Another refreshing golden autumn, another year of fruitful results.
On October 23, the 8th "Wenrong Award" award ceremony was held in Hengdian, Zhejiang as scheduled. For his successful role as young Mao Zedong in the movie "1921", actor Wang Renjun won the highest number of votes from the jury of this year's "Wenrong Award" and was honored to be elected the best young actor (film category).
The jury gave the comment that "the shape and spirit are excellent, fully presenting the revolutionary heroism of the young Mao Zedong's "journey of the avenue, the world is just".
It is worth mentioning that after learning that he won the selection, Wang Renjun ran all the way to the podium. He said: "In '1921,' I had a lot of running. I once wondered why in "1921" I should highlight the shot of the young Mao Zedong running, and director Huang Jianxin told me that running is a feeling, a weather, and it symbolizes the overall style of Chinese youth in that era. ”
To a large extent, for Wang Renjun, the running posture at that moment is his way of paying tribute to great people, to the characters, to the directors and the predecessors of the industry, that is, "I will not forget to entrust my life, and my generation does not dare to slacken off."
Form factor is not the most critical
Looking at the past from the side, Wang Renjun, who waved his hand on the red carpet ceremony of the "Wenrong Award", was like a tall pine tree, and his standing posture was always so straight.
Wang Renjun himself had to admit that being able to play the young Mao Zedong in different works played a great role in his body shape and facial features. For example, he has the same height as Chairman Mao, both 183 cm; for example, he is angular, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and has the air of a poet.
However, the advantages in appearance ultimately belong to the shape.
In the mind of a big director like Huang Jianxin, judging whether an actor is suitable for playing a young Mao Zedong in his movie "1921", the appearance is only auxiliary, and what really plays a decisive role must be the feeling of spirit.
So, what is director Huang Jianxin's judgment "gripper"? Let's start with the relationship between the director and the actor.
First met Huang Jianxin
Since his debut as young Mao Zedong in the movie "GutianJun" in 2019, Wang Renjun has successively taken over the TV series "Our Southwest United Congress", the movie "1921" and the TV series "Zhongliu Hitting the Water".
"Our Southwest United Congress" is directed by Gao Yijun, and Huang Jianxin is the artistic director of the play. In late August 2019, at the opening ceremony held in the Centennial Auditorium of Tsinghua University, Wang Renjun met director Huang Jianxin for the first time.
"In the face of a director whose works include 'The Great Cause of Building the Nation', 'The Great Cause of Party Building', and 'The Great Cause of Building the Army', and who has repeatedly sacrificed epic handwriting, any young actor will be thrilled." Wang Renjun said.
But under such a tight time condition, he could only have some simple greetings with director Huang Jianxin.
"The director's urban trilogy, Stand Up Straight, Don't Lie Down, Back to Back, Face to Face, and Red Light Stop, Green Light Line, was our pull-and-roll assignment in college." Wang Renjun said.
See Huang Jianxin for two
Because of this, when Huang Jianxin suddenly called Wang Renjun at the end of March 2020, the latter was still a little surprised in surprise.
At that time, the epidemic was still serious, and the two people were in the corner of a café in Beijing, chatting about the preparation of "1921".
In fact, as early as the beginning of casting for "1921", Wang Renjun had already entered Huang Jianxin's sight, but at that time, the former was still unaware, and the latter was slightly worried and hesitated.
Huang Jianxin has carefully watched "Gutian Junhao" and believes that Wang Renjun successfully shaped the image of Mao Zedong in 1929 in the film; but whether this success can be continued or even sublimated in "1921", this director who has always been rigorous in thinking is not sure.
The director's hesitation
"In the historical background period of "Gutian Junhao", Chairman Mao's age was 36 years old, and I was also 36 years old when I played this role; but in the historical background period of "1921", the young Mao Zedong will turn 28 years old, and under the condition that I am older than the character, whether I can shoot the youthful atmosphere of Mao Zedong at that time, the director naturally has to put a question mark first." Wang Renjun said.
