There is always a topic on occasions when Jiang Wen appears. "(China catches up with Hollywood) we must take it slowly, get the aircraft carriers right first, and when China has twice as many aircraft carriers as the United States, everything is easy to talk about." In an interview with the media Chinese Star Wars: Rogue One, Jiang Wen mentioned about when China will be able to produce Hollywood-style blockbusters.
This is the second time that producer Lucasfilm (acquired by Disney in 2012) has come to China to host a premiere event after restarting the "Star Wars" project. At the end of December 2015, Disney hosted the premiere of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens in Shanghai, and in addition to bringing the male and female protagonists and director J.J. Abrams to China, the organizers lit up two giant "lightsabers" on the roof of a hotel after the premiere red carpet.
A week after the release of "Rogue One" in North America, the filmmakers took the crew to Beijing Water Cube to hold a premiere ceremony, and together with the previously cooperated brand Uniqlo, they showed the latest Star Wars cultural shirts, until the Life-size Black Samurai model was once again moved out of the Shanghai flagship store before the mainland release, and the charm of the Chinese market can be seen.
Not only in terms of marketing publicity, "Rogue One" boldly adopted Chinese actors Jiang Wen and Zhen Zidan as the main actors, even director Gareth Edwards (Gareth Edwards) did not deny that the father of the Star Wars series George Lucas was influenced by Asian films in the early creation: Lucas designed characters and stories based on Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's "Warring States Heroes" as early as the fourth episode of "A New Hope".
After the screenwriter of Rogue One told the director that there were two characters in the film (blind man Chiru Yingwei and weapons expert Baez Mabus) to be played by Chinese actors, in the interview, Gareth Edwards described the relationship between the two of them as "yin and yang", the blind man played by Zhen Zidan represented peace, and Jiang Wen played by weapons expert was a symbol of war. Compared with previous Sino-US co-production films, the two Chinese faces in "Rogue One" have earned enough eyeballs.
In fact, behind the "Rogue One" big hit the Chinese card, there is political correctness and consideration of the Chinese market. On the one hand, Hollywood has paid attention to racial equality in recent years, and after Chinese filmmakers including Ang Lee slammed the 2016 Oscars for allegedly discriminating against Asians, and chinese actor Wu Tianmin questioned the logic that only white people can save the world in Zhang Yimou's blockbuster "The Great Wall" last July, even the classic series of Star Wars has become more open to characters of different races and skin colors, which can be seen in Disney's works in the past two years ("Zootopia" against prejudice and discrimination themes, "Star Wars 7" protagonists are women and blacks). , the princess series inherited from "Ocean's Edge") was revealed.
On the other hand, the rapid growth of the Chinese film market in recent years has also made Hollywood see the hope that China will become the largest overseas box office. As a representative of fan culture, the Star Wars series has always been known for its loyal fans and derivative consumption of comics, text, and peripheral products. Every year, May 4 is a star wars anniversary recognized by fans, and fans around the world organize gatherings. Since the release of the first film" "New Hope" in 1977, the consumption of peripheral products of the Star Wars series has exceeded $27 billion as of 2014, far exceeding the box office revenue of the series.
According to the estimates of Chen Tao, the head of the Star Wars Chinese website, the number of active related fan groups in China is around 50,000 people. Among them, the Star Wars Chinese network registered users of his own founding accounted for half of the total. Of course, China's fan size can not be compared with the rest of the world, and when "Star Wars 7" was released in early February last year, the box office of 820 million yuan, second only to the United States and the United Kingdom, did not satisfy Disney, so the sequel "Rogue One" had more moves to please Chinese audiences.
