Note: This article contains serious spoilers
The movie "Brilliant Her" released this weekend is a remake of the Korean movie "Grandma Ji Chun" which was rated 8.5 on Douban. Although many times I always think it might not be good when I hear it is a remake, but after watching the movie, it is really not good.
"Brilliant She" poster
It’s not good, it’s not that this movie is a “bad movie”, it’s just that with such a good original foundation, the adaptation has become mediocre and even a nondescript hodgepodge movie, which is somewhat regrettable.
"Brilliant Her" tells the story of a grandmother played by Hui Yinghong who accidentally reunited with her "granddaughter" played by Liu Haocun after twelve years of separation. The two went from being estranged to clinging to each other. During the time they got along, their secrets were gradually revealed. A heart-warming story about suffering and frustrated women who redeem each other amidst a strange combination of circumstances.
Stills of "Brilliant She"
The main line of the story is basically the same as that of South Korea, and many of the sections are highly similar, such as the eel in the canteen at the beginning changing to colored crayons, the lipstick painting that made the art teacher discover the girl's talent for painting, and the "confession" painting walking towards the light on the seabed. The confession on the tape in the recorder and the scene where the grandmother calls out the name of another granddaughter before she dies.
At the same time, it can also be seen that the creators are trying to add more local elements and even characteristics of the times. For example, the heroine's "crime" was to sell fake weight loss pills through a live broadcast on the Internet, and through the twists and turns of interpersonal relationships with fellow villagers, Overcoming the parent group solves the conflicts faced by the heroine in schooling due to "reputation" issues.
Not to mention the superficial and meaningless localization adaptations that are not clever, the introduction of a very contemporary way of selling goods through online live streaming emphasizes the advancement of science and technology of the times, the contradictions in the school, and changing the art competition in the city to the college entrance examination. The Academy of Fine Arts has made preparations, and these settings, which require rigorous procedures, make it difficult to maintain the legitimacy of the "mistaken parent" incident in today's society.
The bigger changes occur in the psychological motivations of the characters, and are almost related to the rewriting of the underlying logic of the characters' hearts. This part of the adaptation can be called a failure.
Huizhi in "Grandma Jichun" is self-consistent as a bad girl. Her character growth line started from the time when she committed a crime in "Fairy Jump" and needed to hide from the limelight, when she saw a missing person notice with the same name as her coming to her door. Then, with the warmth and encouragement of her grandma, she felt the "light" of care again, and then The heart gradually gains the strength to break away from the darkness.
"Grandma Jichun" poster
In the domestic version, the granddaughter Jiayi, played by Liu Haocun, accidentally hid in a refrigerated truck and was passively taken to her grandmother. Not only was there no subjective intention to deceive, Jiayi even took the initiative to take her grandma's hair to complete the paternity test to expose the lie.
Just as concealed as this initiative is the "evil" side of the girl. Liu Haocun originally had the opportunity to present some more complex performance levels and human aspects in this film. A man who has not been treated well since childhood was defrauded by his father by changing his identity. After being kicked out of the house, he had to do various illegal activities to help him pay back his debts. The unfortunate girl with gambling debts should have a more complex side regardless of her experience and background.
Stills of "Brilliant She"
Just like in the original version, stealing, defrauding, and then meeting up with a few bad friends to escape into exile are all true rebellion, and even an active evil. In "Brilliant Her", Liu Haocun is still a "little white flower" who emerges from the mud and remains unstained. His early mistakes were all due to being controlled by violent gangsters. The familiar "Fairy Jump" in the original version is not suitable. , in the adapted version, even though she was forced to wear sexy lingerie for a live broadcast, she had to fight to the death. The director emphasized the heroine's "forced helplessness" time and time again through scenes such as violent beatings, threats of nude photos, etc., including her subsequent behavior in school of "pulling her sister away from me" and facing the art teacher "only seeing shadows but not seeing anything". The blame of "light", the silky smoothness of tears in three seconds at a forty-five-degree elevation angle, are all the paleness of literature full of youthful pain. This is a story about light and shadow. The dark background must be dark enough so that the ray of light that shines through is particularly timely and moving.
Stills of "Brilliant She"
The changes on grandma's side are also fundamental. An important twist in the original version is that the grandma has long discovered that her granddaughter is an impostor - when she was a child, Huizhi and her grandma once had a conversation about "Is the sky wider, or the sea?" The tacit understanding between grandparents and grandchildren has always been that "the sea is wider than the sky." When grandma asked Eun-joo the same question after they reunited, Eun-joo answered almost instinctively that the sky is wider. But grandma did not reveal it, and continued to encourage and warm Enzhu, telling her: "No matter how hard life is, as long as you have a steadfast partner, that's life... I am willing to be your partner."
