It has been mentioned before that war-type films will have a training arrangement for visiting education. The crew of "I Come from the Future" participated in patriotic education activities for longer than expected.
On September 21st, the weather turned cloudy and the temperature dropped every day. We started shooting the movie for a few days and just got into the mood.
Dozens of black and white actors playing the role of the US military entered the scene, set their makeup, and participated in the filming. Now there is a small problem that requires the chief director Fang Yi to clarify:
What kind of performance standards should be given to actors who play villains?
Is it a completely stereotyped villain, a complete evil, or is it still a little independent without changing the direction of the film, and even appears to be very powerful and capable of fighting? The shaping of the enemy is also the key to the success of commercial films.
If you give me some measure, to what extent?
This tests the director's grasp of the audience's psychology, and is also related to the development of the times.
On this matter, many main creators are eager to speak out and argue endlessly, and actors and creators have opposite opinions and different positions.
It is up to the director to mediate and be the referee.
One difference between many classic war films of the 1950s and 1960s and today's war films is the portrayal of the enemy. In the films of that time, the pros and cons generally looked stereotyped. The good ones were very good, everything was good; the bad ones were very
Bad, funny, making a fool of yourself.
This is true in both East and West.
There have been some differences in recent years, so the actors hope to make breakthroughs.
Jin Dong said: "In "Schindler's List", the Germans are not all bad guys; there was an American director before who filmed the Pacific War from both the American and Japanese perspectives... I think the enemy should be made more complex.
, does not affect the film’s evaluation.”
Chen Jianbin went one step further: "If the enemy is too bad, it may seem that we are useless. It is valuable precisely because it is not easy to fight. Suffering is glorious... Suffering is what creates glory."
The actors generally support giving the villains room to develop, because it makes it easier for them to act. The opponents are all idiots and clay figures, so how can I perform?
When it comes to the creator, it's just the opposite.
Guo Fan bluntly said: "Giving the villain space to perform is a dangerous move. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not suitable for our movie."
Fang Yi: "Tell me the reason."
"What kind of movie are we? How long do we expect it to take? Ninety minutes, one hundred and twenty minutes? It can't be more than one hundred, fourteen and fifty minutes at most. How long does "Schindler's List" have?
Long? Three hours. What large-scale battles did they shoot? They shot much less than we did! So they had more space to create the villain than we did..."
"Movies have to make choices. It's better to be all-inclusive."
"A court battle is not a duel of knights, but a battle of gentlemen. You sing and we take the stage. It is a life-and-death war where fate is at stake."
So what do military experts say? They are also one of the creators and members of the screenwriting team.
Fang Yi invited military history experts from the National Defense University and researchers from the Memorial Hall to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea:
"According to the data, the evaluation of the US military is that 'their firepower is rare in the world', 'often trapped in encirclement, and we can't get rid of it with heavy equipment', "let us fight hard and fight hard"; on the other hand,
,'Light Infantry's fighting will is relatively low, their desire to attack is not strong, and they often give up their positions easily."
This is even more contradictory. The US military is both strong and weak. It can fight but cannot fight.
But the movie must choose a tone.
Fang Yi shot some transitional scenes in the early stage, which did not involve special actors. He gradually leaned towards Guo Fan's opinion: whatever the performance standards, just play the villain honestly. They are all evil people, and no standards are needed.
But he is also an actor, and sometimes he feels that what the Yang Opera Gang says makes sense.
This attitude changed on September 28th.
The crew filmed in Kuandian County, the place where my country’s anti-bacterial warfare and sanitation movement was launched. This year is the 60th anniversary of the sanitation movement. A film crew came down from Beijing to shoot a special report: "Sixty Years of Sanitation Movement" 》
I heard that Fang Yi's crew was filming a movie, so I invited them to participate in the live news program that day.
The entire crew took a day off, and the main actors participated in the show and took a popular patriotic education class.
There is a reason for this health campaign. On the night of January 27, 1952, the U.S. military began to use bacterial weapons on a large scale in North Korea in an attempt to cause a plague epidemic among North Korean soldiers, civilians and volunteers, thereby weakening combat effectiveness. It was initially within North Korea, but
Starting from February 29, the US military expanded the scope of germ warfare to the Northeast and secretly spread bacteria and poisonous insects in Kuandian County.
