In 2019, the film "Only Mother is Good in the World" began filming in Chongqing, and the film was filmed in Chongqing and will be released in theaters nationwide on November 6, 2021.
At the heart of this suspenseful comedy film is maternal love, in addition to the exploration of human nature. Human nature has always been the most eternal topic of any work of art, and what kind of changes and contradictions will human desires and emotions produce in different depths of human nature? As the film was about to be released, we interviewed director Kong Lingping and screenwriter and co-director Wang Zhi, and saw a corner of the world they created "intertwined with family, desire and human nature".
Q: I heard that Director Kong and Director Wang are both from Chongqing, so do you want to create a movie featuring Chongqing?
Kong Lingping: I have been in this industry for more than 20 years, but as a native of Chongqing, I have not yet filmed in my hometown, so I would like to try it again. The whole film is filmed in Chongqing, Chongqing is known as an 8D magic city, beautiful night scenes, the confluence of the two rivers, etc. are good filming materials; the heroine also chose Teacher Huang Xiaolei from Chongqing; we also added Chongqing dialect to the movie, Teacher Huang Xiaolei has a lot of dialect plays in the play, including other local actors in Chongqing who also speak dialects.
Wang Zhi: Chongqing is the city with the most landscape character in China, bold, atmospheric and enthusiastic, I am a native of Hechuan, Chongqing, and I miss the land that gave birth to me. When I look back at my father and fellow countrymen after many years of drifting north, I love them even more. When I was writing the script, my mind was gushing out, so the emotion of our film was very strong, and it was filled with a fiery spicy fresh fragrance.
Q: Why was this script chosen?
Kong Lingping: At that time, when I read this script, I valued its reality, and it reflected many family problems and social phenomena at present. Literature and art and the times are inseparable, creators and society are even more inseparable, as the best way of expression of film and television workers is to present through the form of movies, so that the public pays more attention to some practical problems in society.
Q: What kind of perspectives is this film trying to convey?
Wang Zhi: This is a realistic work, the movie is full of characters in the city, we pay attention to their chai rice oil and salt, and pay more attention to their emotional world. I think a filmmaker should have compassion, speak out for the weak, attack ugliness, and sing the praises of beauty!
A person without flaws is untrue and untrustworthy. Everyone can make mistakes, but if you can return from the wrong way in time to get self-redemption, I think it is understandable, the main thing is that what the audience sees and feels from the film will return to the mainstream values.
Q: What kind of characters is this film trying to portray?
Kong Lingping: Regarding the role of the character, I have discussed deeply with the screenwriter, since our play reflects the current problems of society, it is expressed by the small people in reality, so the heroine is set as a single small noodle shop owner with a child, who has a difficult life in the lower levels of society; the male protagonist is a hall-level musician, but teaches children in a small training class. The film reflects on them the current social situation.
Wang Zhi: Mothers are kind, selfless and dedicated in our usual understanding, which can be said to embody the virtues of Chinese women for 5,000 years. Is that a different mother? We have it in this movie! We have focused on creating a different mother, and conveying a different kind of maternal love.
Q: The heroine with a child? Is it a single mother?
Kong Lingping: Yes, single mother. According to incomplete statistics in 2014, the number of single-parent families in the country reached 20 million, 70% of which were single-mother families, and now in 2021, this data will be even higher.
I myself am also a father of two children, due to the particularity of work, time at home is very small, as a double-independence family after the 80s, the children and the elderly in the family are taken care of by my wife alone. I believe that a large part of the country is like this, and I very much hope that people will pay more attention to women, children and single-parent families.
Q: Because Director Kong is also filming outside all year round and has directed various movies, such as "Heroes of Fire", "Brothers Sleeping on My Bunk Bed", "October Siege", "Four Famous Catches", etc., the work intensity is very large, so do you go home to accompany your family as soon as you have time?
Kong Lingping: Yes, the first time I finished filming was to rush home, and I said a very appropriate word to my friend who has been working on filming: We spend more time together than with my wife!
Q: You've been involved in so many films, as an executive director at the billions box office, is there anything special about the movie "Only Mothers are Good in the World"?
Kong Lingping: "Only Mother is Good in the World" This song once swept the country as an episode of the movie "Mother Loves Me Again", which was made in the 90s, it was more in line with the emotions of the time, showing a sincere, simple and profound maternal love. Our film continues to use the IP of the song "Only Mother is Good in the World", but the content is based on some touching deeds that have emerged due to the rapid development of the current social economy.
In the creation of this family love movie, we have added a lot of suspense and comedy components, a story with suspense, and then slowly reveal the truth of this rhythm will lead people's curiosity; and comedy is a mask that packages tragedy, and comedy things are just used to adjust the atmosphere of suspense and tension, which allows people to temporarily jump out of the thickness of suspense and family affection, or want to create some more relaxed atmosphere for the audience.
The movie "Only Mother is Good in the World" pays attention to contemporary social life, infects people with the reality and concreteness of the image, and what the audience will see from the film is not entirely from the director's subjective expression, but more to the audience to discuss. A work can derive thousands of different evaluations; being discussed is itself a valuable and meaningful thing.
On November 6, the theatrical movie "Only Mother is Good in the World" was released nationwide to explore different family feelings.