#精品长文创作季#
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(Zhao Tao and her husband Jia Zhangke)
Zhao Tao is the queen actress of the famous director Jia Zhangke, starring in many literary films such as "Platform", "The Good Man of the Three Gorges", "Useless", "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers", "Children of the Rivers and Lakes", and won the 56th Italian Film David Award for Best Actress, the 54th Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress and other awards.
In 2021, Zhao Tao was selected by the New York Times as one of the "25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century".
In May 2024, Zhao Tao will take the film "Merry Generation" to the queen of the Cannes International Film Festival for the sixth time. Will she be able to get her wish this time?
(Zhao Tao)
Zhao Tao is a typical flowering inside the wall and fragrant outside the wall, and his popularity in the international film industry is far greater than that in China. She and her husband Jia Zhangke are a perfect match, one plays and one directs, and they cooperate seamlessly.
Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke have been married for 12 years, and they have not conceived a baby, and the couple will raise their pet dogs as children......
01
Zhao Tao is a frequent visitor at the Cannes International Film Festival, praised by the world's media and peers, and his international influence far exceeds that of China.
Founded in 1946, the Cannes International Film Festival is the most influential and top international film festival in the world today, with the highest award being the "Palme d'Or".
(The logos of the three major film festivals, from top to bottom: Berlin International Film Festival, Cannes International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival)
The Cannes International Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival are known as the world's three major international film festivals.
The Cannes International Film Festival is held in France every May and lasts for about 12 days.
This year marks the 77th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival, which will take place from May 14 to 25, 2024. The film "Merry Generation" starring Zhao Tao was successfully shortlisted and will hit the Cannes actress for the 6th time.
Zhao Tao's first 5 films after hitting Cannes are:
(Zhao Tao's "Let It Be Free" stills)
In 2002, Zhao Tao took the film "Let Me Go" and hit the 55th Cannes Film Queen.
In 2008, Zhao Tao starred in the film "A Tale of Twenty-Four Cities", impacting the 61st Cannes Film Queen.
In 2013, Zhao Tao starred in the film "Destined", impacting the 66th Cannes actress.
In 2015, Zhao Tao starred in the film "Mountains and Rivers", impacting the 68th Cannes actress.
In 2018, Zhao Tao starred in the film "Children of Jianghu", impacting the 71st Cannes Film Queen.
(Zhao Tao and Zhang Yi "Mountains and Rivers" poster)
(Zhao Tao and Liao Fan's stills from "Children of Jianghu")
In the first 5 times, Zhao Tao regrettably was only one step away from the Cannes actress, can Zhao Tao successfully seal the queen with "The Merry Generation" this year?
"Merry Generation" is a low-budget literary film cooperated by Zhao Tao and her husband Jia Zhangke.
The film tells the story of a pair of lovers Qiao Qiao and Guo Bin in a small town in northern China, who are separated and united in the change of fate, reflecting the indomitable enterprising spirit and survival state of a generation under the changes of the times.
One of the biggest features of "The Merry Generation" is that it is filmed in a scattered manner. It was started in 2001 and filmed intermittently, and it was not until 2022 that two-thirds of the length was completed.
(Jia Zhangke)
In September 2023, Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke finished filming the remaining three thirds in Chongqing.
In "The Merry Generation", "Qiaoqiao" played by Zhao Tao is a carefree girl who lives in Datong, Shanxi, and lives a life where she can see her head at a glance with her boyfriend Guo Bin.
Under the temptation of the wonderful world outside, one day, Qiaoqiao did not say goodbye to Guo Bin and went to the big city he longed for. Under the coercion of social torrents, the two people experienced separation and integration, and tasted the ups and downs of life.
Zhao Tao's performance is real and delicate, and she doesn't wear makeup in many scenes, preferring to make herself ugly and present the true state of the character.
(Zhao Tao)
Although Zhao Tao is not from a professional class, he is an actor with aura. Many of her small ideas on the scene brought inspiration to Jia Zhangke. "The Merry Generation" has not yet been released, I wonder what different feelings Zhao Tao will bring to the audience?
