Manslaughter 2 poster.
On January 15, the movie "Manslaughter 2", produced by Chen Sicheng and directed by Dai Mo, starring Xiao Yang, Ren Dahua, Wen Yongshan, etc., was released on the 30th day, and the cumulative box office exceeded 1 billion yuan, which once again confirmed the box office absorption power of this series, and also made the audience more curious, will this series go on? Will there be a third part? Xiao Yang's role as the father in this series of movies is so difficult, the first part protects the daughter, the second part exchanges life for the son, and the third part will be the turn of which family member to fall into trouble? There is a lot of speculation about the future of the Manslaughter series, under what circumstances will the third film continue to be filmed? Producer Chen Sicheng told the Beijing News reporter: "I think it still depends on the story that can be encountered, I never said that we should deliberately pursue how big a series, just like the source of "Manslaughter 2", did not say that because of the success of the first part, we must immediately continue the heat, to do this thing, but also because the partners will present the script of "Imminent" to us, we think this story can be excavated, can play what we want to express, creation, or have to follow fate. ”
From rejecting the remake to accepting it
The most important reason is to find the creative impulse
"Manslaughter 2" has maintained a high attendance rate since its release on December 17, 2021. Time back to the film before the release, in the face of the audience's full expectations, plus the previous work has become the realistic basis of "word of mouth dark horse", all walks of life for the box office of the new work has made fierce predictions, Chen Sicheng is relatively calm about this, he smiled and told the Beijing News reporter, "I think a film, there is a piece of life, after so many ups and downs, now my mentality is very good." ”
Chen Sicheng never considered himself a person who could fully grasp the market, although many people thought he had experience in accurately creating a series of movies. For the general audience, "Manslaughter", which was released on December 23, 2019, is the last movie that the audience will see in the theater before the epidemic, and the box office has exceeded 1 billion yuan, while the birth environment of "Manslaughter 2" is in the "post-epidemic era", and he hopes that the audience can find some ordinary and powerful human light from the film. Chen Sicheng recalled that after the success of "Manslaughter", there were many so-called remake projects that found him, and at that time, his mentality was resistant: "Personally, I am relatively reluctant to remake, I don't like to watch, especially there are many very classic movies, why should I take it for remake? ”
Stills from "Imminent" and "Manslaughter 2".
It wasn't until later that the producer put the script for "Imminent" (released in the United States in 2002) in front of him, "I think it is a little possible to touch the remake thing, that is, to find a new direction, to find something that can make you express (desire)." "Imminent" is a film from many years ago, it is full of local colors and class confrontation, the original film has a doctor-patient relationship, father-son affection, there are many points to tell. In fact, creation, whether it is original or remade, the most important thing is whether the story told can move people, whether there is a new sublimation and expression on the basis of the story, which is even a standard for measuring whether to touch the remake and whether to do it. With this standard, others seem to be unimportant to Chen Sicheng, he found a reason that can make the team have creative impulses, understood the reason, and began to build: "The script has been done for a long time this time, it has been done for 11 months, which is equivalent to an original, this rewrite story is longer than "Manslaughter", the difficulty of adaptation is much greater than the previous work, my play has always been to select a good person to start shooting, let the right person in the right role, this is also a quality that the director should have." ”
Because their own children have had "misunderstandings" about illnesses
Only then did I have some heartfelt lines
In "Manslaughter 2", Xiao Yang played the father Lin Rilang, in order to save the son who suffered from heart disease and urgently needed surgery, hijacked the entire hospital, unlike the high-energy reversal of "Manslaughter", this part pays more attention to the exploration of human nature, strengthens the father-son feelings of the original work, highlights the character emotions of ordinary families, especially at the end Lin Rilang paid for his life to save his son, and the letter written to his son deeply touched the audience. Naturally, there are many discussions about this, such as whether Lin Zhilang's behavior is extreme? Do ordinary children and the children of the powerful really have different fates?
