In the cold and desolate Northeast, a fish suddenly jumped out of an ice cave, and struggled desperately on the hard ice due to lack of oxygen. After several back and forth, it finally fell to the bottom of the water as if resigned to its fate, and became a "fish under the ice" a

In the cold and desolate Northeast, a fish suddenly jumped out of an ice cave, and struggled desperately on the hard ice due to lack of oxygen. After several back and forth, it finally fell to the bottom of the water like a resignation and became a "fish under the ice" again. ...This is the scene from the first scene of the literary drama film "Fish Under the Ice".

The film, with Li Li serving as screenwriter, director, and producer, is scheduled to be released on May 23 and will have a road show in Chengdu on the evening of the 17th. After the video was played, an audience member burst into tears: "When I saw the male protagonist running by the railway track, I suddenly felt that he was the only one left in the world..."

Zhang Li (right) interacted with the Chengdu audience

"Actual The cost of this film was very low, only about 3 million yuan," Zhang Li told Red Star News. Such a low-cost film not only won the "Best Small and Medium-Cost Feature Film" at the 34th China Golden Rooster Award, but was also shortlisted. Film festivals such as the "Pingyao International Film Festival", "Moscow International Film Festival" and "Dhaka International Film Festival" also gained tears from the audience.

How can a small-budget movie do this?

Sincerity is the director’s special skill

At 7 o’clock in the evening, Zhang Li stood at the entrance of the theater, waiting for the audience to arrive. He will give each audience member a signed poster. After signing, he will carefully overlap the backs of the two posters to avoid accidentally wiping the ink: "Hold carefully, the writing is not dry yet."

"Sincerity" is tension. Get the most reviews. The movie "Fish Under the Ice" was also inspired by an extremely delicate emotion - the grief caused by the death of his father.

In early 2016, Zhang Li's father passed away. That night, he asked all his relatives to go home to rest and sit alone next to his father's coffin. Zhang Li said that for decades, they, a typical Northeastern father and son, had maintained a "distance" and had never expressed their love directly. It wasn't until his father's life came to an end that Zhang Li could only look at his father in the coffin for a long time like he was belatedly aware of it. Zhang Li said that that night, he and his father kept talking. He lay on the glass coffin lid and said "I love you" over and over again. Finally he said: "Dad, I want to make a movie dedicated to you."

Zhang Li He said that one day, while he was taking a bath in the bathtub, he suddenly thought of his 80-year-old mother: After her father left, if she wanted to take a bath, who would help her warm the water and rub her back? If she wants to take a bath and chat in a public bath that she used to frequent, how should she face the bath's rejection? Could it be that in old age, taking a bath "like when you were young" has become a luxury wish?

The story of "Fish Under the Ice" begins here. The movie tells the story of an old woman and her middle-aged son in an old industrial city in Northeast China. A few years after her husband's death, 82-year-old Zhao Lihua suffered from depression. She wanted to bathe in the employee bathhouse that she and her husband had frequented when she was young, but she was repeatedly turned away and humiliated, even though she had worked at the factory her entire life. His son Zhu Hongbing went to great lengths to find two women to accompany his mother in the bath. At the end of the story, Zhao Lihua also did not realize her wish to take a bath in the employee bath. In the end, her son rented an hourly room and took the last bath in her life for her mother while sobbing.

Why is "taking a bath" so important? In Zhang Li's view, this is related to "dilemma", "dignity" and "farewell". "Although Zhao Lihua is old, she resolutely defends her right to freedom. For example, she refuses to give up her seat, puts on sunglasses to show that she 'disdains to fight with anyone', etc. Through her paranoia about 'bathing', she seeks inner dignity and peace. Decent, in the weak moment of life, fight back against all the unbearable things in life. "

The ambiguous symbols attracted the audience to discuss

What aroused heated discussion among the audience after the screening was the large number of things that appeared in the movie. Refers to ambiguous symbols. For example, when Zhu Hongbing encountered a key point in the incident, a slaughtering truck with a cage behind it drove by slowly and slightly strangely. There were cows, pigs and sheep in it three times. At the end of the film, cow heads, pig heads and sheep The head became a ritual sacrifice.

“What do pigs, cows, and sheep mean? I will be asked at every road show."Zhang Li said that he actually did not want to impose his ideas on the audience. Different audiences may have different interpretations. "This is actually to externalize the protagonist's heart. For example, Niu appeared after Zhu Hongbing finished drinking. There is a feeling of surging heart; the pig and the family conflict intensify to form a response; the sheep appears after Zhu Hongbing bathes his mother, as if he has returned to his childhood and saw his mother's body; the sacrifice refers to what everyone did in the end A sacrifice was made. "

In addition, except for a few of the most important characters in the movie, the faces of the rest of the characters are vague. For example, although Zhu Hongbing's son appears many times in the plot, he is almost always shown in profile. , back figures, figures hidden by blinds and other images appeared.

Zhang Li said that he deliberately did not take pictures of their faces. He wanted to represent the stigma of a certain generation through non-directional images, "because this film expresses the truth. It’s just that people of different generations have different predicaments. The dilemma of the mother is how to say goodbye with dignity; the dilemma of the grandchildren born in the 1985s and 1990s is how to solve financial problems; the dilemma of the son is how to face his parents, wife and children. As a middle-aged man who is being downplayed by society, how to face this kind of dilemma? Psychological stress and feelings of loss? "

But the problem is that it is difficult for people of different generations to empathize with each other's plight. Just like Zhu Hongbing in the movie, it is really difficult to understand why he tried so hard to fulfill his mother's wish to take a bath, but her mother still died. “For him, he thought he was very filial, but he didn’t understand his mother’s true needs. "

This is also a hidden "little easter egg" in this movie - the Chinese name of the movie is "Fish Under the Ice", but the English name is the regrettable the unfilial son.

"We have been treated by countless People teach us how to grow up, but no one ever teaches us how to grow old. "Zhang Li said that he hopes that "Fish Under the Ice" can insert the stinging power into the recurring life, allowing the audience to sit quietly and examine the inner world of the neglected and almost missing old people.

Red Star News reporter Mao Yuchuan and editor Zeng Qi