The famous Thai director, screenwriter and producer Apichathan Welashagu's new work "Memory" was shortlisted for the main competition section of this year's Cannes Film Festival. The film starred Tilda Swinton, with Jia Zhangke as co-producer. On June 12, at the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival "Film Academy", the two directors, Apichatpong and Jia Zhangke, had a dialogue over the air. At the time of the epidemic last year, Jia Zhangke published an open letter to fans around the world in the Dutch film magazine "Filmkrant", "Walking Non-Stop", and Apichatpong followed up with a positive response to the article "Film of the Moment" in the magazine, and the two directors can be described as sympathetic.
"We are all in an era of rapid change"
Apichatpong is known as a new generation of Asian film masters, an outstanding representative of the "slow film", the feature film debut "Noonday Development" established his position in the film industry, the masterpiece "Uncle Boumi who can recall the past life" and "Tropical Disease" won the Palme d'Or and the Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival, respectively.
Both Apichatpong and Ja Zhangke were born in 1970. In the era of rapid socio-economic and cultural development in Thailand and China, the memory and reflection of their hometown have become the common creative source of the two directors of the same age.
Apichatpong describes a "love-hate" relationship between himself and his hometown. Love, because he is very obsessed with his memories of his hometown, "I used to get a free childhood there, it taught me a lot of knowledge, but also gave me a lot of opportunities to dream." 」 Apichatpong refers to his hometown of Khon Kaen as the place where he "discovered movies." Because his parents were doctors, before he "discovered the movie", Apichatpong entered a spiritual world far away from the small town and far from reality by flipping through the photos of cells, microorganisms, etc. in the family medical textbook. The cinema in the small town also impressed his childhood.
But it is also the hometown, destroying the dreams of a passionate and idealistic artist. It wasn't until he became an adult that he realized that there were all kinds of sufferings in the town, not as good as he thought. "Of course, my hometown has always been my source of inspiration, and I want to see how the experience of the new generation of people who grew up there is different from mine."
Jia Zhangke even introduced his hometown , Fenyang, Shanxi , to the majority of film fans through the film. From the first film "Xiao Wu", most of Jia Zhangke's works were conceived around Fenyang and filmed in Fenyang. "Because China's land area is very large, each region does have its own different personality characteristics. In dealing with the same thing or dealing with a relationship, in a certain emotional situation, the way of speaking, the way of thinking, each region is different. I am from Fenyang, Shanxi, and the processing and expression of emotions that I know best must come from Fenyang people. So I am willing to set the characters as Shanxi people, Fenyang people. ”
Jia Zhangke specifically mentioned that he and Apichatharbang are in an era of rapid change, and after leaving their hometown and moving to a larger world, they will look back at their hometown and re-examine their hometown to gain a broader and more tolerant perspective. "When you were a kid in a small enclosed city, you would have a big imagination about the outside. But when you become an adult and have a lot of travel, you will find that in fact, many small and medium-sized cities in China are the same, all the same. My hometown has both the uniqueness of emotions and the universality of most regions of China in terms of living conditions and development status. ”
Cross-professional backgrounds become a boost to filmmaking
At first, Neither Apichatpong nor Jia Zhangke studied directing: although they loved film since childhood and wanted to become a filmmaker, Apichatpong chose architecture at Khon Kaen University because he did not want to leave his hometown; Jia Zhangke entered the Literature Department of the Beijing Film Academy after studying fine arts for more than two years.
But their cross-disciplinary backgrounds also nourished the two men's careers as directors. Apichatpong explained that architecture and film have a lot in common, the most obvious of which is the design of the space. "Let the characters move around in one space, from one space to another. You have to observe what kind of emotions they express or elicit as they walk. Architecture is space, and architecture is also emotion. "Directors, like architects, can't go it alone and need a lot of helpers. The same spirit of teamwork that Apichatpong experienced from architecture applies to his work as a director.
Jia Zhangke recalled that more than two years of art study have profoundly affected his directing work. The first is the change of observation methods, because drawing and sketching should start from observation, to observe the structure of light and shadow, shape, color, the influence of the environment on objects, etc., and secondly, the study of art history also contributes to the formation of a person's thinking method. Throughout the history of art, in addition to "art" itself, it has also undertaken many functions, such as religious painting, portrait painting, daily painting, etc. When the camera and the camera appear in turn, and the other expression content is undertaken by the updated technology, the art presents its essence and essence. And this also applies to thinking about the nature of film.
Both directors also have an interest in contemporary art. As early as 2017, Jia Zhangke founded the "Jia Zhangke Art Center" in Jiajiazhuang, Fenyang; last year, Jia Zhangke held his first solo art exhibition. Jia Zhangke laughed and said that his love for contemporary art is because the film expression cycle is particularly long, but there are always many places that you want to express in daily life. "I think it's a good addition to the shooting. Two years have passed since a film was written, actors, money, and filming. But reality is so rich and varied, you always have something improvised to express, then find the way of contemporary art. In recent years, he has begun to experiment with installation art, and the latest installation art is being exhibited in Amsterdam.
Apichatpong said that compared with films, doing contemporary art gives him more freedom. "For me, making films is more of a personal expression; if I want to create contemporary art, it's to meet my social needs." I hope that through my own contemporary art creation, it can be used as a vehicle to search for the truth, to find different perspectives, in order to have a better and deeper understanding of my country. ”
Young people start by observing their own bodies and then extend to their relationship with the world around them
Apichatpong had come to the Shanghai International Film Festival as early as 2007, and during the filming of "Dream Cemetery", he had received strong support from Jia Zhangke, and the latest film "Memory", Jia Zhangke was a co-producer.
For this cooperation, Apichatbang admitted that he was very nervous at first, afraid of "losing face" in front of Jia Zhangke, but the whole cooperation process was very pleasant. "One of the most important points is that because Director Jia completely remembers his identity as a producer, he is like all good producers, absolutely gives the director freedom, respects the director, and does not interfere with me, so we shoot very happily."
The two directors also spare no effort in supporting young filmmakers. In Thailand, Apichatpong founded the Bangkok Experimental Film Festival and set up kick the machine company to create opportunities for more young filmmakers. In Apichatpong's view, the most important thing for young filmmakers is to be able to enjoy life and enjoy the moment; to start with observing their own body and then extend to their relationship with the world around them. "Because the body itself is an art, you can only explore it after you understand your body, and then express this exploration into a movie, in fact, it is very difficult to understand yourself." 」
Asked about his advice for young filmmakers, Apichatpong stressed that he advised everyone not to hold the film too high, not to equate their identity with the film, in case they failed, the personal edifice would collapse and they would feel like a loser. "A lot of young filmmakers, watching a lot of movies, and then they start to make up their minds, watching this movie and thinking I want this style, watching that movie and thinking I'm not as good as making that style. It's a difficult choice, so I recommend that you see, listen, and meditate more, as these will help. ”
In April this year, the Shanxi Film Academy, with Jia Zhangke as the dean, was established, and Jia Zhangke said that the teaching model of the college is still being planned, but as a person who has studied in the film school for four years, he has many ideas that he hopes to realize in the reality of teaching. "For example, we will set up a documentary class in the basic course to let everyone understand what film is; for example, in the photography major, we decided to resume film teaching, and students embraced digital technology while mastering traditional film technology."
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Xiao Yang
Editor/Bow Lifang