Therefore, for grandma, she is no longer obsessed with finding her granddaughter, and has long since given her love to another strange and helpless child. This is in line with what she said in the tear-jerking farewell at the end, " Thank you for allowing me to meet you at the end of my lonely life." This is a two-way redemption of two unfortunate souls.
"Grandma Jichun" stills
However, "Brilliant She" abandoned this setting. Grandma always believed that the returning Jiayi was her real granddaughter. All the love she had before was motivated by the true affection between ancestors and grandchildren, and was a kind of "succumbing". Love. The meaningful line of "firm partner" in the original work can only become the mediocre sensationalism of "grandma will accompany you for a thousand years".
Stills of "Brilliant She"
By the way, the sloppy adaptation of the character of Grandma also lies in the abandonment of the portrayal of her identity as a "Haenyeo". In the original work, because of such a specific identity, the difficulties and hardships she experienced after "losing her orphanhood" can be transformed into a more specific quality of life.
Because grandma is a haenyeo, in the painting "Confession", the heroine imagined going into the water with her grandma, and being pulled by her grandma to swim with her little sisters when they were young at the bottom of the sea towards the bright scene. This painting has a sublimation of the theme. The meaning is also related to the secret of "sea and sky" at the core of the whole play. In "Brilliant Her", since there is no plot related to the meaning of the painting, it still presents the same picture content. This tear point is a bit untenable for both the characters in the film and the audience watching the movie.
Let’s talk about the language of the film. The rhythm of the original Korean version is a warm narration, and the solid details of life exude compassion for the difficult circumstances of life. Family relationships are common, and there is also the cruelty of the impermanence of the world. There are three things in the plot. The twists and turns happened naturally and easily with the plot.
In the domestic version of the adaptation, it is obviously a warm story, but it uses various means to deliberately intensify the dramatic conflicts, coupled with bright camera language and fast-editing close-ups that are not in tune with the tone of the entire story. , paired with a variety of strong emotional music, sometimes giving the audience a sense of fragmentation as if they were watching a crime suspense film.
In "Grandma Jichun", the grandmother is a haenyü
In "Grandma Jichun", there are many rich details surrounding the character of grandma, such as scenes of hard work, having to go to the sea at a young age, the rough feeling of being blown by the sea breeze and exposed to the scorching sun for many years, close-ups of holes in shoes due to poverty, Because of the heartbreaking loss, the panic of watching my granddaughter every moment after she came back, and the helpless and chaotic life after losing her again...
These moving words but not promoting the dramatic plot are replaced in "Brilliant Her" with various criminal actions that are closer to the genre narrative, tense chases, fierce violence, debt collections one after another, and even the grandmother's order to help The scene where the granddaughter takes back the photo and fights the gangster for a drink, from the actor's performance to the use of camera language, has a comedy quality... If it weren't for Hui Yinghong's acting skills to support the character, it would be difficult for the audience to believe in such a relationship and relationship. The situation can be established.
Stills of "Brilliant She"
In addition to the story itself, another major attraction of this movie is, of course, what kind of sparks the old-young pairings like Hui Yinghong and Liu Haocun can bring, and whether the old actors can bring out the acting skills of the "little white flowers". In fact, from a visual point of view, both actors are a bit too beautiful. This kind of beauty makes it a bit difficult for people to enter this painful life.
The director's extremely sensational filming method almost squeezes out the "last drop of tears" from the actors, especially Liu Haocun, who goes from heart-wrenching crying to hazy with tears in his eyes, from standing on the bow of the boat and crying in the wind, to being contemptuous. Wry smiles and tears fall at the drop of a hat. There are many ways to shed tears in various ways, and every crying method can make you cry so beautifully.
Recently, in various promotions, Hui Yinghong has been seen praising Liu Haocun's acting talent. But how can I put it, being able to cry is not the same as acting! Of course, I still feel that the director has a greater responsibility. A director who is a photographer seems to be unable to escape the obsession of making the characters look good, but such a thin look is really not the quality that a movie should have.
Stills of "Brilliant She"
This movie was called "Me Through the Dark" when it was first shot. Obviously this "I" is the perspective of the granddaughter, while "Grandma Jichun" focuses more on the old man. This may explain to a certain extent why the setting of grandma is not as solid as the original.
Of course, the end of the movie still succeeded in making me cry. The scenes of life, old age, illness, death, and separation of love and hate naturally have some kind of tear-jerking code. Coupled with the energy of the actors and the music working together, it is difficult for people to bear it. If there is no comparison with the original work, it may be considered a passable work with twists and turns and touching people. However, such an adaptation is really unsatisfactory.