In "Gutian Jun", Huang Jianxin saw the mature side of Wang Renjun in the process of shaping the role. "Chairman Mao of that period had already served as the former secretary of the party committee and commanded the autumn harvest uprising and the workers' strike; Chairman Mao in that period had indeed become very mature through tests and struggles." Wang Renjun said.
It was precisely this maturity that made Huang Jianxin suspicious. This is the reason why "although Huang Jianxin had paid attention to Wang Renjun for a long time, the latter was always unaware".
Until the editing began after the completion of "Our Southwest United Congress", with the subtle observation of each frame, Huang Jianxin's doubts began to be broken.
There was light in the eyes
"I played a university teacher in Our Southwest United University. Director Huang Jianxin feels that this role is very similar to the morality and cultural atmosphere of intellectuals serving the country, and the bookish atmosphere of the young Mao Zedong in "1921". Wang Renjun said.
Seeing the purity, youth and blood in the characters, Huang Jianxin decided to meet Wang Renjun in person.
This is equivalent to the final interview, and the director needs to see what he needs in Wang Renjun's eyes.
That is sincerity and light.
When the two people left the café, Huang Jianxin said to Wang Renjun: "You are the only candidate for me (playing the young Mao Zedong in "1921"), but due to the impact of the epidemic, it is uncertain when the machine will start, are you willing to wait?" ”
Without even thinking about it, Wang Renjun said, "I do!" ”
In the months of waiting for the unknown, there are many producers with earlier start-up time who have come to them, but they have been rejected by Wang Renjun one by one.
In May, a wave of serious outbreaks suddenly broke out in Beijing, and in order to enter the group at any time without any failure, Wang Renjun left Beijing to garrison Shanghai half a month in advance according to the planned start-up time, so he waited until the end of July to start "1921".
Running is another kind of light
In 1921, no matter what the situation, the eyes of the young Mao Zedong always radiated a hopeful and determined light.
And his running is another kind of light above the dirt.
"The light in his eyes is because the young Mao Zedong had firm faith and full of hope for saving the country and the nation; his running also conveyed such a message, because running is a goal, a running, and a confident run." Wang Renjun said.
In order to protect the "pure" state of the actors, director Huang Jianxin put forward two requirements for Wang Renjun: first, do not deliberately imitate Chairman Mao's demeanor, let alone learn from the performance characteristics of other actors in the past; second, Huang Jianxin listed a background book list for Wang Renjun, asking him to only read pre-1921 content.
According to the previous shooting experience and creative rules, Wang Renjun did not immediately fully understand the above protection measures. He felt that since he was shaping the character, he should understand his life and understand all the major events he experienced, so that he could more accurately grasp the character and state of the character.
"Later I realized that the director wanted the actor to be in the 'pure state of the moment' when he played the character, and he didn't want the actor to have too much foresight in the role; in a way, it would interfere with the actor's mental activity and emotional reaction." Wang Renjun said.
This is by no means a nitpick or a glitch.
In fact, this is closer to history objectively. Therefore, in "1921", the young Mao Zedong's reverence for Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu was particularly sincere; at that moment, Chen Duxiu was the forerunner of the Communist Party, the commander of the young Mao Zedong's division, not a person who would make left-leaning mistakes.
Knee-jerk reactions
A film, in the final analysis, belongs to the art of the director; and Huang Jianxin likes to see the subconscious reaction of the actors in the process of directing.
In one scene, Chen Duxiu, played by Chen Kun, holds a copy of the Communist Manifesto, and he tells the young Mao Zedong that "this is a full translation." The latter had just come out of the laundry room, "At that moment, the eyes of the young Mao Zedong radiated a light of extreme desire for new ideas, and before taking the book, his hand quickly wiped twice on the clothes, which was a subconscious action. Wang Renjun said.
For another example, when Chen Duxiu praised the young Mao Zedong, the latter was embarrassed because he felt that he had not made achievements; when he turned his head and saw that the sign that Chen Duxiu hung on the wall of the room read, "Talk for 15 minutes," the young Mao Zedong was a little afraid, because he still had many questions to ask the teacher.
"This kind of subconscious reaction is more in line with the current state of the character, because he is from the countryside, and the simplicity and simplicity of his body are the background of his personality." Wang Renjun said.
