At night on the island, I am reluctant to use electricity,
It's dark all around,
Only the blink of the lighthouse is bright and dark;
There is no traffic in the ear, only the sound of the waves;
There is no glitter in front of you, but there is starlight in the sky;
On a summer night, the two lie on the roof of the barracks and look at the stars;
Laughing, worrying that the stars will fall and hit the body...
One island, two people. Far from the bustling, lack of water and electricity, 32 years of sticking to a small island of only 0.013 square kilometers, life is obviously hard, the movie "Island Keeper" has been restored to this extremely authentically. However, in the hearts of the character archetype "model of the times" Wang Jicai and Wang Shihua, there is also romance in hardship. Although Wang Jicai died of a sudden illness on July 27, 2018 while on duty on Kaishan Island, in his wife's heart, "Lao Wang is still there".
On June 9, 2021, at the premiere of the movie "Island Keeper", Wang Shihua herself and her actor Gong Zhe gathered at the scene. Wang Shihua could not hide her excitement, and her voice trembled a little, saying, "Lao Wang, the movie about us is about to be released." Actress Tetsuya Gong choked up several times and couldn't speak, she hasn't fully stepped out of the role of "Island Keeper". In this film, she has not "acted", she is the role itself.
As many viewers commented on Gong Zhe, "immersive performance, very real and sincere, the character is played to life", "unlike the actor's actor is a good actor", "the actor is very dedicated, the movie is very moving, it is worth taking parents and children into the theater, together feel the power of persistence, the power of faith." We need to pass on that spirit."
01 About the grasp of the role
Spirit and faith need the continuation of the carrier
Gong Zhe in front of him, his skin has been much whiter, not as dark and dry as in the movie "The Island Keeper". Gong Zhe recalled that in order to restore life to the greatest extent and get close to the prototype of the character, director Chen Li required all actors to be like the locals, accept the "baptism" of the wind and waves, and repeatedly practice their proficiency on the reef and at sea.
Not long after the shooting, everyone's skin began to peel off layer by layer, the skin color became darker and darker, and later the scar makeup on the actor's body did not need to be specially painted, everything was natural. Gong Zhe said that everyone does not feel bitter, but there is a sense of happiness, and everyone is using the "spirit of shoushima" to make this movie. The biggest challenge is not the span of appearance, but the proximity of the spirit, and the actor must use the spiritual dimension to grasp and present the whole.
Stills from the movie "The Island Keeper"
Remember that in the "Moving China 2018 Annual People Awards Ceremony", Wang Jicai and Wang Shihua were awarded the following award speeches:
The persistence of the waves, the tenacity of the reef,
The duty of the people, the responsibility of the soldiers.
No matter how small the island is, it is also the land,
If the family is not established, it must also be safe for the country.
Thirty-two years of stationing, three generations of wordless effort,
Two hundred flags, too much wind and rain in the collection.
The waves beat the lonely island shore, and the wind praises the heart of the naked child!
The scene of "Moving China's 2018 Annual Person Awards Ceremony"
Gong Zhe felt that what Wang Jicai possessed was the spirit of "one thing, one lifetime", while Wang Shihua integrated his love and support for her husband into the action of perseverance, carrying the transmission and continuation of the spirit of shoudao.
Wang Shihua was once a private teacher in a primary school and could have had a stable life and development, but in order to accompany Wang Jicai to guard the island, she quit her job and painfully entrusted her young daughter to her grandmother's care. Later, the youngest son was born and raised on the island, and when he reached school age, Wang Shihua and his wife had to send their children to the shore, and once again experienced the pain of flesh and bone separation... For decades, the husband and wife have taken the island as their home, adhering to the sentiment of "guarding the island is to guard the country, and the country is to guard the home", facing the wind and waves and fearless wind and rain. As a woman, she gave up a lot.
Poster for the movie "The Island Keeper"
Gong Zhe felt that Wang Shihua had the gentleness and tenacity of Chinese women, and she chose to shoulder all the difficulties, and would not say anything more, but to do it with practical actions. In the filming, Gong Zhe and all the actors are the same, interpreting the understanding and closeness of the characters with practical actions.
When director Chen Li was first selected, the first thing he determined was Liu Ye, the actor of Wang Jicai. Liu Ye has a simple and resolute temperament, pure and warm eyes, which is his unique trait. But the selection of the heroine is delayed, it is too difficult, where to find a particularly suitable character. Until he met Gong Zhe, director Chen Li felt right, that is, he needed such a simple, kind, and "acting" image that people forgot.
