Chapter 121: The First Wave of Reviews

Chapter 121: The First Wave of Reviews

As it turned out, Hu Yan and Guo Yingyu were not off the mark.

Before and after the release of "Song of Tears," the production team indeed covertly belittled "Feather of Youth." However, the targets were not Lu Xu but Hu Yan and Guo Yingyu.

Some marketing accounts confidently claimed that casting two newcomers in "Feather of Youth" was "a wrong decision," emphasizing that the two were "not up to the task" and would inevitably drag the film down.

Hu Yan & Guo Yingyu: "At least give one of us a shot instead of just spouting nonsense."

However, despite their fierce attitude towards the marketing accounts, they couldn't help but feel some inner worry.

What if "Feather of Youth" really flopped? What if the movie didn't resonate with the audience? And what if... the marketers' pessimism was indeed annoying, but they were genuinely afraid of becoming the only weak link in "Feather of Youth."

In the end, it all came down to "Song of Tears" being the problem.

As the saying goes, "Know thy enemy and know thyself, and you shall never fear the outcome." Taking advantage of the holiday, Lu Xu was invited by Hu Yan and Guo Yingyu to catch "Song of Tears" together.

Between the three of them, they shelled out a solid hundred bucks... No matter how they evaluated "Song of Tears," they wouldn't feel the slightest bit of guilt.

At least they spent money!

Then, halfway through, Guo Yingyu started regretting spending her money.

The cinema hall they entered was large enough, and the air was relatively fresh, but watching the scenes in "Song of Tears," Guo Yingyu felt stifled.

The movie had plenty of tear-jerking scenes, but no matter how many tears were shed, Guo Yingyu still couldn't empathize.

She only felt stifled, but this wasn't a natural progression of events—it was contrived.

In the movie, the protagonist's family was suffocating. There was no physical abuse, and the parents appeared gentle and honest in public, but at home, their strictness bordered on cruelty: a strict routine, healthy food, a learning environment free from any distractions... and the parents' completely different faces when dealing with outsiders versus their own child.

At school, the protagonist's rigid personality left him friendless, and friendship was a distant dream. He lived in the world but felt none of its beauty, suffocating daily to the point of madness.

The protagonist wanted to escape, constantly struggling. Home should have been a warm haven, but for him, it was a vortex that could swallow him whole.

The protagonist's friend was in a similar boat—a sister who had never experienced a shred of kindness but was expected to sacrifice for her brother. One moment, she thought her parents had finally recognized her worth and were willing to comfort her, but the next, reality slapped her awake.

Her parents' supposed affection was only to make her sacrifice more for her brother.

Her parents weren't incapable of acting; they just couldn't be bothered to pretend to love her, yet they were willing to drop all dignity for their beloved son.

At this point, Guo Yingyu was still willing to keep watching.

"Song of Tears" piled on the tragic experiences of its characters. Guo Yingyu had never encountered such people in real life, but she understood that scriptwriting sometimes requires highlighting diverse experiences. If it were too mundane, the audience would find it boring.

But what followed in "Song of Tears" left her speechless.

She wanted to see the protagonist escape that suffocating family, but for some reason, the movie depicted him as suffering and in pain, yet he never left.

To keep the protagonist trapped, the father pretended to be sick, the mother lashed out with accusations, and the protagonist became increasingly gaunt and tormented, with no improvement in his situation.

The girl sacrificing for her brother was no better.

Her brother bought a house in the city using their parents' lifelong savings and her first three years of wages, but she said it was her brother's house, and she could live there temporarily to save on rent, moving out when he got married.

However, soon after securing the house, her parents started scheming to marry her off to a stranger.

"Is this really what I signed up for?" Guo Yingyu couldn't help but complain. "Shouldn't she just bolt? Get as far away as possible? Why is the storyline so fragmented?"

Hu Yan touched his nose and said, "Is 'Song of Tears' gunning for international awards?"

"If you show off how great and happy your life is, nobody's gonna care. But if you show the painful side, the chances of winning awards skyrocket. Throw in some flashy text, and it's hard for the movie not to get noticed."

Guo Yingyu just shook her head in disbelief, "Honestly, I don't get it."

"I skipped a chill day at home for this? Two hours of my life wasted."

Despite the sting of shelling out over 30 yuan for the ticket, Guo Yingyu still forced herself to watch 'Song of Tears' from start to finish.

Her takeaway? The movie owes her for the breast nodules, migraines, and the overwhelming urge to punch someone.

What did I do to deserve this?

Guess you shouldn't trash-talk others; it always comes back to bite you.

For Guo Yingyu, the ending of 'Song of Tears' was the real kicker. The dad kept pretending to be sick until he actually got sick, the mom cursed nonstop, and seeing the father like this, she panicked. The main character, wracked with guilt, started dragging his dad to every doctor in town, shouldering the entire family while trying to understand his parents.

"What's there to get? What's even worth getting?"

"So, what's the point of this movie?"

Guo Yingyu logged onto Weibo, only to find her feed swamped with National Day movie madness. Among the blockbusters, 'Song of Tears' was trending like crazy. One critic went on and on, ending with, 'By the end, 'Song of Tears' hits its peak...'

