Picture of Zu Feng/Provided by the interviewee
Still picture of "A Brief History of the Family"/Provided by the producer
Picture of Lin Jianjie/Provided by the producer
At the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival, the debut of young director Lin Jianjie The feature film "A Brief History of the Family" was screened in the panorama section and was widely praised by audiences and favored by international sellers. The film tells the story of a middle-class family: high school student Tu Wei (played by Lin Muran), whose father (played by Zu Feng) is an elite biologist, and his mother (played by Guo Keyu) is an elegant full-time wife. Tu Wei lives in a comfortable mansion, has a good life, and loves fencing. Apart from exams, there seemed to be nothing to worry about in his life. However, one day Tu Wei brought home his classmate Yan Shuo (played by Sun Xilun) who lost his mother when he was young and was abused by his father for a long time. The intrusion of this foreign boy gradually exposed the fragility of this seemingly perfect family. Beiqing Art Critic interviewed Zu Feng and Lin Jianjie after the screening in Berlin, and talked with them about movies, performances, and creation. Why is
willing to take on the role of "A Brief History of the Family"?
Beiqing Art Review: Teacher Zu Feng, I heard that you are very strict in selecting scripts. Why are you willing to accept the script "A Brief History of Family"?
Zu Feng: Generally, if an agent gives me a script, I will read it. I was talking to someone just now, whether a script is good or not depends on how quickly you read it. If it is well written, you will finish it quickly. As for the script "A Brief History of the Family," I read it in one sitting. After that, I sent a message to our work group. I thought it was well written.
Beiqing Art Critic: After you decided to take on the role of "Tu's Father", did you write a biography for the character?
Zu Feng: Yes, but I may be lazy, I am not the kind of person who can’t write words. I see some actors writing a lot of words on their scripts, but my scripts are clean, and I never draw my dialogues like this with colored pens, because I feel that if I draw them, then I will I can only read my own lines. I need to read other people’s lines. When we were in school, the teacher asked us to write biographies of characters, and we really had to write them. After graduation, the procedure is actually the same, but it is not written down.
Beiqing Art Critic: Why does the character "Tu's Father" move you?
Zu Feng: I think this is the character that I identify with. Although my real family relationship is not the father-son relationship depicted in the film, this character has the shadow of many fathers. At the same time, I think he and I also have some overlap. For example, when it comes to listening to classical music, before I went to college, when I was in my 20s, around the early 1990s, everyone was listening to Hong Kong and Taiwan pop music. By the end of the 1990s, I stopped listening to it. After pop music, I started listening to classical music. This is a bit similar to the character "Tu's father". Then I usually practice calligraphy and play tennis.
I can also understand the things that "Tu's father" is different from me. For example, his way of communicating with his children is somewhat universal. Perhaps among Chinese or East Asians, in the parent-child relationship, parents are shy about expressing love, satisfaction, and praise for their children. Will
be a director again?
Beiqing Art Review: "A Brief History of the Family" is your first time working with a new director. You were also considered a newcomer in this field when you directed " Six Desires ". Will you secretly compare it with others?
Zu Feng: It’s not a comparison. Sometimes you will think about this scene and how I would have handled it and how I would have filmed it. I think this is normal. It may be the same in all majors. For example, when you write an article, it may be the same. If he writes the same proposition, then from what angle will I write it.
But because I started working as a director relatively late, I became a director after many years as an actor, so it is more convenient because we have been on the crew for a long time and have more experience. Because you will work with different directors, sometimes you will see various unexpected situations on the set, so I have accumulated more experience in how to deal with unexpected situations. But on other creative levels, we are all equal.The director is telling his story, and I am here to help him tell the story. Of course, the director is the main one.
Beiqing Art Review: After filming "Six Desires", you said for a while that you would never be a director again. Do you still think so now?
Zu Feng: I don’t think it was a flag at that time, it was just an expression of emotion. It’s the kind of emotional expression that says, “It’s too difficult, I really won’t do it anymore.” Now we are also looking for those touching stories to see if there is a suitable time.
But I still like working as an actor because it is relatively simple. Once you get into that character, you don't have to think about anything else. The director's work may be more complicated, involve more energy, be subject to more constraints, and have to consider many things. Of course, if there is a story that makes people want to put it down, I will definitely tell it. Fortunately, I'm not a professional director. I can support myself through acting, and I don't have to push myself so much in terms of directing.
What is a good performance?
Beiqing Art Critic: We can all have intuitive feelings from your works as an actor and director, but we don’t know much about you as a teacher teaching acting. I feel that you will definitely not teach in the same way as Mr. Liu Tianchi. method.
Zu Feng: I think I was actually a good teacher back then. I was very responsible, and I also had some insights into performance, but my abilities were indeed a bit lacking. So at that time, I paid attention to how other teachers taught. Many experienced teachers were very good. He just sits there and talks to the students, he never demonstrates. Talking to students, letting students act, interrupting, then talking again and students acting again can produce change.
