is a light comedy road movie "Chocolate and" produced by Zhang Ji (screenwriter's representative works "Chinese Partner", " Dear " and " Wins the Championship "), directed and written by Chen Yingxin, starring Meng Gun and Zhao Ziyi, with special appearances by Che Yongli and Huang Junpeng. "Butter Flower" will be released on July 9 at the All-China Federation of Arts. The film tells the story of two 12-year-old boys from different backgrounds who met while traveling alone on the western plateau of China and helped each other complete their journey. The Beijing News exclusively interviewed director Chen Yingxin and Huang Junpeng, who plays Tang Yu's father, to talk about the behind-the-scenes stories of the film.
"Chocolate and Butter Flowers" tells the story of two 12-year-old boys from different backgrounds who met while traveling alone on the western plateau of China and helped each other complete the journey.
director Chen Yingxin clarified the title "Chocolate and Butter Flowers" from the beginning. Chocolate symbolizes urban civilization, while butter flowers are spiritual and artistic. They are two sides of the same body, colliding with thoughts on current parent-child relationships and education issues. The creation of the film originated from a healing trip that Chen Yingxin took in Tibet in 2010. She wanted to use the adventure of two teenagers to question adult society and explore her thoughts on the value of life. There are many golden sentences in the film, such as "You come from the city, adults are like children, and children are like adults", "When you are in pain, be in pain, when you are happy, be happy, just live life truthfully" etc. In Chen Yingxin's view, these all stem from the accumulation in life.
The creation originated from a healing journey
Beijing News: How did you choose to shoot this story, and how did the creation come about?
Chen Yingxin: is related to my experience at that time. In 2010, I graduated from the directing class of the Beijing Film Academy and was unemployed. I sold a house in Beijing in order to go to school. I was in a very bad state and wanted to go somewhere far away from the hustle and bustle by myself, so I Went to Tibetan area. After setting out on the road, I found that the scenery there was very good, the sky was particularly clear, and at night I felt like I could reach out and pick out the stars. This trip had a healing effect on me. In addition to the healing that nature has given me, I also found that the people there, especially the children, had light in their eyes and knew what they were going to do. Because I was in a confused state at the time and didn't know what I wanted in this life, but the children there knew what they wanted to do very early on. I was very touched at the time. I had some thoughts and inspirations along the way, and this creative idea came to me.
Beijing News: Why choose a Tibetan boy and a Han boy as the protagonists of the film?
Chen Yingxin: Because I think children are more pure. Someone also suggested to me before, why not find a little boy and a little girl. I said that this might lead to some other stories, but it was not the story I wanted to tell, so I chose two teenagers, one Tibetan and one Han Chinese. Since these two teenagers have not yet reached the stage of falling in love, they can block out some details and simply embody what I want to express.
Chen Yingxin chose two teenagers to be the protagonists of the film, blocking out some details and simply embodying what she wanted to express.
Beijing News: What details of your experience in Tibetan areas in 2010 were included in the film?
Chen Yingxin: There are very few , in fact, it is just the tip of the iceberg. I traveled from Kangding in Ganzi, Sichuan, to Seda, then north to Goluo Prefecture, Maqin County, Regong, Qinghai, and finally to Kumbum Monastery. The whole trip lasted two months. I'm not in a hurry, and I don't have a particularly clear purpose. I just want to clear myself, so there are many adventures along the way. For example, the butter flower may be unfamiliar to us, even if we have heard of it, we have never seen it, so I put some things that touch me very much into it. We want to explore it, discover it, and get to know it.
Enriching the story with parent-child relationships
Beijing News: It has been 14 years since you first went to Tibetan areas in 2010 until the movie was released. What have you experienced in the meantime?
Chen Yingxin: After I came back from Tibetan areas in 2010, I basically finished writing the first draft of the script.In 2012, I found a company and planned to film it, but soon the company stopped making films. I got pregnant in 2015 and went to give birth. In 2018, the children were already in kindergarten. I was thinking at that time whether to shoot now or wait until the children go to elementary school. Many people warned me at the time that going to kindergarten is the happiest time for children and parents. You should go take pictures now and stop thinking about it when you go to elementary school. It touched me greatly at that time, and I started to revise my script.
Beijing News: Some parent-child relationship and education issues have been added to the script.
Chen Yingxin: is right, and it has some perspectives from parents. In the film, Tang Yu's parents have different concepts of family education. Children and parents have intergenerational communication problems due to study pressure. These can enrich the two children in the story.
The video adds a parent's perspective.
Beijing News: Teacher Huang plays a strict father in the film. What do you think of the parent-child relationship and education issues in the film?
Huang Junpeng: What is particularly different about the movie is that a Tibetan child and a Han child grew up in two different environments and educations, and their handling of things and their views on the world are completely different. I think this subject matter It is quite meaningful for the growth of contemporary children. And this film also gives parents some thoughts on how to help our children grow better, explore their inner creativity, and become their own unique selves instead of following the same standard model.
Beijing News: This movie is a children’s road movie. Can you share some fun things during the filming process?
Huang Junpeng: I think the most interesting thing about this film is that we walked along and experienced many beautiful scenery in Tibetan areas. I really like traveling, and shooting is like traveling. I complete the work while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Interestingly, during the filming, we had no place to go to the bathroom along the way, because I brought an RV with me, so the RV became a place for everyone to go to the bathroom, which was quite fun.
