Ning Hao and Andy Lau respectively played the director and star in "Mr. Red Carpet", forming an interesting contrast with reality. (Photo courtesy of the film producer)
Ning Hao writes scripts almost every day. When he was still very young, he said that he would prepare ten scripts at the same time and decide which one would be successful.
He has always wanted to make a movie for Andy Lau. More than ten years ago, Ning Hao filmed "Crazy Stone" with the support of Andy Lau's "Asian Rising Star Director" program. He said more than once that Andy Lau is his noble man. But for various reasons, it has never been possible.
From the first movie "Incense" to "My Hometown and Me", most of the characters created by Ning Hao are ordinary people. "I usually write about blue-collar people, and I never thought of what Hong Kong stars could play. "Simply, he decided to let Andy Lau play a big star.
writer Li Xiuwen is Ning Hao's friend for many years and is also the literary consultant of "Mr. Red Carpet". When Ning Hao first told this story about celebrities, Li Xiuwen thought its theme was "The Twilight of Idols." "It is equivalent to a god descending to earth, only to suddenly find that his temple has disappeared. The so-called temple has become Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu. In fact, it is traditional idols fighting Internet celebrities."
This movie was originally called "National Star" , later named "Mr. Red Carpet". The story is full of irony: Hong Kong star Liu Weichi is divorced in middle age and frustrated in his career. He wants to get film award recognition by making a rural-themed literary film directed by a mainland China, but it triggers a series of out-of-control incidents.
"Of course, this movie is not just about stars. In the past few years, capitalization has engulfed almost everyone, including artists." Li Xiuwen said that during that time, Ning Hao often complained to him, "Why is there a new word? "
Ning Hao has been thinking about what movies should do in the short video era in the past few years. He observed that the biggest feature of short videos is sincere expression. Farmers show farmers’ lives and workers show workers’ lives, which are real and vivid. "This is what movies should learn from. If you perform a fake one at this time, you may not be as good as others." Influenced by this, he plans to make a meta-movie - "a story about a filmmaker making a movie."
Li Xiuwen said that Ning Hao is good at finding the nerves of society.
screenwriter Liu Xiaodan also feels that Ning Hao is a person who is particularly concerned about the changes of the times. "In the era of Internet self-media, communication between people should be more convenient, but why are there more and more conflicts?"
Andy Lau and Ning Hao, respectively Playing the role of star and director in "Mr. Red Carpet" is in contrast to reality, and it is inevitable to be interpreted as a reflection of a certain real-life situation. The protagonist Liu Weichi, in Ning Hao's understanding, "is a person who is in a high position (a star) and refuses to communicate." He found that it is difficult for people to truly understand others, as everyone has their own obsessions.
In 2021, the filming of "Mr. Red Carpet" started in Shenzhen. However, to catch up with the changes in epidemic prevention and control policies, the scheduled shooting scenes could not be used. The crew of several hundred people moved around, delaying the progress for nearly a week. Faced with the change, Ning Hao withstood the pressure and worked around it through various methods. The crew still completed the filming within the originally scheduled time.
Ning Hao, born in Taiyuan, Shanxi in 1977, is a director and screenwriter. His representative works include "Crazy Stone" and "No Man's Land". (Photo provided by the film crew)
"I want to change"
The script of "Mr. Red Carpet" took a whole year to be written. The task screenwriters Wang Ang and Liu Xiaodan received was: "With Andy Lau as the protagonist, tell the story of the communication problems of big stars "Movie", and then the long and painful process of polishing began. "Every time I made a staged progress, I was not happy for a few days, but it was overturned again." Before the filming of
, Ning Hao once asked Li Xiuwen to chat at the Global Center in Chengdu. , neither of them sleep well. They always sleep during the day, come out to meet each other at night, and don't go out for several days. Li Xiuwen discovered that all Ning Hao could think about was the theme of the movie, and the creation of the script was to constantly collage the answers in his mind for this. There is a scene in the
movie, which comes from Andy Lau's own confusion when he came into contact with short videos. The young video director not only asked Weichi Lau to imitate scenes from classic movies, but also asked him to speak Internet slang like "老铁666".
Andy Lau's partner and filmmaker Yu Weiguo has been in the industry for 40 years. He rarely participates in the entire movie. This time he served as a producer and one of the screenwriters, and contributed many jokes about Hong Kong stars. He told Southern Weekend reporters that "Mr. Red Carpet" took eight months just to discuss the script, and there were so many funny scenes that they were all removed from the final film.
