There is a story circulating in the northeast of our country: in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, a warrior was heroically martyred. In recognition of his fierce wind and bones, the imperial court specially ordered someone to escort the heroes' ashes back to their hometown, and took out one hundred taels of silver from the national treasury to pay for the families of the deceased. Helplessly, the regime changed, the national government collapsed, and the people of the three religions and nine streams heard the news of the huge amount of money from heaven, and they all had the idea of appropriating themselves, adding countless twists and turns to this escort trip...
When the local writer Liu Zhifa was writing a township chronicle, he found the source of this story from an old sacred will. He translated and processed it, delivered the first version of the script to the Literary Association, and after several turns, came to the hands of the director Tu. At the first sight of this story, Tu was fascinated by the fateful drama of it: "The history of the Manchu Qing Dynasty lasted nearly three hundred years, but the demise only happened once." At that time, the soldiers were in chaos, and there was only one caravanserai, which must be very dangerous. I think it's a good movie subject. ”
The above is the origin of the movie "Heavenly Unforgivable". Taking advantage of the opportunity of the screening of "Heavenly Unforgivable" at the Pingyao Film Festival, we had a good chat with the director/screenwriter/star of the film and the film's creators.
When they saw the story of this warrior, Tu Had already won the honor of Film Emperor, but he was often caught in the difficulty of choosing. He laughed and said: "At first, it was the prince and nobleman, until after the performance of "Farewell", all the cancer patients (characters) came to me; after the "Old Beast", all the old bastards came to me. And in the story of "Heavenly Unforgivable", the shining points such as loyalty and bravery contained in it, as well as the strong contrast with the dark side such as betrayal and deception, instantly aroused Tu's desire to create. Trust, which is the eternal proposition of the relationship between people, tus also grasped this point and began to create the script.
The character of the stagecoach does not appear in the story as a specific character at the beginning, and belongs to the first artistic shaping carried out by the Tus. In ancient times, when transportation was inconvenient, the post station was a logistics hub connecting the central and local governments. The station presented in the film is smaller in scale and the distance transported is shorter, but this does not mean that the work content is easy. On the contrary, the shorter the distance and the more rugged the terrain, the easier it is to be ambushed by bandits. The snow is flying in the sky, and the stagecoaches are pacing through the snowfield one foot deep and one foot shallow, both as experienced hunters and at any time they may become prey in the eyes of others. Whenever I think of this picture, the director of Tu can't suppress the excitement in his heart.
"Silver Fox" is the name he gave his character, "Silver" comes from his gray hair, and "Fox" comes from his cunning personality. A veteran of more than fifty years old, who has already seen all the flies and dogs on the rivers and lakes, and who wants to spend the days before retiring from the army in his post, but he is deeply touched by the news of the death of his former subordinates.
This road has gone through difficulties and obstacles, and it is inevitable to wrestle with opponents. All the action scenes of the "Silver Fox" in "Heavenly Unforgivable" are completed by Tu themselves, and when it comes to playing, Tu is proud to say: "If you really start to move, my opponent actor can't beat me at all, and it is difficult for me to find a stand-in for my body." "The experience of shooting horse films in the early years gave Tu a lot of methods and experience in performance. After the premiere, an audience member caught up with the director at the exit of the movie hall, saying that "Heavenly Forgiveness" made him see a spirit of "veterans do not die". This is a valuable compliment for Tu.
Broken fingers, abdomen cuts, throat cuts... There are many very intuitive violent scenes in "HeavenLy Unforgivable", which can't help but marvel at the large scale of the film. But director Tu Men has a unique view of the violent scenes in the film. He believes that the bleeding corpse is not aesthetically pleasing, but in the process of killing, there is room for discussion of aesthetics. Whether it's a shot, a shot, or a stab, the aesthetic of violence should be hidden in the dynamics of travel, not on a dead end. A film with violent elements, some viewers will feel addicted, some viewers will feel physically uncomfortable, where is the scale of judgment? This is the question that Tu wants to explore through "The Heavenly Way Is Not Forgiven".
Another remarkable feature of the film is the black humor revealed in the plot design, which is explained by the bursts of laughter from the audience during the screening. Director Tu men confessed that part of the black humor stemmed from his personality, "Don't take anything too seriously." Tu said with a smile.
Everything was going in order, but the sudden outbreak disrupted the entire crew's plans.
