Feng Sen (Yu Hewei), head of the circuit inspection team, went to Orange Prefecture to investigate a series of cases such as the "930 Case", "Huang Sihai Murder Case", and "Zheng Weili's Car Accident", and found that some people within the Public Prosecution Law and the prison system used their power to reduce the sentences of prisoners for personal gain. (Courtesy of the crew/photo)
To reach Orange State Prison, you have to take a bus for a long road, and the sea is all along the way. This is the scene that director Li Lu confirmed when he was doing desk work, and he chose Qingdao as the filming location of the play to integrate the elements of the sea into it. Li Lu said that the prison scene in the play took a lot of effort to go in and shoot. "To go to prison to shoot, you have to go through five or six guards, armed police, public security, security ... Prisons were originally our cognitive dead ends, and this is also the first time that as a creator, we have a deep understanding of the prison system and use a certain amount of ink to show the art of prison officers and inmates. ”
On May 31, 2018, the Supreme People's Procuratorate decided to carry out a pilot work of roving procuratorates in prisons, and on the basis of dispatching procuratorial personnel to prisons, organize special forces to conduct roving inspections, so as to change the potential problems of procuratorial personnel stationed in prisons such as corruption due to familiarity and laziness. "Itinerant Procuratorial Group" is set against the backdrop of the itinerant procuratorial system, and prison drama is the highlight of the play.
"Itinerant Procuratorial Group" was called "People's Justice" when it was filed, but it is not a sequel to Li Lu's anti-corruption hit drama "In the Name of the People". "One type, only shoot once" is Li Lu's consistent principle, in the first week of filming "The Name of the People", he said to screenwriter Zhou Mason, "This type, let's play once, and then cooperate we will play something else." ”
"Zhou Mason's works are mainly political novels, I want to try all kinds of themes, if you just watch "The Name of the People", others will not think that I have filmed such a pure love of "Hawthorn Tree Love", filmed so warm "The Happiness of the Boss", filmed so nostalgic "Take the 88 bus home". I think it's fun to think about something different every time, like being able to live a few more times. Li Lu told the Southern Weekend reporter, but due to personal interests, he indicated that he would not touch the fantasy theme, but did not reject the costume drama, and a good costume history script could also be tried. When the Film and Television Center of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Golden Shield Film and Television Center, the producers of "In the Name of the People", initially looked for Li Lu to direct the "Circuit Procuratorial Group", he hesitated, and after reading the script of screenwriter Yu Fei, he felt that the theme was very novel and had the basis for becoming a good work, and decided to cooperate with his old friends again.
On December 13, 2020, "Circuit Prosecution Group" began broadcasting "quietly" on Hunan Satellite TV and ended on January 8, 2021. The drama went through four months of filming, five months of post-production, and more than half a year of submission for review. The drama began with hu xue'e unveiling the grievances of the "930 case", and Zhang Youcheng, secretary of the provincial political and legal committee, appointed Feng Sen as the leader of the circuit inspection team to investigate the case in Orange Prefecture, and at the same time, the truth of related cases such as the "Huang Sihai Murder Case" and "Zheng Weili's Car Accident" slowly surfaced. At the same time of the investigation, Feng Sen found that there are people in the public procuratorial law and the prison system who are known as "throwing sticks" who use their power for personal gain to handle commutations for prisoners, and "who is throwing sticks" has also become a mystery throughout the play.
Li Lu, whose ascending sign is Capricorn, describes filming as a life-saving, shooting when he only sleeps three or four hours a day, which is the case with every drama. "If it is not so neat, the cycle will be very long and the cost will be very high." If you want to use the time you make a TV series to make a movie, you must sacrifice your sleep and increase your workload. After experiencing the upsurge of "In the Name of the People" and facing the test of the "Circuit Procuratorial Group", Li Lu was more indifferent, "I am an 'old driver' and will not care too much." I know very well who holds the baton at what stage, I am responsible for artistic creation and production management, and after the play is broadcast, the baton is handed over to the audience, and the evaluation is left to history. ”
During the filming of "The Name of the People", Li Lu gave birth to the concept of "People's Trilogy", which was composed of "The Name of the People", "Circuit Prosecution Group" and "Human World", and it was his favorite thing to present the appearance of sentient beings. "If you don't usually have a deep contact with all levels of society, you can't make this kind of drama." If you don't understand where the provincial party secretary sat when the (provincial party committee) standing committee was opened, how several members of the standing committee spoke, and what the hardships at the grass-roots level are like, we can't shoot it. My personal advantage is to know these things, there are laid-off relatives at home, there are also officials among friends, and I am also familiar with some rich people in China, and I have a deep understanding and careful analysis of these various people, so I know what complex human nature is like. ”
When the Southern Weekend reporter arrived at Li Lu's studio, a circle of people was surrounding him, casting the TV drama version of Liang Xiaosheng's work "The World of Man". On January 4, 2020, Li Lu was interviewed by Southern Weekend reporters.
