Film Name: 受益人 / My Dear Liar
My Dear Liar is a film that, at best, is a small- to medium-cost comedy/romance made by a new director, and at worst, it’s a poor seller, starring Roc and Liuyan, and produced by Ning Hao, which isn’t small.
In 2016, Ning Hao’s Bad Monkey Pictures launched the “Bad Monkey 72 Changes Film Project”, which aims to discover new forces in film and provide help and a platform for aspiring young filmmakers, the most famous of whom is Wen Muye, who brought Dying to Survive to the film last year – the first instalment of the project. -The most famous of them is Wen Muye, who presented “Dying to Survive” last year, and Shen Ao, who is also the first new director to sign up for the programme, has presented “My Dear Liar” to the audience.
To be fair, My Dear Liar is not a very good film, with obvious shortcomings and problems, but after watching it, I’m still willing to give it a good review. The film (to a limited extent) has a good level of completion and maturity, and its perspective and content are grounded enough, and it also contributes a character, Yue Miaomiao, that I was very satisfied with.
It’s encouraging to see such a performance; after all, not everyone can take big steps when they’re just starting out, and being able to keep your feet on the ground is the way to go.
[Friendly reminder: there will be spoilers below].
The first thing to understand about the plot of My Dear Liar is that there are basically no surprises.
The first scene of the film is a dialogue between “Dahai” Wu Hai and “Dumbo” Zhong Zhenjiang, in which Zhong Zhenjiang encourages Wu Hai, who wants to exchange his house for a cure for his 6-year-old son, in order to fill the hole of embezzled public funds. The two of them worked together to set up a “killing wife to cheat insurance” bureau.
Even if you don’t read the synopsis before watching the film, just by seeing the beginning of this, a slightly more experienced audience will be able to guess the direction of the whole story and the end of the seven or eight, and the actual situation is indeed the same …….
A hand planned the entire scam Zhong Zhenjiang fancy network anchor “little fox fairy” (real name Yue Miaomiao), smashed the heavy gold, play the trick to let Wu Hai and her acquaintance, until married, the purpose is to let Yue Miaomiao can sign the insurance policy, so that she “accidental death The purpose is to let Yue Miaomiao sign the insurance policy, so that she can “accidentally die”, so that Wu Hai get a huge amount of insurance money.
The development of the plot as the audience thought, the conscience of Wu Hai, in all the way stumbling, gradually and Yue Miaomiao produced true feelings, tragedy did not happen, the bad guys were retribution, a happy ending for all.
Although the killing of his wife to cheat insurance has a prototype in reality, the film is more like a farce with many loopholes: Zhong Zhenjiang even coaxed and tricked Wu Hai, who was “difficult to become a great man”, to participate in the murder to cheat the insurance scheme; the target is a small netizen with a lot of attention; the killing method is too uncertain; and Zhong Zhenjiang borrowed Wu Hai’s car and installed a very good car recorder. The murder method is too uncertain; and Zhong Zhenjiang borrowed Wu Hai’s car and installed a very good car recorder …… That is to say, there is a bit of “black humour” in the skin of My Dear Liar, not only the “starting point”, but also the “starting point” of the film. My Dear Liar” has a little “black humour” skin, not only the “starting point” is very low, the “ceiling” is also not high, the story has no accidents, the deception lack of logic, even if the rest of the film is good, it is destined to become a popular film. Therefore, I understand that many viewers did not like the film.
However, if you watch My Dear Liar with such a benchmark in mind, you will find that the rest of the film is not bad at all. For example, the small ambiguities such as the car owner who is bumped into by a car and the policeman who is given a candy delivery are all very useful details.
The film is set in the “mountain city” of Chongqing – “a thousand cities are alike, but only Chongqing is different”, from “Crazy Stone” and “Chongqing Hot Pot” in previous years to “Vortex” and “Better Days” recently, the fusion of modern and historical, real and unreal streets and alleys of Chongqing often adds a bit of “magic” to the story. Pot”, to the recent “Vortex”, “Better Days”, a blend of modern and historical, real and unreal Chongqing streets and alleys, often for the story to add a point of “magic” fireworks, this time “My Dear Liar” is also the same through the background lens, borrowing the This time, “My Dear Liar” also uses the “impression of Chongqing” through the background camera to tell this vague but practical story.
At the same time, I have a strong affinity for dialect films, and even though the Chongqing dialect in this film is not the most authentic, it still won me over, especially when Yue Miaomiao pops up with a few comedic lines in Hunan and Cantonese, which is very appealing to me.
A film as uncomplicated as this is a test of its actors, and it’s the solid performances of the leads that make My Dear Liar so gratifying.
