the premiere of the film "the sinking of the lisbon maru" took 8 years. fang li worked hard to restore the historical truth
2024-09-03
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director fang li
"30°13'44.42"n 122°45'31.14"e", on the back of director fang li's t-shirt, there is such a coordinate. this is the geographical location of the rescue point of the "lisbon maru" shipwreck incident, and it is also the origin of a story, making the little-known history float before the public. on the evening of september 1, "lisbon maru sinking" held its premiere in beijing. this film, which is completely based on real historical presentation, fully reproduces the man-made shipwreck tragedy that occurred in the waters of china's dongji island 82 years ago. it is also the historical truth that producer and director fang li spent eight years desperately rescuing at all costs. the film will be released on september 6.
at the premiere in beijing, when fang li and the film's historical consultant dr. tony banham walked into the theater, they were greeted by warm applause from the audience. facing the audience's affirmation and recognition, fang li said excitedly: "in the past eight years, in order to find the lisbon maru and discover the stories behind this ship, i have traveled to many countries, spent all my savings, lost a lot of hair, and aged a lot. but today i feel that everything is worth it, because we have heard so many touching stories and realized the wishes of many people. the families of those allied prisoners of war finally know what happened on that ship and how the chinese fishermen risked their lives to rescue their ancestors. now that the film is completed, the souls of more than 800 young people can finally rest in peace."
delivering common human emotions and telling stories about people
in october 1942, more than 1,800 allied prisoners of war were locked up in the cabin of the japanese armed transport ship "lisbon maru" and sailed from hong kong, china to japan. because the japanese army violated the geneva convention and did not hang any flags or signs for transporting prisoners of war on the ship, the "lisbon maru" was hit by a torpedo from a us submarine in the waters of dongji island after sailing for three days at sea. in order to prevent the prisoners of war from escaping, the japanese army attempted to bury all the prisoners of war in this sea area; at this time, 255 zhoushan fishermen braved the hail of bullets and rowed up again and again to rescue the prisoners who fell into the water...
dr. tony banham, the historical consultant of "the sinking of the lisbon maru", came all the way from hong kong to attend the beijing premiere. fang li said: "tony wrote a book called "the sinking of the lisbon maru: britain's forgotten wartime tragedy" 20 years ago. our film was completed by continuing to dig deeper into his book. he spent several years researching to write this book, but when he knew i was going to make a movie, he shared the contents of the book with me for free without charging a penny for copyright. so the name of my film also follows the title of dr. tony's book. i always told tony that we completed a beautiful relay race. you ran the first leg with words, and i crossed the finish line with images." in response, dr. tony said humorously: "in the race, crossing the finish line is the most exciting moment."
tony was very excited that day. he said, "more than 20 years ago, when i started investigating this period of history, i also interviewed many survivors. i never thought that this period of history would be presented to the world in the form of a movie. when fang li first found me, i was a little bit unbelievable, because this book is very sad, with so many complex details hidden behind it, and the fate of so many people. how can it be presented on the big screen? i didn't expect that after so many years, i saw the movie and fang li really did it. he and i are not only partners, but also very close partners."
tony believes that the reason why this movie can move people is that it tells a story about "people": "as human beings, our emotions are connected."
"he never let go of the boat in 10 years"
in 2013, han han planned to shoot "no regrets" on dongji island. as the producer, lu jinbo brought fang li to dongji island. after that, the three of them heard the story of the lisbon maru from local fishermen. later, fang li decided to complete the film "the sinking of the lisbon maru".
fang li, who specializes in earth exploration and ocean survey technology, instinctively wanted to search for the "lisbon maru" shipwreck that no one had ever found. in 2016 and 2017, he led a professional team to search twice, using underwater drones, seabed sonar and other professional equipment for multiple detections. by analyzing the data and comparing it with historical data many times, he finally found the wreckage of the "lisbon maru" on the seabed 36 kilometers away from the historical coordinates.
in order to restore the little-known historical truth, fang li insisted on speaking with numbers: from the hull structure, the number of allied prisoners of war in the cabin to the coordinates of the wreck, every number was accurate to the millimeter, showing the digital logic sensitivity of a science student. in the process of exploring the truth, fang li traveled to china, britain, japan, the united states, and canada to find historical records from different perspectives, check for gaps and fill in the gaps, and pieced together the complete historical truth with rigorous logic through the narration of more than 130 descendants of eyewitnesses.
lu jinbo, who brought fang li to dongji island, recalled, "even after the filming of see you tomorrow was finished, fang li still went to the island again and again, saying that he would find the ship no matter what. he found the ship after three years, and then he wanted to find the stories on the ship. it took him eight years. he was a particularly remarkable 'movie madman'. he was heavily in debt for this film and even sold his house."
director li yu is an old partner who has worked with fang li for 20 years. this time he participated in the film as the art director. he said: "in the past ten years, he has never let go of this ship. he learned about everyone's story and told it to more people again and again. he would cry every time he told it. i saw a very simple and pure soul. for the sake of others, he chose to live towards death and chose to do this thing to the end. i hope that "the sinking of the lisbon maru" will be seen by more people, and i hope that more people will come together to "salvage" this ship, see the war, and reflect on the war."
70-year-old "new director" moved the audience and was praised by colleagues and friends
fang li has been active in the film industry for many years, but "the sinking of the lisbon maru" is his first film as a producer and director. "i originally just wanted to collect as much information as possible to make a detailed film to record that period of history, but i didn't expect to become a director while making it." fang li's directorial debut received high praise from the industry.
the famous director huang jianzhong said: "this is a work full of respect and admiration for human life. it is a great film that expresses the most real, exciting and touching emotions. it touches the souls of the audience and deeply touches everyone. as a filmmaker, fang li has truly devoted his entire soul to the film. i salute you!"
director yin li was deeply attracted and moved during the two-hour movie watching. "it's amazing. the compassion shown in the film, the kindness of the chinese people and people's understanding of the meaning of life all attracted us deeply." renowned filmmaker cheng qingsong praised fang li's 70-year-old debut as "a great debut."
on august 31 and september 1, "the sinking of the lisbon maru" was screened in advance in beijing, shanghai, guangzhou, shenzhen, nanjing, suzhou, hangzhou, changsha, chengdu, and zhoushan. after watching the film, audiences left comments such as "i cried from beginning to end!" "i was moved and shocked. thank you fang li for recording this history!" "this is a movie that the whole world should see!"
text/reporter xiao yang coordination/li yang
(source: beijing youth daily)
