As the 2023 New Year's Eve drama, the TV series "Flowers" directed by Wong Kar-wai has been broadcast so far, and it can be said that it has "sounded".
After 6 years of preparation and 3 years of filming, at the end of 2023, "Flowers" will finally be broadcast. As soon as it started broadcasting, it was a popular drama: the popularity value of Tencent Video Station was as high as 30,000, the ratings of CCTV's eight sets of premieres broke 2 in 10 minutes, and the ratings of the first episode of Jiangsu Satellite TV broke 2 after the broadcast, and the latest Douban score has reached 8.2, in addition, the show has also become a cultural phenomenon at the beginning of 2024 - the original book is out of stock on multiple platforms, and Shanghai's Yellow River Road is crowded with tourists who check in......
As the protagonist of "Flowers", Hu Ge has been in contact with this project since 2017, and now 6 years later, he has a lot of feelings in his heart. As a native of Shanghai, Hu Ge can finally make up for some of his memories of his parents: what was the Yellow River Road like, and what was the state of the people at that time...... "Just like Director Wang said, if a complete memory is a cake, everyone only sees one of the cakes now." From my personal understanding, the Shanghai conveyed in our images, both in terms of color and overall rhythm, is consistent with the mental state of the people of that era. ”
Hu Ge still remembers that Wong Kar-wai once said that the interpretation of Ah Bao should have the feeling of Li Xiaoyao in "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", "I believe that in that era, there were many young people like Ah Bao, who wanted to seize the opportunity in the tide of the times and change their fate and life through their own efforts." But after experiencing ups and downs, you will find that the most important thing is love and righteousness. ”
Mr. Bao: The most flavorful Hu Ge
"In Shanghai in 1992, some people rose in the wind, and some people returned to zero in half a day" The opening chapter of "Flowers" returns to Shanghai on the last day ......of 1992. Mr. Bao played by Hu Ge, who is a successful person in every gesture, walked out of the Peace Hotel with great ambition, and as soon as he opened the door of the Mercedes-Benz, a car hit him from behind, and Mr. Bao fell in a pool of blood in an instant, and the more than 300,000 cash in his hand was also scattered all over the place. The rain of banknotes that fly up to the sky and fall down with the brilliant chandeliers and ribbons are integrated, which is a drunken gold fan and a bloody war.
In the hospital bed, Mr. Bao's memory went back to 1987. At that time, Mr. Bao was just an ordinary Bao in Shanghai, and in his words, he was "drilling in this rolling red dust every day to support the market". The fledgling Ah Bao found the hidden "old mage" (played by You Benchang) in the business world to learn to do business, and under the test and guidance of his uncle, he devoted himself to the stock market and harvested the first pot of gold in his life.
An old master of Ningbo (the point of mention), two red tailors (to create a suit), a pair of Yangzhou scissors (to create a panache...... In the Peace Hotel, Bao, who learned the style, gimmick, and signs, was reborn and became the president of the business world. In fact, Mr. Bao's history of struggle is not complicated, but it has a unique flavor in Wong Kar-wai's unique language of light and shadow and lens.
Mr. Bao may be Hu Ge's most flavorful character over the years, with hesitation in his gestures and confidence in everything under control. Fortunately, with Wong Kar-wai's training and Hu Ge, there is no greasy boss, but a sense of intimacy and realism.
"Flowers": a cognitive puzzle of the 90s
"Flowers", Jin Yucheng, Wong Kar-wai, the simultaneous existence of the three keywords is the main reason for Hu Ge to take over "Flowers". It contains his love for novels, his affection for the city of Shanghai, and his anticipation of working with director Wong Kar-wai. "When I was in high school, the first part I watched was "The True Story of A Fei", and on the afternoon of my junior year of high school when I watched "Springtime" for the first time, I still remember the indescribable shock. Hu Ge sighed that being able to appear in Wong Kar-wai's monitor now is really like a dream for him.
In Hu Ge's view, "Flowers" fills up the puzzle piece about the 1990s in his memory. "My parents, like Hu Sheng and Xiao Mao (the two characters in the book "Flowers"), experienced that era together. I was curious about their experiences, and I learned about the people and things they experienced at that time, but there was never a complete piece of the puzzle. A lot of times if you ask more, they're like a novel, and they don't make a sound. So, when the novel "Flowers" appeared, he read it hungrily, thus completing the puzzle of the perception of that era. "Maybe before I met Director Wang, many parts of my life were in the world of Flowers. ”
In Hu Ge's memory, people in the 90s were very busy, including his father and his friends, and everyone was clamoring to go into business. Someone would come to the house every once in a while, "It seems that the talk is all big business, but I didn't see my father making money, but fortunately, he didn't lose money." Children's perception of that era is very superficial. At that time, everyone was quite excited. The Shanghai conveyed and expressed in the "Flowers" video is consistent with the mental state of the people of that era. ”
Wong Kar-wai: This collaboration is like falling in love
I first came into contact with the project in 2017. Hu Ge still remembers being very nervous when he met Wong Kar-wai for the first time, "I received a phone call saying that Director Wong Kar-wai wanted to meet me. After arriving at the agreed place, I saw Director Wang wearing his signature sunglasses. To be honest, I was very nervous at the time, I liked to watch Director Wang's works since middle school, and he was my idol. ”
That day, Wong Kar-wai chatted with him about his views on the novel "Flowers" and also talked about Hu Ge's growth experience. "Director Wang's first consideration was for me to play Ah Bao, and later, at one point, he wanted me to play the triangle alone, and play Hu Sheng, Xiao Mao and Ah Bao (characters in the book "Flowers") at the same time. Because someone watched my drama "Dream Like a Dream" at that time, they felt that they saw many of my faces on the stage, so Director Wang thought of this plan. ”
"I haven't slept in about two days. Recalling that after hearing the director's thoughts, Hu Ge said that the pressure was not small. But soon, he concentrated on returning to Bao's world, "I don't dare to think too much, thinking too much will affect my entry into the character of Bao." Of course, it is really a big challenge for actors to have the opportunity to interpret three roles in the same play. ”
The idea of a one-man triangle didn't come to fruition in the end. Wong Kar-wai cut down the complexity and simplified, and only chose Ah Bao as the core character. Po's world alone is not simple. Around him, there is a hidden uncle, a brother Tao Tao who sticks a knife in both ribs, Lingzi who is hard-mouthed and soft-hearted, Miss Wang who set off together, and the mysterious Li Li...... He once bravely made the tide when he had nothing, and also silently endured the dirty water in the ups and downs of the stock market, begging for a "clear conscience".
