Film Name: 二手杰作 / World’s Greatest Dad
Because there is an unattractive backdrop, we know what beauty is; because there is an unattractive existence, we know what goodness is.
《World’s Greatest Dad》 magnifies such goodness and badness, beauty and unattractiveness, and the comedy, because of its tragic kernel, makes people laugh, but also makes them sad and saddened at the same time.
The protagonist of the story is Ma Yinbo, a middle-aged literature lover played by Yu Hewei. He has not given up his dream of publishing a book for many years, and has never been recognised for his work.
Occasionally, due to an accidental fall of his son, the book is published after a lie is told to make up for a kind of “unsightliness” (peeping and peeping).
Ironically, it was not I who was praised in the streets as a great man and a promising young man, but my son, who was lying in bed in a vegetative state, unable to speak.
This is really ironic! Because Ma Yinbo’s son, Ma Mo, does not love to read or write, and has no interest in publishing a book.
What’s even more ironic is that this book, which is now a big hit, is the very same work that Ma Yinbo had previously submitted to several publishers and was returned.
If it really is a work that can be published, why was it returned time and time again? Is it just because there is one less incident (exposure) that makes one famous?
The second half of the film is where a big slip happens!
After his son wakes up, his mother, Pan Dongni, does not want her son to live in a lie, letting him go on air to say that he has closed his book.
Ma Yinbo it also do not want to miss this great opportunity, in order to prove that they do not need to borrow the son’s momentum, a desperate attempt to publish a book with their own skills.
But Ma Mo penned the manuscript, the publisher is not willing to give him out – no momentum gimmick.
So Ma Yinbo in order to prove themselves out of old money: their own money to publish, publicity, sales, purchase, has been to the crazy irrational rhythm.
In the end, Ma Yinbo was finally targeted by the industry and commerce department, and was temporarily put under guard for disturbing the order of the market.
When reality shatters his dreams, the depressed Ma Yinbo plans to commit suicide on the upper floors of the publishing house, but he happens to save Xiaomei, a best-selling author who was born a bar girl.
It turns out that Xiaomei was once a barmaid, and was spurned by her relatives and parents, so she couldn’t bear the humiliation anymore and wanted to kill herself.
The way to ease someone’s grief is to make that person feel that he or she is not the worst with a more tragic experience.
So Ma Yinbo immediately jumped out of his own sad logic, began to give Xiaomei “brainwashing” – with their own reconciliation!
Persuasion succeeded, but a phone call pulled Xiao Mei into the shame.
Xiao Mei picks up the phone of her own father, and before she can say anything, she is scolded by her own father for “corrupting the family style” and “not having the face to see people” and so on.
Stranger Ma Yinbo desperately saved the life, but to be scolded by relatives to jump again. This is another great irony of the real relationship between parents and children in some families of origin.
Loved ones often hurt each other the most!
Compare this to the father-son relationship between Ma Yinbo and Ma Mo. Although he doesn’t really understand what his son really likes, when his son is caught taking photos of his female classmates, he still defends his son’s self-esteem and glorifies his behaviour as a “photography enthusiast”.
Personally, I feel that Xiao Mei’s father and Ma Yinbo’s father are a contrast between two kinds of parents and a revelation of social phenomena.
Anyway, there are laughs everywhere in the film, and the irony is felt after the laughs.
The so-called fame and strength have to rely on gimmicks, traffic, exposure, and accidents in order to be seen; those who are truly powerful are ignored because they don’t have these connections.
The root of the problem involves too much, but it’s really a very sad thing in society that makes people powerless.
“Life, there is nothing in the world, mediocrity, who can not force you, can force you only yourself. What you are is what you are, not because you jumped off a building, it will change the impression of others on you. It takes more courage to live than to die, and the most important thing in life is to have a clear mind and make peace with yourself.”
I like this passage of Ma Yinbo’s exhortation to Xiao Mei, which is a good note on the practical attitude towards life.
Life is a drama in the end, and the protagonist is ourselves, so being sober and self-aware and self-reconciled is perfect.
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