Ning Hao Picture/provided by the respondent
At 8 pm on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month in 2023, director Ning Hao appeared in the video conference. He was wearing a pair of flat glasses and looked slightly tired. The Chinese New Year is coming in five days, and his new film "Mr. Red Carpet" will be released, so for a week he has been facing one interview after another from noon to evening. When we arrived, it was finally his last work trip before the year. Both parties started with a very polite and sincere attitude: "I'm really happy to see you (you)."
This was just a few days after the last movie "Ning Hao" independently directed by Ning Hao. It’s been five years since Crazy Aliens (2019) was released. "Mr. Red Carpet" stars Andy Lau, who invested in him to shoot "Crazy Stone" 18 years ago. It tells a story: the big star Liu Weichi played by Andy Lau failed to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, and director Lin Hao (played by Ning Hao) I plan to make a rural-themed movie to break through myself. Liu Weichi, a frustrated middle-aged man, deals with the attention of his wife, investors, directors, farmers, and the public. He repeatedly falls into misunderstandings and aphasia. The film uses this to reveal the inevitable nature of communication barriers.
When participating in a live broadcast at Station B, Ning Hao was asked, what inspiration can young people get from "Mr. Red Carpet"? He said: "It seems that we have just hit it now. (Everyone) says that the world is a grass-roots team. What I am telling is the story of why the grass-roots team is a grass-roots team."
In October 2023, "Mr. Red Carpet" was screened at the Pingyao International Film Festival, with French director Luc ·Besson went to see it specially. He saw Ning Hao waiting at the screening to see the audience's reaction. "He wants to be better, he's not the kind of artist who says, 'This is my thing, I don't care what you think,'" Luc Besson said.
However, in the Spring Festival season, which is dominated by relaxed and positive colors, "Mr. Red Carpet" is not popular. According to data released by "Maoyan Professional Edition", on the third day of its release, its film schedule accounted for less than 4%, and its box office accounted for less than 1%.
I was tired of shooting noisy things and wanted to do something cool, Ning Hao told us.
After the two early ultra-low-cost, art-house films "Incense" (2003) and "Green Grass" (2005), Ning Hao began his era. In the public's mind, all of Ning Hao's directorial works, from "Crazy Stone" (2006) to "Crazy Alien", are mostly lively, fast-paced, and flamboyant, with distinctive styles that the public is willing to pay for. type of movie.
Ning Hao is a name that has been written into the history of the development of Chinese genre films. At the beginning of the 21st century, neither the domestic film market nor the film academic community had sufficient awareness of the importance of genre films. “At that time, there were not many filmmakers who could say confidently that in order to succeed and expand the film market, genre films must be the main focus. Even those who had opinions were relatively vague about what genre films were. " said Wang Hongwei, associate professor of the Directing Department of Beijing Film Academy.
At that time, Ning Hao, who was less than 30 years old, was studying at the Beijing Film Academy. He simply wanted to make "good-looking movies", and his teacher Wang Hongwei became his producer. In 2006, "Crazy Stone" turned out. As one of the first genre film models in the history of Chinese films, this "commercial genre film that relies purely on story, plot, performance, and (thinking about) how to attract people" was really rare at the time.
Since then, private investment has seen the possibility of making money from genre films. Almost all of director Ning Hao's works have achieved a small gain in the box office: "Crazy Stone" invested about 3 million, and the box office was 23 million; "Crazy Racing" (2009) invested just over 10 million, and the box office was 100 million, making Ning Hao became the fourth "Billion Dollar Club" director in mainland China after Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige; then "No Man's Land" (2013) was a slight failure (only for him), with only nearly 300 million box office; but soon "Heart" "Flowers on the Road" (2014), with a production cost of 30 million yuan, earned more than 1.1 billion at the box office, making him the fourth mainland director to have a box office of more than 1 billion.
"At that time, I had to receive countless copies of "The Stone" every year. When enrolling students, I asked who I wanted to be like among Chinese directors in the future. In the following ten years, Ning Hao was mentioned most frequently. It's the highest." Wang Hongwei recalled.From "Crazy Stone" to "Crazy Alien", Wang Hongwei and Ning Hao have collaborated for more than ten years. It was also during this period that the evolution of a generation of commercial genre filmmakers, including Ning Hao, was completed.
