Interview with Diao Yinan： Hu Ge’s performance has been reborn, and ＂Party＂ will be released in the second half of the year

(Photo/Liang Xiaoliang) On May 21, French time, director Diao Yinan was interviewed. After "Fireworks in the Day", Diao Yinan’s new film "The Wild Goose Lake" was shortlisted for the main competition of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. Compared with the previous work, this work is more black and curious, and even adds a lot of magical surreal elements.

On the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival, the famous director Quentin Tarantino also came to join in and shook hands with Diao Yinan, expressing his liking. The film is currently rated 2.7 in the magazine. When it comes to creative inspiration, Diao Yinan said that the story originated from his fantasy related to fugitives, and making it into a movie is to convey a traditional ethic, morality and chivalrous spirit.

Similar to "Fireworks by Day," "The Wild Goose Lake" still cuts from the bottom of the little people, including car theft gangs and swimming girls. Diao Yinan also has his own opinion on why he has been filming the little people. "The little people at the bottom seem to be rejected by morality and law, but in fact they also have very shiny things on their bodies. Often the darker the person, the more they can see the light."

As for the actors, Hu Ge was the lead actor this time, and the female lead was still Gui Lunmei, who had collaborated with "Fireworks in the Day". When it came to the performance of the two actors, Diao Yinan praised them all, "Hu Ge’s performance is remarkable, you have seen this, compared with his previous TV dramas, it has been reborn; Gui Lunmei’s performance this time is more mature and experienced."

Because the main plot is the story of an escaped criminal, 85% of the scenes in the film are night scenes. But Diao Yinan did not let the black night be filled with violence and crime. He extracted some real scenes, and then the things he liked lit up, and the things he didn’t like were destroyed, forming an almost dreamy scene. In the daytime scenes, there are also surreal elements, and the personal preferences of these directors can be found in reality, just to present an absurd sense of contrast.

In less than a week, the major awards of this year’s Cannes Film Festival will be announced. Director Diao Yinan has a smooth and natural view on whether to win the award. For the next film planning, he also said that the film will be released in China in the second half of the year.

"Party" was conceived earlier than "Daylight Fireworks" to convey the traditional moral spirit

Where did the inspiration for The Wild Goose Lake come from?

Diao Yinan: Actually, before "Daylight Fireworks", I came up with it. After I came up with it, I didn’t feel very mature. I was sitting on the sofa listening to a foreign song and fantasizing about being hunted down. I was a fugitive with a bounty. I wanted to run to the beach all the time. A girl I liked in junior high school transferred to this place. When I saw her there, I couldn’t tell her that I was a fugitive. Then she didn’t live well. Finally, I tried to get her to kill me and leave it to her 300,000. At that time, I thought it was a very pretentious story. I probably remembered it and threw it aside.

After filming "Fireworks in the Day", I saw on the news one day that there was an escaped prisoner in the northeast who killed the prison guard and escaped. He hid in the nearby mountains. He was too cold and hungry to run down the mountain and returned to the village. He saw his wanted notice in the small shop and found that he was worth 100,000 yuan. He immediately decided to leave the 100,000 yuan to his aunt, the best person for him. My imagination turned into a news in life. I think it is possible to shoot it less affectionately.

: On the day of the premiere, Quentin also went. Did you communicate with him?

Diao Yinan: I just shook hands, because the scene was quite enthusiastic at the time, and I didn’t bother to communicate. He told another friend of mine that he liked "The Wild Goose Lake" very much.

Many people say that they see a traditional chivalrous spirit in this movie.

Diao Yinan: Yes, such a concept was established at the beginning of the creation, which is a traditional ethics, morality, and a chivalrous spirit.

Why do you want to convey this spirit?

Diao Yinan: Because I think that today’s society is developing very rapidly, and people are gradually forgetting these traditional values. Therefore, I think it is particularly necessary to remind everyone that these things are very important.

The plot focuses on the marginalized, the darker the person, the more light there is

Hu Ge is a member of a car theft gang in the film, and Gui Lunmei is an accompanying swimming girl. Why do you want to cut in from the marginalized crowd to tell a story?

Diao Yinan: Because these little people at the bottom seem to be rejected by morality and law, but in fact they also have very shining things in them. Often the darker people, the more they can see the light. I think these people also have some of the spirits they inspire us. So I think through these characters, through some dramatic weaving, this kind of thing can be more interesting and deeply experienced by the audience.

Have you ever observed in real life groups like Swimming Girl and Car Theft before?

Diao Yinan: Yes, that’s true. Of course, there are many related news, and these things combined with movies are of interest to me.

I heard that the original intention of filming this movie was based on one of your fantasies?

Diao Yinan: In the end, a real news happened, which was a bit similar to the daydream I imagined at the time, and it was very close. Yes, so I think it may be possible to make it into a movie.

Hu Ge shows a rebirth, Guilun magnesium is more mature and experienced

How did you choose Hu Ge, Gui Lunmei, Liao Fan and Wan Qian to star in this movie?

