be a good movie? I thought that the steppe wolf would bring out the deep thinking about the relationship between man and nature, but at the end of the film, only Chen Zhen's reluctance to give up a tear to his pet, the little wolf, Tengger, my heart is full of passion Worry and anger, my world is long and I weep, and the feelings I thought I would be aroused are gone.
Harvest it softly!
If I'm not a fan of the original book, I should have escaped from the theater halfway through the movie.
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