"Movies are business for me, not art, I'm just doing legitimate business," Ms. Wang said in an interview.
In the fast-consuming entertainment industry, making money is the purpose of directors and producers, and movies and TV series, including actors, are just products.
Director and actor Wang Jing
In order to make money quickly, many directors are in a hurry to make quick profits, and they can make movies quickly, from preparation for shooting to release, they can be done in a month, and even seven days to complete.
For these directors, film has become a source of money, filming is just business, what about art?
There is a director who is independent and alone, adheres to the artistic concept, and devotes himself to polishing each work, he is Wong Kar-wai.
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
As a famous director in Hong Kong and even Asia, Wong Kar-wai has made countless achievements, such as "Carmen in Mong Kok", "The Legend of Ah Fei", "A Generation of Grandmasters"... All of them came from his hands, Maggie Cheung, Liang Chaowei, and Zhang Ziyi, all of whom were held up by him on the throne of the Shadow Emperor.
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
His films are well known, and he is also famous for torturing people.
"2046" filmed for 5 years, "Generation Grandmaster" filmed for 13 years, a shot can be shot sixty times, offended countless star celebrities, Jacky Cheung does not want to cooperate with him, scolded and cried Liang Chaowei, filming without script, but can give birth to a classic.
Why is the "Sunglasses King" Wong Kar-wai so cruel? What other untold stories does he have with the film?
First, because of the mother's association with the movie
To say how Wong Kar-wai and the film got together, it is thanks to his mother.
Born in Shanghai, Wong Kar-wai came to live in Hong Kong with his parents at the age of five, his father spoke fluent English and worked as a sea crew, and his mother was a movie fan, pulling his son to watch movies every day, so it can be said that movies were his only playmates in childhood.
Mother and son watch a wide variety of movies, domestic, European and American, Japanese, in addition to horror films, all dabbled in.
Countless films have allowed Wong Kar-wai to see the various lives of different societies and different classes, and to experience the cold and warm of the world, although at that time he did not understand the professional things such as shooting technology and manual lenses, but successfully shaped his personal aesthetics and values.
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
His father asked him to read all the classic masterpieces before going to college, regardless of whether they were domestic or foreign.
Books are the ladder to success, long-term travel in the ocean of words, improve Wong Kar-wai's literary literacy, let him learn from China and the West, learn the ancient and the present, can evaluate the four masterpieces, poetry and song, but also can talk about Western literature.
Such a "Luoyang talent" who is full of poetry books, but he chose to go to college of science and technology, learning graphic design, far away from movies.
After graduating from college, Wong Kar-wai really chose his favorite movie.
In 1981, he was admitted to TVB's choreography class, and after graduation, he stayed behind to work in television production, which was the first step to becoming a filmmaker.
The following year, he began to write a screenplay, and in 1987, the screenplay "The Last Victory" with Tan Jiaming was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Screenplay that year, and his career finally had a glimmer of hope.
In the nearly ten years of screenwriting, Wong Kar-wai has written various types of TV dramas and films, and has made cameo roles in films, but it is not easy to get ahead. In 1988, Wong Kar-wai picked up the microphone, sat in front of the camera, took charge of the overall situation, pointed out the country, and began his film era.
Second, the "procrastination" of big directors
Which director in the film industry is the most strict in filmmaking? Zhou Xingchi is definitely on the list, a shot is taken many times, emotional impulses will curse people.
Wong Kar-wai is also strict in filming, but more terrible than Stephen Chow, he does not beat people or scold people, but he stays up, shoots slowly, has a serious "procrastination", and there are many stars who complain about him.
As we all know, Maggie Cheung was "trained" by Wong Kar-wai to carry her from a vase as a shadow queen.
In the face of the most important noble person in life, Maggie Cheung is full of gratitude at the same time, but also some confusion.
In interviews in the early years, Maggie Cheung once talked about Wong Kar-wai's special way of working, that is, without a script, to unfold the story according to the characters, and to find inspiration for the second shot from the first shot.
Actor Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung was very puzzled, why not design in advance, every day dozens of people to wait there, follow behind the head to ask, Wong Kar-wai told her, don't worry, take it easy, you can't do anything, or shut up.
In the end, Maggie Cheung could only go with him and no longer ask questions. Therefore, Wong Kar-wai is also the director who makes the actor most insecure, because you have no idea what will happen in the next second, and you can never guess his mind.
Filming without following the script is not nothing, and what can really drive the actor crazy is the protracted, endless filming process.
Stills from the movie "2046"
During the National Day in 2004, the movie "2046" was released and successfully won 30 million at the box office, which was already a very good result at that time.
But who knows, this movie Wong Kar-wai filmed for five years, starring Takuya Kimura complained in front of the camera: "2046" filmed for five years, shooting me from a bachelor to a father of two children is the end of the matter, Director Wang, what do you do? Is it really going to be filmed until 2046?
Actor Takuya Kimura
Boiling a bachelor into a father of two children, this kind of thing, I am afraid that only Wong Kar Wai can do.
In the face of the outside world's complaints, Wong Kar-wai said: I didn't feel slow, I couldn't do my homework, I was reluctant to shoot.
