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What would you do if reality makes you unhappy?

Director Li Yang's choice is to hide: "If reality makes me unhappy, I have two places to hide, the past and the future."

Now, Li Yang's first feature film "Safe Evacuation from the 21st Century" is being released. Three teenagers living on Planet K traveled from 1999 to 2019 to save the world. In the end, the teenagers changed the "bad" future, and after going through trials and tribulations, they returned to the summer of 1999.

Safe Exit from the 21st Century (2024)

Li Yang is a nostalgic person, "the past was so easy to get." He still remembers the physical feeling of being on the sprint team in middle school, and the experience of squatting in the toilet with his teammates to smoke. Because the smell of cigarettes between their fingers would be smelled by the dean of studies, they always used two pens to hold the cigarettes, and the pens would fall into the pit, and the more they used, the fewer pens they had, and by the time of the exam, there were no pens left.

Sometimes, his past self becomes hazy again. He said that when he read his high school yearbook and looked at the messages others left for him, he always felt that it was actually another person. People described him as so generous, and he was so enthusiastic at that time, as if he could share everything.

The past is real, but what about the future? "I am quite pessimistic about the future, because time will take away the most important things from you." Li Yang was known for "The Adventures of Li Xianji" (2009), in which the emptiness and length of the future are tormenting. Later, he also made a short film called "Bad Future" (2013). Therefore, the modifier Li Yang used to modify the word "future" was once quite negative.

The Adventures of Li Xianji (2009)

But this time, it is not only the three teenagers in the movie who have safely evacuated from the 21st century, but also the director himself. NOWNESS initiated a dialogue with him and asked him to make a prediction. In this world that has not yet arrived, people have found some past habits, and everything seems not so bad.

Creation does not necessarily require a great opportunity, and this is especially true for Li Yang. Because he wanted to earn money to buy a game console, Li Yang contributed to comic magazines when he was young. He entered the film industry to get bonus income. Unknowingly, he has reached the point where he is today, but Li Yang has not planned what to do next.

He loves The Matrix and classic Hong Kong movies, and the worlds created by these works are far away from the current reality. He was once addicted to single-player games, and would spend three all-nighters to complete a game. Only when he returned to reality did he feel the gap: he had clearly saved the world in the game and had clearly achieved such a huge "success", but why did all this have no meaning in reality?

From top to bottom:

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These confusions are also reflected in his creative process. He said that when he was writing, he was like a person who couldn't swim, waiting for random ideas to come. "I was like in a bottomless swimming pool, and when I was about to die, I suddenly hugged a piece of foam board, quickly grabbed it and climbed up, took a breath, and the foam board immediately broke, and then sank into the water again. As a result, I swam for a while before a piece of driftwood saved my life. I had no idea what would float over next."

It is this creative method that has become the only way for Li Yang to change the future. He admits his timidity and cowardice in reality, but the characters he creates can bravely run into walls everywhere and shout out their inner thoughts. He bears the pain of his past, but the plots he designs can wrap tragedy with comedy and escape the thorns of reality with fantasy.

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NOWNESS: In the imagination of "Safe Evacuation from the 21st Century", the era twenty years ago seems to be better. Can you talk about this feeling?

Li Yang:After all, when you are young, your life energy is always stronger, and your body will create an illusion that you still have hope for the future. But the nature of "hope" is different now. It is not so unbridled, and it feels a bit like lingering. Now it is not so much some abstract hope, but it is more like some more practical needs. But I am allergic to alcohol, so I can't drink. If I want to get happiness, I can only consume sugar, but I don't eat much.

Sometimes I can't tell whether it's a memory problem or whether things were really better before. Because the brain also beautifies memories. After all, if you feel that the past was painful, the present is also painful, and the future is confusing, then human beings simply cannot survive. I don't know if it's my brain that is saving me, but I always feel that twenty years ago is unresolved and has not been settled. What can I do?

NOWNESS: You once said that there was a certain gap between the original script and the current story, and the current version also reflects your efforts to get as close to the audience as possible. Can you talk about the specific efforts you made?

