The author of this article is a contributor @Yoshinaga Midori
Hungry and lazy, not loving labor, only movies
The blockbuster "Crazy" at the beginning of the year made Zhang Songwen, an actor who has worked silently for many years, completely popular.
His role as Gao Qiqiang is known as the "Godfather of China", and his dramatic life from fishmonger to big man is full of ups and downs.
Today, we will see a new work starring Zhang Songwen on the big screen, which is a realistic movie that is "late" for 3 years——
"More than Endless"
Produced by Jia Zhangke, directed by Wang Jing (not a Hong Kong director of the same name), co-starring Bai Ke, Zhang Songwen and Miao Miao, the film completed production and premiered at the Pingyao Film Festival in 2020, and now it is finally on the big screen after three years of twists and turns.
With a courageous realist perspective (involving investigative journalists, anti-hepatitis B discrimination, etc.), "More Than Endless" has been shortlisted for the Venice Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Polish Film Festival, won the Best Film of the International Film Critics Week at the Cairo Film Festival, and also won the Fei Mu Honorary Best Director Award at the Pingyao Film Festival.
Set in Beijing in 2003, "Never Stops" tells the story of investigative journalists who adhere to journalistic ideals in the age of print media.
At that time, the haze of SARS gradually dissipated, and the Shenzhou 5 manned spacecraft sent astronaut Yang Liwei into space.
At the beginning of the ever-changing millennium, smartphones are not yet popular, traditional print media is still playing an important media function, the Internet has entered a period of mass transformation, and ordinary people are looking forward to new opportunities in life in the torrent of great changes.
Han Dong (played by Bai Ke) and his girlfriend Xiaozhu (played by Miao Miao) are the Beipiao people who came to the big city to look for opportunities.
With low education and no connections, the sense of powerlessness when he first entered the big city shrouded Han Dong's body, and in the glamorous city, the fear of "no money, no background, no foothold" made them tired day and night.
Han Dong, who loves news and likes to write, has been repeatedly rejected because of his junior high school education, and occasionally won the favor of newspaper reporter Huang Jiang (played by Zhang Songwen) and became an intern reporter.
Han Dong, who diligently runs the news, found that while reporting, he will inevitably touch the shadows of society, experience the pull of reason and sensibility, and question the meaning of the existence of the media.
The core element of "Never Stopping" is the "hepatitis B discrimination" that is still prevalent at the beginning of the new millennium, which affects the fate of countless small people and makes them unite to fight for anti-discrimination.
The film's rendering of diseases and groups naturally reminds many audiences of "I Am Not the God of Medicine".
The same sharp social issues and the same compassion for the two realistic films have some similarities in temperament.
Coincidentally, when the script of "More Than Endless" advanced to the third draft, it coincided with the release of "I Am Not the God of Medicine", and the high reputation of the latter also gave director Wang Jing a little more confidence in the audience base of realistic serious themes.
In addition to the ontological narrative, "More Than Endless" is also an elegy for the era of traditional print media, which reproduces the pomp and circumstance of China's top newspapers 20 years ago, and I believe that many former journalists will evoke memories
Running the news in a hurry, getting stuck on the front page, staying up late and brewing endless coffee, parody reports posted on the wall and hungry cookies that news people hold in their mouths...
It shows us that 20 years ago, news people with light in their eyes and fire in their hearts worked hard like this, and this is how those headline stories were born.
"More Than Endless" uses an almost white description to reproduce the newspaper ecology at the beginning of the new millennium, and the restoration of the news workplace is relatively rare in previous Chinese films.
Investigative journalists were a "special group" among the news media
The story behind the film is also worth excavating, and there are prototypes to examine.
In 2003, Zhang Xianshu, a 25-year-old native of Wuhu, Anhui Province, filed a lawsuit against the local personnel bureau for refusing him to join the land because of his status as a hepatitis B carrier. He is the protagonist of the first case of hepatitis B discrimination in China, bringing to the surface the unfair treatment suffered by thousands of hepatitis B carriers.
Data show that in China, there is one hepatitis B virus carrier in every 10 people. But more than two decades ago, the contagiousness of the virus was exaggerated, and they were discriminated against.
After learning what happened, Han Fudong, a reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily, published a statement in China Newsweek titled "China's 120 Million People's Anti-Discrimination Claims", which immediately shocked the deafness.
"What are the consequences of a person being discriminated against? It's that no matter how hard you try, it's useless. For one of your identities may be innate and have nothing to do with your personal will or struggle for freedom. ”
The active voice of conscientious media personnel and the public opinion that followed successfully promoted the update and reform of relevant laws.
In 2005, the General Standards for Physical Examination for Civil Servants officially removed restrictions on hepatitis B carriers; In 2010, hepatitis B programs were no longer used as cardholder criteria for admission and entry physical examinations.
Director Wang Jing got inspiration from this past about hepatitis B discrimination, and immediately started the idea of shooting a film based on this material.
After talking with reporter Han Fudong, the role of the enthusiastic reporter "Han Dong" gradually took shape in Wang Jing's mind. Immediately, he visited many hepatitis B carriers to hear about their plight and rebirth.
The live-action return video was inserted into the feature film "More than Endless" in the form of a crude documentary, and the patients chose to reveal their real names and appear in front of the camera to show their support for the project.
The reason for choosing this realistic theme is due to Wang Jing's love of documentaries on the one hand, and the influence of his predecessor Jia Zhangke on the other hand.
Wang Jing was born in 1984 and is a native of Shanxi. In high school, he liked to watch CDs and came into contact with the early films of his fellow countryman Jia Zhangke, so he decided to apply for the Beijing Film Academy.
In 2003, he was admitted to Nortel's directing department. In 2010, he joined Jia Zhangke's team and successively served as the assistant director of "Destiny", "Mountains and Rivers Departed" and "Children of Jianghu ". The penetration of reality in Jia Zhangke's films also influenced Wang Jing's aesthetic style.
The set of "Children of the Rivers and Lakes", from left: Wang Jing, Liao Fan, Jia Zhangke
This time, Jia Zhangke is not only the producer of the movie "More than Endless", but also made a surprise appearance and made a cameo appearance in a mysterious role.
For the selection of actors, Wang Jing also has her own considerations.
In his opinion, "When deciding to make a movie for an ordinary person, Baike is the best choice." ”
For a long time, the name of Baike was firmly tied to the "king sledgehammer".
In the eyes of the short video audience, he is the spokesperson of the Disi culture who "promoted and raised, became the general manager, became the CEO, and married Bai Fumei".
But in recent years, Baike has begun to expand the width of the character.
From the low-level gangsters in "The Man Taken by the Light" to the dark perverts in "The Door Lock", every appearance can refresh cognition.
The perverted character Zheng Fei in "Door Lock"
In "Never Stopping", Baike once again reinvents his image as a young journalist from humble beginnings but with ideals.
Most of the time, he is trapped in life's embarrassment, and the discrimination of others makes it easier for him to empathize with hepatitis B carriers, thereby turning silence into strength.
When Zhang Songwen first met Wang Jing, he also seriously shared his understanding of many roles including Huangjiang.
He is an experienced actor with a long history, and every character he interprets is rooted in the experience of life over the past 30 years.
The official in "A Cloud Made of Rain in the Wind" who is in a middle-aged crisis, Zhu Chaoyang's father who looks forward and has a bitter heart in "Hidden Corner", and the great man Li Dazhao in "Revolutionary"... Zhang Songwen always surprises people.
Huang Jiang and Han Dong in "More than Ending" are also teachers and friends, he is what Han Dong will be 20 years later, the ideal fire has not been extinguished, and he still believes in the credo of "it is better to burn calmly than to survive".
In the words of Zhang Songwen, "More Than Endless" "is about us, us in this era".
It's also like the line in the movie: What thing in this world has nothing to do with us?
The English title of the film is "The Best is Yet to Come", which conveys that when a better future is yet to come, we must move forward with determination and not stopping.