The Best Director

\\\u0026qut;Give me two copies of "Mamma Mia!" 》Vote! “We want five copies of Mamma Mia! 》. "......——

It’s the relaxing and joyful weekend time again. Customers lined up in the box office of 3,025 North American theaters, and movie tickets were sold one by one. Among them, the most sold one was the new movie "Mamma Mia!" 》. Whether they are old audiences who have watched the stage play or new audiences who are exposed to this story for the first time, they all have the same expectation. The previous "——! 》The trailer is awesome!

Beautiful songs, lively and funny dance scenes, lively performances, hilarious lines, a joyful atmosphere that is very attractive, and a beautiful island, all in an interesting wedding story and a hit classic stage Based on the drama, for those who love musicals, there is no movie more worth looking forward to, at least not this year.

And the cast is really attractive. The biggest attraction is naturally Meryl Streep, who dances and sings. Since "The Devil Wears Prada", Streep's business ability seems to have suddenly exploded, and she has been in Commercial films are appearing, and this time she is cooperating with Fire Films for the second time. At the age of 56, she is acting in a lively youth musical, which really makes her movie fans sweat. They still don’t know Is it good or bad.

At the same time, there are also the young and invincible Amanda Seyfried, the powerful British actor Dominic Cooper, and the handsome old guys with superb acting skills Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Kass...

"Hahaha!", "Hahaha!" In the screening hall, watching the wonderful story on the big screen, bursts of laughter rang out from the overcrowded auditorium. It can be seen from the smiling faces of the audience that the flames Another good enough musical and dance movie. regardless"--! 》Dramas, fire musicals, ordinary audiences, etc., most of them were not disappointed. This 110-minute vocal video was really a great enjoyment.

But what they didn't know was that another film, "Mamma Mia!", was produced by Tom Hanks' production company plyt and Universal Pictures. ” is not that satisfying. .

In fact, the 2007 Flame version and the 2008 Global version of "——! 》The director (Phyllida Lloyd), screenwriter (Katherine Johnson), and first producer (Judy Kramer) are the same, they are all the original cast of the stage play, and the starring cast is almost exactly the same, also Clay The two versions of "Mamma Mia! 》There is a very huge difference.

This is not just about the plot. Some changes in narrative rhythm and song and dance style are enough to bring about earth-shaking changes in a song and dance movie.

Wang Nuoyang knows about the 08 Global version——! "What are the shortcomings and what are the major criticisms of the audience about it? Naturally, he will not sit back and let things remain the same." Rotten Tomatoes' summary xìn review of the Universal version is: "This jukebox musical is full of lighthearted fun, but the singing is so rough and campy that you might not think their 'can you dance' moves are present throughout .

"

The biggest problem lies in the singing and dancing. On the one hand, all its interludes use the representative works of the Swedish band BB, which was popular all over the world in the Qin Dynasty of the last century. Some songs almost completely retain the arrangement style of the original works.

This is not surprising. Katherine Johnson is a die-hard fan of the BB band. Even the name "Lyin" comes from one of BB's signature songs. Kramer also said that "BB songs are the best dramas," so "" became the theme song, and even created plots to bring out those songs.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, 'BB's songs are everywhere.' Do you like that kind of thing? I don't, not really. “Mamma Mia! ” is a sloppy, chaotic musical carving that only ends when those goddam BB songs are sung and three minutes of bliss follow. "! Online Daizada Gobel said: ""Mamma Mia!" 》 lacks even one big beautiful component, too much music cuts it into tiny pieces. "...

A stage play is a stage play, and a movie is a movie. If the rhythm and story of a movie are lost, there will only be a bad result, and the bigger problem is actually the singing and the singer.

"BB is ruined, you are so capable, stupid cow!" Sing karabi in the bar."... Comments from the audience can be seen everywhere, "Great music, terrible singing." If too much BB is a shortcoming, the bad singing magnifies this shortcoming into unbearable.

One characteristic of the musicals released in recent years is that the songs in the films are sung by the actors themselves. This is a trend started by "High School Musical".

All the actors in the 08 Global version received two or three months of special singing training. Most of them screwed up... Singing is different from other things. Talent is really important. Sometimes hard work cannot make up for it. , but it was at the level of a pop superstar, not "very professional and nice to listen to," not a young person, just like Jessica, Rachel and others back then. Although their singing was far from shocking, they were youthful and energetic. Cheerful, this can cover up many shortcomings, and it is also reflected in the fact that Amanda Seyfried did not receive criticism, but instead received a lot of praise.

Of course, young people have very strong learning ability, but the elderly have to work hard. After a round of hard practice, Meryl Streep sang well, and she can always be the shining point: Colin Firth barely qualified, And Brosnan and Skarsgård were really singing karaoke, with their nervous and trembling voices and obvious sense of erraticness all showing their amateurishness. Everyone is used to hearing BB singing top-notch, and then listening to barely qualified and amateurish singing... giving back to Rotten Tomatoes and rotten eggs.

In order to obtain the film rights, Flame Films, headed by Wang Nuoyang, promised Judy Kramer and others that they would not interfere too much to ensure the film version of "Mamma Mia!" "has the look they want without ruining this classic stage play. But that doesn’t mean that Flame doesn’t care. They just need experience in singing and dancing musical production and want to make the best movie. They chose Flame Shen Ying and Shen Ji Yang N.

