The movie "First Incense" superimposes the audience's double expectations for Zhang Ailing and director Xu Anhua, however, after the release of the film, it fell into a huge whirlpool of controversy. The unceremonious Douban score and all kinds of ridicule made Xu Anhua, a director who is very "dull" to the outside world, feel "surprised".
"The First Burning Incense" was released on the mainland on October 24, and on November 1, director Xu Anhua was interviewed by reporters in Beijing. At this time, there was already a slight distance from the noise of those "crusades", Xu Anhua was still a smiling look and a humble posture, "I don't have any position to defend, if everyone feels bad, it is not good, don't shoot like this again." However, in director Xu Anhua's speech, there is still "unwillingness". She hopes that the audience can talk a lot about the film, and more hope that people can understand some of its intentions, rather than just relying on "inertia" to create estrangement and exclusion.
Originally, I only wanted to be a producer and became a director for various reasons
Xu Anhua can clearly remember the novel "The First Burning Incense" he saw in 1978, and he was fascinated at the time, and Zhang Ailing's Hong Kong made Xu Anhua feel a complex field that was both familiar and novel. However, turning Zhang Ailing's flexible brushwork into light and shadow on the screen is a thing that deters many directors, and although Xu Anhua has previously filmed the films adapted from Zhang Ailing's novel "Love in the City" and "Half Life", he still "does not dare to touch" for "The First Incense".
In Xu Anhua's view, "The First Burning Incense" has obstacles that need to be overcome in terms of literary adaptation, story line, lines, and sense of the times, "I wonder, in the face of Zhang Ailing's works, should we use the most loyal method, or re-create something new? In the end, we chose a compromise approach, trying to be like Zhang Ailing, but a little more free. It takes brilliant creativity and a lot of guts, but I don't have enough of both. ”
In fact, at first, Xu Anhua just wanted to be the executive producer of "The First Burning Incense", but Qingniao Pictures, which she had a deep relationship with, founded by the legendary Hong Kong actress Xia Meng, established Qingniao Pictures (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai five years ago, and the first work of Qingniao (Shanghai) was the "First Incense" that Xia Meng once wanted to shoot but failed to shoot. Seeing that the copyright of "The First Incense" was about to expire, Xu Anhua personally dressed up as a director.
Xu Anhua clearly remembers the timeline of "The First Burning Incense" along the way, "In mid-2017, I planned to shoot; in 2018, I began to find Wang Anyi to write a script, collect information, and talk about the middle of the year; from mid-2018 to the end of 2018, I watched the scene, wrote the script and changed the script; at the beginning of 2019, I was officially preparing to find scenes, prospects, and actors; around May 21, 2019, I opened the camera and filmed until August 7; I did the post-production on August 7, and I did it until the end of the year, and I did it well in 2019. But the epidemic is very strong in 2020, from January to September 2020, we finished dubbing remotely, and went to Venice to participate in the film festival in September. The whole process was filmed in Gulangyu Island for two months, photographed at the dock in Shanghai, photographed in changzhou at the flower market, and then returned to Hong Kong for 4 or 5 days, and then photographed an antique boat from 1930. ”
When the cast of "First Incense" was just announced, the film caused some objections, but at that time, the director and production team had already started a difficult shooting at 40 degrees in Gulangyu Island, with huge workload, stuffy air and raging mosquitoes, so that Xu Anhua, who was originally "very insensitive" to external sounds, had no time to be distracted, she just carried the pressure and challenge of creation as before, and it was not clear that "First Burning Incense" had buried some "hidden dangers".
