news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

When director Hu Mei first started preparing for the film version of Dream of the Red Chamber, a large number of people opposed her, saying, "Are you crazy?" But Hu Mei felt that everything depends on human effort, and that this must be done and is worth doing, otherwise there would be regrets.

In 2006, Hu Mei and the creative team began to polish the script, and it was not until 10 years later that the script was approved. In 2017, the crew began to audition actors worldwide, and filming began a year later. "This is indeed a very difficult task, full of challenges, but it is also a very interesting process." Hu Mei feels that if "Dream of Red Mansions" can be successfully adapted, it will be a good deed, allowing young people to return to their desks to read this masterpiece and feel the cultural confidence brought by this literary work.

The movie "Dream of Red Mansions: The Golden Marriage" took ten years to polish the script.

In terms of adaptation, Hu Mei proposed that the film "Dream of Red Mansions: Golden Jade Marriage" should be positioned for contemporary audiences, and that it should be a youth version of the Dream of Red Mansions. She also established the theme of "conspiracy and love" and made some innovations on the basis of respecting the original work. However, the adaptation of classic literary works will inevitably cause some controversy. How to find the greatest common divisor between being faithful to the original work and innovation, how to make choices in such a vast content, and the casting of actors that is often criticized by the audience are all issues that Director Hu Mei must face.

Before the release of the film Dream of Red Mansions: A Marriage of Gold and Jade on August 16, the Beijing News interviewed director Hu Mei and asked her to respond to these controversies. She said that she had never been afraid of the controversy caused by the adaptation, but was happy to see the audience discuss different opinions. Her biggest original intention in making this film was to allow the classic work Dream of Red Mansions to be discussed by the public again, and to stimulate the public's attention and enthusiasm for traditional culture. There are a thousand Hamlets for a thousand readers, and people's understanding of Dream of Red Mansions is also a thousand different. Even if there are shortcomings in the adaptation of this film, she is willing to throw out a brick to inspire more people to have a deeper understanding and re-creation of Dream of Red Mansions, and look forward to more excellent works emerging in the future.

【adaptation】

Filming a youth version of "Dream of Red Mansions", establishing the theme of "conspiracy and love"

Beijing News: In fact, most of the current audiences, especially young people, have not read the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, and may not even have watched the 1987 TV series. For this work with many characters and not too many dramatic conflicts, what is the idea and direction of the adaptation? How to make the current young audience understand and accept it?

Hu Mei:In the era of short videos, everyone's appreciation habits have become fragmented. It is rare to read a heavy book like "Dream of Red Mansions". However, such a touching story as "Dream of Red Mansions" should be passed on. This is my dream. So when my generation wanted to shoot "Dream of Red Mansions", my positioning was to face contemporary people. I put forward a requirement, which was to pursue a youthful Red Mansion (features), and to make some innovations in some aesthetic vision without losing the spirit of the original work. Innovation is a must. If there is no innovation, it would be meaningless to shoot "Dream of Red Mansions" today.

Beijing News: What innovations does the director think this version of "Dream of Red Mansions" has?

Hu Mei:When writer Wang Meng watched the first sample of Dream of Red Mansions, he kept crying. After watching it, he said, "Hu Mei, you wrote 'Jia pit Lin's wealth' as ​​the main plot, which is an innovation." The Jia family embezzled Lin Daiyu's family's money (implying that the Jia family embezzled the inheritance of Lin Daiyu's father Lin Ruhai after his death), but it was not clear where the money went. We made this clear in the movie. There is a line that says: a centipede is dead but not stiff. That is to say, this family has declined, the treasury is empty, and the court is still collecting taxes from them. They also want to build the Grand View Garden. Where does the money come from? We wrote this mystery on the surface, which is logical, and also made Jia Baoyu's love become a conspiracy (victim) of collusion between economic interests and political forces, thus establishing the theme of "conspiracy and love". In addition, the youth version of Dream of Red Mansions was established as mentioned earlier. After these two points were made clear, I think this film has a new vitality and is worth remaking in the contemporary era.

Stills from “Grandma Liu Visits the Grand View Garden”.

Beijing News: "Grandma Liu Visits the Grand View Garden" is a well-known allusion to the audience, but this passage in the movie feels dispensable and does not help much with the theme of "conspiracy and love". What was the director's consideration?

Hu Mei:People who have not read the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber may have this problem, because the story is originally about the love between Baoyu and Daiyu, but Granny Liu suddenly appears in the middle for 4 and a half minutes, which is incomprehensible. In fact, Granny Liu has two functions. One is that she is the only comedic character in the whole film. The second is that I ask myself, if I make a Dream of the Red Chamber without Granny Liu, will all the Redologists be able to accept it? I dare not not mention Jiao Da, he must be there, even if it is just a little bit, I have to insert him.

