Poster of the Japanese version of the movie Dunhuang (1988).
Among the Sino-Japanese co-productions, the most works based on Inoue's historical novels are: "Tianping No Rin/Tianping の甍" (1980), "Dunhuang" (1988), "Wolf Plague" directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang (2009), in addition to the TV series "The Wolf: The Life of Genghis Khan" (1980) and the re-filmed "Wolf: Until the End of the World/蒼きWolf~Diguo Hai Exhaustion". The "Wolf Plague" directed by Tokuma Yasumi and starring Ken Takakura, which was long planned by Yasushi Tokuma and starring Ken Takakura, was finally released after his death, and the lead actor became Oda Chejō.
Inoe's historical novels reveal his longing for Chinese history and culture, and the theme itself is far from the modern history under the wrapping of the Sino-Japanese war, and does not involve sensitive political or historical issues, which can be described as a safety card. In addition, Yasushi Inoue himself was the president of the Japan-Chinese Exchange Association from 1973 to 1991, which is greatly trusted by the Chinese side, which should be one of the reasons why his works have been adapted many times.
Pictured: In late May 1988, Japan's "Movie Shunbao/キネマ旬報" also published some production news of the earlier part of Dunhuang (1988) in the special issue of the Oscar special collection
Inoue Yasushi, published in the 1959 historical novel Dunhuang, tells the story of the 11th-century Song Dynasty era, zhao Xingde (Sato Hiroshi) after failing the imperial examination, went to the western region to explore treasure adventures, on the way, Zhao Xingde's caravan was attacked by a Han army, he was forced into the army, and gradually gained the appreciation and weight of the captain Zhu Wangli (Nishida Toshiyuki). During a battle with the Uighurs, he rescues and hides the Uighur princess Slubia (Ana Nakagawa). The two turned from hatred to love, and ran away to Western Xia, helplessly, Zhao Xingde had to leave his lover alone. Who knew that he had been gone for two years, during which Slubia was actually occupied by li yuanhao (Watanabe Hengyan), the prince of Western Xia. Subjected to the influence and toying of fate, Zhao Xingde is destined to leave a legend of eternity in the dust of history... "Dunhuang" is one of the representative works of a series of "Western Novels" by Inoue Yasushi.
Pictured: In late June 1988, japan's "Movie Shunbao/キネマ旬報" directly made a special episode of the movie "Dunhuang" (1988).
This historical film should be said to be a film about culture and civilization, whether tangible or intangible. In the film, when Dunhuang Taishou chooses to burn the city, when the protagonist is willing to give up his life for the sake of the classics, when a generation of tyrants wants to conquer the civilization of a nation, the inheritance of civilization is valued and admired by people, whether it is knowledge or ignorance. Ignorance, nor necessarily defects, should be regarded as a fundamental feature of the human condition, and thus give the film the effect of a cultural classic.
After talking about the culture in the film, I will continue to talk about the love in the film. Love, modernly understood as a concept that is both narrow and broad, how can the film make the feelings of creation resonate with the viewer? If this is called attraction, there are moments of life and death, and unexpected love comes, and people can only accept it, just like the male protagonist in the film.
Pictured: "Movie Xun Bao/ キネマ旬報, in late June 1988, introduced the movie "Dunhuang" (1988) in a large way, and the information was very detailed.
When they captured a city, he fought the last soldier who resisted, and when the soldier's hat fell off and revealed his long hair, he was amazed at her beauty, she was the Uighur princess. But now that people break up with people, are they really so accepting? Again, isn't that love over?
When everyone is in love, love is wonderful, when everyone is actively or passively no longer in love for personal or historical reasons, leave it behind? Speaking of the emotions in the film, if such passion and enthusiasm can not be praised, I really don't know what is really worth remembering.
The first to plan to bring "Dunhuang" to the screen was director Masaki Kobayashi. He spent his youth in the northeast region of China, and after returning to Japan, he was admitted to Shochiku Corporation under Keisuke Kinoshita, and was one of the representative directors of the "Shochiku New Wave". In his early years, he filmed the series of films "Conditions on Earth/Conditions of Human Beings" (Parts 1 and 2) (released from 1959 to 1961) with northeast China as the main background. In 1977, Masaki Kobayashi once talked about his "Dunhuang" dream like this:
Since I was a student, I have had a strong interest in Chinese culture. When I first started making the film, it was the time when Mr. Inoue's novel "Dunhuang" came out, and after reading it, I was deeply fascinated by this novel and decided to put it on the screen no matter what. This was the starting point of my Dream of Dunhuang. Mr. Inoue once said to me, "Mr. Kobayashi, my Dunhuang is waiting for you at any time." "Now as soon as I have time, I will start to prepare for this future film, such as going to the art museum to collect materials and so on." This has been going on for years.
