“Try hard to overcome every obstacle in life”
2024-08-25
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
Our reporter Niu Xiaoman and Shao Qunyu
"Wang Zhantuan is Zhou Zheng's guiding light, his beam of light." On August 23, the film "Hedgehog", directed by Gu Changwei and starring Ge You and Wang Junkai, was released nationwide. The film is adapted from Zheng Zhi's short story "Xian Syndrome", which gives the uncle and nephew a deeper bond: the "devil" uncle Wang Zhantuan who is obsessed with the sea and the stuttering and autistic nephew Zhou Zheng are outliers in the eyes of others, but they become each other's confidants. Recently, Ge You and Wang Junkai were interviewed by the Global Times and shared their understanding of the characters in the film and "Hedgehog".
Two "soft" people
Global Times: What was the opportunity for you two to participate in "Hedgehog"? How do you understand your respective roles?
Ge You: I once said that as I get older, my acting range becomes narrower, but I really like this profession (acting), so I am waiting for a particularly suitable role. This time I met Wang Zhantuan, and I feel that a suitable and interesting role has come. Wang Zhantuan is a very honest person, very persistent, and yearns for the ocean in books. But he can't stand the blow, and he will think about it repeatedly after encountering something. In fact, he is a soft person.
Wang Junkai: Zhou Zheng is a character I have never seen before, a stuttering teenager. His family upbringing and the stories that happened in the big Zhou family are very attractive to me. I think this character will definitely resonate with audiences who have experienced adolescence. Zhou Zheng is actually very soft. He loves his family, is kind and has low self-esteem, but at the same time he is stubborn and has his own ideas.
Global Times: Why did Wang Zhantuan and Zhou Zheng become close friends?
Ge You: This is very easy to understand. I (Wang Zhantuan) took him in when he (Zhou Zheng) was in elementary school. His parents were too strict with him, so I took him out to play, play chess, and eat chicken racks. He relaxed and was happy with me, so our relationship became closer and closer.
Wang Junkai: Zhou Zheng was resistant to Wang Zhantuan at first. When his classmates said he stuttered, they also mocked him for having a crazy uncle to take him home. But Wang Zhantuan was infinitely tolerant of Zhou Zheng, told him stories, and even gave him a "fly" - the scene of Wang Zhantuan flying down from the eaves with green onions in his arms shocked the little Zhou Zheng, and he and Wang Zhantuan developed a relationship.
Zhou Zheng finally said, "I am Wang Zhantuan." Wang Zhantuan's influence on Zhou Zheng was not education, but encouragement and spiritual support, supporting Zhou Zheng to move towards his own life. Wang Zhantuan was Zhou Zheng's guiding light, his beam of light.
Global Times: What are some of the most memorable stories during the filming process?
Ge You: Every night we would find a room to "do homework" and talk about the characters and the upcoming story. Xiaokai would come up with very important and unique insights, and there were some details that we hadn't noticed, so we would work together to solve the problems.
Singing is difficult for me. Don’t be fooled by the fact that Wang Zhantuan sang beautifully in the square. That’s because I studied it for many days. Singing must be easier for Xiaokai than for me. I can recite a poem (laughs). Running is also difficult. I ran back and forth and was panting in the end. There was also the scene where the daughter’s boyfriend came to the house. Zhou Zheng squatted in the corner. I pulled him up to watch the eldest aunt “chopped” the son-in-law. That was also my improvisation. The moment I pulled him up, I felt that the relationship between uncle and nephew became closer.
Wang Junkai: The room where we discuss is never closed. We go to discuss the script after work, and the old man (Ge You) is often waiting for us there, which helps me a lot. There are many memorable scenes, such as the cousin Haiou’s wedding. Wang Zhantuan, as a father, hid because he was afraid of embarrassing his daughter because of his lame leg. He called Zhou Zheng, who was locked up at home, to climb up the chimney to watch the wedding. The script originally only required us to shout "Happy marriage", but the old man was moved by the scene and suddenly burst into tears while smoking a wedding cigarette. The heartbreak made all the staff present cry.
Global Times: How to grasp the character's stuttering state?
Wang Junkai: Since I knew I was going to play a stuttering teenager, I watched a lot of documentaries about stuttering patients. After watching them, I shared with the director that some patients with more serious stuttering would rather not speak and just wave their hands if they met someone asking for directions on the street. In fact, they can speak out loud, but because of stuttering, they pretend not to speak, shut themselves up and don't want to express themselves.
Everyone has a different interpretation
Global Times: What do you think of the title of the film and the word "hedgehog" that appears many times in the film?
Ge You: Xiaokai mentioned his understanding of hedgehogs before, which I think is very good. He said that hedgehogs actually refer to Wang Zhantuan and Zhou Zheng. Hedgehogs are soft, but they have erected their thorns for defense and resistance. When the hedgehog appeared at the end of the film, Wang Zhantuan released it. Everyone discussed this scene at the premiere, saying that my performance was very "magical". In fact, I didn't think that much, but everyone has their own understanding.
Wang Junkai: Actually, Wang Zhantuan and Zhou Zheng are very much like hedgehogs, incompatible with everything around them, covered with thorns to keep people away. But because they have been with each other for a long time and understand each other, they can let down their guard against each other.
Global Times: Why do the uncle and nephew respectively show "calm madness" and "rampant madness" in their resistance methods?
Ge You: It may be because of age, but I think it is more because of personality. Even the softest person can’t bear the explosion sometimes, and then appear more powerful.
Wang Junkai: I think the most similar thing about them is that they both want to rebel. It’s just that Wang Zhantuan was stimulated when he went out to sea when he was young, and became "crazy" after returning home. Zhou Zheng’s family education since he was young has begun to force him, and he feels that he has defects.
No longer stuck
Global Times: What do you think of Zhou Zheng’s final words to his parents: “I can’t forgive you”?
Wang Junkai: This is also the amazing part of the movie. Zhou Zheng can clearly tell his parents "I can't forgive you", and yet he can live a good life with them. He even asks his father for his opinion on naming his child. Although his father says "Yang" is the "Yang" of the sun, he counters that it is the "Yang" of Shenyang. Zhou Zheng spent a long time healing his pain after he became an adult, but his love for his parents has not disappeared.
Global Times: The film conveys the theme of "May you and I not be stuck in life." Have you ever been "stuck" in your life? How did you cope with it?
Wang Junkai: Waking up every morning is a stuck thing.
Ge You: Both. If I can’t sleep well, I’ll wake up naturally.
Wang Junkai: Everyone gets stuck sometimes, try your best to find a way out, whether it's a spiritual way or something else. I think life is always stuck, but we need to keep working hard to get over each hurdle. ▲#Deep Good Articles Project#
