"Sauce Garden Lane" was shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival!
This film, directed by Chen Kexin, has always attracted much attention from preparation to filming. A few days ago, the Organizing Committee of the 77th Cannes International Film Festival announced the list of shortlisted films for this year, and "Sauce Garden Lane" appeared in the ranks of non-competition screening units.
At the press conference, Fu Mao, the artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival, also made a special mention of the starring Zhang Ziyi when talking about "Sauce Garden Lane", saying that he "returned to the Cannes Film Festival".
Some netizens popularized science, pointing out that although it is a non-competitive unit, the threshold for entry is not low. This unit only includes 3 to 6 films per year, and all of them are masterpieces by famous directors. And "Sauce Garden Lane" is the first Chinese film shortlisted for the Cannes non-competition screening unit in the past 10 years after "The Return".
Moreover, it is also the first time that director Chen Kexin has been shortlisted for Cannes.
In addition to being shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival, "Sauce Garden Lane" is a big hit among the Chinese films to be screened, and the story behind it is also very exciting.
1, the last time Chen Kexin went to Shanghai to shoot a film was "If Love" in 2004, exactly 20 years ago. In "If. Love", he uses the narrative mode of interweaving reality and drama within the play to tell a nostalgic and sentimental love story with ups and downs, which has become a hit in major film awards in the Chinese film industry.
And this time, "Sauce Garden Lane" is also optimistic about being a "big winner".
2, Chen Kexin's idea of filming "Sauce Garden Lane" originated from the script given to him by Li Ruigang (the producer of "The Pretender"). In his opinion, this is a story that "no director can refuse". Whether it is the fate of the protagonist of the story, or the story pattern, it is "very moving".
3, the story of "Sauce Garden Lane" is adapted from the "Zhan Zhou's Murder Case" in the "Four Strange Cases of the Republic of China".
On March 20, 1945, Zhan Zhou was arrested on suspicion of murdering his husband and dismembering his body. Under the attention of the media and the famous writer Su Qing, her bumpy fate was presented to the public, from being pointed out by thousands of people to being embarrassing and sympathetic.
Zhan Zhou's parents died when he was a child, and he was sold by relatives at the age of 9. Zhan Yunying, the husband who was designated by the host's family to marry, was addicted to gambling and domestic violence. She went out to work for a living, was reprimanded by Zhan Yunying and was beaten violently, took medicine and was rescued by a neighbor, and fought back angrily in extreme despair.
However, although Su Qing and others campaigned for it, Zhan Zhou was still sentenced to death, but fortunately, a foreign grandmother helped her escape temporarily on the grounds of "pregnancy". Later, Chiang Kai-shek's sentence was commuted to life due to Japan's surrender and national amnesty, and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, her sentence was commuted to 15 years.
After being released from prison, Zhan Zhou changed his name to Zhou Huizhen and remarried, and lived on a farm in northern Jiangsu until he died in the 90s of the last century, and never returned to Sauce Garden Lane for the rest of his life.
4. The preparation period of "Sauce Garden Lane" lasted for 7 years, during which it was shelved many times, and it was once rumored that the director changed hands, re-established the project, and changed it to a 5-episode short drama. And Chen Kexin also said in an interview that the reason for the suspension was because of the large volume of the story and the long time of the film.
5. In June 2023, "Sauce Garden Lane" will be filed and approved in the form of a movie, and it will be launched in December. After several months of shooting, it was completed in early March this year.
6. After the film was recorded, Chen Kexin, as a director, immediately entered a busy state. He not only described his time as "day and night", but also said that "I even feel the busiest time in the past 10 years".
7. Sauce Garden Lane was originally located in Xinchang Road, Shanghai, named after an old sauce garden shop, but the original site has now been rebuilt into a residential area. For this reason, the crew had to look elsewhere.
In the end, with the support of the local government, the crew chose to build exterior scenes on Zhapu Road and Beihaining Road to restore the 1945 Sauce Garden Lane in an all-round way, and it became a popular check-in point for citizens after completion.
For being able to restore the old appearance of the sauce garden in the center of Shanghai and shoot it, Chen Kexin once expressed his gratitude with "realizing a dream that all filmmakers dare not do" and "unheard of".
8. In the past, when Chen Kexin was filming movies, his father Chen Tongmin, who was also a filmmaker, always accompanied him. And Chen Tongmin's most longing city is Shanghai.
It's a pity that during the filming of "Sauce Garden Lane", Chen Tongmin was unable to attend due to physical reasons. As a result, Chen Kexin wore his father's watch every day to fulfill his father's Shanghai dream.
About two months after the film started, Chen Tongmin passed away in Bangkok.
9, the cast of "Sauce Garden Lane" is extremely luxurious.
In addition to Zhang Ziyi, who plays Zhan Zhou's family, Lei Jiayin, Fan Wei, Wang Chuanjun, Zhao Liying, Yang Mi, and Yi Yang Qianxi will all play important roles in the film, and Dapeng, Zhang Zifeng, Wang Yang, Li Xian, Lin Yongjian, and Wu Junru will also appear.
Chen Kexin said in an interview that this is a "group drama of more than a dozen actors".
10, the corner of Zhan Zhou, Chen Kexin always belongs to Zhang Ziyi.
When Chen Kexin first came into contact with Zhang Ziyi to talk about "Sauce Garden Lane", her two children had not yet been born. After that, the preparation of the film was blocked and dragged on for several years, and the agreement between the two parties has not changed.
At the finale banquet of "Sauce Garden Lane", Zhang Ziyi choked up and cried on stage, thanking Chen Kexin for thinking that she was "the only choice", and even said, "Thank you for giving me a chance to be reborn".
This shows how important this film is to her.
11, after "Zhang Ziyi cried and thanked Chen Kexin" on the hot search, some netizens started with "I heard", describing the so-called inside story of the battle for the position, and finally concluded that Zhang Ziyi was the biggest winner. And Zhang Ziyi then appeared in the comment area, vigorously denied it and angrily charged English. Subsequently, the netizen re-edited the blog post, saying that his remarks were biased.
12, during the casting period of "Sauce Garden Lane", in addition to the two female candidates becoming fans, they were also named by the official media for causing a dispute over the position, pointing out that fans maintain a high degree of frequency with idols.
13, Zhao Liying and Yang Mi's roles in "Sauce Garden Lane" have always been kept secret.
During the preparation of the film, the media photographed Chen Kexin and Zhao Liying "making an appointment to discuss cooperation". During the filming, some netizens who participated in the filming of the film revealed that Zhao Liying had short hair in the film, and praised "my 360-degree good-looking without dead ends" and "delicate, small, cute, elegant atmosphere".
As for who Zhao Liying plays, some netizens broke the news that "it is the function of Su Qing in the original book". As for Yang Mi's role, she said "I know, but I don't say it".
14, "Sauce Garden Lane" is a big production, with a strong starring lineup, and many supporting roles are needed. A relevant party once posted on the Internet to recruit large-scale group performances, saying that "if you want it, you don't want it."
15. During the filming of the film, the famous Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda came to visit the crew, watched the filming and exchanged opinions with Chen Kexin.
In all aspects, "Sauce Garden Lane" has raised the expectations of fans to the highest, but unfortunately the film has not yet been finalized, and it still needs to wait.
At that time, the appraisal will be done again.