Although it was promised by the original author, the plan of director Masaki Kobayashi did not receive a positive response from the Chinese side.
In addition to Masaki Kobayashi, there is also a ardent "Dunhuang enthusiast" in the Japanese film industry, who is the producer Yasuko Tokuma. Yasuto Tokuma, who had spoken early on to adapt the historical novels "Clouds of Sakaue" and "Dunhuang" into films, knew that director Masaki Kobayashi's shooting plan had been stranded and began to contact him, and the two decided to work together to make the scene. However, negotiations with the Chinese side have encountered some difficulties. In particular, around the plot of the song (Han) and Western Xia (Dangxiang) warring plots described in the script, the opinions of the two sides have diverged. In this regard, Tokuma Yasukui recalled in 1991:
In Mr. Inoue's original work, Li Yuanhao, who wrote about the Western Xia Kingdom, led his army to fight the Song army three times, and a similar plot also appeared in the script. But the Chinese insist that the plot lacks historical basis. Finally, the Japanese side made a compromise and reached a consensus with the Chinese side. But I look back and think that in order to shoot this film as soon as possible, I am ashamed to make my own decision without the consent of the original author. Therefore, after returning to China, he reported the incident to Mr. Inoue as soon as possible.
The movie "Dunhuang" (1988) original vinyl album cover
Unexpectedly, Mr. Inoue replied, "This is okay, so let's change it according to this plan." I know that literary creation is not the same as making a movie. Since I have authorized you to adapt, I will no longer point fingers, and I fully trust you! "Mr. Inoue has given us the greatest creative space and freedom.
In this way, "Dunhuang" was allowed by the Chinese side to shoot, but the contradictions in the creative ideas of the main creators were exposed. Director Masaki Kobayashi wants to make a semi-documentary style film that has undergone detailed historical research, while Yasushi Tokuma wants to make a magnificent historical legendary drama. The two men's ideas were at odds, and the filming plan was once again at an impasse. Yasuko Tokuma bought the film adaptation rights from Yasushi Inoue and Masaki Kobayashi, and replaced the director with Shinji Fukasaku.
Fukasaku accepted the task, but offered one condition: in order to recreate the scene of a 100,000-man war in the desert, he needed to prepare five hundred trained warhorses for himself. Since 1983, the Japanese side has begun to negotiate with the Shanghai Film Studio on the specific matters of filming.
Advertisement for the Japanese version of the movie "Dunhuang" (1988).
However, at this time, the Chinese People's Liberation Army began to disarm 1 million people, and military horses became the target of reduction. Therefore, the raising of five hundred military horses became a problem. In a hurry to shoot "Shanghai Fusheng Ji / Shanghai バンスキング" (1984), Shinji Fukasaku resigned as a director on the grounds of the schedule. At this time, the film crew had already begun to build an open-air set near Dunhuang.
Tokuma Yasumi invited his old partner Junya Sato to reorganize the filming team and held a signing ceremony in Beijing with the "Chinese People's Liberation Army Bayi Film Studio", "China Film Cooperative Production Company" and "China Film Import and Export Company" in July 1985.
The reason for the cooperation with the "Bayi Factory" is because Tokuma Yasuaki believes that "if you cooperate with the military studio, the army will send people to participate in the filming as a mass actor." As expected, after filming began, PLA commanders and fighters stationed in Inner Mongolia and Lanzhou participated in the filming of the film as extras. In addition, the Chinese side sent a film crew of more than 100 people and built a hotel near Dunhuang dedicated to the accommodation of cast members.
The movie "Dunhuang" held a press conference to start filming, and the main creator took a group photo.
Dunhuang has a total investment of 4.5 billion yen and is jointly invested by Japanese companies such as Seiko, Marubeni, Dentsu, and Panasonic, as well as film companies such as Toho, Daiei, and IMAGICA. According to director Junya Sato, the "China Film Import and Export Corporation" of which Hu Jian is the general manager also invested nearly a quarter. However, at that time, when co-productions were conducted, Chinese investment was generally in the form of providing costumes and props into the amount of investment.
