Huang Jianxin: For the main theme movie, the lens cannot be "cool"

  ■ Chief reporter Wang Yan

  At the important node of the party's centuries, the film "1921" is undoubtedly a highly focused topic in the Chinese film industry.

How do you shoot the original aspirations of a century-old party, and how does the starting point of a century-old youthfulness turn into a moving story under the premise of a correct historical outlook?

  When shooting the main theme movie, the lens cannot be "cool"-this is the answer given by Huang Jianxin, the chairman of the jury of the main competition unit of the Golden Goblet Award at this Shanghai International Film Festival.

At the Chairman’s Forum of the Golden Goblet Award yesterday, he took his new work "1921" as an example to share his creative experience about the main melody movie: The main melody story has never been a cold encyclopedia entry. While following the laws of art, the creators are right What kind of subjective emotions one's own country and nation embrace has externalized a somewhat full spiritual world into the sum of the film creation.

Both the mind and the camera are "hot" enough, and the main theme movie has both the ideological and artistic qualities, and it can be done.

Breaking the title: In the "breakpoints" of historical facts, the charm and tension of drama are stretched out

  Huang Jianxin revealed that in 2016, the project was launched under the leadership of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee.

  Why did a party created by a group of young people, a party with only more than 50 members in the country at the time of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China, be able to change China in just 28 years... Similar issues, he thought about it when he filmed "The Great Cause of Party Building" .

It's just that in the grand epic from the Wuchang Uprising in 1911 to the founding of the party in 1921, it is too late to elaborate on the inner world of the characters.

With the passage of time, historical research has become more detailed and full, and many new materials have appeared, which also convinces creators that they can get new ideas from them.

  The new idea of ​​"1921" is that in people-the group of people who pioneered the world a hundred years ago, where did the spiritual motivation for their salvation come from, and what is the relationship between them and their ideals.

Knowing the history of the prophet.

Huang Jianxin began to reread the biographies of a major representative: “The more you read, the more you discover their inner richness. It is the plump and vivid characters that enable us to make a truly meaningful feature film.” Not only did he read it himself, but also Open book lists for all the main creators.

The thinking has become clearer: Unlike the longitudinal narrative of "chronicles", "1921" cuts from the historical "cross-section" and highly focuses on the people in the three elements of "1921", "Shanghai" and "Convening of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China".

Adhering to the creative principle of "big things are true, and small things are not limited", the story has historical facts and must not be shaken. The "breakpoint" of historical facts is the space to support the charm and tension of drama.

Restoration: Standing at the starting point of the great journey, a creation that "must" be completed in Shanghai

  "1921" was filmed for nearly 130 minutes, of which 120 minutes were shot at Shanghai.

In a sense, this is a creation that "must" be completed in Shanghai.

  Zheng Dasheng remembers that Huang Jianxin asked several key questions at the initial stage of the script.

Among them are macroscopic. Why did China need the Communist Party of China a hundred years ago?

Why was the Chinese Communist Party born in Shanghai?

Regarding the specific details, we all know that when the CCP Congress was held in Shanghai, because of the "knock" in the plainclothes of the patrol room, he was forced to move to Nanhu, Jiaxing. But why did he find 106 Wangzhi Road?

  With the mentality of problem-solving, the script team on the one hand seeks new clues from historical materials that can build a full story.

On the other hand, the Communist Party of China was born in Shanghai. The site of the First Congress of the Communist Party of China, Shanghai’s Party History Research Institute, Shanghai Archives, Shanghai History Museum, and Shanghai Audiovisual Archives, etc. have become the must-sees for the crew to repeatedly "seeking for the truth". Department; Shanghai party history experts and urban history and culture researchers were collectively invited to "dig out" the details.

  In the Shanghai Audiovisual Archives, a video made the team a treasure.

It was the Shangsheng·Xinshao one hundred years ago, and a short video recorded the summer joy of a group of people.