02
Zhao Tao was born on January 28, 1978 in Datong, Shanxi Province, and his parents were ordinary workers in Taiyuan Iron and Steel Plant. She has a younger sister underneath her, and the sisters are two years apart. When he was a child, Zhao Tao was a tomboy, climbing trees, climbing beams, and fighting with little boys like boys.
After going to elementary school, Zhao Tao became obsessed with dancing, and her eyes lit up when she saw her beautiful sister dancing on the stage on TV. Sometimes she could watch an afternoon of dancing on TV, and she could watch it all afternoon.
(Zhao Tao)
When Zhao Tao was in junior high school, he often rehearsed dances with his classmates after class, and then went to hospitals, shopping malls and other places to perform.
In the second year of junior high school, two boys from other schools came to the school to find Zhao Tao to discuss the rehearsal of the dance. The head teacher mistakenly thought that Zhao Tao was in early love, drove the two boys away, and brought Zhao Tao to the office, criticizing her sharply.
Many classmates leaned on the window to watch, and Zhao Tao's self-esteem was broken.
In this way, the news of Zhao Tao's early love spread, and her classmates looked at her with strange eyes. Zhao Tao cried and tore up all his English textbooks, threw them out the window, and then went through the withdrawal procedures without consulting his parents.
(Zhao Tao's early stills)
The next day, Zhao Tao didn't go to school, and his father found out about it. This simple steelworker's heart was torn apart, and he wanted to take his daughter to school to confess his mistake to the head teacher. Zhao Tao insisted that he was not wrong, it was the head teacher who was wrong.
The father always hoped that Zhao Tao would be admitted to university in the future and become a civil servant in the government after graduation, so that his daughter and parents would be decent. Now that Zhao Tao has retired early, his father's dream has been shattered, and he sits on the sofa crying very sadly.
Shortly after dropping out, Zhao Tao was admitted to the dance class of Shanxi Opera School (now Shanxi Drama Vocational College). 's father thinks that girls have no future when they learn to dance, and they are strangers to Zhao Tao.
(Zhao Tao's alma mater)
When she went home during the winter and summer vacations, Zhao Tao didn't dare to dress too beautifully, nor did she dare to say a word more, otherwise her father would discipline her. There were two Spring Festivals, and Zhao Tao and his father spent it in quarrels and tears.
Zhao Tao studied dance in Shanxi Opera School for 6 years, and in order to earn money before and after graduation, he took Zhao Tao and other students south to Shenzhen and danced in the Shenzhen Window of the World Wuzhou Art Troupe.
Shanxi Opera School is a secondary school degree, and Zhao Tao wants to enter a college for further study. During the dance in the art troupe, she had to practice alone every day, and as a result, she strained her waist.
In 1996, when the Beijing Dance Academy came to Shanxi to recruit students, Zhao Tao competed with thousands of children, and finally she was the only candidate in Shanxi who was admitted to the Beijing Dance Academy.
03
(Zhao Tao)
Zhao Tao has suffered a lot along the way, and his father knows it. When Zhao Tao went to school at the Beijing Dance Academy, her father tearfully apologized to her and reviewed that he should not have been rude to her back then.
Zhao Tao can understand his father's hard work: he is just an ordinary steelworker, hoping that his daughter can have a bright future, and it is understandable that his father's words and deeds are excessive.
Zhao Tao replied to his father with tears in his eyes: Dad, I have long forgotten those things in the past, I only remember that you were good to me.
(Zhao Tao and famous French actress Marion Cotillard)
At the Beijing Dance Academy, Zhao Tao studied very hard. During this period, directors often came to the school to pick actors, and sometimes Zhao Tao came out of the practice room, his hair was wet, and suddenly a director with long hair would jump out, take out the camera and take pictures of her, and then ask her to wait for the notice.
