After watching the "Requiem" sample film, writer Zhou Daxin and the lead actor Weizi hugged and cried

Mao Dun Literature Award winner Zhou Daxin's work "Requiem" has recently released a new 10th anniversary commemorative edition, and the film adaptation of the same name will also be released. About this book, about this movie, Zhou Daxin actually never wants to touch it again, it is a pain that a father can never get rid of. But in an exclusive interview with this reporter a few days ago, he still talked about these topics with difficulty.

A father and son have a "dialogue" between yin and yang

In 2008, the writer Zhou Daxin lost his beloved son; in 2012, "Requiem" was first published by the Writers Publishing House, and the title page reads: "Dedicated to my son Zhou Ning, who died young", and the second line was followed: "Dedicated to all parents in the world who have lost their children due to illness and unexpected disasters".

In "Requiem", Zhou Daxin adopts a unique writing style of dialogue with his son, a long dialogue from the birth of his son to the departure of this world, and even continues to the strange kingdom of heaven, Zhou Daxin presents the reader with a rich picture of reality and illusion intertwined. What is contained in it is the father's deep thoughts about his son, the son's gratitude to his father, and the tenacity and tenacity of the father and son, and the endless exploration and inquiry of the family, love, society and the world.

The significance of this unique and richly meaningful work is not limited to the observation of the group of independent people, but on a broader level, it guides everyone to think about the Chinese-style father-son relationship, the dialectic of life and death, and the multiple possibilities of survival and happiness. In the face of death that almost everyone can't bear to touch, Zhou Daxin opened his heart and presented the reader with a serious and solemn thought of a writer- "I originally wrote the book "Requiem" to comfort myself and the souls of my children, and I also wanted to explore how we face the problem of death." Because death is very taboo for everyone, even the car number does not want to appear '4' this kind of harmony, so I want to use this book to write out the understanding of the last problem that everyone has to face, as much as I can. ”

After the publication of Requiem, it received respects from critics and readers. Hu Ping, a famous literary critic, said: "Among the writers we respect, I am afraid that only two have ignited themselves, using life as a torch to illuminate the two worlds of life and death that we are aware of, one is Shi Tiesheng and the other is Zhou Daxin." After reading it, the famous critic Radar sighed: "'Requiem' was written for the loss of his beloved son Zhou Ning, in fact, Zhou Daxin was reassuring himself while resusing his son, and also resonating for the parents of those who lost their children in the world, and more importantly, he was also reassuring for this era... This is one of the few publications of the moment, and it is also the 'soul writing' that I have long been looking forward to. ”

At the third People's Literature Novel Biennial Award, the award speech was a testimony to the courage and compassion of a father — "This is a novel full of sorrow." It is uniquely formatted, with a father-son dialogue between heaven and earth throughout the beginning and the end, and the narrative is absolutely poignant and moving. The novel is an important apocalyptic record of contemporary people facing life and death, which allows it to step out of the narrow personal vision and infuse special warmth into the depths of the reader's soul with incomparable openness. In the history of Chinese novels since modern times, "Requiem" should still be the first novel with outstanding temperament. ”

Ten years after the advent of books, I never dared to look at them again

A full decade after the release of "Requiem", Zhou Daxin said that after the book was published, he would never look at it again, and he never dared to touch the writing of such topics.

But Zhou Daxin confessed that his thoughts of his son never stopped, he sometimes dreamed of him in his dreams, and his dialogue with his son actually continued. "It's just that I often do other things to interrupt the thoughts of him, otherwise I can't stand it."

In the face of indelible pain, Zhou Daxin said that when he met and talked with the parents of the orphaned family, he also tried not to touch such topics, in fact, none of these parents dared to recall. "In fact, every detail that has happened is deeply imprinted in the memory of parents, bit by bit, in all aspects." Zhou Daxin said that no matter what, these painful experiences have made him have a great change in his understanding of life and life, "Life is impermanent, really unpredictable, I don't know when the accident will suddenly come, so I no longer dare to make long-term plans." ”

Since the Chinese edition of "Requiem" came out, readers have contacted Zhou Daxin through WeChat, email or telephone, and those parents who have lost their independence have told their reading feelings, and the feedback from young readers has made Zhou Daxin particularly sad. "It turned out that I was not close to my father, I didn't understand, but after reading the book, I understood my father." At this point, the tears he had to hold back could no longer be controlled.

In the 10 years since the release of "Requiem", it has been published in English, Arabic, German, Swedish, Spanish, Greek, Japanese, etc., and the Korean version is coming soon. What particularly touched Zhou Daxin was that "there are frequent wars in Arab countries, and more people have lost their lives, and many people reading this book have felt the same way." Readers in any country feel the same way they feel about losing their children, he said, and they take spiritual comfort from the book.

The two "fathers" cried after watching the sample

After "Requiem" came out in text form, Zhou Daxin never talked about the book in public, but he finally chose to make "Requiem" close to more public in the form of a movie, which was actually a difficult choice for him.

Zhou Daxin responded that not mentioning the book in public was for fear of losing my attitude, "I held lectures in college, and once a reader asked questions about the book, I refused to answer. Nevertheless, in Zhou Daxin's view, the film has a large audience and a greater coverage, and he hopes that more families who have lost their children can get support and strength from it. He also mentioned that after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, more than 5 million people around the world have lost their lives, including young people and children, which has devastated the spirit of parents who have lost their children, and the film can be screened globally, so he hopes to bring comfort to parents and families who have lost their children.

The movie "Requiem" tells the protagonist Tang Dadao (played by Wei Zi) because of his stubbornness and prejudice, indirectly making his son Tang Yingjian (played by Qiang Yu) live in the shadows all the time, and finally die of illness all day long. Tang Daodao and his wife Rui Ying (Chen Jin) express their heartfelt sadness and repentance through a dialogue with a young man who looks exactly like his son, and in the process, they re-understand life and gain the courage to start a new life.

The film was directed by Hyuga Teradaro and written by Motofumi Togawa. Zhou Daxin said: "I have also participated in the process of film adaptation, such as choosing a location to make my own suggestions, and giving help as much as I can during the filming process. According to him, the location of the film was selected in an ancient city in Kaifeng, which coincided with the director's original intention of hoping that the location would have a bit of an ancient city flavor, "This movie was all shot in Kaifeng, which is also close to the Yellow River." Zhou Daxin said.

Zhou Daxin watched the sample film for the first time, and he praised the performances of the actors, "Weizi played his father very well, he is really a super-first-class actor." He said that after he and Weizi watched the finished film for the first time, the two of them hugged their heads together and cried.

Regarding the movie "Requiem", Zhou Daxin did not dare to watch it again after watching it once, and he did not dare to go to the theater to see it. He said his wife would not go to the movie.