"The essence of film is storytelling."
On November 28, Lu Wei, known as China’s number one film screenwriter, was hired as a tutor for graduate students of the Film School of Shandong University of Arts. In an exclusive interview with Qilu Evening News and Qilu One Point reporter, Lu Wei It not only tells how the film tells the story, but also tells many unknown "stories" in the film circle.
has a prominent reputation in the screenwriting world. The film work currently under preparation is "Yimeng Mother" in collaboration with the famous director Wang Ping. "There were some similar film works in the 1980s, which were not mature yet. The script of "Mother Yimeng" was completed in 2010 and is currently being further improved. For this reason, I went to Yimeng Mountain three times and traveled all over the mountains and rivers of Yimeng, hoping to produce quality works."
① ""Farewell My Concubine" It is indeed Chen Kaige's "
Reed" is called China's No. 1 film screenwriter by the industry because of the series of works written by him, which are listed as the most shining names in Chinese film history: "Farewell My Concubine", "Living", " Song of Qin, "Yellow River Ballad", "The Price of Crazy" and "Wolf Totem" etc. The world-renowned film "Farewell My Concubine" is Chen Kaige's representative work, and Lu Wei is the screenwriter of the film.
However, there has been a saying in the circle for many years that "Farewell My Concubine" cannot be regarded as a work directed by Chen Kaige, but a work by Chen Kaige's father, Chen Huai'ai. Chen Huaaiai is an important director of the older generation in China, and has directed a large number of opera art films. His feature film "Song of Youth" and the Peking opera art film "Plain Combat" are important works of Chinese film history.
"Is "Farewell My Concubine" directed by Chen Kaige or by his father Chen Huai'ai?" During a discussion with students at Shandong University of Arts, a student "chuckled things" and asked Reed such a sharp question.
"As one of the core creators and witnesses of this work, I can tell you clearly that "Farewell My Concubine" is indeed a work directed by Chen Kaige." Lu Wei said, "Of course, Mr. Chen Huai'ai's creation of this film When I was writing the script, it was Mr. Chen Huai’ai, myself and Chen Kaige who were communicating and discussing some content.”
Lu Wei recalled that every time he wrote a draft, he was the first to read the script. It was Mr. Chen Huai’ai, “Once, I finished writing the script and went back to Xi’an home. At three o’clock in the middle of the night, I was suddenly woken up by Mr. Chen Huai’ai on the phone. His first sentence had a strong Fujian accent. He said , Reed, you, you, you are a ghost, I just cried. I clearly remember that he used three'you' in a row and said he was crying."
② "4:1, we chose Leslie Cheung to play Cheng Dieyi"
"Farewell My Concubine" is a very good film combining commercial and artistic. Reed said that the film not only won the Cannes award, but also won the box office of 45 million. At that time, a movie ticket cost 4 yuan. If you change it to today, the box office of "Farewell My Concubine" should be 1.2 billion to 1.5 billion.
Lu Wei believes that "Farewell My Concubine" wins in the story, "The film is very Hollywood in narrative, but it is Chinese in story content. At that time, when Chen Kaige asked me about the script, I asked him How much is the investment? He said that just a dragon is 2 million US dollars. I said that since the investment is so large, it must be a plot film. "Farewell My Concubine" is still the movie with the highest plot density in Chinese movies so far. One."
Chen Kaige's favorite actor of Cheng Dieyi, Zun Long, failed to enter the crew. Lu Wei said: "Zun Long had just finished "The Last Emperor" at the time. He was an actor with international influence. The producers also asked. I recommended Leslie Cheung. I didn’t know Leslie Cheung at the time. I only knew that he sang Cantonese songs. They showed me some of his video materials. I think Leslie Cheung is more suitable for acting in Cheng Dieyi. The dragon does not have the soft charm of Leslie Cheung. Energetic." Chen Kaige prefers to respect the dragon, and Lu Wei thinks Leslie Cheung is better. Who plays the Dieyi? Chen Kaige suggested voting. Five people including Chen Kaige, Lu Wei and camera Gu Changwei voted. "The final result was 4:1, and four votes supported the election. Leslie Cheung, Triumph said, since everyone supports Leslie Cheung, we will decide Leslie Cheung."
③ "Fans surrounded Leslie Cheung and witnessed the star appeal for the first time." Although
supported Leslie Cheung in his performance in Die Yi, Lu Wei admitted frankly that his appeal to stars like Leslie Cheung was not. I don’t know much.” Later Leslie Cheung came to Beijing and stayed at the WangfuThree of us ate, but there were four waiters in the private room, all young girls, and within a few minutes, four waiters were changed. I was very surprised. Later I learned that these waiters are all fans of Leslie Cheung. During the meal we had, almost all the waiters in the restaurant took turns to the private rooms just to see Leslie Cheung. "The
waiter took turns watching Leslie Cheung to be polite. Lu Wei later discovered that Leslie Cheung’s fans were extremely crazy at that time.” Leslie Cheung made two small requests at the time. One was to visit the Summer Palace and the other was to visit Mei Lanfang. Go to the tomb of your husband to offer condolences. A few of us accompany Leslie Cheung to the Summer Palace. It happened to be a Shanghai tour group with more than 100 college students. Since the discovery of Leslie Cheung, these college students surrounded him, screamed and made it crowded. Later we found out that Leslie Cheung's coat was gone. It turned out that these fans crowded crazily and began to tear Leslie Cheung's clothes. Leslie Cheung looked very nervous and helpless. So a few of us started to protect Leslie Cheung and ran out. We were all big men about 1.8 meters tall, but it took a lot of effort to rush out. The fans were crazy. "
Later, Lu Wei accompanied Leslie Cheung to pay homage to Mei Lanfang's tomb. In Lu Wei's impression, Leslie Cheung was very friendly. "He is very friendly to people. We did not choose the wrong person." "
④ "It's too difficult to write a first-class novel into a first-class movie."