The small actor who plays Wu is very spiritual, and among the main actors, Da Peng’s performance is not a success, intentionally “playing ugly”, but also interpreted Wu Hai’s kind of embarrassing and helpless image of the ordinary people.
In contrast, Zhang Zixian, who plays Zhong Zhenjiang, is much more eye-catching, shrewd, cunning, cold-blooded, treacherous and loyal, every time he appears in the film, he more or less reveals the taste of scum, and in the lack of a “big villain” in My Dear Liar, he contributes the most to the film’s dramatic thrust.
The most satisfying and surprising character in the film was Liu Yan’s Yue Miao Miao, who convinced me from the very first second she appeared in the film.
The “object of the hunt” is a crucial part of the “My Dear Liar” scam, as Zhong Zhenjiang, with the same prejudices as the general public, falls in love with “Little Fox Fairy”, a popular webcam anchor, because of her vulgarity, pomposity and vanity, which, at first glance, seems to be the most important thing in the scam. At first glance, this is true.
When Yue Miao Miao first showed up at the restaurant, she seemed to have a bit of temperament, but as soon as she opened her mouth and ordered a meal, she was immediately revealed: a mouthful of half-baked, whiny Mandarin, mixed with dialect, accompanied by a torrent of unsupportive mouthfuls, ordering all the expensive food, and then chasing down the street to yell at the “scum” after being stood up by Wu Hai. –She is to rub the “big money fans” meal little slut hoof, “sultry bitch” this word is tailor-made for her.
Liu Yan’s costume in the film doesn’t go in the direction of “pretty” (at least not in the way that Liu Yan’s features are presented), but rather in the vulgar style of heavy make-up, which pinpoints Yue Miaomiao’s actual “true colours” to a tee.
This style is more obvious when Yue Miao Miao live, the background colour is big red and green, wigs, dress is blue, pink and other bright colours, from the inside out are permeated with “bright blind” taste of vulgarity.
In today’s network anchor blossoming era, we must not be unfamiliar with such a “net red” image: moved a couple of cuts, a little bit of small posture, no big culture, live talk playful, do small games, play the ball, willing to throw thousands of dollars for their own gold father must be well served! ……
If you add the other side of her life, Yue Miaomiao’s image is more real and believable: from the countryside, parents do not help much and often “drag the hind legs”, Fu Di magic, no higher education, go out to work to travel around the world, lack of planning and regularity, make money to send home, but their own share is always hidden, buy this and buy that! “Armed” themselves, no matter how much money they earn are still poor ……
Yue Miaomiao like women, in our land is everywhere, if you have never met such a girl, it can only mean that your experience is too little or “life level” a little higher.
However, Yue Miaomiao’s flamboyant image is only her “mask” in front of people, the real her, low self-esteem, weak, sensitive, suspicious – “can’t have a child” physical defects, more The physical defect of “not being able to have children” is even a “death sentence” for her life on her level, which is why she will intensify her self-talk and do whatever she wants, because she believes that “she can only be like this all her life”.
To some extent, Zhong Zhenjiang Yue Miaomiao’s judgement is correct: such a chest without brain vulgar powder, her love is certainly also cheap, as long as you can afford to spend money, good to her, you can immediately marry her to hand, playing a trick …… and Yue Miaomiao in the discovery of part of the lies of the Wu Hai, but also really forgave him, because she couldn’t let go of this! The first time I saw the “husband” was when I was a young man.
But in the end, Zhong Zhenjiang is still deceived by Yue Miaomiao’s mask: she does hate the poor and love the rich, but she loves her husband who is willing to marry her; she is really short-sighted, but she can’t see the darkness beyond her eyes; what’s worse, she is actually a good swimmer who says she doesn’t know how to use the water…. …
Yue Miaomiao’s last live broadcast for her husband was the highlight of My Dear Liar – she wiped off her make-up, didn’t put on any powder, and said goodbye to her fans with her true self, restrained but full, real and sincere, especially the line “I’m already 38 years old! Especially the phrase “I’m already 38 years old”, combined with the hard reality that Liu Yan is also 39 years old, can be said to be “human drama” type of wonderful!
Of course, even the most colourful characters in the film can’t be said to be perfect, after all, Yue Miaomiao, Zhong Zhenjiang and other characters still have too many traces of facial features, and the prominence of their images is, to a certain extent, sacrificed to the sense of reasonableness and hierarchy in exchange.
Even so, I have to give credit to My Dear Liar because the film’s focus is always on the common people, the masses, who are struggling to make ends meet, and yet are always happy and content.
Wu Hai and Yue Miaomiao, like countless other people in our lives, dress the most beautifully on their wedding day.
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