Three years ago, directors Zhou Shen and Liu Lu made their big-screen debut "Donkey Get Water", which won 172 million at the box office with a Douban score of 8.3 points, becoming the dark horse of the annual Chinese film.
The heroine of the film, Ren Suxi, has also completed the transformation from "queen of the small theater" to "heroine of the big screen".
Now, the "Iron Triangle" has reunited to bring this "Half a Comedy".
Through the careers and love choices of four young people, we will continue to explore the "bottom line" topic in "Donkey Got Water": In a metropolis where everyone wants to gain a foothold, how far can people compromise for the sake of hukou, work, and house?
On the second day of the film's release, the box office was only more than 20 million, which is difficult to compare with the volume of other works of Happy Twist.
Fortunately, the film has a good reputation, and The Cat's Eye has reached 9.1 points, becoming the highest-rated work since "Donkey Got Water".
How "Half a Comedy" continues the genes of "Donkey Got Water", and what kind of untold story is behind the scenes. Before the release, Xiao Dianjun specially interviewed the two directors of the film, Zhou Shen and Liu Lu, and the male and female protagonists of the film, Wu Yuhan and Ren Suxi, bringing the eight "keywords" behind this happy twist new hit.
(There are spoilers, those who have not watched the film can live and watch it again)
1 "If I Wasn't Me"
Not only the theme song
Many people don't know that as early as 4 years before the "Donkey Got Water" drama came out, Zhou Shen and Liu Lu, who had just graduated from graduate school in Chinese opera, created another drama "If I Am Not Me". "Half a Comedy" is based on this play.
At that time, "If I Am Not Me" showed the struggle between ideals and reality after entering the society for the first time in society, and it was also a true portrayal of the state of mind of Zhou Shen and Liu Lu.
After 11 years, this film version is fundamentally different from the drama version in terms of characters and themes: the ideal part has been weakened, and the "bottom line" topic triggered by love, friendship and family affection has been highlighted, which also corresponds to the current focus of the two directors.
Although the title of the film has been changed to "Half a Comedy", "If I Am Not Me" has been retained in another form and has become the theme song of the film.
The song is one of the original songs in the theatrical version, co-written by music directors Fan Chong and Zhou Shen. Sun Tong's character has a lot of Fan Chong's shadow. Fan Chong also made a cameo appearance in the movie as the recording engineer in the Easter egg.
2 "Donkey Got Water" team
The three-year reunion of the "Iron Triangle"
After "Donkey Got Water", Zhou Shen and Liu Lu rested for a year, making script frameworks in the first half of 2018, and began casting and rehearsals in the second half of the year. The reason for choosing the story of "Half a Comedy" is very simple, "In the matter of sticking to the bottom line, we still have the desire to express." Only this time I wanted to use a story that was closer to reality. ”
Zhou Shen, Liu Lu
Ren Suxi is the first actor set by the two and the best candidate for the heroine.
First of all, because the "Iron Triangle" has always been a team that cooperates seamlessly, even if they have not worked together in the past three years, Ren Suxi often works with the two directors to "make scripts and make characters". Secondly, Ren Suxi is completely in line with the director's positioning of "Momo". It makes sense to cooperate again.
At first glance, "Half a Comedy" continues the signature style of "Donkey Kong Water" from the story, theme to casting, and rehearsal, but the growth of the three main creators in the past three years, Ren Suxi has seen it in his eyes, "You don't know how much Zhou Shen learned from filming this scene, that is, at the technical level, including photography, sound, and editing, every time he wants to study a thing, he will study it to the most professional." ”
In Ren Suxi's view, like the theme of "Half a Comedy", it was precisely because of their intransigence in the creation of "Donkey Got Water" that they had later success, and only then did they have more say in "Half a Comedy". In this regard, Zhou Shen and Liu Lu also deeply felt the same way. If you use four words to summarize what they insist on all the way, Zhou Shen chose "truth is beauty".
3 Audition
If you don't accept it, you can only not cooperate
Characters, no matter how big or small, must pass the audition.