From "Farewell My Concubine" to "Alive", the two film works that made Lu Wei famous are based on the original novel. The transformation from literary works to good movies What are the key points and difficulties? Lu Wei said that it is very difficult to adapt first-class novels into first-class movies. “Fictions and movies are two types of carriers and two categories. Looking back at the history of film, it is difficult for classic literature to turn into classic movies, such as the classic novel "War and Peace." The film adapted has little influence and is far inferior to novels. Classic novels are adapted into classic movies. Hardy's novel "Tess of the D'urbervilles" is an example. "Tess" adapted from this novel is excellent. "
Sometimes it is very possible that second-rate novels are adapted into classic movies," such as "The Godfather", the original novel is considered second-rate, and the film is a classic movie. "
⑤ "I don't like the current movie "White Deer Plain""
Lu Wei said, Chen Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" is a classic novel, "The film "White Deer Plain" directed by Wang Quanan has a small influence, a lot of saliva, and a bad box office. "Lu Wei admitted that he only "participated" in the movie "White Deer Plain" and recommended Wang Quanan to direct it. "I watched Wang Quanan's "Sting" before, and I admire that film very much. The documentary performance of that film is very good. it is good. Later, we collaborated on "Tuya's Marriage", the screenwriter I did, and the film was very true to contemporary Mongolian grasslands. "
later made "White Deer Plain" and Lu Wei was the screenwriter. "I wrote the script, and Wang Quanan wrote the script himself. He gave up my content. Later, he felt that it was not good enough and used some of the content in my script. Many, about twenty scenes. "
After the rough cut of Wang Quanan's movie "White Deer Plain", please watch the version for more than three hours. "I especially don't like it. Wang Quanan can control documentary performances. He cannot shoot dramatic performances." "White Deer Plain" is a highly dramatic work. "The name of the screenwriter of the
movie "White Deer Plain" was signed by Wang Quan'an and Lu Wei at the beginning. "At Lu Wei's insistence, Lu Wei did not sign in the screenwriter of the movie "White Deer Plain".
⑥ "Chen Kaige's shortcoming is that he is not good at telling stories."
Lu Wei and Chen Kaige collaborated on the world-renowned "Farewell My Concubine". Lu Wei recalls that Chen Kaige has A bewilderment, "He asked me, "The Yellow Land" and "Farewell My Concubine" didn't take much effort, how did they become it? How hard is "Fengyue", why can't it be done? "Reed said, "Chen Kaige's shortcomings are not plot narratives, but they can't tell stories." "The implication is that the successful script of "Farewell My Concubine" made Chen Kaige a lot easier. When Chen Kaige made "Jing Ke Assassinate King Qin", the screenwriter was not Lu Wei. The executive director asked Lu Wei to read the script. Lu Wei felt unreliable and could not implement it." The director said to me, you still listen to the triumphant song. "After reading the script, Reed wrote the questions on the paper, with a total of 20 opinions. "When I was talking with Chen Kaige, he was talking about the play with Jiang Wen. I waited for a long time. Later I said if you agree with my opinion. I can change it for you. Veuve said that for the script, I am very practical. "Lu Wei said that he can only hope that this movie will succeed. Since then, Lu Wei watched it.Later, I thought that there were a lot of flaws, "This film is not good at the box office and film reviews. There is also "Taoist Down the Mountain". There is no plot. The shortcomings of Triumph are that the plot narrative chain cannot be connected.
⑦"How do the film and television lines speak human words? I suggest watching two films."
Lu Wei is known as China's number one film screenwriter and is highly respected in the industry. He published the movie script "White Deer Plain", and the book soon went out of stock. The screenwriters need to write a good story, what kind of cultivation is required, Lu Wei has his own opinion, "I suggest that they do not follow the fashion, they must study the classics, and a solid analysis of the classics. The classics here are not just genres, but various types of art. , Classic novels, classic music, classic movies, etc. These classics are obvious to all, and they are left after time selection, such as film magazine publications, selection of ten films of the year, etc., we can directly take them and study them. They are mine Teacher." When
was communicating with the students of the Film School of Shandong University of Arts, these future film creators told Lu Wei that the scripts they wrote were always too literary, and were criticized by the teacher as "non-talking", Lu Wei said, " Young creators have little practical experience, and the lines they write are easily divorced from the reality of life, and are considered unrealistic. For this situation, I suggest that you read less literary books, read more local slang texts, and suggest to watch two movies , One is "Teahouse" written by Mr. Lao She, the other is "Catch the Zhuang Ding", both films make extensive use of common slang. I can recite all the lines of the movie "Teahouse", and I can recite 80% of the lines of "Catch the Zhuang Ding" Memorize it."
Reed also provides an operable way to write a good script, that is, to write the script with a diary mentality, "Every one of us writes a diary, because we don’t show it to others, but what we write is our own truth. Mindset. I used to write a diary, write all the bad things I did, and write the script with a diary mentality, and the characters written must be real."
Qilu Evening News·Qilu One Point Reporter Ni Zifang
