On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Kang Mucheng flew back to Heping City.
He brought some souvenirs for Jian Jing: a woolen shawl, coffee, amethyst, and an extremely gorgeous Skeleton Band toy house, which seemed to be a replica of the scene in "Coco", detailed and colorful, and the expressions of the skeletons were lifelike.
Jian Jing loved the toy house so much that she immediately placed it in her study and posted it on her Moments to show off.
Kang Mucheng: “…”
Children really like dollhouses.
After distributing the gifts, he immediately began the promotion and marketing work for "Rose Gold", remotely controlling the publicity department to work overtime at home every day to finish the plan.
Jian Jing: So crazy.
Then Kang Mucheng said, "I have a mission."
"Is this true?" Jian Jing was confused.
"Just ask the editor to contact me." Kang Mucheng said, "It's a small matter, a few promotional Weibo posts, and an online interview with a magazine."
"… "
"Let's put it off until the eighth day." He even gave her some leniency, "Start on the ninth day."
Jian Jing: Alas.
With the deadline, her vacation was not enough. She only stayed at home for two days before the Spring Festival came to an end and she had to start working.
I contacted the editor and promoted the movie "Rose Gold" in advance. I arranged a text interview. The questions were all reviewed by the editor, so I just had to answer them according to the standard questions.
The highlight is nothing more than asking what people think about the TV series and movie adaptations.
Jian Jing's answer was conservative and conventional.
At this time, the Lunar New Year films have not yet been taken off the shelves. The most popular film has already grossed more than 2 billion yuan, and the worst has grossed more than 100 million yuan.
Well, it’s worthy of the Chinese New Year.
Before the Lunar New Year movie was released, the Valentine's Day movie was already being promoted eagerly.
These two holidays have always been close to each other, sometimes even overlapping, so whether Valentine's Day movies should be scheduled during the Lunar New Year period or on Valentine's Day depends on the circumstances.
We separated this year.
Popular films include: "Rose, Gold and Killer", "Promise of a Lifetime", "The Love of My Heart" and "Reunion After Sixty Years".
Five films, Rose Gold and One Life to Live were adapted from novels.
"A Lifetime, One World" tells the story of a couple. The boyfriend is diagnosed with cancer and insists on breaking up with his girlfriend, but the girlfriend refuses to leave him and marries him in a wedding dress, fulfilling their engagement.
Kang Mucheng commented: "The main force of the Valentine's Day box office is women, but this type of movie is no longer popular now."
Jian Jing deeply agreed with this.
Another period that received more attention was the sixty years.
This is a documentary that tells a true story: in the last century, war spread across the motherland. The heroine separated from her husband right after their wedding and they lost track of each other and haven't seen each other for sixty years.
Sixty years later, she found her lost husband, but he was already married with children and grandchildren. Facing her who had waited for him for sixty years, he was speechless and just said, "I thought he was gone."
It turns out that the collapse of faith only takes a moment.
As she grew gray-haired, she realized that her entire life had been wasted in meaningless waiting, so she decided to live for herself in the last few years of her life.
She was like a kite with a broken string, and began to travel aimlessly by car, going everywhere and looking everywhere.
"I'm afraid he'll come back and not be able to find me." The other person said, "He hasn't left since he came back from escaping."
The director of the documentary used the camera to record the last few years of this person's life, her and the mountains, rivers and sea, her and the past, and her sixty years of fruitless love.
Sincerity is the most touching.
Jian Jing watched the trailer and felt that this movie was a strong rival.
But Kang Mucheng said: "The box office won't be high."
Everyone can interpret love, and every movie on Valentine's Day interprets a certain aspect of love. However, most people who walk into the cinema on that day would rather watch a movie about marrying a boyfriend with cancer than a movie about having a sudden enlightenment sixty years later.
He predicted: "Rose gold has a bright future."
On February 10th, Valentine's Day, "Rose Gold" premiered at 0:00.
