Chinese film presents the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, "My Motherland and Me" has been released in full on September 30. Seven top Chinese directors, seven historical moments remembered by the whole people, seven ordinary Chinese people collided with the head-on of the times, seven destiny-changing energy bursts, seven shocking and heart-stirring story units merged into this movie .
From the box office numbers and audience reputation, it is not difficult to see that this film will become the box office champion of the National Day file and will trigger a nationwide movie watching boom. The film also truly achieved the effect of the twelve-character policy set at the beginning of its creation: "The memory of the whole people collided head-on in historical moments."
At the premiere of the film, the author of "First Line" met with the film's chief director Chen Kaige. On the day of the premiere, the directors shuttled between the various theaters to meet and communicate with the audience. Chen Kaige is no exception. In the gap of the running hall, he sits in front of the camera and exchanges the behind-the-scenes story of the film creation with "First Line". Although I can see a bit exhausted, Director Chen Kaige still expresses his affection and fist in "Day Meteor".
Among the seven story units, Chen Kaige's "Day Meteor" is obviously the most prominent of his personal style. Compared with the straightforward titles of several other story units, it is not difficult to feel the poetry and romance of the creator from this point alone. The
story unit tells the story of a pair of Gobi Desert wandering brothers played by Liu Haoran and Chen Feiyu. After meeting the retired director of the Poverty Alleviation Office played by Tian Zhuangzhuang, the confused two have quietly changed their lives.
Chen Kaige’s story unit enhances the film’s "movie feel" and humanistic color, and sublimates historical moments with rich symbolic techniques. The wandering brothers are like Jean Valjean, and the director is relative to the bishop. The two have been transformed by the director's kind deeds. He even turned the "Shenzhou" back to the motherland poem into the "daylight meteor" in the prairie fable, inspiring people to change their destiny.
Chen Kaige expressed his sincerity when creating this story: "I remember when I was filming "The Yellow Earth" 35 years ago, I saw this land on the plateau in northern Shaanxi. This land is in spring, and you can feel that it is tender. , A passionate piece of high heaven and thick soil."
"I have a special feeling for the land, especially for the vast land. We China is a country with a vast territory. Only with land can there be people and the concept of land."
talks With the two leading actors, he revealed that the two not only have challenges in modeling, but also have to perform "clear eyes", which requires high performance. He is not willing to directly comment on Chen Feiyu's performance in the film, but from his verbal expressions, it is not difficult to feel the pride and pride of a father.
As the chief director, he also appreciates the works of several other directors, especially Ning Hao's "Hello Beijing": "Not hypocritical." He concluded.
Tencent "First Line": As the chief director of the film, what vision did you have for the film when you first planned it?
Chen Kaige: When we first started working on this film, we had a team. In fact, there are only two people in the group, me and director Huang Jianxin. At that time, the other directors hadn't decided yet, they just decided who was the chief director and who was the chief producer. At this time, both of us were dumbfounded. Later, director Zhang Yibai came in to discuss together-three heads and Zhuge Liang, just like this. After
, we came up with a 12-character policy of "Historical Moments, National Memory, Head-on Collision". It can be said that without this 12-character policy, we simply don't know how to do such a play. So many things have happened in the past 70 years. Where do we look at, what are the angles, what events can enter our sight, and what are not? There are many difficult questions.
In addition, the whole film is made from scratch and needs to be completed in a very short time. I was the first to start shooting, and it was already in March this year. After that, how to integrate the seven stories so that it is both a separate unit and a whole requires a very complex integration work. We first selected about 30 historical events and selected directors at the same time. After all 7 directors were selected, we basically knew what kind of film to make and what style.
Two points are particularly worth mentioning: First, we want to make a story that is related to people. If you just record events, it becomes a documentary. What we want to film is how the Chinese people have struggled hard in the past 70 years, goPromote the story of a strong country. At the same time, there are ordinary people who are warm and humane. They are not all great people and leaders in a big event. I also feel that the driving force behind the wheel of history is the masses. This is very important. The second point of
is the four words "high and affectionate". This is a tribute movie, so there is a standard for measuring which subject matter cannot be entered. This is why we have been screening for a long time and selected these 7 directors, all of which can be proud and affectionate.
Tencent "First Line": Your story unit best reflects this 12-character policy. The relationship between the two brothers and Director Li is particularly similar to the relationship between Valjean and the protagonist in Les Misérables. Why is this story created like this?
Chen Kaige: First of all, we must start with Lao Li played by Tian Zhuangzhuang. In fact, Tian Zhuangzhuang and I both have affection for this character. We all went to remote areas to jump in at a very young age, but among the 20 million educated youths, only a handful of them stayed in the frontier in this life, so Lao Li is one of them.
So I think he has an unspeakable affection for this land. I think this kind of emotion is in the blood and bone marrow. I suddenly remembered that when I was shooting "The Yellow Earth" 35 years ago, I went to the northern Shaanxi Plateau. I saw this land. It was in the spring. You can feel that it is warm and affectionate. When I visited Dunhuang this time, I felt similar. So I feel that I have a special feeling for the land, especially the vast land. China is a country with a vast territory. Only when there is land can there be people and the concept of land.
So these two children grew up on this land, and they also have feelings for the land, so as long as they appear in an instant, they can change their lives. This requires them to witness the landing of Shenzhou 11 with their own eyes. Lao Li did it intentionally, and he believed that these two children could be changed. Change is a momentary matter. After colliding head-on with historical scenes, they can catch up with the times just like riding a horse. We also used two shots of teenagers riding horses (to express this).