Despite working together for many years, Wang Ang and Liu Xiaodan still feel that "Mr. Red Carpet" is the most difficult writing in their careers. Ning Hao emphasizes authenticity, but no one has experienced the life of a big star. How to present the details? Moreover, this is a movie that requires great restraint. It was hard to come up with some funny scenes, but Ning Hao felt that they were not what he wanted.
"If ordinary commercial movies are constantly adding things, then we are constantly subtracting things." Wang Ang said.
Compared with Ning Hao's "Crazy Trilogy", "Mr. Red Carpet" seems too quiet, without exaggerated and deformed characters and crazy and disorderly actions.
Wang Boxue is the photography director of "Mr. Red Carpet". He previously collaborated with Ning Hao on "My Hometown and Me". Ning Hao found Wang Boxue and told him that he was going to make a movie that was against Hollywood routines.
Generally, commercial movies have more than 2,000 shots, and even art films generally have at least more than 600 shots. "Mr. Red Carpet" has less than 400 shots, which means that its presentation method will be very unique. Fewer shots doesn’t mean the pace is slow. We also have to take into account the audience’s perception so it doesn’t feel boring, which greatly increases the difficulty of shooting. Before the filming of
started, Ning Hao and Wang Boxue watched a lot of reference films, mainly several masterpieces by Swedish director Roy Anderson. The first two days of filming were not going well. Both Wang Boxue and Ning Hao felt that something was wrong. On the third day, Ning Hao suddenly pulled Wang Boxue aside and said, "I have figured out how to shoot, which is to go back to "Green Grass" way, a simple minimalist style."
Looking back on Ning Hao's career, the early "Green Grass" only had about 400 shots. Ning Hao hoped to use the least information to tell the story clearly. When it came to "Crazy Stone", he wanted to make a movie with a rock and roll temperament and be more restless. "Art is about exploring more fields, just like traveling, going to new places to see."
For the road movie "Heart Blossoms on the Road", Ning Hao wanted to be more relaxed and try something "less blue-collar" method of expression”. He hopes to invite the audience to participate in thinking about the film, leaving many gaps. At that time, he had realized that film is not a one-dimensional output, but a kind of communication.
In a sense, "Mr. Red Carpet" is a "return" to Ning Hao's first two films, which feature long shots, slow pace, and more simplicity. "I want to change." Ning Hao told Southern Weekend reporters, "I'm a little tired of the noisy things. I want to go back to the early style and explain one thing in a simple way."
in Wang Boxue's eyes , Ning Hao is well versed in the shooting methods of Hollywood genre films, "It would be too easy for him to make a movie like that, but the shooting of "Mr. Red Carpet" was his return to the original intention of making movies, not because of everyone's popularity or box office. . It is particularly rare for a director in a successful period to give up the original thing and try it."
Most directors are pursuing how to make the rhythm faster, but Ning Hao took the opposite path. Wang Boxue had some concerns, what if there were not enough shots? Ning Hao comforted him with confidence. "He is very clear about what he wants, which is to simplify the complex." Wang Boxue told Southern Weekend reporters. The story of the
script has also been purified, removing strong conflicts. "We have removed all the elements that can sell well, things that make people cry and laugh." Wang Ang said. Before
was released, the work of streamlining continued. After watching the finished film at the Toronto Film Festival, Ning Hao felt that the final scene of Liu Weichi crying was too sensational, so he changed it to him tearing up his own posters on the streets of Hong Kong. The crew urgently shot another scene in Hong Kong. "All eye-catching things have been removed, and now the film has become very pure and clean." Wang Ang said.
Ning Hao said that he doesn't like to stay the same and is most afraid of path dependence. "Every time I go to a new field, I will find that I don't understand anything."
"Are you afraid?" asked a reporter from Southern Weekend.
"It's better than staying there," he replied.
Andy Lau participated in the discussion of the script. In the film, Andy Lau's wife said to him, "You won't make it public when you get married, and you won't make it public when you get divorced." This was Andy Lau's contribution. (Photo courtesy of the film producer)
has been working hard to achieve balance.
Looking at the Chinese film industry, Ning Hao may be the only director born in the 1970s who has not only achieved high box office in the market, but also been shortlisted for three major European film festivals.
In 2006, "Crazy Stone" turned out to be a success, with a cost of 3 million and a box office of more than 20 million, becoming a legend of low-cost movies at that time.
