In June 2018, the annual commendation conference of the China Film Directors Association was opened, and a group of "old classmates" who graduated from the 78th class of the Beijing Film Academy took the stage to receive the award.
This is a star-studded luxury lineup, Zhang Yimou from the Department of Photography, zhang Jianya from the Department of Directing, and almost all of China's elites in various fields.
The host asked the representative of the director department to speak first, and Zhang Guoli subconsciously called out Zhang Yimou's name.
Who knew that Zhang Yimou waved his hand in a measured manner, took a step back, and did not dare to come forward to speak.
Who, exactly? Can there be such a big magic that the most popular director in China at the moment, Lao Mouzi, is silent and does not dare to cross the thunder pool for half a step?
This man is Tian Zhuangzhuang.
Director Zhang Jianya saw Zhang Yimou's thoughts, and he pushed Tian Zhuangzhuang up like a boat along the water.
In the words of Zhang Jianya: Out of Zhu Xinzhuang (the original site of the Beijing Film Academy), I only serve Tian Zhuangzhuang! ”
In terms of influence, Zhang Yimou is second to none; but in terms of artistic achievements, Tian Zhuangzhuang seems to be superior. His rich family origins make Zhang Yimou ashamed; and his daring to shoot and direct is even more obsessive for film fans.
Teenagers became famous, and he was untamed
In 1978, the national college entrance examination was resumed, and the Beijing Film Academy re-enrolled.
There was a boy in the exam room who was untrimmed, his hair was messy, and he was answering questions in a hurry. The pen "rustles" across the examination paper, and the air is filled with untamed factors.
While the other students were still frowning, he had already turned in his papers in advance.
The invigilator looked at the time, just half an hour later, and asked him incredulously: "Don't you check the paper so early?" ”
The little boy replied, "No, it would be a waste of time to check again." ”
This boy who answered questions super fast was Tian Zhuangzhuang. Why did he take the exam so fast? Because he has a family background.
His father, Tian Fang, a famous actor and actor in "Heroes and Children", sat next to Chairman Mao at the Yan'an Literary and Art Forum. Mother Yu Lan, a famous actress, played Sister Jiang in "Eternal Life in the Fire". His parents were the first-class actors in China at that time, and he had heard about theatrical performances since he was a child.
In the examination room, there was another boy with a sad face, his name was Chen Kaige.
Chen Kaige did not come out of the exam and was very depressed; when he came out of the examination room, Tian Zhuangzhuang pulled him aside: "Go, go out and play." ”
Later, Chen Kaige went to the studio for an internship, and before he could touch the film film, Tian Zhuangzhuang had already made a short film. When filming his graduation work "Xiaoyuan", Zhang Yimou, Hou Yong and Lü Le of the Photography Department gave him the camera.
Before graduation, Tian Zhuangzhuang made four works, which are the existence of no one before or after in the history of the Beijing Film Academy.
With a solid family and extraordinary talent, Tian Zhuangzhuang has a fertile soil for practicing his ideals, and unlike the main theme of his parents' "patriotism", Tian Zhuangzhuang's idea is very pure: "I want to make real movies." ”
Deviant, his film "no one can understand"
With sympathy for weak people, Tian Zhuangzhuang planned to shoot "September", and at the end, Teacher Gu Xiaoyu could not recognize her student Zheng Qitian, and Zheng Qitian could not recognize the teacher. This kind of confused dog-tailed mink makes investors very strange:
"Zhuangzhuang, I'll take a stand in your next film, I really can't understand this one."
Not only did the investors not understand, but the hundreds of spectators in the cinema did not understand, did not applaud, shout, everything was quiet.
"September" failed miserably at the box office, and investors did not recover their costs.
Tian Zhuangzhuang was very calm: "If you can't understand it, you can't understand it, and you can't stop shooting because you can't understand it." ”
Immediately after, he made "The Hunting Ground Zaza", which depicted the nomadic life of the herders, and the leader of the cultural department watched it, was a little angry, and said: "Who do you make this movie for, who can understand it?" ”
And then the later "Horse Thief" made peers frown even more. The famous film critic Li Tuo asked bluntly and sharply: "Zhuangzhuang, can you tell me what this film is about?" Tian Zhuangzhuang said: "What you think is what it is." ”
No one understands it, there is no absolute opposition between good and evil, and there is not even a boundary between the main and secondary angles, Tian Zhuangzhuang's films are becoming more and more bizarre.
And this is the "truth" he wants, the regret of the unfulfilled friendship between teachers and students in "September", the reverence and inheritance of the herdsmen for ancient religious rituals in "The Hunting Ground", and the piety and helplessness of the Tibetans in "Horse Thieves".
Tian Zhuangzhuang has set his sights on the toiling masses and ethnic minorities in all walks of life in China, describing their joys and sorrows and life, these small things have no right or wrong, only vivid truth and sublimity.
Even the dialogue in the film is not played in Chinese, but in Mongolian and Tibetan.
No main idea is the best theme, a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, this is what Tian Zhuangzhuang wants to tell us: "You just watch, I just shoot." ”
Tian Zhuangzhuang never returned on the road of "running away", and later he filmed "Blue Kite", which was like a muffled thunder that exploded the land of Shenzhou.