This is the rule that Zhou Shen and Liu Lu have made since "Donkey Get Water", and this time "Half Comedy" is no exception. In addition to Ren Suxi, who is the heroine of "King Ding", the other actors are "tried" by two directors one by one in the country, and the total number of actors participating in the audition is about 500.
Although the male protagonist Wu Yuhan is a happy twist "his own person", he is also indispensable to the audition. At that time, he was doing the late stage of his directorial debut "Li Cha's Aunt", and originally only wanted to make a cameo role, but he did not expect to become a starring actor.
Wu Yuhan was interviewed by the 1905 Movie Network
He recalled to us the audition process, "There is no script, there is no situation, let me and Ren Suxi discuss the performance, we played a couple quarrel, everything is improvised, just by feeling each other' stimulation." 」 ”
Liu Xun, who plays Zheng Duoduo, was selected to be more tortuous. He was originally trying to play with others, but he was accidentally discovered by Zhou Shen, but because "his skin was very dark at the time, his hair blocked his face, and he was not very positive", he was once not favored by Liu Lu.
Later, with a long period of contact, it was found that his true personality was very compatible with Zheng Duoduo, and he was finally "corrected" from the alternative.
Zhou Shen revealed that he also missed the opportunity to cooperate with some actors because he insisted on auditioning, but they still took this as the bottom line, "If he does not accept the audition, the whole working relationship is not right from the beginning, if I mentioned a matter within the actor's share and you rejected me, it means that you do not want to complete your duties, there is no basis for cooperation." ”
4 Rehearsal style
Not a drama habit
As screenwriters, Zhou Shen and Liu Lu generally only write a script framework, and the real script is produced by the collision between the actors and them in the "rehearsal", "We hope that every sentence of the role is created by the actors themselves." ”
Before filming began, the team spent two or three months soaking in the rehearsal hall. "The director throws out the sub-stage, we actors let ourselves and the characters live in this situation, and then do a lot of improvisation, and the lines that flow out naturally form our script." Ren Suxi described it to us.
Ren Suxi was interviewed by 1905 Movie Network
There will be many scenes in the rehearsal that are not in the movie, but they can help the actors enter the role and form a tacit understanding with each other. In Ren Suxi's view, the rehearsal process is also like the process of writing a "character biography", even richer than the biography.
Wu Yuhan described the rehearsal process like this, "Just like crosstalk, I take a mouth, you take a mouth, you will take more and more, this thing will be fun, it is difficult to hold it yourself." ”
Regarding the question that rehearsal is a "drama legacy habit" and should not be a film process, Zhou Shen said that their rehearsal is actually like Wong Kar-wai's favorite "improvisation", "except that Wong Kar-wai is richer and can improvise on the spot." We can only be on the rehearsal ground. ”
5 Improvisation
Freestyle in the new pants scene
The special creative modes of the "Half Comedy" team mentioned above make a large number of audiences in the film shine and applaud the bridge sections, which are produced by the actors in the improvisational collision.
For example, Ren Suxi's sentence in the bar that touched many people, "I am 30 years old, it is not that I don't know what the world is like, but I still want to bump into it." "It was her feelings on the spot.
The sudden kiss between Sun Tong and Momo in Momo's kitchen was also caused by the "impulse" of the two, and was not within the previous script and rehearsal plan.
There is also the last "sorry" that Duoduo said to Gao Lu at the wedding scene, which is also Liu Xun's "true feelings", "During rehearsal, Liu Xun kept saying, no, I must apologize to him, I will not let him." As a result, he didn't shout the card that day, he suddenly stood up and said sorry to Gao Lu and left, and then we all cried in front of the monitor. Liu Lu said.
At that music festival, Momo and Sun Tong listened to the new pants while frantically sprinkling sugar on the high sweet scene was a pure improvisational performance that "can't be repeated". Wu Yuhan recalled: "The directors went to see the performance by themselves, and the photographer carried the machine, followed me and Ren Suxi inside and began to run, started to play, played a circle, and the scene was filmed. ”
As for the mirror scene of the optical shop that is praised by many people, it is "improvisation" in another sense.
Because the mall where the scenery was filmed before was not allowed to shoot, they temporarily found the optical shop, and accidentally found the wonderful effect of "matching your head with me" reflected by the mirror when they were in the camera position on the spot.
