Poster of "See You Again Nara".
Produced by Naomi Kawase and Jia Zhangke, directed by Pengfei and starring Wu Yanshu, Hidezawa and Hayabusa Kunimura, the film "See You Nara Again" was released in China on March 19. The film focuses on the Japanese orphan group in China in World War II, telling a foreign bloodless mother-daughter relationship spanning 60 years, allowing the audience to touch on the story behind the war that has not been understood, and promoting the audience's understanding of the special population after the war from a more intuitive perspective.
In a sense, "See Nara Again" is a story about searching, and the adoptive mother Chen Huiming in the film wants to go to Japan to find the missing adopted daughter Lihua, but gains more warm human friendship. In the end, the mystery of whether to find the adopted daughter was not completely solved, Pengfei gave the story of the search an open ending, in his opinion whether to find the adopted daughter is not important: "The most important thing is to find the changes and perceptions that this matter brings to the three people, I hope to use a light, flexible, humorous way to make you laugh, but also to let you feel that the story has staying power, the movie is not a tool to solve the problem, more should let the audience think." The Beijing News reporter exclusively interviewed Pengfei, who revealed the behind-the-scenes story of this "Nara search for relatives".
"See You Again Nara" "Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter" version of the poster.
【Background】
8 months of research script to focus on orphans, for the Chinese adoptive mother to realize the dream
In 1945, after Japan's defeat in World War II, during the Japanese retreat from China, many children of Japanese immigrants during the war became orphans stranded in northeast China because their parents were killed or returned to China. With the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, many Japanese orphans were able to return to Japan, but they also objectively caused their "flesh and bones" separation from Chinese adoptive families, a special group of people known in Japan as "residual orphans", which is more well-known in Japan than in China. "See You Again in Nara" tells that with the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s, among the returned Japanese orphans was Lihua, the adopted daughter of Grandma Chen (Wu Yanshu). In 2005, Grandma Chen, who has not received a reply from her adopted daughter for a long time, can't help but miss going to Nara, Japan, and embarks on a search for someone with the help of the second generation orphan Ozawa (Hidezawa) and retired police officer Kazuo (Kunimura Hayabusa). In a foreign country, they meet many returned orphans, through their different embarrassing lives to show another side of the trauma of war, cultural differences and conflicts under the search journey to the twists and turns, where the adopted daughter is the biggest mystery.
Stills from "See You Again Nara".
"See You Nara Again" is the third feature film directed by Peng Fei, his "Taste of Rice Flowers" has won the Audience Choice Award at the Nara International Film Festival in Japan, he and the founder director of this film festival, Naomi Kawase, have a relationship, and also got the opportunity to shoot a play in Japan, it can be said that this creation is a "propositional composition", the subject matter can be chosen by himself, but the filming location must be Nara. For this opportunity, Pengfei was eager to make an anti-war movie: "The theme of the return of Japanese orphans in World War II is actually very little attention, which is a term buried deep in my memory, I began to call and interview people around me to find this group." "Pengfei began to do a lot of homework to get close to this group, these people are not a minority, they face cultural differences, they crave family identity, and each person has countless stories. In order to ensure the authenticity of the script, Peng Fei read a large number of books about Japanese orphans (and also showed these books to actors) and all the video materials about this subject, including the Sino-Japanese co-production of the TV series "Children of the Earth", "Little Aunt Tatsuru" starring Sun Li, and a large number of books and video materials provided the lives of the orphans. Later, he contacted the Japanese Association of Returnees, met a lot of second-generation orphans, three generations of orphans, there are a large number of interview materials as the basis, he used 15 days to create a script, it seems very smooth, but these are based on 8 months of research: "This kind of blood-related affection deeply shocked me, many Chinese adoptive mothers' biggest wish is to go to Japan to see their children, so I want to make such a movie, I want to realize the dreams of these adoptive mothers." ”
【Lineup】
Smart grandmother, gentle female partner Japanese "fierce god evil"
Before Pengfei decided to go to Japan to shoot the film, his friend told him that "if you want to go to Japan, then you have to be able to withstand the question", at first he did not particularly understand this sentence, but once he arrived on the set, he fully experienced the Japanese filmmaker's excellence in the set. "Their work is very meticulous, every day the conference, the small meeting will be held, the small meeting will be divided into small meetings, and the meeting will be held anytime and anywhere, for example, the art group asked me what color I need to use for this painting, I told them red, but this does not make them clear, they will ask what kind of red it is, red is also divided into many kinds, deep light, deep red and dark blue red, dark brown red, etc., do not ask the most detailed place they will not give up." 」 Pengfei said that this is a great inspiration for him to make movies: "Japanese people make movies very hard, you have to adapt to their work mode, they will arrange each scene very carefully, so it is necessary to make sure that once you want to change it, it is a very complicated and time-consuming thing." ”
Stills from "See You Again nara", the three main actors Hidezawa, Kunimura Hayabusa and Wu Yanshu.
