Theme resonance, youth and nostalgia capture people's hearts.
For the success of To Youth, some viewers commented: "The word' youth' is enough!" The success of To Youth is undoubtedly related to the theme of youth nostalgia. Before that, the girls we chased together in those years, the love of hawthorn trees and old boys, all succeeded because of youth and nostalgia.
In recent years, with the increase of social pressure, both young people who are under the pressure of further education, work and marriage and elderly middle-aged people are facing tremendous psychological pressure and need an outlet to vent their emotions. In this case, funny comedies and nostalgic movies that soothe the soul can make people temporarily put aside their immediate depression and feel a little relaxed and happy, which is naturally more popular. "I'm sorry" plays the happy card, and "To Youth" plays the nostalgic card.
To Youth is positioned by the media as a "popular youth literary film". Everyone has his own youth, and everyone has memories and nostalgia for youth. The success of "To Youth" lies in its success in poking everyone's feelings: young people born after 1990 have a natural affinity for movies about youth, hoping to understand the youth of the previous generation through movies; The audience of "post-70s" and "post-80s" hope to find their own life and self in movies. In addition, alumni of more than a dozen colleges and universities where the film was filmed are also potential audiences of the film.
As Zhao Wei's directorial debut, although critics have different comments on To Youth, the comments on his Homesickness are generally positive. Film critic Tan Fei said in Weibo: "To Youth is a video about the ideal of youth love. Zhao Wei's choice of works born out of best-selling novels can quickly enter the inner world of almost his peers. It is foreseeable that this film will be a success in the market. Why? Because, for 30-year-old people, the lush memory of the campus is enough for them to wake up in the dark, light a cigarette, and feel sorry when their eyes are wet in the aftertaste. "
The film also set off a wave of "to youth" in the workshop, which triggered people's collective nostalgia. Netizen Jane Wei Lan said, "To Youth gives you a time machine and takes you back to that time that you will never forget. You saw their story, but more importantly, it inspired your story. At that time, you were ambiguous, unrequited, arrogant, disdainful, unscrupulous and even unknown. So, at this moment, you are.
Nowadays, "four points depend on films and six points depend on publicity and distribution" has long been an open secret of the film and television industry. The popularity of To Youth is inseparable from the preheating of the film. Before the release, all kinds of "gimmicks" hung the audience's appetite: the debut of director Zhao Wei, the graduation work of Nortel, the joining of Guan and Li Yong, the film title of literary nostalgia, the adaptation of the novel of the same name, the theme song sung by Faye Wong, the guest appearances of celebrities, the shooting of more than ten colleges and universities, and the overwhelming outdoor advertisements of Suning ... There are too many factors to attract the audience to the cinema.
No matter how good the packaging is, there must be excellent membrane support. Before "To Youth" was released, some people worried that the film was "not as good as a masterpiece"-the film may be of average quality, and the box office depends entirely on the popularity of Zhao Wei himself and the original novel. However, the box office of more than 300 million in just one week and the trend of continuous growth are enough to show that this film is by no means "superficial". As her directorial debut and graduation work, Zhao Wei's intention is self-evident: it took more than two years from the actor selection and location shooting in the early stage to the filming and production in the later stage, and the improvement of props and scenes still made her pay for the budget overrun. Zhao Wei said in an interview: "Because many scenes are difficult to find the original appearance that was beautiful and delicious more than ten years ago, many scenes are built by themselves, including dormitories, graduation dinners, supermarkets in Zhu Xiaobei and so on." In an interview, Guan also admitted that he "spent a lot of time on this film". Guan even revealed that he had been filming for more than 30 hours at the beginning of the boot, which really gave the players a "duel."
In addition to doing a good job of "superficial kung fu" and content, it is also important to issue "timing". "To Youth" has chosen a suitable release time: it is the graduation season, and students who are about to leave the campus are naturally interested in the emotions conveyed by "To Youth". Watching it with three or five students before leaving is also a commemoration of my college life. In addition, in recent months, there has not been a very high-quality "fresh literary" film in the film market, and the films released in the same period are mainly foreign blockbusters, and the audience's desire for such films has greatly increased, leaving enough room for the big sale of To Youth.
In the publisher's view, light media, team and topic-based publicity are the secrets of success. Wang Changtian, president of Light Media, also said in an interview: "Besides gathering a large number of appealing movie stars and production teams, the content is also very important. Some people in the audience like the humor in the first half, while others like the reality in the second half. Every character in the film can lead to discussion. With the topic, the box office will naturally not be bad. "
In the past week, Sina Weibo's micro-topic "# To Youth #" has reached more than 4 million, and many stars have joined the national nostalgia team. Faye Wong, Shu Qi, Sebrina and other stars all participated in the discussion in Weibo. The article says in Weibo: "Can I regard it as an elegy of an innocent age? After reading it, I have an impulse to cry. Zhao Wei's debut is really good, and his lines are almost comparable to those of Wong Kar-wai movies. " The high popularity of these big-name stars will undoubtedly play a role in film promotion.