Wu Jingjing, chief reporter of Mammoth News Oriental Today
Yu Zhen, who has played many "heroes" in anti-war dramas and spy dramas, has recently played a "hero", but this time he is leading the villagers to "fight in the sky". They fought hard for 10 years, relying only on a hammer, a shovel, and two hands, to build a 1,500-kilometer-long "artificial heavenly river" - the Hongqi Canal on the cliffs of the Taihang Mountains. The TV series "Hongqi Canal" adapted and created with this true story has just come to an end on CCTV, and the spirit of "self-reliance, hard work, unity and cooperation, and selfless dedication" has also attracted many young audiences to shock and resonate, and the "look at the moment when the Red Flag Canal breaks the defense" is also on the hot search. As the soul of the play, Yu Zhen recently accepted an exclusive interview with mammoth news reporters, telling the story of him and the directors Kang Ning, An Yuexi, Jing Le, Zeng Li, Xu Guangyu, Ma Dongyan, Li Qinqin, Kou Zhenhai, Liao Jingsheng and other creators, practicing the "Red Flag Canal Spirit" with actions outside the play.
Be impressed by the characters
"Compared with them, our filming is not worth mentioning"
Set against the background of the 1959 drought and water shortage in Linxian County, Henan Province, "Red Flag Canal" tells the story of the people of Linxian County fighting against the heavens and the earth, fighting hard for ten years with the tenacity of "Yugong moving mountains", relying only on a hammer, a shovel, and two hands to dig holes in the cliffs, and relying on their hands to build the "Project of Attracting Zhangzhang into the Forest". Lin Jie, the secretary of the county party committee played by Yu Zhen, is based on Yang Gui, the chief designer of hongqi canal. In the play, he led the people of LinXian to build a 1500-kilometer-long "artificial river" on the cliffs of Taihang Mountain.
Reporter: Did you know the story of Hongqiqu before?
Yu Zhen: Before I only knew about hongqiqu, to be honest, I didn't know much about it, and I hadn't been to Linzhou. After receiving this play, I did my homework, checked the information, went to see the Hongqi Canal, and also met with the descendants of Secretary Yang Gui, listening to them talk a lot, very shocked, but also very moved.
Reporter: From the perspective of the play, the story is adapted, so what are the adaptations of the characters in the play compared to the real people?
Yu Zhen: In the play, Lin Jie is a good cadre who dares to be bold, vigorous, and single-mindedly for the people, which is consistent with the prototype. Our party has led Chinese people to live today's happy life, and there are really too many such good cadres. Just like in the play, they really saved more than 3 million yuan in repairing canals that year, as long as they can take everything they can take at home, they are really self-reliant. The people who came to check the accounts from the superiors were crying, and none of the money was worth it... The script has been very rigorous, we just need to restore the script well, the acting is real and natural. Of course, this is not a biography, so in order to make the play good, the screenwriter may have some fictional content, but it is only an artistic processing of the original story. At that time, we also met with the descendants of the protagonists and talked a lot, which was also very helpful for our creation, looked at the clothes they were wearing at that time, and there were many photos at that time, which provided us with a lot of details of the real people, including the appearance of his pen, etc., so the characters retained the real things on Yang Gui's body.
Reporter: I heard the director say that the shooting process conditions are very difficult, and they are all filmed in the wilderness...
Yu Zhen: Maybe I acted in more of this kind of drama, but I felt much more comfortable than those anti-war dramas. When filming war scenes, it is often a rain of bullets, so this so-called bitterness is nothing, for actors, wearing a cotton jacket in the summer, wearing a vest in the winter, jumping an ice cave or something, are the most basic operations. Just like a footballer comes on the pitch, you have to wear sneakers, which are basic and there's nothing to show off. So, memorizing a line or something, it has nothing to do with your acting skills, this is what you have to do, and it is too normal to suffer a little bit of guilt.
As long as it is a serious actor with acting training, I don't think there will be a problem of "feeling bitter", because that's how teachers teach. It's just that now everyone may confuse the concept of stars and actors, actors are people who shape the image of the character, that is, a profession, stars are not, stars need to use personal charm to win the audience's love. Of course, both actors and stars must transmit positive energy, love the party and the country and love themselves.
Reporter: This time I have cooperated with many young actors, when it comes to professionalism, how do you feel about them?
Yu Zhen: They are all very good actors, they should do what they want, they are not special, they are quite dedicated, they have done what actors should do, they are quite qualified.
Reporter: There are also a lot of local actors in the play, they have no performance foundation, is there anything impressive about working with them?
Yu Zhen: I don't play much with their opponents, that is, I usually listen to them and then applaud something, they are very dedicated and simple fellows. I can see that we linzhou people are now living well, and when they wear costumes themselves, Dule "can't see this dress for a long time", which is already another generation. Now even farming is not the kind that everyone imagines, many of them are mechanized, riding small electric vehicles and small motorcycles, usually living in the city, but it is time to go back to take care of the crops, it is already another scene.
Loves to play heroes
"I'm dipped in the light of the character"
Tall and burly, with a righteous face, with a tough appearance, Yu Zhen has played all kinds of heroic images in the War of Resistance, and is a veritable "heroic professional household", which is also the male number one that Kang Ning, the director of "Red Flag Canal", strongly requires. He felt that in addition to Yu Zhen's appearance similar to the prototype Yang Gui, the most important thing was that Yu Zhen himself was a grounded actor who could perform the temperament of the character. Some actors will always be eager to break free of the inherent image shackles, but Yu Zhen is not worried about the same, "Heroes are essentially connected, they all come forward at key moments, giving up the small self and taking care of the big me." "Each hero's growth process, personality characteristics, era background and life beliefs are different, in his opinion, even if the role is repeated, there will be different performances."
