When Zhang Yimou met Dong Yuhui and Yu Minhong, it was destined to be a collision of sparks of thought!
On February 2, Zhang Yimou was a guest in Dong Yuhui's "Walking with Hui" live broadcast room to promote his new film "Article 20", which will be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year. In the more than two-hour interview, not only did 800,000 vouchers be successfully sold, but also made people appreciate a high-quality dialogue activity. Zhang Yimou and Dong Yuhui, both from Shaanxi, although the age difference is 43 years old, they have found sympathy for each other through their hometown complex, similar origins and struggle history. In front of Zhang Yimou, Dong Yuhui and Yu Minhong suddenly turned into super fans, and the two rushed to ask questions, barely giving Zhang Yimou time to breathe. And Zhang Yimou, who has always cherished words like gold, suddenly opened the conversation, and his expression also relaxed, telling the process of filming "Article 20" and his views on life, movies and other issues, many of which are disclosed for the first time.
Below, Yi Feijun has sorted out the wonderful content related to Article 20 in this interview.
Use innovative methods to make comedy.
Zhang Yimou said that he likes to innovate, and "Article 20" was originally a relatively serious story, but he figured out how to turn it into a comedy movie. "And let the audience's emotions go back and forth like a roller coaster, I think it will be more enjoyable, and I think I can try it. ”
Article 20 uses realistic themes and the perspective of small people as an incision to show the axioms and human feelings behind Article 20 of the Criminal Law on "legitimate defense". Prosecutor Han Ming (played by Lei Jiayin) is middle-aged, and he wanted to try to catch the last train of his career to work in the city court, but he was involved in a hugely divisive case, and his son was also bullied at school. The film uses a light-hearted and humorous approach to tell the story of Han Ming gambling everything and relying on his own efforts to repay fairness and justice.
Regarding the film's use of comedy, Zhang Yimou said that this was decided very early, because this is a Spring Festival movie, "Do you want to have a family reunion during the Spring Festival, or hope for more laughter, plus it was not easy last year, I hope to relax a little." ”
Innovation in art is the goal that Zhang Yimou has always pursued. In "Man Jianghong", he tried to show a serious historical movie in a comedic way, and actually became last year's box office champion. Someone told him that he didn't think that you could make comedies as a director. Zhang Yimou said with a smile that he still has a sense of humor, such as the picture of the upside-down sedan in "Red Sorghum", which is full of joy. This time, "Article 20" adopts a comedic approach, on the one hand, it is the need for the Spring Festival, and on the other hand, it hopes to innovate in style, "It is very difficult to combine the seriousness and humor of the topic of the legal system." He also revealed that by observing the audience who had watched the movie in advance, he found that "the laughter of "Article 20" was twice that of "Man Jianghong". ”
Why is it called Article 20?
Someone once suggested that the film should be called "Just Defense", but the name was clearly lacking in literature. Zhang Yimou said: "The pursuit of fairness and justice is the thing that the people are most concerned about. Although the provisions of Article 20 of the Criminal Law have a long history, for a long time it was "a sleeping law that rarely had the opportunity to be used". And he himself has fought a lawsuit in real life, which takes a long time, which makes him have a great feeling about judicial fairness and justice.
Zhang Yimou said that his early films were "heavily colored" on the screen, which came from the background of Shaanxi culture. Someone once joked with him that as long as there is the word "red" in the title, this movie can be popular, such as "Red Sorghum", "The Red Lantern Hangs High" and "Man Jianghong". However, he believes that "Article 20" is not suitable for heavy color, "This film is suitable for approachability, unassuming, life-like, hiding the camera, pushing the story and characters to the front, that is, there is a feeling of washing the lead, which is completely opposite to the previous flamboyant splash-like pictures." ”
Zhang Yimou also revealed that he is probably the person who uses the most cameras at the same time among Chinese directors, "Usually 8 to 10 cameras shoot from different angles at the same time, repeatedly capturing the most interesting moments of the actors, and a lot of the humor in "Article 20" flows naturally and improvised in the middle." ”
There are still a few good comedians.
Regarding the selection of actors in "Article 20", Zhang Yimou bluntly said that such a movie must not only have serious topics, but also have flexible humorous performances and lines, so the requirements for actors are very high. As a director, he doesn't have many options, "All the actors in Chinese TV and movies are combined, there are still a few excellent actors, and even fewer comedians, in fact, there are only a few." ”
Article 20 is the fourth cooperation between Lei Jiayin and Zhang Yimou, the first three are "Solid as a Rock", "On the Cliff" and "Man Jianghong". In his opinion, Lei Jiayin's biggest feature is strong plasticity, "I called him here in the first three movies, he was very surprised, he said how can I act?" played Qin Hui in "Man Jianghong", before the start of the film, he told me how to play this? I said I don't know how Qin Hui is, but he is very malleable, which is his strong point. There is another one, his performance is more relaxed. ”
As an internationally renowned director, Zhang Yimou admitted frankly that he has never met an actor who negotiates terms with him, and even if there are only three scenes, people are willing to take time. "If a director is treated like this by an actor, you will often have a sense of gratitude in your heart, and you have nothing to repay but to do a good job. He specifically mentioned Yu Hewei, in "Article 20", there were only a few scenes of his play, but Yu Hewei came without saying a word.
In recent years, Zhang Yimou has mentioned his importance to the script on different occasions, and his early films such as "Red Sorghum", "Alive", "The Red Lantern Hangs High", etc., are all adapted from Mo Yan, Yu Hua, Su Tong and other famous writers. But over the years, he feels that good scripts are becoming more and more difficult to find, "It is often difficult to complete a script in three or five years, and sometimes nothing can be achieved in ten years, and it is not possible to change several screenwriters." He also encouraged Dong Yuhui and Yu Minhong to write scripts.
The star lineup is used because of box office considerations.
After "On the Cliff" used a luxurious star lineup and achieved box office success, Zhang Yimou's later "Man Jianghong" and "Solid as a Rock" continued this model and were still successful. In "Article 20", the cast has become stronger and stronger, including Lei Jiayin, Ma Li, Zhao Liying, Gao Ye, Liu Yaowen, Chen Minghao, Zhang Yi, Fan Wei, Yu Hewei, Xu Yajun, Li Naiwen, Jiang Qiming, Aruna, Yang Haoyu, Qiao Shan, Jiang Shimeng, Ding Yongdai, Liu Yitie, etc., can be described as a star-studded group.
In this regard, Zhang Yimou said frankly that this is out of box office considerations, "I always worry about others, so I think investors should not lose anything, right?" "All the people used in "Sniper" are newcomers, and although the box office is not bad, it is completely incomparable with "Man Jianghong". "If the investment is not large, the schedule is not so important, and the company is willing to undertake such an investment, then there is no problem in choosing a newcomer to act, but if there is a mistake in the Spring Festival file, you need to consider it carefully. ”