Li Yang:In the past, I always liked to make everyone feel very disappointed and walk away, towards the end of their lives. If you watch "Safe Escape from the 21st Century" now, everyone has a clear motivation, such as wanting to return to the better life in the past, or to find those people in the past again. But in the original version, these protagonists actually gave up this motivation in the end.

However, in the process of creation, I gradually gained the motivation to be more positive. You can also see that the three male protagonists in the film all have their own losses. When I was shaping them, I imagined them as the three most difficult problems in my body, all of which I could not solve. For example, Wang Zha represents boredom with the future, Cheng Yong represents the stubbornness of not asking for help from others, and Paopao represents the lack of self-awareness. These characters may be my dark side, but this time I want to see if they can solve these problems themselves during the creation process.

Safe Exit from the 21st Century (2024)

NOWNESS: Do you think this adjustment is based on commercial considerations or other more complex factors?

Li Yang:First of all, I don't think that making some "commercial" adjustments will necessarily be accepted by the public. Of course, after all, we have just gone through a difficult period, and if we want to reach more audiences, we do need some relatively positive energy. My main idea at the time was the picture level, because I felt that this was not a story that I could watch on a small screen by myself, so I needed to present some images that belonged to the cinema.

I can give you an example from my childhood. The Soviet Union had just collapsed, and the state-sponsored circuses became impoverished, so they often came to China to perform in order to survive. I remember that the circus performers back then were not handsome men and beautiful women at all. They had long since aged and could not maintain their figures. Even the bear that was led was very thin. It was obvious that it had not seen anything for a long time, and had not seen the audience for a long time. So it had some stress reactions, broke free from the chains, and rushed to the audience. I was sitting in the top ten rows at the time, and saw the audience rushing to the back like a tide.

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Li Yang:I think this kind of live feeling and surprise presented to the audience is something that belongs to theaters and cinemas. So I also like to arrange surprises in the movie story, and I will try to mobilize the emotions of the theater audience. During this road show, I also met some audiences who are usually very introverted, silent, and lonely. They said that they usually don’t stand up and speak in the crowd, but after watching this movie, they seem to be able to do so. I think expressing more will definitely attract people of the same kind.

NOWNESS: To some extent, the three teenagers in "Safe Evacuation from the 21st Century" are a projection of yourself. Can you talk about why you designed it this way?

Li Yang:I found that the reason why I parted ways with many friends was actually my own problem, and Wang Zha might have solved this problem. For example, in the scene where Wang Zha and Cheng Yong were arguing in the bridge tunnel, Cheng Yong was afraid that his partner would hurt Wang Zha and wanted him to leave quickly. What I wrote in the script was that Cheng Yong asked Wang Zha to "pretend not to know him", and Wang Zha calmly held Cheng Yong's hand and said that the two of them would hide in twenty years ago forever and never return to this future. But when it came to the actual performance, Zhang Ruoyun and Song Yang were completely unable to remain calm in the bridge tunnel and a fierce argument broke out. Ruoyun finally shouted a sentence that was not in the script. He said, "I can't help but know you!"

Li Yang:I have never said such words in my life. Because Wang Zha is a very passionate person who can express his emotional needs directly, which I can't do. When I encounter such occasions where I need to express my emotions, I will only feel lost and choose to escape, thinking that I am not worthy of such a friend. So when Ruoyun performed like this that day, I also secretly made up my mind to correct it in the future. But after filming the movie, I found that I still couldn't change it (laughs). I just think that I am a bad guy, and my friends will be luckier if they stay away from me.

Maybe it’s because I’m no longer such a generous person, a very precious quality. When I was young, my living environment was much better, and I seemed to be able to give everything. Now, perhaps because of family changes and changes in the world, I can never imagine the future, and I’m even too lazy to think about what will happen next week. I always feel that it’s unimaginable, so I naturally avoid emotional investment.

Safe Exit from the 21st Century (2024)

NOWNESS: You mentioned earlier that you may not be so "brave" when it comes to expressing your emotions in life. In your creation, how do you use stories and characters to help you express yourself?

Li Yang:Yes, of course I hope these characters can help me. I read about a writer who put his own problems into the book and let the characters in the book help him solve them. I also ponder when I am writing. For example, when I write about the three problems faced by Wang Zha, Cheng Yong and Paopao, I will think, how many people in the world can overcome these three shortcomings? And it can't just be overcome temporarily. For example, when I was shooting the bridge hole scene, I heard Ruoyun shouting like that. At that moment, I did conquer the weakness of being shy to express my feelings, but after the filming, I was immediately beaten back to my original state.

