The New King of Comedy (2019)

A young woman who is dreaming and striving to pursue the actors' dream despite being an extra and stand-in.

Directors:

Stephen Chow, Herman Yau

Writer:

Stephen Chow

Stars:

Jingwen E., Baoqiang Wang, Quandan Zhang

Cast

Credited cast:
Jingwen E.	...	Rumeng (as Jingwen E)
Baoqiang Wang	...	Ma Ke
Quandan Zhang	...	Charlie
Ruyang Jing	...	Xiaomi
Qi Zhang	...	Rumeng's father
Xingzhe Yuan	...	Rumeng's mother
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pierre Bourdaud	...	Chinese Thug / Dwarf
Zherui Cai	...	Director
Xiaopeng Huang	...	Li Yang
Yilun Miao
Kyle Shapiro	...	Chinese Thug / Dwarf
Kai Man Tin
David Torok	...	Chinese Thug / Dwarf

Storyline

A young woman who is dreaming and striving to pursue the actors' dream despite being an extra and stand-in.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

China

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

5 February 2019 (China)

Also Known As:

Tân Vua Hài Kich

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When this project was first revealed by media in 2018, Herman Yau was said working as the director of this film. But in all the later promotion materials, including posters and trailers, only credited it's a Stephen Chow's film. When the film finally released, we found that in the end credits, both Stephen Chow and Herman Yau were credited as directors of this film.

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Connections

References The King of Comedy (1982)

User Reviews

Extra's Chinese Dream

The comedy star Stephen Chow and the best genre film director of Hong Kong Herman Yau co-directed this black comedy about extras' straggles and lives in Mainland Chinese film industry.

"Chinese Dream'' is concerned here. A part-time extra actress Ru Meng (E Jingwen) has worked as an extra in Mainland China for ten years and she is now her 30s. This reflects Jingwen's real age (1989-) in 2019.

In other words, the directors intentionally synced Jingwen and Ru Meng. This feature is her first major leading role debut. The creators' realism is proved by the tight relation and coincidence between the actress and the character. The Russian realist theatre actor Constantin Stanislavski (1863-1938) was cited by this film. And some of his words remind us of the filmmakers' conscious efforts on acting.

''The main factor in any form of creativeness is the life of a human spirit, that of the actor and his part, their joint feelings and subconscious creation.'' - Constantin Stanislavski

The creation of joint feelings and their subconscious creation are core values in this film. For example, Ru Meng is deceived by her boy friend, he is turned out to be a contract boy friend, a kind of prostitution job in China. This moment of truth on the rainy street sequence is critically important in this film.

After extra Ru Meng and her idol star Ma Ke (Wang Baoqiang)'s comical encounters and interactions in shooting of various films, their relationship changes into the opposite. One is obsolete actor Ma Ke, and the other is new star Ru Meng. She gets the big opportunity on Stephen Chow's new film audition, and she recreate the moment of truth with joint feelings subconsciously.

Yes, Jingwen herself in real life actually also participated Stephen Chow's new film audition. As the result, the role and the actor's inner life is highly synchronised. This kind of attempt in a partially biographical film is unique and creatively insightful than ordinary commercial stuff in Hong Kong.

Besides these, the family relationship between Ru Meng and her father is something additional and typical among actors whose family background is not art field. Like everybody's father who wants their son or daughter has a decent job opposes the most unstable kind of job in film/TV industry, however they are always care about their son or daughters' working conditions, and when some big opportunity comes, then they eagerly and unexpectedly help their son or daughter to get the chance.

This is a recommend movie and the best of 2019. However, they depict brutal and inhuman working conditions and violence among film workers as something funny and justifiable in individualist idealism.

Bearing that kind of inhuman conditions is compensated by becoming a star or not. It lacks of the unionised workers' viewpoint against inhuman and alienated working environment. Individual success can not solve the environmental social issues in general. In just turns yourself into the opposite side, and you will and have to do the same to the worker's side.

Film can not solve any social problem but this is actually funny and shows momentum of Mainland Chinese film industry, thus this film cannot be made in Hong Kong or other part of China where independent film industry does not exist or extras are free volunteers.