Hu Ge and Wang Jiawei are all rushing to shoot, what is the magic of ＂Flowers＂？
1905 movie network feature "Hello, I’m Bao. I won’t see you for a long time."drama version"Flowers."In the dynamic poster,Hu GeSaying soft and waxy, Huyu transforms into Shang Shen A Bao, which also brings us into the world of "Flowers" where light is distant and ambiguous.
In 2014, Wang Jiawei announced that he would adapt Jin Yucheng’s novel "Flowers" into a movie. Unexpectedly, after six years, the main creative lineup finally surfaced.The first series to be filmed, "Flowers", was produced and directed by Wong Kar-wai.Qin WenScreenwriter,BaldseyThe visual director, starring Hu Ge, will be officially launched at the end of August.
In the form of Shanghai dialect, the novel "Flowers" tells the Shanghai past of three teenage playmates, Husheng, Bao and Xiao Mao, and also outlines a picture of Shanghai’s civic life from the 1960s to the 1990s.The drama version of "Flowers" takes a leaf from the 1990s in the novel, focusing on Mr. Bao played by Hu Ge. Through his love-hate friendship with "Three Golden Flowers", it shows the ebb and flow of Shanghai in the 1990s, when everyone was competing for the upper reaches.
Wang Chunlin, a judge on Flowers, which won the Mao Dun Prize for Literature in 2015, said: "When it comes to Shanghai storytelling, there are about four writers who are absolutely impossible to get around. In chronological order, they are Han Bangqing, Zhang Ailing, Wang Anyi and Jin Yucheng."
Why did this award-winning novel, known as "Shanghai’s" Qingming River Map ", win Wang Jiawei’s favor? What are the untold stories between" King of Sunglasses "and" Flowers "and Shanghai?
Jin Yucheng and "Flowers"
There is a saying in the book "Flowers" that is worth pondering: "If the country people shoot Shanghai, they can only shoot the Bund and the Shili Yangchang. This is the world of foreigners, and it has something to do with Shanghai, right?"
The implication is that Shanghai in previous films was mostly a "mirage" imagined and constructed by the outside world, while "Flowers" tries to write about a more "everyday" Shanghai. Wang Jiawei said: "’Flowers’ is Shanghai’s’Qingming River Map ‘, hiding the code of the city’s spirit and history and culture."
From the mansion on Sinan Road, the pulp shadow of Suzhou River, the wine bar on Yellow River Road to the old alley near the big self-sounding bell, and the "20,000 households" in Cao Yang New Village, the migration of the characters can be measured as a "living map" of Shanghai.
In terms of time, the narratives of the 1960s and 1970s and the 1990s go hand in hand, and the disappearance of old Shanghai contrasts with the rise of new Shanghai. One chapter of old events, one chapter of news, memory and reality are replicated, and each chapter seems to have traveled through thirty years.
In the details, the story of "Flowers" has no ups and downs, only endless life is fragmented, the market is mundane, but on the contrary, it depicts the most extreme Shanghai style from the exhaustive description of one dress and one meal.
For example, in Chapter 28, it is written that Merry is having a feast for guests and friends in the "Zhizhen Garden". The author incarnates as a "guest in this port" and draws up 22 dishes such as "eight cold dishes, ten hot dishes, one soup, two snacks, and one dessert", which is like a set of local dishes.
Another description of the cheongsam is even more detailed:In a camphor wood box, all cheongsam, before and after my mother’s wedding, single, clip, woolen cheongsam, flash-faced satin, four-open spinning silk, flat-headed Luo spinning, vertical silk, plain color, also have’the day after the rain ‘, peach jade, sad ink, light bamboo leaf color, each piece, waist is absolutely thin, the style is different, piping bag button, dark button, digging inlay, pan incense button, it seems simple, but it is really a demon.
It is not difficult to remind people that Maggie Cheung’s more than 20 cheongsam are all unique to Shanghai women’s delicacy and taste.
Some people have counted a total of more than 100 characters in the marquee of "Flowers", all of which are like petals in a tree full of flowers, jointly depicting the various states of Shanghai, the evolution of human nature and the vicissitudes of history.
Speaking of the "story-based" style of writing, Jin Yucheng compared himself to the "storyteller": "One thing leads to another, and after telling Zhang San, he talks about Li Si. Don’t talk about teaching, don’t advocate; don’t beautify or remedy the character image, don’t enhance the connotation of’meaningful ‘; lower position, often equal to recording, telling saliva stories, saliva people – another mezzanine of the city, those neglected communities."
At a time when "the city has no culture" and urban literary writing is declining, "Flower" is particularly precious. Cheng Yongxin, the executive editor of "Harvest" magazine, once commented: "Flower" has established a museum related to the south and the city. "
Wang Jiawei called "Flowers" a dictionary in Shanghai, "not only face, but also lining."How to interpret "Lizi" depends on the sentence "God does not ring, like everything is determined by me" written by Jin Yucheng before the preface.The word "no sound" appears more than a thousand times in the book, which is the powerlessness and helplessness of the little people in the face of the torrent of the times. The voice is drowned in the historical trend, and only follows the tide and silently "no sound".
The love or dewy love in "Flowers" may be lingering, but it is difficult to end well.The sentence in the letter written by the character Shu Hua to Hu Sheng in the book implies the theme of the novel: "The older you get, the more lonely you feel. It is normal to be born independently and die independently. People cannot be connected with each other. The good and bad states in the world are no longer worth a smile. Life is a desolate journey."
