how to film zhang guimei, a "model of the times", in "when flowers bloom"? director fei zhenxiang: be true, not deliberately sensational
2024-09-26
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zhang guimei, winner of the "july 1st medal", "model of the times", and principal of huaping girls' high school in lijiang, yunnan province, has moved countless chinese people with her school-running story. she dedicated her life to the cause of education in poor mountainous areas, established the only fully free girls' high school in the country, and helped batches of girls to get out of the mountains and change their fate.
today, this story full of passion, tears and joy has been put on the screen. the tv series "when the mountain flowers bloom", directed by fei zhenxiang and starring song jia, is currently being broadcast on cctv-1 and tencent video.
how do well-known film and television production teams film zhang guimei? how does zhang guimei feel about being put on the screen? is there a new direction for the expression of main theme dramas? recently, the director of the drama, fei zhenxiang, accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from yangcheng evening news.
starting from restoring the truth
in the play, zhang guimei rescued guyu (lan xiya), who was forced to marry by her father. teachers and villagers escorted the girls over the mountains and hills to the school in the rain. zhang guimei sought financial support everywhere, and the students collectively shouted the oath "i was born to be a mountain, not a stream"... many viewers found that there were tears in every episode of "when the mountain flowers bloom". some people wondered whether this school story was really so magnificent or the crew deliberately exaggerated it? fei zhenxiang made it clear that restoring the truth was the starting point of this play.
yangcheng evening news: what are the difficulties in filming "when mountain flowers bloom"?
fei zhenxiang: i have never filmed a realistic biographical tv series before, so i had no experience to follow from the preparation to the shooting of this drama, and i had to start from scratch.
yangcheng evening news: there are many tear-jerking moments in this drama. did you deliberately control the sentimental scenes during filming?
fei zhenxiang: i don’t want to deliberately create sensational content, many scenes actually happened. when i went to the local area to collect folk songs and do home visits, although i felt the difficulty of teacher zhang’s process of building a girls’ school, if i exaggerated the emotions too much during the creation, everyone would think it was fake. i can make the story stand out by filming what she did, so there is no need to deliberately sensationalize.
yangcheng evening news: do you think it’s good enough to be able to “present the truth”?
fei zhenxiang: "when the mountain flowers bloom" is always a film and television work, and the content presented cannot jump out of the frame. when i went into the mountains to experience the harsh environment and heard the story of how teacher zhang struggled to bring the children out of the mountains, the words in the script had power. and the content we felt when we were collecting folk songs was far more powerful than the content designed during filming. however, we will use film and television language to process real stories. for example, the plots that guyu encountered, such as her father's alcoholism, forcing her to marry, and beating her, may be the real experiences of three or four girls at that time.
yangcheng evening news: what expectations does zhang guimei have for you filming this drama?
fei zhenxiang: she understood that what we were shooting was not a documentary, and that the tv series would be different from reality, because the person playing zhang guimei was not herself, and there was a process of artistic creation. teacher zhang asked me to shoot well, seek truth from facts, and say what was true, and not make up things that were not true. she was very straightforward and humorous. when i met her, i didn't feel that she was "hanging" the "july 1st medal" on her body. she was just an elder sister who touched me.
yangcheng evening news: when you were collecting folk songs, which behaviors or expressions of zhang guimei shocked you?
fei zhenxiang: teacher zhang is in poor health, has a full schedule of classes, and is busy with school affairs. we have little time to meet each other every day. but she has a "routine" - singing and doing aerobics with the children on the playground every morning, and briefly talking about yesterday, today, and tomorrow. we chat with her in the half an hour to an hour after her daily "routine". she likes to talk about the current situation of the girls' high school and doesn't want to talk about the past. so we collected interview information and obtained the details of the story through her bestie, local government officials and other people around her. we almost know all her past and the story of her and her first batch of students.
song jia's ability to shape is too strong
how to restore typical characters in typical environments? fei zhenxiang became famous for directing the "ghost blowing light" series, among which the "yunnan worm valley" season was filmed in yunnan. returning to yunnan for "when the mountain flowers bloom", fei zhenxiang opened up new horizons and witnessed the difficulties and sufferings beyond the magnificent alpine natural landscape, as well as zhang guimei's passionate process of leading a group of people towards a better future.
yangcheng evening news: after "yunnan worm valley", you returned to yunnan to shoot. what new understanding do you have of the local customs and culture here?
fei zhenxiang: when i was shooting "yunnan worm valley", i went to the primitive forests of yunnan to scout locations. i was very nervous at the time, and i could encounter snakes every two steps. when i was shooting "when the mountain flowers bloom", i went to the mountains of yunnan and walked the same path that teacher zhang took when he visited his home. it was a thorough tribute trip. therefore, the shooting style i adopted this time is completely different from the "ghost blowing light" series. there is no fancy lens showmanship, only the most simple expression.
