Directing "The First Burning Incense" was released with mixed reviews, and the autobiographical documentary received rave reviews. Watching Xu Anhua seventy and Wu
making his favorite movies, there is no need to "pretend"
From the early "Autumn Passion" and "Woman, Forty" to the later "Day and Night of Tianshuiwei", "Sister Tao" and "When Will the Moon Become" and other films, Xu Anhua's best film works are almost all realist themes. She also has the ability to accurately grasp the taste of reality. She is very good at expressing strong emotions through simple and simple shots, and showing humanitarian care in the firework of the citizens' trivial matters. This is also the strength of Xu Anhua.
Since the release of "The First Burning Incense" directed by Xu Anhua on October 22, it has been mixed. As for why she loves adapting Zhang Ailing's works so much, she said that she has a lot of sympathy with Zhang Ailing in terms of her understanding of the quality of life. I haven't made a romance film before, and I want to make up for my regrets this time.
Origin of Creation
Without utilitarianism, I hope to make an addictive realistic story
As the second generation of immigrants, Hong Kong formed the foundation of Xu Anhua's creation.
There is such a scene in her semi-autobiographical work "The Hate of Autumn on the Road" (1990). In the dim afternoon, the young granddaughter (with Xu Anhua's own shadow) recites "Wuyi Lane", and the grandfather is in She hugged her on the recliner and exclaimed, “If you study often, you will not forget your roots; good doctors and good doctors serve the people.” These two lines seem to summarize the roots of her creation from the perspective of concepts and regions.
In the 1990s, she felt that it would be difficult for her to make a breakthrough again, half of the reason was that she did not want to leave Hong Kong to try commercial productions, and the other half was that she considered herself not a creative person, and the narrative level relied on the story. I hope that an enjoyable story will happen, and then shoot in her own way, but things that make her feel enjoyable seem to be getting less and less.
She once defined her abilities, "I estimate that she is ranked among the top ten directors in Hong Kong and not ranked in the world."
She has never been utilitarian for awards. Perhaps because of this, her personal and works have been favored by various film festivals and awards ceremonies.
In 2020, the Venice International Film Festival awarded her a Lifetime Achievement Award. Some commentaries said that if Xu Anhua went out to shoot some foreign language films, her achievement and popularity would be even higher. Xu Anhua responded to this, that is not necessary for filmmaking.
She has always been a localized director, and her work has always told stories in the language she is familiar with.
In Xu Anhua’s series of works, there are realistic literary films that often overlook the bottom of Hong Kong’s society and marginalized groups, as well as market-oriented commercial genres such as romance, martial arts, and thrillers. However, the outside world has always focused more on her. The social expression in the movie sees her as a representative of the humanistic spirit of Hong Kong.
On the one hand, this is a relatively safe way of interpretation. Even if there are many times the embarrassment of over-interpretation, she herself has never recognized these metaphysical generalizations.
On the other hand, her perspective on the bottom texture of Hong Kong society has always been with a certain author’s temperature, rather than the calmness of intellectuals.
She has always had a kind of warmth and humility towards Hong Kong, and it is these that make her creative perspective often touch the marginal figures of Hong Kong society.
The reason why she went to shoot those seemingly "sharp" subjects was that she could see the unique interest in them, but also the serious power of personal experience, rather than the criticism of the sword, at least not. It is totally.
Xu Anhua’s best works are almost all about reality. Even those commercial works, her depiction of character status and life scenes are very popular, such as "Zoke Tracking" and "Ghost World" which are not well-known. She did a good job of her works, the taste of young people and the sense of urbanism.
But in the adaptation of literary works out of reality, she almost failed. From the support of a lot of resources, the relatively willful shooting process of "Jiangnan Shujianqing" and "Gobi Encouragement Record" (adapted from Jin Yong's martial arts novel "Book "Sword Encounter Record"), to the entangled work "Jade Guanyin" (adapted from Hai Yan's novel of the same name), which weighs the interests of multiple parties, the market and reputation are not as expected.
