Another year of Cannes is here, and another year Zhao Tao is nominated.
The 77th Cannes Film Festival announced the shortlist of films. The film "The Romantic Generation" directed by Jia Zhangke was announced to be shortlisted for the main competition of this year's Cannes Film Festival. The film stars actor Zhao Tao, with special appearances by Zhou You, Nishina and others. It is Jia Zhangke It has been shortlisted for the main competition unit of the Cannes Film Festival for the sixth time in 22 years.
The film tells the story of how a Chinese woman experienced the hustle and bustle of life in silence. It is worth noting that the filming cycle of the film lasted from 2001 to 2023, which also lasted 22 years.
In the past 22 years, for every movie nominated by Jia Zhangke, Zhao Tao will also be nominated for the heroine, winning and losing again and again. In the eyes of everyone, Zhao Tao is Jia Zhangke's muse. Zhao Tao is also the woman who has been filming Jia Zhangke's movies for so many years. Therefore, rather than saying that the two are artists and muses, viewers who really know them know that the two of them are the type of people who help each other along the way. However, even under such circumstances, people still seem to be unable to forget Jia Zhangke's Phoenix Man experience. Every time there is news about Jia Zhangke and Zhao Tao, everyone always brings up the old story.
The trinity of muse husband and wife partners
When the media at home and abroad describe the couple Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke, they always call Zhao Tao the muse of Jia Zhangke. In the world of artists, the relationship between the muse and the artist is the relationship between gazing and being gazed. The existence of the muse can inspire unlimited inspiration in the artist just by standing there.
It sounds like the two are complementary, but in fact people will always think that the muse is the product of the artist's gaze, and will never regard the muse as a separate and different individual existence.
What Zhao Tao is to Jia Zhangke is far more than that.
It is common for famous directors and actresses to have a relationship between artists and muses, such as Zhang Yimou and Gong Li, Jiang Wen and Zhou Yun, etc.
Not surprisingly, people take it for granted that the same is true for Jia Zhangke and Zhao Tao. As a director, Jia Zhangke has been pushing Zhao Tao to move forward, but the actual situation is far more than that.
The movies made by Jia Zhangke are realistic, and the stories of the two people are also very realistic. The two of them have always supported each other in their creations. The movie "The World" is based on Zhao Tao's real experience in Shenzhen, and the material was also taken from the same place. During the filming, Zhao Tao also met the teachers and classmates who were interns at the time.
Zhao Tao is not a dodder. He expressed in interviews time and time again that he hopes he can win the Best Actress at Cannes and will continue to attack this goal. He is full of ambition and power. Moreover, according to the current domestic business model, as far as Jia Zhangke’s award-winning resume is concerned, he can earn a lot of money by being a producer or producer on any web series or movie. Why bother to go through such thankless efforts to attract sponsorships? Make an award-winning movie. Or is it because the ambitions of the couple are all towards the same goal, and only by supporting and encouraging each other can they go further.
Niche Shanxi Local Perseverance
I don’t know whether the goals of the two of them coincide with each other, or whether they are improving each other. They also come from Shanxi, one of the provinces with the most cultural heritage in China. One is born in the provincial capital city, and the other is a small city, Fenyang, the hometown of wine in China. The movie stories of the two people have always revolved around the yellow land of Shanxi, and they all describe the customs of this yellow land.
People who love their movies have always been fascinated by the stories described in them. People who don’t get enough of them will always complain that Jia Zhangke’s movies are highbrow and niche stories. He is a local director who was born in Shanxi and can only tell Shanxi stories. People who don’t know how to make movies after leaving Shanxi.
The director was criticized in this way, and the heroine Zhao Tao was even more devastated by attacks. As an actress, Zhao Tao's appearance is not outstanding. Even for ordinary people on the street, Zhao Tao's appearance can only be regarded as average.
Literary speaking, she is a generous and dignified matrilineal woman with a special Shanxi charm. To put it bluntly, she is a village beauty, but in fact she is not fashionable or glamorous enough.However, the couple will never be disturbed by these doubts. They have their own firm opinions and will continue on the path they love.
They have achieved something that many people have not noticed. The more they are their own and the more national, the more they are the world. The two people rushed to the international level again and again. Even if they failed repeatedly, they still fought and raised again and again. Although Zhao Tao has not yet won the Best Actress, Jia Zhangke has already won a lifetime achievement. I believe Zhao Tao's Palme d'Or is not too far away.
Nomination Old Events and Marriage History Again
If we look at director Jia Zhangke’s Weibo, we will find that there are only a few things on his Weibo, or perhaps in his life. Morning jog, grocery shopping, cooking, eating, beautiful scenery, Zhao Tao Fantou, Shanxi Fenyang, various movie promotions, calling Kitano Takeshi, and doing business. His personal life cannot be simpler. Compared with other great directors, his personal life and work are extremely low-key and simple.
However, there is still one thing that Jia Zhangke can never get around. Every time a new work of Jia Zhangke is nominated, one thing will be revealed, and that is about director Jia Zhangke's "Phoenix Man: History.
The birth of director Jia Zhangke In a small city, an ordinary family worked hard to get into the Beijing Film Academy and met Zhu Jiong, who was from a so-called intellectual family at the time. The story says that because women appreciated Jia Zhangke's talent, they were willing to marry him at a lower age, but after marriage the couple fell apart. People get together less and stay apart more, and his wife chooses to study abroad, which brings an end to their marriage.
This period of life may only be a few years in Jia Zhangke's life, but it will always mark the director as the Phoenix man. On the pillar of shame, it seems that in this life, all the subsequent works, and the director's success today are all because of this marriage. This kind of story will be retold every time a new movie is nominated. I don't know. When will
be completed?