on the scene | on a typhoon day, hirokazu koreeda had a "scheduled meeting" with shanghai movie fans
2024-09-18
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
editor’s note
the typhoon is an image that director hirokazu koreeda likes to use. in the movie deeper than the sea, a frustrated father takes his child, whom he rarely sees after his divorce, into the "belly" of an octopus sculpture in a park on a typhoon day, eating damp snacks and chatting. when the mother comes to find him later, the child suddenly remembers that he has lost the lottery ticket his father bought for him. it's a bit funny that the family starts looking for the lottery ticket in the storm.
on september 16, at tianshan cinema, hirokazu koreeda attended the audience meeting after the screening of "nobody knows". all the pictures in this article are taken by zou jiawen except those marked
on september 16, a typhoon day, hirokazu koreeda showed up on time in shanghai, which was a collective lottery win for the audience of nobody knows. not only that, the director's sincere sharing after the screening, and his gesture of signing autographs for all the audience to meet the fans' requests after the show, made all the audience, including me, feel like we had won a big lottery.
i want to share this heart-wrenching scene, and share a promised meeting. during the mid-autumn festival holiday that was "torn apart" by the typhoon, the fact that we met as scheduled can be called a small miracle in daily life.
"wait a little longer"
on the morning of september 16, typhoon bebejia, also known as a "bullet-shaped" typhoon, passed through shanghai. this strongest typhoon to hit shanghai since 1949 brought strong winds and heavy rains to the city. that morning, it probably witnessed the heartbreak of at least hundreds of people, including me.
september 16 was originally scheduled to be the last screening day of the japanese film master hirokazu koreeda's film exhibition. according to the plan, he would meet with the audience after the screening of the last film "nobody knows" on that day. as a frequent visitor to the cannes film festival, hirokazu koreeda has a good reputation and high prestige among domestic movie fans, so this meeting is naturally highly anticipated. in the second-hand market, the 84 yuan ticket price was doubled or tripled.
when i grabbed the movie ticket on august 30, i felt like i had "won"; when i looked up at the sky on september 16, i thought to myself, i had completely lost.
at noon on september 16, i discussed a ticket refund with my friend.
on september 15, affected by the typhoon, the traffic capacity of shanghai pudong airport and hongqiao airport decreased and all flights were cancelled after 8 pm. on september 16, more than 40% of the inbound and outbound flights at the two major airports were reduced or cancelled, involving 918 flights.
the metaphor of life is sometimes hidden in the surface. so few flights, such a fierce typhoon - can hirokazu koreeda come to "nobody knows"? no one knows.
on the morning of september 16, as "bebejia" continued to cause trouble, some people began to provide instructions online on how to refund movie tickets during a typhoon. there were also fans who wanted to transfer their tickets because their transportation was delayed by the typhoon and they lacked confidence.
my friends and i were also anxious, and were on the verge of refunding our tickets. "should we refund our tickets?" "refund...right?" "but i saw that the wind and rain gradually weakened in the evening and early night." "but if hirokazu koreeda can't make it, i'll lose the motivation to go out." "how about waiting a little longer?" "but i think it's 70% to 80% impossible." "i'm afraid if it comes." "wait a little longer."
on the afternoon of september 16, news from the movie shan hai jing showed that hirokazu koreeda had arrived in shanghai. screenshot from the wechat public account "movie shan hai jing".
we tend to think that hirokazu koreeda can't make it in time. but later we found that we really underestimated the director's determination to come, and underestimated the speed of the city's recovery. fortunately, "bebejia" also kept her promise like the director, and this "bullet" flashed fast enough as predicted, leaving some space for the "miracle" to happen.
"please welcome director hirokazu koreeda with the warmest applause"
"at about 3:40 p.m. on september 16, 2024, the plane carrying japanese film master hirokazu koreeda arrived safely at shanghai pudong international airport."
at 16:34 on september 16, an article titled "hirokazu koreeda has arrived in shanghai!" from "movie classics" popped up in the message box. the moment i saw the title, i jumped up, shared it on wechat moments, sent private messages to friends, and implemented a series of actions of "spreading the word": "no need to withdraw, let's go to tianshan cinema."
on the evening of september 16, hirokazu koreeda talked about the post-screening of "nobody knows" in shanghai. morning photo
i read this 309-word tweet about the movie shan hai jing many times. it said that due to the sudden attack of typhoon "bebejia" on shanghai, all flights originally scheduled to land in shanghai on september 15 were cancelled. "although the typhoon was fierce, director hirokazu koreeda kept his promise and was willing to make every effort to meet the shanghai audience and would not give up until the last moment. china and japan communicated closely and coordinated overnight, and director hirokazu koreeda finally boarded a flight from tokyo to shanghai at noon on september 16." "please welcome director hirokazu koreeda with the warmest applause tonight to the audience of "nobody knows"."
at 21:27 on september 16, after the screening of "nobody knows", amid the warmest applause from the audience, hirokazu koreeda appeared in front of everyone wearing a white shirt, black casual pants, and raising his hand.
it is difficult for me to describe my feelings at that moment. this year marks the 20th anniversary of the first release of nobody knows, which was nominated for the palme d'or at the 57th cannes international film festival in 2004. the last time this film was publicly screened in shanghai was at the 2006 shanghai international film festival, and it was satisfying enough to be able to screen it again after 18 years.
on this morning, a typhoon had just washed over the city, and we huddled in our rooms, feeling a huge sense of uncertainty and a sense of insignificance in the face of nature; but on the same evening, as the storm died down, we sat in the theater, and in front of us stood a world-class director who had just crossed the ocean and the wind and rain and came to the appointment as if nothing had happened.
after the post-screening talk ended, the crowd rushed to hirokazu koreeda on the stage.
cheng bo, the host of the meeting, introduced that hirokazu koreeda first arrived at tokyo haneda airport on september 15. after the flight was cancelled, he stayed near the airport for one night to catch a flight on the morning of the 16th, but he also did not go. finally, he waited for the noon flight and went straight to shanghai.
"i am very grateful to so many viewers today for gathering here in such typhoon weather. actually, i was supposed to arrive yesterday, but all flights were cancelled, and i was very nervous and anxious. i am also very happy that we can get together today," said hirokazu koreeda.
throughout the whole process, i sat in the second-floor seat of the theater and tried to watch him. hirokazu koreeda is 62 years old this year, with some white hair on his beard and temples. he doesn't think quickly, and he will hold his forehead and press his temples. he speaks slowly. the temperament of his person and voice is consistent with his works, giving people a gentle feeling.
hirokazu koreeda once said: "i don't like plots where the protagonist overcomes his weaknesses, protects his family and saves the world. i would rather describe the moment when a slightly dirty world with no heroes and only ordinary people living in it suddenly becomes beautiful." sitting in the cinema, i thought, that moment is now.
signed by director hirokazu kore-eda and a themed stamp provided by tenzan cinema.
"tonight is a miracle for me"
in the post-screening talk, host cheng bo asked about the relationship between hirokazu koreeda and hou hsiao-hsien. both east asian directors' films have a slightly slower pace, and both have classic family films, so they are often compared.
hirokazu koreeda said at the event that he was originally a tv director and had never learned how to make movies, but he "arbitrarily" regarded hou hsiao-hsien as his master. "i learned from his movies to make my own movies. especially in my early days, i took it upon myself to regard myself as hou hsiao-hsien's son. i really like his early works, and he has been expanding the types of his films, so i can be said to be influenced by him."
many questions from the audience were also collected at the scene. everyone asked him how to be a good father? what are the communication skills when shooting children? will he still focus on shooting family relationships and non-family relationships? why do you like to shoot meal scenes? what is the director's favorite food?
the question about eating is my second favorite. hirokazu koreeda explained that food can show the relationship between people. who cooked a meal and who cleaned it up? what is the direction of people's hands and faces during the meal? "in the scene of the dining table, the relationship between people will be strengthened, and it will make the daily scene more realistic and real."
his favorite food appeared in the movie "still walking". the corn tempura made by the mother played by kirin kiki in the movie was what hirokazu koreeda's mother used to make when he was a child. now when he goes to the store, he still orders it frequently.
it is worth mentioning that hirokazu koreeda's mother passed away in 2008. in his grief, he thought, "if i don't make a film to commemorate my mother, i can't move forward." in the same year, "still walking" was completed. in a sense, this work is recognized as a film that hirokazu koreeda dedicated to his mother.
the post-screening talk for nobody knows ended at about 22:20. as soon as koreeda got up from his seat, bowed, and walked forward, the fans below rushed forward unstoppably. the crowd was scrambling on the first floor stage, holding all kinds of things, posters, discs, books, tickets, etc., hoping to get koreeda's autograph. the director patiently signed a few people, and then found that more and more people were coming.
as if to carry through the fans' sense of wonder, at the end of the day, almost all the audience members who stayed after the show got koreeda hirokazu's autograph, including me. at about 10:30 p.m. on september 16, i stood in front of the director and said thank you in english earnestly, feeling a little dazed. after he signed, i can't even remember if he looked up and smiled at me. he should have.
after the show, i walked out. the wind stopped and the rain stopped. there were still some traces of "bebejia" left on the city, such as the potholes on the ground and the branches on the trees that were about to fall. i felt very satisfied. looking around, everyone around me had a glow on their faces.
at this moment, i recalled my favorite question in the post-screening talk, which was also the last question of the whole show. it was described like this: "dear director, thank you for overcoming the difficulties of the typhoon and coming to shanghai to meet us. typhoons often appear in your films. i would like to ask you, do you think miracles exist in the lives of ordinary people? will a lottery ticket picked up on a typhoon day win a prize?"
the audience member in seat 2, row 16, added: "of course, for me, tonight is already a miracle."
the paper reporter zou jiawen
(this article is from the paper. for more original information, please download the "the paper" app)
