Interview with Ren Suxi|Breaking the "wall" with the audience

Desolate, scarce supplies, alone... How long can you survive in such a difficult environment with no light ahead? And what will sustain you all the way?

When the film industry is gradually picking up and various types of films are mushrooming, a female adventure film "Wasteland" that goes deep into the boundless desert and writes about love and life breaks into people's field of vision with a simple but hidden attitude. And Ren Suxi, who conveys hope and strength to the audience through a large number of one-man shows in the film, has also been recognized and praised by another "powerful".

From Zhang Yiman, who dares to fight and pursue freedom in "Donkey Gets Water", to Ma Jiaqi, who is paraplegic but rekindles his enthusiasm for life in "The Nameless", to the diverse roles in a series of works such as "I'm Very Good in Another Country" and "Dear Child", Ren Suxi has always shown her different styles as an actress. And the jungle in "The Wasteland", which has undergone hardships, but is exceptionally tough and warm, is also like a treasure that has been excavated, revealing another side of her dazzling and dazzling.

Although the subject matter is not hot, although the shooting process is extremely difficult, but can make niche movies have a "stage" to show, can be recognized and loved by the audience, and can experience a limit life across the wilderness, Ren Suxi said, "As an actor, it is worth it to have such an experience in a lifetime." ”

The "refining" of obsession

Why did you choose to star in "Wasteland"? This seems to be the question Ren Suxi is most asked in interviews.

There are no big productions, no gorgeous creative lineup, and even the subject matter is quite niche, and such a work does not seem to dominate in the film market that has recently revived and increasingly fiercely competitive. But for Ren Suxi, these market-oriented factors have never been her primary criteria for selecting scripts, and the most important thing is whether the work itself can impress her.

Different from Ren Suxi's straightforward and cheerful, a series of films with a heavy apocalyptic atmosphere, such as "127 Hours", "Buried Alive", "Interstellar", "Falling" and other films with a heavy apocalyptic atmosphere, telling the story of solitary and desperate survival, happen to be her daily favorite, but rare type to contact. Therefore, the seemingly unpopular theme of "Wasteland" was actually the first to attract Ren Suxi.

Not only that, in past interviews, Ren Suxi has mentioned the movie "Manchester by the Sea" more than once. The deep excavation of the protagonist in that film, the description and presentation of how he faced the dilemma and got out of the predicament, deeply touched Ren Suxi, and as an actress, she developed a strong desire for such works and roles. And this time the movie "Wasteland" gave her the opportunity to achieve her wish.

""The Wasteland" seems to tell the story of a person's survival, but in fact, it shows love and family affection, and the reconciliation between a person and oneself. One of my favorite movies, Manchester by the Sea, tells such a story, and I saw it in the characters and plot of "The Wasteland", so I wanted to try this role. ”

This one-person, 7-day, 200-kilometer hike is a wilderness survival adventure she experienced as a jungle, but it is also a journey of refining and releasing life's obsessions. Sometimes, people tend to be trapped by the obsession in their hearts, and then externalize the inner entanglement and impose it on others, just like the jungle in the film. The regret of not being able to live with her father, or even seeing him for the last time, made her persistently set foot in no man's land, and deep down she developed a deep resentment towards her brother who failed to stop her father and accompany her father.

But this battle for survival across the wasteland eventually changed her life. "The jungle has always been twisted in her heart at first, but after encountering difficulties, experiencing fires, lack of materials, and seeing animal carcasses and human corpses, she slowly untied the knot in her heart and found the most important thing in her heart." Ren Suxi said, "Although this survival journey is 'passive', I feel that the jungle is still very lucky, she has found love and affection, and it is her family that gives her the strength to sustain her, so she can be reborn physically and mentally." ”

The jungle in "The Wasteland" found the "key" to let go of obsessions and start a new life; In reality, Ren Suxi also perceived the power beyond the mundane in this adventure. The endless desert scene is completely different from what you see in the pictures and screens, and only when you are really in it, you can experience the sadness and magnificence of "the desert is lonely and straight, and the sun sets over the long river". In such a vast and detached environment from modern society, human beings seem to suddenly become extremely small, and the anxiety and boredom in their hearts seem to disappear invisibly.

"After making this film, I immediately understood why many people let go of many things after going to Tibet. In that environment, you will find that the anxiety in your life is actually nothing. Your body and mind will feel like being baptized, with an epiphany and a sense of relief. Ren Suxi then added, "Maybe this feeling can only last for a while, when you return to your daily life, you still have to face the unsatisfactory in life, but whenever you remember that time, you still feel full of power." ”

"Experiential" performances

As early as when he just got the script, Ren Suxi already had a hunch that the shooting process would not be too easy. Sandstorms, sun exposure, thirst, long journeys, every word seems to reveal the hardships and difficulties of this journey to the wasteland. So before shooting, Ren Suxi deliberately conducted physical training for a period of time, hoping to train himself more strongly. In addition, although she looks thin, she thinks that she still has a little exercise foundation on her body, so physical problems do not bring too much burden to her.

