Li Xuejian 's son's first directorial work will be released this Friday
The interview with director Li Gen was in his studio, and he also met his mother Ms. Yu Haidan that day. During the chat, Yu Haidan told a story that Li Gen did not tell the reporter.
A few days before Li Gen set off to Japan to film "If One Day I Will Leave You", my grandmother passed away.
He was unable to attend his grandmother's funeral. Before he left, Li Gen spent the afternoon with his grandmother in the farewell room.
Yu Haidan said: "Li Gen lived in his grandma's house for 14 years from the age of 4 to 18 years old. He has a deep relationship with his grandmother. I don't know what he said to my grandma that day, and I don't know how my grandma's death affected his films. ."
And Li Gen feels that this influence may be that he has always used "parting" as his creative theme. Li Gen's first feature film "If One Day I Will Leave You" is about "the time to get together and leave." Disappointment and relief.
The film was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the "Temple of Heaven Award" at the 11th Beijing International Film Festival last year and will be released this Friday.
As the countdown to the film's release began, Li Gen admitted that he was a little anxious, "At first it was just my wish to make this film, but now I'm about to meet the audience, and I found out that the film is about a group of people, and it's about the honor and disgrace of a group of people."
Li Gen has another identity - he is the son of the famous performance artist Li Xuejian, which is like a double-edged sword, which not only won him attention, but also brought him a burden.
Li Gen joked: "Old Li has worked too hard. Originally, he thought that when I became a director, he could relax a little or take a break. But, thinking about it now, I think he still has to work hard, because his reputation still depends on himself. I might pull him down a bit."
It tells the story of one year, but it is actually the condensed of 12 years.
"If One Day I Will Leave You" tells the story of Li Xiaoli, an exchange student who came to study abroad for a year in the remote "Fuinobe" in Tokyo, Japan.
With the help of his old classmate Qiu Qiu, Li Xiaoli went to work in a Chinese restaurant called "Nanguo Pavilion". The acting manager Guan Wei took him in and took care of him, and the clerk Aoki regarded him as a rival in love and the master chef, Master Wan Xiao. Brother Song ignored him... Li Xiaoli's arrival broke the silence on the ground floor and got involved in everyone's life.
Time is fleeting. Before the next spring comes, some people stay and some people leave, and what will happen to those "limited family relationships, temporary friendships, and similar love" that have just been formed?
Many of the stories in this film stem from Li Gen's own experiences.
In 2007, he went to Japan as an exchange student. In 2008, he returned to China to continue his university studies. He graduated from university in 2009, and was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy in 2010 as a graduate student.
When I was a graduate student, I wanted to photograph this experience in Japan.
In 2016, he started writing screenplays.
In 2019, the film started shooting.
In the year as an exchange student, Li Gen worked by himself and didn't ask his family for a penny, "I spent too much energy on this matter, I never participated in school activities, I never went to Mount Fuji, I didn't go to hot springs, To learn the tea ceremony, I stayed in the store for 13 hours on Saturday and Sunday. We were on the basement floor, so we were very eager to go up. No one would want to stay underground all the time. There are still 12 hours, and 9 hours...it was very tired and hopeless, so they gave me almond tofu at that time to shut me up."
Although he only stayed in Japan for a year, every year after that, Li Gen would return to the "Nanguo Pavilion" where he worked part-time. Until the outbreak of the epidemic, he had been there for 12 consecutive years.
"Why do you have to go back once a year? Because in that year, everyone's relationship was too close. Before I left, I told them that I would come back to see them every year, and they said: 'Oh, it's impossible, we left here. With so many people, who would go back to this basement level?' But I took it as an agreement, just like going swimming every summer vacation and going to snowball fights in winter. Going back a few years later is more like a kind of The sense of ritual, as if I don't go back every year, I always feel that I am missing something. Over the years, our relationship has become more intimate, and they are also the strength to support me in making this film. Today, the acting manager of Qi Xiyan is still there, my child She is already in the second grade; Master Wan continues cooking there; Qiu Qiu is married and lives in a very luxurious villa, living the life she wants; Aoki is now in Shanghai."