Self-blame "caused Ma Sichun to be scolded for two years", "Maybe I am older"
Director Xu Anhua attributed the criticism of the actor to his own "judgment", "causing Ma Sichun to be scolded for two years." She said that she chose Ma Sichun because she watched her "July and Ansheng", "such a girl falls in love with someone else, suddenly very crazy, that feeling I have not seen as good as Ma Sichun expressed, I think Ge Weilong is like this, I also hope to find a person who can play this kind of experience." 」 ”
In the original work of "The First Burning Incense", Ge Weilong is "a plain and beautiful small convex face, a slender nose, and a fat and round mouth", which is inconsistent with Ma Sichun's image, but Xu Anhua also has Ge Weilong that does not necessarily have to be such a "basis", "Zhang Ailing once said that since Lin Dai died, no one can play Wei Long." Lin Dai is a 32-year-old film queen, round face, big eyes, at least plump, she is very bright, very lively look. Zhang Ailing has worked with Lin Dai, and she recognizes Lin Dai, so I also feel that if Lin Dai is OK, Ma Sichun can also play this role, and Some of Ma Sichun's angles are very similar to girls in foreign films in the 40s, but I really don't know that the audience and readers are so religious about the original work. ”
As for Qiao Qiqiao in the original work, "there is no blood color, even the lips are pale, and the plaster is like the same", Xu Anhua said that the QiaoQiqiao he imagined was not thin, "Peng Yuyan is a bit like a foreigner, and his actions are also similar, a bit Westernized." In addition, his own feelings are very sensitive, not that kind of rough, so I think it is okay for him to play Georgie Joe. ”
However, the audience still chooses to follow Zhang Ailing all the way, which makes the movie "First Burning Incense", but where there is any deviation from the original work, the audience is very resistant, for example, the movie "First Burning Incense" turns the story of a young girl losing her innocence into a love story, and Xu Anhua hopes that the film will not fall into the darkness of human nature, but to explore love as the main line, which will make the direction of the film more clear, "For example, in the film, Situ Xie is interested in Wei Long, so the aunt will take her in, When Fan Wei interpreted the characters, he also thought that Situ Xie was really in love with Wei Long, and he interpreted this clue very well, and also answered the ambiguous and implicit places in Zhang Ailing's expression, but the audience did not accept it, or mentioned 'why did the aunt find Ge Weilong to get someone for her'. ”
Although the follow-up comments on the movie "First Incense" made Xu Anhua feel "surprised", her first reaction was to find her own reasons, she laughed and said: "Maybe I am older, and what I say is different from what young people say now." ”
Xu Anhua said that he has no intention of guiding the audience how to watch the movie, "I think we should open up the topic and let everyone talk more about what is a good literary and art film, how it should be filmed, what the audience likes, if it is well discussed, I think it is a good thing, otherwise people don't want to talk, don't want to say, but there is no free vitality of the movie." ”
Lifetime Achievement Award? Still creating!
The success or failure of the movie "First Incense" does not seem to affect director Xu Anhua too much, she may be a little unhappy to hear some words, but when she shifts her attention to do something else, she can become very happy.
This is also very much like Xu Anhua's film road along the way, she has filmed the new wave classic of "Running to the Fury Sea", filmed "Woman Forty", "The Day and Night of Tin Shui Wai", "Sister Tao", which are popular with the audience, but also shot films that are not very good, you can call her different standards, ups and downs, unclear context, but the audience's trust and expectation for director Xu Anhua has never changed, because she has always used her heart to catch up with good movies and sincerely share the world in her eyes with the audience.
The 74-year-old Xu Anhua's smile is still cute, it seems that a smile can solve a thousand sorrows, so that the unpleasantness can not contaminate himself, "The advantage of being old is that there is no future, there are not so many worries, can you shoot for a few years?" You have to think about it, or you won't be able to sleep. ”
When talking about the creation after "The First Incense", she said that she wanted to precipitate and learn, "In the past two years, society has become too powerful, and now that I go out, I don't know how to pay online, I don't know how to call a car, and I don't know how to shop online." If I want to continue working, I must learn these basic skills, otherwise I will not belong to this society. ”
In 2020, the Venice International Film Festival awarded Xu Anhua the Lifetime Achievement Award, and she also became the first female director in the history of the Venice International Film Festival to win this award, but she is still creating. She said that she likes the uncertainty brought about by making movies, the pressure, challenges, and even loss of control, "So, "First Incense" at least let me know that I should think more about the audience's requirements in the future, and then shoot again, it will be more effective, choose to shoot again, and then shoot again, and when it comes out, I will not worry so much about the box office." ”
Xu Anhua feels that he is just an ordinary person hiding in the crowd and likes to make movies, "People sometimes think that the director is particularly noble, sometimes they think that the director is very incompetent, in fact, they are all people." Being a director is a grace given to me, not a reason to be on top. People gave me this opportunity to take some pictures to express myself, which is actually a rare thing. Now, I can exchange a lot of experience because of "The First Incense", which is also reciprocal. I don't think the director is greater than the audience, and my own scenes are not ambitious, I just believe that if I impress myself, I will impress others. ”
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Xiao Yang
Editor/Cui Jun