Zhang Ailing and Ang Lee.
One focuses on literary works, and the other is good at film subjects.
One dressed in an old-fashioned cheongsam, weaving through the streets of Greater Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s;
A sleek Sven suit directs the film in a gentle manner.
However, they have many similarities in style and educational background:
They are all educated in the West, good at combining Chinese and Western, and express the inner world of the characters in a delicate way.
Perhaps, it is the fate of the underworld.
Ang Lee adapted from Zhang Ailing's film "Color Ring", after its release, it was well received and discussed by all walks of life.
There are 620,000 people on Douban who scored 8.6 points, ranking among the top 250 of Douban.
The film is 158 minutes long, while the mainland version is only 145 minutes long.
Mention this movie.
What a lot of people talk about is the deleted, controversial 14 minutes.
Until now, there are still many people who don't live to ask —
"Do you have the resources?"
The attention paid to these three scale scenes has greatly exceeded the film itself.
01，
In fact, Ang Lee created this film, or went through an extremely complicated process.
At the beginning, Jiao Xiongping, the executive producer of the movie "Color Ring", wanted Jiang Wen to direct this work.
At that time, Jiang Wen's movie "Sunny Day" had long been out of the circle.
Another of his works, "Here Comes the Devil", won an international award, but was frustrated by censorship.
Jiang Wen said that he wanted to see the original work first.
As we all know, Jiang Wen is a tough guy, the film style is tough, and he has little interest in this kind of beautiful undercover spy movie.
He said to himself --
"I can't quite understand that woman (Wang Jiazhi), (the work) that's a very feminine thing."
This sentence is very Jiang Wen, and it is also in line with his consistent Geng upright personality, pure masters.
His works are full of screen hormones, tough and solid.
The goddess Milan in the minds of countless people in "Sunny Days" is also an aesthetic release of male desire.
It is not surprising that this book was rejected.
So the project went into Ang Lee's hands.
Ang Lee is delicate in his heart, and it is still handy to shoot such a love movie.
02，
In addition to the director and screenwriter, the most important thing in the film is the actors.
The male protagonist Liang Chaowei was already determined at the beginning.
But the soul heroine in the movie has not been landed.
In Li Anxin, the image of Wang Jiazhi should be——
19 to 23 years old, elegant temperament, "excellent figure" women.
Auditioned a lot of people and he felt it was inappropriate.
Ang Lee has considered many people, including liu Yifei, the sister of the immortal.
However, after three meetings, Ang Lee felt that the seductive temperament of Wang Jiazhi's character was not very suitable for Liu Yifei.
In addition, Liu Yifei heard about the passion scene in this movie and felt that he was not competent.
I had to give up.
Another actress, Shu Qi, is also an object that Ang Lee considers.
Because some of Shu Qi's previous works were large-scale dramas, and she also wanted to "wear back" the clothes she had taken off.
Of course, this role will be rejected.
After several people, this role fell on the body of newcomer Tang Wei.
At that time, Tang Wei starred in several works, and his screen debut "Police Flower Swallow" also won the Lily Award for "Outstanding Actress".
But it is still very fortunate to be able to cooperate with big directors, and this work has also become a springboard for her, allowing her to soar.
Tang Wei's temperament is gentle, calm and introverted, but it is very Wang Jiazhi's feeling.
Especially after she put on the cheongsam, her graceful posture and elegant temperament seemed to come out of the book.
This film can be successful, and Tang Wei's free performance is indispensable.
In order to play this role well, Tang Wei went deep into the crew, wore a cheongsam and high heels, learned Shanghainese, and sang Suzhou Commentary.
Strive to make yourself closer to Wang Jiazhi's temperament in all aspects.
After the film started, a total of 118 scenes were filmed, of which 114 days were filmed with Tang Wei.
It can be said that it is an absolute soul figure.
Li An also bet the treasure on Tang Wei.
At the same time, Ang Lee also spent 10 million yuan and spent 3 months to rebuild the "Nanjing Middle Road" by hundreds of workers.
After the film was released, it won many awards such as Best Screenplay, Best Picture, and Best Actor at the 44th Golden Horse Awards.
The Golden Globes, Venice, and the Academy Awards have also been taken over and over again, and everyone's efforts have not been in vain.
03，
It is worth mentioning that the novel "Color Ring" is not complicated, and the original work is only more than 10,000 words.
However, at the same time as adapting it into a movie, Ang Lee has a richer interpretation of the psychological changes of the characters in the film and the spy war plot.
At the beginning of the film, the agents pull police dogs around the yard, and the hazy weather highlights the depression of the War of Resistance.
For the rendering of the character's heart, it plays a role in finishing touches.
In order to reflect the emotional development and psychological game between Wang Jiazhi and Mr. Yi, director Ang Lee arranged a large-scale passion scene.
Wang Jiazhi approached Mr. Yi, and after being tested again and again, Mr. Yi gradually let down his vigilance.
The hearts of two people cling to each other.
However, in the "interaction", Wang Jiazhi also found that under Mr. Yi's cold skin, he was also a person who had the same fate as himself and was used.
The mutual warmth of the two people also made Wang Jiazhi's mentality change.
In order to render the emotional development of the two, Ang Lee used a cool color treatment in the first half of the story.
On a cold rainy night, Mr. Yi, wearing a black suit, highlights the inner vigilance and gloom of the characters.
When he met Wang Jiazhi, Mr. Yi's life gradually lit up.
There was a beginning to have warm colors.
Especially the two people, a scene of singing and a tear, is the warmest touch of light.
Leaving aside the three erotic scenes, the overall context of the film, the character image is not to be let go.
04，
Liang Chaowei, 45, and Tang Wei, 27, also contributed their largest scale of interpretation on the screen.
During the filming of the passion scene, the staff was cleared.
After the director shouted, the two also hugged and cried.
It is worth mentioning that this movie is too large, and Liang Chaowei's wife Liu Jialing once saw half of it in the theater and walked out.
But when work comes to work, she is still very rational.
The male protagonist, Liang Chaowei, was asked whether he "faked the play and really did it".
He also felt that "psychological obstacles could not be overcome".
Obviously, because of the needs of film promotion, the more vague the answer, the more it can make the audience infinitely reverie.
Liang Chaowei is still well versed in this principle, and after this movie, he also raised his eyebrows.
And Tang Wei, after this movie, was banned for 3 years.
A lot of people felt unworthy of her.
Feng Xiaogang, when it comes to this topic, he feels that it should be-
"The originator of the ban on this film, Ang Lee, or Liang Chaowei.
It should not be banned from Tang Wei. ”
It can be seen that many people feel that it is unfair to her, and they also feel that she has given too much.
However, Tang Wei should not care much about these.
A few years later, she made a comeback and still won a lot of first-line scripts.
In "Late Autumn", he also met his other half, Korean director Kim Tae-yong.
After going around in circles, she still found her true love.
For example, in the "Color Ring", the heroine moth-like life destination, Tang Wei truly lived out herself.
As she herself said—
"It is enough to meet a Wang Jiazhi in my lifetime!"