Therefore, although the film tells stories that happened within a year, these stories are more like the accumulation of 12 years. "Each group of characters has a real prototype, and of course there will be renderings or magnifications, like old age. The husband and wife group, that is, I concentrated the shadows of many elderly people on this old couple, which is a very effective setting."
"If One Day I Will Leave You" was filmed at the "Nanguo Pavilion" where Li Gen worked part-time. Li Gen said that this store has only had one day off on New Year's Day every year since it opened for more than ten years, and has never closed the store. He made a movie and closed it for 12 days. "Many old customers are curious about what happened in the store, why is the store closed?"
At first, when Li Gen told these friends in the store that he was going to make a movie, everyone was looking forward to it, but after waiting for three or four years before it was shot, the friends secretly muttered, "I won't do it anymore", so when Li Gen really led the crew When it came to the "Southern Pavilion", it was very "sensational".
"The boss saw that I had brought so many people back, and he said: 'Oh, so many people were needed to make a movie. I thought ten people would be enough. It seems that you are serious.'"
The relationship of more than ten years was finally released in "If One Day I Will Leave You", but Li Gen said that after the film was finished, he felt that he had fallen deeper, "Originally, this film was for myself these years. As a memorial, you can put it down and go forward after the filming, but during the filming, everyone ate and lived together to support each other. After the film was finished, when everyone left and I returned there, I felt how my state was It's not the end, it's like it's starting again? Walking through this store, I think about how it was during the shooting, passing a tram, and thinking about what I was doing here that day. I wonder what happened to me, I don't want to let go of these Should I go forward? This emotion cannot be described as uncomfortable, but it confuses me."
In the end, Wang Hongwei, the film's producer and Li Gen's graduate teacher, sent a message "A word to wake up the dreamer", pulling Li Gen out of his melancholy mood.
Li Gen recalls it with joy now, "Mr. Wang has served as a producer for so many young directors' films, so he probably understands our mood too well. I sent him a message about this confusion, and he replied: 'Why do you think so much, come back to work quickly', I feel like I'll be fine in an instant."
Zhang Aijia encouraged me to "don't think so much, just do it"
As Li Gen's directorial debut, "If One Day I Will Leave You" has a neat and strong lineup of creators in front and behind the scenes. Li Gen said with a smile that he "stands on the shoulders of giants".
Among them, Li Gen is most grateful to Sister Zhang (Zhang Aijia).
In 2016, Director Tian Zhuangzhuang went to film "Love and Blind Date" directed and acted by Zhang Aijia, and took Li Gen there, "He wanted me to meet the world and relax. When I went to the crew, I met Sister Zhang, the atmosphere of that crew. It's really nice, they're so pure when they're creating it, and you get that vibe."
Knowing that Li Gen was studying directing, Zhang Aijia asked him what plans he had. Li Gen mentioned "If One Day I Will Leave You".
Director Tian Zhuangzhuang, because he had filmed "Wu Qingyuan" in Japan, was well aware of the difficulty of making a film across borders. He did not agree with Li Gen's making it his first directorial work, "I didn't quite understand it at that time, I thought he was throwing cold water on me, but when I arrived After filming in Japan, I realized that he loved me and was afraid that I would endure hardship. However, unlike Mr. Zhuang Zhuang, Sister Zhang said at the time: 'Don't think so much, it's not difficult for you to film where you are? Isn’t it difficult to film in other cities? Just do it, if you always find it difficult, if you don’t do it, even if you shoot downstairs in your house, you won’t be able to do it.’”