<h3>"Every revision report has a thick pile of paper."</h3>
Southern Weekend: Why was the title changed from "People's Justice" to "Circuit Prosecution Team"?
Li Lu: I pay more attention to the name, the theme song "Like a Light" and some character names, such as "Alien", are all named by me, the name of "Circuit Prosecution Group" is also from me, and the drama "Circuit Prosecution Group" takes the circuit procuratorial system as the background. At present, all industries in China, from private enterprises to state-owned enterprises to discipline inspection departments, adopt the form of roving inspection and supervision, and a third party plays a supervisory role. The words "circuit prosecution team" sound like a work report at first glance, but it is still accurate to use it as the title of the whole play. "People's Justice" certainly has power, but I hope the show is a different story. This drama is also one of the "trilogies of people", which is related to people like "The Name of the People" and "The World". In today's society, it is most valuable to pay attention to people, allowing the audience to see different aspects of people in complex situations.
Southern Weekend: How do you define the genre of this show?
Li Lu: This drama is called "procuratorial drama", also called rule of law drama, and it is difficult to classify what type of specific type. When I participated in the script seminar, I put forward several coordinates, the first was to loosen Yu Fei's constraints, can not write industry dramas, do not sing praises, do not shout slogans, only write about the living people at the moment, and write complex human nature against the background of the circuit procuratorial system. As a screenwriter, you have to touch the hot issues of the moment. The public may feel strange about the itinerant procuratorial system, but the slogan of sweeping away organized crime and eliminating evil can be seen everywhere, and the slogan of sweeping away criminal syndicates and eliminating evil forces can be seen everywhere from cities to rural areas, and it has been three years since the special struggle to eliminate organized crime and evil forces has been implemented, so I have also integrated this theme into it. Since I came to direct, I think that if you want to do it, don't do mediocre work, or do high-level things. Filming is so tiring, I have to let myself work in a pleasant creative atmosphere.
Southern Weekend: What is working in a pleasant atmosphere?
Li Lu: It's just not so much pressure. For example, producers and investors install their own actors in the play, in order to save money and lose artistic quality, I do not allow these situations, to do a good job of the drama, to control the cost I will find a way.
Southern Weekend: There are a lot of ads in this show, so it is controversial, what do you think?
Li Lu: Whether it is "In the Name of the People" or "Circuit Prosecution Group" is still flawed in creation, this time the audience reflects that there are many advertisements. When we filmed, we explicitly said not to implant too many advertisements, but the children in the implant group had just graduated, and they stared at the table every day to put implants, and we couldn't bear to scold. Advertising as a commercial implant is beyond reproach, it is a port of income, but to plant advanced, this implant is not advanced, only the placement of people, no literary integration of people, did not put the implant better into the plot, eat ugly, add too much, I am also very annoyed, but did not control I have a certain responsibility.
Southern Weekend: Some of the plots in the play have been pointed out to be inconsistent with facts and logic, such as Luo Xinran, a prosecutor, installing location software on his boyfriend's mobile phone; Zheng Rui, a prison policeman, attacking prisoners. How do you respond to this?
Li Lu: The matter of beating people is both legal and reasonable, Zheng Rui really hit the other party twice, which is reflected in the whole play, he has martial arts skills, knows which is lighter and heavier, and later revealed that it was Shen Guangjun himself who injured himself, and it was reasonable that Zheng Rui was greatly insulted by words, and it was everyone who had to be (hair) soaring, which is reasonable, that is artistic creation. I think the audience should be able to understand. As for installing a positioning software on a mobile phone is a small young person in love, not a lawyer boyfriend installed on the prosecutor's mobile phone, I think the problem is not big, do not make a big taboo.
Southern Weekend: The "Circuit Procuratorial Group" has been sent for trial for more than half a year, and the drama involves topics such as "rich second generation", "petitioning", "fake meritorious service commutation", etc., what amendment opinions were received?