The characteristics of the young Mao Zedong
In the evening, when chatting at bowen girls' school, He Shuheng, one of the founders of the Communist Party of China, talked about why he wanted to join the revolution, and the young Mao Zedong always maintained a state of attentive listening, and after listening, he always had his own summary and output.
Being good at summing up the law and being good at seeing the essence through phenomena is precisely one of the major characteristics of Chairman Mao.
"In "1921", you can see that the young Mao Zedong brushed the bowls and worked quite sharply, why? Because he has worked and studied with each other, he has a wealth of life experience; at the same time, he can wash the dishes and discuss different points of view with people, which is his ability and trait that can be used with multiple purposes. ”
Wang Renjun said that the charm of the movie really lies in the details, and it is the countless particle-sized details that paint a star map of a person's personality.
So we can understand why Chairman Mao was so good at dealing with complex matters that he could negotiate with the Soviet Union and direct the war while writing for Xinhua. Such qualities must have been cultivated from a young age. ”
The precise and natural presentation of details makes the image of the young Mao Zedong more vivid and warm.
In one scene, everyone argued at the meeting with a blushing face and a thick neck, and others asked the young Mao Zedong, "If you quarrel like this, do you think today's meeting will be successful in the end", the latter's answer is concise and clear, even a little understated, only saying one word "can", and then continuing to brush the bowl.
Others will doubt the judgment of such a "non-core member" who has not spoken all day, but he directly gives an irrefutable and fundamental answer: "Because our starting point is the same, we vow to overthrow the old world to death; and because our end point is the same, to build a new China, a new China in which the people are the masters of their own affairs." ”
When he said these words, the young Mao Zedong had a light in his eyes, and that light was full of both firm hope and compassion for the people.
"Because he believes, he sees; because he sees, there is always a light of hope in his eyes." Wang Renjun said.
There are big innovations in small actions
10 years ago, director Huang Jianxin made "The Great Cause of Party Building", and the historical background and character setting of that film highly coincided with "1921".
How to achieve the greatest innovation in the filming process of the latter is something that Huang Jianxin has repeatedly considered.
In a scene in which Yang Kaiyan bids farewell to the young Mao Zedong to Shanghai, Huang Jianxin draws a line for the actors: there must be both revolutionary romanticism and the emotional attachment of ordinary people.
He wanted the actors to have more self-interpretation and eclectic release.
"The size of the performance of this scene is quite difficult to grasp, and after a while it will become a talented beauty, and a little less will appear ruthless." Wang Renjun said.
Wang Renjun felt that it was difficult to achieve the director's requirements with language at this time, so it could only be done through action. "Hugging is inappropriate or impossible; ten steps back is not in line with the character of the young Mao Zedong."
After thinking about it again, he felt that "small actions" were more suitable for presenting the young Mao Zedong's restraint and restraint in terms of emotions, while at the same time losing the temperature of human nature.
So when the shooting began, the young Mao Zedong handed the umbrella to Yang Kaihui when he was about to board the ship, and at the moment when Yang Kaihui held the umbrella, he shook it on the back of her hand.
"This grip represents a promise, meaning that you are going to wait for me to return; sending an umbrella means that I will spend my life shielding you from the wind and rain." Wang Renjun said.
After getting on the ship, Yang Kaihui shouted "Brother Run", and the young Mao Zedong's right hand waved not high or low, and the speed slowed down a little.
"This waving gesture, I borrowed from Chairman Mao's last appearance in the Great Hall of the People in his later years, waving goodbye to everyone."
This video record was seen by Wang Renjun many years ago, and he was deeply touched at that time. "Because after this farewell, Chairman Mao died not long after."
When Wang Renjun said this, I clearly heard a voice in his throat that seemed to be restrained and choked up across the phone.
We can imagine how an actor can perform that emotion if he doesn't have this sincere feeling.
"In his lifetime, Chairman Mao experienced the separation from his lover, the separation from his son, and the separation from too many comrades-in-arms; what is a great man is a person who has made great contributions." Wang Renjun said.