In recent years, more and more film and television works have been staged in the Northeast, which has been nicknamed the "Northeast Renaissance" by audiences. However, these works generally use the Northeast in the 1980s and 1990s as the time and space stage. From the audio-visua

director guest.

In recent years, more and more film and television works have been staged in the Northeast, which has been nicknamed the "Northeast Renaissance" by audiences. However, these works generally use the Northeast in the 1980s and 1990s as the time and space stage. From the audio-visual language to thematic expression, they have formed a specific Northeastern film and television aesthetics.

Recently, another movie "老gun", which was shot in Northeast China, was released. The film won the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival last year and debuted at the Beijing International Film Festival in April this year. Although this film is director Gao Peng's first feature film, his sophisticated directorial skills have won high praise from the audience. After the film was released, it was called one of the "Top Ten Chinese Films of the Year" by many viewers. However, while being hailed as one of the "Top Ten Chinese Films of the Year", "Old Gun" is also facing an awkward situation of being "well received but not a hit". In this November, which is regarded as the off-season month by the film market, just a gunshot may not be able to reverse the current situation and is of little significance. But for a rookie director's thoughtful work, it is meaningful to give him a "megaphone" so that more people can hear it.

director guest.

Nandu Entertainment:This film is your first feature film. It tells the story of the layoff wave in Northeast China at the end of the 19th century. As a Beijinger, why did you choose this story with this time and space background as your “first shot”?

Gaopeng : At first I wanted to write about athletes. I set the time in the 1980s and 1990s because it was a period of social change at this time, when the contradiction between people and their predicament was the strongest, and it was easy to form a storyline with strong tension. I think the background of the layoff wave is nationwide, so there is no obsession with making a Northeastern movie. In the end, the geographical background was chosen to respect the needs of the investor Momo Pictures.

Nandu Entertainment: What is the most difficult part of shooting your first feature film?

Gaopeng : The most difficult thing about is how to deal with the opinions given by others when writing a script. I used to be an advertising director, and I essentially belong to the service industry, so all opinions from customers must be respected and accepted. But film directors are different. In the process of directing a film, I will also receive opinions from all aspects. At first, I didn't know what my relationship was with these suggestions. I didn't know how to judge the quality of the opinions, so I made many ineffective modifications and adjustments. It wasn't until later that I discovered that film directors don't need to listen to everything, they can have something they insist on.

Nandu Entertainment: "Old Gun" was described by Dai Jinhua as "opening up a new way of writing about the Northeast." How do you understand her evaluation? Do you agree?

Gaopeng : I don’t know much about Northeastern movies. The audio-visual style of "Old Gun" is not based on Northeastern movies, but on the two films "The Hunter in the Wind River Valley" and "Through Fire and Fire". I personally think that Mr. Dai commented on "Old Gun" as a genre movie. He felt that we used the elements of crime action movies to make Northeastern movies, showing that in a chaotic situation, there is a person who insists on using idealism and the surrounding environment to create conflict. I was naturally very happy to receive Teacher Dai's praise for the film.

Nandu Entertainment: The English title of "Old Gun" is a long shot, this is an English slang term. In addition to meaning "long-distance shooting", it also means "little hope". Why was this pun-intended English title used in the first place?

Gaopeng : The English name of the video was chosen by Zeng Li, who was in charge of publicity. Whether it is the expressive meaning or the extended meaning, it is consistent with what the film wants to convey. The protagonist Gu Xuebing did wait for a long time before firing a shot, and he also hoped that he could fire another shot.The "hope" here is more about the protagonist Gu Xuebing's hope for still holding on to something amidst the chaos.

Nandu Entertainment: There are many handheld photography shots in this film. Do you have a special liking for this shooting technique?

Gaopeng : Yes, there are two main reasons: one is fast, and fast means saving money. The film budget is an important factor to consider for a new director like me; the second and more important point is that handheld shooting has a more realistic style. Compared with fixed or moving shots that are very stuck in scheduling, in handheld photography, because the cameraman has room to adjust at any time, even if the scene is not scheduled according to the original script, the actor's more relaxed performance state can be captured.

This technique can be considered to be influenced by director Lou Ye. In addition to handheld photography, it also had a certain impact on me in other ways of working, such as the liberation of actors. After arriving on the scene, I suddenly stopped following the script and only pointed out the general tasks, allowing the actors to express themselves freely. So you can see that the actors in Lou Ye's films are different from those in other people's films.

Nandu Entertainment: So, in this film, some actors have free reign?

Gaopeng : In "Old Gun", there is also improvised content, but not much is cut into it. It's mainly a few shots in the montage section. For example, Gu Xuebing takes Geng Xiaojun to his home, picks him up at the school gate, and takes him home. Now in the movie, I saw the scene where Geng Xiaojun confronts Gu Xuebing with a brick. At that time, I only told Zhou Zhengjie (played by Geng Xiaojun) to let him forget about the script and play it randomly. The purpose was to make Gu Xuebing uncomfortable, so the brick was completely improvised. behavior. At that time, Zufeng thought Zhou Zhengjie would follow the script, but he was surprised because of Zhou Zhengjie's improvisational performance. The handling was very interesting, and the final result was also very realistic. However, due to the limited length of the film, these can only be cut into fragments in a montage.

Nandu Entertainment: You have said in other interviews that the protagonist Gu Xuebing is a role tailor-made for actor Zu Feng. What is the biggest charm of this actor to you? Can you share a story about what happened when you first invited him?