After graduating from Shanxi Film School, Ning Hao was assigned to Taigang (Taiyuan Iron and Steel Group) TV station. When he was 18 years old, he asked for sick leave from his employer and went to Beijing, never to return. He wandered into the music circle and shot many music videos. He entered the Art Department of Beijing Normal University and the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy. After graduation, he used the 30,000 yuan he raised to shoot his first feature film "Incense" with a DVD machine. 》.
"Incense" tells the story of a monk who had to enter the mortal world in order to repair the temple. The monk firmly believes that "I am a monk, so I must have a temple." However, people in the world have their own plans. When the monk raises enough money, the temple will be demolished.
"Incense" is a standard Ning Hao style, teasing the absurdity of the world all the time, and profoundly revealing the conflict between religious beliefs and reality. At that time, Ning Hao didn't know what to do after the shooting, "I just decided to leave it at home." A friend criticized him, "Your peasant-style shooting method is to produce and sell it yourself."
After "Incense", Ning Hao received hundreds of thousands of investments and filmed the "propositional composition" "Green Grass", which made him recognized by international film festivals again.
In 2005, Ning Hao met Yu Weiguo in Hong Kong with "Green Grass". Yu Weiguo was one of the leaders of the "Asian Rising Star Director" program, which aimed to find and support potential new directors in Asia. Yu Weiguo was very optimistic about Ning Hao's first two films. Although they were art films, they had a sense of humor. He strongly invited Ning Hao to join them.
"Asian Rising Star Director" originally planned to give each director 5 million yuan in funding, with no restrictions on the subject matter, allowing everyone to express themselves as they please. However, due to funding issues, only 3 million yuan could be invested in Ning Hao's new film. At that time, other overseas funds also approached Ning Hao, but he valued the "no restrictions" of "Asian Rising Star Director" and readily agreed.
Many years later, Ning Hao recounted this past event in the collection of dialogues with Lin Xudong, "Hong Kong Adults": "Whenever I see an opportunity, I will come up with a story. If there is such a few If I have a chance of 100,000, I will spend this thing. If I have a few million, I will come up with another thing."
After "Crazy Stone", Ning Hao's career entered the fast lane, although his efficiency in making movies was not high. It is considered extremely high, but each one has attracted the attention of the industry.
In 2012, Ning Hao and his friends jointly established "Bad Monkey Pictures". The five keywords of "local, contemporary, interesting, innovative, and individual" are the purpose of this company. He once said: "When I was young, good children meant being obedient, while bad children were less obedient, but bad children were more willing to try things outside the classroom... Being bad actually meant having some irregularities."
2013, Ning Hao's "No Man's Land" was released and grossed 259 million yuan at the box office. The following year, it was shortlisted for the main competition of the 64th Berlin Film Festival. In 2014, his "Heart Blossoms" became the highest-grossing Chinese film of the year with a box office of 1.169 billion. And the films he produced, such as "I'm Not the God of Medicine" and "All or Nothing", have repeatedly refreshed the Chinese movie box office charts, and Ning Hao's name has almost become synonymous with blockbuster. But he feels that box office has never been a concern for him.
Li Xiuwen believes that everyone only sees that Ning Hao shot and promoted many movies that were successful at the box office. In fact, he also invested in many movies that were destined to not make money. From today's perspective, the box office of "Crazy Stone" of more than 20 million is not high.
In 2016, "Bad Monkey Pictures" launched the "Bad Monkey 72 Transformation Movie Project", which was similar to the "Asian Rising Star Director" back then. This project gathered a group of outstanding young directors. "Xiu Chun Dao 2·" directed by Lu Yang Shura Battlefield" and "I'm Not the God of Medicine" directed by Wen Muye are both masterpieces born from this project.
Ning Hao compared the film industry to a pond, and he is also a fish in it. He hopes to live in a healthy ecosystem, so he recruits other young people to play with him. When
asked about the selection criteria for "Bad Monkey", Ning Hao said simply, "We work very casually." He watched their short films and found out how well shot they were in just a few scenes. Having known
for many years, Li Xiuwen believes that box office is not a difficult problem for Ning Hao. He needs to constantly make multiple choices - he is responsible for investors and does not mind paying the price for freedom when defending his artistic taste. "Making a movie requires dealing with too many people, and Ning Hao has been trying to find a balance."
After becoming "Bad Monkey", Ning Hao seemed to need to consider business more, but his observation of society always there. Li Xiuwen observed that Ning Hao's "most exciting moment" is still every evening, sitting down with the young director, screenwriter, and producer of "Bad Monkey" to discuss their stories.
