Song Dai, Liu Lei, Hong Ying, Cai Heng (from left to right).
At the end of October 2021, on the day when the movie "Moonlight Samurai" was launched in Chongqing, the writer Hong Ying and his father sat by the Yangtze River, looking at the boats sailing on the river, "It's all fixed-focus, frame by frame, rushing towards me, they are the world, this world is not as gloomy, poor, and hopeless as I am on the south bank, this world has bright colors and hopes, endless passion and love on the other side, that is the world of goddesses." On that day, I suddenly understood why when the movie started, everyone had to do a ritual respectfully, even if it was a story based on real events, we were creating images that had disappeared and never existed in this world, and we had to give a note and a tribute to the ancestors and God. ”
After two years of twists and turns, on December 15, 2023, Hongying's first film "Moonlight Samurai" written and directed by Hongying was finally released. Later, on the way to pick up her daughter at the airport, Hong Ying accepted an exclusive interview with this reporter.
In order to make a movie, I did myopia correction surgery in one eye and did sleep training.
Rainbow Shadow has been obsessed with movies since she was a child, and will walk for three hours just to see an open-air movie. "The first movie I have memory of was 'Tunnel Wars.' When I was five years old, the whole country was propagating 'Prepare for war, prepare for famine, and serve the people', and I remember watching an open-air movie on the south bank, and I followed the adults to walk a long way, from the Danzishi River on the south bank, to Shangxin Street. Attracted by the plot, I didn't feel tired after standing for two hours. At the end of the movie, on the way back, I saw that the audience formed a torrent on the slope, and I followed the adults into the depths of the night in the torrent, knowing that the end of the footsteps was our respective homes. ”
Therefore, Hongying said that from childhood to adulthood, her memories are full of sounds, flavors, and a strong sense of pictures. "All of my ** when I started thinking about it, it was frame by frame. I love movies, as long as there are images, sounds, and people, I feel that I bring something different to this lonely world and this space, and I will like it like it like it madly. ”
Hongying is thin and small, but she gives her friends the feeling that she is full of energy and ease, and this abundant strength also gives her the courage to challenge the director's work, "When I feel that I still have the energy to go crazy and dedicate to it, I must make a movie, make a film dedicated to my hometown of Chongqing, because I am from there, and without Chongqing there would be no me." ”
After planning to become a cross-border director, Hongying, who has always required perfection in doing things, began to make serious preparations: she learned how to Xi to be a director and producer, for which she read books and movies, and even the behind-the-scenes production footage of her favorite movies had to be used to learn Xi, "I have read everything that can be found on the Internet, and I have also interviewed some directors, such as Jiang Wen, Zhang Yibai, Zhang Yang, Gu Changwei, etc., all of whom are directors I particularly respect." ”
As a producer, it is natural to deal with funds, and Hongying must learn to deal with money, be able to settle accounts, and transfer money online, so that she can have an "economic mind".
As a writer, Hongying said that she is usually a lonely and quiet living state, "I usually am with my family, and I never need to contact so many people, we are a team of more than 100 people to make a movie this time, from drivers to group performers, photography teams, production teams, etc., I have to communicate with everyone, I need to have strong communication skills, otherwise I can't lead a team to shoot a movie." ”
In addition to these, Hongying even "armed to the eyes" - she had myopia eye correction surgery because she felt that it was too troublesome to wear glasses to see the camera: "I was prepared for the failure of the operation, so I only had surgery to correct one eye, and if there was a case, I would have another eye to look at the camera." ”
In addition, she also trains herself to sleep, "Because I know that when I am filming a movie, I can only sleep for four hours, so I want to be able to control my sleep, and I have done some training to train how to sleep deeply." ”
recorded all Xiao Ming's lines and let Shanghai actor Cai Heng learn Chongqing dialect.
The story of "Moonlight Warrior" took place in 1976, when the 12-year-old boy Dou Xiaoming was admitted to the hospital due to his injury and met **Jiahui, who took care of him and cared for him. Jia Hui was born beautiful, but married to a young man from the local mixed society, and often suffered domestic violence. After Dou Xiaoming learned of this, he stood up and fought and wanted to be her "moonlight warrior". 20 years have passed, the teenager has grown into a young man, and the two are reunited.