Gaopeng : When I was writing the script, the character that came to mind was Zu Feng. First of all, Gu Xuebing is very gentle and soft on the surface, a bit easy to bully, and in the words of the audience, he is a bit of a "wimp". But his core is very hard and he has something he wants to stick to. I think Zu Feng also has this quality.

Secondly, I personally prefer a way of shaping that has a sense of relaxation and no special performance traces. Zu Feng is this type of actor. At that time, the process of inviting him went very smoothly. We met once and chatted for about an hour. At that time, I briefly introduced the character design of Gu Xuebing to Zu Feng. For example, Gu Xuebing is a "slow-paced" person who matures and socializes relatively late, which can be regarded as the starting point for his subsequent character development. I think Zu Feng agreed so quickly because Gu Xuebing somehow coincided with his life. Zu Feng also worked in a factory in his early days, and it took a few years before he was admitted to film school. After that, I worked as a teacher for a long time before I decided to leave my job as a teacher and become an actor. This is also a bit "slow down", so Gu Xuebing's setting may have impressed him more. When I was writing the script, I was sure that Zu Feng would be willing to participate in our film because the role of Gu Xuebing suited him so well, and I also believed that he would be very interested in this role.

Nandu Entertainment: You arranged settings for Gu Xuebing’s ear disease. Why did you choose this disease ? Is the disease not a metaphor?

Gaopeng : During my early interviews, I learned that the reason for retirement of some shooters is that long-term exposure to gunshots causes hearing loss, which in turn affects body balance. But later, when I learned more about it, I found that hearing and body balance are not necessarily related. It may just be that athletes need such a reason to rationalize their retirement.

In addition, people may experience tinnitus when they are stressed. In the film, it is worth pondering whether Gu Xuebing's tinnitus is caused by stress and a bad mood, or whether it is due to ear disease.

Nandu Entertainment: Gu Xuebing has been in a state of suppressed emotions for a long time. He suppressed his dissatisfaction and his desire for Jin Yujia (played by Qin Hailu) . Does he subconsciously feel ashamed to express his intentions? Is this also related to the fact that he was once an athlete and his mental state has been trained?

Gaopeng : I think it’s more that Gu Xuebing is not confident in himself. First, in that era, building a life with another person required a lot of responsibilities, and Gu Xuebing obviously did not have the ability to deal with his own life and future. Whether he could make Jin Yujia happy, he had no idea; secondly, Jin Yujia was more important than Gu Xuebing. Although he had the ability, Gu Xuebing did not have the courage to take a step forward.

The constraints placed on Gu Xuebing by his status as an athlete are more about the moral values ​​of group honor and glory for the country, rather than about his emotional life.

Nandu Entertainment: Qin Hailu has always been a representative of Northeastern actresses. From her debut in "Durian Piao Piao" to " Steel's Piano ", she has played female roles affected by the Northeast economic downturn, "Old Gun" Did you consider this intertextual effect when you found her?

guest : It was my producer’s idea to invite Qin Hailu to , and they themselves have had some cooperation. But I personally was worried at first, because Qin Hailu played Shuxian in "The Piano" so well, I was worried that she would leave too deep an impression on the audience. The two roles of Jin Yujia and Shuxian are somewhat similar, but Jin Yujia's role is less important than Shuxian, making it difficult to surpass Shuxian. The two characters are also easily compared by the audience.

But after several exchanges, I changed my mind. Qin Hailu is a very good actor. Since she is willing to participate, I also believe that she can portray the role of Jin Yujia well.

Nandu Entertainment: The movie inserted a clip during the subtitles, in which the protagonist group walks along the railway, and finally disappears like a mirage. Does this symbolize the change of something? Does it also imply that Gu Xuebing is dead?

Gaopeng : Gu Xuebing is definitely not dead. To borrow the words of an audience member at the Xi'an post-screening party, it's just four words: Different paths lead to the same destination. Looking back at history from now on, many people make the best choices they can in their lives, all in order to survive. So it’s really “different paths leading to the same destination”.

Nandu Entertainment: What do you most hope the audience will feel from "Old Gun"?

Gaopeng : I hope the audience can feel a kind of power. To a certain extent, we are now entering an era of rapid changes. So how do we face these changes, and can we protect our persistence? For example, what Gu Xuebing did in the end in the film actually has no ability to reverse the current social situation and can only solve some temporary and small-scale problems. But he at least represents that in that environment, there is still a kind of People are persevering, which is very valuable and very touching.

Nandu Entertainment: The overall performance of the film market has encountered a bottleneck this year. Do you think this is a difficult time for filmmakers?

Guest: I personally don’t think it is . The birth of film is only over a hundred years old. In other words, it is a very young industry. When movies were born, people could only watch movies through the small windows of coin-operated machines, which is similar to the experience we have now when watching movies on mobile phones. Some people think that with the expansion of media channels, people no longer go to movie theaters, but choose to watch movies online. This behavior makes movies hasty and simplified. But in another 50 years, maybe this form has become mainstream, or maybe there has been a bigger change. The current film form is just a link in the long film history. So I think there are still many opportunities in the film industry if we are willing to open up our creative minds.

Nandu Entertainment: What other movies do you want to make in the future?

Gaopeng : I really want to try something different. I’m currently studying comedy and I really want to watch it.

Interview and writing: Nandu reporter Liu Yifan and intern Lin Ruiyuan