In recent years, the creation of reality-themed films has made great efforts to pay attention to the living conditions of ordinary people and record the joys and sorrows of people in the torrent of the times. For example, many realistic movies such as "Hidden in the Dust" and "Life Events" released in the summer vacation focus on ordinary life individuals with real, sensible, simple and delicate brushstrokes, allowing the audience to gain spiritual enlightenment.
A profound expression of a simple theme
History is written collectively by the people, but as the "silent majority", individuals among them are often difficult to write into history. The important mission of film and television art is to show the joys, sorrows and joys of millions of ordinary people. They may never stand in the spotlight, or they may never usher in a high-light moment in their lives, but their rich emotional world should be respected and remembered, and their simple ideals of life should be protected and praised. This is the inescapable responsibility that history has entrusted to the image, and it is also the need of the times to realize the blooming of film and television art.

"Hidden in the Dust" stills

In recent years, some realistic-themed films have been exceptionally brilliant in the interpretation of the themes of the stories, releasing the aesthetic energy of deep still waters and moisturizing things silently, making audiences reap unforgettable touches. The theme of "Hidden in the Dust" is land, survival and love. In a small village in the remote northwest, there are two little people hidden in the dust. They depend on each other, keep each other warm, and become the only harbor in each other's lives. They leave early in the morning and come home late, their husbands sing and their wives accompany them, sticking to the most primitive intimacy between people and the land; their smiles and glances at each other's eyes are enough to explain all the love that has been washed away in the world. The film pays tribute to the survival and love of the "silent majority" with the tone of silence, subtlety and restraint. The theme of "Life Events" is life and death and family love. The protagonist of the film, Mo Sanmei, has a female name, but is a male undertaker. During a funeral work, he met Xiaowen, the granddaughter of the deceased. As a result, Xiaowen became a light for Mo Sanmei to regain herself and forgive the world. The film pays tribute to the human family with the relationship between Mo Sanmei and Xiaowen, Mo Sanmei and her father, and explains the meaning of life with the gorgeous fireworks that illuminated the dark night sky when her father died. Many realistic movies discuss the simplest life themes. For example, the theme of "The First Parting" is growth and parting. Through the three times of the little protagonist Isa and her brother, mother and little friend Kelly in the process of growing up Parting, the film tries to tell the audience that people's life consists of partings again and again. People grow up gradually during parting, know themselves, and find the direction of life.
These reality-themed films are using narrative methods and audio-visual aesthetics similar to the flow of life to interpret the theme of the story more profoundly.
The vivid shaping of ordinary people
Whether the image of ordinary people in daily life can be shaped well is the most test of the skill of art workers. Because ordinary people don't have earth-shattering feats to design major dramas, nor thrilling fights to lay out big scenes, they often live in plain, step-by-step life in the long years and trivial life. The recent reality-themed films do not try to give the protagonists the aura of a lofty protagonist. They do not have a perfect life course, and their characters are more or less imperfect, but because of this, they reveal their rich and complex human nature. , constitutes the appearance of all living beings. Those little people who are successfully shaped can sometimes move the audience more, because they are the "this one" who lives around us and is full of life texture.

"Life events" stills

The hero and heroine in "Hidden in the Dust", one is an old bachelor who is unsmiling and honest, and the other is an old girl with hidden illnesses and faltering steps. But the hard life did not make them lose their conscience, nor did the ruthlessness of fate make them give up on themselves. They have the roots of life deep in the soil, and they are the quiet and stubborn watchmen in the wheat fields. Mo Sanmei in "Life Events" seems to be born out of tune with the world. Prison, betrayal by his girlfriend, discord between his father and son, and his professional status as a funeral director, made him always feel a sense of loss and frustration. His indifference to death, like his professional movements at work and his formalized words at funerals, loses its emotional colour. The orphan Xiaowen lost the only loved one in the world who loves her, her grandmother. She used her stubbornness and rebelliousness to defend against the outside world. Her hair like Nezha and the red ying gun in her hand are her weapons for self-protection. Mo Sanmei and Xiaowen are the mutual reflection and metaphor of the two stages of life. They went from disgusting each other to warming each other, from living towards death to living towards the sun, and finally reached a reconciliation with life. In recent years, there have been many unforgettable characters in reality-themed films. For example, Gu Bai in "Red Flowers and Green Leaves" is taciturn and down-to-earth, while Axiyan is beautiful and cheerful. They all adhere to the simple life creed in the countryside. The two people who entered the marriage through blind date were alienated and unfamiliar at first, and each had secrets that they did not want to tell. In their married life, they test each other, forgive each other, gradually open their hearts, and become a loving couple. The film does not use a wide-open performance method to shape the characters, but strives to present a fresh and natural state of life, so that the characters are real and credible, and the audience is moved.
In these films, no matter what kind of growth experience the protagonist has or how many life changes he encounters, he never gives up hope for life, but uses simple survival wisdom and tenacious attitude to life to prove the greatness of human nature in the ordinary. That's what many characters in the film have in common, and it's what moves audiences to tears and awe.
Vivid capture of story details
Details are the finishing touch of literary and artistic works, and the success of details is an important indicator of the success of realistic film and television works. The details point out the theme of the story and give the characters charm, often inadvertently poking people's hearts. It embodies the creator's meticulous observation of life, insight into the subtle and profound aspects of human nature, and the use of audio-visual symbols that are simple and aesthetically philosophical.
There are many details in "Hidden in the Dust". Next to the straw stack, Ma Youtie used wheat grains to create a small flower on the back of Guiying's hand, while Guiying used wheat straw to weave a little donkey for Ma Youtie. Wheat grains and straws are gifts from the mother earth, and they are the support and hope of Ma Youtie and Guiying. They use the grains they regarded as treasures to declare their feelings for each other, making this rough story more poetic and romantic. Another example is Ma Youtie and Guiying hatching chicks with cardboard boxes and electric lights with many round holes. The two sat around the homemade incubator, poking their heads and awaiting the arrival of new life. The flickering light scatters into the earthen kiln through the small holes in the cardboard box, as if the time of carving is smudged on the mottled wall, witnessing that in a remote place, two ordinary people who depend on each other once worked hard in this world. alive. Many details in "Events in Life" also smeared the warmth of realism. For example, Xiaowen inadvertently painted the urns of deceased children full of beautiful fairy-tale pictures, which is her young heart's hope for a better life. Later, she painted the scene of her life in Mo Sanmei's shroud shop "Going to Heaven" in her kindergarten painting assignments. These two paintings are just the embodiment of her inner world, conveying her yearning for home and longing for a sense of security.
In short, only by focusing on the fireworks in the market, ordinary life, looking for good stories in the neighborhoods, alleys and fields, discovering the bright spots in quiet corners, and comprehending the pain and joy of ordinary people, can the creation of realistic movies be full of sincerity in the works. Drum and shout for thousands of ordinary people, truly practice the people-centered creative concept, and let the audience reap meaningful and meaningful moving.
(The author is a professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Drama, Film and Television, Communication University of China. Originally published in the seventh edition of "People's Daily Overseas Edition" on July 29, 2022. The original title is: Discover the shining points in the fireworks in the market and pay tribute to ordinary life with movies )