They passed through the storm | Talking to Qin Haiyan and Tong Liya

"I aspire to women who choose to become writers, artists, scientists, and in these capacities to discover and shape their potential and realize the great possibilities of humanity. Every time they were faced with the storm that they could escape by hiding in the cave of gender, they didn't choose to escape, they stood up and swore to themselves, I'm going to do better, more perfect. This time I really gave action, and this time I did my best. ”

This passage mentioned by writer Jiang Fangzhou in his speech is very appropriate at the time of the release of "I Passed Through the Storm". This is a film that is not only about domestic violence and women's plight, but in the perception of director and screenwriter Qin Haiyan and actor Tong Liya, it is about growth and courage, full of care for others and reality.

From movies to creators, before every storm, they did not choose to escape, but bravely faced it. Before the film was released, Poison Eyes chatted with Qin Haiyan and Tong Liya about movies, women and the story of courage.

A movie that must be made

In 2019, Qin Haiyan's friend suffered domestic violence, which shocked her. I originally thought that domestic violence was a very distant thing, but I didn't expect it to be so close, not to mention, my friend and her husband are both well-known and independent financial people, but they are still very powerless in dealing with such problems. As a creator, Qin Haiyan's desire for expression emerged after being touched, and she wanted to make it into a movie.

As a screenwriter for nearly twenty years, Qin Haiyan had the desire to be a director and film this matter for the first time. "Maybe because I got married early, had children, didn't give myself the identity of director so early, I felt that the identity of screenwriter allowed me to take care of a lot of things, and I didn't think that I had to be a director." And the desire to express this subject matter was born after she did a lot of interviews.

In addition to first- and second-tier cities, Qin Haiyan also went to county towns and rural areas, interviewed victims, anti-domestic violence organizations, grassroots police officers and lawyers, etc., and after accumulating hundreds of real cases, she developed a sense of mission, which she described as an emotion that "feels what it feels, hurts what it hurts, and hurts what it hurts". "I imagined that there might be many voices saying that this was a feminist topic, and the discussion was biased towards male and female antagonism or fear of marriage and childbirth, but my original intention was very firm, that is, I wanted this problem to be seen and solved, and I wanted everyone to listen to and understand the victims of domestic violence and discuss this issue rationally."

The experience of Xu Min, the heroine of "I Passed Through the Storm", represents the real experience of many women in the interview, and lawyer Li Xiaomeng also comes from real events: after a young assistant lawyer finally helped the victim divorce, the victim returned to the family by himself, and the assistant lawyer collapsed and resigned. Considering the reality, bystanders always question the victim's repetition in divorce and non-divorce, and do not understand their situation, but entering the story from the perspective of a lawyer and understanding Xu Min's mental journey is softer, and it also completes the narrative of the growth and redemption of the two girls.

Li Xiaomeng (played by Wang Yinglu) Xu Min (played by Tong Liya)

For the perpetrator and male protagonist Chen Jun in the story, Qin Haiyan does not want to create a pure demon or scumbag. "Domestic violence actually has a model, there will be violence and asking for mercy after violence, a 'sweet period' and a bottleneck period, and then the next violence." She wants the character to be flesh and blood and rooted, so she doesn't want to find an actor who looks fierce, but hopes that he has a certain degree of deception.

Because the real situation is like this - many abusers always seem docile and good-tempered, and take the victim into a deceptive marriage, which also gives the actor's performance more room to play, and Chen Jun's actor Wu Yuhan's performance achieves this contrast well.

The actor of the heroine Xu Min was the first to be determined. Qin Haiyan went directly to Hengdian to find Tong Liya, who was filming, ate takeaway together, talked about the script, and settled. "It may be that she met the right person at the right time, there was no other candidate at that time, and she didn't think about Yaya's plan after refusing, and she didn't hesitate for a moment, as if she breathed the same fate under the premise of that script." Qin Haiyan said.

 Tong Liya

However, the screenwriter is responsible for the script and text, and Qin Haiyan, who has experience in many works such as "Find You", "Assassination of a Novelist" and "Thousands of Miles Homecoming", is already proficient in this, but it is the first time to be a director, and it is inevitable to be nervous. She can only work the preliminary preparation, and draw every shot with the photographer and storyboarder, and all the preparations are sufficient before she dares to start shooting.

Perhaps because all the staff involved in "I Pass Through the Storm" are burdened with a sense of mission to care for reality, the pre-preparation and shooting of the film are smooth, but when it comes to the post-production and release stage, the difficulties and obstacles are far beyond imagination. "All of us have experienced another storm, a chain of storms."

They go through the storm

Qin Haiyan chose to shoot some warm scenes first. The first scene is the love of Xu Min and Chen Jun and two children, the family sings K, plays, and plays games together, first creating the original warm family atmosphere. Only when they are "sweet" first, and then tear these beautiful things apart, will the pain of the actors and the audience be stronger.

"I Passed Through the Storm"

When on the set, Wu Yuhan did not talk to Tong Liya, deliberately alienating her, afraid that the familiarity between the actors would affect the accuracy of the role, and even the early love was also performed, which was more in line with the story of the film. In Tong Liya's perspective, at the beginning, getting the script did not have a strong sense of mission, but I just felt that the strength and bravery under my weak appearance were seen by the director, and I hope that I can break through the previous screen roles in this movie.