In a way, Pengfei believes that the three main actors of "See You Again in Nara" are the best match for this movie. He found Wu Yanshu, the actor of "Grandma Professional Household", from Zhang Aijia's "Love and Blind Date", and her relaxed, light and sunny temperament is just in line with the tone of the movie. "I hope this grandmother is cute, she has a sense of agility, when I saw the photo of Teacher Wu, I was amazed, saying that this grandmother is so cute and beautiful, but at the beginning she did not have a schedule, and I was particularly anxious when I was close to starting up, because I did not find a suitable grandma to play, one day Teacher Wu Yanshu called me and said that she was willing to adjust the next schedule to play this role for you, and at that moment I really felt that I was too lucky." The heroine Hidezawa is a tacit partner with Pengfei for many years, after the release of "The Taste of Rice Flowers" in 2017, both of them have their own growth and gains, this time Hidezawa once again played a gentle woman, for the role of Ozawa to practice Japanese, making the performance more natural and relaxed.
Yingze played the heroine Ye Lan in the film "The Taste of Rice Flowers" directed by Pengfei.
The most worth mentioning is the role of police officer Kazuo Yoshizawa, Kunisaka Hayabusa, a Japanese actor who used to give the audience the image of a villain ("Cry"), a gangster ("Extreme Road Not Evil") and other "fierce gods and evil spirits", but this time he played the most tender policeman. Pengfei revealed that Naomi Kawase had also recommended him for example, Yukazu Miura (who starred in the TV series "Blood Doubt"). Participated in the movie "Detective Chinatown 3"), Kaoru Kobayashi (who starred in the TV series "Late Night Canteen") and other Japanese actors we are relatively familiar with, but because their screen image is too upright, Pengfei prefers kazuo to be a person who will also be afraid and contrasting: "Kunimura Hayabusa asked me why I asked him to star, I used a mobile phone translator to write him the word 'obscene', he was happy to see it, he knew what I needed to find. He is a very professional and patient actor, never with his fame in Japan, come to the set and shoot whatever you want, walk that road over and over again, especially cooperative. ”
Stills of Hayabusa Kunimura in "Extreme Path Not Evil" and "Crying".
【Trivia】
Japanese Kansai people are very "hospitable" in filming
Despite the language barrier, but the atmosphere of "See Nara Again" in the Japanese crew can be described as a happy and harmonious, Pengfei said that all this thanks to the efforts of executive producer Naomi Kawase, Japanese filming is divided into Kanto, Kansai two factions, Kanto shooting mode is more inclined to Hollywood's general industrialization process, the requirements for the crew is to live in a hotel, but also need to be equipped with a fixed conference room, etc. But Kawase Naomi because she is a Kansai Nara native, filming in Kansai all respect the rules of her hometown, Pengfei said, Kansai people are particularly hospitable, everyone gets along like a family, the crew borrowed a few old houses in the village, the hammer door in the house can open 8 to 9 doors one by one, just like the scene in the Japanese movie. Everyone works together, eats, and anything that happens can be quickly integrated and negotiated, "We actually shot for 22 days, there were 3 days of rest, this time is hard but really happy, the only headache is that the time for shooting at the attractions is very strict, giving you a few hours is a few hours, more than a minute can not be." 」
Group photo of the crew of "See You Again Nara".
The fun meat buying scene is inspired by the director's life experience
"See You Again Nara" is a warm and humorous film, grandma came to Japan because she did not know Japanese, and her communication with the locals was limited to body language. The scene where Grandma goes to the butcher's shop to buy meat is particularly interesting, she doesn't know what kind of meat is in the window, but she wants to buy lamb, so she uses the sheep's "babble" call to communicate with the store. Peng Fei made a cameo appearance in this scene as a shopkeeper, he laughed and said that this way of communication comes from the inspiration of life: "I especially like to fool around in life, and I also love to imitate, when I was collecting in Japan, I deliberately did not let the translators and producers follow me, I walked in the village by myself, to experience life, to eat, to buy things can only rely on myself, when you encounter language barriers, you must try your best to communicate, and you find it very interesting how to draw something you want. This scene in the film also runs through my previous experience in Japan. He laughed and said that because he was a "very poor actor", his mind was always blank when performing, because he was nervous, so he filmed several times, but fortunately, Teacher Wu Yanshu was particularly patient and kept comforting him: "It's okay, rest assured to act, you can act well."
