In “Yoko’s Confusion”, which is currently in theaters, I see Huang Xiaolei, whom I have always liked, again. This film tells the story of a divorced middle-aged woman who is trapped in life and faces many confusions between career and life, family and love. This time Huang Xiaolei plays the middle-aged woman-Yu Meihui.
The story of “Yoko’s Confusion” takes place in Yanjin, Zhaotong, Yunnan, which is known as the narrowest county in China. Although Yu Meihui is a native girl here and runs a small curtain shop, she is elegant, beautiful and fashionable, and her hair is With big waves, big earrings, leather jacket, windbreaker, and high boots, she looks like a beautiful scenery in the small town. But for her, although she always longs for beauty and never bows to society and people, she still has to face life pressures and social challenges from various aspects such as retirement, marriage, child-rearing, etc. This is a kind of expectation and Huge contradictions in reality.
Huang Xiaolei accurately captured the image characteristics and spiritual core of the character Mei Hui. On the surface, she looks calm and breezy, sometimes strong and sometimes charming, but she can’t hide her scarred, lonely and empty heart. Therefore, this character, with more details, allows the audience to perceive her rich and sensitive inner world. One scene that left a particularly deep impression was that at her mother’s birthday party, Meihui was drunk and lonely when she saw her sleeping daughter. A big tear fell from her eyes. She wanted to touch and hug her daughter, but after hesitation, she just gently kissed her. Kissed Yoko gently on the cheek. Such passionate yet cautious emotions deeply touch people’s hearts.
There are many similar scenes in “Yoko’s Confusion”. The film gave Huang Xiaolei a lot of close-ups of her face. Most of the time, Meihui’s expression is well disguised, with a calm look, but the small details of her eyes sometimes flickering and sometimes dimming, and the corners of her mouth sometimes rising and sometimes falling still allow the audience to get deeper into this story. A woman living in emotional distress. At the end of the film, she and her daughter lit their mother’s birthday cake together, and they brought it out together. Although no one spoke, the happiness reflected by the candlelight on the faces of the mother and daughter, as well as the dancing flames, really made people feel it. A sense of relief after reconciliation. This is also the healing energy that Meihui brings after deeply empathizing with us.
What’s more worth mentioning is that as Huang Xiaolei’s first literary film, “Yoko’s Confusion” won awards and was shortlisted for Beijing International Film Festival, Pingyao International Film Festival, Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea, Thailand Pattaya International Film Festival, Qinghai “FIRST Youth Film Festival”-First Frame Competition Unit, the 11th Barcelona Asian Film Festival, etc. are indeed impressive.
I have followed Huang Xiaolei for many years and watched her progress from the screen to the big screen. I also watched her go from a young and beautiful little flower to playing the role of a middle-aged mother. Indeed, she has become more mature and stable both in her acting skills and in her image. . Especially in recent years, Huang Xiaolei has focused on the big screen, interpreting a number of impressive and unique characters. Only then did I realize that she never seems to settle in her comfort zone, but constantly subverts and challenges herself. This kind of “not satisfied” is indeed the driving force for an actor’s struggle.
Huang Xiaolei’s ability to accurately grasp the emotional changes of characters comes from her in-depth interpretation of the characters, as well as from her detailed experience and observation of daily life. Huang Xiaolei constantly updates her life on her Weibo, including the short video account “Haha Lei”, and her food reviews, which are real fireworks in the world. Among them, you can also see scenes of her walking on the streets of Yanjin to experience life, as well as clips of her holding a child on the filming set and making the staff dance, all of which make people see an extremely real Huang Xiaolei. Perhaps it is this kind of detailed exploration and perception of the world around him, and his efforts to integrate into the daily life of the local people, that makes his performances more real and down-to-earth.
In 2008, Huang Xiaolei played the female liar Yan Ling in her film debut “The Second World”. She used a different accent when she was cheating, and occasionally spoke a cooing Taiwanese accent, which also satirized some of the fashionable little girls nowadays. . She brought this kind of scheming little character to life, and won the Best Newcomer Award at the Grand Film Festival for this film, which can be regarded as the best beginning for her to get involved with the big screen.
In 2010, Huang Xiaolei played the role of a shrewish woman who had a conflict with her husband and was “caught and raped” by her husband in a hotel. She is publicity on the surface, but she hides the grievance and willfulness of not being trusted by her husband. The role of this sexy young woman not only brings a lot of joy to the audience, but also arouses too much sympathy, which is quite heart-wrenching and heartbreaking.
In 2021, Huang Xiaolei played the domineering Sister Hui in “The Crowd”, with a “yin and yang head”, full of Jianghu flavor, full of domineering, and she completely grasps the temperament of a strong woman, which is really aura. The scene in the film where she drinks from a large bowl and smashes the bottle with one hand is truly unforgettable. Huang Xiaolei is indeed the kind of person who says “a handsome woman has nothing to do with a man”!
Not only the big screen, Huang Xiaolei also has a full-scale film and television variety show, including the highly acclaimed “In the World” and other TV series, as well as various variety shows including “Sister Lang”, which makes the audience more and more fond of the actress who loves acting. The non-competitive and steamy Huang Xiaolei. Huang Xiaolei also said in an exclusive interview with the star of “The Power”: “No matter how big or small the role is, being recognized by the audience is more important than anything else.” This is also a true portrayal of the driving force behind her persistent and strong pursuit of acting over the years.
In recent years, Huang Xiaolei has been working hard to accompany new directors in their creations. In addition to “Yoko’s Confusion” which is Li Jue’s directorial debut, she has also participated in many new director films such as “Love Comes Home” and “Only Mom is Good in the World” , “Yizhi 200 Pounds”, “Wang Jinjin I Lost Twice”, etc., it can be seen that Huang Xiaolei consciously pays attention to the disadvantaged groups, hoping that through her role, she can provide useful services to more groups in need. The emotional value of meaning.
One of the movies “The Redemption of the Soul” focuses on families who lost their only child in the Wenchuan earthquake. Huang Xiaolei used the character of “Du Moli” to create a heart-wrenching and admirable character with “restraint on death and desire for life”. The image of a female family pillar, and won the Best Actor Award at the 3rd Indian World Film Festival in 2019. At the 2024 movie viewing party a few days ago, Huang Xiaolei’s name frequently appeared on various movie lists: “Gate to the Sea of Sand” directed by Wu Youyin; “Breakout” directed by Yang Zhen and directed by Zhao Xiaoding’s photography, “The Great Breakout” directed by Li Weiran “Journey Across the Moon” and so on.
Just as Huang Xiaolei said in “Sister Lang 3”: “I would like to be a little daisy, open freely and wither quietly…” It seems that she has never been a beautiful little flower, nor has she ever been a beautiful little flower. It is not classified as a stunning big flower; it is like the little daisy that is free and will bloom around you at any time, giving you sudden surprises and making you feel the vitality and smell of life. Huang Xiaolei is fully looking forward to blooming freely on the big screen in 2024.
Return to Sohu to see more