If you look at these dramas carefully, you can still feel the taste and expression of Xu Anhua, but in the adaptations, these are just embellishments, and the original works are still dominant.
In this type of work, in her value sequence, the original expression is much greater than her personal creation. She usually presents a difference in understanding, so she has never overstepped the text.
Face the question
Three adaptations of Zhang Ailing's work "The First Incense" but the farthest away from readers
Xu Anhua’s three adaptations of Zhang Ailing’s works were not considered successful. The first two were "Love in the Fallen City" released in 1984 and "Half Life" released in 1997. However, "The First Incense" directed by this time was the most unpleasant, the project It has been criticized by the outside world from the beginning to the release, and then after the release, the whole people complained. This film encountered more violent criticism than the previous two, and it became the most "unsavory" Xu Anhua's work.
Xu Anhua once laughed at herself in interviews. Many directors in Hong Kong who want to shoot Zhang Ailing hate themselves and don't understand why they always let this woman shoot.
There are also even more unfriendly questions. Why has Xu Anhua never been able to photograph Zhang Ailing?
Can Xu Anhua understand Zhang Ailing?
She analyzed the reasons why she likes Zhang Ailing in the book "Xu Anhua Says Xu Anhua", "I can't explain why Zhang Ailing is popular in our generation of directors. This is a cultural phenomenon. Maybe Shanghai in the 1940s was very similar to Hong Kong. She faced Yes, we can actually agree."
Zhang Ailing’s novels sometimes focus on psychological activities and life details. Xu Anhua’s films also pay great attention to the expression of the environment and the quality of life. In this regard, they have something in common.
The most important reason why Xu Anhua couldn't shoot Zhang Ailing was that she was not decisive enough.
Zhang Ailing can treat the seven emotions and six desires coldly, and Xu Anhua can't do it without being disturbed.
"Half Life" is a relatively successful work among the three adaptations, and it is also the most obvious embodiment of Xu Anhua's warmth.
When writing the script, she always hoped that Manzhen (played by Wu Qianlian) was not that good, and Zhu Hongcai (played by Ge You) was not that bad.
Frankly admitted that he couldn't handle the rape scene of the two people, and finally in the movie, I used a long-range shot of the shadow of the two people to show it.
There are many successful films adapted from Zhang Ailing's works, such as "Lust, Caution" (2007) directed by Ang Li, and "Red Roses and White Roses" directed by Guan Jinpeng (1994).
The stories of "Lust, Caution" and "Red Rose and White Rose" are driven by desire. Xu Anhua's filming is driven by emotion, and there is already too much difference in strength.
In Xu Anhua's eyes, Xiao Hong is desire, but Zhang Ailing is not. When filming "Golden Age", she talked about Xiao Hong in an interview, using the word respect, while Zhang Ailing was more understanding than her.
The biggest and most stable point of the film "The First Burning Incense" is Ma Sichun, which should be the worst choice of the heroine in all the movies by Xu Anhua.
Audiences questioned her casting vision. In fact, Xu Anhua was very good at selecting actors before this work. Many actresses won performance awards in her films. They are all crazy in Hong Kong, and they are all over the golden age. Most of the celebrities left in her works different characters from the past, such as Li Lizhen, Zhong Chuhong, Anita Mui, Lin Qingxia, Zhou Huimin and so on.
Xu Anhua said that he made "The First Incense" because he had never made a romance film and wanted to make up for his regrets.
In fact, in the early years, films such as "Stars Tonight" (1988) and "Fried Rice with Freedom" (2010) directed by her in the early years were full of romantic features, but love in these films is the development and trace of the changes of the times. .
She took "The First Incense" as the first true love movie to make. First of all, she gave up her best perspective of reality, and the ubiquitous deception and calculation in the novel also revealed the unbearable and unbearable love in the novel. , These are destined to be far away from people's expectations for romance films.
"The First Incense" is Xu Anhua's closest textual approach to Zhang Ailing, but in terms of results, this is the farthest she is from Zhang Ailing's readers and her fans.
Make it simple
I hope to write a biography for the “characters” at the bottom.
