zhang yudi: only through growing pains can one become an adult
2024-08-29
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text/reporter xiao yang photos/zhao qian
the voice change is a sign of the beginning of puberty and a "barrier" that peking opera actors need to overcome during the voice change period. in the movie "the voice change" currently being screened, the growth of a teenager "collides" with the quintessence of peking opera. all the anxiety and confusion are concentrated on the moment of transformation, making the youth story exciting. recently, the film's director and screenwriter zhang yudi said in an exclusive interview with a beijing youth daily reporter that he had always wanted to shoot a youth-themed work, but did not want to talk about it in general terms. the peking opera element gave the story a unique entry point, "the voice change and youth have become a very good combination. if you are going through puberty, i hope that after watching this movie, you will feel that growing up is not that scary. if you have already gone through puberty, i hope that you will feel that being young is great."
"dao cang" is directed by zhang yudi, a post-90s generation, written by huo xueying and zhang yudi, and starred by bian cheng, zhou meijun, zhang chi, chen shaoxi, xu shixin, liu jun, and peking opera master song xiaochuan. it tells the story of sun xiaolei, a student at a drama school, who is facing his first important competition in his life, but is anxious about his voice change period. in the process of preparing for the competition, sun xiaolei becomes friends with shi jiahui and xie tianci, and the three of them welcome the "dao cang" of adolescence in the hot summer.
construct the protagonist with real youth and real growth
although the film is titled "downfall", zhang yudi said that the film is not about sun xiaolei's downfall alone, but a hurdle that everyone has to go through during adolescence.
zhang yudi revealed that the idea for the film began in 2017, and the inspiration came from an accidental chat between her and xueying. "xueying is my college classmate. she is a fan of peking opera and often goes to listen to opera. she mentioned to me that many children who learn peking opera may have been small roles before, but after experiencing the "diaocang" (a stage of singing) their voices are no longer suitable for singing, and they can only play minor roles for others, or even their opera career ends there. i think this is very suitable for telling a story about youth. for peking opera actors, the "diaocang" (a stage of singing) that is crucial in their artistic career coincides with adolescence, and is the beginning of adolescence. the change in their voice is also the beginning of their physical and mental changes."
the three core characters in the film - sun xiaolei who is going through the transition period, shi jiahui, a girl who is learning to be an old man, and xie tianci who has completed the transition period - all have distinct personalities and growth difficulties. zhang yudi said that at first, there was only a vague framework of the characters in her mind. during the in-depth field research at the affiliated high school of the national theatre of china, she drew a lot of inspiration from real peking opera teenagers. "it is better to say that these people found me rather than that we created these characters. when i was field researching at the affiliated high school of the national theatre of china, i met many interesting children. in the process of getting along with them, i gradually understood the appearance of each character. so, each character has a prototype."
"daocang" uses real youth and real growth to construct the protagonist, showing the integration of peking opera and young people's lives. zhang yudi joked that as a female director, she would have more preferences when shaping female images: "i met a girl who studied daomadan at the affiliated high school of the national theatre of china. she looked very boyish and was good at martial arts and dancing. in the process of communicating with her, i found that she was more and more concerned about her girl side. she was also trying to define what it means to be a girl. this confusion and exploration of gender cognition became the basis for shaping shi jiahui. through this role, we want to explore whether a girl must conform to a certain established image, and how she can find and define her own gender role on stage and in life."
xie tianci is also a boy zhang yudi met during the field trip. "the boy was born into a peking opera family. he liked korean idol groups and tried to sign up for a boy band, but later found that he loved the peking opera stage more, so he returned to the affiliated high school of the national academy of chinese opera to study. when we were making this character, we created a boy who had followed his father to perform on the stage since he was a child. does he want to take a different path in life? does he feel that his life is not just about peking opera?"