A first-year junior high school student picked up a bacterial bomb. He didn't know what it was, but he was very vigilant and reported it to the superiors. The superiors were shocked. After investigation, they found that it was a chalky bacterial bomb that spread Gram-negative bacteria.
Positive Bacillus anthracis is highly lethal to humans and animals, and remains effective even after the host dies.
As a result, we had to "carry out in-depth anti-bacterial warfare struggles in various places" and gradually developed into "a serious struggle task for the people of the whole country".
Today's Chinese people's "traditional habit" of drinking hot water is actually a new habit, formed no more than a few decades ago, and it is likely to come from this health movement. At that time, Kuandian people have proven through practice that boiling water and drinking boiled water can largely prevent
Sickness and infectious diseases. Then this custom was carried out in that era and became popular throughout the country.
Kuandian is a small place with an underdeveloped economy and a small population. No one thought that this place would have such a profound impact on the people of the whole country.
In the evening, everyone followed the film crew to Xiahekou Village, where there is a broken bridge. It was originally built by the Japanese. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it became one of the main routes for volunteers to send troops into the country, and it was also a channel for exporting logistical supplies.
From August 1950 to the armistice of the Korean War in 1953, the U.S. Air Force violated the area's airspace dozens of times, bombed and strafed river bridges, power stations, dams, civilian ships and artillery positions, causing hundreds of casualties and blowing up bridges.
Now only the piers that have stood alone for 60 years are left, and there are still bullet holes in the piers.
A reporter from the news crew introduced: "Today's estuary, the Yalu River is peaceful. The river flows calmly, with a slight white light under the sun. It looks like a huge sapphire inlaid in the middle of the green mountains on both sides. The cruise ship carries
Guide tourists to explore the scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."
"As we drove all the way, we passed by the quiet villages outside the car window. The colorful mountains in autumn were very beautiful, which made us very happy."
"I can't help but think: the ancestors and heroes who experienced the war here more than sixty years ago, you did not enjoy such a time, but I am fine, and the enjoyment of happiness is exactly what you paid for with your previous blood——
Fortunately, the Chinese people have not forgotten you. Comrades in the literary and art circles are filming a film reflecting your deeds, and today we also invited them here to pay homage to the relics."
"They will play you. Please lie here quietly and watch the highest respect offered by future generations. I want to say again, the river is so beautiful at this moment. There are no bullets or children crying. All thanks to you.
"
"Some people died under this river. I don't know if I can see them now. I hope you will see them."
The old people from the Yangxi Gang, including Fang Yi, all took the cruise ship together. Because there were so many people, they had to divide it into two and cross the river.
Fang Yi's hand fell on the clear river surface, causing slight ripples. A very small fish passed between his fingers, going back and forth several times until it disappeared.
He was affected by the host's lines and didn't say much until he landed. He was thinking about the priorities of the movie and making decisions.
Jin Dong and Chen Jianbin are in another boat. The two have been on good terms recently, and because they support giving villain actors space (essentially giving themselves space to perform), they stand together.
At this moment, Jin Dong raised his chin and motioned to look at Fang Yi on the shore.
Chen Jianbin: "What happened to Fang Yi?"
"He's definitely set tonight."
"What? Do you think he won't give any room for performance? Just keep acting in a facial expression, or at most add a few dispensable subplots?" Jin Dong said.
"I am embarrassed to be on such a river. However, I am not unreasonable. In literary and artistic creation, giving villains appropriate space to perform will also be conducive to the artistic evaluation of the film, and the film can be sold to other markets, maybe
Americans will all watch it. If this is a single-market movie with an investment of 400 million yuan, it will be too difficult. All aspects must be taken into consideration... I like to say on the set that I (you) are a professional actor, a professional actor!"
Chen Jianbin continued: "What do I mean? Professional people must do very professional things that are in line with our era..."
Jin Dong interrupted him: "However, in his previous interview, didn't he say that he would be a witness to the times? He has his own ideas. He is the director, and it is an actor's duty to obey the director."
Chen Jianbin was stunned for a moment and said: "Yes, it is his movie after all."