The first Chaoyu film "Dad, I Must Be Able" team created another masterpiece, and the Chaoshan dialect New Year comedy "Take You to See My Mother" was officially announced to be released nationwide on January 7. On January 5, the film's director Lan Hongchun, together with the main actors Zheng Runqi, Zhong Shaoxian, Zheng Pengsheng, and the film's music director, Li Yihan, the lead singer of the toy captain band, appeared in Guangzhou to hold the premiere ceremony with other team members, sharing the story behind the scenes in front of the film with the audience.
"Dad, I Must Be Able to Do It" released in 2018 became a hit, with a cumulative box office of 47.066 million yuan.
"Take You to See My Mom" is a sequel to "Dad, I Must Do It" for three years, and the original team will continue to focus on the family story of Chaoshan Province. This time, we want to explore the different views of marriage and love between the two generations.
The film tells the story of a Chaoshan mother, whose son found a foreign girlfriend, she went from opposing her son's love to changing herself for love, delicately portraying the unique obsession and softness of Chaoshan mother, interpreting a maternal love that transcends prejudice and embraces everything.
In order to restore a most authentic Chaoshan province, 80% of the film was filmed in Chaoshan, Guangdong, almost all the actors and the team were native "vegetarians", and more than 70% of the dialogue was in the Chaoshan dialect, depicting an original picture of southern life in three dimensions.
The theme of the film is delicate, and topics such as mother-child love, love choice, family conflict, transcending prejudice, and traditional continuation touch the core of social emotion. At the same time, the homecoming story line in the film also directly hit the homesickness of Chinese people at home and abroad at the beginning of the new year, as an excellent dialect family comedy, bringing the audience the warm opening of 2022.
After the screening, many viewers have said that this is a family sketch full of love and warmth, whether you are a "glue couple" (Chaoshan dialect: their own people), you can be deeply moved by the warm sense of humor in the film, "There are laughs and tears, I like it so much!" "Even if you are not a Chaoshan person, you can feel the warmth of the overflowing screen and the cuteness of the protagonist in the film."
Director, Screenwriter: This time more experienced
"Take You to See My Mother" is the director's sequel to "Dad, I Must Be Ok" for three years, and it is also the second time that the lead actor Zheng Runqi has played the role of "son" in the director's work. At the same time, Zheng Runqi also served as a screenwriter for two films.
Zheng Runqi said that when he played the second part, his experience was more abundant. Although it is not possible to "cry in a few seconds" like a professional actor, the actors who play mom and dad are all ordinary actors, everyone is very relaxed about the play, and the performance is full of true feelings, "In this regard, it is my advantage." ”
Director Lan Hongchun revealed that after the filming of a scene in which a mother and her son quarreled, the male protagonist Zheng Runqi took the initiative to ask for an increase in the role of slapping himself in order to express his son's chagrin after his impulsiveness more deeply. In the end, the scene in the play was perfectly presented to the audience.
Talking about the creation of the script, Zheng Runqi revealed that the script was written for a year and a half, and many versions were changed in the middle, "Writing a version of 'Ah Wolf' (director Lan Hongchun) overturned a version." We also had fights. I didn't study film, and Wolves was more professional than me. I learned a lot from him. After writing the third and fourth editions, the structure is very smooth. ”
There are a lot of very grounded jokes in the film, which make people feel very real and kind. Zheng Runqi revealed that when shooting, everyone often creates secondary creations according to the scene situation, "The rhythm expressed by the actors is different from the script, then create the second creation, design the lines according to their personalities, and discuss how to increase laughter." ”
Director Lan Hongchun revealed that in private, everyone likes to talk about passages, and they will also find jokes to apply to movies. For example, the original script did not have a scene of "Aunt Tooth" ('Mother's girlfriend'), but later found her particularly funny, and directly deleted the original design of the 5 scenes and changed them to her parts.
"Mom and Dad, Aunt Tooth, everyone is very talkative, and there will be a good laugh point after eating." Lan Hongchun said that many of the actors in the play are local natives who have lived in the local area for a lifetime, and the most grounded and "earthy" things on them are used to the extreme, but they are "foreign". "Many of the truest reactions they give to life are more precious than what we write ourselves." Lan Hongchun said.
"Mom" is played by a vegetarian who inadvertently auditioned successfully
Zhong Shaoxian, who played "mother" in the film, starred in the movie for the first time. In the film, she brought the image of the Chaoshan mother in reality to life, and her simple and natural performance was deeply loved by the audience and praised as "the soul of the whole film".
She revealed that in real life, she and her daughter are fans of "Dog Brother" (Zheng Runqi), and once saw them post the news of recruiting actors on the short video platform, and her daughter encouraged her to participate in the audition. "At that time, I thought it was incredible, I hadn't read a book for a few years, how could I go to a movie." I didn't expect it to really go on later. "The first time I acted in a movie, I was inevitably nervous, but director Lan Hongchun has always encouraged her," he often said, it's okay to do something wrong, take it slow. If we don't shoot for one day, it will be two days, and if we can't shoot for two days, it will be two months. "We're all vegetarians, and every time she finishes acting, I say it's good." She would also praise me, cheer me on, and we just encouraged each other. Lan Hongchun said.
The toy captain plays music, and the rough gentleness touches people's hearts
It is worth mentioning that 70% of the dialogue in the film is in the Chaoshan dialect, and the music that appears in the whole film is produced and sung by the toy captain of the Chaoshan dialect band. The first song is simple in language and moving in melody, with the lead singer's rough but tender voice, which makes this film more real and warm. At the premiere ceremony, at the request of the audience, lead singer Li Yihan sang the theme song of the film "Moon Lady after the Clouds" on the spot, which once again brought the audience back to the scene of the movie and caused people to cry. Li Yihan said that the place where the film was filmed was his hometown of Nan'ao Island, and he was particularly excited. When composing, he regarded himself as the next brother of the characters in the play, "just like the guitar music floating out of the Zheng family." ”
"Take You to See My Mother" records the prosperous scene of Chaoshan folk, the small town market in the city, the pleasant natural scenery, the local opera chao opera... The rich Cultural Heritage of Chaoshan shows a flavorful picture of southern life. For many viewers to praise the film's footage is beautiful, Lan Hongchun said that the crew spent a long time waiting, "if it is pure shooting, it will be very dirty." To get to the beauty of the movie, there has to be a process. We did a lot of work in art and lighting. For example, the drama of the drama team, you have to go to the stage again. As a native of Chaoshan, director Lan Hongchun hopes to recommend his hometown to everyone through the film and lead the audience to understand a more real Chaoshan province.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Huang An
Photo/ Guangzhou Daily, Xinhuacheng reporter: Wang Weixuan
Video/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Wang Weixuan, Huang An
Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Li Yani