"But after I went there, I found that no matter how strong it was, it would be blown away by the wind." Ren Suxi teased with a smile. During that time, she was completely synonymous with "miserable and weak". In the desert, which is difficult to walk, running until there is almost no oxygen, every day I am blown by the wind and sand until I can't open my eyes, and when I breathe, I feel that my entire lungs are filled with sand.

In addition to physical fitness, the performance of each scene can be kept in the state it should be, which is the most challenging for Ren Suxi. Filmed in the desert, many scenes are actually "grabbed", such as the only remaining light when the sun is about to set, such as the wind and sand that rises at an unknown time, so the shooting of the entire film is not carried out in chronological order in the story. "Maybe the scene filmed at the moment is the scene of the third day, but my actual state is still on the first day, and the content of the second day has not yet been filmed, so I need to rely on imagination to fill in the gaps in the middle, and then continue to act on the third day." Your makeup, your mental state, your dehydration, and even the weight of your body are all different, and these are all challenges to overcome and overcome. ”

The hard work behind these films may be difficult for people to see in front of the screen, but Ren Suxi's "solo performance" without too many rival scenes and few lines impressed every audience, and many people praised her performance as "the most wonderful solo show in domestic films in recent years". But such a sincere and moving interpretation has never been carefully thought out and designed by her. Compared with the "technical school" who uses the performance methodology, Ren Suxi is more like a pure and extremely talented "experience" actor, especially in the movie "Wasteland", she is not "acting" at all, but really puts herself in the desert, to experience, experience and feel the life of the jungle.

When the actor has this strong sense of self-substitution and is convinced by himself, he can be regarded as one with the character. At that time, the joy or pain experienced by the character also seems to be transferred to the actor. For example, in the two scenes of treating wounds in "Wasteland", Ren Suxi felt real pain in the original injury makeup.

"I'm a person who relies on 'faith' in acting, and the scene of leg injury is especially obvious." Ren Suxi recalled, "I remember that after filming that scene, I really felt a huge pain in my legs, as if I had brainwashed myself. Because people are actually visual animals, when you see a cracked wound, your brain will tell you that the place hurts, and if you also believe this signal, then there is a real possibility of pain. So when I acted in that scene, it was a real physiological reaction, and even I was shocked after the performance. ”

From the performance itself, perhaps only truth can create reality. For Ren Suxi, eliminating distractions, acting in each scene without any purpose, and trying to live in the situation of each character can break the "wall" that exists between the actor and the audience.

Emotional "white space"

"There are no ants busy under the mountain, counting the bags weighing a thousand taels, the dragon man, you see, he lifted the empty life to pad you to go far away..."

The theme song of the same name for the movie "Wasteland" was written and sung by Ren Suxi. The poetic lyrics are her projection of the emotions of the jungle characters, her feelings after difficult shooting, and the expression of her own emotions and memories. "Every time I write a song, it's actually because I have a strong urge to express it, maybe it's not a professional and beautiful song, but it's an emotional expression, the same as writing an article."

It's like writing songs, and so is acting. For actors, when they have a strong desire for expression, they often burst into unexpected and stunning performances. Li Chen once mentioned when evaluating Ren Suxi that she is an actor who pays a lot of attention to the feeling of the scene, and there will always be a lot of things inspired by the scene, rather than simply following the script.

The scene where the jungle struggled to get back the walkie-talkie and wanted to talk to his brother was Ren Suxi's heartfelt improvisational reaction when performing. At that time, the jungle was full of grievances, fears, and joy of being regained, and she should have told her brother that I had not lost the walkie-talkie and that I was still here, even if I knew that my brother on the other end would not hear it. But at that moment, Ren Suxi found that everything seemed to be superfluous, so she decided to leave the space for the audience.

"Such white space is better than saying any word." Ren Suxi explains, "When people see this, what are their inner thoughts and bonds, what are the unspoken words, I think this is the charm of the work of art, it is actually done by the actors and the audience." ”

The name of the film "Wasteland" refers not only to the figurative environment in which the protagonist jungle is located, but also to the reflection of inner imagery. In today's modern society, everyone actually has a wasteland in their hearts, and countless lonely and embarrassing moments need to be spent alone. Even Ren Suxi, who has conquered the audience with his acting skills and has become an excellent actor, often encounters "a person's wasteland".

Sometimes what she can't achieve with her best will bring her deep anxiety and powerlessness, and she will encounter confusion and ups and downs like ordinary people for her career and life. And most of the time, it is difficult to find a solution to these negative emotions, and it can only be washed away by time. "There will be many unsolvable things in life, and all we can do is live seriously and wait for it all to pass. I believe that time does not lie, and when time passes, maybe you will find the answer you want. ”

Therefore, living well is the most important thing in Ren Suxi's heart besides acting. It is often said that drama comes from life, and if the life experience is hollowed out, no matter how you perform, it will become a boring cycle, and at the same time, you will lose the joy of creation. And for actors who experience and perceive the lives of others in the play, in getting rid of the shackles of the camera and the screen, their own life outside the play should be more real and exciting.

Written by: Wang Xuening