Why did the composite game become global / Will the second season be successful?

Theater News Base: In recent days, Netflix’s “Squid Game” series has been watched and quickly become popular by audiences around the world, including Iranians interested in movies and series.

Nasser Sohrabi, referring to the success of the Korean series of compound games in attracting the audience, said: Before we go to review the series of compound games, we must go back to 10 years ago; When Korean cinema showed itself in the world and made a very new career. I don’t think there’s anyone among moviegoers these days who doesn’t accept great Korean directors like Bong Junho with the brilliant production of “The Parasite,” which won the Palme d’Or in 2020, or directors like Kim Kidok, who is a strange man and has made good films. It is as if with the presence of such people, Korean cinema was reborn and is passing from a traditional era to modernity. This issue is evident in the recent works of this cinema.

We have to wait for bigger events from Korean cinema

“In the 1980s, our television broadcast many Korean serials,” he said, noting that Korean filmmakers plan for all world cinema with thought, program, reflection and thoughtful thinking. For example, the series “Jewel in the Palace”, “Emperor of the Sea” and “The Legend of Jumong” kept people on television. Those series were mostly based on the specific traditions and definitions of the Korean people, and the people were attracted to them, but now we are faced with a strange effect like a compound game, which is the process of breaking with tradition and reaching modernity. The flow of Korean cinema has a very wide perspective, and the composite game is the beginning of a path that may take Korean cinema to even higher levels. I feel we need to prepare for much bigger events in the Korean film industry. This 9-episode series did a very strange job in less than a month, and I think the composite game should be called the phenomenon of today.

This cinema expert, referring to the centrality of the story in the series of money theft and compound games, stated: The centrality of the series of money theft and compound games is the issue of money. They want to print money in the money theft series; They take it with them and say that we do not steal anyone’s money, but we are faced with another system in the compound game series. All the people involved in this game are moral but poor people who have problems in life. Of course, this series shows that moral, thoughtful and thoughtful people, if they are to be between life and death and reaching money, will destroy their fellow human beings. The characters in the story have nothing to lose in the compound game; So they enter a deadly game knowing that the loser will have no place on earth and must be destroyed. There is very little hope in this series and it is related to the utopia that rich people want to build for themselves and enjoy the humiliation and death of the people in the game.

Sohrabi pointed out: The present roles in the compound game make a big deal with their lives and they are in a situation where all of them do not matter to them; In one scene of the series, one of the characters tells the person in front of him that if he does not move, he will kill him to move forward. This represents the world society today that says you have to kill to survive. The compound game series shows the law of the jungle that whoever is stronger, destroys the weaker and weaker than himself. This series shows us the world today and says that we have very little time and today when we wake up, it may be the last day of our lives. This is the true ideology of the compound game that has emerged.

The lack of drama is a major weakness of the composite game

Stating that contemporary man is immersed in the duality of tradition and modernity, he said: This is due to the capitalist system. The capitalist system is fully reflected in the western and eastern societies shown in this series. The mother of the main character has a hard life story and the main character is the one who has brought little materially; So he wants to somehow fight against the capitalist system and thus enter the compound game.

Referring to the weaknesses of the compound game series, the cinema expert said: One of the major weaknesses of the compound game series is the lack of drama. I think it needed to have a more dramatic load. The creators may have tried hard to get the drama, but they did not succeed. The series is so close that it deals with the inner characters of the people, it was the turn of the games and the creators have done their best to raise the adrenaline of the audience. The compound game is caught in this incident and speaks with scenes of bloodshed and the elimination of humans; Whereas if the dramatic load was higher and the audience could identify more with the drama, perhaps the series could have been a more beautiful event. If the creators of the composite game had the courage to get closer to the characters and flashback to what happened to them in the past, it would be much better; Although they tried to achieve this, they could not do it well.

The impact of corona and media advertising on the reception of compound play

Sohrabi, referring to the effect of Corona on the viewing of the composite game series, said: “The Corona stream helped a lot to welcome the series, because today the audience sits at home and uses food calmly, and at the same time is surrounded by powerful media systems.” The same media make him watch movies and series. Another reason why this series has received so much attention is the consumerism of the society, which tastes very fast, feels a little adrenaline rush, and after enjoying the excitement and adrenaline, it subsides.

He continued: “Today’s audience is very much on the media waves.” For example, Instagram has become a strange trend in today’s life, so that Instagram advertisements and margins around the compound game caused this series to receive so much attention. So do not doubt that if another season is made for this series, it will not have as much impact as this first season.

Regarding the fact that one of Iran’s home theater platforms announced after the success of the compound game that the series should be produced in 10 episodes, it should be continued if the audience welcomes it and succeeds. The world serialization industry is respected because since the formation of cable networks, manufacturers have come to the conclusion that the product and content they produce should be to the liking of the audience. These media were formed with the private sector, and the creators of this stream paid from their own pockets. They decided to produce the series in 10 episodes to understand how much this series can affect the community so that the audience wants to pay for it. If the audience welcomes him, he is told that if he wants to see the second season of the series, he must pay for it sooner. This is the right path that we have reached after 10 years.

Netflix took the right risk

Sohrabi added: “Today’s audience is looking for images and does not even have the patience for strange stories and high-level dialogues.” The audience is looking for the same ideologies that the creators of the compound game series have hidden in their minds, portrayed in the series, and figured out beautiful events in this game. Today’s audience is looking for concise, useful and concise content. That’s why short films and miniseries are making a big fuss these days. The composite game also came into production with such knowledge, and all its parts and the mentalities behind the series proceeded with planning and targeted the audience, and finally the creators won and surprised the people.

“This has happened in our cinema as well,” he said, referring to the fact that the idea of ​​a composite game was delayed for several years. For example, Saeed Roustaei wrote in a note that he went to various cinema offices for years and talked to important producers to make it forever, but in response he was told that the audience did not like such a work; So they did not help produce it. Many of the world’s great directors, such as Roman Polanski and Woody Allen, have faced similar problems when it came to making their great works.

“When there is money, the power of risk goes up,” he said, noting that Netflix has become a major media giant over the years. Netflix did the same with the production of the composite game series. Of course, this platform has room for thought and takes the right risk. This think tank realizes that Korean cinema is full of great talent and has entered a new phase; So with the research he does, he accepts making a composite game.

The characters of the compound game are not cooked

Sohrabi, referring to the humiliation of the position of humanity in the 6-stage games that took place in the compound game, said: The position of humanity is humiliated by reaching money. In fact, the winner of this game is not a man after victory, but a moving dead man who has become an iron man in the capitalist world. The protagonist of the series also shows this very well in the last episode by immersing himself, being transformed and losing weight. He is in a society where injustice is paramount. This issue may be further explored in the coming years in Korean films and series.

He continued: The old man character of the series has humanity in the games and shows self-sacrifice. I think he’s had a weird time in the past, and the creators of the series could have devoted a 60-minute episode just to his past and worked on him more. This is also one of the weaknesses of this series, which does not fully address the characters, and the duality in the characters raises questions for us until the last moment, and their lack of cooking has somewhat destroyed the effect.