But when I first started working as a teacher, I couldn't do this. Sometimes I got anxious and had to go up and demonstrate. I also try to inspire them. For example, when they are arranging homework, if they make an "entering the door" action, I will tell the students that you have to "bring the show on stage" on the stage. Because the stage space we see is in the form of a frame, all the information is here. You have to bring the play onto the scene and bring in the off-screen information, so that the space can be made larger invisibly, and so will our movies. There’s this concept of off-screen space, right? The sound comes in from outside, it's not limited to the frame. When an actor brings a play to the stage, at a large scale, the space becomes larger, but at a smaller scale, it means that people are not static, and life is not static either, it is flowing.
There is another thing called "three elements of action" in our performance: what to do, why to do it and how to do it. "What to do" and "Why to do it" may be prompted in the script, and "how to do it" will be different for each actor. I will enlighten them, and then before they understand it, I will give them a demonstration. After I have finished the demonstration, I will say: "Don't use this (method) when I use it, you use other methods."
Beiqing Art Review: When you talked about the details of these performances, even your body language became much richer. You really like performing.
Zu Feng: Maybe I will do this. Being an actor is really interesting. In addition to the technical aspects of performance, there may also be some unforeseen expectations in the performance, because you don't know what you will encounter with different actors, especially those who are working together for the first time. Even if it is not the first time you work with an actor, you don’t know what you will encounter if you work together again.
Beiqing Art Critic: What is a good performance?
Zu Feng: I think there may be a principle in creation, including literary creation, which is that your original idea cannot be used. The idea I am talking about is not the original thing in creation, the core is the most important , but you can’t use the initial plot points that you conceived. For example, you have to think of a plot that allows the protagonists to form some kind of relationship with each other. The first thing you think of may be what everyone thinks, that is, it is something that follows the trend of thinking, so this is not acceptable. If you think about the second one, you may not want the second one. Then think of another one. That one may be fresher and allow the audience to see something unexpected.Therefore, when we prepare our work, in addition to what we should do, the "how to do it" is actually very different. When we were in school, the teacher would also tell us that we should be unexpected by the audience, but within reason. among. This is a better result in my opinion.
Lin Jianjie: Both cameras and microscopes can be used to understand life
On the second day of the European premiere of "A Brief History of the Family", Beiqing Art Critic interviewed Lin Jianjie, the film's director. When we met him in the interview room, Lin Jianjie was wearing a khaki retro jazz hat brought from China. He joked with us that he bought it because his friends said it looked like a director.
In fact, Lin Jianjie was once a master of science. Later, he felt that biology was not what he wanted to pursue in his life, so he chose to continue his studies in film, which has a huge span. His first feature film was shortlisted for two important international film festivals, Sundance and Berlin, and received critical acclaim both within and outside the industry. Lin Jianjie's film career has had a solid start, and this young Chinese-speaking director's subsequent creations have also attracted attention.
Studying biology is about studying life
Making movies is about understanding life
Beiqing Art Review: I heard that the actual shooting time of "A Brief History of the Family" was only 37 days, but from the launch of the project in 2018 to the filming in 2022, and then The screenings at Sundance and Berlin took almost 6 years. What do you do with the rest of these 6 years? Why didn’t this project come out soon?
Lin Jianjie: Financing actually took a long time. It is not easy to raise funds domestically, and my study experience has taught me some financing channels, including the possibility of international cooperation, so I and my producers worked together to complete such a layout.
Beiqing Art Critic: You switched from studying biology to studying film. What made you make such a determination and change your major in such a large span?
Lin Jianjie: It’s just an intuitive thing. After I graduated from my undergraduate degree, I originally had the opportunity to study in a master's and doctoral program in biology at Tsinghua University. But after I learned about it, I wasn’t particularly happy, and I didn’t feel like “I succeeded.” This made me think that I might need to rethink my pursuit. Later, I chose movies. At that time, I didn’t feel that this choice was definitely the right one, but the learning process was a process of confirmation and a process of constant self-discovery.
Beiqing Art Critic: So after "A Brief History of the Family" faces the audience, do you feel that movies have become something you are determined to do?
Lin Jianjie: I will continue to watch and see how far the movie can take me.
Beiqing Art Review: We can actually see many traces of science students studying biology in the film, such as the use of microscope lenses, including the fact that the occupation of "Tu Wei's father" is set as a biologist. So your past experience of studying biology will have an impact on your creations?
Lin Jianjie: Yes. Biology is still an interest to me. From my point of view, there is not much difference between studying biology and making movies. Studying biology is to study life, and making movies is to understand life. Both cameras and microscopes can be used to analyze the nature of human beings and explore the secrets of human nature.
observes from a more objective perspective
expresses it in a more subjective voice
Beiqing Art Review: As a new director, your audio-visual language is very mature. Can you talk about your shots and music creation?
Lin Jianjie: Audiovisual language is actually formed through exploration. In terms of photography, actually going back to the microscope we mentioned just now, when I decided to use such a perspective to observe a family, I discussed with the photographer and found that in fact our camera also has some connection with the microscope. The purpose of the microscope is to slow down Slowly zoom in, trying to get closer to the essence of things. When we shoot with a camera, we are similar. We hope to keep getting closer. On the one hand, we want to analyze, and on the other hand, we also want to explore these characters.