This beautiful euphemism and extreme nothingness also seem to coincide with the spiritual temperament of Wong Kar-wai’s films.
"Flowers" and Wong Kar-wai
Alone in the attic, preferably at night. At the end, Liang Chaowei rode a horse to find a horse, the hero was dark and old, counted the bills under the electric light, counted a stack, put it in the inner pocket of the suit, counted another stack, took out a pair of playing cards, opened it to take a closer look, and took out another pair. Next, comb your hair, thirty-seven hair, comb it in the mirror, your whole body is straight, your bones are sparse, and finally, turn off the lights.
This is the beginning of "Flowers" and the end of "The True Story of Ah Fei". This is the first fate between "Flowers" and Wong Kar-wai.
Jin Yucheng interpreted: "One Ah Fei went down, and another Ah Fei came up… The flowers are like little flowers with strong vitality. This one lights up and that one is dark, it smells like this."
In a way, the protagonist, Bao, is also like the "footless bird". He is an elegant gentleman, good at acting in the banquet room and the Windy Moon Field, and he is exquisite in all aspects. There is no woman who does not like him, but he never seeks to land.
Chen Chong’s deepest impression of "Flowers" was the "Sexiness of Shanghai Men". "The seductiveness of Shanghai women has been written about, but the sexiness of Shanghai men has not been expressed."
From the perspective of the synopsis, the drama version will have a choice of the novel, choosing the three women in the original novel to be carefully depicted, and the male protagonist Bao will also be tossed between them. There is also news that the female lead, Li Li, the boss of Zhizhenyuan, has been confirmed to be played by Ma Yili.
This kind of structure is also somewhat similar to "The True Story of Ah Fei". Bao and "Three Golden Flowers" each have a bit of truth and a bit of falsehood, and they will see each other when they are released.
Those who are familiar with Wong Kar-wai know the significance of "Shanghai" to him.Although Wong Kar-wai moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai with his mother at the age of 5, his childhood memories and his mother’s deep-rooted Shanghai temperament have been deeply imprinted in his genes, making Shanghai his permanent spiritual home."I’m made in Shanghai and processed in Hong Kong," Mr. Wong said more than once.
In a series of films such as "The True Story of Ah Fei" and "In the Mood for Love", Wong Kar-wai is also constantly completing the look back and re-imagination of his hometown.
In "The True Story of Ah Fei," Pan Dihua’s adoptive mother is a woman from Shanghai who speaks "old-fashioned Shanghainese".
In "In the Mood for Love", Wong Kar-wai seems to be writing about the Shanghai settlement in Hong Kong in the 1960s, but inside it is the dream of "old Shanghai" in the 1930s.
"I grew up in this environment, and today I feel like it’s gone, so I want to bring this form back to the screen," Mr. Wong said. "The Shanghainese of that era are nostalgic for Shanghai in the 1930s. When they come to Hong Kong, they want to recreate the old Shanghai world there. That’s the dream of many people for Shanghai."
In "In the Mood for Love", Wang Jiawei and art director Zhang Shuping jointly restore the childhood memory of Shanghai alleys, from human feelings to vegetables and meals are authentic Shanghai taste.
Maggie Cheung’s Su Lizhen has the projection of Wong Kar-wai’s mother. He asked Shanghai masters in their 70s to create more than 20 cheongsam, each of which is exquisite, just like Shanghai women. No matter the good times or the bad, they are always dignified and decent, from makeup to skirts.
With this deep affection for Shanghai, Wong Kar-wai naturally knew "Flowers" well. He said that he read it in one go, "adding to the face of Shanghai after I came to Hong Kong in the 1960s."
As early as 2014, Wong Kar-wai announced that he would bring "Flowers" to the big screen. Since then, there has been no end to the news about the film’s preparation and casting. Wu Yifan,Zhang ZiyiBoth were rumored to have starred, and later they were all refuted. After six years, the male lead Hu Ge finally settled down.
In order to restore the original taste of Shanghai, Wang Jiawei’s first criterion for casting is to "speak Shanghai dialect".Hu Ge, a native of Shanghai, obviously hashaveGodThe unique advantage, coupled with the cultural immersion since childhood, made Hu Ge particularly suitable for the character. At Wang Jiawei’s request, Hu Ge also lost a lot of weight for the character and was ready for the start.
According to Wong Kar-wai’s plan, he hopes to complete the 30-episode TV drama version within half a year and meet the audience next year. The movie version will start in February next year, and the male lead will still be Hu Ge, and the actress may not be the cast of the drama version.
In order to restore the style of the times, "Flowers" will be built in a 1:1 scale. The crew also recently released the "Shanghai Objects Search" to solicit old Shanghai objects from the 1990s from the general public.
Hu Ge took out his mother’s wedding sewing machine. Wang Jiawei dug out an unopened bottle of Shaoxing flower sculpture "Tiannu Loose Flowers". It was bought when he returned to Shanghai to visit relatives in 1990, just after finishing his second film "The True Story of Ah Fei". It was like going back in time and returning to the original point.
In the future, films such as Wong Kar-wai’s production or as a producer have been subject to word-of-mouth controversy, but this "Flowers", which has been brewing for many years, obviously has a special significance for Wong Kar-wai.
According to the tradition of the king of sunglasses "sharpening a sword in ten years", we cannot predict when we will finally meet "Flowers", but like the bottle of Shaoxing wine that has been dusty for 30 years, the more you age, the more mellow you become.
A table of wine, a city, and wait for half a lifetime to see the flowers.