Make it a mission to shoot red films - visit Chen Li, director of bayi film studios

【Be a literary and art worker in the new era with faith, feelings and responsibility (2)】

Guangming Daily reporter Niu Mengdi

"One moment is drizzling, the next is the wind and waves, and the next moment the sky is drifting snow..." After filming the movie "The Island Keeper", director Chen Li still often recalls the scene shot on Pingtan Island. The unpredictable and rapidly changing weather made it difficult for the film to shoot, but it also made the film real. This film based on the true story of "people's model" Wang Jicai and his wife Wang Shihua, "Shoudao Man", has exceeded 134 million yuan at the box office after its release, and to this day, there are still audiences who walk into the cinema to relive the deeds of Wang Jicai and his wife in shoudao and feel the feelings of home and country.

Chen Li (first from left) was filmed on the scene of "The Island Keeper". Profile picture

The location of "The Island Keeper" lasted 4 months, and more than 90% of the shots in the film were actual shots. During the filming process, the main creative team carried dozens of pounds of equipment every day through the shoals and reefs, while also dealing with the climatic conditions that may change at any time at sea. "You have to shoot against the storm, you have to shoot the scene on the island first." Chen Li is very resolute, "It is to let the actors feel the real life of the hero island keepers in the wind and waves, only in this way can the play be simple and grounded." Only by going deep into life over and over again, what is finally presented, can the audience be impressed. "It is the unremitting pursuit of truth and pragmatism in art that has achieved such a number of highly acclaimed main theme film and television works: "Zhou Enlai's Four Days and Nights", "Blood Battle Xiangjiang", "Begonia Still", "GutianJun", "ShoudaoRen" ... All by Chen Li.

As a director who has directed major revolutionary historical themes many times, Chen Li said bluntly: "To shoot revolutionary historical themes, it is not enough to go through historical materials in the library, but to go deep into life, to go deep into the land where major historical events have occurred, and to get mud on your feet." In order to shoot "Young Mao Zedong", she stayed in Shaoshan for several months; in order to shoot "Gutian Jun", she traveled all over the land of western Fujian; in order to shoot "Shoudao Man", she repeatedly landed on Kaishan Island in the wind and rain. Walking into the real scene, reliving the historical details, and excavating key materials are Chen Li's creative secrets.

For more than thirty years, Chen Li has taken the shooting of red-themed films as his belief and mission, and has practiced it so far, without changing his original intention. "Red movies need me, that's what I'm worth." As a military literary and art worker, Chen Li deeply felt that the mission and responsibility shouldered by him was heavy and glorious, "As a film and television creator, we must use images to tell history well, so that today's young people know our way and where we are going." ”

10 years ago, on the occasion of celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Chen Li directed the film "Xiangjiang North". The film tells the story of a group of enthusiastic young people such as Mao Zedong, Xiao Zisheng, Cai Hesen and other enthusiastic young people in 1918 who threw themselves into the torrent of the times and found a way out for the country. On the occasion of celebrating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Chen Li directed the TV series "Begonia Still", which used artistic techniques to explore and present premier Zhou's great feelings and personality charm, touching many young audiences, and this work also quickly broke the circle among young people. In 2017, Chen Li's "Blood Battle Xiangjiang" was released, setting off a wave of movie-watching climaxes. "Shocking and fierce, blood boiling" "It is hard to believe that it is from the hands of a female director"... The applause at the scene of the movie was thunderous, and praise was overwhelming.

In 2019, "GutianJun" was loud and "blowing". The film is based on the history before and after the Gutian Conference in 1929, and tells the extraordinary journey of young revolutionary leaders leading the Red Army to explore the truth in a desperate situation. In order to reproduce the real life of the revolutionary ancestors, Chen Li went deep into the old revolutionary areas many times to collect style. Painstakingly condensed in her creation, she finally succeeded in restoring history with a full and delicate expression.

This year, "The Island Keeper", which took two years to create, was finally completed and released. So far, from the revolutionary who led the Chinese revolution to victory by Acura to the strivers who expressed ordinary jobs in the new era, Chen Li worked hard to explore on the unusual creative road. Chen Li said: "I want to build a bridge of communication with contemporary young people, accurately express the truest history with artistic expression means, and better inherit the red gene." ”

Guangming Daily ( 2021-09-06 09 edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily