This article is transferred from “ New Weekly (ID: new-weekly) “, author: Zhao West Anhui, title figure: IC photo

The bleak movie industry has spawned an endless sense of humor among netizens: “Some people say that the epidemic has set China’s film industry back for thirty years. I think there are such good things.” This is a joke that has been circulating widely on the Internet recently.

However, compared to the long gaps in the movie watching experience for fans, famous guides all over the world are not idle.

Quenting, a famous Hollywood director, turned into a “high-producer film critic” and wrote crazy film reviews on the official website of the theater to show her huge amount of unpopular movie viewing;

The director of “The Seven Deadly Sins” joined the ranks of the live broadcast, and gave 450 students a live online lesson;

The “living fossil” of the film industry, Mr. Varda, wearing green knitted waistcoats and corduroy trousers, also started a live broadcast called “Images of the New Crown Epidemic”. Some netizens counted carefully, there are more than a dozen languages ​​in the comment area …

90-year-old Varda is still full of literary skills.

Among Chinese directors, Jia Zhangke should be the busiest.

The new book “Always Travel” originally scheduled to be released globally at the end of March”The sea turns blue” and the “Lu Liang Literature Season” held in April were forced to postpone because of the epidemic.

“Swim until the sea turns blue” takes three writers Jia Pingwa, Yu Hua and Liang Hong who were born in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s Narrator.

Jia Kechang, who returned from the Berlin Film Festival in early March, started live broadcasting and set up audio programs to talk about his movie experience while in isolation.

Last week, the short film “Visit” created by Director Jia Zhangke with the background of “the epidemic” went online. The short film used a visit to depict the daily life of everyone under the epidemic, and also showed that under the crisis, The powerful vitality of human beings connected to each other.

Recently, for the third time as a deputy to the National People’s Congress, he proposed how to adapt the elderly to the smart era at the two sessions. Compared with “establishing a divorce cooling-off period” and “forbidding single ladies from freezing eggs”, Jia Zhangke’s proposal seemed Especially rustic and earthy.

Sometimes ago, director Jia Zhangke published an article “Walking Nonstop” in a Dutch movie magazine. The text says:

Directors in this world can be divided into two types: those who have experienced wars and those who have not. This difference in experience represents a different perspective of understanding human nature and society. Maybe many years later, we can say that the directors of this world can be divided into two other types: those who have experienced the new crown epidemic and those who have not.

Jia Zhangke: “The purpose of this short film is to show the victory of life.” Picture from “Visit”

Jia Zhangke, a youth in a small town

In 1988, 33-year-old Zhang Yimou won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival with the film “Red Sorghum”. This is the first time that Chinese filmmakers have won the highest award at the three major film festivals in Europe.

Zhang Yimou wore a slightly generous suit and made an award speech on the stage: “This award is to us tonight, and you also give young Chinese filmmakers the opportunity to create better films.”

Zhang Yimou took the stage to receive the Golden Bear Award.

A few months later, “Red Sorghum” was released in China, triggering a national carnival. The Chinese who came from the life of concentrationism were instantly infected by the strong swaying colors in the film and the personal spirit of Zhang Yanghao, including the newly born Shanxi kid Jia Zhangke.

Although he did n’t understand what Zhang Yimou ’s sentence at the Berlin Film Festival meant to him at that time, the song “Sister You Go Forward Boldly” was still accompanied by Gong Li ’s shaking sedan and Jiang Wen His body sang into the mind of Jia Zhangke, a young man in the town.

Jia Zhangke was born in Fenyang, Shanxi. Fenyang is surrounded by mountains. This dull, gloomy county town left Jia Zhangke the deepest impression, only the gray sky, the winding roads outside the old city walls and the Ming and Qing Dynasties The ruined streets left behind.

Three years later, Jia Zhangke, who graduated from high school, left Fenyang to study painting in Taiyuan, where he accidentally saw Chen Kaige’s “The Yellow Land”.

Amazing and critical flying together.

For the first time, China ’s vast western land became the subject of the movie. The large loess plateau in the film evokes the emotional resonance deep within Jia Zhangke’s heart, “I suddenly discovered a possibility of the film through this-the original film can also shoot our own lives.”

Since then, Jia Zhangke has developed the idea of ​​”Is it possible to be a filmmaker?”

In 1993, Jia Zhangke was admitted to the Literature Department of the Beijing Film Academy with a 23-year-old “old age” to study film theory. Throughout the year of freshman year, he could watch two of the latest domestic movies every week. Gradually, he became disgusted with those main melody movies with nothing.