Beijing News: Due to space limitations, the director also discarded a lot of things.

Hu Mei:There are so many excellent things in Dream of the Red Chamber, such as the long segment of Baoyu losing the jade. In the 1962 version of Yue Opera Dream of the Red Chamber, this segment alone lasted for more than an hour. Jia Zheng beat his son. It was a huge scene. In the end, we thought about it for a long time and removed the part of Jia Zheng. From the overall perspective, we are afraid that the film will be too scattered. Once it is scattered, there will be no clues, and it will be difficult for the audience to continue watching. Why are people afraid to adapt Dream of the Red Chamber? Because Dream of the Red Chamber has this problem. It is very long and there are actually very few love segments of Baoyu, Daiyu and Chai that can be truly extracted in the 120 chapters. We may have deleted one or two useless segments, and basically used them all in the whole film.

Beijing News: The movie begins with Lin Daiyu’s second visit to the Jia Mansion. Who came up with this beginning?

Hu Mei:This was proposed by screenwriter He Yanjiang (who has participated in the script adaptation of TV series such as "The Emperor of Han Wu" and "Qiao Family Courtyard"), who insisted on starting with Lin Daiyu's second visit to the Jia Mansion. I thought it was possible at the time? Whoever wrote "Dream of Red Mansions" did not start with (Lin Daiyu)'s first visit to the Grand View Garden, and Wang Xifeng's classic appearance when she first met Lin Daiyu, "heard her voice before seeing her", was actually removed. In the movie, Wang Xifeng also has a (signature) laugh, but it is not the classic segment of her first meeting with Daiyu. A few days ago, Mr. Zhong Chengxiang (former vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles) proposed at a theoretical seminar that any adaptation that is 100% faithful to the original work is bound to fail, and a truly good adaptation must stand on the shoulders of giants. I think this is the best evaluation he gave me.

【Photography】

"Daiyu Burying Flowers" is the most difficult to restore, but also the most brilliant passage

Beijing News: The running time of this movie is only 116 minutes. Compared with the original novel with 120 chapters, how was this length of less than two hours determined?

Hu Mei:We originally wanted to shoot in three parts, upper, middle and lower, but later it became two parts, and then one part. You can actually shoot for three hours, or two and a half hours. Why did I choose two hours? Because when I watch an art film, if it is longer than two hours, it looks a bit strenuous. So I think the most focused and efficient time should be within two hours.

Director Hu Mei (center) at the filming site of the movie "A Dream of Red Mansions: A Perfect Match".

Beijing News: There are many classic scenes in "Dream of Red Mansions". In addition to the "Grandma Liu Visits the Grand View Garden" mentioned just now, there are also "The Land of Illusion", "The Princess Yuan's Visit to Her Parents", "Baochai Catching Butterflies", "Daiyu Burying Flowers", etc. Which scene is the most difficult to restore?

Hu Mei:I think the most difficult and most terrifying part of Dream of Red Mansions is "Daiyu Burying Flowers", but a lot of experience tells me that the most difficult part must be the most brilliant part, so I held on to it for several years, but I couldn't figure it out. A little girl was sweeping the floor with a broom on her back, and then she sat there and cried. I couldn't shoot it. It was too difficult, because movies should speak with images, have aesthetics and visual impact, and turn words into pictures beyond other people's imagination. In the early stage of adaptation, we were under great pressure. I felt like a mountain was pressing on my heart. I really couldn't sleep all night. I just couldn't figure out how to do "Daiyu Burying Flowers" because no one had done it before. It was to open three walls, walk out of the Chinese classical garden, walk out of the small earthen mound, and show you from a God's perspective. Even behind the peach blossoms is a snowy mountain, which echoes it with the opening (Jia Baoyu in the snowy field).

In the view of director Hu Mei, the two scenes of "Daiyu burying flowers" and "Baoyu becoming a monk" are a kind of echo.

Beijing News: It seems that the team also went to the Peach Blossom Festival in Linzhi, Tibet to shoot scenes?

Hu Mei:At that time, we hadn't finished the storyboard and had nothing. We just heard that there was a peach blossom festival in Linzhi, Tibet. In fact, this peach blossom festival had nothing to do with us, so several members of our team went there directly and filmed it first. In fact, it's hard to say whether it's courage or luck. As a result, they accidentally filmed glaciers and glaciers. At that time, they were still struggling to rent which drone. The big drone cost 50,000 a day, and the small one cost 10,000 a day. In the end, they used the big one after struggling for a long time. After I came back, I saw the shooting materials, which stimulated my inspiration and I knew how to use them. I also thank Zheng Wei's Hollywood visual effects team. In the end, the peach blossom scene was shot in the special effects studio. It took a year and was very successful.

