What’s the funny point of Zhang Yimou’s third expedition to the Spring Festival ＂Article 20＂？

Special feature of 1905 film network The director met the audience at the Spring Festival for the third year in a row. Focusing on "reality+comedy", he explored profound social topics through the warm and happy "family life".

In the Spring Festival special program of "Spring Festival Movies Booming", Zhang Yimou, director of the film Article 20, walked into the Blue Feather Living Room with actors,,, and.

Click to watch the Spring Festival special program | "Article 20", the main creation of "Blue Feather Living Room" (below)

Lan Yu: Director Zhang Yimou met with you again. What does the Spring Festival file mean to you?

Zhang Yimou: It means the Chinese New Year, because during the Chinese New Year, everyone is happy and safe, so we hope that we can bring such a movie to add laughter and warmth to everyone.

Lan Yu: This is the most funny movie you have ever made, isn’t it?

Zhang Yimou: According to my own statistics, I often count and laugh more. In the past, when I made my debut, I made movies instead of comedies. Of course, comedy is difficult to shoot. Now I can especially understand that it is very difficult for actors to play skits. It is very difficult to play humorous things. It must be well-pleased, natural and heartfelt, and it also makes people laugh and have a aftertaste.

Lan Yu: The topic of justifiable defense in Article 20 is very hot on the Internet. When did you focus on this topic?

Zhang Yimou: I didn’t know much about it in the past. I took the script and saw that the story was good and well-founded. So I was going to make a movie, get in touch with it and study it slowly. I met many people in the procuratorate and they gave me a lot of opinions. I didn’t know that this law called sleeping in the past, that is, self-defense, how to judge whether it is self-defense, and the difference between it and intentional injury and intentional homicide and excessive defense is actually very knowledgeable. In our country, bills like self-defense are constantly appearing, which is the progress of the rule of law and civilization. This is my learning experience.

Lan Yu: For such a serious and realistic theme, you have presented it to everyone in a comedy way. Why do you have a soft spot for comedy now?

Zhang Yimou: Because it’s the Spring Festival, and there are such a good cast, I think it’s best to make it comic. I think this kind of theme is usually very serious and solemn, and it is a court debate, and it is rarely presented with comedy elements. China’s old saying is entertaining, so I really want everyone to see a story that is related to the people after laughing in the New Year. Realism, I think, is to start from this angle, not to say that what you are shooting today is called realism. Realism lies in how relevant it is to what people think and how profound or broad it is.

Lan Yu: There are many wonderful performances in this movie. Lei Jiayin and Zhang Dao cooperated for four times? The director once said that Lei Jiayin is an actor with strong plasticity. What do you think of Lei Jiayin’s plasticity this time?

Zhang Yimou: This time is the most difficult. Although he is a county-level prosecutor, it is difficult to play. I first discussed with Lei Jiayin whether we could play a common people and a family relationship first. I think this is very important. He has a lot of personality, some flaws and some imperfections, but he is very grounded.

Lei Jiayin: Actually, it is really difficult to turn such a working person into a person in our life. What is another difficulty? When we first began to experience life with Gao Ye, we thought it was a serious play. As a result, when the computer was turned on, the director had a meeting with us and told me and Mary that my request was entertaining. If we read the law directly to everyone, people don’t watch this movie, so we need a comedy package. We have to play comedy as a prosecutor, which is actually another difficulty.

Lan Yu: In "Man Jiang Hong", Lei Jiayin’s lines left a deep impression on everyone. This time, he is the most ordinary, maybe everyone seems to be the most timid person, but he said the most important and correct words. What kind of design is this?

Zhang Yimou: After Man Jiang Hong, he is very eloquent. At that time, the play was the same. The script had the most important play, six pages, and it had to be done in one go. I told him that you don’t have to remember it all. I’ll shoot it in stages, but I have to cut it anyway, and there may be flashbacks or something. But he can write it down. He remembers words well, which is an actor’s material. In addition, you can play on the spot, be colloquial, have feelings, and have cadence. These are all skills.

Lei Jiayin: It’s about a week before the shoot, and this kind of word is repeated every day. You have to form a muscle memory, otherwise there will be too many people below, and you won’t be able to think about it now, so you are basically muttering there every day.

Gao Ye: I’m a little enchanted. For example, when changing planes, I said, what are you doing? Recite words. How many words do I say? Six pages. I said wait and see six pages of Lei Jiayin War.

Lan Yu: How did you feel when you saw his performance?

Gao Ye: We were going to watch the music that day. After that, we happily watched Teacher Lei fight six pages. As a result, I cried. How long did he recite and how long did I cry?

Zhang Yimou: Many people cried at the scene, and they applauded spontaneously with the group performance of the acting. I didn’t stop, but I applauded after I finished.

Lan Yu: This time, I played the role of husband and wife with Mary with a very high degree of tacit understanding, and there were many jokes. I heard that a lot of burdens were collided by you on the spot? Do you often laugh to the point where you can’t shoot?