During the filming process, director Chen Li more and more verified his judgment. The general evaluation of Gong Zhe by the whole crew is that it is not at all good, especially low-key, devoted, able to endure hardships, and sometimes even forget that she is an actor.
If spirit and faith depend on the continuation of the carrier, why is the actor not the carrier of the spirit? Gong Zhe uses her understanding and closeness to the "Shoujima Spirit" to reproduce the trade-offs and extraordinary persistence of an ordinary woman, and uses the physical practice of young actors to integrate this spirit into the profession and pass it on to more young people.
02 Understanding about romance
Not only love, family affection, but also camaraderie
In the movie "Shoudao Man", Wang Shihua, played by Gong Zhe, has a line "You guard the island, I guard you", which should be the best footnote to understand the character's action line. In fact, this romantic line does not come from the screenwriter, but from life.
Director Chen Li once told the screenwriter that no matter how much screenwriter he can write, he can't write life itself. To this end, director Chen Li, the main creator and actor "lived" several times, came to Kaishan Island to collect style, many stories and lines, are obtained in the conversation with Wang Shihua and other people, including "people do a good job in their lives, they will not lose their hearts, they will not live in vain", which are what Wang Jicai often said before he was born. These original materials have the power of simplicity and direct to the heart.
Gong Zhe felt that the story of Wang Shihua and Wang Jicai had a different kind of romance. "Keeping the island is to keep the country" is Wang Jicai's commitment to responsibility and mission, and "you keep the island, I keep you" is Wang Shihua's commitment to her husband's love. "Between them, there is not only love, family affection, but also a comradeship."
In the 32 years of guarding the island, they did not experience earth-shattering events, and most of them spent it in a lonely and boring daily life, raising the flag, patrolling, performing duties, writing logs... The island lacks water, electricity, signals, no electronic entertainment products, and many spring festivals they use the radio to listen to the "Spring Festival Gala" For the New Year.
In the company of two people, there is still no lack of romantic moments. Watch the stars together, listen to the waves, sometimes Wang Shihua will sing to Wang Jicai, the most often sung are "The Sea", "The Most Romantic Thing", and will also sing the Huaihai opera "Back to mother's home"...
Day after day, bit by bit, in a particularly ordinary life, they insist on doing a good job, but also insist on the companionship and support of each other. With tenacity beyond ordinary people, they have completed a particularly great spiritual sublimation, and they have also completed the romantic relationship that belongs to two people.
Gong Zhe has always been a particularly dedicated actor, and this time she was particularly involved in filming, so that long after the film was released, she did not fully step out of the role. When the movie "Shoudao Man" was screened, Gong Zhe and his mother watched the film together, and the two cried from the beginning to the end. Gong Zhe's mother said, "I am not crying for my girl, I am touched by the woman she plays, she is really not easy."
At the end of the interview, Gong Zhe said, "Like in the movie, what we have to do is to pass on our adherence to faith and prove everything with actions." ”
The film "Shoudao Man" is jointly produced by Bayi Film Studio, Jiangsu Happiness Blue Ocean Film Co., Ltd., Hebei Radio and Television Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd., Fujian Film Studio, and Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd. After the film was released on June 18, word of mouth and box office continued to rise, and many experts and scholars praised it.
Ming Zhenjiang, former director of bayi Film Studio and chairman of the China Film Producers Association, said: "The film explores the meaning and value of life by depicting the people who guard the island, and its thinking is very profound. ”
Hu Zhifeng, deputy secretary of the party committee and vice president of the Beijing Film Academy, praised: "'Shoudao Man' has created a new screen art image such as 'Wang Jicai' that is convincing, touching and endless. ”
Zhong Chengxiang, former vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and a literary critic, commented: "Compared with her previous works, chen li's film has risen to a higher level in aesthetic taste, which stems from the fact that she has seriously studied, understood and practiced the main points of the Chinese aesthetic spirit, that is, to rely on materials and words, to be reasonable, to be concise and concise, to be condensed and moderate, to have both form and spirit, and to have a far-reaching artistic conception." ”
Whether it is professionals or ordinary audiences, they all feel the warm and resolute power in the ordinary heroes and touching home and country conditions created by "Shoudao Ren", and the "Shoudao Spirit" is affecting more and more people.