At the time of confusion, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s “The Man from the Wind Cabinet” gave him a great impact. Professor Zhang Xinxin said: “ (from now on) Jia Zhangke realized that the mess of a few young people could turn into a movie and a creation.”

Hou Xiaoxian ’s youthful feelings are all concentrated in this “Man from the Wind Cabinet”.

He and his classmates set up a “Youth Experimental Film Group”, borrowed filming equipment around, raised money while shooting, and finally made the first movie in his life “The Hill Comes Home”, about the male protagonist Hill, who was bossed in Beijing After the expulsion, I went to visit my fellow villagers and wanted to find someone to go back home with my lonely encounter.

The film’s “World Premiere” was extremely unsuccessful. Two or thirty students squeezed in a few square meters of dormitory to watch this 50-minute movie together. When the end caption was raised, only Jia Zhangke and deputy were left in the dormitory Two directors.

Although “Small Home” was not well received by classmates, it unexpectedly won a prize in a short film competition in Hong Kong. The 50,000 yuan prize became Jia Zhangke’s first pot of gold in his personal film history.

Every time Jia Kechang guest guest movie, will leave a few famous quotes. Picture from “The Hill Goes Home”

In 1997, at this time during the development period of the “Ninth Five-Year Plan”, the tide of urbanization first hit Fenyang, a small, closed county. During a visit home, his father said to him: “You should go down the street, the main street of the county will soon be demolished.”

This makes Jia Zhangke feel uneasy. He remembered that when he graduated from elementary school, many of his classmates gave up their studies due to family economics and other reasons, and many people became professional thieves for their livelihood. This disparity in fate caused by different circumstances has been deeply imprinted in Jia Zhangke’s mind. “Xiaowu” was born from this.

Xiaowu, the male protagonist in the movie, is a “usual thief” who travels around Fenyang City. He passively became the spokesperson of the old tradition in the era of rapid changes. , Blankly facing his ownfuture.

Jia Zhangke said: “This is a movie about reality. Some beautiful things are quickly disappearing from our lives. As we face collapse, we are in danger and our lives become lonely again and appear noble.”

“Xiaowu” originally had a rather long name: “Jin Xiaoyong’s buddy, Hu Meimei’s family, and Liang Changyou’s son: Xiaowu” .

Before the shooting of “Xiaowu”, Jia Zhangke had only one short film investment, which was not enough to support the production of “Xiaowu”. In order to save shooting costs, Jia Zhangke decided to use the 16mm process that had been eliminated at the time.

This long film that cost 21 days and cost 300,000 yuan unexpectedly won the first prize of the Berlin International Film Festival Youth Forum and the Asian Film Promotion Alliance Award. Jia Zhangke and the Berlin International Film Festival have since formed an indissoluble bond.

In 1998, “Xiao Wu” participated in the Nantes Film Festival in France. After the premiere, Jia Zhangke walked aimlessly on the street, passing a seafood shop, while he was staring at the animals in the water tank. Suddenly, he was suddenly shot on the shoulder, looking back at Hou Xiaoxian.

Although Hou Hsiao-hsien and Jia Zhangke have only seen each other at the airport before, they seem to have become acquaintances at this moment. Hou Dao said: “Xiao Jia, just after watching your movie, the men and the women have chosen well.”

Jia Zhangke shyly didn’t respond to a word. The two stood at the crossroads and outside the seafood store, and they didn’t know what to say.

In front of Hou Dao, Jia Ke is so good.

The time is back to 14 years ago, Hou Xiaoxian, who also won the Nantes Gold Hot Air Balloon Award for “The Wind Blower”, will definitely not expect such a person to appear in mainland China in ten years Surprising young director.

Similarly, Jia Zhangke, who is still climbing the old city wall in Fenyang City and has n’t even watched “Red Sorghum”, certainly would not have expected it. After a few years, the senior in front of him would teach him The value of individual narrative.

“His movie is China ’s news brief”

In September 2010, Jia Zhangke brought the new work “Legend of the Sea” to the Toronto Film Festival for the North American premiere. In the article “I Made a Traitor Dream”, he recorded a “special” experience of his participation in this exhibition:

After the screening, a 20-year-old girl asked the director Jia Zhangke: “Why do you shoot such a dirty Shanghai, and shoot these politically colored people, show them to Westerners? Have you ever considered , Your movie is seen by foreigners, will affect their impression of Shanghai, China, and even affect foreigners’ confidence in Chinese investment? “

Jia Zhangke also became angry after hearing: “Why do so many foreigners want to do? Just for those investments, how do foreigners think of China, do we ignore a real existence? Many of China’s 1.3 billion people are still there Living in a poor environment, can we ignore it? “

After a brief silence, the girl smiled contemptuously and said, “Yes! For the dignity of the motherland, of course we should not describe the situation of those people.”

Jia Zhangke was shocked by this sentence and became a fool.

If you think the movie is just a beautiful dream, then you must have blamed it. Picture from” Legend of the Sea “

“Relying on the betrayal of China’s suffering to meet international recognition and exchange for personal benefits”, Jia Zhangke’s growth has been accompanied by such misunderstandings and maliciousness.

In fact, such criticism began with the rise of the fifth generation of directors in the 1980s and has continued to this day, with the biggest amplification of Jia Zhangke.

Jia Zhangke’s value lies precisely in his shaping of small people and his writing of “unnarrable things.”

He pays attention to the suffering and struggling of each individual in the torrent of the times, shows the love entanglement of each bottom character, and uncovers the loneliness and destiny that they cannot escape.

Xiao Wu and Hu Meimei in “Xiao Wu”, one is a city thief who has never been taught, and the other is a helpless dancing lady. The two find a solace in each other from an ambiguous feeling that they do not know. It turned out that everything was just self-deception by the two.

The movie opens with a two-person recording of Song Dandan and Zhao Benshan, “There is a point, six six six six six, brother and sister have a strong relationship, Wu Kui hand, don’t trip, lonely and lonely how uncomfortable Ah … “This hard-to-find paragraph fully demonstrates the vulgar and oppressive spiritual world of the bottom marginal groups.

The love of thieves and singers may be just a commodity transaction. Picture from “Xiaowu”

The “Platform” focuses on the growth experience of a group of young people in the county’s cultural and cultural corps. They had a stable career, but because of contract reform, they fell into rivers and lakes and wandered around.

In the movie, Zhong Ping secretly ran from the county town of acquaintances to remote rural areas to perform abortions in order to cover up the scandal of unmarried pregnancies. At the time of abortion, the radio broadcast the good news of the 35th anniversary of the founding of the People ’s Republic of ChinaQuietly embedded in the grand destiny of the country.

The Good Man of the Three Gorges through Han Sanming’s wife-seeking main story, which involves the relocation of millions of immigrants in the context of the Three Gorges Project.

At the end of the movie, the Three Gorges Immigration Monument rocketed up and rose into the sky, adding a magical color to this realistic story, making the Three Gorges Reservoir area a true heterotopia in the movie.

A person who walks a tightrope in the air in the distance indicates the difficult situation of the working class. Picture from “The Good Man of the Three Gorges”

Thieves, prostitutes, coal miners, triad elder brothers, labor reform criminals … In Jia Zhangke ’s movies, there are small people everywhere, always paying attention to the spiritual world under these “painful bodies.”

As he himself said: “Movies care about ordinary people, we must first respect the worldly life. When a society hurries forward, it is impossible to ignore the person who was knocked down by you because you have to go forward.” < / p>

He not only described the numbness and depression of the marginal figures, but also realized their resistance and glimpsed the preciousness of their spiritual world.

The “Two Girls” in “World” was seriously injured in an accident when working overtime, and wrote down all the debts she owed during her life when her life was in danger;

Xiao Ji and Bin Bin in “Ren Xiaoyao” in order to realize their heroic dream, hung a bag of fake explosives to grab the bank, but was laughed at by the security guards “whatever you take a lighter.” The heroic dream of the two ended before the show started.

The coal miner Liang Zi in The Old Man of Mountains and Rivers, in the face of Zhang Jinsheng, the rival of the coal mine boss, still chooses to pursue the beloved woman Shen Tao. After Shen Tao chose Zhang Jinsheng, Liang Zi left his hometown to restore dignity.

In triangle emotional entanglement, most of them will end with the departure of one party. Picture from “Old Man of Mountain and River”

Xu Zheng believes that Jia Kechang has a very unique thing that is not in the rules and expectations.

The writer Liang Hong believes, “Jia Dao has a clear clue to our time.” “What is the spiritual quality of our time. Such a dusty face, but such a beautiful and dignified. “

Jia Zhangke said by himself: “I am willing to face the truth, even though the truth contains the weakness of our human nature or even sullenness. I am willing to stare quietly, only to interrupt our next stare, we are not even like Hou Xiaoxian In that way, shake the camera after staring, and let the distant mountains and green water dissolve the inner sadness. We have the power to look down, because-I don’t avoid. “

This kind of attention is subtle and unpretentious, and it can’t bear a broader and grand narrative, but it will precipitate and ferment through time, showing a different kind of preciousness.