Looking at Jiang Wen's interviews, his answer undoubtedly carried the "rich" and admiring the director-centered system (established by Lucasfilm) of the Star Wars crew. When asked what is the difference with the domestic shooting team, Jiang Wen said: "It has a lot of money, and this is particularly different." I talked to producer Kathleen Kennedy and she said I wanted to see what he could do. When talking about the producer, Jiang Wen also said: "Lucas's company is a company based on directors, and Disney has great respect for this tradition after acquiring it, or it is up to the director to decide." ”
"Rogue One" invested more than $200 million, not lost to the seventh canon, and the tone of the creation is indeed a little different from the previous Star Wars series films, but in this regard, this film is a director-centered system, Jiang Wen's statement is still exaggerated. As early as the 1930s, due to the deep involvement of Wall Street capital, the director's functions were decomposed into the systems of major studios, and the producers obtained the final editing rights, that is, the gradual formation of the "producer-centric system". Hollywood suffered a further crisis after the Golden Age, when the future directors Spielberg, Lucas and James Cameron rekindled the dynamism of directorial centering.
However, the directorial center system is not suitable for a Hollywood six-big film work. After the release of "Rogue One" in February last year, it was reported that the first cut version submitted by director Garys Edwards was not approved by the head of disney pictures. The Hollywood Reporter's follow-up report also pointed out that the director originally wanted to restore more war scenes, but the filmmakers believed that this dark tone was inconsistent with the temperament of previous works and the family style established by Disney, so they asked the director to make a partial remake. Jiang Wen also mentioned in the interview that he has more to say about his role, but because Disney takes more care of family audiences, it is not suitable to show the complexity of the role, but "not suitable for complexity does not mean that the film itself is boring", Jiang Wen's children are loyal fans of Star Wars, and recommended his father to take over this blockbuster.
Zhen Zidan, who was also encouraged by children to make "Rogue One", believes that the "Star Wars" series is a fairy tale for adults. In addition to the main plot of good versus evil, it also encompasses fundamental human values, including justice, faith, family, friendship, and love. And the story of Rogue One wants to tell people that as long as there is faith, everything can be achieved.
Interface Entertainment: Why did you take over "Rogue One"?
Jiang Wen: I am an actor, Disney and Lucas these people have no distractions, I appreciate the director without distractions to shoot the scene; and the role attracts me, my son helped me read the script, he said Daddy you should go, (I asked) why, he said this is a hero, (I said) how stupid the hero is, he said this is a humorous hero, (I asked) will there be very little drama, (the filmmaker said) the protagonist is a little girl, you are not a little girl, they have explained everything.
Interface Entertainment: What do you understand about characters?
Jiang Wen: (If) I am a director myself, or if I write, of course, I am a theater student, I will be very concerned about the complexity of the characters, but movies, especially Disney movies, will take care of family audiences and adults who like to pretend to be cute, not so complicated, (but) not complicated does not mean boring.
Interface Entertainment: After you joined the group, what do you think is the difference between Hollywood and domestic teams?
Jiang Wen: This matter is not decided by me, Hollywood is particularly similar to my filming, it (Star Wars crew) has a lot of money, this is particularly different, but my crew generally has a lot of money. I talked to producer Kathleen Kennedy and she said I wanted to see what he could do.
Interface Entertainment: You haven't made a popcorn movie like Rogue One before, will you direct such a movie in the future?
Jiang Wen: I came from a theater background, and I grew up in China, and our life and study background made me not so relaxed, and my growth background was profound and complex. I'm not averse to popcorn movies, (on the contrary) I envy the movies my son watches. The Cultural Revolution didn't care about children, it forced us all to become communist successors, we didn't understand whose class it was, and in the end the power was not given to us, which I was very touched, so many people are doing things for children, and now children are really lucky.
Interface Entertainment: Zhang Yimou went to make "The Great Wall", will you try a similar movie?
Jiang Wen: I have to see whether I like this movie or not, whether I can do it, and what others think should be done, I don't think so. I have more than a dozen scripts that Hollywood has given me, and there are sequels to monster fighting, fantasy, and science fiction, and I have not made them, and I feel that I should be worthy of this matter and myself. There is a saying that is not rough, there is a fart that does not put a bad heart, there is a saying, there is no fart to squeeze and exercise, a friend of mine, a scholar, he said: Old ginger you are the former kind.
Interface Entertainment: How does Rogue One differ from other sci-fi films?