Li Lu: This drama is the only drama that has undergone multi-departmental review in recent years, including the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Central Political and Legal Commission, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice and other units. We made several rounds of revisions to absorb reasonable opinions, such as prison police are not allowed to use guns outside the prison and other similar issues, and some of the ideas we insist on will be communicated and reserved. We all made very serious changes, and each time the revision report was a thick one.
Southern Weekend: Are there any regrets in the presentation after the review and revision?
Li Lu: The overall situation is very good, including the Opinions given by the Central Political and Legal Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, etc. are extremely good, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate is not to say, the Supreme Procuratorate is the first producer. These units have been carefully reviewed, so the opinions given are very pertinent, and I am very excited to see them. Sometimes the first page is full of praise, and the second page is full of opinions, which is rarely done. The playback time has been hanging, I don't know if it can be done, after ten episodes of broadcasting, I am finally relieved.
Southern Weekend: What to worry about?
Li Lu: Mainly worried about malicious interpretation, we do this drama with a good intention. But its way of expression, particularly grounded realism content, I don't know if the audience can understand it, whether it will be maliciously interpreted.
Southern Weekend: Do you follow comments online? What are the ones you can't accept?
Li Lu: I don't read bad reviews, I just look at the sunny comments, and I want to live a few more days. Reasonable comments and constructive opinions can be pondered, but there are still relatively few from a professional point of view. There are Hei Hanxue and Hei Zhang Sile (Note: Qiao Yi in the play), and I said a few words for them. Proportionally, most viewers think it's a conscience drama. It is not easy to do things now, the hot money of film and television investment has all run away, and it is also very difficult to do conscience dramas under the circumstance that the epidemic, taxes, and hot money are difficult, not flying around, not remaking and not crossing.
During the filming of "In the Name of the People", director Li Lu came up with the idea of making a "trilogy of people", which was planned to be composed of "The Name of the People", "Circuit Prosecution Group" and "Human World". The picture shows Li Lu (third from left), Hu Xue'e's actor Song Chunli (first from right) and the staff at the shooting scene. (Courtesy of the crew/photo)
<h3>"The sword of Damocles is in the hands of these people."</h3>
Southern Weekend: What's different about actually walking into prison this time?
Li Lu: I took Actors such as Yu Zhen and Runo to the prison to experience, and they were shocked: how precious freedom is. Chatting with the prison police, I was struck by a few words they said at the time – "Prisoners are sentenced to prison terms, we are sentenced to 'life imprisonment', and we will always serve here." "It's really not easy for them, and they face these criminals every day." This time we specially arranged a scene, Yu Zhen and Yu Hewei's overall evaluation of the prison system, Yu Zhen said a long paragraph to Hewei, in which he said: "You hero, you can do it, can't we in the prison system?" But Yu Hewei only had one line, and finally gave Yu Zhen a bow and salute.
Southern Weekend: How to understand the roving procuratorial system?
Li Lu: The circuit procuratorial system was proposed by The Supreme People's Procuratorate Zhang Jun, and it entered the legislation. At that time, it was called the resident procurator, the procurator was stationed in the prison all year round, got along with the prison system all year round, and may have become friends, in this case, many things may become "hello, hello, hello, hello.". Under the itinerant procuratorial system, if the procuratorial team is not stationed on the tour, "friendship" will not arise. After the explanation of terms, it is necessary to visualize them through artistic creation, and like "In the Name of the People", I made it clear to the Supreme People's Procuratorate that I do not do industry films, and people who do industry films and make documentaries, we only present the faces of sentient beings in the context, such as paying attention to people like Feng Sen, who is also saddled with the pain of investigating his wife's murder while investigating the case, public affairs are big things, and his own things are small things, but they must also be investigated. Feng Sen is not Hou Liangping, Hou Liangping is one-sided, and Feng Sen is multi-faceted.
Southern Weekend: Feng Sen's style is not like the staff in the system, he will use some means outside the system to deal with things, why create such an image of a prosecutor?
Li Lu: He is a responsible, righteous and capable prosecutor, and prosecutors can also mix, but he is not mixed, and he does his own homework to investigate and sort out these cases. There are such capable people in the public procuratorial law system, and the procuratorates and public security departments of various provinces and cities will have such backbone capable people.
Southern Weekend: What would be the real situation of a person of feng sen's personality?