Ning Hao also did other things. In 2012, "The Golden Heist" was released, and Ning Hao's own company, Bad Monkey Pictures, was established. Four years later, he launched the "Bad Monkey 72 Movie Project" and signed 13 directors in the first phase, which was later expanded to 19. Ning Hao said to the director who was one of the support targets in that group and who later filmed "All or Nothing" when he applied for the Olympics, that directors are not produced one by one, but are produced in batches from one era to the next.
Bad Monkey quickly made a name for himself with several hit movies, most of which were based on realistic themes, including "I'm Not the God of Medicine" (2018), which was adapted from real people's events, and "The Beneficiary" (2019), which was about "insurance fraud". ), "Miracle: Stupid Kid" (2022), which tells the history of the development of little people, etc. The most recent is the anti-fraud movie "Desperate", which will be released in the summer of 2023 and grossed nearly 4 billion in box office. Ning Hao appears on the creative list of these films as a producer.
His own creation seemed to have fallen into a slump for a while. After "Crazy Alien", he didn't know what to shoot anymore. In the main theme movies "My Homeland and Me" (2019) and "My Hometown and Me" (2020), he filmed two stories from different eras. The protagonists are both warm-hearted little people Zhang Beijing, who has the open embrace of the old era. and a character that is not self-interested but only beneficial to others.
However, Ning Hao has always tried to maintain the creator's sense of observing and responding to the current era. "Perhaps I will always worry about (whether the touch is sensitive), just like a pianist worries about his ears, and a painter worries about his eyesight. That (touch) is the most important, the most important thing for a creative person A weapon is to be able to experience the world."
Before the official release of "Mr. Red Carpet", we chatted with Ning Hao about the creation of the film, as well as his views on communication barriers, short videos, what movies are, etc. think.
Stills from the movie "Mr. Red Carpet"
Conversation with Ning Hao
With so many communication tools, our relationship is getting farther and farther
Southern People Weekly: The theme of "Mr. Red Carpet" is about communication between people, full of Obstacles and inability to understand, you have also mentioned that this comes from your experience after middle age, so is a similar situation obvious to you? Or where does this feeling come from?
Ning Hao: comes more from social observation. Of course, I also have some experience. In fact, I am thinking that we are going through a very big change, and the production form of the entire society is going through a very big change.
Although the cities where I was a child were also called cities, those cities were clustered with various factories and mines. A person's life is quite fixed and stable, and the scope of communication is quite limited. A small stall may support a lifetime.
Changes in the era - the great flow of population has been going on for a long time, there are also changes in production methods, industrial and commercial civilization has further entered life, etc. Compared with the stable working relationships in the past, people's relationships are more random and temporary. These rapid combinations are good for industrial and commercial civilization, but they will inevitably cause some problems. For example, communication problems may not have been so serious before, but now they have appeared. In the past, businesses were all in this community, but in the Internet age, your As customers expand to the entire world, communication becomes more complicated, and problems arise in communication that are ineffective, unsmooth, and one-sided. Because of time and efficiency issues,
can only quickly see some information and make irrational and emotional judgments, which leads to errors, disputes, and constant quarrels. I feel that in this kind of atmosphere, everyone will be anxious and cautious, and then the atmosphere will become quite tense. This tense atmosphere may be felt by everyone.
Southern People Weekly: The population migration, the rise of online shopping and the changes in the entire society you mentioned have existed for about twenty years now in retrospect, and this film was created in the past four or five years. Why? Is it at this node?
Ning Hao: You said will be available in 20 years. In fact, I tell you this because it has reached the stage of mobile Internet terminals. Every technological advancement will deepen this part. For example, in the early years, everyone had to write 500 words when writing a blog. Writing 500 words requires rational thinking and requires one to explain opinions, arguments, and arguments. But when it becomes a mobile terminal, it only needs Say two words, md, sb. The popularity of
(mobile terminals) is actually in the last ten years, including the more comprehensive and informative Douyin and Kuaishou, as well as online shopping and food delivery that have appeared in recent years. The comprehensiveness of these has only been five or six years. In this case, the communication problem I mentioned earlier covers everyone. So I feel that it is still an emerging issue, and this issue has not been sorted out. We have not thought deeply about it. Why can't we talk properly?
Southern People Weekly: It seems that the short development time of is also one of the factors that caused the problem. After the great changes in the media and living environment, people abandoned the original communication mode, but they were unable to adjust in a short time and find a new one. New ways to communicate.
Ning Hao: And you know that online will affect offline, which makes us deal with problems offline sometimes quite extreme and simple. Because the efficiency requirements are very high, sometimes when communicating with customers, it’s OK if I can make a decision, but if I can’t, forget it and I’ll find another company. From time to time, the company will have a round of layoffs, and I will have some discussions with my parents three days after returning home. (Laughs) The waiters have become robots. To order food, you have to scan a QR code, and you can’t ask them which dish is the best.
We have so many communication tools, but as a result, our relationship is getting farther and farther away and getting colder.
The idyllic city in the past has become a cold city now, and the relationship between people has become fast and ineffective. Just like at the end of the movie, Liu Weichi built a self-balancing car in the cold urban group. I felt a little helpless. But times are like that. People can't communicate with each other, and they will always be isolated islands.
Southern People Weekly: When movies attribute the causes of this communication barrier, they often imply that it is because people are arrogant, self-centered, and do not understand what others are thinking. Is this also some kind of influence that this era will have on people?
Ning Hao: Human communication problems have existed since ancient times. The root cause is everyone's conceitedness and self-centeredness. Only when that part is satisfied will people feel happy. Repeatedly affirming oneself is egocentric at best, but arrogant and conceited at worst. This part will indeed expand with the advent of the Internet era.
I will obviously feel that this part of "me" will be stronger, that is, what "I" like and what "I" think are the most important. In fact, the consensus is gradually disintegrating.
Southern People Weekly: So at the beginning of the film, Liu Weichi expresses the meaning of "people's situations, genders, and experiences are different. Communication is impossible and we can only give up communication." This meaning also includes your part. Is attitude part of it?
Ning Hao: is just a proposition of this film. In the end, we really couldn't communicate, but we are still trying to communicate. We can't even have the desire to communicate.
Southern People Weekly: In several of your previous multi-narrative stories, there was an "object" to connect them. The emerald in "Crazy Stone", drugs and money in "Crazy Racing", and "No Man's Land" 》is a falcon, and "Golden Heist" is of course gold. Everyone competes with each other, and items change hands from one side to another, just like several teams in a kickball game, kicking a few good and bad goals. But in this film, the core of the multi-line narrative is a "person", and his experiences connect various people and phenomena. I wonder if this is a change in creation or idea?
Ning Hao: I think this is the case with .At a certain period, the entire social mood was more about desire, material desire. What made us work hard were houses, cars, gold and silver. We have been running for this part for decades. After we are tired of running, or after we feel that we have ended that stage, what becomes important? Naturally, it is not just a piece of material, which seems a bit insufficient.
I also rely on my sense of touch when writing plays, because I rarely buy novels. Most of them are my own original works, so it is actually my feelings about the world and society.
Southern People Weekly: When did your physical sensation end?
Ning Hao: "Heart Blossoms on the Road" (2014). It seems that matter is no longer a particularly important issue, and is quietly changing. At that time, everyone was asking "Are you happy?" So I made a movie about "Are you happy?" (laughing)
Stills from the movie "Crazy Stone"
Comedy about politeness
Southern People Weekly: When you and Andy Lau talked about the role of Liu Weichi, did you talk about the tragedy of people being isolated islands and the inability to communicate? ?
Ning Hao: does not have it. One principle I believe in is not to add too much burden of understanding to the actors, as it may be more troublesome. It’s too much to think about, so it’s better to be concise. In fact, actors are very smart and can read a lot of things from the script, which may not be explained clearly. But my feeling is that it may not be good to make it clear. Actors are people who express themselves more emotionally. Reason is the director's business.
Southern People Weekly: When you first told him about the setting and story, what was his first reaction?
Ning Hao: ’s first reaction was a little confused. I was stunned for a long time, and then I was thinking about it. That look kept looking at me. I felt that it meant-what do you want to do? (Laughs) He has never been exposed to such a subject. He is completely playing himself, but he has never done any of these things, nor has it happened. It would not be good for others to think that he is like this. Everyone may have some worries, and I understand.
But I think this is fun. I said that we are now just like those vlogs and Douyin, recording our own lives. Everyone is the director of their own lives, so we should use the attitude (creation) of recording our own lives. He also agreed. We are all of the same structure.
Southern People Weekly: The role of director Lin Hao in the film also makes the audience feel that it is real and fake. What is it about this character that appeals to you?
Ning Hao: For example, if you have a bad temper, you will get a little anxious when others say it, and you always want to prick others. This may be a bit like me. There will be some differences. I have never learned French, (laughs) I won’t learn French just because I’m going to a film festival.
Southern People Weekly: You said that filming such a character who is somewhat intertextual with yourself will lead to a kind of self-examination, but you only mentioned this sentence at the time. What is that self-examination?
Ning Hao: I realized how fat I was when I was on camera. (Laughs)
actually didn’t shoot too many scenes, just those few scenes. As soon as we came up, I first told him (Liu Weichi) about the script. I said this movie was about communication and prejudice, and he said it should be that (father's love). These two people couldn't even urinate in a pot. I just, um... thought about it, but didn't say anything. I found that this is quite like me: if I have something to say, I can’t always say it to my face.
Liu Weichi went to experience life, and the two began to compliment each other again - only you can (do) this, or you have experience. So he took the opportunity to mention father's love again, and I immediately asked the scriptwriter to mention father's love.
Southern People Weekly: Does have more offensive settings or plots in the script stage?
Ning Hao: I think is actually within a certain standard and is not particularly offensive. I have always said that this comedy is a comedy about manners and remains civilized.When I was writing, everything was actually reasonable. For example, when he (Liu Weichi) seemed to be involved in an emotional scene with Summer (the female director who shot the short video in the film), he was already divorced and had no moral integrity. restricted area; for example, when he was communicating with his agent, and finally got emotional and took action, we handled it until he just threw something, not really punched. It's basically a joke attitude.
Southern People Weekly: After "Mr. Red Carpet" was screened at the Toronto Film Festival, you mentioned in an exclusive interview with "variety" that your past films paid more attention to blue-collar workers, and slowly everyone came out of the factory and into the office building. The composition of the film And aesthetics turned to the aesthetics of white-collar workers and offices. Is it because of this that the aesthetics of "Mr. Red Carpet", including "My Hometown and Me", are different from those of previous works? Is this a conscious change?
Ning Hao: You are so sensitive, "Hometown" has noticed it. This lens language should be relatively similar to the lens language of "Hometown". It is a bit similar to the previous filming of "Green Grass", basically based on the rhythm of panoramic narrative.
I tend to make my movies a little colder, and I am also looking for new possibilities for progress. Just try it, you don’t know (what will happen), you can only try. I looked at the issue discussed in Toronto from the perspective of global cinema, but I was also thinking about how to combine these two styles. I was a little tired of making very noisy movies.
In the movie "My Hometown and Me", "Beijing Good People" directed by Ning Hao
Southern People Weekly: Why did such a change happen?
Ning Hao: is old. When I look at it now, I feel old.
Southern People Weekly: Do you think may be old compared to the (current) era, or does it look old based on your personal taste in film aesthetics?
Ning Hao: I think the "Crazy Stone" type of thing has been talked about for almost 20 years (laughing). It seemed to be a very trendy thing at the time, but in fact it is no longer a new approach. Well, a lot of people are taking pictures, it’s become a routine. Without innovation, it doesn’t excite me.
Southern People Weekly: The cold style of all comes from your own thinking, or does it also come from some sources?
Ning Hao: There are a number of directors in Northern Europe who make such relatively cold films, including the director of the popular "Triangle of Tragedy", Aki, and Roy Anderson. Japan's Takeshi Kitano is also a very cold and minimalist director. . There is a saying in America called "less is more club". I am looking for breakthroughs that combine with my subject matter in this simplicity, and I am looking for this possibility.
Southern People Weekly: As for "Mr. Red Carpet", using a relatively cold shooting method to collide with this theme and story, what were some of them that were quite breakthrough for you at the time?
Ning Hao: has a very small number of shots this time, more than 300 shots, which should be a bit extreme. Today's commercial films generally require 2,000 shots. But this story actually contains a lot of information. We have to explain everything clearly in so few shots. I think the efficiency of the narrative is quite high. This is a technology. It is more fun for me to complete this and use this part to combine a good narrative.