During that time, although Tu was anxious, he did not lose his rationality. He stayed at home to concentrate on reading and watching movies, hoping to use this rare break to achieve self-improvement. After the epidemic was basically contained, the crew submitted the application for resumption of work in accordance with the regulations at the first time, and organized the start of filming after approval. More than 100 people entered northeast China in April last year for a 26-day shoot.
Producer Hu Kai recalled that although it was already spring, the local temperature was still very low, and there was a scene in the movie that required Tu And Lu Xingchen to wade through the river, and the two people crossed the river against the low temperature. Fortunately, on the day of the actual shooting, the temperature warmed up, and such "Providence" appeared many times during the entire filming process of "Heavenly Unforgivable", which also gave the originally stressed Tu a little more comfort.
Actors Bai Hongbiao and Peng Jing are both working with Tu for the first time, and we also met them both at this year's Pingyao Film Festival. Now looking back on the days of filming "Heavenly Unforgivable", both of them can't help but sigh: "Although it is very hard, it is really worth it!" ”
The crew of "Heavenly Unforgivable" was interviewed from left to right: producer Hu Kai, director/screenwriter/starring Tu, starring Bai Hongbiao, and starring Peng Jing
Bai Hongbiao has created very classic characters in works such as "Conquest" and "Snow Leopard", and this time he plays the sixth master of the bandit in the film, this role is a rare "extremely perverted" villain image on the domestic screen in recent years, he is moody, often killing, and often erupts into a very strange vitriol, which is chilling. Bai Hongbiao interpreted this role so well that many viewers walked out of the theater still discussing "the villain Six Master really scared me".
In the heart of the white and red label, being able to cooperate with Tu and have a lot of opponent play with him is an ultimate enjoyment. Tu can discover many details on the set to help the white and red label enrich the character of the sixth master. For example, during the filming of the first horse riding scene, the face of the white and red label was accidentally scratched by the branch, and in pain he subconsciously issued a scream, which was captured by the tus behind the monitor, he felt that this harsh and sharp sound was difficult to hear, and suggested that the white and red label could be added to the performance, so that the character behaved more crazy and overheated, and finally presented a very memorable effect.
Peng Jing is a very active young actor in recent years, and the performance in "Carnival" is still fresh in people's memories, but this time in "Heavenly Unforgivable", the Hongni she played is very different from the previous screen image. This is an ill-fated woman, although there are not many scenes, but in such a "man's play", it has played a key role. For Peng Jing, this shooting is also a lot of gains.
What makes Peng Jing most memorable is that the directors of Tu have always been very kind on the set, and even a little cute. Sometimes you can see Tus slowly stepping into the set like a neighbor's uncle, and they will also bring local special milk tea to the staff to drink, while not forgetting to say casually: "Everyone is ready, right?" So let's get started. "It can be said that the image of the cold-faced tough guy on the screen is like two people." This also gives young actors, including Peng Jing, a great sense of security. Although the environment is harsh, I will definitely grit my teeth and cooperate with the director to complete all the scenes.
In Tu's view, the relationship between several characters and groups of characters in the movie except for the Silver Fox is also very important. "Heavenly Unforgivable" is a story about loyalty and betrayal, and a loyal hero like the Silver Fox naturally needs the background of the villain. But these negative characters are not facetious, on the contrary, they are also real little people, with their own dilemmas and forced choices, which makes the story more profound and more intriguing.
It can be said that "Heavenly Unforgivable" is an organic whole, not only with a meticulous story, but also with wonderful performances by the actors. After the premiere of this year's Pingyao Film Festival, the film also received many "tap water" praise. In particular, many viewers mentioned that it has been a long time since they have seen a costume movie that seriously tells stories on the big screen, which makes "Heavenly Unforgivable" have a unique highlight in this year's "Hidden Dragon" unit.
The most memorable thing about meeting tus in Pingyao this time is that he has the humility and frankness that many filmmakers at his age do not have. Although he has won many awards in acting, he feels that he still has a lot to learn on the road of directing, so he is very happy to come to the film festival as a place to compete with young people, and in the process, he is also constantly improving his own creation.
"Whether I'm an actor or a director, the most important thing is that the story and the characters must be enough to impress me and have a shining point." As long as I can find the resonance between this character and me, I am also confident that I can make the character resonate with the audience under my molding. Tu Men confidently said that at a certain moment he seemed to be like a silver fox in the movie, moving resolutely towards the place he wanted to go in the snow and wind.