"Jiangyuan Lane" has been shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival!
This film directed by Peter Chan has attracted much attention from preparation to filming. Recently, the organizing committee of the 77th Cannes International Film Festival announced the list of shortlisted films for this year, and "Jiaoyuan Lane" has appeared in the non-competition screening section.
At the press conference, Cannes Film Festival artistic director Fumao, when talking about "Jiangyuan Lane", also specifically mentioned the starring Zhang Ziyi, saying that she "returns to the Cannes Film Festival."
Some netizens also pointed out that although it is a non-competition unit, the entry threshold is not low. This unit only includes 3 to 6 films each year, and they are all masterpieces by famous directors. "Jiaoyuan Lane" is the first Chinese-language film to be shortlisted for Cannes out-of-competition screenings in the past 10 years, following " Returns ".
Moreover, it is also the first time director Peter Chan has been nominated for Cannes.
In addition to being shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival, "Jiaoyuan Lane" is a popular Chinese-language film to be released, and the story behind it is also very exciting.
1. The last time Peter Chan went to Shanghai to shoot a film was "If Love" in 2004. It was exactly 20 years ago. In "If Love", he used the narrative mode of interweaving reality and the play within the play to tell a nostalgic and sentimental love story with ups and downs, and it became a favorite in major film awards in the Chinese film industry.
And this time, "Jiangyuan Lane" is also expected to be a "big winner".
2. Chen Kexin's idea of filming "Jiangyuan Lane" originated from the script given to him by Li Ruigang (the producer of "The Pretender"). In his opinion, this is a story that "no director can refuse". Both the fate of the protagonist and the story pattern are "very touching".
3. The story of "Jiangyuan Lane" is adapted from "The Case of Zhan Zhou's Murder of Her Husband" among the "Four Mysterious Cases of the Republic of China".
On March 20, 1945, Zhan Zhou was arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband and dismembering his body. After being imprisoned, he confessed, but never admitted any accomplice. Under the attention of the media and the famous writer Su Qing, her bumpy fate was presented to the public, and she went from being criticized to being pitiful and sympathetic.
Zhan Zhou's parents died when he was young, and he was sold by relatives when he was 9 years old. The husband Zhan Yunying, who was appointed by the host to be married, was addicted to gambling and domestic violence. She went out to work to make a living, but was humiliated and beaten by Zhan Yunying. She committed suicide by taking medication and was saved by a neighbor. She fought back angrily in extreme despair.
However, although Su Qing and others campaigned for her, Zhan Zhou was still sentenced to death. Fortunately, a foreign nun helped her escape temporarily on the grounds of "pregnancy". Later, Chiang Kai-shek granted a nationwide amnesty due to Japan's surrender, and her sentence was commuted to life; after the founding of New China, her sentence was commuted to 15 years.
After being released from prison, Zhan Zhou changed her name to Zhou Huizhen and remarried. She lived on a farm in northern Jiangsu until her death in the 1990s. She never returned to Jiangyuan Lane for the rest of her life.
4. The preparation period for "Sauce Garden Lane" lasted for 7 years. During this period, it was shelved many times. It was once rumored that the director would change hands, the project would be re-established, and it would be changed to a 5-episode short drama. Peter Chan also said in an interview that the reason for the suspension was because of the large size of the story and the length of the film.
5. In June 2023, "Jiangyuan Lane" was registered as a movie and was launched in December. After several months of filming, filming was completed in early March this year.
6. After the film was registered, as a director, Peter Chan immediately became busy. Not only did he describe his period as "day and night", he also said that "it would even feel like the busiest time in the past 10 years."
7, Jiangyuan Lane was originally located on Xinchang Road, Shanghai. It was named after an old Jiangyuan store, but the original location has been converted into a residential area. For this reason, the crew had no choice but to look elsewhere.
In the end, with the support of the local government, the crew chose to build exteriors on Zhapu Road and Beihaining Road to fully restore Jiangyuan Lane in 1945. Once completed, it became a popular check-in spot for citizens.
For being able to restore the old appearance of the Sauce Garden and shoot in the center of Shanghai, Chen Kexin once expressed his gratitude by saying that "it has realized a dream that all filmmakers dare not dream" and "unheard of".
8. In the past, when Peter Chan was filming movies, his father Chen Tongmin, who was also a filmmaker, always accompanied him. The city that Chen Tongmin longs for most is Shanghai.
Unfortunately, when filming "Jiang Yuan Lane", Chen Tongmin was unable to attend due to health reasons. Therefore, Chen Kexin wore his father's watch every day to fulfill his father's dream of Shanghai.
Chen Tongmin passed away in Bangkok about two months after the film was launched.
9, "Jiangyuan Lane" has an extremely luxurious cast.
In addition to Zhang Ziyi who plays Zhan Zhou, Lei Jiayin , Fan Wei , Wang Chuanjun , Zhao Liying , Yang Mi , Yi Yang Qianxi will all play important roles in the film, and Dapeng , Zhang Zifeng, Wang Yang, Li Xian, Lin Yongjian, and Sandra Ng will also appear.
Chen Kexin said in the interview that this is a "group drama with more than a dozen actors."
10, and the role of Zhan Zhou, Chen Kexin has always been interested in Zhang Ziyi.
When Peter Chan first came into contact with Zhang Ziyi about "Jiang Yuan Lane", her two children were not yet born. After that, the film's preparations were hampered and delayed for several years, and the agreement between the two parties remained unchanged.
At the closing banquet of "Jiang Yuan Nong", Zhang Ziyi choked with tears on the stage and thanked Chen Kexin for thinking that she was the "only choice" and even said, "Thank you for giving me a chance to be reborn."
This shows how important this film is to her.
11. After "Zhang Ziyi shed tears and thanked Chen Kexin" on the hot search, some netizens started with "I heard", describing the so-called inside story of the battle for position, and finally concluded that Zhang Ziyi reaped the benefits and was the biggest winner. Zhang Ziyi later appeared in the comment area, vigorously denied it and raged in English. The netizen then re-edited the blog post and said that his remarks were biased.
12. During the casting period of "Jiang Yuan Nong", in addition to the two female actors being chosen as fans, they were also named by the official media for triggering a battle over the position of the idols, pointing out that the fans were on the same page as their idols. The roles of
13, Zhao Liying and Yang Mi in "Jiangyuan Lane" have always been kept secret. During the preparation of the
film, the media photographed Chen Kexin and Zhao Liying having a dinner date to discuss cooperation. During the filming, some netizens who had participated in the filming revealed that Zhao Liying had short hair in the film, and praised her "360-degree beauty" and "exquisite, small, cute and elegant".
Regarding who Zhao Liying plays, some netizens revealed that "it is the function of Su Qing in the original work." As for Yang Mi's role, she said "I know it, but I won't tell it."
14, "Jiangyuan Lane" is a big production, with a strong starring cast and many supporting roles. A relevant party once posted on the Internet to recruit extras for large-scale scenes, saying that "it's all about the people, and no one will be spared."
15. During the filming of the film, the famous Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda visited the crew to watch the filming and exchange opinions with Peter Chan.
In all aspects, "Jiaoyuan Lane" has raised the expectations of movie fans to the highest level. Unfortunately, the film has not yet been released, so we still have to wait.
At that time, we will make another appraisal.