Southern People Weekly: After trying out this stage of , what do you think can be used as experience?
Ning Hao: In fact, does not have it. It is a feeling that I am groping and finding my own status. I just walked in. I want to make simpler films, and I have been working hard since "Heart Blossoms on the Road", trying to be slower and simpler. Later, when I was playing "Hometown", it became more clear that I wanted to return to the state of "Incense" and "Green Grass". I actually really want to go back to that state.
If there is an impact, then impact it.
Southern People Weekly: There is a storyline in "Mr. Red Carpet" in which Liu Weichi will act in a short video. You have said that the arrival of the short video era is actually a revolution in images. Short videos give creative rights to In everyone’s hands, when did you realize that it brought about the liberation of information? Does it cause you personal anxiety?
Ning Hao: I knew it would be like this since I could take pictures with my mobile phone (laughing). About ten years ago, I often said that the combination of image production and the Internet would become a watershed in education. It would be a new printing technology and a new text. Their emergence would outlaw (existing) communication methods, and in the future it would be like Writing is also a necessary skill, and it will eventually dilute the power of the entire image and disenchant the movie.
I think it’s okay if there is impact. If there is impact, just impact. I don’t think I have to defend this matter. There is nothing to defend, right? The trend of history is what matters. What's so important about your job? You can also do Douyin and short videos.
Southern People Weekly: Is going with the trend?
Ning Hao: I have nothing to worry about what is bound to happen. And don’t I still have something to eat now? Good.
Southern People Weekly: Will it have any impact on your creative outlook? As you mentioned before, the way short videos directly record life is actually closer to reality than what is shot in movies, because they themselves are real.
Ning Hao: So we produced "Mr. Red Carpet". You filmed you cutting fish at the vegetable market every day. Okay, I also filmed us filming on the set every day, and we all produced our own real things. It was quite interesting.
Southern People Weekly: But the “truth” of short videos and the “truth” of artistic creation are actually two different things.
Ning Hao: can learn from it in terms of material selection. I think it is still different in terms of length. We make videos, and I know very well that it only takes one minute to make an audience laugh. If you want to make him cry, there is no 15-minute narrative and you cannot enter the emotional level. If I want him to think, it will take more than 40 minutes. If it’s discussion and argument, then I’m sorry, it will take two hours.
Southern People Weekly: In "Thirteen Invitations" you also mentioned a question, that is, hesitating whether to make a movie? Has this question persisted for several years?
Ning Hao: This kind of problem has always been there. People who don’t have long-term concerns must have immediate worries, right? In fact, my biggest dilemma is that I always say that I am someone who doesn’t want to roll, and I don’t want to roll in the same track. I originally did this job because I didn’t want to do it, right? All other tracks are special. Now I don't know why I got rolled up again, and the surroundings have turned into a track again, and I feel a little uncomfortable.
Southern People Weekly: When did you feel the volume around you?
Ning Hao: has been around for about ten years. I don’t know if it has really become a business after the film became highly industrialized. (Laughs) In the past, when it wasn’t a business, it was like extracurricular activities or hobby groups, so it wasn’t very involved. One day I discovered that my hobby actually turned into a job.
Southern People Weekly: Just mentioned what would you do if you were not a director? What kind of life will you live?
Ning Hao: Live life in . Anything is possible. I am willing to find something that I am interested in doing. It doesn't matter if I can find something more interesting.
Li Xiuwen (writer, producer of "Crazy Alien", literary consultant of "Mr. Red Carpet") I very much agree with what he said. He said that after the age of 40, you should use all your strength to defend your own life. I think he said it very well. There is no need to give time to things that you think are not important.
Southern People Weekly: What do you want to defend?
Ning Hao: I think doing creative work is actually the part that makes me happy.
Southern People Weekly: Andy Lau said in a live broadcast that the filming of "Mr. Red Carpet" was a bit like returning to the filming mentality of his twenties. He said that if he returns to the mentality of his twenties for acting, he may not be able to return. . Don't know how you feel? Is it really possible to regain the feeling of the original extracurricular interest group?
Ning Hao: I think is okay, and it’s okay now.
Southern People Weekly: is pretty good.
Ning Hao: Congratulations on . (laughing)
Southern People Weekly reporter Meng Yiyi Zhang Yuxin
editor-in-chief Yang Jingru