Cai Heng, who plays the young Xiao Ming, said that he watched ** twice and was moved by the story and the character, "I myself and Xiao Ming are 70% to 80% close, as if I can see my soul from Xiao Ming." Xiao Ming's deep affection for his goddess Qin Jiahui all his life makes me feel simple and great. Playing such a character is actually encouraging myself. This sincerity and tenacity are not only for emotions, but also for work, family, and friends. ”
Cai Heng smiled and said that when he auditioned, he actually tried Xiao Ming, Brother Gang and Brother Long, "Later, I told Teacher Hongying that I wanted to play Xiao Ming." ”
The vast majority of the actors who starred in "Moonlight Warrior" are from Chongqing, and Cai Heng is a "minority", he is from Shanghai, and asked him how to learn Chongqing dialect, Cai Heng said that he learned a little Chongqing dialect with Chongqing friends before the audition, and after joining the group, he would ask Hong Ying, Liu Lei, who played Xiao Ming's mother, and Feng Jiamei, who played Qin Jiahui, to teach Chongqing dialect, "Sister Hongying recorded all the lines of Xiao Ming in the script to me sentence by sentence, I practiced in the room by myself, and I would go to the supermarket to buy fruits, and take the opportunity to chat with the boss in Chongqing dialect." ”
At the end of the film, there is a scene of the young Xiao Ming and the young Xiao Ming meeting, Cai Heng said with a smile, seeing Zuo Hang who plays the young Xiao Ming has the feeling of looking in the mirror, "One layer is that the character itself sees the young man's self, and the other layer is that I myself seem to see my young man, so at that time, it seems to be real, and I don't know which one is more real, which is a very wonderful feeling." ”
The open ending of the film also aroused everyone's interest, did Xiao Ming and his wife reconcile or break up?Several creators said that this emotional ending can only be left to each audience to fill their imagination, "The balloon floats in the air, let it float for a while, whether it floats high in the air or falls to the ground, it is possible." ”
In the scene of putting on shoes that moved the audience, Liu Lei was reluctant to take off her socks at first.
In "Moonlight Warrior", Xiao Ming and his widowed mother depend on each other, and his mother makes a living by opening a small noodle restaurant, this is a mother with a pungent personality who dares to love and hate, and it is Liu Lei who plays her.
Liu Lei, who appeared at the premiere, was tall and beautiful, very young, and after listening to the introduction, everyone exclaimed: The difference between inside and outside this lens is too big!Hongying also smiled and said that she was a little difficult when the actor was settled, because Liu Lei and Cai Heng were too good-looking, "Liu Lei is so beautiful, she doesn't look like a woman who has experienced vicissitudes at all, in addition to being an actor, she is also a model, and her gestures are all 'star style', in order to play Xiao Ming's mother well, we asked her to do a lot of training, including walking posture." ”
In addition to the body, Liu Lei also went to a small noodle restaurant to learn how to make noodles Xi, although as a Chongqing person, making small noodles is not a problem, but Liu Lei said that Xiao Ming's mother opened a noodle restaurant, and it is still different from ordinary people making it at home, so it is necessary to have professional training, "The noodle restaurant I go to is called" Huang Xiaomen', Huang Boss personally taught me to make ingredients, I only know that the procedure of making small noodles is so complicated, and when making ingredients, it also takes skills to take three or four bowls at the same time, Huang Boss took me a bag of salt, let me usually divide it into several bowls, take a small spoon to practice the hand speed of the seasoning, I returned to the hotel to practice for a while every day, and strive to be skilled in muscle reaction when shooting, otherwise it is not like a person who has opened a small noodle restaurant for a long time. ”
In the film, Xiao Ming's mother and Jiahui's father are a little ambiguous, but the two don't have too many rivals, this relationship is bland and moving, Liu Lei said: "The ultimate in life is dull, this is their understanding of their feelings, this kind of emotion is middle-aged." The love of young people is more likely to be hormonal passion, and the love of middle-aged people is more about mutual support in life. ”
Before Jiahui and her father were about to go to Japan, Jiahui's father and Xiaoming's mother went to say goodbye and put on the sandals made for her, which also became a big tear in the film. Interestingly, filming this scene also allowed Hongying to play her "authority" as a director.