Li Lu: When the academic stage is over, emotional intelligence is more important than IQ. Feng Sen has both businesses, but he does not use it to engage in interpersonal relations, but to solve the case, to find the root cause of the "930 case" and the murder of his wife. He and Xiong Shaofeng had many arguments, and did not say good things to each other, "opening the net". This figure is the representative of the itinerant procuratorial team, there is no friendship, only the balance, judicial justice is too important to this society, and every family and every family has encountered unfair things to some extent. Society not only needs Li Dakang, but also prevents Sun Liancheng. Many people do nothing for the sake of more than less, and through the role of Feng Sen, we are more called on every soldier on the judicial front to act, and if we do not act, it is a blasphemy against ordinary people and judicial fairness and justice. The sword of Damocles was in the hands of these men.
Southern Weekend: The play portrays Hu Xue'e, a petitioner, have you ever known about this group before filming this drama?
Li Lu: When filming "In the Name of the People", we stayed at the Supreme People's Procuratorate's Reception Center for Letters and Petitions for a long time, and we met some people who had been petitioning and complaining for many years, and the paper in their hands was old. We have shown details on Hu Xue'e's petition, but we have not exaggerated it too much. Just like "In the Name of the People", do not write the details of corruption, directly present the results of corruption, with Hu Xue'e sending a pennant to shout injustice to present her own grievances, she uses this way to appeal, of course, we do not approve of this way, too much display of these words, if the trouble is won, the whole society imitates what to do? Hu Xue'e is a cause, the show is also a circular structure, and in the last episode she sent a real pennant.
Southern Weekend: In the play, the petition scene was played on the Internet. Some viewers questioned that this could not exist in reality, so it was not true, as a director, how do you think?
Li Lu: This plot was filmed by Internet celebrity procurator Xiong Shaofeng and broadcast in the form of new media, and Zhang Youcheng, who is the secretary of the Political and Legal Committee, took the initiative to accept media interviews to respond to his son's imprisonment for injuring people. There may not be such a situation, but I think film and television need to do some previous guidance, we call for such a thing to appear, officials can give feedback to the people on the relevant events. News is to be transparent, my parents are news people, not that there is no life, we film and television creation can not be so presented. Creation should be pre-existent and guiding, and in the future, there may be leaders talking on television to narrow the distance with the people - social development has reached this stage. The communication between the officials and the people is also what I want to present in the play "The World of Man", and the officials are not on the top, but have a dialogue with the people at a level level.
Southern Weekend: There are also many officials who communicate with the people through online live broadcasts and other forms. The play portrays the image of Xiong Shaofeng, an internet celebrity prosecutor, and repeatedly emphasizes that in the Internet era and the era of self-media, the behavior and speech of public prosecutors and law personnel should be more cautious. How do you see the changes and impacts of the Internet age on the work of the Public Prosecutor's Office?
Li Lu: I have an official friend who updated Weibo frequently during his tenure, and his writing was very positive. There are Internet celebrity officials in public prosecutorial laws across the country, such as the procurator general who can publicize the procuratorial system through live broadcasting on the Internet, and Xiong Shaofeng's role comes from life. The competent departments of public security, procuratorial and legal affairs have such excellent network officials or staff, and at the same time pay more attention to the guidance of public opinion, and transmit positive energy and benign voices to more readers and viewers.
"Noble people are broken to play the bottom characters to look good"
Southern Weekend: Why did you choose Hewei to play Feng Sen?
Li Lu: I didn't know him before, but I said to my partner that we must let Yu Hewei play, he played Cao Cao, played Liu Bei, and had the smell of "good and evil".
Southern Weekend: Hu Xue'e, played by Song Chunli, is also very brilliant, and choosing old drama bones seems to be your routine in choosing actors?
Li Lu: I met Song Chunli at the exhibition last year, and at first I wanted to find her to participate in "The World of People", and then I invited her to play "Circuit Prosecution Team". She said that she couldn't act because there were too many scenes after reading the script, and she was worried that her heart would not be able to bear it. She was the only actress I had called two or three times to invite. If you find a particularly low-level old man to play Hu Xue'e, it is not right, you must let a military-level cadre like Song Chunli play it, and a noble person can break it to play the low-level character to look good. Hu Xue'e's first episode of trouble may be a little annoying, but the second episode immediately makes people feel sympathetic, if replaced by someone else to play, the annoying things may be greater than sympathy, but Song Chunli's sense of sympathy substitution is stronger, and the noble people in life become a particularly low-level dirty old lady. Song Chunli's clothes were all ripped off from others at the garbage collection station, bought for forty yuan, and given to her after dry cleaning. I also changed the cart many times, the first car was too neat, and then changed to a relatively simple, relatively shabby shape, it is not a car carried by foreign nobles, but a car carried by ordinary people.