Jian Jing was invited to attend the premiere ceremony.
Much like the time when "Hide and Seek", the lobby was filled with invited media, creative staff and related friends.
Everyone was chatting quietly, talking about gossip and news in the circle, and the atmosphere was relaxed.
At 11:59 p.m., the lights dimmed, the surroundings became quiet, and a welcome message appeared on the big screen: "Welcome to the premiere of "Rose, Gold and Killer"."
Then the subtitles flash by and enter the opening credits.
The opening is actually a cartoon, the style is more like a fairy tale book, a bit like The Little Prince. But the tone is gloomy, there are a lot of vertical shadows on the heroine's face, and the tone is depressing.
The heroine's monologue sounded: "When I was twelve years old, my parents died."
The pages of the book turned and a dark figure flashed by.
"A group of people burst into the house and killed them."
The comic form of expression has one advantage: the violent and bloody scenes are not as exciting as real people, so it is easier to pass the review and can add enough details.
On the page, the bodies of the parents lay on the ground, like broken dolls.
"He hid on the air conditioner's outer frame and escaped."
On a bloody night, on the cold outer wall, a little girl huddled up in the shadow of the air conditioner.
Her eyes were like a cat's, cold and gleaming.
"From that day on, I decided to take revenge."
In an instant, the dark cartoon disappeared and connected with the real world. The TV was broadcasting the news about the gold robbers, and the host said: "The police found a strange note on one of them..."
A photo of a note appeared on the screen, showing a string of strange patterns.
This is the rose code that runs through the entire text.
The first twenty minutes is a one-woman show for the girl, who tries to crack the code and find the tens of millions of gold hidden by the robbers, but there are a few clever shots.
For example, when she passed by a bus on the street, she saw half of the killer's profile on the bus window. Another example was when she was looking for rose patterns on the walls of the streets and alleys, and on the windowsill above her head, she saw the killer cleaning the withered flower pots.
In this part of the plot, the girl rarely speaks, and mostly speaks in her inner voice, explaining her reasoning and code.
In other words, all emotions need to be expressed through body language.
The actress who plays the leading female role is only 18 years old. She just got admitted to the drama academy this year, but she has many years of acting experience. Director Mei asked many people to find this candidate.
Her acting skills are not very mature, but her eyes are bright and full of spirit, which is rare. In addition, she herself has suffered misfortunes, and she exudes a silent and tenacious temperament in her bones.
All things considered, it fits the heroine perfectly.
The girl finally found the gold. The moment the dazzling gold appeared on the screen, she curled up the corners of her lips and revealed a sweet smile.
The story reaches a small climax here.
But the next question is, how will she use the money to complete her revenge
The killer appeared.
When the girl found the killer, he was... repairing his computer.
White T-shirt, khaki pants, messy hair, lunch boxes on the table, the computer host was disassembled and the parts were scattered all over the table.
There was confusion in the girl's eyes. Is this a killer, not a otaku
Jiang Baiyan sat next to Jian Jing and whispered in her ear: "In order to shoot this scene, I specially learned how to repair the computer."
Jian Jing: "Ahem."
He was silent.
The girl begged him to avenge her, but the killer refused.
Jiang Baiyan repeated his performance during the audition, his tone calm and gentle, not indifferent or cold, as if he was casually rejecting an invitation to see a movie on the weekend.
There was no reason, no hidden story, no difficulty, it was just a simple rejection.
The girl was stunned for a moment, then continued: "Why? Because I have money."
"I'm not short of money," he said.
The girl appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him: "My father and mother were killed. They had never committed any crime. They just died like this for no reason. I want to avenge them."
He looked up at her curiously and said, "What does it have to do with your heart?"
The girl gritted her teeth and said, "How about you help me?"
He said: "I'm not interested, go back."
The girl returned empty-handed. But she did not give up, and came back the next day, bringing a gold brick.
The killer shook his head.
