"I have never regarded it as a short film reflecting the epidemic. It is a love poem and should not be limited by time." When the film was shown inside the Beijing Film Studio, all the male leaders and colleagues came to watch the movie, and the silence of everyone made her uneasy for a while. At that time, Li Shaohong hadn't realized her "female identity" yet. In the male-dominated film and television industry, she unconsciously assimilated herself and always felt that her films were "different". But at that time, this "different" had not yet been recognized by herself, and even disturbed her.
Several years later, the film " Red Pink " , Li Shaohong really began to think about the value of this "different". "Red Pink" tells the story of prostitutes who were transformed and re-chosen life at the beginning of the founding of in New China. The first few versions of the script focused more on the times and bigger themes. Li Shaohong thought about it for a long time, and kept asking him what moved him in the first place. Finally, he finally confirmed the individual fate of the two women in the changing times. That was the story Li Shaohong wanted to tell the most. After "Pink", Li Shaohong seems to finally confirm the value of "female identity" to the film.
"Red Pink" starring Wang Zhiwen, Wang Ji, He Saifei Changes , these creative perspectives were new and unique at the time.
Chen Chong 's self-consciousness came earlier. The grandest scene in "The Last Emperor of " : The three-year-old Puyi sat on the dragon chair, waiting impatiently. The golden light flashed outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Puyi was attracted by the light, climbed off the dragon chair, and ran towards the golden light curiously. He happily ran out of the hall, but was suddenly frightened by the scene in front of him: hundreds of people were kowtowing to him.
"The Last Emperor" poster
This scene did not play the role of Wanrong Chen Chong, but when she looked back at the movie, she was impressed by the weakness and helplessness of three-year-old Puyi. "The moving part of this scene stems from a poet's compassion for this three-year-old child." This seems to be an aesthetic orientation that has long been confirmed - 's focus on individual fate can always impress Chen Chong.
"The Last Emperor" stills Women, they are not perfect, but they can always see the tear between women and the environment and the self, so they are alive.
"I always feel that the creator can't choose her theme, she is chosen, and her experience determines her theme. My creation must be related to my own experience, it determines why I do something. I am moved and yearn for a kind of life value, this is beyond my control, it comes to me at the same time as my destiny." Chen Chong said.
stills of "Italian"
Not long ago, " There is Her in the World " co-directed by Li Shaohong, Chen Chong, and Zhang Aijia was released. Movie.
"There is Her in the World" poster
After the hustle and bustle dissipated, we chatted with Li Shaohong and Chen Chong about the movie and their lives in the past two or three years.
In May 2020, Dong Wenjie, the producer of "There Is Her in the World" found Li Shaohong and invited her and several other female directors to tell stories during the epidemic from the perspective of family life and emotional life, from the perspective of women .
Li Shaohong was moved by this proposition: "At that time, there were already some grand narratives in film stories that were cut from the national and social levels, from the perspective of women, and told stories from a more life-like and individual perspective. It may also be a supplementary narrative to this experience."
"In the family, women are the core characters, and the two generations of women put together, the friction between them should bring a sense of drama to the whole family."
After the outbreak of the epidemic, Li Shaohong's biggest feeling is that people are locked at home, it seems that everyone has returned to the family at once, and family relations have replaced workplace and social relations, becoming everyone during that time. The most important relationship you have to face, and, must face, there is nowhere to run.
"A lot of things that you don't usually notice or have been ignored suddenly surface, which makes people feel very deep." In "There is Her in the World" Li Shaohong tells such a story about the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
At the beginning of 2020, Chen Chong was isolated in her home in the United States. From that time on, she began to record the small changes and perceptions in her life intentionally or unintentionally.
Small enough to grab toilet paper, and learned from the plumber that the recent surge in the business of repairing water pipes is probably because people who are in short supply of toilet paper do not know that disinfectant paper towels, kitchen towels, and newspapers are not so easily digested by toilets. There are also major events. For example, with friends, we watched Musk's " Dragon spacecraft " successfully dock with the International Space Station . She reminded herself: "I'm just a small part of the miracle of life and the destiny of the universe, revolving around the sun with everything on the 'light blue light spot'."
In addition to trivial daily life, Chen Chong also wants to use movies as What is left of this special period. "At that time, there were many strong shocks, which made me want to express and create." There are various news reports and videos on the phone every day, which are shocking enough in themselves. "How can I go beyond their own impact, why do I spend so much effort to bring the story to the big screen? I need to find the language that belongs to the film." Literary works, including The Plague by Albert Camus: Cities re-sealed by plagueSuo, the owner, Dr. Kie, saved a lot of people in the city, but his wife had been locked in a nursing home, and the two could not meet in the end. "Many large and small epidemics have been encountered in human history. The theme of love and loss is ancient and timeless. What should it look like today, from the aesthetics of human nature to the aesthetics of vision? This is what I want to try. Yes."