Guo Yingyu: "...Did a human even write this?"

What climax?!

It's like the 'Song of Tears' crew made a pile of crap that went straight from solid to gas, skipping the liquid stage—originally, the crap was just lying there, and people could avoid it by staying away, but it had to sublimate into a stench that made everyone reek.

This is the only kind of 'sublimation' Guo Yingyu buys.

Hu Yan gave a silent thumbs-up, "You know your physics."

"Had to be, thanks."

In summary, by the second half, she was so mad, she felt like her head was about to explode.

She wasted two hours of her life just to get pissed off—totally not worth it.

Guo Yingyu thinks the 'Song of Tears' team couldn't care less about the audience's feelings. The first half was kinda real, but the second half... what, are they going for some deep, philosophical vibe?

Are we just pawns in their game?

Guo Yingyu and Hu Yan were all set to trash 'Song of Tears' with a low rating. At first, it was a joke, but now, they couldn't help but give it a low score. After slapping on their low scores, they both turned to Lu Xu, silently pressuring him to do the same.

Lu Xu: "Alright."

Lu Xu had read the initial script of 'Song of Tears,' and even then, he felt it was typical of raising problems without solving them.

After the movie was released, Lu Xu found that the final script had been altered—it was even worse than the original version.

Lu Xu truly didn't understand the script changes, but his viewing experience was—if Qi Di wants to win awards, it might be possible if the judges are willing to accept the script's logic.

The biggest change in the script was actually the psychological transformation of the protagonist played by Qi Di, from initial stubbornness and unwillingness to being assimilated, then to awakening... Qi Di's performance in the movie was very thorough, portraying a crying protagonist, a collapsing protagonist, a desperate protagonist... he showed it all.

The hashtag "#QiDiCryingScene" even trended.

Under this hashtag, marketers endlessly praised Qi Di's acting, calling it "Oscar-worthy performance," "realistic and intense acting," and "tears that resonate."

Lu Xu: "..."

#Let's see how much money can be deceived on the first day#

As it turned out, the National Day holiday period was indeed extraordinary. With the combined efforts of intensive marketing and screening schedules, "Song of Tears" surprisingly earned 150 million yuan on its opening day.

Before its release, "Song of Tears" had already garnered some attention with its trailer.

Under the trailer, there were comments from middle-aged people who, still troubled by their childhood experiences, said they would still cry when thinking about those times. Although they had left their parents, relatives would criticize them for being unfilial every year, with waves of accusations forcing them to empathize with their parents.

"Parents are not wrong, but what crime did I commit as a child?"

There were also comments from girls who couldn't let go of favoritism.

"Song of Tears" is one of the rare stories written for this group. Shortly after the trailer was released, these individuals vowed to support "Song of Tears" in theaters.

As a film with a relatively low budget, "Song of Tears" had moderate pre-sale numbers during the National Day holiday period, and its opening day box office was not bad.

However, after watching the final cut, these audiences, who chose to support "Song of Tears" due to their personal experiences, felt "deceived."

Guo Yingyu was not the first audience member to want to criticize "Song of Tears."

On the official blog of "Song of Tears," there was a top comment from an audience member who bought the first show ticket to support the film. She said she thought she would see a story of self-salvation in the theater.

Many characters in "Song of Tears" are beyond redemption, but at least the protagonist should have redeemed themselves.

"I don't know the meaning of sitting in the theater. When the faces of the protagonist's parents flashed on the screen, I felt like I was reliving the nightmare that had haunted me for over a decade. They were so much like my parents, terrifying and intimidating. Now, I have a successful career and a happy family, but I know that the experiences of my youth have left a void in me that is difficult to mend."

"I thought 'Song of Tears' would end with the nightmare being over, but it didn't. I even felt like it was mocking my efforts over the past decade."

"On the afternoon after watching 'Song of Tears,' I resumed taking antidepressants..."

This top comment received hundreds of replies, with many likes and shares, but the "Song of Tears" team would not allow such critical reviews to remain on the homepage and promptly deleted it.

But—the official blog is only managed by one or two staff members.

No matter how fast the staff deleted comments, they couldn't stop the flood of comments calling the film a "scam."

The director of "Song of Tears" couldn't help but speak up. With the lesson from the senior Zhang Zhizhen, the director naturally wouldn't rashly criticize the audience for lacking taste or understanding art. He only said, "Life is full of regrets and cruelty. Faced with difficulties, some people move past them, while others never do. We should allow both outcomes to coexist, rather than denying our opposite."

The audience: "..."

True.

Indeed.

They personally allow both outcomes to coexist, but their money does not.

Do they have so much money that they have nowhere to spend it, forcing themselves to suffer in the theater?

Spending 30 yuan to buy a lottery ticket at least comes with the expectation of "winning a million soon." At the moment of purchase, there are no regrets, and losing is acceptable. Besides, the chances of winning 10 or 20 yuan are quite high, and with good luck, one might even win 50 yuan.

The outcome of spending 30 yuan to watch "Song of Tears" is—reliving the pain and regrets of one's past experiences, while also feeding oneself a bellyful of anger.

Not getting sick is already good enough!