Director: Star Wars looks like a science fiction movie. When I was a kid, it had a big impact on me, it gave me the idea of making movies, and when I became an adult, I discovered the essence of Star Wars, why it affected so many children, (because) it was not just a science fiction film about spaceships, but a fairy tale about the history of the past. It can tell every generation that people don't change, and that stories can still be told (after so many years). The ultimate narrative of Star Wars is to combine the past and the future, and for children, they don't need to know so much, when I was a child, I was also a very cool spaceship, and of course, I learned a very important lesson in life, evil is not good.
Interface Entertainment: Rogue One reflects a lot of modern questions, what do you think?
Director: I think [film and reality] are the same concept, we started making Rogue One 2 and a half years ago, at that time we didn't know what topics the audience would like to discuss in 2 years, but everyone cared about the sincerity and reality of the film, so the film can transcend time. It is not like a political declaration, but to tell a true story, the reality is that human beings do not change, and human beings are constantly circulating in the process of evolution, including the acquisition of power, and the corrosion of power. This has been the case for thousands of years, and Star Wars is a film that depicts such a human social cycle.
Interface Entertainment: The director has shot a lot of independent movies before, what is the difference between making big-budget movies now?
Director: I think there are a lot of benefits to making a film at a limited cost, and in the end you can make a good film, and vice versa .) When you have a lot of money to invest in a blockbuster, you are not willing to take risks, but it makes the movie seem very mediocre. When we made Rogue One, we wanted to make the film not only independent and dynamic, but also resourceful. We have improvisational parts, try not to be bound by anything, and the actors are free to play and find the most beautiful scene in front of the camera.
Interface Entertainment: Why invite Chinese actors to star wars movies?
Director: George Lucas was influenced by Asian cinema when he was creating Star Wars, not only in the story, but also in the makeup and fine art. Then when the screenwriter said, I created two characters that represent "yin and yang" and "war and peace" in China, and Baz Melbas represents the yang side, he attacks with weapons, and Siru Inway is his opposite.
Interface Entertainment: Why does the ending of Rogue One seem hopeless, and the squad is destroyed?
Director: Maybe a few decades ago, people's impressions of war were very exciting and exciting, but now everyone knows that war is not a good thing. What we want to convey is that if we want to accomplish something that has a good impact on the world, it requires sacrifice, rather than sitting on the sidelines and waiting for someone else to do it, and that it won't happen. For the kids, we wanted to tell them that sincerity was precious, and I was worried that the filmmakers would stop me (making the movie very dark), but it didn't.
Interface Entertainment: How do you understand the character's belief in the Force?
Zhen Zidan: The reason why Star Wars has been loved by people for so many years is that it is (done) a model of human society: good versus Evil, some basic values of human beings, justice, faith, family, friendship, love. [It wants to tell us] that as long as there is faith, it is achievable.
Interface Entertainment: You watched the Star Wars series before, what was your impression of it?
Zhen Zidan: The first time I watched Star Wars was in the United States in 1977. I'm not a Star Wars fan, and when the crew came to me, I was thinking about taking another film, and I didn't want to leave Hong Kong with my kids and go to London for 5 months. I asked the child, do you like your father to play Ip Man or play the role in Star Wars, the child said that of course it is Star Wars, and then he slowly told me a lot of stories and characters in Star Wars. Then I found out that my friends were all Star Wars fans, including actors and directors in the Hong Kong film industry, and they took out their collections, like religion.
Interface Entertainment: What is the significance of two Chinese actors starring in a Star Wars movie together?
Zhen Zidan: I think that with Jiang Wen, I can represent Chinese actors (to play Star Wars), [although] in the white-dominated film industry, Chinese films still have a long way to go, (but) for themselves, it means a lot. Compared with the respect I received when I first made a Hollywood movie more than a decade ago, the weight of the actors themselves, and the meaning of the role are very different from the past. In addition to the commercial considerations of the Chinese market, the whole world is becoming more and more fair, no matter what race, as long as there is a contribution to the film itself, it has a certain right to speak.
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