Encouraged by Zhang Aijia, Li Gen began to write the script seriously after he came back from the crew. When the filming was about to start, he went to Zhang Aijia, "Sister Zhang said, 'Whether I'm here to act, this is a trivial matter, I'll do it for you.' So , she brought me her production team, Zhuang Lizhen, the producer of her "Love and Blind Date", as well as editor Matthew, photographer Yao Hongyi, including a very good executive director, all of whom were introduced to me by Sister Zhang . Teacher Zhuang Zhuang also joked: 'You go to "Love and Blind Date" with me, and bring the crew back.'"
Zhang Aijia also made a cameo appearance as a teacher in "If One Day I Will Leave You", "The first day of filming was her two scenes in the classroom, which she helped me to open. In order to stabilize the military's heart, there is a good Caitou. Then she left, and when it was about to be finished, she came back to film some interactive scenes with Xiao Li. Before the filming, the two of us ate ramen, and she asked me if I wanted to see the material we filmed and see other people Does she need to be consistent with other people? I said I don't want you to be consistent with them, don't watch. I want you to jump out of the way, I think a too bland life needs a slightly dramatic character, to occasionally point Light it up."
Li Gen praised Zhang Aijia's outstanding performance, "It's very refreshing to have such a good actor appearing in your camera. Filming with her is the time when I am most relaxed and enjoy the director's creation. Because I shoot with other people. I will think a lot, not that I don’t want to film with her, but she knows what you want too much, she is too stable, you can temporarily hide under her umbrella and rest for a while.”
Japanese women are used to holding umbrellas all year round. In the film, Zhang Aijia also wears an orange umbrella.
Orange was chosen because there were many black fish in the river they filmed, but only one orange fish, "I said to Sister Zhang, 'I want to give you an orange umbrella, because this orange fish is so lonely', But Sister Zhang said: 'Then I want to say, it is not lonely, but conspicuous.' After hearing this, I felt that different visions, different experiences, how different things look at the same thing. I will only say that it is lonely, she It will feel conspicuous, um, it's her."
Regarding the label "Li Xuejian's son", I can only try to adjust my mentality
Li Gen also went through several turns in how to deal with the "distance" from his father, Li Xuejian.
He said that he was very vain when he was a child, and wished the whole world would know that he was Li Xuejian's son, "I went to an English cram school in elementary school, and at my strong request, he went to my only parent-teacher meeting. He was filming at the time. "Water Margin", I remember that he hurried from the set wearing Song Jiang's hood and wearing a military coat, that scene was quite funny, because other parents may think he is Song Jiang, then we are Liangshan heroes."
After growing up, Li Gen did not want to let others know that his father was Li Xuejian. For this reason, he applied for Japanese major in university instead of film school. "I don't want to go to university in an environment where my parents can see it. Although they are not the kind of parents who like to arrange their children's lives, but they will definitely know me when they go to film school.
In order to avoid the protection of his parents, Li Gen bypassed the film and television path, but by God's will, in the end, Li Gen was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy's directing department as a graduate student. It's not that he wants me to 'inherit my father's business'. He may still want to protect me more, help me, and have more conversations with me. Except for acting, he feels that he doesn't understand anything, and he doesn't even use a microwave oven. knowledge."
During the summer vacation after graduating from college, Li Xuejian said to Li Gen: "You always say that you don't like doing film and television, but in fact you don't know what it is. This is my life's work, can you at least understand it? How do you turn words on paper into pictures?" It happened that Li Xuejian had a friend who was filming a TV series in Shenzhen, so Li Gen went to the crew for three months, "I think it's very meaningful to do this, and I'll prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination when I come back."
But after he became a director, Li Gen truly understood that his father was so difficult, "I admire him a lot."
Li Gen hopes to have the opportunity to work with his father in the future, "I think this is his wish, and it is also my wish. But because of this, we don't want to let this opportunity down, and we hope that we can have a good, suitable each other's work."
When he was in school, many of Li Gen's classmates knew that he was Li Xuejian's son, "There will be some people who have this kind of curiosity or are very enthusiastic. I hope you can introduce him to friends. It was fine when he was in Beiyu, and I was in the film school. When I was in school, the feeling was stronger, but gradually, these friends disappeared, because when people contacted you, they found that you were too ordinary and not as close as him."