It turned out that Liu Lei felt that her feet were not good-looking, so she didn't want Xiao Ming's father to take off her socks, she didn't want to show her feet, and finally, director Hongying asked that she must take off her socks, "It is mandatory to require that the director is a conductor, and the actors must obey." Liu Lei smiled and said that she was relieved after watching the movie, "I feel that my feet are not so ugly." ”
In the film, Zuo Hang plays the role of the young Xiao Ming, who is full of aura, and Liu Lei also praised Zuo Hang for being serious and able to endure hardships, "There is a scene where he is beaten by me when he comes home after swimming in the wild." In the cold winter at the end of November, he was drenched with warm water before filming, and when he was agitated in the cold wind, he couldn't stop shivering, and his lips were frozen purple. When we filmed the second one, the director didn't shout to stop, I couldn't help choking up when I looked at my son who was trembling in front of me, and we went down with the emotion, and when the shutdown was stopped, Director Hongying and the people on the scene cried. ”
Talking about why she chose Zuo Hang to play Xiao Ming, Hongying said that she watched Zuo Hang's **, I found that this actor is naturally naïve, very full of emotions, and his eyes and movements, you will think that he is Xiao Ming, he is not acting, at this time I will identify him. I haven't met such a pair of beautiful, moving, and sincere eyes that can see the soul for a long time, plus he is a Chongqing child who can speak Chongqing dialect, so he is a perfect candidate. ”
Paying tribute to his favorite director, Hongying also caught a glimpse in the movie.
From writer to director, from text to image, asked how Hongying achieved the "silky" transformation, Hongying said that in terms of script creation, she is no stranger, "I have done script writing for many movies before, and I have also done script planning and revised movie scripts. So, in that respect, I got very good training. ”
Hong Ying admitted that she cares very much about the script of "Moonlight Warrior", and sometimes changes it temporarily according to the situation of the actors and the mood of the scene, "I learned this from director Hou Xiaoxian, and he will temporarily overturn the script, Wong Kar-wai and Jiang Wen are also like this." Because sometimes you pat and pat and you may feel like you want a little more in one place and a little less in another. I'm a writer and director myself, and I'm the chief producer, so the changes can be done relatively well, and my rule is that the script can't be deviated from the course. ”
Hongying revealed that because the movie was changed according to the feature, she ended up shooting 5 hours of material, "The movie can only be 110 minutes, so it's a pity, maybe we can cut a director's version in the future, because the material is very rich." ”
As a director for the first time, I asked Hongying which scene she thought was the most difficult to shoot, and she smiled: "I think every scene is particularly difficult." Hongying thanked herself for meeting the right people during this shooting, "I am very lucky, many people ask me, why do you want to be a director?".I said that because the director can manage so many people, of course this is a joke. It is true that a director is completely different from a writer, and a director needs to know more professional things than a writer. I want to thank everyone I've worked with, and I'm especially grateful to you for having been with me through this time in my life. ”
Interestingly, Hong Ying also made a surprise appearance in the film - she walked into the hotel wearing a hat in the rain, Hong Ying said that this was her little selfishness, "When I made this movie, I had a tribute to the director I liked." Hitchcock has to leave a figure in his film every time, so I also stayed this time, I also like the director Wes Anderson, who is called the 'symmetry madman', the film team knows that my composition must have a central axis, the picture must be symmetrical, Qin Jiahui walked down the stone stairs, must have walked down from the middle, can not deviate. There are a lot of details in the film that I have watched thousands of movies and pay tribute to those directors who like them, and interested viewers can look them up. ”
Parents and a teacher are Rainbow Shadow's Moonlight Samurai.
