Recently, the urban youth inspirational comedy "My Family Married Hua Mulan", written and directed by Gong Hanlin for the first time, was exclusively released on demand in the "On Demand Hall" of LeTV Video. According to Gong Hanlin, 66, taking on the role of screenwriter and director is a decision "it's time".
Stills from "My Family Married Hua Mulan".
Gong Hanlin has always been a well-known "Spring Festival Gala star" and a famous sketch actor in the hearts of the audience. In recent years, Gong Hanlin has stayed away from the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage and gradually shifted his creative focus to the field of film and television dramas. Although he "retired" from the Spring Festival Gala, comedy is still Gong Hanlin's unyielding passion. Being able to write and direct a work by himself has been his dream for many years. Although being a director and screenwriter is indeed hard work and has endless worries, he still enjoys it. During the interview, he repeatedly mentioned that to make a work well, one must have the spirit of craftsmanship: "Teacher Zhao Lirong used to say, 'In our industry, we must pay attention to not making compromises, and the audience will definitely be dissatisfied with the work that comes out of the compromises; Only works that are made with care are viable.”
"My Family Married Hua Mulan" is a humorous romantic light comedy with an urban inspirational theme. Regarding his first experience as a screenwriter and director, Gong Hanlin said that it was very hard, but he felt happy and had a lot to express: "Actors must respect the script, respect the director, and create characters according to the director's needs. In this case, it is often necessary to accept I started to come up with my own ideas. In the past, I would participate in screenwriting when doing cross talk or performing sketches, and I also did stage comedy, but I have always dreamed of making a TV series or movie. I thought about many topics and found that many people are paying attention to them. There are some unfair phenomena, such as the prejudice against female compatriots during the job search process, so I created this script, hoping to focus on a woman's job search and tell the story of her changing herself after encountering injustice and finally realizing her dream."
"My Family Married "Mulan" revolves around women applying for jobs.
Gong Hanlin believes that the most worthwhile aspect of "My Family Married Hua Mulan" is the comedy element of the play. The play not only stars him, but also includes almost all the outstanding comedians from comedy programs such as "Happy Comedian" and "Group for the Spring Festival Gala", including more than 20 cross talk and sketch actors such as Fang Qingping, Li Weijian, He Yunwei, and Bai Kainan. Actors help out. "The actors here are all well-known actors in the cross talk industry and sketch field. The audience has a relatively high awareness of them. The male actors are humorous and the actresses are young and beautiful. They are also the backbone of the performance. We are very confident that this film The show can give everyone a good experience."
It is the dream of many sketch comedians to appear on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage, but Gong Hanlin has long been a frequent visitor to the Spring Festival Gala. Although I haven't seen him on the Spring Festival Gala stage in recent years, I can still feel his attention to this stage. He admitted frankly that if he did not have a good program, he would leave his precious time for the Spring Festival Gala to other better programs. This is to protect the audience and the sketch art he loves.
Many times, Gong Hanlin also misses the sketches he and Zhao Lirong created together, such as "Packaging Like This" and "Working Adventures". "I like it very much, but what's more important is the audience's approval. Even if you say the last line in these sketches, the audience can immediately pick up the next line, such as 'One hundred and eighty glasses of palace jade liquor.' On the other hand, For many of today's works, you may not know them tomorrow after watching them today, and you won't be able to remember a single line. That's the problem. I think people should learn to choose. I remember one Spring Festival Gala gave me three scripts, saying "As long as you enter, it depends on which one is suitable." But I politely declined after reading it, because the works at that time did not reach the level of my understanding of the Spring Festival Gala, so I chose to err on the side of contentment and leave more time to other better ones. Program."
Screenshot of the video "Packaged Like This".
Dialogue
Beijing News: This time "My Family Married Hua Mulan" has many familiar comedy and crosstalk actors, which can be regarded as a luxurious lineup. How did you gather these people?
Gong Hanlin: depends on personal emotions (laughing). Maybe everyone recognizes Gong Hanlin, and they are very happy to help. In fact, in this industry, especially actors who do comedy, cross talk, and sketches, everyone has a deep friendship and takes care of each other. In addition, I am also a cross talk actor myself, and I have many like-minded colleagues over the years. This drama would not have been possible without everyone's help.
Beijing News: Will you continue to be a director in the future?
Gong Hanlin: Of course, the next goal of is to continue making movies, and I will work hard in this direction. I can reveal that I have now written three movie scripts, all of which have the potential to be launched. I hope to realize my creative dream.
Beijing News: The Chinese New Year is coming, and the Spring Festival Gala is an unavoidable topic during the New Year. Are you watching the Spring Festival Gala now? Which programs of the Spring Festival Gala will you pay more attention to?
Gong Hanlin: I still pay attention to , but I think remembering is more important than paying attention. For example, if you look at Teacher Zhao Lirong, whom everyone loves and misses so much, everyone will remember her every time she performs a work. This is directly related to the work. Is the subject matter recognized by the audience? Is it a social hot spot? Is the work expressive? I think a good work should be able to stand on the stage and be passed down at the same time. One is the subject matter, and the other is the performance. The works created by Teacher Zhao Lirong are benchmarks. I hope there will be more such works.
Beijing News: The audience also hopes to see you on this stage.
Gong Hanlin: Will make an appearance? I don’t think so. People still want to see what you perform for them after you come out. I think at this age, the audience is really familiar with you, so there is no need to waste everyone's precious time. If you come out and make an appearance, the show will not be good enough, and won't it cause trouble to everyone? I am nostalgic for this stage, but I must not be greedy. I must learn to "block" myself and learn to be less than excessive.
Beijing News: You have always been strict with yourself. What do you believe in during the creative process?
Gong Hanlin: is strictly necessary, but even if you are extremely strict, there will be many problems. It’s too easy for the audience to find fault with you, so just be the best you can be. For example, Teacher Zhao Lirong often told me that no matter how famous you are, you should step back a little, and in today's terms, you should keep a low profile. This is what I have always believed in.
Beijing News: So in future work, we will still insist on striving for excellence and working slowly and carefully?
Gong Hanlin: quality is always the most important. Recently I have been following "Flowers". This drama is really good. Director Wong Kar-Wai spent three years filming it. It is much better than the drama we have now. We only filmed for more than two months, so the production may not be that sophisticated, but with such great ability and level, we have been very sincere and tried our best. We hope to receive criticism and correction from the audience, and we also hope that this drama It can make everyone relax during the holidays.
Beijing News reporter Zhou Huixiaowan
editor Xu Meilin
proofreader Zhao Lin