In recent years, many Hong Kong directors have achieved box office success after going north, but their works have never been able to go further, Xu Anhua is an exception.
She directed "When Will There Be a Bright Moon" (2017), although it is not a big box office winner, but in terms of word-of-mouth and film quality, it surpasses most of the works of director Kitakami; she directed "Golden Age" (2014) is full Most of the controversy is the discussion of narrative style.
Xu Anhua is not an excuse for being trapped in capital and standards.
No matter what kind of market, the only thing that can really influence Xu Anhua's films is whether she has something to say.
Her best-known films, such as "Running into the Angry Sea" (1982), "Women, Forty" (1995), "A Thousand Words" (1999), "Sister Tao" (2011), all themes are A very small group of people, she just hopes to record these people because of pure creative impulse.
"Up to now, I don't think that my films are humane. I just think that these people are miserable. Their stories are worth filming. I won't set up a title in advance."
She also admits that she has always had a special feeling for this kind of things, so she has come into contact with a large number of social workers and volunteers. She once said that there are many so-called successful people in her industry, but those at the bottom often make her feel that they tend to Is the real "character".
Xu Anhua has a special sense of contradiction, but it is not the mainstream and the non-mainstream, the opposition between art and commerce, is that she always has an extremely personal creative direction, and this creative direction is compatible with all movie trends, so her There has never been a break in her creation, and she has had excellent works in almost all ages.
She has always been a compromise in making movies, and the budget is based on the lowest standard. As long as she has the opportunity to shoot, she will be able to shoot. If there is no film to shoot, she will shoot documentaries and TV movies. At the same time, she is very tough, and she can be simple, but not just follow the market. .
Xu Anhua's "Day and Night in Tin Shui Wai" (2008) and "Night and Fog in Tin Shui Wai" (2009) are both such twists and turns. The film originated from the social news of a murder case. She felt that she could do something. Then went to visit.
Tin Shui Wai belongs to a slum area and there are many housing estates. People there will dress themselves beautifully with fake brand names. Just like the buildings there, they look good on the outside, but the living environment inside is terrible. She sees it To be the cruelty of Hong Kong hidden under the glamour, and such an area has such a beautiful name as Tin Shui Wai.
In order to capture the sense of life in that area, Xu Anhua went to Tianshuiwei more than 50 times by bus and subway, and wandered around.
The film project began, and the investor suddenly withdrew. Xu Anhua scolded all the way after receiving the call. The project could only be shelved indefinitely. Later, commercial film director Wang Jing stepped in and made another story of cooperation.
After the release of "Day and Night in Tin Shui Wai", it won the Hong Kong Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress and became the biggest winner of the year.
When the film was actually shot, it was shot in accordance with the TV movie specifications. The investment of one million yuan was good. The test response was good. Therefore, it was shown online at the art theater. It was screened once a day, and it finally got 1.6 million yuan in the box office.
After that, Xu Anhua immediately devoted herself to the filming of "Night and Fog in Tianshuiwei", and she was worried that she would not be able to shoot again if she didn't take it soon.
Xu Anhua has always been like this. It is difficult to regard her as a standard literary film master, and it is also difficult to regard her as a craftsman-type creator in the Hong Kong film industry. In the forty years of creation, she has no fixed team of collaborations. , And never team up with other people in the industry to keep warm, on the contrary, the director has a simple attribute for this complex job.
Xu Anhua is 74 years old this year. In one year, she has experienced the two poles of commentary. The documentary of Xu Anhua's film "Make a Good Movie" in Wen Nianzhong has received rave reviews. People think that she is very hard at making movies. After "The First Incense" was released, people said The crowd laughed at this movie.
In fact, no matter how we evaluate Xu Anhua's films, we shouldn't ignore it. She is still making movies, making movies that she likes, which most directors can't do.
At this age, people don’t need to cater to the outside world and betray themselves, just as she said when describing her reading interest, “I’m old and I don’t need to pretend”.
Feature writing/Beijing News reporter Tom Bo Zhou Huixiaowan