sun xiaolei's fear and confusion are also very representative. zhang yudi said: "sun xiaolei has a vague feeling for shi jiahui in his heart, but this affection touches his deep fear: he begins to question, when a person begins to like another person, does it mean that he must grow up and must enter the adolescence full of variables? does it mean that he is about to experience the dreaded "reversal of the warehouse"? his heart is full of tension and anxiety, and he associates this innocent love with the voice change period that he fears the most, which makes him instinctively want to resist this feeling, and even unconsciously resist his affection for shi jiahui. this caused their relationship to become twisted for a period of time. however, when sun xiaolei really experienced the reversal of the warehouse and looked back on his relationship with shi jiahui, he was surprised to find that this relationship was unique and precious, an indispensable part of his growth, and a window for him to understand himself and the world."
zhang yudi believes that only by experiencing growing pains can one become an adult, and only after experiencing these troubles and struggles of adolescence can one move on to the next stage of life.
zhang yudi, screenwriter and director of "the warehouse"
peking opera is the soul of the film, but it is not a threshold for watching it
in the film, peking opera elements are not only an embellishment of ancient culture, but also deeply penetrated into the plot, character creation and theme expression, becoming the soul of the whole film. zhang yudi admitted: "we first had the entry point of peking opera, and then we made this youth film." however, zhang yudi also said that the difficulty of creating "daocang" lies in how to make the audience who do not understand peking opera easily accept this youth film, "peking opera cannot become an obstacle to watching the movie."
to this end, elements of peking opera were cleverly integrated into life, forming a collision of youthful vitality and ancient art. zhang yudi said: "this was also inspired by the children of the national academy of chinese opera. peking opera has taken root in every corner of their daily life. i still remember a photo shared by the children on wechat moments. they were eating barbecue skewers on the street. one of the children had peking opera makeup on his face. there were swords, guns, sticks and clubs for training placed randomly on the table. these props were intertwined with the smoke of barbecue, forming an interesting picture. this clip was also used in the movie. the children recorded life in the purest way, which prompted us to explore the combination of peking opera and modern life in the movie."
will children who learn opera have a different kind of youth? zhang yudi said: "i was also very curious before, but later i found that they are no different from ordinary children, also addicted to mobile phones, keen on short videos and idol culture. however, they are different in another way - under the influence of traditional culture, they show a rare tenacity and classical temperament, which is rare in contemporary society."
in terms of peking opera excerpts, "daocang" selected excerpts from the well-known plays "wujiapo", "lock of the unicorn", "spring boudoir dream", etc., which perfectly matched the plot. for example, during the rehearsal for the preliminary round of the competition, shi jiahui sang "catching and releasing cao cao", with the lyrics "i was frightened by his words", which corresponded to sun xiaolei's nervous situation of worrying that his lies would be exposed by his father.
in planning the last big play, the most colorful chapter of the film, zhang yudi was also looking for the most suitable play to serve as the perfect ending to the personal growth story. "we tried countless plans, hoping that the plot would meet everyone's dream - sun xiaolei, a young man anxious about his masculinity, was able to blossom on the stage as a female role; shi jiahui, who often struggled between her stage image and her real gender, got her wish to play the role of an old man and sang out her firm choice; xie tianci, the protagonist who was always adored by the stars, had to step out of the halo and experience a different stage life as a supporting role. in the end, teacher song xiaochuan, with his profound peking opera attainments, gave us guidance and recommended the play "the female generals of the yang family". he also encouraged us to make some cuts and splicing on the basis of respecting the classics, and finally completed this highlight, which not only met the needs of the role, but also fit the theme of youth."
zhang yudi also particularly likes the song "dingjun mountain" sung by the three at the end of the film: "everyone will be rewarded if they move forward, but they will inevitably be stabbed if they retreat. all the generals and i will return to the camp and complete our mission by 3:30 tomorrow afternoon." zhang yudi said, "this is a plot that struck me when we were writing the script. the three of them looked at their confused youth who didn't know where to go, but sang such a high-spirited passage, which is also a battle song for their next journey."