This is my general concept in creation. We should care about our compatriots who are still underdeveloped.
Tencent's "First Line": The shot of a young man riding a horse and whip in the sunset is very beautiful. As the chief director, there are relatively few visual wonders like this in the other six story units. Is there such a focus?
Chen Kaige: I feel that this is my understanding of movies. I hope to make my film "Day Meteor" highly cinematic. The concrete manifestation of the high degree of cinematography is that the shooting technique is realistic, passionate, sincere, and simple.
I ask the actors to be living, not acting, especially under the leadership of Teacher Tian Zhuangzhuang. Several other actors, especially young actors, are particularly able to understand. However, the ultimate goal to be achieved with realist methods is not to restore reality, but to exceed reality. It is what we call poetic, romantic, and lyrical. Spur on the horse and run on the Gobi, it can stir up your own passion.
When I heard astronaut Jing Haipeng say "01 feels good", I don't know why, but I feel extremely excited. The boy collided head-on with the most high-tech astronaut at that moment, and the time for change came. That's it.
I think people, land, and sky are the most precious wealth our country has. In the face of such a big environment, you can't remain unmoved.
Tencent "Yi Xian": The title "Daytime Meteor" itself is an astronomical term, but also a bit poetic, reminding everyone of "Daytime Fireworks". Is there such a factor?
Chen Kaige: I like this statement very much. During the day, in theory, you cannot see meteors because the sunlight is too strong. This is a symbolic and metaphorical name, and it is beautiful. As Director Tian Zhuangzhuang said, this story is a dream on the Gobi Desert. I think what he said is particularly right. This daytime meteor can bring them new hope. Just like in Siziwang Banner (Space Landing Field, located in Ulanchabu City, Inner Mongolia), the children there are really changed, and they are all instantly changed by the history they have experienced.
Tencent "First Line": The looks of Chen Feiyu and Liu Haoran still surprised everyone. How long did you let them experience life?
Chen Kaige: This should be the normal state of being an actor. What you act like is the most basic. The two of them went a few days before us,Do the styling first, first look at the local customs. I think Dunhuang people are quite simple, really like the common people you saw many years ago. After making this look, they had no complaints at all, saying it was not good-looking or something. They played two ethnic Mongolian brothers, as you can tell from their names. I also asked them to speak local dialects, which greatly increased the authenticity. They made a lot of hard work, including dirty hands, dirty faces, and worn-out clothes, but their eyes are very clear, which is amazing.
Tencent's "First Line": There is still a bit of pride and pride in the tone. When choosing an actor, how do you choose who will be your brother and who will be your brother?
Chen Kaige: Haoran is a little older, and he has also played some good plays in this industry. Of course he should be his brother.
Tencent's "First Line": My brother is more likely to cause trouble, and the drama is more contradictory.
Chen Kaige: That elder brother takes his younger brother, and it must be the elder brother who is in charge.
Tencent's "First Line": You said at the press conference that your childhood memories of the day the atomic bomb was successful are very clear. You followed the crowd of celebrations from Xisi to Wangfujing (both names of Beijing) directed by Zhang Yibai's "Meeting" Do the pictures in "come from your memory?
Chen Kaige: I have actually mentioned these memories to them. When the subject matter was first determined, my job responsibilities required me to make some proposals for everyone. For example, "The Eve" directed by Guan Hu is a story I heard told by an artist from the Beijing Film Studio who was one of the participants in the founding ceremony. We unfold the whole story with such elements. Director Guan Hu has done a very detailed work and turned it into a story unit.
The first atomic bomb exploded on October 16, 1964, and it means a lot to China. At that time I was very young, and I didn't understand what the excitement of the adults meant in the end, but when you were infected, you felt that it was a big deal, so you followed the crowd so far. I feel that as the chief director, I should make proposals to several other directors about what feasible themes to shoot, and also share with them what I felt at the time. Look at the "People's Daily" extravaganza filmed by Director Zhang Yibai, that is what I have actually seen with my own eyes.
Tencent's "First Line": When the directors create separately, how do they feed back on the progress of the script with you?
Chen Kaige: They will tell me about the progress of the script and what kind of characters are the characters in the story, and of course they will also tell me director Huang Jianxin. All of them are very good, and I will also give them some suggestions, what should be done, how it might be strengthened, etc. This is where my job responsibility lies, and I should do it. But to be honest, I fully respect the choice and autonomy of every director in his own creation. I can't tell them that if you have to shoot like this, then he will be wrong. It is precisely because of the different styles of the seven directors that I heard many people tell me today that you are poetic, romantic, and visually shocking. I think some films may not focus on this, such as the "Return" filmed by director Xue Xiaolu, which is a sigh of breath-this second must not be too late. The national flag must be raised on time and the national anthem played. Her focus is on this. local.
Tencent "First Line": Seeing the creation of various directors, are you also surprised by their creativity?
Chen Kaige: When I read the script, there are indeed some that I like very much. For example, Ning Hao's "Hello Beijing". The best thing about him is that he is not hypocritical. He didn't mean to shoot a tall person, a particularly selfless person, who could easily give this admission ticket to others. He has the inner logic of his own story, and the authenticity of the characters lies there.
Tencent's "First Line": Now audiences across the country have seen a moving and exciting blockbuster. What is the director's own plan next?
Chen Kaige: I think film creation is my lifelong affair. (Laughs) I'm still thinking about it. Especially after the appearance of a movie like "My Motherland and Me", I really think everyone likes it. It also opened a new way. It is not dry, warm, and moist, and it is connected to the hearts of ordinary people. . I have to think again, think about what to do next.