On the third day, she took the initiative to take care of his dead plants and taught him how to plant potted plants.
He remained indifferent.
On the fourth day, she said nothing, followed him wherever he went, and threatened: "If you don't agree, I won't leave."
The killer doesn't care.
But the girl has her own persistence. Since she decided to take revenge, she has encountered many difficulties. She will never turn back until the end, otherwise this long road of revenge will never reach the end.
"Yes, my heart has encountered difficulties, but my heart can solve it, and my heart must solve it." Late at night, she said this to herself while lying in bed.
On the seventh day, she went to see the killer again and told him clearly: "If your reasons can convince me, I will never pester me again. But you rejected me without any reason at all, and I don't recognize you."
"Why can't you refuse without a reason?" he asked.
"There is no reason to refuse, why not agree?" she asked.
The killer thought for a long time, but couldn't figure out why he didn't want to agree - why? Was he tired? Or was he afraid of death and the price to pay
He was like walking on a foggy street, unable to see where he was coming from or where he was going.
"Okay then," he agreed.
Because, "I want to know why I don't want to agree."
—From this moment on, his soul awakened.
After the movie was screened, many film critics mentioned this plot and commented: "Unlike many plot settings that add challenges to the heroine, here we can clearly see that the key is not the heroine's persistence and perseverance - although it is indeed reflected - but what the director wants to express is the killer's self-awakening.
“Only when people ask about their origins and destinations, can they realize their own value, distinguish their souls from others, and produce their own unique brilliance…”
The killer began to look for answers within himself, but the girl fell into the abyss of revenge.
After locking up her enemy and investigating the whole story of the murder, the girl finally knew why her parents were killed: they were witnesses to a conspiracy.
As the case was unraveled, the truth gradually emerged, and among the many suspects, the mastermind surfaced.
The reasoning in this paragraph is quite standard and there is nothing wrong with it. The chain of evidence is complete and it can be self-consistent. 10 points is not good, but 7 points is still acceptable.
At the same time, the budding love will be much more colorful.
Compared with the restrained text, Director Mei is more unrestrained in this regard. Although there is no confession, the eye contact and the involuntary small movements of both parties all hint at the change of feelings.
On the busy streets, keen and hidden protection.
On a summer evening, we walked together under the shade of the sycamore trees.
Telling stories of the past, the vast and peaceful river.
At a certain moment, I even had the illusion that maybe this was a pure love movie of youth.
However, revenge soon reappeared, shattering the peaceful dream.
The truth is revealed, and the girl hopes to kill her enemy with her own hands to pay back the blood debt with blood.
"Only in this way can I appease my hatred," she said to the killer.
At this moment, the killer suddenly came to his senses. He understood why he refused and had a premonition of his fate.
Once their hands are stained with blood, they can never wash them clean. For the rest of their long lives, they will all carry the weight of life and move forward with difficulty.
Why reject her? Because money, fame, power, nothing can stop him from falling into hell.
He longed for redemption, hoping to leave the abyss and live in the sunshine.
But in this life, this is a luxury.
Fortunately, he can still save her.
"Before watching this film, I thought it was a clichéd redemption story, but I was half right. It was indeed a redemption, but it was not about a sunny girl breaking into the heart of a dark killer, and love giving him a new life.
"On the contrary, it was the killer who saved the girl and saved his own soul. He understood his mistakes and realized the preciousness of life. His self-sacrifice saved the girl from the crime of murder and brought peace to his heart. It seemed tragic, but it was the opposite.
"Is this a love story? Yes, I believe the killer and the girl like each other, but it's not just love. Ladies and gentlemen, the director, or the original author has always emphasized one thing: what is beautiful is not the person you love, but love itself."
—Excerpt from the Weibo of a well-known film critic.
Some media outlets even published a shocking headline the next day: "The best love movie of the past decade, explaining the true meaning of love: redeeming oneself"
On the third day of release, the box office of "Rose, Gold and Killer" was 780 million.