After reading a lot of information, doing homework, and walking into the role, Tong Liya really had the desire to express herself that was ignited. "Violence is not just beatings, verbal violence, mental control, etc., are all violence, and a lot of my own confusion was solved during the performance."

A heavy scene in the court in the film, Tong Liya took the initiative to consult with Qin Haiyan and acted this scene in succession, Qin Haiyan understood that the actor needed to be very coherent and full of emotions, so he adjusted the storyboard and filmed for four days. The scene is a real courtroom, the extras are next to it, and Tong Liya is like standing in the middle of the drama stage performing, soaked with tears and sweat. That shot lasted for nearly half an hour alone, and all the extras present cried, and applause broke out like the curtain call of a play.

"I Passed Through the Storm" set photo

Tong Liya was still watching at first, until the two children came in and opened their mouths to speak, Tong Liya's mind appeared a lot of pictures, those pictures made up the life of Xu Min she experienced. "When I say all the lines, like in a movie, about what happened to me, the feeling is so strong that I am torn apart and it hurts." Tong Liya said. The on-site reactions of those audiences also pushed her into the role of Xu Min again.

In order to perform the trance and exhaustion of the role, Tong Liya stayed up for several days without sleeping or eating, crying every day during the performance, crying until the brain lacked oxygen, and her eyes were right. During that time, she felt very suffocated, a shot was taken, and she would stand outside for a while. The sunshine in Nanjing in May and June was very good, and there was still the fragrance of osmanthus in the air, and she stood with Qin Haiyan to feel it. "When the shooting is over, can you take me for a drink and relax, otherwise that thing is held in my heart, it is too uncomfortable."

And Qin Haiyan at that time was also struggling in the parallel identity of the director and "himself". Looking at this film as a creator needs to be grasped rationally, but to see it as "yourself", you are very empathetic - although you cry and collapse, but back to the specific work, it is still necessary to delete what should be deleted, and what should be removed must be removed - Qin Haiyan also learned how to balance his multiple identities in "I Passed Through the Storm".

Tong Liya already felt that she didn't know herself when she saw the finished film. "Our actors are carefully dressed up and shown to others, and everyone sees Tong Liya as a makeup artist dressed up after a few hours of makeup styling, but I am very grateful to the director for not making me beautiful in this play."

All women have very collapsed and embarrassing moments, seeing their own appearance in the film, Tong Liya feels that that is what women of this age should look like when they encounter difficulties, and it is also the appearance of Tong Liya that the audience has never seen. To be able to fully devote herself to completing such a role, Tong Liya feels very lucky. The magic is that Xu Min and many of the roles she has played have influenced her life, values, and even changed her choices in parallel time and space.

No more fear, no stopping

"I've been through all kinds of storms myself, but now I'm brave." Tong Liya said that as many roles as she has played, there are as many life trajectories as there are, and these things will reflect herself. And in the parallel time and space of "I Passed Through the Storm", Xu Min gave Tong Liya a lot of energy. She was no longer afraid of the storm and decided to come out in her own way.

"This is my life, I have experienced this, not afraid to show everyone, not afraid of everyone to compare with each other, this is my role, I am an actor, should have a variety of experiences, give full play to the energy in my body, for fear of setting myself on fire to play a little ordinary, weak, safe role, what is the meaning of actors?" Wouldn't it be more comfortable to do nothing at home? ”

After the storm, Tong Liya also had more feelings about the identity of the actor. In the dialogue, she mentioned that there was a period of time when the role of the white rabbit was very popular, and for a while it was very popular for the role of "overlord", and then after a period of time it may be very popular for the big heroine "Shuangwen", and the actor may decide what is suitable for himself according to the popularity, "But I now feel that we should not follow the trend, not be taken away, and do what we want to express." ”

In the past, I got those "little white rabbit" roles, not that the actors did not want to play, but those roles may not be given strength, and they did not have an outlet to express; Without such a bloody realist theme, there is no opportunity to express it. In Tong Liya's view, more and more scripts have dared to be expressed in the process of creating scripts.

"If more powerful creators can show their strength in the future, it will be friendly to actresses of our age, because there are more roles to play, and because we have experienced more, our psychological experience is more able to bear such roles." She wants to continue to try more challenging roles, stopping often to think, recharge, and give new life to the character and herself.

Qin Haiyan has found a path - to conduct real interviews, take root in life, and truly reflect the current plight of women through creation, so that their emotions and lives can have more opportunities to be written and photographed. Since entering the industry, she has not felt too limited in her career development because of her status as a woman, and believes that this is an industry based on real skills.

"It's useless if the screenwriter doesn't write well, but there is actually a chance to write well." Over the years, seeing many female filmmakers in the industry shining in various jobs, and more and more young female creators can be seen in the venture capital of film festivals, Qin Haiyan feels that their expression and techniques are very mature, and the power of newborn female creators is particularly strong.

And she herself will not stop writing. "When I write the script, the threshold of happiness I experience may be greater than everything in life, which is addictive, so I can't give up happiness and will definitely continue to write."

When they stop running away and go on as hard as they can, after the movie ends, the brave stories about them will not stop.