Elephant News·Oriental Today Chief Reporter Wu Jingjing
How does it feel to work with Wong Kar-wai? Some actors only do this once and will not make an appointment next time. For example... there are too many! Some actors are so depressed that they mop the floor with tears when they go home, but they still enjoy the process of creating characters with them, so they have collaborated many times to create countless famous films, such as Tony Leung; others come easily, He acted casually, without any internal friction, and performed classics carelessly, such as Faye Wong! How did Hu Ge feel about it? He said that working with Wong Kar-Wai was like falling in love! With the popularity of Jiangsu Satellite TV's "Flowers", this film In this TV series directed by Wong Kar-wai for the first time, all the actors have "Wong Kar-wai charm". Every smile and every move in the camera can make people think about it again and again. For the audience, this is a long-lost and brand-new drama-watching experience, and for the actors, it is also a rare filming experience. Therefore, during the interview, Hu Ge said with a smile, "This filming of "Flowers" was like a dream."
When we first met
, we imagined that one person would play the role of the triangle
"I have been exposed to director Wong Kar-wai's works since middle school. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to meet him, let alone that I would appear in his works." In 2017, Hu Ge met Wong Kar-wai for the first time. "At that time, I received a call saying that Director Wong Kar-Wai wanted to meet me. When I arrived at the agreed place, I saw Director Wang wearing his iconic sunglasses. To be honest, I was very nervous at the time because I have loved watching Director Wang since middle school. His works, he is my idol in my heart." That day, Wong Kar-wai and Hu Ge talked a lot about their views on the novel "Flowers" and Hu Ge's own growth experience. "Director Wang first considered me to play A Bao. Later, he wanted me to play the role of three triangles, Hu Sheng, Xiao Mao and A Bao at the same time. Because at that time, someone watched my performance in the play "A Dream Like a Dream" , I felt that I could see many faces of me on the stage, so Director Wang came up with this plan."
Of course, the idea of one person playing three roles is just a "flash in the pan." In the end, Wong Kar-wai cut out the complexities and simplified the story, choosing only Po as the core character, which also allowed Hu Ge to concentrate on returning to Po's world. In order to play this role well, Hu Ge, including the entire crew, made full preparations. "Before we officially joined the group, we had a three-year preparation period. Under the leadership of Director Wang, we collected a lot of information about that era and invited experts in stocks and 'old masters' from foreign trade companies, etc. As the 'brain force', I provide guidance to the crew at any time. Before filming starts, the actors also arrive early and immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the 1990s."
The atmosphere of the times created by Wong Kar-wai also evoked Hu Ge’s childhood memories. For example, the 1:1 restoration of the Yellow River Road in the play made Hu Ge quite emotional: "Although I have never eaten on the Yellow River Road, I have passed by the Yellow River Road, and the Yellow River Road in my impression is just like the one shown in the play. In that way, the neon red is eye-catching, and thousands of flowers are like a sea."
Provides emotional value
Collaborating with Wong Kar-Wai is like falling in love
The background of the story of "Flowers" is set in Shanghai in the early 1990s. It takes the young Abao as the protagonist and describes how he seized opportunities and used courage in the spring breeze of reform and opening up. A story about changing destiny with courage. Hu Ge plays the protagonist Abao in the play. This is the first time Hu Ge has collaborated with Wong Kar-Wai. In his opinion, this cooperation is more like falling in love. "You will be very nervous and uneasy at the beginning, always wandering between confidence and unconfidence. Slowly you will find that as long as he is around, you will feel at ease, much like falling in love."
"Flowers" The drama was filmed for a total of three years, and the long cycle also affected the emotions of the actors, and Wong Kar-wai provided stable emotional comfort. "After the filming, everyone was on the verge of collapse, and there was a lot of pressure in all aspects. But looking at Director Wang who was energetic and meticulous on the set, and seeing him go back to meetings and write scripts after filming every day, everything... The tiredness disappeared instantly and I felt like I could do it again.”
In the play, A Bao has many rivalry scenes with Lingzi (played by Ma Yili), Miss Wang (played by Tang Yan), and Li Li (played by Xin Zhilei). The relationship between each character and A Bao will make the audience speculate. In Hu Ge's view, the relationship between Lingzi and Abao is that of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. "Abao is Zhu Bajie, and Lingzi is Sun Wukong. He is always at the front to overcome obstacles for Zhu Bajie, letting Zhu Bajie sit back and enjoy the results."
Miss Wang and Abao are talking about the relationship between the second hand and the minute hand. "Do you think the second hand and the minute hand meet once every 60 seconds? Wrong. It is 61 seconds. Because when the second hand makes one revolution, the minute hand has already moved forward one frame. But it’s actually not 61 seconds, it’s a little longer than 61 seconds, because when the second hand moves for another second, the minute hand moves forward a little bit.” So in his opinion, the intersection between these two people is always more important than everyone else’s. I think it's a little further away.
As for Abao and Li Li, Hu Ge believes that they are like the sky and the sea, mirroring each other and full of mystery. "The sky and the sea are very far apart, but when you watch the sunrise and sunset, you find that they are connected together, seemingly separated."
Interpreting the story of his father's generation
Hoping to get back the feeling of Li Xiaoyao
"Flowers" depicts the joys, sorrows and joys experienced by Shanghai people in the changing times, as well as the diligent, tenacious, wise and affectionate living conditions. For Hu Ge, this is a pursuit of the memory of his father's generation and a supplement to his imagination of the past years. ""Flowers" tells the story of my parents' generation. I have been interested in my parents' growth experience since I was a child, but every time I try to understand them, I always feel that there are some things they are unwilling to say. , even unwilling to recall. So when I saw "Flowers", I was attracted immediately." He felt that this was another way to understand the past of his father's generation.
""Flowers" tells a story in the 1990s, when I was in elementary school." It is very limited to see the changes of the times from a child's perspective. But when Hu Ge recalled it later, he also remembered that adults at that time were very busy. "Like my father, he was also doing business with a group of friends at that time, trying to change his life through his own efforts, and he had very little time at home. Sometimes I would hear my parents talking about someone around me who became rich overnight. As the narration in our play said, some people become rich overnight, and some people return to zero in half a day."
During the performance, Wong Kar-wai once mentioned some Hu Ge, and when performing Abao, he should have the feeling of Li Xiaoyao, "I believe that in that era "There are many young people like Abao who want to seize opportunities in the wave of the times and change their destiny and life through their own efforts. But after experiencing the ups and downs, you will find that the most important thing is love and righteousness."
(Elephant News)
