Jiang Zhiqiang, the executive producer of the movie "Mei Yanfang", was interviewed in an interview with the "Entertainment" column of Beiqing-Beijing headlines, his eyes were always red, and the name "Mei Yanfang" brought him too many feelings and complicated moods.
The gold-medal producer, known as "Boss Jiang" and once single-handedly created the era of Chinese film blockbusters, regards "Mei Yanfang" as the most stressful, difficult and painstaking work in his film career. Because, in his heart, he has to face the entrustment and consideration of the late Mei Yanfang, "The sentence I must not say is: 'I'm sorry, I didn't do a good job of what you told me', I must not say such a thing." If you don't shoot "Mei Yanfang" well, I will regret it for the rest of my life. ”
When Jiang Zhiqiang was a nameless person, Tianhou Mei Yanfang fully supported it
The film "Mui Yanfang" will be released on Friday, November 12, produced by Anle Pictures, produced by Jiang Zhiqiang, directed by Leung Lok-min, and starring Wang Dani, Gu Tianle, Lin Jiadong and Yang Qianwei. The film reviews the legendary experience of Mei Yanfang's life, from being only 4 and a half years old and singing with her sister Mei Aifang to support her family; to participating in the first rookie singing contest held by Huaxing Records at the age of 19, winning the championship, and since then forming an indissoluble relationship with the stage, with the spirit of dedication and extraordinary talent, slowly growing into a generation of superstars; at the peak of her career, she suddenly changed, fell to the bottom, but stood up again, transformed into a "daughter of Hong Kong", and gave back to the society with "great love"; and then in 2003, she suffered from cancer. With a "Sunset Song" and a custom white wedding dress, he looked back at the concert and said goodbye, fixing his 40 years of brilliant life.
Jiang Zhiqiang believes that "Mei Yanfang" is "love" to connect her life, "from her lack of love childhood, to the pursuit of love, she grew up and got the love of the people around her, in the end, she gave love to more people with the generosity and righteousness of a chivalrous woman, and worked hard to dedicate, the core of this film is 'great love', her spiritual world is really wonderful." As a result, "Mei Yanfang" shows her own growing more and more powerful process, "people familiar with Mei Yanfang know that she loves her relatives, friends, and fans, but she does not love herself." ”
Jiang Zhiqiang initially became friends with Mei Yanfang, also because of her "battle righteousness". In the 80s of last century, Jiang Zhiqiang was still a small "unknown person", because he wanted to release the Japanese movie "The Story of the Cat", he took the liberty of asking Mei Yanfang to help stand on the platform, and Mei Yanfang, as a diva, simply came to help him publicize, "I remember that day was in a shopping mall, thousands of people came, they all came because of Mei Yanfang." Under the recommendation of Mei Yanfang, they remembered this movie, so the box office of this movie was very good. After that, Mei Yanfang often helped Jiang Zhiqiang's films to promote, but did not care about returns. Jiang Zhiqiang sighed: "Being able to dedicate herself to a small company where Pingshui meets is her instinctive kindness. ”
In 2003, when he asked Jiang Zhiqiang that he wanted to make a legendary movie, Jiang Zhiqiang did not know about Mei Yanfang's condition
However, Jiang Zhiqiang and Mei Yanfang have been unable to intersect in their careers for a long time, and the two have not been able to cooperate in a movie in the end. Jiang Zhiqiang said: "Our world is too different, earlier, she was Tianhou, I was just a small publisher. When she was very successful, I was not qualified to ask her to make a film. We don't have much private contact, we are different people, different status, different circles of life. She likes to be lively, likes karaoke, likes to drink, likes to stay up late, while I don't drink, like to get up early, and my understanding of Mei Yanfang is only known through media reports. ”
Since then, Jiang Zhiqiang has led Anle Film Company to continuously exert efforts, and in 2000 and 2002, he has supervised the production of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero" and other works, and finally it can be regarded as "career success". Mei Yanfang went to Jiang Zhiqiang one day in 2003 and said that she wanted Boss Jiang to help her make a movie that could be passed down to the world, at that time, Jiang Zhiqiang did not know her condition, "I did not know that she was so sick, if I knew, I would definitely encourage her to raise her body first, and I would definitely wait for her to make a movie." ”
Jiang Zhiqiang was going to arrange for Mei Yanfang to participate in Zhang Yimou's "Ten Faces Ambush", and Zhang Yimou personally designed a role for her, "However, Mei Yanfang's condition deteriorated badly and she failed to participate, so until her death, my wish to cooperate with her in the film could not be realized." ”