young actors with natural youthful temperament
"daocang" brings together several talented new generation actors born in the 2000s. zhang yudi praised them, "several actors have a natural youthful temperament. they are very close to the characters in the film, and they work very hard and always immerse themselves in the role. one month before we started filming, they started peking opera training, and eventually went from zero foundation to being able to perform with form and spirit. at that time, i went to see them train every day, and found that they would find free time to continue working hard after the training, and they all wanted to do their best. moreover, they had already established a very deep friendship before the training, so the chemical reaction between them was not acting, but a real friendship."
zhang yudi laughed and said that the biggest motivation for her to open her eyes and walk to the set every day is to see the actors bring surprises. she revealed that when she first selected the actors, she hoped that the actors would have a certain foundation in peking opera, so she chose actors like chen shaoxi and zhang chi who already had a foundation in opera. "chen shaoxi himself studied peking opera, and after losing his job, he switched to studying kunqu opera. he can understand the inner ups and downs and changes of the characters in the movie. chen shaoxi himself is very similar to the character of xie tianci. in his life, he is a boy who likes to joke and tease others, and sometimes he suddenly becomes serious. his performance made xie tianci's language system come alive all of a sudden. i don't think anyone will dislike him. everyone who sees him will think that this boy is really cute and charming."
as for choosing zhou meijun to play shi jiahui, zhang yudi said it was "fate". "when i watched a short film myself, i only watched it for one minute and took a screenshot and said that this girl is the shi jiahui we are looking for. zhou meijun has a very complex charm. we were actually afraid to portray shi jiahui as a very straightforward tomboy, so that her character would have fewer layers. but when zhou meijun appeared, you would feel that there were stories in her eyes. she is a girl who is still searching for herself, hesitating, and trying to find an answer for herself. so, we were very determined to work with her at that time."
actor bian cheng made zhang yudi feel that he was "the leading actor given to me by god". "when writing the role of sun xiaolei, we kept thinking about what kind of person he should be. he is not as sharp-edged as xie tianci, and is completely different from shi jiahui. he is very twisted and hesitant, but at the same time very cute. he is a boy with a delicate mind and thinks a lot. he has his own anxieties, but he is very taciturn. when i first met bian cheng, he was a man of few words, but you would feel that he had thought about everything in his heart. therefore, the sun xiaolei he played was not the kind of person who didn't know what to say, but he thought a lot, but finally chose not to say it. this is very interesting. he gave the character such characteristics and charm. and when we saw bian cheng's peking opera look, our first reaction was 'shock'."
during the audition, the role of shi jiahui's friend zheng yiwen was also highly competitive. zhang yudi told reporters: "i didn't hesitate at all and chose xu shixin at first sight, because she made us feel that she must be a girl who would sincerely be friends with another girl."
zhang yudi believes that the quarrel scene by the lake in the film is a test of the actors' explosive power. "compared to other emotionally delicate scenes in the film, this scene requires the actors to show fierce conflicts. during the trial shoot, i found that although the actors performed the physical conflict vividly, the emotional tension was not fully released. in order to stimulate the actors' potential, i asked the actors not to talk to each other the night before the formal shooting to create a tense atmosphere. that morning, the weather was extremely hot, and the emotions of several actors erupted like a volcano, and everyone's performance reached the expected climax. zhou meijun told me that she really felt the fierce dispute between the characters at that time, and this emotional investment made her completely immersed in the play. the scene was passed after only two takes."
zhang yudi said that the only regret during the filming was that the actors were not given more time to "improvise". "when i watched the editing later, i found that one of their improvisations was very moving. so, i think it would be more perfect if there was more time and space for them to improvise and present the 'divine moments' beyond the script."
