In the Octagonal Cage is the second film written and directed by Wang. It took him three years to prepare, and the opening ceremony was held in Chengdu on March 13, 2022. The main geographical feature of the story prototype of Bajiaolong is Liangshan, and the main location of the film is Chengdu and Zhaojue County, which is also an area of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Therefore, Zhaojue County has become a window for the local people to understand this film. Through Zhaojue County, we can find all the "sources" of the sufferings experienced by those children.
At the end of the film, the shooting location of the high-burning competition scene is Jinqiang International Competition Center built by Southwest Company of China Construction Eighth Bureau No.2 Company in Chongqing. Professional venues and hardware facilities provide strong support for the wonderful presentation of the film.
Evaluation of the film octagonal cage
In the Octagonal Cage is based on real events. This film does not continue the line of Wang's nonsense comedy, but seeks inspiration from the rough and heavy reality and deduces a realistic fairy tale of joys and sorrows.
This film can be regarded as a social hero type film that cures realistic anxiety with heroic legends. In the film, the hero Xiang Tenghui, as a former fighting champion, was jailed for accidentally injuring others. After he was released from prison, he made a living by running the battlefield. Originally, he wanted to use a group of homeless children, such as carelessness and Sumu, to form a temporary fight club for profit, but after witnessing the children's displaced living conditions, he felt sorry and decided to train them in real fighting skills to open up a way out of life.
On the surface, this film is about fighting in a cage. In fact, it is about how Xiang Tenghui led a group of fatherless children out of the village surrounded by their families, broke through the cage of suffering and fate, and moved towards a more open life.