Another authentic Beijing-style drama "Outside the Drum Tower" directed and performed by Yu Zhen: fulfilled my wish, once is enough

  Written by Wang Zhili and directed and acted by Yu Zhen, the realistic drama "Beyond the Drum Tower", which tells about the inheritance of carpenters in Beijing and the reconciliation of brothers and sisters, is being broadcast on Beijing Satellite TV.

The play is considered to be another authentic Beijing-style drama after "Love Full of Courtyards" and "Under the Gate of Zhengyang". The original Beijing style and the craftsman spirit of "art is greater than the sky" in the play are especially popular with audiences.

Many viewers praised "Outside the Drum Tower" for its strong ingenuity and full of Beijing flavor. In the down-to-earth master-apprentice story, there is a warm and heart-warming life avenue.

  Why self-directed and acted "Outside the Drum Tower"?

From the hated "Luo Shibin" in "The World" to Yu Zhongsheng, a carpenter in Beijing, how has Yu Zhen changed?

  In an interview with the media a few days ago, Yu Zhen said frankly that, compared to "Luo Shibin", "Yu Zhongsheng", when interests conflict with the bottom line, his insistence that interests must give way to the bottom line is the latter's greatest personality charm; He has worked hard for this work and fulfilled his wish, but the experience of directing and acting once is enough, and it is a difficult challenge to constantly switch between rationality and emotion. .

 "Beyond the Drum Tower" is a true reflection of the life of Beijing people

  Beiqing Daily: You are an actor, what is the opportunity and reason for you to direct the filming of "Beyond the Drum Tower" as a director this time?

  Yu Zhen: That's right. I acted in a play called "My Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law" before, and then I met the famous screenwriter Wang Zhili.

While filming this scene, we chatted a lot.

Because of Teacher Wang Zhili, Beijing-style dramas are very well written, and he has created many excellent Beijing-style dramas such as "Love Full Courtyard", "Zhengyang Gate", "Little Woman under Zhengyang Gate" and so on.

I made an appointment with him to help me write a Beijing-style drama.

During the chat, I said that I am a Beijing actor who grew up in the Drum Tower area.

Teacher Wang Zhili decided to write the story "Outside the Drum Tower".

During the writing of the script, I also became a director for the first time, and directed a play called "Mission Impossible".

After the script of Teacher Wang's "Beyond the Drum Tower" was written, I also gained some directing experience. Originally, I was only acting in this drama and wanted to invite other directors to direct this drama, but due to scheduling problems, it was not possible.

Later, I talked to producer Liu Guohua and screenwriter Wang Zhili. They also recognized me and asked me to guide and try it myself.

"Outside the Drum Tower" happened to be about the Drum Tower. The Drum Tower is on the central axis of Beijing. I grew up in the Drum Tower since I was a child, and I was very familiar with that piece of life, so I directed and acted and made this play.

  Beiqing Daily: "Outside the Drum Tower" has a distinct Beijing cultural heritage.

What is the biggest difference between your directing this play and your previous work?

  Yu Zhen: The drama "Outside the Drum Tower", I think, is a reflection of the real life of Beijingers like me who grew up on the central axis of Beijing and in hutongs.

  I am too familiar with the life in the Drum Tower. I grew up in a large courtyard. There are 32 families living in the courtyard. It is like a family.

There is something going on in the hutong, everyone is passing it on by word of mouth, and the human touch is very strong.

In addition, in the past few decades, our motherland has changed a lot, and we have seen the rapid development of the country and the city.

Therefore, in "Beyond the Drum Tower", in addition to seeing the development and changes of our motherland and our Beijing, we can also see the growth and changes of people.

Teacher Wang Zhili's script is very well written. It is written that no matter what level you do in your career or business, no matter how well you do it or not, you can't forget your original intentions.

"Beyond the Drum Tower" is closely related to traditional Chinese culture. It is about four apprentices making traditional Chinese furniture. They later went into other industries, and finally they did not forget their original intentions and returned to their originality in a down-to-earth manner. a themed story.

 Yu Zhongsheng is a carpenter-born craftsman, and sticking to the bottom line is his root

  Beiqing Daily: In addition to being the director, you also starred in "Beyond the Drum Tower" as the big brother Yu Zhongsheng.

In your opinion, what kind of person is Yu Zhongsheng?

  Yu Zhen: Yu Zhongsheng is a carpenter-turned-craftsman. He lives outside the Drum Tower and has been fond of antique furniture since he was a child.

He's a boring person, he's more sensible, and he works hard.

Later, with the development and changes of society, his fate also changed. He worked in many industries, such as selling pancakes on the roadside, then selling eggs, raising ostriches, making a green family industry chain, and then cooperating with others to make a listed company , the business is getting bigger and bigger.

But when his career is very big, he finds that everything is gone, love is gone, brotherhood is gone, including family love, he suddenly realizes that the most important thing in life is emotion, not about your career. How big and how high is the status.

Teacher Wang Zhili wrote this play very well, and the characters were written very solidly. The story of such characters moved me very much.

  Beiqing Daily: Compared with the Luo Shibin you played in "The World", what is the most attractive charm of the character Yu Zhongsheng?

  Yu Zhen: Nails are nails, riveting is riveting, meticulous, no matter what you do, you must do it down-to-earth.

When interests conflict with the bottom line they adhere to, interests must give way to the bottom line.