The Moonlight Samurai becomes a reflection in the relationship between all the characters in the film, a patron saint of love who fights against impermanence, and a kind of oath. "The Moonlight Samurai is a symbol of literature and a movie, and it is a kind of respect for the weak to the strong. We are weak, so we need such strong people, who are kind and righteous, who open up the world for us, eliminate traitors and fight evil. In my upbringing, I wish I was them, a kind of good dream of the strong. ”
When asked who the Moonlight Samurai was in her heart, she replied that it was her father and mother, "My father has guarded me all my life and allowed me to exist in this family." My mother, she had a detached attitude towards me, never hugged me, didn't show love for me, she used this to protect me. She knew that if she approached me, or if she expressed it directly, it would cause the other children to be dissatisfied. Because everybody knew I was a child out of wedlock. I miss my mother, who is no longer alive, she is the guardian of my life, and I want to protect her, but I can't do it, and the most regrettable thing is that my mother can't watch this movie, and she told me this story at the beginning. ”
There is also a teacher who was Hongying's teacher when she was a child, "She came to be our homeroom teacher temporarily. When I was a child, my health was very poor, so we went to Dazhai in the countryside to repair terraces, and during the break, the children would draw chalk on the road and play hopscotch. When I was leaving, I was walking alone, crossing the road, and suddenly I fainted. When the teacher called me by name, he found that I was not there, and when he came back, he saw me fainting on the road, and my heart was about to stop beating. If she hadn't carried me to the hospital, I might not have been out of this world. In that sense, she was the best teacher I had when I was a kid and my moonlight samurai. I would like to thank her. ”
The most difficult thing to be a director is publicity, and I will be a director if I have the opportunity in the future.
Song Dai is the executive producer of "Moonlight Samurai", he used to be the chairman of Yindu Organization, and supervised hundreds of films. He said that he has known Hongying for more than 30 years, and this cooperation is indispensable, "I like this script very much, Hongying's depiction of multi-emotional relationships, as well as the expression of life scenes and video art, which I particularly like." Hongying went from a writer to a director, and after a lot of twists and turns, she finally achieved a good result. The film, with its strong authorial temperament and at the same time distinctively recognizable, has been very successful. ”
The host of this "favored" post-screening discussion activity is the famous film critic and planner Tan Fei, who has known Hongying for many years. He said that at a ** seminar, Hongying revealed to him that he wanted to be a director, "At that time, I was so scared that I almost fell off the chair, and today I saw her on the scene invoices and signing posters, and I said that you are really a person's 'chaos'." ”
Hongying smiled and said that she did start to be busy in the morning, "I got up in the morning and started buying flowers for the main creator meeting, just after the snow in Beijing, do you know how difficult it is to buy flowers?."And it's very expensive, but I can't just buy it, my actors are so beautiful and tasteful, I have to pick them well. "A detail of buying flowers shows how Hongying pursues perfection and how hard it works.
Talking about the feeling of being a director, Hong Ying said that "I often cry", she said that there are many more restrictions on being a director than being a writer, and directors are limited by funds, markets, actors, distribution, etc., "Just like we cook, if you only have green vegetables and no meat, then you can only make green vegetables;."If you only have meat, you can't do without vegetables. If you want to make a bowl of noodles, if there is only one kind of chili pepper, and there are no other ingredients such as garlic, onion and ginger, it will not be delicious. ”
After experiencing each process of film creation, Hongying said that she found that the most severe and terrifying stage of making a film is "publicity". "Why do so many movies need famous actors?Because of the words of a famous actor, most of this publicity will be solved. For niche feature films that don't have famous actors, it's very difficult to release. In the end, Hongying chose to distribute it by itself, talk about the theater chain by itself, and transport the materials by itself, "So, in fact, one of the jobs I am doing is to break the stereotypes of distribution, however, the audience has become more and more self-judgmental, and good movies will have more and more reputation, so, in this regard, I think we are lucky." ”
After suffering so much, will you still be a director in the future?Hongying said that she had also asked herself this question carefully, "If I could, I would continue to be a director, because the film is so charming, as if Medusa is close behind her, even if she turns into a stone sculpture and gives up everything for it, her passion for her will not stop." ”
In the more than a year of post-production of "Moonlight Samurai", Hongying also completed the creation of a new feature** "Immortal Bird", "I think there are restrictions for writers or directors, and this limitation is different. The limitation of a writer is that what he writes may be repeating himself, but for a strict writer, he will challenge the unknown. My latest ** is called "Immortal Bird", and I did it in three parts. There's time-traveling, there's detective, there's suspense, and there's spying. It looks like a business**, but it's actually very artistic. Through the tracing of one person, the progress of crossing the multi-line type. Text reporter Zhang Jia courtesy of Hongying.