SOMETHING TO PROVE士別三日
Yang Mi surprises critics with a careerdefining role in drama Baby. By KEVIN MA
楊冪在《寶貝兒》的演技令影評人刮目相看，成為其演藝生涯中具代表性的角色。撰文：馬樂民
BEFORE BABY WAS even released in China, netizens had already left a slew of negative comments on social media site Douban. Their target: actor Yang Mi.
As the star of blockbusters such as You Are My Sunshine and the Tiny Times franchise, Yang is one of the most successful actors of her generation. But she has long been criticised for her unchallenging roles and less-than-stellar acting. Yang is aware of the hostility; she reportedly joked to director Liu Jie that Baby will be his lowest-rated film because she’s in it.
Yang was right; Baby is indeed Liu’s lowest-rated film on Douban. But the trolls were wrong about her this time around. Baby is a riveting social drama with a careermaking performance by Yang that serious film viewers will want to see.
Baby stars Yang as Meng, an 18-year- old whose congenital disorder has seriously affected her ability to lead a normal life. Forced to finally move on from her foster home and too proud to receive disability welfare, Meng finds work as a cleaner at a hospital. One day, she encounters a baby girl suffering from the same condition she was born with. When she learns that the father would rather let the baby die than go through with treatment, Meng goes on a one-woman crusade to save the baby.
Liu tackles heavy social issues such as euthanasia and the state of China’s welfare system in a sober manner. As a neutral observer, he lays out convincing arguments for both sides of a difficult ethical debate. Yang, who adopts a Nanjing accent for the role, gives a raw, vulnerable performance worthy of award nominations. It’s been difficult to escape the shadow of previous roles, but she’s shown herself to be a more serious actor than naysayers give her credit for. 《寶貝兒》在中國公映前，社交網站豆瓣上已充斥著網民的負面留言，而他們的評語都是衝著女演員楊冪而來。
楊冪曾主演《小時代》系列和《何以笙簫默》等叫座電影，是她同世代最成功的演員之一。不過她卻一直備受批評，指責她不但沒有選擇具挑戰性的角色，演技也不是十分突出。楊冪其實很清楚這些負面評價，據聞她更曾跟《寶貝兒》的導演劉傑開玩笑，表示因為她參演此戲，所以這部電影將會成為他評價最低的作品。
楊冪所言非虛，在豆瓣上《寶貝兒》的確成為劉傑得分最低的電影，但批評者對她的負評卻是大錯特錯，因為《寶貝兒》不但是一部引人入勝的社會片，更是楊冪從影以來最具代表性的演出。講求電影深度的觀眾，定會欣賞這部作品。
在《寶貝兒》中，楊冪飾演18 歲的孤兒江萌，因身體有嚴重先天缺陷而無法過正常人的生活。她被迫離開寄養家庭，但又堅拒接受傷殘救濟，於是在醫院當清潔工人維持生計。一天，江萌遇上一名跟她有同一缺陷的女嬰，而其父親竟然寧願由她死去，也不讓她接受治療，江 萌因此以一人之力，踏上了拯救這個小生命的征途。
劉傑透過電影嚴肅地探討社會問題，括安樂死和中國的社會福利制度，作為中立的旁觀者，他為這個兩難的道德辯論鋪陳了有力的正反論據。楊冪為了角色特別使用南京口音，而且素顏上陣，毫無保留地演出，值得提名問鼎獎項。雖然難以撇開她過往的作品不提，但她今次的演出絕對證明了她是個嚴肅認真的演員，以實力推翻反對者的偏見。