Knowing where the problem is, the solution will follow. Wang Nuoyang made it clear to Lloyd, Catherine, Kramer and others that they must not bring fan mentality into the film. There is no problem with bb songs appearing on the big screen, but it cannot be Too much, we need to pay more attention to the rhythm of the movie; he also talked with them a lot about the expressiveness and narrative methods of stage plays and movies, and exchanged each other's experiences and opinions.

So changes followed, the flame version of "Mamma Mia!" 》The track selection is streamlined and richer. There is no BB song LLTLL, and the plot is not thrown away for the sake of singing. Everything is suitable for serving the story as the core purpose, but it makes Kramer and others suffer a lot from cutting off love.

On the huge issue of singing level, Wang Yuyang also found it very difficult. Shooting two years in advance will not make Brosnan and others become Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Jackson. The effect of a few months of training is almost the same. As actors, acting For one movie, it is impossible for them to receive full-time training for six months and a year, not to mention where the talent is; they cannot find a substitute singer, and there is no other way to make ends meet.

Unless an actor with superb singing skills is found to play the leading role, firstly, the acting skills cannot be guaranteed, and secondly, Kramer and others have identified Streep and Brosnan. Therefore, Flame can only find a better training and recording team in a down-to-earth manner. The training time for the leading actors should be as long as possible, and their vocal characteristics, emotional investment and other comprehensive singing abilities should be considered when selecting songs. The production costs are rising again and again, and they are required to sing well, not to the concert level, but at least to pass the minimum, and not to be rated as "terrible--..." by the audience.

There is a problem with the song, and there is also a problem with the dance. "The pretentious dance steps... are naturally not good. The choreography and camera scenes are all to blame, but it seems that the choreography cannot be blamed. The leading actors are really old bones. 2008 version At the time of filming, Streep was 7 years old, Brosnan was 54 years old, Firth was 47 years old, and Skarsgård was 56 years old. They were not professional dancers before. How can they compare with "Dance My Life"? I can't dance. !

However, the dance in "High School Musical" is not necessarily thrilling. The key lies in the integration with the scene. The bad songs also make the audience pay more attention to the dance and become more picky.

Although the flames' ace dancer Annie Fletcher did not serve as the choreographer, the flames team, which has been tempered by the "High School Musical" series and other films, and the artistic direction team led by Fletcher, did "Mamma Mia!" 》bringing rich dance experience in a youthful and lively style. Needless to say, Seyfried and other young people, several elderly people can easily complete more professional dance moves, making the scene look full of beating.

On the other hand, there are various problems caused by directors. In fact, if we only consider the production itself, neither Universal Pictures nor Fire Film would want the 50-year-old British lady Phyllida Lloyd to direct. She is Great stage director, but a zero on film.

"Look at its cheap costumes, clunky choreography, terrible cinematography, a real disgrace." —Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: "Watching this high-spirited film adaptation of a pop musical stage play, You can have a perfectly good time, but need to acknowledge how bad it was. Kotter, The New York Times: “A wise man once said, ‘Beware of the fact that people on the screen have more power than those sitting in the audience. Lots of fun.

,Mamma Mia! That's good advice. "Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

The Flames had better choices, such as Sarah Sugarman, but still handed the microphone to Lloyd because of the original cast.

Obviously there are a lot of good actors, many "national treasure" veteran actors from the United States and the United Kingdom. If these people are not good, I don't know who can do it. However, there are many, many comments about "terrible acting", so naturally it is not Referring to Streep, other actors, old and new, have been criticized. The main problem lies in the heat. How to grasp the film performance in the style of a stage play? Lloyd clearly didn't give much good direction, also in various departments including costumes, photography, sets, etc.

You must know that Ann Roth, the costume designer of the 2008 Universal version, was nominated for four Oscars for Best Costume Design and won a trophy (). It is really frustrating that the film was ridiculed by film critics as "cheap costumes".

Even if Flame Films has money and experience, even if Wang Nuoyang has the foresight and cannot replace Lloyd, many things will inevitably happen, and things in the world are often not perfect. However, the flames are not without any countermeasures. Wang Nuoyang has no time to be a producer. He is busy with "500 Days of Summer" and the awards season during the preparation and filming period. Anne Fletcher declined the invitation to be a producer because she was tired and rested. , plus the "original crew", so the Flames' strategy focused on post-editing, and invited gold medal editor Margaret Goodspeed.

However, despite this, even though the 2008 Universal version has a Rotten Tomatoes index of 54%, 41%, and 76%, the mainstream media is all negative, and the audience does not give high scores. It seems to be a bad movie, "Mamma Mia!" " does have its own unique charm. Even though it collided head-on with the powerful and crazy "The Dark Knight" released at the same time (July 18, 2008), the opening box office still grossed 44.84 million, and the final box office in North America was 143 million, and the overseas box office was 465 million. , the global box office reached 609.8 million U.S. dollars, and its production cost was 52 million.

Some problems have been nipped in the cradle, and some have been solved and perfected prescriptions. The execution effect is also very good. The "change" has been huge. The flame version of "Mamma Mia!" with a production cost of 68 million! " has been released in many box office locations including North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

It is now June 2006, and its competitors in the same period include the comedy "Crazy Priest", the American version of the romance film "Untouchables", the family comedy "Garfield 2", the second week of "Cars", the third week of Zhou's "Breaking Up"...how will its performance be in terms of reviews, reputation, and box office performance?

As night and day change, the ink-smelling, printed version of Mamma Mia! "Film review newspapers have been put on the shelves one after another, and audiences have gone to SB, Rotten Tomatoes and other places to rate the movie. ! .