On April 27 and May 29, 1987, press conferences were held in Tokyo and Beijing respectively. On May 20 of the same year, filming officially began. In the palace set set up in the Bayi Film Studio, a shot of the Song Dynasty Keju Temple Examination was filmed, and then it was filmed in the Forbidden City.
In June of the same year, when the location shooting stage was entered, the team composed of Japanese and Chinese personnel spent nearly half a year to carry out intense shooting work in Jiuquan, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang.
Director Junya Sato (center) is shooting in Dunhuang, with Hiroshi Sato on the right
The film crew spent 400 million yen and spent six months on the western outskirts of Dunhuang to set up an outdoor set of Dunhuang City, which was completed in the summer of 1987. The set is surrounded by four walls up to 400 meters long, with a gate 18 meters high and 28 meters wide, and a lookout platform at each of the four corners of the wall. The city reproduced temples, princely residences, bell towers, etc. in a 1:1 ratio. In these scenes, the film shoots street scenes depicting the daily life of Han And Uyghurs, the siege of Dunhuang, and the burning of the city.
In fact, these meticulous preparations in the early stage make the war scene handling of the movie "Dunhuang" very ideal, and it is not polite to say that it should be the most breath-provoking film shot on the theme of Chinese history, and it is also the only one. It is also set in ancient China, also filmed in the interior, and the same use of our People's Liberation Army team to shoot war scenes, but Japan can make it spectacular and tragic, quite historical and epic pattern.
Take the well-known war scenes in this film, although the number is not thousands of troops and horses, but all of them are really armored and iron armored, fierce and heroic, especially Li Yuanhao and the Uighurs in a battle, the lineup is clean, the attack and defense are all in order, the crossbowmen, infantry, cavalry, and serial horses are dispatched in an orderly manner, and the horse teams of the two armies clash a super sense of speed that shoots a violent collision.
However, the filming work still inevitably encountered difficulties. In particular, the "art museum in the desert" encountered resistance when filming in the Mogao Caves. At that time, the relevant Chinese authorities stipulated that "photographic activities should not be carried out in the Mogao Caves, so as not to damage cultural relics."
Ana Nakagawa played the Uighur princess in the movie Dunhuang (1988).
In order to obtain filming permits, the Japanese staff on the one hand repeatedly tried to ensure that the lighting would never cause the murals and other fine art works to fade, on the other hand, they negotiated with the relevant state departments, the Gansu Provincial Government, and the Mogao Caves Research Institute, and finally were allowed to shoot inside.
Director Junya Sato is not a top master in shooting war scenes, compared with Akira Kurosawa, Junya Sato is more skilled in the portrayal of characters, from his other films such as "Shinkansen Bombing / Shinkansen Explosion" (1975), "Hunt / Jun よীの河を渉れ" (1976), "Witnesses / Renma の証明" (1977), "Proof of Wildness / WildNess" (1978), "A Game Of Unfinished Chess/Unfinished Game" (1982) This can be seen in the work, but even such a director can handle a short war scene so easily, which cannot but be said to be impressive.
After director Junya Sato left on February 9, 2019, Japanese newspapers and magazines still considered the film Dunhuang (1988) to be his masterpiece.
In fact, it is not necessarily how high the creative skills of Japanese directors are, it can only be said that Japanese directors work harder, they will study the evil patch more seriously, and the history is the original, they never treat the audience as an idiot, and they will not deceive the audience in order to save the necessary process. In order to shoot this film, the Japanese also specially built the exterior of the ancient city of Dunhuang, which is still a famous tourist attraction in the west, and according to experts, the original appearance of Dunhuang City in history is no more than this, and this alone can see the rigorous work attitude and good intentions of Japanese directors in filming.
The film Dunhuang was screened in Tokyo and Beijing in April and May 1988. In particular, the "premiere ceremony" held at the "Beijing Exhibition Center" that can accommodate 2,800 people is unprecedented. After the film was released, it achieved high box office results and good reputation in both countries. In Japan, the film has won almost all the awards of the Japanese Film Awards, and can be called the pinnacle of Theashi Inoue's novel adaptation.