As the highlight of the second Pingyao International Film Festival, Li Cangdong's new work "Burning" and the subsequent master class really made this literary and academic film exhibition "burn".
Burning poster
Although tickets are not sold to the public, the audience can still communicate with the film masters in close proximity through queuing up, and watch the "lost pearl" that received high scores in Cannes this year at the Pingyao Film Palace's most advanced cinema hall "Little Town Spring".
Feel the team, the people scattered throughout the Pingyao Film Palace on weekdays, gathered at noon on October 15, a sea of people. ↓↓↓
In order not to leave the team to occupy the seat, some audiences can not even take care of the meal, the takeaway brother directly delivered the meal to the team. ↓↓↓
Even at the end of the event, the scene directly incarnated into "Li Cangdong's large-scale star chasing scene", and the flash of the illegal and enthusiastic concert style was turned on, which was a bit cute. ↓↓↓
From writer to director, hope to reach the wider public
In the face of the enthusiasm of the audience, Li Cangdong humbly said: "This movie ("Burning") is so long and not very interesting, and it is very surprising to see such a large cinema hall full of audiences. ”
Lee Cang-dong is the most important director of contemporary Korean cinema, and although the number of works is small, each of "Oasis", "Miyang" and "Poetry" is extremely styled and powerful.
At the scene, Jia Zhangke asked Li Cangdong's original intention of changing from a writer to a director, and Li Cangdong admitted that when he was a writer, he felt that he encountered a bottleneck and could not write well, "At night, he often tossed and turned, and when he couldn't sleep, he thought, if someone could write for me." It just so happens that film directors don't have to do it themselves like they do in novels, and there are many people who can help. Li Cangdong quipped, but it is not impossible to write a novel to make a movie, after changing careers, Li Cangdong began to face new problems, "When writing novels, I was not the best-selling writer like Haruki Murakami, so I was not able to communicate with the broadest readers, but being a writer is a more personal thing, as a director I hope to achieve effective communication with more people on a larger level, which is a problem that I have been thinking about and confusing." ”
The last film, Poetry, has been around for eight years. Jia Zhangke said that he had asked Li Cangdong eight years ago what he wanted to shoot, and the answer he got at that time was that there were many scripts in preparation.
Until the return of Cannes in April this year, "Burning" stunned the world.
Li Cangdong
"In the past eight years, I have never been idle, I have thought about the direction of future creation through creation, how to use movies to communicate with audiences, and to think about the problems of today's society. I found that regardless of the country, race, or culture, there is a general state of anger among the population, so I wanted to explore this. In addition to "Burning", many of the scripts li Cangdong has prepared over the years are related to the theme of "anger".
However, Li Cangdong also ridiculed that because South Korea's variety entertainment has too much impact on all walks of life, it has also affected movies and news, "because the actors of "Burning" have not participated in variety shows, so the box office of this movie in South Korea is not good." ”
I want the audience to think about what a movie is
"Burning" is full of symbols and metaphors, and in the escalating crisis and mystery, the plight of society and the loneliness of the human heart are silently progressing in the middle.
The film's main actors are all young, and Liu Yaren, Steven Yuan, and Jeon Jong-sook all contribute exciting performances. Jia Zhangke ridiculed Li Cangdong once said in an interview, "There is no woman who does not understand herself", which impressed him. For the adjustment of actors, Li Cangdong said, "I often tell actors on the spot not to act, rather than designing the characters' personalities and emotions, I hope to express themselves through their own understanding and perception." But in fact, it is not so simple, actors have obsessive-compulsive disorder, they have a strong desire to perform, but these performance desires, sometimes let them be a lot of interference, my job is to help actors shield from external interference, from the inside out to express the emotions of the characters. ”
Stills from Burning
The current state of young people in South Korea is the reality that Lee Cangdong is trying to express. In Li Cangdong's view, Chinese and Korean young people are very different, "China's social development is in a period of rapid rise, and South Korean young people face a difficult situation after graduation, the high cost of living and housing prices have become their realistic pressure, on the one hand, the world's living standards have improved, on the other hand, South Korea's social development has stagnated, young people have no hope for life, which is a big problem in Korean society." Even the character in the film, Ben, a mysterious rich second generation, also has a sense of powerlessness about life, and can only hide some anger and vent it in an extreme way.
"Burning" is based on the short story "Burning Barn" by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, and is combined with the short story "Burning Horse Shed" by American writer William Faulkner. Li Cangdong, who is also a writer, has made many adaptations of it.
Jia Zhangke, Li Cangdong
In the exchange with Jia Zhangke after the screening, Li Cangdong introduced himself from the novel but tried to change the landing point of the film, "Murakami's novel mainly revolves around two small mysteries, one is whether there is a burning barn, the other is whether the woman has disappeared, but these novel mysteries through the cinematic treatment, I hope to extend to more issues." In Li Cangdong's view, "It is important to solve these doubts in the novel, but it is more important to ask what life is through the movie and what is the real difficulties in life." ”
The existence of cats, women and the subjective and objective ending in the film have triggered many discussions among film critics and fans, and there are also fans who want to ask for answers in the hearts of directors themselves. Li Cangdong's answer received the warmest applause on the spot.
"Ordinary suspense films may go through the whole process, give the answer at the end, or tell you how to solve this matter, but "Burning" hopes that the audience will think about what is the story through the process of solving the mystery through the actors. For example, whether killing Ben is a 'movie' or a 'novel', it is a question that I hope to leave to the audience, and I hope that this question will cause the audience to think about what is a movie. ”