A movie about changing faces.

After entering the 1990s, although Shaw Company did not make great achievements in film production, some films it invested in after becoming an investor were still quite standard.

In 1930s, because of the corrupt rule of the government of the Republic of China, the whole country was in poverty, and the story of FACE/OFF happened in such an era. An old artist with a unique skill of changing face, the King of Changing Face, lives alone in a small boat, wandering on both sides of the Sichuan River and earning a living by performing arts. Because he lost his son in his early years and no one passed on his stunts, the face-changing king felt that he was in his later years and decided to buy a boy as his grandson to inherit the incense. What the child bought was just a girl who mixed men's clothes with women's clothes. As a result, the girl and the face-changing king became apprentices. The good times didn't last long. The girl dog accidentally burned the boat and dared not see the face-changing king again. She was taken away by traffickers again in the wandering. At the trafficker, Gowa met a boy who was also captured by the trafficker. Gao Wa is the master of the local garrison commander Wen Jia, and unwitting Gao Wa escaped with a gift and sent it to the boat of the Change King as a grandson. The face-changing king was taken away as a trafficker, beaten into a confession and sentenced to death. The dog begged the male Danhuo Guanyin, who had appreciated the unique stunt of the face-changing king, for help, and finally moved Mr. Wen to mediate. The face-changing king was rescued, and finally he passed on his unique skills to the dog baby and inherited the mantle.

This film shows the hard life of an old artist of Sichuan Opera. The face-changing king is a typical conservative. It's a pity that China's ancient concept of passing on his stunts from generation to generation has led to the loss of countless folk stunts, and the face-changing king is also a person who sticks to this concept. Because of this conservative concept, it also determines the hard life that the face-changing king is doomed to in this era. The face-changing king is full of pride and pride in his bones, but in this era, he is like a tiger in Pingyang and can only become a street performer. Even with stunts, it is difficult to get rid of the poverty of life and can only feel the fate alone.

Living Guanyin is the representative of another artist's image in this era, and it seems to be entrusted by the public psychology. It is a model that can fully integrate into the tide of society, and the face-changing king is another model that is excluded from the mainstream of society, that is, the so-called sensible person. The face-changing king refused the invitation of the living Guanyin because he refused to give up his idea. Of course, he is the representative of the ignorant. The living Guanyin is the most big noble that the face-changing king met in his later years. In this era of moral decay shown in the film, it is indeed the greatest blessing for the face-changing king to meet such a kind person as Live Guanyin, and finally being saved by the dog baby is also an affirmation of good people.

Dog dolls are a portrayal of society's preference for boys over girls, and the people are miserable. At that time, a baby girl could be bought for only two dollars, and the child was already a burden in the eyes of parents. It is the dog's helplessness to pretend to be a boy and cheat the buyer. After being sold for seven times, she experienced a life worse than animals that modern people can't imagine. What condenses on her is also a profound hatred for the old society. In order to repay the kindness of the face-changing king to take him in, Dao Wei brought a gift from God to the face-changing king. It is also to repay the face-changing king and reproduce the scene of Guanyin giving his life to save his father from becoming a Buddha. No matter how the face-changing king treated her, in Dogway's heart, he still saved his grandfather who had a stable life. She doesn't know any ancient books. She imitates the story of Guanyin just because she saw the performance of the living Guanyin, but she knows what kindness is. To tell the truth, buying such a child, in addition to embodying the truth of growing melons, is indeed a blessing for the face-changing king.

The shooting technique of the film is exquisite, and the emotional treatment of the characters is accurate. For the background of the times, there is not much deliberate performance in the camera, but by telling the bumpy experience of a face-changing king, this war-torn era is shown. The face-changing king was beaten to confess and accused of kidnapping all children, which is a reflection of the darkness of the government in society. Mr. Wen came forward to rescue the changing king, which was a reflection that the military strength was greater than the local government in that social period. What causes this situation is the ugliness of the times, which is exactly what the film wants to reveal. The indifference of the world is not as good as a monkey around the face-changing king. The music of the film is mainly folk music, which contains a touch of sadness to express this sad era.

This film, named FACE/OFF, is not only based on the stunt of the face-changing king, but also used to show the changes of people's attitudes in reality, including several changes of the face-changing king's attitude towards dog dolls. These changes are all from the ugly face of society. The most commendable lines in the film are full of artistic conception of China's classical literature. All kinds of witticisms and jargon come from the mouth of the face-changing king, a low-level figure in society. In addition to showing his rich social experience, they are more used to compare with those who are not proficient in arts and sciences and hold political power and military power, reflecting the shallowness of the social power.

Even if the face-changing king finally got the successor he needed, he still didn't get rid of the lifestyle of wandering on the Chuanjiang River. Even if he is happy with his family, in this turbulent year, any tragedy may still befall them again. Nevertheless, they still live a strong life, with their own way and their own happiness.

Compared with the aristocratic life of debauchery, the hardships of the bottom people seem to be more favored by directors in the 1980 s and 1990 s. After all, many of them have experienced it. Seeing these hardships, we can cherish our present life more.

Film material:

Director: Wu

Year: 1995

Actors: Zhu Xu, Zhou,.

Award-winning status: 1995 China Watch Best Co-production Award.

Tokyo International Film Festival Best Director Award

Postscript: Face-changing/Guan has many nouns and terms, among which face-changing refers to a performance technique in Sichuan Opera, which is now called Sichuan Opera stunt. At present, the most common form of performance is to paste or peel off one face after another with pre-drawn faces, mainly to quickly test skills. Paoge Club, which was joined by the Changing Face King, was a popular folk gang organization in Sichuan during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. Other areas are called the Geriatric Society. During the Republic of China, it was also called the three major non-governmental organizations with green gang and Hong Men. Paoge's members are mainly concentrated at the bottom of society. Obviously, the face-changing king joined the Paoge Club to facilitate his street life. As for other attempts, there should be no. Chuanjiang, where the King of Change Faces lives, refers to the section of the Yangtze River from Yibin, Sichuan to Yichang, Hubei, during which the famous Leshan Giant Buddha appeared. However, this landmark building exists only to illustrate the location of the story. Of course, I envy seeing such a beautiful place every day.

Zhu Xu, an old actor who plays the face-changing king, has a good acting skill, so don't talk about it. Although the face-changing performance is related to film technology, we can also see the efforts made by the actors. Zhou, the little actor who plays the dog doll, should be from acrobatics and have certain attainments in acrobatic jujitsu.

Finally, gossip. This article has nothing to do with John Woo's face/face (Two Heroes) filmed in Hollywood. Don't misunderstand me.