Chen Sicheng shared with us a true story that he had never mentioned, that is, when filming "Detective Chinatown 2" (released in 2018), he took a phone call when he was doing post-production: "I remember very clearly, when I was doing post-production in a studio at the Beijing Film Academy, I suddenly got a phone call telling me that my child may have heart problems, and at that moment, I was stupid. At that time, I was stunned to look at the screen, and suddenly there was a voice in my heart, 'If you want me to exchange the rest of my life for him now, will I change it?' You know that people like creators often imagine, but I remember that moment I didn't hesitate at all, of course I was willing to change, willing to give him the rest of my life, fortunately, it was a misunderstanding. Speaking of this, Chen Sicheng was a little moved, he said that all fathers in the world will be the same as Lin Zhilang, just like the line "What will a father do for his children?!" Until now, Chen Sicheng still remembered the feeling of that moment, "So like "Manslaughter 2", I really watched it once and cried once. ”
Stills from Manslaughter 2. Lin Rilang with his son.
As the audience can see, the "Manslaughter" series supervised by Chen Sicheng is full of discussions on social topics, although the film is presented with a revenge-type theme, it highlights the exploration of genre films. The English name of Manslaughter 2 is "Fireflies in the Sun", which literally translates to "fireflies under the sun". Chen Sicheng hopes to choose a dramatic story to tell everyone that all living beings are suffering, but human beings are always a community, and every audience can see the power of their own goodness: "I hope that everyone can be a person like a firefly, and it is not good to face good times during the day, but in the face of adversity at night, everyone can bloom like a firefly." ”
Chen Sicheng, who has gone through a lot of experience, often says that he is often in a situation where "people and dramas are not separated", and he really rooted his feelings for movies in his heart. "To be honest, I don't think I can think about what my life would be like without movies, especially now, and I still am. The film has greatly enriched my life experience, and I belong to people who travel either physically or mentally. I watched countless movies, and then I jumped on trying them out and did it myself, and I never felt that it was a job for me, and that sense of awe was hard to distinguish. It's like what movies are, what life is, what work is, to me, it's all mixed up. ”
【Dialogue】
In order to exchange hearts for hearts in creation, we can fight with the audience
1. The commonality of the "Manslaughter" series is to talk about children's affection and fight against adversity
Beijing News: There are many shadows of "Manslaughter 2", such as the story takes place abroad, and Jiang Haowen, who played the mayor candidate in the first part, finally became the mayor in the second part.
Chen Sicheng: In fact, when you watch the movie, these details are not important, mainly to grasp the commonality. The story of "Manslaughter 2" takes place, we do not target any country; but this series has a commonality that is about children, such as the film says that "some children are not ordinary children", these family encounters make the stories that happen to the characters have the characteristics of the same lineage, there is also a sense of confrontation between different classes of people, the efforts of a father and a mother to defend their families, the efforts made in an extreme dramatic situation, this sense of confrontation in adversity is the same in this series.
Beijing News: The light of "Manslaughter", how should "Manslaughter 2" undertake? The market response of the previous work is too good, the pearl jade is in the front, and the pressure on the sequel must be very large?
Chen Sicheng: I don't think it's necessary to deliberately cater to the market, but more importantly, to tell the audience what is good (movie). The most important thing for creators should be like Xiao Yang to create characters, exchange hearts for hearts, and move the audience with true feelings and sincerity. What exactly are we talking about giving the audience? What is our upgrade? Every time is a challenge, I don't think every one is necessarily successful, every creation is like walking on thin ice, but the important thing is to give it to the audience with sincerity, and I believe that most of the audience can feel it.
Stills from Manslaughter 2. Lin Zhilang family.
Beijing News: The mental journey of creating this series is a constant challenge?
Chen Sicheng: In fact, I think it is particularly difficult, because every time we need to surpass, and then transcend, we have to "wrestle with the audience" every time, to game, to surprise them, to face their doubts, the process is very difficult, but we will try our best to do it.