Now with "If One Day I Will Leave You", some people who haven't contacted for a long time have contacted him again, and Li Gen will be known by more people as "Li Xuejian's son", ask him if his mentality is It will be affected, and even future creations will be difficult to achieve "without distractions", Li Gen admits that it is indeed the case.
As for how to resolve it, he laughed and said, "I can only numb myself by drinking alcohol." After the joke, Li Gen said that he would try his best to adjust himself and try his best in everything, but he didn't have to be too rigid.
What if one day I will leave you with tears on my face
Perhaps it was the reason why he lived with the elderly since he was a child. Li Gen is very nostalgic, and he has abundant and delicate emotions and strong empathy. "My friends also like to complain to me because I will listen to them carefully. Some of them may be you. Complain to him, he will say 'it's okay, it's nothing,' but I think since the other party is looking for you, you need to listen, empathy is the most important thing between people."
Knowing that he is "amorous", Li Gen tried his best to restrain himself when he filmed "If One Day I Will Leave You", but now that he is reviewing the film, he feels that he may be a little too restrained, "This is one of my regrets. , The first time I was a director, I was too restrained on the scene. Many times everyone said that we were very moved. Why did you still not respond? Of course, if I didn't have that restraint, I might collapse at some point, and I can't say for sure. I may not be able to hold on. I think a good director has to have that switch, you can't be too self-indulgent, but not so restrained that you can't see anything vivid. I think this is particularly difficult, it may have to go through It takes a lot of exercise and accumulation of experience to find that balanced position on the seesaw.”
Specifically which scene made Li Gen feel that he was too restrained, he said that it was not a certain scene, but the overall reaction between people, "For example, after listening to a sentence, you don't understand, or You didn't respond to it. It's too difficult to define the difference between the two, so why can't I externalize the difference? Don't do so much mental activity, because the movie doesn't have a bullet screen, and there's no explanation. You can let the character say something, or Do something, quarrel more intensely, cry more intensely, and be crazy when you are crazy."
"If one day I will leave you" is the lyric of the song "Wordless Ending", the second half of which is "there will be no tears on my face".
In the past, Li Gen felt that there should be no tears on his face, but now he suddenly felt, why should he be so restrained?
What if there are tears on your face: "Life is already so hard, cry if you want to cry, and be proud if you want to be proud. In fact, it is not illegal. There is no problem with filming restraint, but it must be at a certain moment. Let the audience breathe out this breath, and you can't hold it with you all the time."
Li Gen, who is usually very gentle, was criticized by the actors as "severe" during the filming. The actors felt nervous with the director, and they would not call him after work to make an appointment to eat ramen.
But when it was over, Li Gen was drunk.
The next day, an assistant from the recording crew said, "It turns out that director, you are like this, it doesn't seem to be the same as when you were filming." After hearing everyone's descriptions, Li Gen realized that he was drunk and warmly hugged the crew at the door. Everyone speaks.
From the graduation work of the students, to the first feature film "If One Day I Will Leave You", and the new work he is preparing, Li Gen finds that the motif he is concerned about is parting. Li Gen, who is just 35 years old this year, also I don't know why I care so much about "parting": "I think each of us is facing parting, or even waiting for a parting. I don't want to make myself feel so sad when parting comes, I have been learning to make my face not look good. There will be tears, but it is really difficult to learn. I now think that if you can really learn it, does it mean that you are everyone in your life, or are you a cold-blooded person?"
Parting is sad, but it also contains hope, just like Li Gen said that he used to pay attention to saying goodbye to the old, and now he wants to welcome the new.
The old, middle-aged and young people in "If One Day I Will Leave You" are facing parting.
People who are together every day may not have really met; and those who have really met are bound to be separated.
We can only cherish the moment to accompany each other, hold hope, and look forward to the reunion after parting.
Text/Photo courtesy of our reporter Zhang Jia/Xiaobai