Zhang Yimou: Yes.

Lei Jiayin: The most serious scene was the one where my ex-boyfriend’s name was likui jy.

Lan Yu: This is impromptu?

Zhang Yimou: Of course, I didn’t know.

Lei Jiayin: She said her ex-boyfriend’s name was likui jy, and I laughed.

Zhang Yimou: That’s the end of the conversation.

Lei Jiayin: I’m right, I know, your ex-boyfriend Black Whirlwind. Then we started laughing, and finally the director used it, but cut off the black whirlwind.

Mary: Life is very good. The couple quarreled and laughed, which is quite good.

Lan Yu: What did you think at first?

Zhang Yimou: I have seen some of her plays. Her performances are more about pursuing characters and life, which happens to be very necessary. I feel as easy as lifting weights. I like the rhythm in their comedies very much. I like the speed very much. The speed of speech is very fast. If you roll two people, those burdens will roll out. I rolled out, I haven’t laughed yet, and the next one started rolling again. I find this sense of speed very interesting. Rolling comedy is life-oriented and brings intimacy to the audience.

Mary: As Lei Zi just said, are we kidding? No, we are very serious. The more serious you are, the funnier you are. You can’t think it’s funny.

Lan Yu: The director should be very happy this time. The back of the monitor has been laughing.

Zhang Yimou: Yes, I laughed all the time. I couldn’t help laughing all the time. I squeezed them every day, and then I found that this method was more effective. So we rolled on the spot. We had almost 8 or even 10 machines, and each time it was different, we opened the blind box. Very excited.

Mary: At the beginning, I was nervous and afraid, and I didn’t know what it would look like. But I was very excited about the director’s squeeze, and I was looking forward to it. I didn’t know what it would look like when I arrived at the scene, so I was particularly looking forward to it.

Lan Yu: This time Gao Ye returned to director Zhang’s crew in a different capacity. 13 years ago, I was an assistant director and also participated in the performance.

Zhang Yimou: Gao Ye was a young girl at that time.

Gao Ye: Senior year internship. My performance has really improved a lot over the years.

Lei Jiayin: That will have personality.

Lan Yu: After 13 years, under the lens of director Zhang Yimou again, this kind of inner pressure should be quite great, because we must prove ourselves.

Gao Ye: I thought I wouldn’t be nervous, and then I was really too nervous. After learning from the scriptures with everyone, I first communicated with Lei Zi, but it didn’t work after I finished. Then I communicated with Brother Yi after about seven or eight days. When I arrived, I communicated with Lawrence Wang. I found that everyone didn’t seem as relaxed as I thought. I said ok, so I accepted my nervousness. Actually, I’m not nervous about acting. I’ve never been nervous. I don’t know what happened that day, but I’m so nervous that I think there are a lot of distractions. Maybe I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself.

Lan Yu: Gao Ye plays a very important role in the film. What different changes did the director see after 13 years?

　Zhang Yimou: Yes. Of course I saw her. I seldom watch a play, especially a play. I like her role very much, and it is well shaped, so I thought, we will definitely have a cooperation, and we may need to find her in the next play. Her greatest advantage is that she is quite relaxed. I think all her performances are as I expected. When I played her heavy scene, I watched the monitor, and everyone behind me cried. That was probably the first cry in our whole movie, which was touching. When I saw her performance, my first feeling at that time was that this scene was finished and had a soul. The second feeling is very strong, I feel that Gaoye has grown up, grown up and matured. I can completely control such a character, something that comes out of my heart, something in my eyes, especially something in my heart. I can see that an actor is mature, and I think her road is still very wide. This is the best time.

Lan Yu: I think this movie is the least Zhang Yimou and the most Zhang Yimou. Why don’t you say Zhang Yimou is the least? It’s because you completely put aside the image styles that we have seen before and that you are best at. Why do you want to abandon these and simplify them?

Zhang Yimou: I want to wash away the lead, too. This movie has no style, but it has style. Because in the realistic atmosphere that I hope the people will widely agree with me, I think anything deliberately visualized may be harmful. We highlight the power of drama, the power of characters, and the power of emotions. Our vision is really rare. Because my realistic works are very few, especially similar to this one, but that one is actually very stylized, and it is very similar to a documentary by means of snapshot and sneak shot. There is another one, some black humor, and the vision is very stylized. This time, give up completely and let it fit naturally. It’s also the first time to try.

Lan Yu: I heard that you have a small desk lamp, which lights up after everyone in the crew finishes work every day. What kind of work do you usually do?

Zhang Yimou: I just take notes to see which shots have been shot and which shots have not been shot. I have to make a plan and write down some key points. Every shot has many up-and-down connections, so I always remember a lot of director’s homework. I call this director’s homework.

Lan Yu: Is this a habit that you have persisted in for many years?