6 Momo
It is more difficult to play than Zhang Yiman Ma Jiaqi
Geng Zhi is resolute and insists on the bottom line of the heroine Momo is tailored by the director according to Ren Suxi's personality, which the main creative team never denied, "Our creative method is to stick to the actor's body and role." Ren Suxi said.
After the performance, Ren Suxi also played drums in his heart, afraid that Momo was too hard and too fierce, too weak, and too out of place, but fortunately there was the support of the director. After a roadshow, Momo instead gained the love of many audiences because of Geng Zhi.
Of course, some viewers questioned that Momo's role lacked layers, and there seemed to be no shortcomings and no changes from beginning to end. In this regard, Ren Suxi is very calm: "We know that the characters have to change from point A to point B, so that the characters have arcs to look good." But it is not easy to complete the transformation of Sun Tong's role. Momo, Duoduo and Mom are all assisting Sun Tong's growth, and I think it is good to be a green leaf, no problem. ”
When we asked her if such a role was easier than Zhang Yiman and Ma Jiaqi, Ren Suxi gave the opposite answer, "The closer to life, the more difficult it is for you to turn around and see people, and you can't fake it." ”
7 Sun Tong
I Cancer Rising Aries
The male protagonist Sun Tong is a Cancer like the actor Wu Yuhan in the setting in the play. Wu Yuhan said that he could understand that Sun Tong's "encouragement" was out of an "old good man" mentality that wanted to take care of everyone well, but he did not agree with Sun Tong's compromise.
"Sun Tong is actually showing a state that I am not willing to admit even if I choose to be a 'dog'. Although he seems to have no way, it is actually not so difficult, he has a choice. "He was like a blind man, but fortunately he finally met his guide dog." ”
Sun Tong's sentence in the play, "I Cancer rising Aries Sheep", is one of the laughs of many people. Director Zhou Shen confessed that this was his own idea, and Aries's natural hot-blooded impulse would make Sun Tong's sudden outburst more convincing.
Interestingly, director Zhou Shen himself is the Aries ascending virgin, Wu Yuhan is the Cancer ascending lion, and Liu Lu and Ren Suxi are the wind sign Aquarius and Gemini respectively.
8 Happy Ending
It's not a fairy tale, it's reality
At the end of the film, Sun Tong, who has always been cowardly and compromised, finally chooses to follow his heart, rises up to resist, and successfully saves his love with Momo. Such a happy ending made many viewers ask: Can it really happen in reality? Some people also say that compared with the knife and knife of "Donkey Get Water", Zhou Shen and Liu Lu have also become "weak" and learned to flatter the audience.
In this regard, the two directors could not agree that Sun Tong's transformation and awakening had been seen in their friends and even in themselves. This is not a fairy tale, but growth.
"Some people think this is a fairy tale, in fact, it is precisely because he does not dare to face my fiercest knife, I just want to tell him, if you feel that this is not right, you can change!" But he didn't take my knife, and he said it was a fairy tale. Zhou Shen said.
Director Zhou Shen
Liu Lu's expression is more moderate, "What we hope is to let more people like Sun Tong see that you choose to stick to the bottom line and be a principled person." ”
Finally, Zhou Shen talked about a popular saying at the moment: "Children only say right and wrong, adults only talk about the stakes", "If this sentence really becomes a sign of maturity that everyone recognizes, what will this society become?" ”
Director Liu Lu
He said that he did not want to stand on the moral high ground to deprive everyone of the right to "compromise", but people must distinguish "what is a person and what is a dog", the terrible thing is that many people have obviously made a "dog", but also to say that this society is inherently indistinguishable from right and wrong.
Momo's sentence in the play, "I want to bump and see", is also the voice of the two directors. From "Donkey Got Water" to "Half a Comedy", Zhou Shen and Liu Lu have always had a fire in their hearts, "Many people think that compromising social rules is mature, and hot blood is a matter of youth, but we prefer to be hot blood until we are old." ”
/ Benefits /
Background reply to "benefits"
Participation by the rules has a chance to get
Half a Comedy voucher