A blue kite, he was banned for ten years
In 1993, Tian Zhuangzhuang took Lu Liping, Pu Cunxin, Li Xuejian and others to shoot "Blue Kite". The film follows the political movements in China from 1953 to 1967. The angle of the shooting is obscure and seems to be innuendo.
Confronting political and historical issues, the film was the first film Chinese mainland to borrow funds from Hong Kong and Japan, so Blue Kite was able to participate in international film festivals under the name of Japanese films.
However, the Chinese film delegation could not tolerate this kind of "apostasy", and they were so excited that they resolutely withdrew from the international film festival.
If a good Chinese film is good, why should it be contested in the name of a foreign country? The crew of "Blue Kite" received the harshest punishment, and director Tian Zhuangzhuang bore the brunt of it and was banned from shooting movies for 10 years.
Some people say that Tian Zhuangzhuang alludes to domestic politics, so he is banned from filming.
Not really, because of 1993 and 1994. There are two other great chinese films, Chen Kaige's "Farewell to the Overlord" and Zhang Yimou's "Alive".
Like Tian Zhuangzhuang, Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou's films have a profound humanistic concern; they also describe the life of the people under the Chinese political movement; and the directors have their own criticisms and opinions on the social problems exposed.
However, the result is known to everyone, Chen Kaige was crowned a god in a war, and Zhang Yimou created a new era of film. With an open mind, the state tolerated Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, but did not let Tian Zhuangzhuang go.
Because the Japanese prime minister at that time visited the Yasukuni Shrine, Sino-Japanese relations were about to reach a freezing point, and the Chinese people and the government could clearly see clearly on major issues of right and wrong.
Tian Zhuangzhuang should not participate in the film festival in the name of Japanese films, which is the original sin.
It is said that ideals are not easy to shine into reality, in fact, ideals can not trample on the bottom line and dignity, without the idealism supported by thick reality, it is easy to become ethereal and nihilistic, and can not be accepted by the public.
Tian Zhuangzhuang realized this, he was banned for ten years, and he also reflected on it for ten years.
Thousands of sails are over, he returns to "reality"
In 2018, Tian Zhuangzhuang played a father in Rene Liu's "Later Us", fading his identity as a director and returning to the essence of an actor.
Zhang Qiya said: "Tian Zhuangzhuang, is the sweeping monk of Chinese films", when the director is good, when the actor is more good.
With his own performance, he annotated a crucial word for the film: home.
In the movie, he has a wooden expression and a sluggish demeanor, with only gray hair fluttering in the wind. But the attentive audience knows that he is there, just like "See Qing" knows that Father Lin is there.
Since the release of "Later Us", there has been controversy, and only one thing is unquestionable, that is, Lin Father Tian's strong performance: clear water out of the hibiscus, natural to carve.
In the movie he is the godfather, and in life he is the father. The roles are seamless, switch freely, and Lin Zhuangzhuang's performance arouses infinite resonance with the audience.
Tian Zhuangzhuang also seems to be hinting at us: "You come to see me, I have changed", in 2003, the end of the ten-year film period, Tian Zhuangzhuang became more and more open-minded and calm.
Before the despised commercial films, he began to shoot, "break dance" is very hot, he used this as a theme to produce a love fashion film "Rock Youth". Investors earn a lot of money.
He once disdained "serving the people", but finally realized the joy of "serving the renminbi".
Later, when the historical drama was hot, Tian Zhuangzhuang went around collecting information and visiting the last Qing Dynasty eunuch who was alive at that time, and then locked himself in a hotel and began to write a script. Later, he filmed the costume history drama "The Great Eunuch Li Lianying".
Although he doesn't like this fast food culture, Tian Zhuangzhuang's creation is very serious.
It's his way of surviving: dislike doesn't mean not trying.
The main actor no longer focuses on ordinary people, but chooses Jiang Wen and Liu Xiaoqing, who were very popular at that time, with large investment, large specifications, and warm response, which can be called a boutique.
From obscure literary and art films to commercial films sought after by the public, Tian Zhuangzhuang's transformation is unexpected.
In addition to idealism, he also has realism, but has he surrendered to reality?
Not necessarily, in private, Tian Zhuangzhuang is still working intensively to shoot literary and artistic films, which is still the main theme of qu gao and widowhood, and there are still obscure plots.
And his income from commercial films was all invested in the creation of literary and artistic films.
It turned out that he only briefly compromised with reality, and privately maintained the innocence and persistence of his ideals.
In the words of Tian Zhuangzhuang: "My films are for people in the 21st century, and some people will understand them in the future." ”
For this ideal, he is still struggling, and he still has a vision.
In recent years, Tian Zhuangzhuang said that he always had nightmares, and one day he suddenly dreamed of death.
It was the shape of a cloud that floated over to him and asked, "Do you think I'm terrible?" ”
He said, "You're not scary at all."
Death said, "Death is not terrible. ”
After waking up, Tian Zhuangzhuang suddenly realized that people should still insist on what they wanted to do.
"I can't shoot many things in my life, I can't leave too many things that make people look ridiculous, the rest of my life is very short, I have to grasp it." 」
In front of the media, Tian Zhuangzhuang's tone was still gentle and firm.
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【Text| Osmanthus autumn wind plating】
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【Typography | Xiu Xiu】
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