At the Hong Kong Film Awards last Sunday, the film " Diary of a Youth " received 12 nominations, winning director Zhuo Yiqian the New Director Award. On April 19, the film was officially released in the mainland, and mainland audiences could finally see the true content of this Hong Kong film.
Domestic violence, child suicide, and emotional problems are all condensed in the 95-minute "Diary of a Youth". The story has a heavy tone, but unexpectedly resonates with the audience. After being released in Hong Kong last year, the film sparked discussion and the local box office exceeded 23.45 million yuan. After being screened in mainland China, the Douban score rose instead of falling, reaching as high as 8.6 points.
"Diary of a Youth" is the first feature film directed by Zhuo Yiqian. He poured many personal experiences and emotions into it, and the growing pains in the film are strong enough to shock the audience. Film producer Er Dongsheng is 30 years older than Zhuo Yiqian. He is a senior in the film industry and in life. He has another insight into this story. On the eve of the film's release in mainland China, the two of them accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News.
Zhuo Yiqian:
Many of the characters in the film are me at different stages of growth
"Youth Diary" is cut from the perspective of middle school teacher Zheng Sir (played by Lu Zhenye). He found an anonymous suicide note in his class, which reminded him of a story. This diary from many years ago, as well as his unhappy childhood past.
The film uses a diary throughout. For Zhuo Yiqian, "Diary of a Youth" itself is like his personal diary. When he was in college, one of Zhuo Yiqian's friends suddenly committed suicide and he began to pay attention to news related to suicide. For a period of time, the news reported one after another about student suicides. He had ten thousand question marks in his mind but could not find the answers. The confusion, guilt and even anger among them finally gave birth to "Diary of a Youth". In the film
, adulthood and adolescence are paralleled: the 10-year-old boy Zheng Youjie lives in a suffocating family, with a violent father, a cowardly mother, and an excellent younger brother who is the only one who loves him. He is just the "stupid one" in the family; In the adult timeline, Sir Zheng is still haunted by the shadow of his original family, while his students are facing growing pains. The school is still only about grades, and tragedies seem to repeat themselves again and again. Zhuo Yiqian said frankly that he disassembled and reorganized various experiences and feelings in his life and integrated them into the story: childhood loneliness, depression experience, regret for the death of his friend... "Many characters in it have my shadow, they are different When I was growing up. "
A very personal creation, the strong response it aroused was unexpected by Zhuo Yiqian. At last Saturday's Guangzhou screening, in the second half of the film, sobs could be heard in the dark theater. While he was delighted that the film received good reviews, Zhuo Yiqian also had a bit of bitterness in his tone: "This story has triggered so many resonances, which is actually not a good thing." The film points to the trauma of the original family and the emotions of teenagers that have been frequently discussed in recent years. Problems and suicide issues, the audience's strong resonance is likely to come from the fact that they share similar painful memories with the characters in the film.
Zhuo Yiqian said frankly that the film has a heavy theme and he once hesitated whether it should be filmed, but he finally decided to face it positively: "If we don't discuss it, we will only get further and further away from solving the problem. After the film came out, something very happened. The good thing is that after my sister watched it, she started a long and profound conversation with me. I cherish this very much. After watching the movie, we talked more about our inner feelings, which was very good."
Dongsheng:
The parents in the film made me think about my daughter’s education
When the movie was released in Hong Kong, Er Dongsheng secretly went to the theater to watch it three times to observe the audience’s reaction. "The wonderful thing about this movie is that audiences of different genders and ages can be moved by it," he said.
And when Er Dongsheng returns to his role as a viewer, what does he think of this film? He said with a smile: "My father beat me even more severely when I was a kid! But after my father passed away, I didn't actually hate him that much. It seemed like that was the way it was at that time. Of course, times have changed now. In fact, nothing happened in the movie. It happened to me. I have no friends who committed suicide. At most, they were beaten by my father. My mother was very gentle to me, but my brother was more strict."
What resonated with Er Dongsheng was not Sir Zheng, but the parents in the film. The parents set a wrong example and made Er Dongsheng rethink education. "My daughter is now over 8 years old and is studying piano. I never read the education section of newspapers before, but I started reading it after reading "Diary of a Youth". Nowadays, children’s schoolbags are so heavy and they have to attend so many cram schools. In fact, I can understand the feelings of parents. Because the society is highly competitive, they are worried about their children’s future, so they want to give their children the best education and force them to become more mature. excellent. But if you push too hard and destroy the parent-child relationship, isn't it worth the loss? Does it put more pressure on the children? This movie made me think about how I should treat my daughter. "
Er Dongsheng hopes that more young parents will enter the cinema: "I have always said that making movies raises problems, and we cannot solve them. If this movie can inspire parents who are raising their children, I think it will be a great merit. "
"The first feature film project"
allows new Hong Kong directors to make films "willfully"
In the past Academy Awards, how Hong Kong films can achieve generational change once again aroused public discussion. Ye Dongsheng is not worried about the lack of success in Hong Kong films: "" During the filming of "Diary of a Youth", I only went to visit the class three times. We held a celebration party after the release, and that was the first time I met all the staff in front of and behind the scenes. I found that I didn’t know 90% of the people. At that time, I said: ‘I think the (Hong Kong) film industry can be saved. Because new power has emerged. ’” Er Dongsheng felt the difference between the new generation of filmmakers and the older generation: “To be honest, when I entered the industry, the education level in the industry was not high, and I could hear a lot of swear words when I went to the filming location. But their generation is different. Their education level is higher and they are more rational. This is a big difference. "
New directors have been emerging in Hong Kong in recent years. Taking this year's Academy Awards as an example, three of the top five nominees for Best Director are also nominees for new directors. One of the reasons for the emergence of new forces is the support of the government. Take "Diary of a Young Man" as an example. This is an award-winning work of Hong Kong's "First Feature Film Project", which is funded by the Hong Kong Film Development Fund for directors who have never made feature films. "This project has an advantage, these funds are directly funded. It was given to the director and does not need to be recycled. Therefore, the director does not need to face investors and there is no market pressure. So they can create whatever they want. Even when I was working as a producer for "Diary of a Young Man", I would not look at the film from a commercial perspective. Whatever you want to express and how you want to shoot it, just try your best to shoot it. I will only help you make the script complete, and I will give you some advice later. "Er Dongsheng said. Because of the support of the "First Feature Film Project", in recent years, a number of new directors' works with realistic concerns, such as "One Thought" and "Falling Flowers", have appeared in Hong Kong, which has brought a new wave of enthusiasm to Hong Kong films. New style.
The "first feature film plan" is also a kind of luxury and willfulness. When it comes to the second feature film, the director must face the market and investors. Fortunately, his second feature film is already being planned. , is a commercial film. How to balance market expectations and personal expression? He said: "This is a new beginning. My previous short films, music videos and the feature film "Diary of a Young Man" were all written and directed by myself, but I always have to train myself to shoot stories written by others. But I believe I can find myself in any story and will bring my own style to the film. Since I am making a commercial film, all I have to do is tell the story to the best of my ability, communicate well with the audience, and be responsible to the boss. "
As for what message Ye Dongsheng has for new directors in Hong Kong? He said: "Don't push any jobs. Try your best to accept online majors (big online movies), commercials, etc., practice more, and don’t miss any opportunity to be a director. "
text | Reporter Hu Guangxin
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