yangcheng evening news: strive to restore real people and things?
fei zhenxiang: yes. when we revisited the home visit route of teacher zhang, the crew restored the old house to its original appearance and filmed the student characters such as guyu, cai guizhi, ning hua, and liu xiying on location. we also saw the progress of the times. in the past, there were no roads in many places where teacher zhang visited, but now when we go there, at least there are dirt roads.
yangcheng evening news: how do you ensure that the dialects spoken by the actors are authentic?
fei zhenxiang: i once considered having all the actors speak huaping dialect, but after field research, i realized that this was not possible. teacher zhang is from northeast china and does not speak huaping dialect, but occasionally has a northeast accent. song jia is from northeast china and speaks the same way as teacher zhang. many of the prototypes of the characters such as teachers and officials in the play are not native to huaping. after repeated discussions, i found that the huaping dialect spoken by the locals is more similar to the panzhihua dialect.
yangcheng evening news: this is your second collaboration with song jia after "even if the wind rises". how do you feel about it?
fei zhenxiang: song jia is a good actor with great ability to portray characters. we reached a consensus when we first discussed this project. this filming was only to let the audience know the process of teacher zhang running a girls' school. i told song jia that this filming would focus on restoring the truth and removing herself from the work. song jia also told me that she hoped that after filming this play, no one would know that she played zhang guimei. another consensus was that we did not want to double the suffering, because we could feel her strength and optimism in every word of teacher zhang, and we did not think that what she did was a very difficult thing.
yangcheng evening news: do you think zhang guimei is just doing a normal thing with passion?
fei zhenxiang: yes. most people would complain that building a girls' school is too difficult, but teacher zhang thought it was normal and that she would succeed if she persisted. from the first episode, i basically did not let teacher zhang stop working because she is a person who can't sit still. when we were still worrying about one thing, she had already thought about or even done another thing. she has a charismatic personality.
the prerequisite for making a play is to have the desire to express oneself
fei zhenxiang was an actor who became famous at a young age. he played the role of "little stone" in the movie "farewell my concubine". in 2010, after starring in the drama version of "new journey to the west", fei zhenxiang interrupted his acting career and became a disciple of guan hu to learn how to be a director. in recent years, fei zhenxiang's directorial career has been full of excellent works. the "ghost blows out the light" series "wrath of the west hunan", "longling mystery cave" and "yunnan worm valley" have all received good reputations. the costume drama "starry han candle · moon rising over the sea" and the workplace drama "even if the wind rises" have also gathered a lot of popularity. for fei zhenxiang, "when the mountain flowers bloom" has a special meaning.
yangcheng evening news: some netizens commented that the crew of "when flowers bloom" was a "team building" for the actors of "the moon rises over the sea". how did you get the actors from the previous work to make a cameo appearance?
fei zhenxiang: i like to work with familiar actor friends, many of whom even guest-starred for free. as artists, we should all agree that we are doing something meritorious, because we are filming a person with great merit. so, i don’t think this is a gathering of actors from “starry sky·moonrise over the sea”, but a group of professional actors doing something they think is right.
yangcheng evening news: since you transformed from an actor to a director, you have produced many excellent works. have you figured out any experience in the past few years?
fei zhenxiang: i have no experience at all, i just go by my feelings. my output is very low, and i don’t have the ability to shoot many dramas at once, but the premise of shooting each drama is that i have feelings and the desire to express myself. i shot "ghost blowing light" because i like it. this kind of adventure theme used to be available in foreign countries but not in china. when i received "star han candle · moon rises over the sea", everyone around me said that the ancient idol track was hot. i didn’t understand what "track" meant. i just had the desire to express myself after reading the novel, and i also liked comprehensive actors like wu lei and zhao lusi. many people told me that according to big data, which scenes can be set in each episode, i can only reply to the other party "if you shoot according to big data, don’t look for me". after finishing shooting this costume drama, many costume dramas came to me, but i didn’t have the passion to express myself in my heart.
yangcheng evening news: how does "when mountain flowers bloom" arouse your passion for expression?
fei zhenxiang: as a 45-year-old chinese director, i should speak out for this kind of positive energy and put it into practice. at this age, i want to stop shooting those flying dramas and shoot some chinese stories, about people who connect the past and the future, and people who can stay, and help them do something.
yangcheng evening news: this is your first time shooting a mainstream realistic drama. do you feel any pressure?
fei zhenxiang: if i create "when the mountain flowers bloom" in the style of traditional mainstream dramas, it will bring me pressure. i pay more attention to filming this good story full of real people and real events. teacher zhang is not like the protagonist in traditional mainstream dramas. she has faith, is very casual, has personality, and has many sides. her image is very rich. i am very clear that she is not a god, but a human being. i just need to film the human being well.
text | reporter gong weifeng
photo | stills
