One thing that makes Cheng Yuan very different from the fifth generation is that he does not criticize reality in his movies.

Even when filming a theme film like "The Martian", the angle chosen is the protagonist's personal optimism and persistence, and the aerospace industry of a major country is secondary.

Cheng Yuan is obsessed with exploring deep personal feelings and emotional changes. His perspective is often very small and does not rise to social reality.

"Hunting" first reflects the impact of the environment on the individual, but it is also controlled by Cheng Yuan within a very small range around the protagonist.

When "Hunting" first came out, academic circles thought that Cheng Yu'an would also take the path of criticizing reality, but "Old Father" returned to the rhythm that Cheng Yu'an is most familiar with.

Before the screening, Cheng Yu'an said as usual his starting point for making this film. He was touched by the aging of his two grandfathers and wanted to make a film documenting the lives of the elderly.

"It's a gift for the elderly in the world." Cheng Yu'an also raised a big flag.

Several main actors also shared their feelings about the filming. Tong Liya said: "I have acted in fewer movies. I am very grateful to Director Cheng for giving me such an opportunity."

After the brief pre-screening sharing, the host announced: "Thank you to the director and starring actors for sharing. The film will be screened soon. Please watch it quietly. Thank you."

Cheng Yuan added a lot of narrative techniques to "Old Father", and even the first third seemed to play with the audience.

The reason why the film has not been renamed "Father Trapped in Time" is to keep the plot mysterious.

The film is shot from a rare first-person perspective. From the second the opening music sounds, the audience is drawn into the perspective of the male protagonist Zhang Zhiqiang.

If it appeared under the name "Father Trapped in Time", it would destroy the immersive viewing experience brought by the first-person perspective at the beginning.

Therefore, at this time, there was already a slight buzz and discussion in the viewing hall.

The movie-watching experience at the beginning is indeed not very good. The narrative is fragmented and non-linear. The characters’ names overlap so that the audience can’t tell who is who. The spatial layout of the two tones of blue and orange is extremely fragmented, and the audio and video are even out of sync.

.

A very uncomfortable prelude.

But soon, the professional judges and media people on the scene realized that this movie was not shot from the director's perspective or the audience's perspective, but from the male protagonist's first perspective.

Zhang Zhiqiang suffers from Alzheimer's disease. All the awkward narratives and overlapping characters that the audience sees are Zhang Zhiqiang's personal feelings.

In the eyes of Alzheimer's patients, the world is messy and illogical.

This can also explain why the layout of Zhang Zhiqiang's apartment is Western-style rather than Chinese-style.

The division of multiple rooms and the slightly messy interior layout reflect Zhang Zhiqiang's messy and fragmented inner world.

Li An in the front row nodded, this method is quite novel.

At the end of the movie, Zhang Zhiqiang, wearing a white hospital gown, asked the female nurse in the nursing home: "So... what about me? Me... who am I?" Zhang Zhiqiang was seriously at a loss.

"You? You are Zhang Zhiqiang."

"Zhang Zhiqiang? That's a good name."

"Yes, it's a very good name."

"My mother should have given me this name. Haha, do you know her?"

"who?"

"My mother."

"do not know."

"Oh, she is very beautiful, with big eyes, I can still picture her appearance now.

"Well...she used to, I used to hope that she...she could come to see me occasionally. What do you think, my mother, she...you said that she would come here occasionally on weekends."

"That's your daughter." The nurse said with a wry smile. She has seen many elderly people with dementia and is very skilled in dealing with them.

What follows is a freeze-frame shot, looking directly at Zhang Zhiqiang’s face.

"No." Zhang Zhiqiang began to collapse emotionally and began to choke on his words, "It's my mother." After saying this, Zhang Zhiqiang burst into tears, "I miss my mother, I want my mother, I want to leave here." Zhang Zhiqiang clenched his fists and cried.

Have to be like a child.

"Is...someone coming to pick me up?"

"Don't be like this, you..." The nursing home nurse off-screen tried to comfort him.

But Zhang Zhiqiang's psychology has collapsed: "I want my mother, I want her to come pick me up, I... I want to go home."

"What's wrong with you, Zhiqiang?" The nurse began to call him like a child. Zhang Zhiqiang actually raised his head and glanced at the nurse opposite, but still didn't believe her and just continued to cry: "I feel... I feel that all my leaves are gone."

It’s all going to fall off.”

"Your leaves?" The nurse never entered the picture, and her voice was always opposite Zhang Zhiqiang.

"Um."

"Your leaves? What do you want to say?"

"Those branches, those violent storms, I...I don't know what happened, do you know what happened?

"What happened in that house, I...I no longer have a place to live. But I know that the watch is still in my hand. I still know this, and it will accompany me through this journey."

The camera then showed the nurse sitting opposite, her face full of love.

And Zhang Zhiqiang's voice came from outside the screen: "Without it, I don't know what I would..."

The nurse stretched out her hand and the camera panned down. Zhang Zhiqiang also shook hands with her, but he did not have his cherished watch in his hand.

It means that after he forgot (lost) himself, he also lost time.

The nurse held his hand and sat beside the bed.

"I don't know if I will... take... to..." Zhang Zhiqiang tilted his head on the nurse's shoulder. He did not finish his words, but just leaned on the nurse's shoulder, like a child leaning on its mother, coughing and crying.

With.

The nurse said: "Shall we change our clothes first?"

"Yeah." Zhang Zhiqiang agreed like a child.

"Let's change clothes and go for a walk in the park, okay?"

"Okay." Zhang Zhiqiang still lowered his head.

"Okay, let's go see those trees and those leaves, and then we'll come back and have something to eat."

"Um."

"How about taking a nap then?"

"good."

"If you feel better, let's go to the park again, just the two of us."

"good."

"The weather is really nice today, the sun is shining outside, we should take advantage of the nice weather to go out for a walk."

"right."

"Good weather like this is rare."

"yes."

"Then...let's change clothes, okay?"

"don't want."

"Okay, be good."

"No."

"Okay, baby. It's okay, okay. Relax, relax. You'll be fine soon, I promise you, everything will be fine."

The two of them were speechless at this point, and the camera slowly panned to the window, where the sun was shining brightly and the trees were shady.

The movie ends.

The audience was silent for five seconds, and then burst into warm applause and cheers.

"Jiao Huang gave the most perfect acting skills this year in that one-minute freeze-frame shot." Li An also stood up and applauded after watching the movie, and said to his colleagues around him.

European audiences are indeed more receptive to art films than other regions, and films like "Old Father" have been warmly welcomed by them.

Nicole Kidman said to Li An: "This year the biggest favorites for the Palme d'Or and Best Actor have appeared."

Li An nodded, agreeing with her point of view: "It's hard to imagine that he only celebrated his 31st birthday last month."

Nicole shrugged: "God is so unfair sometimes."

Cheng Yu'an took several of the main creators to the stage and bowed to express his thanks.

At the end of the show, except for the judges who could not comment on the film, all the guests present expressed high praise for the film.
Chapter completed!