Later, Jiang Zhiqiang understood Mei Yanfang's intention to find her own film, "Her body is like that, and she still insists on holding concerts, just to give back to the fans who have loved her, she is looking for me to make a movie is also to leave something for fans, she is such a person, so this has also become a 'heart debt' that I must pay." ”
As early as 2005 and 2009, Jiang Zhiqiang tried to shoot Mei Yanfang
The movie "Mei Yanfang" is currently in the process of roadshow screening, the smile of Mei Jie on the screen caused the audience to cry, and Jiang Zhiqiang's tears accompanied the entire preparation process of the film, "I will cry when I see the script; when I find Wang Danni as an actor, I am also in tears, I will tell her in my heart: 'Sister Mei has finally found a candidate'; whenever her name is mentioned, my heart is very touched, too many tears." ”
In fact, as early as 2005 and 2009, Jiang Zhiqiang tried to shoot Mei Yanfang, but failed. By 2015, Jiang Zhiqiang put the film on the agenda again, "At the end of 2015, I found Liang Lemin, who had directed "Cold War", as the director, and in 2016, I decided that Wang Danni would play Mei Jie, and the film only began shooting in 2018, because in these two years, we had to interview a lot of people around Mei Jie to interview and write a script. ”
Jiang Zhiqiang consulted a large number of interviews and materials in the process of preparing the film, and he felt more and more that Mei Yanfang was remarkable, "I had seen her news from the newspaper before, but I didn't know what she was thinking. After making the film and getting to know her, I found out that she was so sincere to her friends and so tough herself. For example, in 1992, at the peak of her career, Mui Yanfang experienced a karaoke slap and avoided Thailand for nearly a year. At that time, the media felt that Mei Yanfang was hit hard and it was difficult to make a comeback, but Mei Yanfang was just going to get up from where she fell, and after she returned to Hong Kong, she changed her life path, began to do charity, did public welfare, and became a 'daughter of Hong Kong'. ”
Not in the consumption of Mei Yanfang, there is no "hunting curiosity" in the movie
Jiang Zhiqiang revealed that the plot in "Mui Yanfang" is almost all real, but this kind of truth does not include eye-catching gossip, or to explore some of her character shortcomings, "We are not consuming Mui Yanfang, the motivation of this movie is simple, just like the bronze statue of Mui Yanfang's 'Hong Kong Daughter' standing on the Avenue of Stars, what we have to remember is the shining moment in her life." ”
The movie "Mei Yanfang" does not have any "hunting curiosity", there is no unknown insider, but many precious clips are disclosed for the first time, for example, after Mei Yanfang won the championship in the rookie singing competition, she successfully signed a contract with Huaxing Records, and the original sound recording of the first album "Heart Debt" launched was presented in the film.
Jiang Zhiqiang told reporters: "It was 1982, Mei Yanfang recorded and sang in the studio for the first time in her life, we spent a lot of effort to find this recording, many friends who know Mei Yanfang told me, Mr. Jiang you are so powerful, you can actually reproduce the original sound, I think we are 100% to do the details to the best." ”
For the outside world, it is inevitable that some people will feel that making movies is a commercial purpose after all, Jiang Zhiqiang has some grievances, he said, he does not know whether the launch of this movie and the film is right in the end, but the reaction of Mei Yanfang's friends and fans can give him some proof, "Mei Yanfang's noble person in life, but also her most important friend Liu Peiji never watched my movies, but he went to see "Mei Yanfang", and then called me and said: 'Thank you, I see the love in the movie, I am willing to do any publicity for your film, as long as you call me, I am willing to come out to help you stand on the platform', many of Mei Yanfang's friends who are familiar with her are also the same attitude, and her fans are also saying thank you, so whether this movie is true or false, is it consuming Mei Yanfang, I think these can be regarded as an objective evidence. ”
Wang Dani is because she has the temperament of Mei Yanfang, not how much she looks like, we are not looking for someone to do imitation shows
The casting of the movie "Mei Yanfang" is extremely difficult, And Mei Yanfang's actor selected the model Wang Dani to play through half a year's audition, and then spent half a year to conduct comprehensive training for her. Wang Dani also lived up to expectations, and interpreted Mei Yanfang's classic film and song masterpieces "Rouge Buckle", "Season of the Wind", "Song of sunset" and "Flaming Red Lips", which had the charm of Mei Jie's old days.