"Ning Hao has only one criterion: Is it a potentially good work?" Li Xiuwen told a Southern Weekend reporter.
"Mr. Red Carpet" tells the story of the middle-aged star Liu Weichi who is frustrated and wants to get film award recognition by making a rural-themed literary film. Unexpectedly, it triggers a series of out-of-control incidents. (Photo provided by the film crew)
"Elegant Madness"
Ning Hao described his daily life as extremely boring. He never stopped writing scripts for a day, and he just read books and watched movies during his breaks.
Liu Xiaodan said that he is slovenly and has no baggage. In Wang Ang's eyes, Ning Hao is a person who has always been exploring and "curious about life" every day. Sometimes the things he explores are more rational and sometimes more crazy.
People who are familiar with Ning Hao will feel that his works are cruel: the monk in "Incense" finally lost his home; a group of people chased a piece of fake jade in "Crazy Stone"; The story is about desire, but the core is the loss of emotion... Although wrapped in a humorous appearance, there is often strong irony.
Ning Hao’s family believes in Buddhism. He feels that he has a sense of awe, but he is not a believer. He said, "I am not a pure person. I am neither realistic nor ideal enough." One of the words he often talks about is "get rid of ego." He believes that the most important theme of his movie is: "A person will pay the price for his arrogance." When
was writing the script, the two screenwriters made it clear that Liu Weichi was a negative character, "Although he also has people worthy of sympathy. place, but his arrogance and refusal to communicate cost him," Wang Ang said.
Wang Boxue felt that in "Mr. Red Carpet", Ning Hao even satirized himself, "He just put his thoughts on life and the world he observed through his familiar environment." "Mr. Red Carpet" There was a scene in "The Movie" that left a deep impression on him. Liu Weichi was experiencing life in a three-star hotel. When parking, he had a friction with the car next to him. It was originally a trivial matter, but when two people competed with each other, it became interesting. The owner of the other car did not show up at all. In the movie, Liu Weichi stuffed money time and time again, and the other party refused to accept it, and finally turned into Liu Weichi smashing money. Che apologized again.
Wang Boxue said that Ning Hao’s core has not changed, and the absurd energy he pursues can be found in every movie.
Ning Hao and Li Xiuwen both like trees. They often get together in Wuhan, go to the mountains to look at trees, drink and chat. Li Xiuwen described Ning Hao as having a bit of an ascetic temperament. From when he opens his eyes in the morning to when he falls asleep, all he thinks about is movies. He is a "person who lives in movies."
Li Xiuwen believes that Ning Hao is a director with literary understanding. In his opinion, Ning Hao’s film satirizes the national character. “He has reflected on some of the current situation of Chinese films and even the trends of world films."
Yu Weiguo feels that "Crazy Stone" was shot with a critique of national character, thinking about why society is so "crazy"; in "Mr. Red Carpet", it is actually "elegant madness", and Ning Hao seems to have grown up .
In Wang Ang's eyes, Ning Hao is a reflective person, and his feelings about changes in the network environment do not fall into clichés. At the end of the movie, Liu Weichi sincerely apologized to netizens and no longer reluctantly spoke out for the sake of traffic. "Old Tie 666", instead, he lowers his posture and talks to others at eye level.
In terms of creation, Ning Hao is not willing to be extreme. He values communication with the audience and wants to take a path that makes both parties comfortable." "Middle of the road". "Looking around the world, Ang Lee is such a director, as is Martin Scorsese, but there are fewer and fewer such directors. Hollywood is a highly marketized and industrialized place, leaving no room for art films. Extremely large space. " Ning Hao told Southern Weekend reporters.
As for the three major European film festivals, he thinks that is another path, "They must pursue ideological or aesthetic things, which are different from the entertainment that the audience needs, so now they are basically It is a small-budget film. The cost of these films must be controlled very accurately. Some art films with large investments in the past are getting smaller and smaller, which is unbalanced."
"Our environment is different from theirs. I can only try to maintain a balance. . Ning Hao said, "It's contradictory. Do you want box office or cultural expression and the director's artistic expression?" This is a matter of trade-offs, or a middle ground, and you have to agree with this. "
When asked about his expectations for "Mr. Red Carpet", Ning Hao was extremely relaxed. He said: "I don't think so much. As long as each movie is what I really want to express, that's enough. . ”
Southern Weekend reporter Yu Yaqin
editor-in-chief Li Muyan
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