Recently, the closing ceremony of the 34th Chinese Film Golden Rooster Awards was held in Xiamen, Fujian Province.
At the China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, Zhang Yimou's "On the Cliff" broke through many candidate films and won the two hottest awards of "Best Director Award" and "Best Actor Award". Zhang Yimou was happy to have a good thing in pairs, and undoubtedly once again became one of the focal points of the audience.
In fact, the aura of the darling of the Golden Rooster Award has never left Zhang Yimou, and this brand-new trophy belonging to "On the Cliff" is already the tenth Golden Rooster Trophy owned by Zhang Yimou.
Zhang Yimou laughed on the podium and said that the honor brought to him by these ten trophies was already perfect. Zhang Yimou, who is more than 70 years old, expresses gratitude for the honors he has, which does not mean that his film career may come to an end.
Just a month later, in the Spring Festival stall, Zhang Yimou's other masterpiece came strongly again. The theme film "Sniper", which he co-directed with his daughter Zhang Mo, will officially land on the big screen of theaters on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and celebrate the festival with his old partner Zhang Yi.
"Sniper" is a story full of "Chinese wisdom". The film is directed by Zhang Yimou and Zhang Mo, and starring Chen Yongsheng, Zhang Yu, Liu Yitie, Huang Yan, Wang Ziyi, Chen Mingyang, Wang Naixun, Cheng Hongxin, Zhang Yi and Lin Boyang.
The film is set against the background of the "cold guns and cold guns" movement in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and the Sniper Squad of the Chinese Volunteer Army "uses tactics against combat strength" and engages in a deadly duel with the elite sniper team of the US Army.
The Cold Gun Campaign was a high-density, low-intensity small-scale attack and sniper operation launched by the Chinese People's Volunteer Army against the United Nations forces during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In the film, the sniper squad of the Chinese Volunteer Army," the "Eight Companies and Five Squads," encountered the frenzied "hunting" of the United Nations Army, and they did not flee in the face of the strong enemy, let alone show weakness, but made full use of combat tactics to carry out a precise and deadly counterattack against the enemy with limited ammunition.
One might wonder: Can we really win a war by relying solely on tactics? Some viewers doubted the authenticity of the film. Is this biased against history?
In the face of the audience's questions, history gives the best answer. During the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, during the cold gun and cold artillery movement, the strategic materials of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army were very scarce.
The US military with sufficient materials can be said to have an absolute advantage over the Chinese army, but the US military is "short of steel", they do not have the spirit of unity, nor do they have the will to persist until the last moment and not give up.
Although the weapons and equipment of the Chinese volunteer army are backward, they all master the top sniper technology and have the spirit of perseverance. In the later stages of the war, the Chinese Volunteers relied on their own perseverance and finally forced the US army to retreat. This is also the true story of the battlefield.
In order to show the most authentic history to fans, Zhang Yimou chose to shoot in the full ice and snow of Changbai Mountain, and highly restored the Harbin buildings of the 40s and 50s, and the environment is very realistic.
Before the filming of the film, director Zhang Yimou spent several months studying the profound historical background of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. The film brings together the strongest production team to bring a better experience to the audience. Screenwriter Chen Yu, director of photography Zhao Xiaoding, art director Lin Mu, character modeling director Chen Minzheng, sound director Yang Jiang and Zhao Nan, action director Fu Xiaojie and editing director Li Yong, jointly congratulated fans on the New Year with this masterpiece.
Co-directing director Zhang Mo said: "'Sniper' is different from other sniper movies, it is lively, there are many events and reversals, you can look forward to it. ”
Based on real history, the film brings legendary Chinese wisdom to the screen, continuing Zhang Yimou's consistent style.
Fans often say: the story of filming Chinese still has to be Zhang Yimou.
"Telling the Chinese story well" has always been Zhang Yimou's motto.
As China's first A-level international film festival film emperor, Zhang Yimou has been leading Chinese films to the world as a leading figure. He showed the world a better image of China: the enthusiasm of the 2008 Olympics, the poetry of the 2016 G20 Summit, or the sound of the 2019 National Day...
Zhang Yimou, who is committed to the pursuit of "Chinese beauty", has made the world remember this mysterious color from the East.
A heavyweight director like Zhang Yimou, his works are naturally indispensable to superstars.
However, the cast of Sniper was unexpected—the film starred almost entirely in unfamiliar faces. No one expected that Zhang Yimou's first Spring Festival film was actually full of newcomers.
"Sniper" is Zhang Yimou's first real war-themed film, which directly attacks the real war history in a positive way, and is also the first domestic anti-US and aid-Korea theme film to enter the Spring Festival file. The reason why such an iconic film boldly uses a new person like a blank paper is really curious.
At the closing ceremony of the Golden Rooster Awards, Zhang Yimou was asked why he chose a newcomer to star in the film. Zhang Yimou said bluntly: "New actors have no burden, just like a blank piece of paper, they can bear hardships." ”
A month before filming "Sniper", Zhang Yimou took the actors to the military base and conducted special closed training. "Let them experience the pain and tiredness of the military, and only when the actors really understand it can they understand what is the spirit of the military." Zhang Yimou explained.
After the polishing of the director, the new generation of actors has long become a pure jade. When Zhang Yimou led the actors of "Sniper" to attend the closing ceremony of the Golden Rooster Awards, the actors lined up neatly, walked on the red carpet with a neat military cut, and sang the battle song of the Chinese volunteer army loudly.
The passion of the young actors infected people. After the actors finished singing, the applause in the venue was thunderous. In an interview with reporters, actor Chen Yongsheng replied: "This song represents the spirit of the fifth class, but also represents the spirit of the volunteer army. I hope that if we sing loudly, we will be able to let the martyrs hear it and let them feel this prosperity! ”
The young actors' naked hearts touched everyone.
In this peaceful and prosperous life, we are all grateful from the bottom of our hearts to the martyrs who gave their lives for our happiness. Everyone hopes that the martyrs will be able to look at the present China of national peace and security, and let them know that their lifelong pursuits have long been a dream come true.
Zhang Yimou set "Sniper" for the Spring Festival, which also has this intention.
Zhang Yimou hopes to dedicate this film to those who are the most lovely, and hopes that everyone can not forget their original intentions, remember history, and understand the hard-won success of this prosperous world. Spending Chinese New Year with admirable warriors is one of the best ways to honor them. Presumably, the soldiers must have been very happy to see that today's Chinese people are happy, healthy, and joyful.
In fact, Zhang Yimou still has an indissoluble relationship with the film. Zhang Yimou was born in 1950, the same year as the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
Growing up in this environment, he had a deeper understanding of war, and for this reason, Zhang Yimou's complex of confrontation with the United States and aid to Korea was particularly deep. Zhang Yimou poured his feelings against the United States and aid to North Korea into the film, and hoped that "Sniper" could bring his feelings to the audience in front of the screen, so that everyone could feel the blood from the "cutest person".
Zhang Yimou and Zhang Yi joined hands three times, together with actors and many production staff to present such a sincere New Year gift to Chinese audiences during the Spring Festival, which is bound to become a box office dark horse for Spring Festival movies. Let's wait and see, looking forward to the day "Sniper" will hit the screen.