Wu Ershan Director, screenwriter and producer, born in 1972. In 2011, the martial arts comedy film "Sword and Laughter" directed by him was released;In 2012, he directed the magical romance movie "Painted Skin II", which broke 12 box office records for Chinese films that yearIn 2015, the fantasy adventure film "Looking for the Dragon" directed by him won the "Best Director" award at the 33rd Popular Film Hundred Flowers AwardsIn 2023, the director's "Fengshen Part 1: Chao Song Fengyun" will be released, and "Fengshen Trilogy" is the first mythological epic genre masterpiece in the history of Chinese films to adopt three consecutive films. 2023 Variety Annual Influence
Director of the Year, Wu Ershan
A contemporary perspective reshapes the legend of the gods, and innovative technology creates an oriental wonder.
Nine years of grinding a sword to build a dream myth epic
When preparing for the "Fengshen Trilogy", director Wu Ershan was 42 years old, and when the first part was released, he was 51 years old.
Three consecutive films, 9 years of preparation, 342 days of shooting, a team of more than 8,000 people, and foreign staff from 20 countries ......Whether it is time or cost, it is a big investment for Wuershan. A very important part of his life has remained in this movie.
In July 2023, "Fengshen Part 1: Chao Song Fengyun" will be released, and the film will be a great success, winning 9 nominations at the 36th China Film Golden Rooster Awards, winning three awards: Best Feature Film, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Cinematography.
The super-large-scale production of "Fengshen Trilogy" in the Chinese film industry is undoubtedly a bold attempt and exploration for the Chinese film industry, which also makes Wu Ershan one of the high-profile commercial film directors at present.
Started at the age of 35
Make mythological epic movies about the Chinese
Among the post-70s directors, Wu Ershan is a very special existence. He only entered the film industry at the age of 35, studied oil painting at the ** Academy of Fine Arts in his early years, and later studied film at the Beijing Film Academy, and worked as an advertising director after graduation. For more than ten years, he has made commercials, videos, and exhibitions, and has made remarkable achievements in the contemporary art circle.
In 2004, Wu Ershan used his spare time to shoot commercials to make a 90-minute independent film "Soap Opera", which won the International Film Critics Award at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and the Best Director Award at the Geneva International Film Festival in Switzerland. For the first time, Wu Ershan received attention in the film director circle. In 2009, Wu Ershan was selected for the Asian Star Gravity Project and directed his first commercial film "Knife and Smile", which won the "Best New Director" award at the 48th Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards.
In 2012, the magical romance movie "Painted Skin 2" directed by him was released, setting a new box office record of 12 Chinese films at that time. In 2015, the popularity of "Ghost Blowing the Lantern" and "Tomb Robbery Notes" made archaeological exploration a popular theme in film and television.
The director's career is getting better, and he has always dreamed of shooting a fantasy film of sufficient scale, and Wu Ershan, who fills the gap in the "mythological epic" genre of Chinese films, began to plan the "Fengshen" epic film.
When I watched "The Lord of the Rings" in 2002, I was deeply moved. China has such abundant cultural resources, and it can also make mythological and epic films", "From a cultural point of view, it is particularly meaningful to re-express traditional Chinese culture through film." Wu Ershan believes that "Romance of the Gods" has an epic pattern, as well as the growth of heroes and the struggle between good and evil, and this kind of story is "most suitable for making a mythological epic super masterpiece". He decided to go all out and adapt "Romance of the Gods" into a trilogy movie.
Since the first script planning meeting in 2014, the creation time of "Fengshen Trilogy" has been nearly 10 years. Urshan is also a director, screenwriter and creative producer. He was involved in the creation of the script for 5 years, initiating projects, finding partners, assembling the main creative team, and completing the production as a creative producer. He is both a creator and a coordinator, coordinating the complex tasks of filmmaking and switching between different identities.
A contemporary perspective tells classic stories
From the villain book of childhood, to the "Romance of the Gods" in the Ming Dynasty, to various film and television adaptations, "Fengshen" is the childhood memory of many Chinese people. When Urshan conceived the story, he was always thinking: why did this story survive for 3,000 years?What things are timeless?What things have changed with the times?He found that the grievances and conflicts between the two families of King Wen of Zhou and Yin Shou have always existed in various versions and have not been abandoned.
The original work of "Romance of the Gods" is fatalistic, which conflicts with contemporary values, and the adaptation of the film requires re-refining the theme and core characters. The most important adaptation of "Fengshen Trilogy" is no longer to take Jiang Ziya as the core, but to retell the story of Fengshen through Ji Fa's first perspective. Wu Ershan hopes to fully explore the contemporaneity of the story of the gods through the perspective of young people, and tell the story of the protagonist's experience of identifying truth and falsehood, choosing good and evil, and finally achieving spiritual growth.
In Wu Ershan's view, "It must be emotional power that moves the audience." In the movie, Ji Chang, Bo Yi Kao, Ji Fa and Yin Shou, Yin Jiao's two sets of contrasting father-son relationships constitute the core main line of "Fengshen Part 1: Chao Song Fengyun" - whether Ji Fa follows the "spiritual father" Yin Shou and does whatever it takes to gain power;Or return to his ethical father Ji Chang, return to conscience and hometown. Just like Ji Chang's line in the film, "It doesn't matter whose son you are, it matters who you are." In Wu Ershan's view, "the characters experience different events, make different choices, and go to different lives." Such stories are time-spanning and meaningful to the current audience. ”
Exploration of the industrialization of film masterpieces
Some netizens commented that the significance of "Fengshen Trilogy" to the Chinese film industry is far greater than the significance of the movie itself.
The series is a mythological epic, one of the most difficult genres to make a film, and is produced in a three-part series at the same time. Wu Ershan introduced, "The crew has more than 8,000 staff in the early stage, and 1,565 staff in the later stage, working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and filming for 18 months. The scale, cycle and difficulty of this kind of work are unprecedented for Chinese-language films. Through this campaign, the crew has explored ways to achieve scientific and efficient management through systems and processes. From the participation of senior Hollywood producers in the creation and long-term closed and systematic training of young actors, it can also be seen that the super high standards and scale of the crew of "Fengshen Trilogy" can also be seen.
Fengshen Part 1: Chao Song Fengyun has gained the love of many audiences, I am very grateful, and I look forward to seeing you next year with the new work. Wu Ershan introduced that the material editing of the last two parts of the "Fengshen Trilogy" has been completed, and special effects are currently being produced, and one is planned to be released in the summer of 2024 and 2025. "Fengshen Part II" tells the story of Yin Shang's soldiers pressing the border, and Ji Fa defending Xiqi's homeland;"Fengshen Part III" tells the story of King Wu's war, the battle of people, fairies and demons, and the gods of the world.
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