主要是跟随一个艺名为“王诛天”的群众演员真名凌宗南四处向人推荐根据自己亲身经历写成的剧本;同时并列的线索,包括数次以“招考表演小姐/妓女角色”的演员面试,和跟踪冬日里贩卖盗版DVD的小吴亦或是“小武”??行走于城市的角落鬼鬼祟祟的运送艺术片的碟片。
主角王诛天的剧本根据他当群演的经验完成,共计6万字,手写稿生活窘迫的他甚至不能负担打印稿件的费用。吴文光在99年的时候已经被业内人士敏锐地认出并被尊敬地叫做“吴老师”,在他的镜头逼视下,来自山东的王诛天一次次来到影视工作室甚或是CCTV6电影频道毛遂自荐,希望有人赏识他的剧本并给与投资。与此同时,以作职业演员糊口的他因为久未开工而甚至买不起一顿饭,夜晚在北师大的楼顶露宿;白天在北京城内焦灼地和吴文光的镜头一起飘荡。
你清楚地晓得王诛天的个人经历以及以此为基础的电影不会打动那些专业人员中的绝大多数包括你自己,他自己口中的“好本子”很有可能是一个教育不完全但是一心对电影抱有热诚的业余电影爱好者一厢情愿的文化创作。但是他对自己的充沛信心或者是其他一些什么貌似神奇的力量支持着他的寻觅和等待,尽管时间看似所剩不多,尽管这些寻找一次比一次绝望……你通过吴的执拗的镜头观察着他的失败,一开始你对这种过程充满好奇,后来你迅速失去热情,你希望不如让他的失败来得彻头彻尾,“这一切不如迅速结束”,你对自己说,因为你开始感受到煎熬,你对王诛天的同情被莫名地转化为一种恨,你痛恨他的自信和小聪明,同时你鄙视他的不自量力,所以你会希望看到他的彻底崩溃。
整个情形开始发生微妙的转变,因为你变得残忍。你说,“操你妈电影”。你不清楚王诛天是不是会这样痛快地或者痛苦地诅咒。你这个时候希望王是一个小贩或者其它什么人,但千万不要是一个对电影抱有如此热诚却又没有相匹配的才华与机遇的人。
很多情况下,尤其是在对方认出摄像机背后的人是传说中的吴文光的情况下,观众已经不清楚王诛天在镜头前一次次介绍那蹩脚的剧情、接受批评是否是某种意义上的自虐表演,因为接受剧本的那一方碍于“吴老师”面子的缘故大概不会直接开口拒绝。你必须忍受这全部的过程,看一个身无分文、衣着拙朴虽不至褴褛、热爱电影各种意义上的的理想主义者或者机会主义者如何被业内的所谓决定者们撕开他的自尊和梦想,然后被抛弃在北京夏日一场莫名的拍摄计划中和哪怕这部片子的存在都无法阻止的大众遗忘中。
在吴文光的安排下,王诛天去酒店见张元。在出租车上,王对吴文光说,你知道吗,如果选择,我宁愿地球上只有狼而没有人,因为“狼可以培养,但是人无可救药”。
彼时的张元很狡猾,但是镜头前的他倒也真实而可爱。他直接问王,“你是不是有一种感觉,就是被人操纵着到处乱跑”意指吴文光在利用王诛天做自己的拍摄计划。王诛天说,自己需要一份临时演员的工作糊口,张元说,你不已经是了吗??然后一脸坏笑看着镜头后面的吴。
据说02年的FUCK CINEMA里面没有王诛天的声音,而在这个版本中,挫败后失意的王在路边对吴说,别人对我怎么样,我也可以很敏感;拍摄的过程中你玩得开心,我玩得痛苦。而在接近片末的部分中,王念了自己对吴的一段评价,原谅那段未来得及手录,记得他大概是说,你和你的摄像机都在如此残忍地观察我的挫败,恨不能看到我挖心挖肺,血溅四处。
吴文光拍摄演员面试的部分我不细说,个人很喜欢那个贩卖盗版DVD的、对艺术片很有见地的小吴。除了那些北京雪日中的奔走,记得有一个镜头,是他在房间独自看着马其顿的“BEFORE THE RAINS”暴雨将至。他还反复对老吴说,不要看“天浴”陈冲那部,没有什么意思。路过卖A片的大婶时,吴文光对小吴说,哎她们是你同行呢!小吴对此不置可否,“她们怎么会是我的同行”;老吴说,我觉得有相似;小吴沉默。
影片的最后,是雪夜中老吴抬着摄像机跟在骑单车的小吴身后跟丢了,他喊着,小吴,小吴,小吴……喘气声,和失焦的镜头。This documentary shows how different young people try to realize their dreams or become famous through the film industry. One of the main characters of this documentary is named Wang, a young man from the countryside, aged 28. He comes to Beijing out of a love for cinema; however, all he can do every day is line up outside the gate of a film studio in hope of landing a job as an extra, getting 30RMB for one day! During his stay in Beijing he writes a film script based on his own experience in Beijing as an extra. He thinks his play presents the darkness and desperation of survival in China. Then he wants to find an investor or a director who can produce his play as an "underground film", because in his opinion many Chinese directors are successful on the international stage through this way. In the process of searching he meets some directors and producers (including some underground film people), some famous some not, and also some businessmen, people from the film censorship authority as well as some students from the cinema institute. In fact in Beijing his life is very hard - with no money, or a stable place to sleep. In the summer he has to sleep on the roof of a school dormitory. Finally Wang fails to realize his dream, and he will never see his film made. Another character is also a young man from the countryside. His name is Xiao Wu, 19 years old. His love of cinema is shown in his chosen occupation of selling pirated DVDs, some of which are quite famous foreign films, for example some award-winners from the Berlin, Venice, and Cannes Film Festival. Everyday he puts all his DVDs into a bag and goes out on his bike to find his frequent customers, young people or students who are film buffs or involved in filmmaking. Apart from these two characters, this documentary also features young girls who dream of becoming movie stars. We learn of their love of film and their ideas about life as they audition for a role. "Throughout this process not only am I the maker of this documentary, but also a person who is puzzled about why we make films. Of course I also appear in this documentary, and never hide my bewilderment, or the conflicts between my characters and me. For example, Wang assails me that I use his miserable story for my own reputation." (Wu Wenguang)