Film Review: Invasion Of The Barbarians

Wen / Liu Ying

Malaysian director Chen Cuimei has always been an active creator. She is not willing to hide behind the monitor and tell the crew what to do. She always does everything by herself. So, in the past few decades, we have seen her as a producer, as a company operator, as a screenwriter, and, of course, as an actress. The superposition of multiple identities makes her works unique mix and match temperament. Just like the Southeast Asian society in which she lives, the multi-ethnic and multi language interweave with each other in the complicated territory, forming an attractive network.

The new novel invasion of the barbarians continues to exude charm. It explores many possibilities of film narrative with the story of breaking the boundary between reality and fiction and with the color of "metamovie". It also aspires to inject new vitality into the once popular "martial arts action film" in Southeast Asia in a low-cost way. At first glance, "the Barbarian Invasion" seems to be telling Chen Cuimei's own story - the director himself plays Li quantuan in the film, who is a bit out of date actress. After becoming a mother, she fades out of the movie and TV world. But one day, she was recalled by Zijie, a long-term director, and invited her to play in the Southeast Asian version of "spy films". Li quantuan's new task not only includes becoming a martial arts master without using double in a short time, but also carrying out various psychological construction for himself, accepting the decision of her former lover Julia to co star with her.

The reflexivity of the story of the invasion of the barbarians has brought great pleasure to the film viewing process. Whether it is the discussion on "whether to make a Hong Shangxiu style film" at the beginning of the reunion with Zijie, or the choice of "red pill or blue pill" in front of the eminent monk in the latter half of the journey, is full of the spirit of fan. Not to mention that the film has been complaining and complaining about the film production industry all the time. It can be described as penetrating.

However, with the deepening of the narrative, we gradually found another fascinating dimension of the film. This is not only a film about making a film, but also a seamless connection between the inside and outside the play. In order to play a good female agent, Li quantuan, played by Chen Cuimei, does not hesitate to endure the pain of skin and flesh, and quickly becomes a "martial arts master" under the stick of her master; Chen Cuimei, who is not familiar with martial arts, also practiced martial arts during the shooting for this role. In the first half of the film, the actor and mother are responsible for the double identity of the actor and the mother, and the film style tends to the realism style commonly used in low-cost films; But in the middle of the film, because of the producer's temporary change of mind, Li Quanyuan lost the leading role. When she wanted to leave, she found her son universe was kidnapped by a group of hooligans. In the pursuit of her son's road, her rapid martial arts finally came into use. After a defeat, she woke up unconscious on the beach, unexpectedly accidentally coincided with the plot of the Southeast Asian version of the spy film. At this point, the film quickly slipped from realism to the type film full of action drama, and the shooting technique also took a 180 degree turn. The fast editing constantly promoted the rhythm, and the fight from boxing to meat also made the audience see the blood stream, as if the golden age action film revived.

The director will naturally give an answer at the end of this suspenseful "journey of chasing children", whether it is a reality or a fiction, and the audience will have a good time when the "moment of truth" finally arrives. After all, "the Barbarian Invasion" is neither a simple documentary about how past stars return to their peak, nor is it a reflection on the status and identity of women in the contemporary society of Southeast Asia. Director Chen Cuimei successfully mobilized her mother, filmmaker, Malaysian and other identities, and integrated all her accessible experiences into the film. Just as the story of the martial artist first told by director Zi Jie, "the real weapon is not just the physical sword in the hand. In the eyes of experts, light is a sword, and time is a sword. If you use it properly, you can kill people. " Chen Cuimei tells the same truth with the invasion of the Barbarians: it is not only the film that is filmed and filmed, or captured by a digital camera. Life itself is full of all the elements that make up the film.