The frank and frank Rangers are the most valuable and valuable

Jia Zhangke has always been a wonderful flower in the Chinese director industry.

Literary and artistic directors often give the impression that they are “sorrowful and hard-working, Qian Jing is bleak”, but Chief Jia never makes money.

From the debut film “Xiao Wu” to the later “Old Man of Mountains and Rivers”, he can almost recoup the cost of overseas copyright income for every film. With only over 300,000 investments in “Xiaowu”, he has earned five million copyright fees worldwide, allowing Jia Kechang to achieve financial freedom at the age of 28.

As one of the leading figures of the sixth generation of Chinese directors, Jia Zhangke scrutinized capital but did not oppose commercialization. He prepared for the Pingyao International Film Exhibition, held the Luliang Literature Season, published books, and gave academic lectures … Jia Zhangke was immersed in capital, yet he was able to maintain a scrutiny of capital hegemony and oppression.

He said: “Because I think this world is connected by business model,We work to earn income and live on, this is the natural structure of human society. “

Jia Zhangke is also the darling of the European and American film industry, “Children of the Rivers and Lakes” has repeatedly been selected by the major media in the United States as the top ten best films of the year, and was also selected by the former US President Barack Obama as his favorite movie list in 2019.

The physique of “flowers blooming on the wall” also attracted a lot of controversy for him. In addition to the question of “pleasing foreigners” and “welcoming the joint venture”, Yu Yong actress and wife Zhao Tao also made many fans love his work Keep it away.

From “Platform” to “Children of the Rivers and Lakes”, Jia Zhangke has been committed to making his own movies and supporting his wife in the past 20 years, never embracing the aesthetic comfort of the middle class. Because in Jia Zhangke’s heart, Zhao Tao is the best actress she has seen.

This explanation may be partly due to Jia Kechang ’s stubborn love for his wife Zhao Tao, and true fans will not change their evaluation of the film because of the amount of “the amount of Tao” in a movie.

The pictures of Zhao Tao and Liao Fan dancing at the disco in The Children of the Rivers and Lakes were selected as the world ’s most stylized movie in 2019 by the American authoritative magazine Vogue One of 11 “Best Fashion Moments”.

Jia Zhangke has gradually grown from a fledgling youth in a small town to the most candid writer of this era. He walked out of the framework of his personal narrative and moved towards the wider rivers and lakes, becoming a frank and frank ranger.

The value of Section Chief Jia, as the blogger @ 丝 尾巴 第二 季 said: “In China, a place that has both a traditional view of WTO entry and catching up with the market economy It is really difficult to create a creator who is honest like Jia Zhangke, caring like Jia Zhangke, and practicing like Jia Zhangke. “

Reference:

“Jia Xiang: Jia Zhangke’s Movie Notes” Jia Zhangke. Taihai Publishing House

“Never Stop” Jia Zhangke. Beiqing Art Review

“Segregated Records of Foreign Directors: Doing Cool Live Broadcasts, Telling Old Friends Gossip, Being Shaved by Her Daughter” Beijing News

“The most suitable place for movies to be shown in the cinema” Beijing Youth Daily

“Jia Zhangke Berlin Master Class Record: I look forward to a truly free and personalized era” guide tube directs

“Jia Zhangke: Remembering Old People in Mountains and Rivers” Yu Nan. Southern People Weekly

“Jia Zhangke talks about the film debut film” titanium media

“Mr. Ok comes to Berlin” Jia Zhangke

“Liang Hong × Jia Zhangke: Leaving this Village-Reconstruct the Memory Space with Images and Text” New Beijing News Cultural Cloud Living Room

“On the Sense of Loneliness of Jia Zhangke’s Movie” by An Qi

“Jia Zhangke’s Movie Narration of Unnarrable Things” Wei Liangjie

Creation of “Writing Biography for Little People of the Big Era: Dialogue with Jia Zhangke”

Kao Yang, “The Dignity Writing of Jia Zhangke’s Movies”

“The Last Ranger: On Jia Zhangke” Yin Hong

“Jia Zhangke’s” Compassionate Feelings “of the Author’s Movie” Guo Qiang, Yang Bailing

“Zhang Yimou has never beenNot a Genius “Cao Jili