When he saw the story of that a pair of lovers were separated in two cities by the epidemic, Chen was impulsive. "I am very excited to find a language that belongs to the big screen."
Chen Chong regards this short film as an exercise, an experiment, like writing a poem. "I never regarded it as a short film reflecting the epidemic. It is a love poem and should not be limited by time." In May 2020, Chen Chong began to prepare the short film script for "There is Her in the World". The story takes place in Wuhan and Beijing around the Spring Festival, and she wants to present the details of the city life at that time as realistically as possible. She asked her colleagues to find surveillance videos of various public places such as supermarkets, hospitals, and communities at that time, installed them on several hard drives, and mailed them to her.
The concern, yearning and suffering of relatives and lovers separated from each other are familiar to Chen Chong. has been around for many years. Chen Chong runs both sides of China and the United States. When he is with his parents, his husband and daughters become people on the phone. When he is in the United States, he can only accompany his parents through this small screen.
When one person projects all their feelings for another person onto a phone, what does her world look like? translating this very postmodern concept into film language is not an easy task.
In the communication with the main creative team, Chen Chong will attach a few scene pictures. In the picture, the girl wraps herself in the quilt, half of her face is illuminated by the screen of the mobile phone; the woman is lying on the bed, the screen of the mobile phone and the computer screen not far away are shining dimly; Looking out of the window blankly...
"There is Her in the World" stills
"A person's feelings about color temperature are very subjective. When all her emotions are in her mobile phone, the world in her mobile phone is colored. It's more real than reality, but the world around her has a distance from her." The theme tone of 's film is black and white, like a slice of life in a memory. "All the man-made drama conflict has been cut, I want everyone to feel like they have stepped into a family's life, into a girl's life, into her mobile phone, like a family live broadcast of her." later , Chen Chong heard from people who had seen the movie that her story looked a bit like a documentary, and she felt that was the greatest compliment to herself.
Li Shaohong was the first to start filming among several directors of "The World Has Her". In August 2020, the national epidemic has not completely subsided, and there are many restrictions on shooting. Most of the shots were shot in one house.
There are also a lot of very current expressions in the movie. Although the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren are all in the same house, they are isolated in three different spaces. The three generations finally have a period of time together, but they are isolated from each other and cannot meet.
In the past two years, there have been many stories about families in the news and social networks. Some of them became closer and understood each other better due to difficulties, and some of their relationships failed to withstand the test. The originally small gaps, under the impact of the times Showing fissures that are difficult to mend.
a traditional mother-in-law, a modern-minded sonDaughter-in-law, there are often sparks in life, men are caught in the middle, and differences are covered up. But under the huge impact of both women being infected with new coronary pneumonia, the conflict between the two is inevitable. "Fundamentally, it is the different understanding of the expression of love between the two generations." Li Shaohong said.
"There is Her in the World" stills
"A woman's survival is always built on the meaning of others." Li Shaohong said. There is a scene in the movie where two women look at each other. Shen Yue made a bowl of egg fried rice for her mother-in-law, but the other party didn't eat it, and her mind was still on her son. Shen Yue saw from her mother-in-law that she was constantly paying for her family. And when Li Ju listened to her daughter-in-law answering her parents' phone calls and said that she was eating and drinking well, she seemed to see herself who should be cared for and cared for, but she was always busy for others.
"Even if it's short, I still hope it's a movie. All the scenes are as life-like as possible, and the shooting techniques are as cinematic as possible." Li Shaohong said.
In October 2020, Chen Chong's story started. The main scene takes place in a condominium near Sanlitun, Beijing. In Chen Chong's vision, this old-fashioned house should look like this: there are some dead branches outside the window, and the bleakness of winter gets into the house through the window. Through the windows of the Tongzilou, you can see the CCTV building and the icy high-rise buildings in the distance. These modern super buildings wrap the heroine Xiaolu's family and their simple life, and their fate has nothing to do with the behemoth, and can only be silent. bear.
But the actual situation is somewhat different, the time period of the shooting is not cold enough, and there are leaves on the trees. High-rise buildings used to have their lights on all night, but at night it feels surreal, but the epidemic has darkened the entire city, and they can no longer be seen through the windows. "It's a pity, but in making a movie, you always have to set your goals to the highest level. Only if you have such a huge ambition can you realize part of it." The rivalry between the hero and heroine Shaohua and Xiaolu is also a challenge. In the setting, the two are separated from each other, and almost all of their opponent's scenes are completed through the mobile phone. "But I'm so lucky, I found the right person." On the day took the makeup photo, Yi Yang Qianxi and Huang Miyi showed up at the same time, and it was the first time that the two actors appeared in the same space. "I'm really heartbroken. No matter what the story is, the most important thing in filming is to convince people that these two people can convince you that they are such an ordinary little couple." "The still photo
first filmed a scene with Yi Yang Qianxi. That day, Huang Miyi also came to the scene. She sat in the corner and helped Yi Yang Qianxi set up a scene with her phone. "Suddenly, all my worries disappeared. Playing with a mobile phone is too natural for young people. This is something they are too familiar with." The state of the two actors also confirmed Chen Chong again. The choice of - uses the medium of mobile phone to tell young people's love, this story is of the moment.