Zhang Yimou: It was like this from the first play. Always remember, I’m afraid every director is like this, because the director has to do a lot of directing homework, and you have found the most tiring and hard job, so you should do it well. I don’t think anyone is born to be a good director. To be a good director, you have to keep learning, just like I am now. Although I have directed plays for many years, everyone seems to feel that I am a senior director, but I am still learning. A director can never finish his lessons.

Lan Yu: This is also the greatest charm of this profession.

Zhang Yimou: Yes, you will always learn, and you will always have new absorption. Working with all actors, different types of actors and different stories will give you new insights. I feel more and more that it is extremely difficult to make a movie well, completely and perfectly. My own feeling is that it is extremely difficult to make a good movie.

Lan Yu: Did Mary observe the characteristics and details of the director’s work on the set?

Mary: All the working conditions of the director are what I admire most. Just now, when I looked at the photo, I said that he was too handsome and charming. He was not only in appearance, but also innovative as the director just said. I just wanted to know how the director could think of adding such a theme with comedy elements. This is something that I don’t think ordinary people can think of. It requires a particularly detached imagination, and the energy of all actors is integrated together, so it can’t be a multi-layered feeling. I remember one time at an award ceremony, I said that I was middle-aged, and I was looking forward to the director who understood me. Maybe God heard my wish. Director Zhang Yimou really asked me to make this film. Thanks to the director, I can see myself and have a lot of potential.

Lan Yu: I heard that after entering Zhang Dao’s crew, everyone will be very involved.

Mary: Volume. I went back in the middle of the night and did my homework silently. There was a scene in which Lei Jiayin, I and the three of us really couldn’t figure out how to act. Said in the middle of the night, if the director didn’t sleep, Zhang Yi found it, (asked the director) if he could come to the office, and we talked about it until 3: 00 in the morning, how to shoot and how to perform the next day. The director began to analyze each role. After the analysis, we were full of confidence. The next day, when we turned on the phone, we took two shots and passed.

Lan Yu: What about the poker scene?

Mary: The director mentioned it.

Zhang Yimou: Yes. They did a good job, many small ideas. That scene is very important, which lays the background of the story. What is this family background, its present situation and family ecology? It’s lines, family ecology.

Lan Yu: The refreshing hairstyle and clear eyes are particularly beautiful. Zhang Dao, do you think Yao Wen is the kind of movie face?

Zhang Yimou: After the first two scenes were filmed, our photographer told me from the bottom that the child was really photogenic. Because the first scene he shot was the first scene we shot after the opening ceremony of the whole group, all the handhelds thought he was easy to shoot, and he was a movie face.

Lan Yu: The character Yao Wen has such courage because he grew up in a very happy family. Yao Wen also came out very early in his life to struggle. What does family mean to you in your mind?

Liu Yaowen: I am like friends with my parents in real life. I think what my family brings me is warmth, and our family is very happy. I will communicate with my parents about all the difficulties I am facing now and what happened to me today. I think my parents are my very strong and solid backing. If there are bullied classmates around me, I will also lend a helping hand, but in a more rational way.

Lan Yu: In life, are you a person who is willing to express his thoughts or love with his parents?

Liu Yaowen: I think I can express it, but I can’t say how much I love it. I may hide it in my heart.

Zhang Yimou: How do you express your missing?

Liu Yaowen: I will video with my father. Sometimes I really want to express my love or gratitude to my mother, but it’s hard to say it. I can only express it by action.

Zhang Yimou: I still have to say it in the future. I think I have to say it. Boys are always like this. I just haven’t said it all my life, and I’m sorry now. My father left long ago, and my mother left later, and a few years ago, so I’m sorry now, and now I’m sorry. I feel that I haven’t said a lot, because I’m the boss of the family, so I usually don’t say it, that is, I just take action. There is very little to make a phone call, and I have worked for so many years, so I’m a mother. When I woke up suddenly at night, I kept thinking, why didn’t I say something at that time, or why didn’t I do it? For example, I have been walking, and my mother has been walking, which is a pity for a long time. It’s a pity to say why I didn’t take my mother with me and walk for a while. It’s a pity that you will remember it many times.

Lan Yu: Have you ever said that on your lips, but didn’t say it?

Zhang Yimou: Yes, many times, many times. I think about it on my lips or in my head, but I don’t know why I’m embarrassed, so I put up with it. But in the end, I will feel sorry. Even now that I think about it, I’ve always been sorry, and I can’t forgive myself for many things. This is my feeling. So I’m telling you now, Yao Wen, don’t leave regrets for yourself in the future. Sometimes, say what you should say.

Lan Yu: Alan Aruna, a vicious professional, is also very brave to challenge this time. I suggest that Alan Aruna take this opportunity to introduce himself to the director. Will he challenge more other roles in the future?　　

Alan Aruna: Actors want to try, so let’s rely on their works and work harder. Anyway, god pays off.