Beijing News: A screenshot of Qin Keqing lying in rose petals in the "Land of Illusion" was previously leaked online, causing quite a controversy among netizens. Some said it was a tribute to "American Beauty", while others said it was vulgar. What is the director's response to this?

Hu Mei:I don't think it's vulgar. The "Illusionary Land" is actually very important to Jia Baoyu. This is the moment when he first fell in love and awakened to sexual consciousness. I thought about it for a long time and couldn't get around it. In fact, the description in the movie is already very clean. We cut some new shots before, which is a pity. In the "Illusionary Land", Qin Keqing is the object of Jia Baoyu's sexual fantasy, but after Jia Baoyu wakes up, the actual sexual enlightenment becomes Xiren. I think this is the strength of "Dream of Red Mansions". It breaks down and talks about human nature, and digs out all the things of human nature nakedly. I think it's good. "Dream of Red Mansions" itself is also a classic work of sexology in China. Young people now should also increase sex education.

Beijing News: There are actually very few film adaptations of "Dream of Red Mansions" in mainland China. Perhaps the most classic one is the six-film series directed by Xie Tieli in 1989. Therefore, the response of this classic adaptation in the current market remains to be tested. What are the director's expectations for the market performance of this film?

Hu Mei:I think we creators should not have too much burden. Our foothold is to serve contemporary audiences. I think I have to do my job. Have I achieved my goal? Have I really put the spirit of the original work into it? Have I extracted its main plot? Can I make it into a good-looking movie? Can I attract today's audiences visually and in terms of sound effects? Can I satisfy their aesthetic taste? The rest is up to the market.

"The Princess's Visit to Her Parents" is the climax of the film. The crew has made extremely elaborate designs for the sense of time in the on-site settings, and a large number of character costumes are purely hand-embroidered and hand-dyed.

【Casting】

Before I found Jia Baoyu, I had no confidence in filming this play.

Beijing News: Some of the actors for this film went through auditions. Was the audition process smooth?

Hu Mei:In 2017, we auditioned 20,000 people, and finally selected 200 to 300 people who were still acceptable. Some of them were quite outrageous. There were people in their 20s looking for jobs. One person applied more than 90 times, but couldn't find a job, so he came to us to find a job. Later, it happened to be the art exam in January, so we went to various colleges and universities to find candidates for the art exam, and sent some people to take pictures with their mobile phones. Ma Fei, who played Qingwen, was selected during the art exam. There is also Yang Qiru, who played Xiren. Many people liked her after watching the movie, and later recommended her to play in "The Captain" (playing a stewardess).

Bian Cheng and Zhang Miaoyi played Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu respectively in the film "A Dream of Red Mansions Part Two".

Beijing News: Before selecting the three leading actors of "Bao, Dai and Chai", did you have any idea about shooting this film?

Hu Mei:These three were also selected through auditions. At that time, Bian Cheng (who played Jia Baoyu) was only 14 years old. In fact, before I found Bian Cheng, I really had no confidence in filming this play, because if you don’t have a suitable actor, you can’t find a Jia Baoyu, what will you do? At that time, we were anxious, so we reduced the selection range from freshmen to sophomores and juniors in high school, and directly selected art students in high school.

Beijing News: It is said that the director asked young actors to watch the performances of the actors in the 1987 version. Do you think this will be helpful to them?

Hu Mei:Yes, they were required to watch it, and the teacher would ask them, "Have you watched it? Which episode have you watched?" They kept a record every day. I think you really need to watch it over and over again. Those actors are really fresh in my memory, but you can't ask these children to imitate them completely, you can't just copy them, you have to have your own creation.

Beijing News: When it comes to adaptations of classic masterpieces, the choice of actors is often criticized by the audience. Coupled with the 1987 version, how does the director view this phenomenon?

Hu Mei:The choice of actors is crucial. If the actor cannot conquer the audience visually, and cannot make the audience believe him (her) or like him (her) at first sight, then the film is doomed. You said that Zhang Miaoyi (playing Lin Daiyu) is not as beautiful as a fairy in terms of appearance, but she has a unique flavor, which is the temperament deep in her soul. She is compatible with Daiyu, which is particularly rare. You can't let Yang Qiru, who plays Xiren, play Lin Daiyu. She is also very cute, but can she play Lin Daiyu? Thinking about it, it's still wrong. In fact, there are several choices who may play Lin Daiyu, but after choosing, Zhang Miaoyi is undoubtedly the most suitable among these people.

Beijing News reporter Teng Chao

Editor: Huang Jialing

Proofread by Zhao Lin