Reporter: I have acted in many works with main themes and red themes before, what is the biggest influence on you personally?
Yu Zhen: I have always said that screenwriters are great, because the stories they write are good, the characters they write are wonderful, and I just put the characters on the performance, I am stained with the light of the characters. People don't know what Yu Zhen looks like, but they like the roles I play. An actor's final competition is cultivation, some of the things on your body will be more or less brought into the role, and the role in turn will give the actor some influence, this is for sure. I have played so many heroic characters, I will definitely be influenced by these characters, so I am now more willing to play these characters that convey the national spirit, have a manly taste, and have heroic spirit.
Reporter: Do you like to play heroes?
Yu Zhen: I'm quite willing to act. As an actor, I have to love the character first, not myself. In fact, when creating such a character, on the one hand, it is touching and infecting our audience, on the other hand, it is also an evolutionary process for our own hearts.
Reporter: Aren't you worried about the role being stereotyped?
Yu Zhen: Creating different character images and acting like what, this is what actors want to pursue. But you have to make each character very well, very vivid, very difficult and difficult. Is there such a person? There must be, but I don't have that much skill, I'm a very ordinary actor, I play the characters I like or I can understand, it's very good. In fact, actors are limited, like some actors who specialize in comedy, the audience likes it, but let him play the right drama, sometimes feel a little awkward. Actors are stereotyped is certain, just like the traditional drama in the birth of the end of the ugly, you are a small student, a martial arts student, or a flower face, divided very fine, have certain limitations, occasionally reverse string is OK, but completely step into another industry, it is difficult.
Of course, if it is a star, it is to look at personal charm, what he plays everyone likes to watch, everyone looks not at the role he plays, but at himself. And I am an actor, I am not a star, when filming we are just a piece of material to shape the character, what kind of clothing to wear and how to make up, this is the director, screenwriter, makeup and costume teacher they to determine, can not only for their own beauty, to completely in accordance with this character to determine.
Inherit the spirit of Hongqi Canal
"It is very gratifying to let everyone remember that history!"
Hongqi Canal is known as the "eighth wonder of the world", also known as the "artificial Tianhe", in order to eat water, the people of Linxian County rely on their hands to fight against nature, it took ten years, 81 people dedicated themselves to the canal, and finally flattened 1250 mountains, erected 151 aqueducts, excavated 211 tunnels, built 12408 various buildings, dug up 22.25 million cubic meters of earth and stone, and let the Zhanghe River come through the mountains. In the process of interpreting Lin Jie, Yu Zhen also relived that touching and shocking history. Seeing that this drama has received the attention and discussion of many young audiences after it was broadcast, and has been "broken" by the efforts and sacrifices of the older generation, he admitted that as an actor, through such a drama and his own performance, let everyone know or relive the great innovations of the fathers, or go online to check these stories of the Red Flag Canal, and be able to remember them, "I think it is already a very gratifying thing."
Reporter: It is said that during the filming, you were also hired as a special docent of the local Hongqiqu Story Society Volunteer Service Team?
Yu Zhen: Right. An actor shoots a scene and understands the situation at that time and the history of the time, which is the most basic job. When filming "Hongqi Canal", I also learned a lot of relevant information, and I also wanted to tell people who did not understand what happened to Hongqi Canal at that time, and I also wanted to do more things for Linzhou.
Reporter: After filming this play, what is the biggest gain or feeling?
Yu Zhen: I will sincerely lament the earth-shaking changes that have taken place in our past 70 years, I was born in the 70s, and I can feel the rapid change in these decades. So sometimes I think that if everyone cherishes the current life with a grateful heart, maybe the troubles in life or some contradictions in life will be reduced. We often see couples fighting or divorcing because of a small matter, and you said that during the War of Resistance, it was difficult to be able to be together, to have a normal date, to meet, to live normally, and to have a basic right to survive. There is also like "Red Flag Canal", the lack of water to that extent, so we have been educated since childhood is to save water and electricity, and I am still there, when washing hands and soap at home, we must turn off the faucet, and the lights that are not used must be turned off. Maybe now young people think that they still need to turn off water? Are we short of water? This is not a lack of water, it is a spirit and consciousness of conservation, which is also a spirit that we hope to pass on.
Reporter: When you play the story of your fathers, do you think of your fathers' education of yourself? Which ones will you inherit and pass on to the next generation?
Yu Zhen: Many of our parents' education for us is subtle. I also have children, and my education for them is also to pass on some of the things on my body to them in a heard way, more by example, such as brushing the dishes after eating every day, and I will take him to brush them. I am not in favor of saying 'to study, the things at home do not need you to manage', the eldest 9 years old, in addition to brushing the dishes, usually let him rub some of his own small socks or something, because my father and my mother are so educated about me, I think not to learn well is the only, self-care ability is also very important, his mother is more willing to take them to make a cake, dumplings or something. I want them to be honest and kind people, but also to have insight. Isn't there a saying, because I understand compassion.
Reporter: As the main creator, what do you think the spirit of "Red Flag Canal" has for today's young people?
Yu Zhen: I don't dare to say anything else, I think after this drama is broadcast, there should be people who are willing to go to Linzhou to see it. It was a beautiful scenic tourist area, and I took my children to see it at the time, and they were all very happy and thought it was beautiful. After arriving in Linzhou, I will listen to the local docents explain the situation in that year, which will be more real and detailed. I think there will be some young people who love to learn who will look up the information of that year, which is also a propaganda role. You want to say that since then everyone has begun to save water, I think it may be difficult, but at least you can pass on the red flag canal spirit of "self-reliance, hard work, unity and cooperation, selfless dedication", so that everyone can feel that today's life is not easy to come by, cherish the achievements of the predecessors, it will be very successful.