The more I thought about it, the harder it became. No one around me was like this, and probably no one in the world could perfectly and permanently overcome those three shortcomings. I continued to imagine that if someone could really do it, then the sufferings we encounter in daily life would be nothing to him. Then what kind of suffering would be "worthy" of such a perfect person? It would probably be that the world is about to end, and he has to save the world. At this point, I have to set up a disaster, so I can only make the whole world very scary and terrible. In this way, the whole story is logical.

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NOWNESS: Nostalgia is a common choice for many creators from different eras. Your short films and feature films actually have a strong nostalgic temperament. What do you think of this tendency?

Li Yang:If reality makes me unhappy, then I have only two places to hide, either the past or the future. I am quite pessimistic about the future, and obviously the future is not good. After all, time will always take away the most important things from you, such as your strong body, your naive but strong beliefs, and the precious people in your life. So I think it is quite natural to be afraid of the future.

Safe Exit from the 21st Century (2024)

Li Yang:As for the past, it is so readily available. Many times, I didn't realize that I was nostalgic, but when you talked about it, I felt that it was indeed the case. But when I was shooting at the end, I gradually realized that actors would also create things you didn't expect.

For example, in the film, although I portrayed Wang Zha as a brainless, silly and cheerful character, Zhang Ruoyun played a bit of melancholy. I was confused at first, but I gradually realized that this melancholy temperament was actually correct. Why can't I find friends in life who are like them and have fought all the way from the age of 18? In fact, it is because I don't have the kind of passion and melancholy in Wang Zha's body, so if I just simply question the past, it may not necessarily solve the problem.

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NOWNESS: Many creators also use their works to solve real-life problems, but they may return to the real space or stories they are familiar with. Your inclination seems to be somewhat different. You try to use many fantasy elements to achieve your goals. How do you grasp the boundary between reality and fiction during your creation?

Li Yang:I think those who dare to touch reality are actually braver and more persistent. I am too cowardly. When I encounter difficulties, I hide, and I always want to hide very skillfully and cleverly. I don’t dare to tell my story directly in front of many strangers. I have to create a fake shell and make a lot of fake settings, such as the time difference in "The Adventures of Li Xianji" and the time travel this time. Only in this way can I dare to describe the real experience with confidence. Maybe this is the weakness in my character.

Safe Exit from the 21st Century (2024)

Li Yang:So when I was writing, if I felt sad, I would find ways to cheer myself up. For example, the characterization of the three teenagers was actually a continuation of imagination and reality. For another example, when talking about a plot like losing an eye, if you think about it carefully, you will find that this pain will actually accompany the character throughout his life.

As I thought about it, I felt that I couldn't do that, I had to be happy. The entire creative process would be very awkward, and the audience might have problems accepting it, and I couldn't count it as a metronome in the play. So, anyway, I think those creators who delve into the depths of pain are very courageous, and they are not afraid of others seeing it.

As for me, just resisting the pain has exhausted all my strength.

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NOWNESS: Your works often involve time travel, and characters often try to use information learned in the future to change the past. What do you think about predicting the future? Can you try to make some predictions yourself?

Li Yang:I think it is a terrible thing to simply predict, because such predictions are meaningless. What good is it if you know the result in advance? For predictions to be meaningful, the premise is that you can change the result and go to another parallel universe. The reason why everyone respects the so-called "prophet" is that he can not only foresee the future, but also help us change the future through hints, communicate with the future, and lead to a better ending.

Li Yang:So if I were to predict, I miss the era of videotapes. I think that thing was very ceremonial. Now we have a huge Internet that contains all the movies, and we know what is complete. But in that era, watching movies was not omniscient. There were various versions of videotapes, and if part of the movie was deleted, the audience would never know what was deleted. So I want to predict that some kind of cosmic ray will attack the earth, which basically has no effect on anything, but only destroys the disk array and destroys the human habit of watching movies online.

That way, everyone can go back and watch the videotape again.