When talking about music, we cannot fail to talk about sound. In terms of photography, we will observe from a relatively more objective perspective, while in terms of sound and music, we will be relatively more subjective. I hope there will be such a collision, so that the sound can amplify the inner feelings of many characters, so that everyone can form some of their own ideas.
I didn’t use music when I made short films before. All the short films had no music. Therefore, it took a very long time to get used to the idea of cooperating with a composer for the first time. The initial stage was very long, maybe more than a year, but the intensive creation really started after the initial editing. After seeing the entire film, it became relatively clear. At first I thought I wouldn’t use too much music, but after seeing the first cut, I realized I could make music a part of my personal style.
We decided to use more electronic music, and then some glass and metal sounds to create such a music world. Coincidentally, the sound design staff joined the team later, but they also unanimously chose similar elements to build the sound world. I talked about sound with the composer and music with the sound team. The music and sound of this film are actually integrated.
Beiqing Art Critic: Was your image style already like this when you made the short film?
Lin Jianjie: Each of my short films has a different style. I remember when I was making my first short film, I was particularly obsessed with long shots. I felt that the longer the shot, the more realistic it would be, and the longer it would be, the more powerful it would be. But as I gradually started shooting more, I still didn’t want to be restricted by a certain style. I think it is more effective and interesting to choose a suitable style based on the story itself. I will face different challenges every time.
Beiqing Art Critic: Many young directors are influenced by other directors or artists, are you influenced by them?
Lin Jianjie: I am also a movie fan, so it is impossible to say that there is no such thing. But if you want to say who it is specifically, I think there are actually many. When I first started watching movies, I watched a lot of classics in film history, so there are many people in the entire film history who have more or less influence on me.
I was talking to someone before and said that Hitchcock is a very interesting director. When I first read his works, I didn't feel much about them, but when I reviewed his works in recent years, I found that he actually achieved an effective connection between authorship and audience. Many directors have something to say, but the audience may not want to hear it. However, Hitchcock found a point where he could let the audience listen to what he wanted to say. I think this may be a new inspiration.
A few words about the casting
A few words about the movie
Beiqing Art Review: The actors in this film are all very good, whether they are the powerful Zu Feng and Guo Keyu, or the young actors Sun Xilun and Lin Muran. How did the cooperation with them come about?
Lin Jianjie: The choice of each actor actually has a very different story.
It took me a very long time to find actors for my father and mother. Teacher Zu Feng was filming another film at the time, and my producer met his agent by chance and sent him the script. He took the time to read the script. He said he read it in one sitting. He called me the next day and we video chatted. After only one chat, I felt it was him. This is a very fast process. At that time, I was still thinking that the father in the script should be able to write calligraphy, like listening to classical music, and play tennis. I asked Mr. Zu Feng, do you want to play tennis and listen to classical music to gain some basic understanding? But I was surprised that he happened to know all these things, as if this role was written for him.
Teacher Guo Keyu was the one who recommended the variety show "Goodbye Lover" to me at that time. After watching a few episodes of the show, I really wanted to meet her. We didn't talk much about script-related things at that time, but more about life things. She told me that reading the entire script felt like walking through a thick fog. Later, when I was looking for scenes, her words would often appear in my mind, and I found that they were very consistent with the feeling of the entire film that I wanted to create. I decided at that time that it was good, and I just followed my feelings, and that was it.
The two young actors have acted before, but they were all selected from auditions. I chose them mainly because these two children brought me completely different things.Sun Xilun, first of all, his performance is very natural, and he can convey very complex emotions on the basis of not many expressions and movements. There is also a mysterious feeling about him, which not only makes you want to know more about this character, but also makes you want to know more about this character. reserved. So I think he fits the character of Yan Shuo particularly well.
Lin Muran is a very sincere child. He will make you feel that he has a very strong desire to express himself, but at the same time he is also very natural and will not make you think that he is acting for the sake of acting. The difficulty with his character is that I need him to have a perfect combination with Tu Wei (character), and he needs to understand the entire psychological changes that Tu Wei has experienced. There are some places that he may not have experienced before or thought about, so we need to rehearse them. Including fencing, he also needs to learn. During the filming process, he completed all the fencing movements by himself, because I hope to add the actor's own charm to Tu Wei.
Beiqing Art Review: Looking at the international version trailer, some viewers may be expecting a more obvious direction of the story, but you didn't handle it that way. Why?
Lin Jianjie: For me, I still want to return to the family itself. Genre is part of my cinematic language, but not all of it.
Beiqing Art Critic: Before its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, the film had already received a lot of attention at the Sundance Film Festival. Among all the reviews, which ones impressed you the most?
Lin Jianjie: I haven't read all the reviews, but there are two reviews that impressed me deeply. One is "This is a seemingly simple story, but it has many layers and complexities and is worth watching again and again." One thing is that many people said that they would still think and feel about this film for a long time after watching it. This version of the article/Guojie
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