Producer Zhang Ji provided golden lines for the script
Beijing News: As a producer, what advice did Mr. Zhang Ji provide throughout the creative process?
Chen Yingxin: He provided a lot of help during the script stage. I think he is better at writing characters. He would remind me about the image of the parents of his two children and let me change it myself. In terms of creation, he respects me very much. In the end, the film still presents the temperament I want, rather than becoming something that belongs to him. He also provided some golden quotes, such as "For those of you who come from the city, adults are like children, and children are like adults." I think they are quite insightful.
movie stills.
At the end of the film, Tang Yu wrote a letter, which was equivalent to his inner confession, but during the dubbing, the actor who played Tang Yu, Zhao Ziyi, changed his voice. At that time, I thought that since his voice had changed, I shouldn’t let him confess, but Zhang Ji said, no, he must confess here. Only when he confesses will his emotions sublimate. I think it makes sense, so I put it in the middle. Change the words to something like, "I will think of when I was 12 years old..." to let the audience know that this is a journey in the past that he will talk about afterwards.
Beijing News: There are many golden lines in the film, such as "It is easy to be happy, but it is difficult to be happy", "When you are in pain, you are in pain, when you are happy, you are happy, and just live life truthfully." How did you come up with these lines? ?
Chen Yingxin: I think many lines come from life. Whether it's a screenwriter or a director, they all have to accumulate, and accumulation is a long-term process. Our child is now in second grade. Every week he borrows a book from school to read. After reading it, he has homework: use 4 pictures to draw the most vivid content of the book, and find the good sentences in the book. Come out and summarize your feelings about this book in 20 words. I think this method is particularly good. It is a long-term accumulation process. Over time, I found that my daughter will come up with some good words and phrases when she speaks.
Actually, Zhang Ji and I both have this habit.Zhang Ji didn't work for about two years in his early years. He would watch movies at home every day and take notes after watching them. I remember that he had many small notebooks. His handwriting was very small and dense. They were all notes from those two years. , I think this is a very good habit. Sometimes a couple of my friends are quarreling, and the quarrel is in full swing. The quarrel is so fun, so I quickly write down the content of the quarrel, so many good sentences come from life. You can’t make up your own so interesting sentences. .
The difficulties in filming are not important
Beijing News: How were the two young actors in the film found?
Chen Yingxin: I fell in love with these two actors at first sight. When I was in Seda, Sichuan in 2010, I was already looking for young actors. The principal at that time was very good. When the children were doing exercises during recess, I chose three children. Later, before filming in 2019, we went to Seda again, and the principal said that some of the children had become painters and some had become monks. After that, we searched all the schools in Seda County and found Meng Gun (playing Sandan) from more than 1,000 children. I thought it was him at first sight, and he really wanted to play, but there was a problem. , he couldn’t understand what we were talking about. The second time I met him, he had memorized all the lines in the script verbatim. In fact, before starting the production, our staff suggested that I change someone, but I thought it was him.
Both young actors were spotted by director Chen Yingxin at first sight.
The role of Tang Yu is not easy to find. Today's young actors are too mature. I have met several young actors around 12 years old, who are taller than me, and their ideological maturity makes me feel like they are not 12-year-old primary school students. I was about to start the movie, so I looked through some information about actors who had been eliminated before, and saw Zhao Ziyi. I said this kid is pretty good, who of you should be eliminated by me? After that, we met and chatted, and he performed a scene for me. I felt at that time that this kid was my Tang Yu, so I joined our group directly.
Beijing News: There was a wrestling scene on the grassland. During the filming, did the two young actors really fall?
Chen Yingxin: really fell, and fell very hard. It was actually quite hard, because the place was about 3,900 meters above sea level. Let alone a fight, even a few steps were tiring. The two of them fell for such a long time. The person we photographed Also tired. Because the scene was filmed in a rotating position, it was very fun for us on set. It was a bit like an eagle catching a chicken. The photographer was in front, and all our staff kept running behind the photographer. It was very fun.
Beijing News: There are many beautiful scenery along the film. Where were the filming locations for the film?
Chen Yingxin: Except for Kumbum Monastery, we hardly went to any so-called scenic spots. This was also due to my collection in 2010. I traveled to many places. In those two months, I went deep into many remote countryside or In the mountains. I have a good habit of observing wherever I go. If I think something is particularly good, I will take a photo and mark it. When we went to shoot again, I actually had a sense of direction and knew where to go. Sixty to seventy percent of the scenes in the film were originally found, which was very cost-effective.
Beijing News: What difficulties did you encounter during the filming of this type of road movie?
Chen Yingxin: The first difficulty with is the high reflection. When we first went up, we had two staff members to lift it down. The high reflection was obvious, but we got used to it quickly. The second difficulty is that it is difficult to take on roles. In Tibetan areas, there are really four seasons in one day. A scene shot on the same day may be sunny one moment and hailed the next, so the teacher who adjusted the lighting in the post-production period had a very hard time. The difficulties in our entire shooting process are not the most important, because we are very happy every day. There are many Tibetan compatriots in the group. Basically every night I drink with them and chat with the photographer about tomorrow’s plan. It is a very happy process. .
Beijing News reporter, Teng Chao
editor, Xu Meilin
proofreader, Liu Jun
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