Diao Yinan: The basic principle is to first consider whether their temperament talisman fits the role, and then to choose an actor from some unexpected reverse thinking to consider the use of him. This is a principle for choosing them.

Did you provide the actors with some movies or novels to find their feelings in advance?

Diao Yinan: I think about it, I watched some movies, some movies, including some novels. There are black movies, literary films, Chinese and foreign films, and martial arts films.

Is there any new spark in the cooperation with Guilun Magnesium for the second time?

Diao Yinan: She has become more mature and experienced in acting, and she is also very dedicated and has put a lot of effort into this role.

: I would like to ask, why did you ask Liao Fan to play a police officer again?

Diao Yinan: Because Liao Fan is an old partner, he is actually familiar with cooperation. He understands my requirements and my thoughts in one sentence.

And he also joked yesterday that it felt like the police from "Daylight Fireworks" went to Wuhan to live for a while.

Diao Yinan: Yes.

What do you think of Hu Ge’s performance?

Diao Yinan: Hu Ge’s performance is also very remarkable. You have already seen this. It is a state that has been reborn from his previous TV dramas, and I am also very satisfied with his appearance.

Previously, the actors said at the press conference that they had been in a state of uncertainty on the set and did not know whether they were doing well or not. They felt that the director might have done it on purpose.

Diao Yinan: Yes, maybe that kind of uncertainty is what I want. I don’t want a particularly clear dramatic presentation. It may be better for him to be more ambiguous and vague, but their actions are very clear, and that’s enough.

How do you talk to them at the scene?

Diao Yinan: I don’t talk about drama.

We see a kind of spirit of the ancient warrior in Hu Ge, why do we do this kind of projection on the body?

Diao Yinan: Because the story structure of police and gangster films is usually reminiscent of the action line of martial arts films, so he just shows the time is modern, people are wandering in real life, and then he is a fugitive, and then he will also take us to some corners of the edge of the city, allowing us to see a very different space, a very restrained space, very, for example, you will feel like you are dreaming, entering such a marginal area.

85% of the film is a night scene, with surreal elements based on reality

There are many night scenes in the film, and the colors of the night scenes are very dreamy.

Diao Yinan: Yes, because if he (Zhou Zenong) wants to flee, it will usually be handled at night, because it is unreasonable for him to come out during the day. The night determines the main tone of the movie, and then 80% to 85% of us are night scenes, so those lights and shadows are in small cities in China, or in some suburbs, and we can often see the real scene. We just say that we extract it carefully, and we don’t dare to create it casually. Extract it carefully, and then let the things we like light up, and the things we don’t like disappear, which is enough to form the current dreamy scene.

There is a scene where many people wear fluorescent shoes to dance square, and the visual effect is very magical.

Diao Yinan: There are quite a few young people who dance this kind of dance now, and they are all in some relatively small cities. In big cities and small cities, there will be many people dancing in the square at night. Sometimes these young people are really in groups, and some people will wear flash shoes like this.

: There are many surreal elements in the film, such as entering the circus and the scene in the newspaper. Why was it designed this way?

Diao Yinan: These elements are what I saw when I was a child, for example, or what you will find at any time on the edge of the city today, like those billboards of high-rise buildings. In fact, in many places in China, a particularly modern city landscape suddenly stands up, but when you look closer, it is a fake. It is a propaganda board, but its surroundings are completely different from its environment, so this is very interesting.

Is there any new challenge in making "The Wild Goose Lake" compared to your previous work?

Diao Yinan: In this drama, I wanted my characters to express themselves through action, rather than through too much dialogue or dramatic psychological changes. I tried my best to make them act, because I feel that the sum of a person is the sum of his actions. So only through action can you open up new situations, or only through action can you get out of your predicament.

Future filming is not limited to film noir, and "The Party" will be released in the second half of the year

You seem to have a soft spot for film noir. Can you explain why?

Diao Yinan: The genre of film noir, on the one hand, it will provide you with a very dramatic and good-looking story framework. On the other hand, it has its own understanding of the world. For example, you will realize that behind our seemingly peaceful life, there are also some invisible secrets or some crimes. In fact, the undercurrent of this world is turbulent, and everyone’s heart also hides a dark area that is not known to himself or others. These are the stories, human nature, or the image of his society. It is a very good theme and a very good genre.

: "Daylight Fireworks" is shot in Northeast China, and this time "South Station" is shot in Wuhan. Which other city do you particularly want to shoot?

Diao Yinan: I can’t say this for a while now.

Will you continue to try to make movies with black elements in the future?

Diao Yinan: As long as you are interested in the subject matter, you can try it, and you will not deliberately use a genre to set a story, because we are all telling Chinese stories, first of all because your stories have their soil, they are all from real events or news, or the inspiration of the surrounding life. Therefore, it is first to tell your own story, and then the film noir is the film critics, or the audience. When they come to interpret the film, it is convenient for them to set it up.

Are you planning to go back to your hometown to film a movie?

Diao Yinan: Of course that’s also possible.

When will The Wild Goose Lake be released?

Diao Yinan: It should be the second half of this year.

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