Five years of filming is not the most, and wong Kar-wai spent 13 years on "A Generation of Grandmasters" released in 2013.
Stills from the movie "Generation Grandmaster"
The inspiration for the film dates back to the 1990s, when one day he saw an image of Ip Man before his death, and the action of punching caused him to think, and the result was eight years.
It was hard to decide to shoot, and it took him thirteen years to prepare and shoot. Although the process is long, the film has been a great success, received countless praise, and is regarded as a classic, proving that these 13 years have not been in vain.
Slow work is the principle that Wong Kar-wai has always adhered to in filming, the director can get used to slowly polishing, and the actor does not have this patience.
When filming "The True Biography of Ah Fei", Jacky Cheung appreciated the "fierceness" of Wang Dao.
Actor and singer Jacky Cheung
According to Jacky Cheung, he and Wong Kar-wai met through chat, when he learned that he was a director, it was incumbent upon him to come and participate in the performance, at the beginning, Wong Kar-wai arranged a lot of important scenes, and the relationship between the two was also good.
But there is a scene in "The Legend of Ah Fei", provoking each other's contradictions, in fact, it is just a simple expression, Jacky Cheung patiently filmed more than sixty times, and finally only heard Wong Kar-wai say: Forget it, and then walk away.
This makes Jacky Cheung very dissatisfied, even if the shooting is not good, then you have to give a reason, a sentence "forget it" is how many meanings?
Since then, Jacky Cheung has rarely cooperated with Wong Kar-wai again.
A "Biography of Ah Fei" offended Jacky Cheung and also made Liang Chaowei feel wronged.
At that time, Liang Chaowei was already quite famous, with his works, the ratings and box office would not be bad, and Liang Chaowei was also very confident in himself.
As a result, here in Wong Kar-wai, it was hit like never before, and a scene was filmed many times, causing Liang Chaowei to doubt whether he would shoot a scene, is it really so bad?
Actor Liang Chaowei
When he returned home after filming that day, Liang Chaowei still felt sad after thinking about it carefully, and he hid crying for many days.
3. Director of "Scissor Hand"
Big directors not only love to "torture" actors, but also love to delete scenes, known as "scissor hands".
Actor Maggie Cheung
Also in "2046", Maggie Cheung was originally arranged to have a 15-minute scene, but when the film was released, it was cut to only thirty seconds.
Maggie Cheung is not the most miserable, Wang Zuxian was originally scheduled as the heroine of "East Evil and West Poison", in an interview, Wang Zuxian also said that he would fully trust the director, all by the director's arrangement.
Stills from the movie "East Evil West Poison"
As a result, the director's hands are too heavy, and the good heroine becomes a group performance, only two seconds of side-face shots, flickering by, not looking carefully, who can recognize it.
Wong Kar-wai seems to be very good at cutting drama, also in "East Evil west poison", Liang Chaowei originally played the east evil, and as a result, he became a west poison, just someone else's friend, the protagonist became a supporting role.
The above three, although they have been deleted, but at least there is still a role, actress Guan Shuyi is the most miserable, she was originally the heroine of "Spring Break".
Actor Kwan Shu-yi
For this play, she pushed off a lot of film contracts, and also stayed abroad with the crew for a long time, only to wait for the film to come out, only to find that her role was deleted for a second.
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Directed by Wong Kar-wai
I do my own thing, pursue perfection, Buddhist creation, and be loyal to my own rhythm, which is the biggest feature of Wong Kar-wai's filming. In his eyes, there are no big names, no matter what position you are, when you come to me, you have to listen to me.
In order to make the work perfect, he is not afraid of offending people, cutting the drama and deleting the scene, without mercy. Although it seems a bit excessive, the birth of a series of classics seems to declare to the world that Wong Kar-wai is not wrong, and the art works need to be polished and polished a little.
Fourth, can't understand Wong Kar-wai's movies?
Wong Kar-wai is indeed a rare and excellent director, adhering to his own style, making him a clear stream in the circle, but at the same time a controversial director.
Directed by Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai's works have a strong stream of consciousness, like Impressionist paintings, vivid and natural colors, a variety of wide angles and long lenses, ingenious compositions, exquisite and ethereal images, showing the mood of urban petty bourgeoisie.
Unique film style, people who like it will feel very enjoyable, while people who don't like it will say that it is too obscure, deliberately creating a sad mood, the male and female protagonists are ambiguous, the lines are vague and incomprehensible, the plot is slow and trivial, unclear, obscure and unclear, is this really moaning without illness, or is the audience's taste too low?
Actor: Maggie Cheung (left) Liang Chaowei (right)
Some people say that Wong Kar-wai's films are not about plot, but about atmosphere and emotions, and if you look at his films from the perspective of a melodrama, you will feel confused after two hours.
If you want to understand, you need to calm down, put yourself in the film, savor every line, every scene, and even the costumes worn by the characters, and maybe you can feel the beauty of the movie.
It is said that Wong Kar-wai is fierce and loves to torture people, in fact, behind his hidden pursuit and responsibility for art, he can be in the materialistic entertainment circle, and he can still insist on himself, which is the most rare.
Those who know me say that I am worried, those who do not know me say what I want, and works of art are benevolent and wise.