The three stories of "There is Her in the World" are about the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, long-distance couples, and middle-aged couples. Li Shaohong has her understanding of the gap between two generations, Chen Chong has her most natural presentation of urban daily life, Zhang Aijia has her consistent The sensitivity of a love story. The stories presented by the three female directors in the three times and spaces have their own characteristics, but in Li Shaohong's eyes, everyone has a "special tacit understanding". "The perspective is unified and very everyday, so it is quite harmonious to use the narration of Zhou Xun ." Li Shaohong said.
"The World Has Her" stills
"There is Her in the World" has been filmed for more than two years. Just like mentioning every movie and TV series that has been filmed, Li Shaohong can recall, but she does not miss her. When
was interviewed, Li Shaohong was on his way. She is a forward looking person , 67 years old this year, but can't slow down at all. "Several projects to be shot have been prepared and stopped, stopped and prepared, and have been striving for it, but it is very difficult." Looking at the entire film and television industry, at this age, he is still so busy, busy with "projects" for decades. "I'm afraid there are very few female filmmakers.
"Only by working harder can we find a way to win opportunities." This is like a rookie director encouraging himself, Li Shaohong said it calmly and firmly.
Bazaar Viewing Group x "There is Her in the World" event site map "Of course I hope that the movie has an audience, otherwise it will be a waste. But to be honest, I don't know how to consider the audience's feelings. I just use what I have learned to express it based on what moved me. Show it to the audience, I don't know if this will lead to more audiences, or less, I don't know."
In the past two or three years, Chen Chong didn't care that much about the "public", She gave more time to her family . In
"There is Her in the World", Xiaolu's grandma plays the piano for a while. The grandma is played by pianist Zhu Yafen . The setting of this role may also be related to Chen Chong's personal emotions. "My mother played the piano. She could still play the piano after she gradually lost her memory. I always felt that music was a connection between her and the world, a bond of memory."
When his mother was sick, Chen Chong stayed by the bedside , The two often sang songs from the past together, and many childhood memories suddenly emerged along with their relationship with their mother. In the movie, Xiaolu also thinks of her grandfather who passed away at home, eats the food she liked since she was a child, and the memory of growing up slowly emerges. "Family, friendship, love, these are the most precious things in life, we always ignore it, but when we are forced to face it, or suddenly lose it, you can feel it more truly."
During the epidemic The death of his mother is Chen Chong's greatest regret. At that time, Chen Chong was in isolation and could not see his mother for the last time. "Every now and then, the thoughts come back. Without a mother, there is a emptiness in her body, like a hole in the shape of a mother, a sadness I didn't know about before. She lived to be 88 years old, last year I was 60 when she died, and the one person you've known the longest has left, and it's the biggest loss in your life."
" To be honest, I'm no longer passionate about directing movies, maybe very I won't be directing movies for a long time. "" may be affected by family changes. In the past two years, Chen Chong's creative impulse to be a director has been replaced by writing. During the epidemic, with the illness and death of his mother, Chen Chong had a sense of urgency and wanted to write the stories of his grandparents and parents, so he slowly developed the habit of writing.
Last year, Chen Chong was invited by Jin Yucheng to start serializing articles on " Shanghai Literature " , writes the story of the family and itself, the fate of a Shanghai intellectual family. "I'm not a natural writer, and I'm very slow to produce things." At first, Chen Chong had some "stock" in his hand. After a few months of listing, the surplus food was exhausted, so she had to sit down and cultivate some fresh words . Now, every month, she will set aside a week to sit down early to read materials and write. The deadline is like a notice during the filming period, which puts her under some pressure of coding.
"In today's life oppressed by big data, the existence, dignity and value of individuals are being weakened, but in fact, what every person and every family experiences is part of history. Jia Zhangke said, Memory is our root, he said, writing is a kind of biological instinct, and I gradually realized this feeling after I started to write."
At present, Chen Chong has a plan to submit manuscripts regularly every month, and spend time with his family. She has plans, but she still has no plans for her own life, just like her past 60 years, letting time paint the appearance of her memory.
Producer / Ning Li Sherry
Editor / Timmy
Interview & Writing / Stef
Typesetting / LittleRiver
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