This is the root of the character Yu Zhongsheng. No matter what industry he does or what he does, this is what he sticks to.

This kind of spirit is rare nowadays.

  Beiqing Daily: "Outside the Drum Tower" involves a lot of traditional woodworking skills. Yu Zhongsheng is also a carpenter. Did you make a lot of preparations for this scene?

  Yu Zhen: Playing with furniture is my biggest hobby.

After graduating from Chinese opera, I entered Beijing Renyi to perform dramas. Later, I was fortunate to meet the teacher Zou Jingzhi, a great screenwriter. Zou Jingzhi likes traditional Chinese culture, including old furniture. He also wrote a lot of plays, and then through him, I met Mr. Wang Gang.

So, I followed them to play with old furniture very early, called "playing" in Beijing dialect, and they taught me hand by hand, so that I had some understanding of old furniture.

In addition, almost all of my spare time is spent in the furniture city or the wood workshop with teacher Zou Jingzhi.

Start by looking at the wood, what kind of wood is this, what time, what material, and then how to do it?

What are the characteristics of Ming and Qing furniture, and what are the characteristics of the Republic of China?

Quite fun.

I have been sticking to this hobby for so many years, so this is a little accumulation in my normal life.

  Beiqing Daily: You are both a director and a star this time. What do you think is the biggest difficulty and challenge?

  Yu Zhen: Actors are emotional, and actors live in their roles.

The director is rational, and the director lives in the play.

As for me, I will live in this drama for a while, and live in the actor's role for a while. This is a difficult challenge.

Because you are a director, you have to direct the costumes, makeup, props, photography, art, recording and other departments of the crew, and you must be rationally talking about how you should prepare.

Actors don't need to worry about this, you just need to play your role well.

So I jumped in and out, and this show really tested me.

After I finished filming this drama, I stopped directing and acting, because I felt that I was lacking in every aspect, and I was still a person who pursued perfection. Either I would direct a drama in a down-to-earth manner, or I would To act in a play down-to-earth, these are two professions.

But this experience was an important creative experience in my life, and I also gained a lot of valuable experience.

Although it was hard work, but now that this work has been successfully broadcast, my heart is still very sweet.

Promote traditional culture and craftsmanship, and help Beijing's central axis to apply for World Heritage through "Outside the Drum Tower"

  Beiqing Daily: "Outside the Drum Tower" contains many golden sentences that are rich in life philosophy, which are thought-provoking. For example, Master Yi Dachuan said, "If you fight for small things, you will lose your way." How do you view this kind of life contained in the play? Charm?

  Yu Zhen: If you fight for small things, you will lose the great way. This sentence is really good. It means that if you care about some small things and chase the immediate interests too much, you will lose bigger things, lose the great way, and even lose the greatness. Get yourself into it too.

Today's people are easily confused by the things in front of them and do not know what life is really about.

For example, Yu Zhongsheng is a carpenter. His original intention is not to forget his original intention, that is, to do every piece of woodworking work well, and to calm down and do his own work in a down-to-earth manner.

If you concentrate on doing this thing well, you will definitely get what you want, not if you can't do this and you can't do that.

There is also an old saying - "It is better to break up an enemy than to end it". This sentence has been said for many years, but it is really difficult to do it.

In the play, the second junior brother Yin Dongyi played by Hai Yitian and I have been fighting and competing with each other because of hatred.

This kind of thing like brothers fighting often happens in the present. Fighting back and forth, what did you gain and what did you lose?

This is still instructive for us.

  Beiqing Daily: "Outside the Drum Tower" promotes the spirit of craftsmen and conveys traditional Chinese culture through carpenter craftsmanship and furniture.

What do you think of the value and practical significance of Chinese traditional culture?

  Yu Zhen: There are many traditional cultures and traditional crafts in China, which contain exquisite skills and admirable craftsmanship spirit.

Such as furniture, porcelain, purple sand, these things are our traditional craftsmanship in China, and the workmanship is exquisite, and they were all the luxury goods sought after by the world at that time.

Many large museums abroad now have Chinese Ming and Qing furniture museums.

Choose one thing for a lifetime.

Through "Beyond the Drum Tower", you can see what the craftsmanship is, and then it may inspire the audience: Did I study this profession so seriously and do it well?

Including our filming, we must be meticulous and down-to-earth to make every shot, every prop, and costume to the best of our ability.

For example, "Outside the Drum Tower" requires a lot of red sandalwood furniture and huanghuali furniture to appear, and these precious furniture are all genuine products borrowed by the crew.

When returning it, we will carefully wrap it with a quilt and then transport it to avoid bumps.

This is also a manifestation of the spirit of craftsmanship.

  Beiqing Daily: 2022 is a crucial year for Beijing's central axis to apply for World Heritage status, and the Bell and Drum Tower is an important scene of this drama.

Is the broadcast of "Beyond the Drum Tower" also a kind of assistance to Beijing's central axis application?

  Yu Zhen: Everyone in Beijing knows about the Bell and Drum Towers, but what is the central axis of Beijing and where does the central axis cover?

Actually not everyone knows it.

Then the drama "Beyond the Drum Tower" reflects well what is the central axis, what is the Bell and Drum Tower, and how beautiful is the central axis of Beijing?

This play will play a promotional role in Beijing's central axis. The audience across the country will know through "Beyond the Drum Tower" that Beijing's central axis is like this.

  Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Yang Wenjie