Film Name: 一点就到家 / Coffee or Tea?
A week late, went to see was hailed by many people as “National Day stall dark horse” Coffee or Tea, now its box office has more than 170 million yuan, for the actual amount of the film is not large, can have such a word of mouth and box office results is very good.
However, accompanied by many voices of praise, the film has also received a lot of criticism …… good reviews and bad reviews I have read some, and found that the former focuses on the film’s vivid expressiveness, close to the emotions of life, and reflecting the wishes shared by many young people, while the latter is more valued for its lack of authenticity, the brushstrokes are not deep enough, and the smug “awkwardly blown”.
Figuring out your attitude towards this movie is actually quite simple, you just need to ask yourself: can a fairy tale with a glorified filter impress yourself?
[Friendly reminder: there will be spoilers below].
Xu Hongyu is an editor by trade, a technical director who “cuts but directs” – not to mention that Coffee or Tea is quite comfortable in terms of its pacing and presentation.
The director gives full play to his expertise in editing, both in terms of camera switching and content presentation, revealing a vibrant and light texture, with the fast pace of the city and the naturalness of the countryside quickly grabbing the audience’s attention.
Even the dark and negative scenes, such as Wei Jinbei’s failed business venture and his preparation to jump off a building, and the sharp decline in rural earnings, don’t seem too heavy in reality.
The movie does not simply play with the concept of “returning to the countryside”, but really sets the stage in a rural area that lacks modernization. The most notable point is the bright and colorful high saturation images, with blue skies, white clouds, green mountains and rivers, green forests, yellow land, red coffee beans… …
This cozy and intimate visual feast not only showcases the beauty of the mountain village, but also adds a trifle of out-of-this-world, glossy gravitas to Coffee or Tea’s storytelling theme.
-Yes, the film’s storyline mirrors its sensual stylistic tone, which is full of glossy romanticism, and that’s where it’s most controversial.
Coffee or Tea” three protagonists do have the remarkable characteristics of contemporary young people: Wei Jinbei outstanding ability and willingness to use their brains, bent on entrepreneurial success, but unfortunately repeatedly defeated; Peng Xiubing full of passion and dare to die, with a simple dream of express delivery, but can not see the thorns of the road ahead; Li Shaoqun secluded in the mountains and wild drunken planting, seems to be the transcendent, but in fact, is to escape from the reality of the lonely and self-appreciation.
Each of the three characters has a very contemporary persona, but together they tell a story of entrepreneurship in the air – anyone with a little social experience should realize that real-life entrepreneurship is never that simple and beautiful, and only on the premise of acknowledging this can we talk about other things.
Personally, I don’t dislike idealized stories that are carefully crafted, and the unique relationship between the three main characters has some truth to it (excluding a few funny scenes, it’s not exactly “sappy”).
In addition, Coffee or Tea presents a number of conflicts, the most touching of which is the conflict and reconciliation between Li Shaoqun and his father. Starting from “the father thinks his son is dead, and his son doesn’t show up at the back of the mountain”, the conflict between father and son unites the intergenerational contradiction between parents and children, and the cognitive contradiction between tradition and modernity, etc. To put it bluntly, tea and coffee are the most popular beverages, and neither one of them is more noble than the other; however, the conflict between the father and the son is never as simple as “Coffee or Tea”. Coffee or tea” so simple.
Li Shaoqun longer coffee, the more you can appreciate the father’s mood, especially after the partnership, more understand the father when the village head is not easy, the father saw his son led the townspeople to grow coffee to earn money, after the success, but also put down his face to taste his son’s craft is what taste – at this point, tolerance and coexistence, in fact, it is also “Coffee and tea” is as simple as that.
We do not have to doubt the positive and good intentions contained in the movie, the only thing left is whether you are willing to accept this “fairy tale”.
Similar to the “programmed” stories of a prince marrying a princess, or a brave man defeating an evil dragon, “Coffee or Tea” also has a simple and inspirational kernel: through hard work, ingenuity, perseverance, and ambition, one can become rich/successful.
Although the word “failure” is on the lips of the movie from beginning to end, the audience does not really feel the cost and meaning of failure (the advantages are the disadvantages), Wei Jinbei’s despair of nearly jumping off the building is dissolved by the contrast of signing for the courier, and Peng Xiubing lost all his hard-earned savings over the past ten years, but also could not see much negative emotion. ……
Even the biggest crisis in the movie – Wei Jinbei’s breakup with the other two due to philosophical differences – actually feels like child’s play after a fight and anger.
For this reason alone, Wei Jinbei, Peng Xiubing and Li Shaoqun are not even close to the “Three English Teachers”.
Coffee or Tea” producer Hershey Chen also directed a movie about entrepreneurship, ‘American Dreams in China’, although it also has the same ‘dream-like’ glory, but for the grasp of the characteristics of the times, the hardships and twists and turns of the entrepreneurial road, the love and hate between friends and partners, the treatment is much more realistic and old-fashioned. Chen Kexin’s handling is much more realistic and sophisticated.
Xu Hongyu pays tribute to his predecessor with the famous line “Don’t start a company with your best friend”, which is also a self-aware self-deprecation.
Whether it’s chicken soup or not, Coffee or Tea may not be as good a storyteller as Mr. Ma.
Back then, in the social environment of “mass entrepreneurship, mass innovation”, Mr. Ma used the phrase “dream or have, in case of realization? Tugged at the heartstrings of countless people, graduated from the business, resigned from the business of young people abound, e-commerce, logistics, new concepts of products and so on and so forth, everyone is dreaming of sitting on the wind or even create a wind …… The result is that in the past two years, the number of people who took the civil service examination and a significant rebound.
The real key to determining “success” is luck, ability, brain, character and other things are just additional conditions.
However, in a movie full of box horse fresh, rural Taobao, Juhua, Alipay and other elements of “Ali”, but also in the telling of a story of entrepreneurship that even Mr. Ma is no longer talking about, I have to say that it is very strange …….
That’s the biggest reason for disliking Coffee or Tea: most people don’t believe in this kind of inspirational chicken soup anymore.
Of course, “authenticity” should never be the only criterion for evaluating a movie, and at the same time, we shouldn’t say that those who use it as a criterion are cheap – Coffee or Tea is just a simple and beautiful fairy tale, and if you appreciate it, it’s an ideal picture. If you appreciate it, it’s an ideal picture, if not, please laugh it off.
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