Teresa Teresa's song is accompanied by a three-person presidential shot at the end
The simple long shot at the end of the film leaves the lively Scene of Japanese "Sacrifice" cultural activities, and three lonely but inner helpers walk in the silent streets in turn, and suddenly the Japanese version of Teresa Teresa's song "Goodbye!" comes out! My lover", it seems to open the floodgates of people's emotions at once, full of wordless emotions: the ending is unknown, but the past can be recalled, even if it is to say goodbye, but the love that was once, your name, will always be in my heart, always warm me. Pengfei said that at the beginning, some people proposed to let everyone look at the three people's distant backs, but he wanted to let the three people go in turn, wanted to follow them with a panning camera, let the audience accompany them for another walk, and they seemed to form a temporary family. Teresa Teng's song was chosen because she is a well-known singer in the Chinese-speaking world and the Japanese-speaking world, with the same melody, different lyrics, and the same feelings, with such a full sense of cultural integration.
【Interview】
Nostalgia, road movies and loneliness touched the director the most
Beijing News: When you collected and learned about the special group of orphans in post-war Japan, are there any cases that can particularly touch you?
Pengfei: Once, an old gentleman who was orphaned for a generation took us to his house, and I asked him what he would do when he was idle, what his hobbies were, and he took out an online erhu from the top of the closet and began to play the piano and sing. Because my family is doing Peking Opera (Pengfei was born in a Peking Opera family), I can hear whether the other party sings well, but this old gentleman sings too hard, when he looks up, his face is covered with water, you don't know whether it is tears or sweat, but you can feel his nostalgia. Although he is Japanese, the Chinese culture is imprinted on him, and he lives alone in the countryside and relieves (nostalgia), and this delicate emotion shocks me.
Directed by Peng fei
Beijing News: The orphan couple in the film performed a model drama program for Ozawa and Grandma together, which also borrowed from this case?
Pengfei: Yes, their singing of "Wise Tiger Mountain" is also not bad (laughs), but also a kind of refraction, because the length of the problem really can not put a lot of details of life into it, such as they grow vegetables in the countryside to make sauerkraut, twist the rice song, make dumplings for the festival, how to work in Japan, what kind of working environment, can only try to reveal these details.
Beijing News: What specific help did Jia Zhangke and Naomi Kawase give you as the executive producers of this film?
Pengfei: I am fortunate to have two very conscientious executive producers, who respect the creation of young directors very much, and will never pressure you or change your creation, nor will they use their style and film views to influence your work style. In the early days, I gave some advice and direction in the direction of the script. Naomi Kawase mainly ensured smooth shooting and casting in Japan, while Jia Zhangke ensured smooth editing and adjustment. This time, Jia Dao took me to cut for ten days, and he almost never did this. In fact, he usually uses his eyes more, and he always sheds tears when he looks at the material, but he also insists on wearing glasses to help me see the material one by one, where to smooth it out, where to deal with it without greed, etc.
Beijing News: The filming of the film is very chic, you seem to rarely focus on some of Nara's famous attractions and iconic wild deer, more in the camera are some villages and temples?
Pengfei: Yes, most people's impression of Nara is either stuck in tourist attractions and places of interest, but in fact, my positioning of "See Nara Again" is more like a road movie, such as Nara's Todaiji Temple, which we did not shoot. It's in a village about an hour and a half drive from Nara, using natural scenery, because in fact many orphans basically live in these remote rural villages.
Beijing News: The old policeman played by Kunimura Falcon will go to get letters every day, will miss his family, what does his solitary life mean?
Pengfei: I have done some research on the problem of Japan's aging society and the lonely death of the elderly, and I have bought a lot of books to investigate. Because in the 1970s and 1980s, when Japan's economy was very prosperous, the Japanese were working very crazy, and they may have alienated their relatives because of this, but here is still to reflect his loneliness in an empty nest old man.
Beijing News reporter Zhou Huixiaowan
Edited by Huang Jialing Proofreader Li Lijun
Source: Beijing News