The Manslaughter series can even be called the Don't Mess with the Filmmakers series
Beijing News: Maybe at the beginning, no one thought that "Manslaughter" would become a series?
Chen Sicheng: The Manslaughter series is not the same as the Detective Chinatown series. The most important thing in the "Manslaughter" series is to find a confrontational theme, and there is a common theme of family affection. At this level, everyone will think that the two films are not the same, not like "Tang Detective" is in a unified universe, it is a type marker in a vertical genre. So whenever this work is done, it must be a new story, and the unchangeable core is that a person risks his life to pay for the family, and the love of his parents will be eternal.
Beijing News: Some viewers think that the story of "Manslaughter 2" may not have much to do with "manslaughter", where do you think "manslaughter" is embodied?
Chen Sicheng: The most interesting thing about creation should be a thousand faces. Everyone has a different answer. I think "manslaughter" is also a multiple meaning, first of all, Lin Rilang must have been killed by mistake, and he finally saved his son by sacrificing and exchanging his heart for his life. Of course, in the process, people are constantly "manslaughter", including some onlookers outside, they are a bit like the melon-eating masses on the Internet now, and they are likely to be misled by the news in an instant. At first, they thought that Lin Zhilang was a robber, and later said that he was a hero, and for the sake of the child, everyone supported him, and there were many metaphors for this "manslaughter".
Stills from Manslaughter 2.
Beijing News: Li Weijie in "Manslaughter" is a fan, Lin Zhilang in "Manslaughter 2" is a screenwriter, and the two protagonists are the identities of filmmakers, is this an echo?
Chen Sicheng: Haha, we need to upgrade the identity of the character, it is also possible that the identity of the later movie character is the director, jokingly, the "Manslaughter" series can even be called the Don't Mess with the Filmmaker series (laughs).
Beijing News: The lines of "Manslaughter 2" blend many languages, there are Thai, there are Chinese lines, is the reason for this multi-language mixing cultural fusion?
Chen Sicheng: Cultural integration, we want to put the story in the living environment of overseas Chinese, in fact, no matter which region abroad, there will be a Chinese area, which is very interesting, the Chinese survival ability is very strong, there is also cultural influence, can organically combine the local culture and Chinese culture. Whether it is the "Tang Detective" series or "Manslaughter", I hope to continue to pay attention to the integration of Chinese culture, and our important mission now is to convey the culture to others, let Chinese films go out, and let more foreign audiences see.
2. Try to update the movie, Mozart in Outer Space will be very different
Beijing News: Many people in the industry think that you are a director who can grasp the pulse of the market, and many works can win high box office, are these box office figures a big driving force for your creation?
Chen Sicheng: Including the "Tang Detective" series, it is an attempt I made for the development of the film industry. In terms of my own personality, I prefer to try newer movies. So don't make up your mind too soon, I'm still relatively young, a young director (laughs), and I'm still going to try to communicate with the world with new works. For example, "Mozart in Outer Space", which will be released in the summer this year, you will feel that this is completely different from my previous films.
"Manslaughter 2" executive producer Chen Sicheng.
Beijing News: Do you have clear creative requirements for yourself now? For example, how many works must you insist on shooting in a year?
Chen Sicheng: There is no requirement, and I will do it if I am interested, but now, I think there are still many projects that I am interested in. (Laughs) I also feel that I don't have enough time, but overall it's OK.
Beijing News: Have been happy to toss for the movie, are you really not tired?
Chen Sicheng: I can only say that I still enjoy it, I don't feel tossed, to put it bluntly, do the movie you treat it as a job, treat it as a job, you will definitely feel tired and tired, but I don't, I always feel that this is what I am most willing to do.
Zhou Huixiaowan, a senior reporter of the Beijing News
Senior Editor Huang Jialing Proofreader Wu Xingfa