Not long after, suddenly another bald director appeared in front of Zhao Tao, and he also took out his camera to take pictures of Zhao Tao and asked her to wait for news. But no director ever contacted her afterwards.
In 1999, Zhao Tao graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy, and like her classmates, she also wanted to stay in Beijing. Zhao Tao's classmates no matter what unit in Beijing accepts them, as long as they give them a hukou in Beijing, they will stay.
(Zhao Tao)
Zhao Tao was also favored by the Shougang Art Troupe, and the other party was willing to help her solve the household registration. But Zhao Tao feels that the Shougang Art Troupe is similar to the TISCO Art Troupe; And she feels that she is older and her bones are formed, and she is not suitable to be a dancer anymore, and it is most suitable to be a dance teacher.
Zhao Tao's father has always been in contact with Shanxi Normal University, and the other party is willing to accept her. So Zhao Tao gave up the opportunity to stay in Beijing and entered Shanxi Normal University as a dance teacher.
Soon after joining the company, Zhao Tao met Jia Zhangke to choose an actress for the film "Platform". At that time, the crew of "Platform" went to 6 men, either with shoulder-length hair or shaved heads, and only one young man looked relatively normal. Zhao Tao didn't expect that he was director Jia Zhangke.
Jia Zhangke was born on May 24, 1970 in Fenyang City, Luliang, Shanxi, and failed the college entrance examination three times, and was not admitted to the Literature Department of Beijing Film Academy until 1993.
(Jia Zhangke when he was young)
(Poster of the movie "Xiao Wu")
In 1998, the film "Xiao Wu" directed by Jia Zhangke had a certain influence, but Zhao Tao had not seen this literary film at all and did not know Jia Zhangke.
Zhao Tao lives in Taiyuan, usually doesn't watch much movies, and occasionally goes to the theater to watch European and American blockbusters. When she learned that Jia Zhangke came to choose an actor, she didn't believe it. Jia Zhangke repeatedly said to Zhao Tao: I am not a liar, I graduated from Nortel.
After speaking, he also took out a magazine from his pocket, pointed to the photo on it and said: This is me. In this way, Zhao Tao's doubts were dispelled.
04
Zhao Tao called out all the female students and asked each of them to dance for a while. When the students were dancing, Zhao Tao said on the side: When you dance, you may feel that it is just an expression of your limbs, but when you have no emotions in your heart, your limbs are only arms and hands.
(Zhao Tao's "Platform" poster)
Zhao Tao's expression touched Jia Zhangke, and he immediately made a decision to find Zhao Tao to play the heroine of "Platform" "Yin Ruijuan".
In fact, in order to find the actor of "Yin Ruijuan", Jia Zhangke traveled all over Shanxi and met hundreds of candidates. It wasn't until Zhao Tao's appearance that Jia Zhangke felt that she was the heroine that God had predetermined for him.
Zhao Tao was going to shoot in the crew for 3 months, when his father saw a report on TV that a girl was bullied in the crew. 's father was very worried, so he gave Zhao Tao a flashlight used as an electric baton at home to the crew as a weapon for self-defense.
After entering the crew of "Platform", Zhao Tao found that the atmosphere was quite harmonious, everyone was very good to her, and she kept hiding the flashlight in the box and didn't take it out.
(Zhao Tao)
Although Zhao Tao has never studied acting, he has a talent for integrating with the role, which many actors from professional classes do not have. After the filming of "Platform", Zhao Tao returned to Shanxi Normal University as a dance teacher.
Soon, a teacher at Beijing Film Academy planned to invite Zhao Tao to film, and Zhao Tao wanted to go to Nortel for further study, so he asked Jia Zhangke's opinion.
Jia Zhangke objected: You are a natural actor, if you receive a professional education, your talent is likely to be destroyed. Zhao Tao respected Jia Zhangke and did not apply for Nortel.
(Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke)
(Poster of Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke's early collaborative work "The Good Man of the Three Gorges")
Jia Zhangke admired Zhao Tao very much, and began to cooperate with Zhao Tao for a long time after the filming of "Platform". In 2002, Zhao Tao starred in the film "Ren Yao" directed by Jia Zhangke. The film won the "Palme d'Or" for Best Film in the main competition unit of the 55th Cannes International Film Festival, and Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke became famous all over the world.
In 2004, Zhao Tao starred in the film "World" directed by Jia Zhangke, and she also sang the interlude "Night in Ulaanbaatar" for the film.
Since 2006, Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke have collaborated on a series of films such as "The Good Man of the Three Gorges", "Our Ten Years", "Useless", "Tale of Twenty-Four Cities", "Love on the River", "Legend of the Sea", "Heaven is Destined", "The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers" and so on.
In the process of long-term cooperation, Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke have had many scandals, and after the media rendered it, everyone mistakenly thought that there was such a thing.
(Jia Zhangke and his first wife Zhu Jiong)
In fact, Jia Zhangke married Nortel's female teacher Zhu Jiong in 1999, and the two have never had children. After getting married, Zhu Jiong first went to France for graduate school, and then entered Nortel for a doctorate after returning to China.
This female doctor has her own arrogance, and Jia Zhangke's marriage with her is not harmonious. Despite this, Jia Zhangke is a family man, Zhao Tao has always maintained a sense of proportion and distance from him, and the two are just actors and directors.
05
In April 2009, Jia Zhangke and Zhu Jiong divorced. At that time, Jia Zhangke was only 39 years old, and he was in the best years of a man, hoping to have another family.
(Jia Zhangke)
Through years of cooperation, Jia Zhangke admires Zhao Tao's character and art, and feels that she is his artistic bosom friend. Zhao Tao is 31 years old and unmarried and single because he is busy filming.
After the divorce, Jia Zhangke began to pursue Zhao Tao, and Jia Zhangke was also the ideal lover in Zhao Tao's mind.
On January 7, 2012, 34-year-old Zhao Tao and 42-year-old Jia Zhangke got married in Fenyang, Shanxi.
(Zhao Tao and her husband Jia Zhangke)
(Jia Zhangke with his wife and parents-in-law at the wedding)
As early as 2006, Zhao Tao resigned from Shanxi Normal University and became a professional actor. After marriage, Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke settled in Beijing.
Zhao Tao in life is kind and virtuous, and takes good care of Jia Zhangke's life. Usually in the crew, Zhao Tao not only has to play his role well, but also to be her husband's life assistant, Jia Zhangke is psychologically and emotionally attached to Zhao Tao.
Jia Zhangke is the only son in the family, and his parents want him to have a baby.
(Zhao Tao and her husband Jia Zhangke)
But he felt that he and Zhao Tao were filming in the crew all year round, and they couldn't run home when they returned to Beijing, and they had no time to take care of the child after they were born, which would delay the child.
Therefore, Jia Zhangke has never wanted to have a baby, on the grounds that he can't be a qualified father. Zhao Tao wanted to be a mother, but she loved her husband so much that she had to respect Jia Zhangke's choice.
Before getting married, Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke raised a Labrador pet dog named "Youyou". When filming, they often bring it to the crew.
(Zhao Tao, Jia Zhangke and "Youyou")
After Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke got married, Youyou became a member of their family. Usually, as soon as they go home, Zhao Tao and her husband bathe the pet dog, cut its paws, and choose dog food for it.
When winter came, they also bought clothes, hats, and shoes for Youyou, and they were very attentive.
Several times Youyou was sick, Zhao Tao and her husband drove it to the pet hospital for injections, and the couple spent no less time and energy on Youyou than their children.
(Jia Zhangke and his beloved "Youyou")
(Zhao Tao and Jia Zhangke)
In May 2024, Zhao Tao will be 46 years old and Jia Zhangke will be 54 years old.
At this age, Zhao Tao's desire to be a mother is getting stronger and stronger, eager to have her own children. She wants to convince her husband to conceive a baby together and make her life truly fulfilling. I wish Zhao Tao a dream of fulfilling his mother as soon as possible!
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