This is the first time Hu Ge has cooperated with Wong Kar-wai, although I have heard many stories of director Wong Kar-wai "torturing" actors before, but at the beginning, the actors were also full of expectations, "We also joked at the time, saying that this is not a crew, this is Fanhua Film Academy." "During the filming process, everyone did have a great harvest," the director will let you learn a lot in the communication with the actors, and he will give you different ways to guide according to different actors. ”
The final filming lasted for three years, and it is said that Hu Ge himself spent three birthdays in the crew. For a TV series with more than 30 episodes, the production cycle can be said to be quite long.
The long shoot affected the actors' emotions, but Wong Kar-wai provided stable emotional comfort. Hu Ge said that in the later stage of filming, everyone was on the verge of collapse, and there was a lot of pressure in all aspects. But looking at Director Wang, who was energetic and meticulous at the scene, and watching him go back to meetings and write scripts after filming every day, all the tiredness was eliminated at once, and I felt that I could do it again.
After going through so much, Hu Ge said with a smile that this cooperation is more like falling in love, "At the beginning, I was very nervous and nervous, and I was hovering between confidence and unconfidence." Slowly, you will find that as long as he is there, you will be at ease, much like falling in love."
Emotional direction: Love is not the point
In "Flowers", the story of Mr. Bao brought out various characters around him, each with its own wonders: Zhuge Liang's military uncle, Lingzi like a relative, Miss Wang who supports and achieves each other, and Li Li, a confidante with a confidante.
During the filming process, Uncle Grandpa's actor, Mr. You Benchang, who is in his 90s, used his awe of performance to let Hu Ge see the charm of a good actor.
"We have experienced three years of shooting, and I can also feel the changes in Mr. You Benchang in the past three years. I could clearly feel that he was thinner than before, but I admired him, which means that no matter how tired he was, as soon as he turned on the camera, his breath immediately lifted. And he rarely made requests on the spot, saying that he wanted to finish work earlier today, and he was a little tired, almost nothing. Hu Ge sighed that he saw the admirable spirit in Mr. You Benchang and understood his love and pursuit of performing arts, "This is my most sincere feeling, only if you have worked with Mr. You, you can experience it." ”
The relationship between Mr. Bao and female characters such as Reiko, Miss Wang, and Li Li has always been of concern to everyone. Hu Ge also asked the director more than once about the emotional direction of the characters, but Wong Kar-wai "didn't make a sound".
Hu Ge described Reiko's "Night Tokyo" as Bao's safe haven, "Reiko is Po's solid backing, or his insurance." Don't look at Ah Bao's dominance on the Yellow River Road, as long as he goes to Tokyo at night, he will always go in with his head held high and come out with a disgraced face. They knew to each other that she was doing it for his good, even if she was a little intense in form. Hu Ge said with a smile, to a certain extent, Ah Bao is Zhu Bajie, Lingzi is Sun Wukong, Sun Wukong is always in front of Zhu Bajie, let Zhu Bajie sit and enjoy his success.
Ah Bao and Miss Wang's uneasy direction also has another charm in Hu Ge's opinion: "What everyone sees is that I have been coaxing her, but I think the two of them have supported and helped each other, and they have come all the way." The intersection between them is farther than everyone thinks. In the early days of reform and opening up, everyone's attention was more focused on how to go hand in hand, and how to break out of their own world at a time full of opportunities. ”
As for Ah Bao and Li Li, Hu Ge believes that they are like the sky and the sea, mirroring each other and full of mystery. "The sky and the sea are far apart, but when you look at the sunrise and sunset, you find that they are connected. ”
During the filming process, Hu Ge gradually realized that Wong Kar-wai, who is good at telling emotional stories, left enough imagination for Mr. Bao's feelings. "Whether it is Ah Bao and Lingzi, or Ah Bao and Miss Wang, or Li Li, everyone may find that the ending is relatively open. Like I said before, the point is not on love, the point is on love, which is a much bigger concept. ”
Red Star News reporter Qiu Junfeng editor Zeng Qi
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