The movie ＂Dog Formation＂ premiered, Guan Hu returned to the creation of animal themes, and Peng Yuyan’s ＂original sense＂ performance moved people

　　On June 12, the film "Dog Formation" held its premiere in Beijing. Director Guan Hu, producer and chief producer Liang Jing, led the lead actors to attend the post-screening exchange activities. After winning the "Best Film in a Focus Unit" and the "Golden Palm of Dogs Jury Award" at the 77th Cannes International Film Festival, the film "Dog Formation" was highly anticipated by domestic audiences.

The director of the movie "Dog Formation", Guan Hu, the producer and chief producer Liang Jing, starred Peng Yuyan, and the film was provided by the filmmaker

　　In the movie "Dog Formation," Peng Yuyan plays Jiro, who is imprisoned for manslaughter. After parole, he returns to his hometown, but it is difficult to integrate into society. Forced to join the dog fighting team, Jiro saves a black dog due to an accidental car accident, and the fates of the two are connected. Ordinary people "abandoned by society", stray dogs "stigmatized by the world", two incompatible souls resonate in each other’s loneliest moments, redeem each other, and become inseparable life partners.

　　The story of Jiro and the black dog drew empathy from many viewers, who said that although humans and animals have "different words", they "share the same heart". Some viewers said that Jiro is a maverick and marginal person, just like the dogs in the movie, wild and bloody coexist. "After watching the film in its entirety, Jia Zhangke said that" people and dogs warm each other in the desolate land of the northwest, and the vitality that bursts out of it is touching. "

　　After the Cannes premiere and the Beijing premiere, many viewers bluntly said that this was Guan Hu’s "most expressive work" in recent years, "a simple story but very rich in the author’s tension". After shooting many successful commercial films, Guan Hu chose to use the film "Dog Formation" to "calmly" tell about thinking and transmit energy. The simple county literature, with bloody characters, some audiences commented: "Guan Hu shows the deepest thinking about the world at this age in this northwest land."

Guan Hu　Picture provided by the film party

　　The movie is set in a small town in the northwest, and the audience praised the charm of the film’s "county aesthetics", "there is a kind of freedom in loneliness and romance in the wild". In addition, after the high-scoring film "Bullfight", the director Guan Hu returned to the creation of animal themes after 15 years, this time he faced hundreds of stray dogs. This animal scale, which is unique in the history of Asian cinema, has brought unprecedented challenges to the creative team. In this regard, Guan Hu bluntly stated that filming with animals "requires a lot of patience".

　　"Dog Formation" is the first collaboration between Peng Yuyan and the director Guan Hu. In order to fit the "real" and "rough" texture of the film, Peng Yuyan took the initiative to ask the makeup teacher to shave his hair short on the second day of entering the group, leaving only 3mm. Combined with the deep complexion and sunburn that are very characteristic of the northwest region, the "most subversive" image is used to enrich the rough, wild and taciturn temperament of Jiro. The actor was also impressed by Peng Yuyan’s "native sense" performance, saying that "when the actor delivers the whole person to the story and characters, it feels great."

　　Jiro in the film is an "aphasia man" who always replaces all answers with silence. From Jiro’s negative misanthropy to regaining hope, Peng Yuyan needs to amplify emotional changes through physical movements and facial performances this time. The director praised Peng Yuyan’s performance after watching the movie: "After turning off the switch of speech expression, many other forms of expression are turned on, and all the content has an extra layer of meaning." Many audience members also said that they were "pleasantly surprised by Peng Yuyan", praising his performance as "natural", and others said that "Peng Yuyan’s tall and tough figure is pegged to the pestle, and the broad back that is slightly hunched when riding a motorcycle has a kind of wild charm in the northwest region."

　　The story of two similar souls redeeming each other in "Dog Formation" is touching, and Jiro’s journey of regaining his blood and embarking on a new life is also thought-provoking. Jiro, who is out of society, goes from "numbness" to "struggle", from "silence" to "explosion", from "confusion" to "courage". The loneliness of the darkest moment did not defeat Jiro, but witnessed the more powerful blooming of life in the dark. Jiro gradually reconciled with himself in his relationship with the black dog, and embarked on his own new life, which moved many viewers.

　　The film conveys the healing core of "embracing new life" through the ultimate aesthetic texture and pure authorial expression. Many viewers lament the profound allegorical meaning of "Dog Formation" – "In a lonely corner that is not seen, there are still people who strive for their own new life". Director Guan Hu wrote a message at the end of the film "dedicated to those who are on the road again", hoping to evoke the blood of people with "Dog Formation", hoping that everyone can regroup and start again, and hope that people can always be on the road. Director Huang Jianxin was also deeply touched by the ending of the story: "At that moment we knew that everyone was on the road, and fate was on the road. This is a very good movie."

Liang Jing　Picture provided by the film party

　　After achieving success in the field of commercial films, he chose to shoot a film with a very strong expression of the author. Producer and chief producer Liang Jing said that "in the early days of the filming of’Dog Formation ‘, there were many voices of doubt around the director Guan Hu". In this regard, director Feng Xiaogang gave Guan Hu an affirmative answer after watching the film. "I admire Guan Hu’s courage very much, and I think the directors will also think about it after watching this film." The young director Na Jiazuo bluntly said that the film has made him "a lot of harvest". He said after watching the film: "This kind of creator spirit that breaks the comfort circle has given me a lot of inspiration."

　　As a long-time friend of the director Guan Hu, the actor also came to the scene of the film’s premiere, not only touched by the film’s cold texture and strong emotion, but also said: "I am happy for the director Guan Hu, and proud that Chinese films can have different faces." Sun Honglei also said after watching the film: "This film has opened up a space for the imagination of Chinese films, and I hope the audience can support a director with the spirit of film creators like Guan Hu."

　　It is reported that the movie "Dog Formation" is directed by Guan Hu, starring Peng Yuyan and Tong Liya, and starring Jia Zhangke, Zhou You, Hu Xiaoguang, Wang Yiquan, Niu Ben and Xiaoxin. It will be released nationwide on June 15, 2024.