"If it weren't for a waiter with a Chinese face to enter the painting for a short time, there would be no way to tell that it was in China." Huang Jianxin said, "A hundred years ago in Shanghai, China, all the people who enjoyed the summer were foreigners. With just this picture, we know why. China needs the Communist Party." Later, this short video evolved into a scene in which Mao Zedong saw the French celebrating the National Day in the French Concession, which also triggered the movie "famous scenes" in which he was busy on the streets of Shanghai.

  Standing at the starting point of the great journey of the Communist Party of China, what Shanghai can provide to "1921" is not only historical data, but also the "restoration" that is highly valued in filmmaking.

At Chedun, in accordance with the original design plan of the East China Architectural Design and Research Institute, a "red cradle community" built with real materials in Shanghai's Shikumen style a hundred years ago was built.

Buildings such as Lao Yuyangli, which gave birth to the early party organization, Shudeli where the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held, Fu Delhi where the Second National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held, and Bowen Girls’ School were all completed on a one-to-one basis.

The real architectural scene completes a free space for film mirroring and framing.

"The movie has no evasion, no angle limitation, and it can be shot naturally and tastefully." Huang Jianxin said that the real scene community also provides a sense of breath for the actors' performance. The characters shuttled through the lanes in Shanghai a hundred years ago, and they dodge to avoid tracking, or Going into "Chen Duxiu's Home" full of longing, everything is done in one go.

  It was as small as the Li Das and his wife would ask Mao Zedong what kind of dishes should be placed on the table. It was as large as the “Paris streets” shot on the Bund in Shanghai. Producer Ren Ning said that under the protection of relevant departments in Shanghai, the film party’s art The team and the production team have only one goal-to restore the real Shanghai style a hundred years ago, and to provide "1921" with a sense of historical immersion.

Presentation: "1921" is in the context of 2021, looking back at 1921 in the form of a movie

  After "1921" met with the first audience at the Shanghai International Film Festival, after the end of the credits, the audience's applause rang for a long time.

A young man said: "It turns out that those great people who live in textbooks are so vivid and vivid." When the words were passed to the film, everyone was like a confidant.

Huang Jianxin thought of a scholar's evaluation, "This "1921" is 1921 in the context of 2021."

  From the very beginning, the main creator was very sure that "1921" was to use movies to communicate with the audience, and also to use movies to allow today's young people to talk to their peers a hundred years ago.

  "The director has always warned me to remove the label of great man." The performance of actor Wang Renjun received a lot of praise this time, and his performance accurately grasped the character's youthful mood.

Mao Zedong in 1921, his thoughts and propositions are still in the process of maturity and growth.

Therefore, Huang Jianxin asked Wang Renjun to "bring light in his eyes". When he visited Chen Duxiu in Shanghai, he took the attitude of a student; he also had to "run with beauty" to film the highlight of running through the streets of Shanghai. The director took The videos collected on the Internet tell the actors to run with a sense of leap and dynamism. It is not an escape, but a rush, toward the survival of the nation and toward the ideal of the future.

  Huang Jianxin said that "1921" is about the characters and their ideals, so he hopes to be epic.

For example, Li Da, who stayed up late to draft the "Communist Party Program" and finally finished writing, he jumped out of the dormer window with excitement, and the sky was full of sunshine outside.

For example, the dialogue between Mao Zedong and Liu Renjing.

At the daytime meeting, these young people were blushing, and into the night, Liu Renjing asked Mao Zedong: "The differences are so big, can we pass tomorrow?" Mao Zedong replied decisively: "Yes! Because we started from the same starting point, swearing to overthrow the old world. Only. Is this? It’s also because our ideals are the same, looking forward to the establishment of a new China, a new China that everyone wants to be the master of the people!"

  "We hope that "1921" can be poetic through all the film methods of today, and with a passionate poetry, let today's young people remember the group of people from a hundred years ago." Huang Jianxin said.