For Wang Dani, Jiang Zhiqiang admires her posture of doing things with all her strength and refusing to give up, much like Mei Yanfang, "Wang Danni was selected because she has Mei Yanfang's temperament, not how much she looks like, we are not looking for someone to do an imitation show." Wang Danni grows up in a similar environment to Mei Yanfang, she is a person who works hard and has a sense of responsibility. When doing singing and dancing training, as long as she feels that there is something unsatisfactory, she will practice on her own, practice for several hours, and will never be distracted from thinking about where to go to play and relax after work, and her attitude towards her career is the same as That of Sister Mei. ”
In the film, although the scene between Mei Yanfang and her friend Liu Peiji is not a strong color, but it is a spark, Mei Yanfang said to Liu Peiji after suffering from cancer: "Don't tell Zhang Guorong", just zhang Guorong also found that after finding that his health was problematic, he asked Liu Peiji not to tell Mei Yanfang, and the two of them cared for each other, which was revealed on the screen through Liu Peiji, the witness.
As for why Liu Peiji's actor chose Gu Tianle, Jiang Zhiqiang said: "Gu Tianle has starred in comedies or police films in the past, but we think his acting skills can also be expanded to act in literary and art films, and we believe that he will have a surprise when he plays Liu Peiji. ”
Jiang Zhiqiang said that since it is the filming of "Mei Yanfang", the selection of actors is also in line with Mei Yanfang's spiritual belief, "Gu Tianle's contribution to society is obvious to all, and Wang Dani's becoming a newcomer starring is also in accordance with Mei Yanfang's consistent advocacy of promoting younger generations, Mei Yanfang actually subtly influenced us." ”
Don't want the movie to have a box office Red Pavilion made an exception and agreed to borrow five days to shoot the scene
"Mei Yanfang" as a very special biopic, Jiang Zhiqiang does not want to box office, "I will foresee that this movie will not satisfy everyone, nor can it satisfy everyone, I just hope that people know Mei Yanfang's name, her songs, her films, but also a little bit about the sadness and joy she has had in her life, her chivalrous attitude and spirit." Just like a plot in the movie, Mei Jie hopes that everyone can one day look at a star outside the window after dinner, and think that there is a person who once brought you some joy, this person is called Mei Yanfang, it is enough. “
Filming "Mei Yanfang" made Jiang Zhiqiang owe too many people "human feelings". In order to reproduce Mei Yanfang's last concert in the Red Pavilion, many people came to "say peace", which made the Red Pavilion an exception and agreed to borrow five days to shoot the scene. Previously, there were few such precedents, so there was the most classic "singing" scene in the film. Only to see Mei Yanfang, dressed in a wedding dress, after singing the "Sunset Song" that made people sigh infinitely, slowly walked to the end of the stage, then turned around and looked back, unwillingly but resolutely said a "bye-bye" and left the scene for eternity.
The pressure brought by "Mei Yanfang" to Jiang Zhiqiang is different from the past, this pressure does not come from the box office, but whether his heart is worthy of a will of the deceased, "I make other movies, if I don't shoot well, I lose money, I can try to earn it back later, but if I don't shoot Mei Yanfang well, I will regret it all my life, so I must do a good job, it is different from all movies." Mei Yanfang always emphasizes that when you get a lot of things with your left hand, your right hand should give it back. She often misses the kindness and love of countless people, but her life has already given back to this generation, and all this has deeply affected me. I think it was Mei Yanfang who made me a better producer. ”
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Xiao Yang
Editor/Bow Lifang