youth is not a single-plank bridge, it is full of possibilities
the film "the warehouse" started shooting in midsummer 2022 and is now released in the summer. in zhang yudi's view, youth and midsummer are equally intense and beautiful. "when i think of youth, i always think of summer, because when we were students, we had summer vacation in the summer. it was the happiest, carefree and long vacation. we could be with friends and ourselves. many happy and unforgettable memories happened in the summer. at the same time, summer is also a very extreme season, with high temperatures, scorching sun, and heavy rain, which is very similar to the emotions of adolescence. we will feel extreme happiness, extreme sadness, extreme vitality, or extreme depression. these are very similar to the atmosphere of summer, and everything in summer is more colorful and dazzling, which is also very related to the feeling that youth gives us."
for the creative team, the summer they filmed together was also unforgettable. "two of our actors celebrated their 18th birthdays on the set. the movie became a vehicle to record our youth, and we went through this very important journey together."
through "dao cang", zhang yudi wants to tell young people that youth is not a single-plank bridge, but is full of many possibilities. "for children learning peking opera, dao cang is the biggest hurdle in their adolescence. they will feel that if they can't get through this hurdle, the rest of their life may be ruined. for ordinary people, this hurdle is not dao cang, but it is also something you will inevitably experience in adolescence. it may be the college entrance examination, or it may be that you have made an important decision. when we were very young, at a certain moment, we felt that all our hopes in life were pinned on a certain thing. if this thing is done wrong, there will be no more chances, and life will lose hope. but we hope to tell young people through "dao cang" young people are not like this. in fact, your life has more aspects and possibilities. you feel like you are standing in the fog and you see thousands of troops trying to cross a single-plank bridge, but in fact, you are not facing a single-plank bridge, but a complex overpass system with many different destinations and many different exits. every exit is good, and every exit is correct. even if you go the wrong way, you can go around the overpass and come back again. it is not that if you fall off the single-plank bridge once in your life, you will fall into the abyss. i think this may be the words that those of us who have just walked out of the fog of adolescence would like to encourage young people. don't be afraid that every path you take and every choice you make are correct. "
the creativity and surprises of the creative team are the most valuable
zhang yudi graduated from the school of journalism at fudan university. she found that she was more interested in storytelling, so she went to the university of southern california school of cinematic arts for graduate studies. "the warehouse" is zhang yudi's first feature film, which won the first prize of the 15th first youth film festival venture capital, the "china good story" winning project of the 34th china film golden rooster award film venture capital conference, and this year won the most popular film award of the 26th shanghai film festival "belt and road film week" and the best screenwriter award of the 18th first youth film festival, and received attention and recognition.
zhang yudi feels that he is a very lucky director. "for my first work, i met a very good cooperation company and very good actors. this makes me feel that as long as i tell the story seriously, i will still have the opportunity to be heard and seen."
she admitted that she had many concerns, doubts or uncertainties when filming this film, "however, the main creative team gave me the greatest trust and support, whether it was the actors or the styling instructors, photography teachers, art directors, and editing teachers. the creativity and surprises they brought in this process were the most precious."
zhang yudi is especially grateful to teacher song xiaochuan. "teacher song is the backbone of our play. he has given us great support, allowing this film to respect the elements of peking opera to the greatest extent possible. in peking opera, tying the head is very tiring and torturous. even professional peking opera actors have to rest every few hours after tying their heads, not to mention us young actors. after tying our heads, they soon began to feel dizzy and uncomfortable. when filming the big scene of "the female generals of the yang family", teacher song was the first person to arrive at the scene to put on makeup and tie their heads. he asked the children to finish the filming quickly and take a rest. he was the last one to film. he was in the state of tying his head like that for almost the entire day, and he also helped us control the details of the live performance and adjust the performance arrangements."
what kind of market performance does zhang yudi expect after the release of "the warehouse"? she modestly said that the fact that the film can meet the audience on the big screen has brought her great satisfaction, "i hope that after watching the film, the audience can feel the freshness and vitality of 'it's great to be young'."
when talking about his future creative plans, zhang yudi said that he is very interested in the intricate emotions and subtle changes in relationships between people. "i might try to focus on the relationships and emotional entanglements between people in a story that is rooted in reality and has a real event background."
source: beijing youth daily