Southern Weekend: Did the cooperation with Song Chunli have sparks on the filming scene?
Li Lu: One day when she was shooting the first shot of the first scene, she was unwell and couldn't shoot. In that scene, the broker is caught, Hu Xue'e (Note: Song Chunli) takes the money but can't find anyone to help save her son, and she is very emotional and shouts with tears. Song Chunli felt that it was not okay, and she could not shoot. If I say no, I will rest and disband. She said to give her ten minutes to rest and then continue shooting, very insistent. There are two kinds of actors, one is a technical player, one is a feeling player, Song Chunli is the latter, a typical heart-wandering actor, pure feeling, really possessed by the character.
Southern Weekend: Female characters other than Hu Xue'e have been controversial, and the audience believes that the portrayal of female characters such as Luo Xinran and Zheng Shuangxue seems to have stereotypes, which has also been encountered in "The Name of the People", how do you think about it as a director?
Li Lu: The grasp of female characters may be my shortcomings, and there are few female characters in my TV series, all of which are with my brother and brother. I'm going to find an opportunity to make a teen idol drama and work with female actors. As for whether there is any grudge between these people who give bad reviews and the actors, I don't know, Wang Luodan was hacked when filming "The Love of hawthorn trees", and Han Xue and Zhang Sile were hacked when filming "Circuit Inspection Team". But I myself first reflect on the fact that I may not have a good grasp of female characters.
The TV series "Circuit Prosecution Group" is set against the backdrop of the circuit procuratorial system. On May 31, 2018, the Supreme People's Procuratorate decided to carry out a pilot work of roving procuratorates in prisons, and on the basis of dispatching procuratorial personnel to prisons, organize special forces to conduct roving inspections, so as to change the potential problems of procuratorial personnel stationed in prisons such as corruption due to familiarity and laziness. (Courtesy of the crew/photo)
<h3>"More water in the pool to raise more fish."</h3>
Southern Weekend: Is the final overall presentation and current feedback of the Circuit Prosecutor's Group in line with your expectations?
Li Lu: I think that's the case, the time is short, the task is urgent, the review is strict, that's it. From the script to the shooting to the editing to the finished film, every link has a lot of room for improvement. At that time, it took one or two years to make movies, and the long shadow Xiaobailou was a place dedicated to changing the script for screenwriters, and it was locked up there for a whole year. It used to be four or five shots a day, now it's hundreds of shots a day, it's not the same thing.
Southern Weekend: After the hit "In the Name of the People" in 2017, you said in an interview that the realistic film and television theme will dominate in the next few years, has the trend changed now?
Li Lu: Are you saying that my judgment at that time was incorrect? As director Li Lu said in 2017, realism has dominated in recent years.
Southern Weekend: What issues do you need to pay attention to as realist themes become more mainstream?
Li Lu: The first problem is that a hundred flowers need to bloom, a single flower is not full of spring colors, what kind of flowers must be there, the theme is not good or bad, the key lies in how to express the intention, how to convey values; the second problem is that there should be no blunt pseudo-realist themes, but to create with heart and affection, so that the audience can accept the characters and works with temperature.
Southern Weekend: Which works are pseudo-realist?
Li Lu: That is, the audience is reluctant to turn on the camera to watch, and after watching the dramas that immediately switch channels, these dramas are not talking about human words, transmitting negative energy, and false big air. Why give these works a good broadcast time? No depth, no temperature, flowing on the surface, puffy and scrawled, neither a plateau nor a peak.
Southern Weekend: In recent years, the realist theme of online dramas has also continued to develop, how to view the competitive relationship between online dramas and TV dramas?
Li Lu: The original term was "Taiwan Network", now it is "Network Station", "Youaiteng" these platforms have made an appointment with me for movies and TV series. I think the future is the power of capital, whether it is unicorn iQiyi, big entertainment Youku or tencent with strong funds. This is the same as the most prosperous period of television stations and the most exuberant period of print media, they are now in adolescence, which is both a broadcast platform and a production platform, as well as the right to speak of capital. As a producer, I hope that there will be more such platforms in the future, such as B station, cat's eye, etc., more exits, more water in the pool to raise more fish.
Southern Weekend reporter Cao Ying