The movie "The Climber" produced by Shanghai Film (Group) Co., Ltd. is adapted from the true story of the Chinese mountaineering team's two sprints to Mount Everest in 1960 and 1975. As a rare domestically produced large-scale mountaineering movie, it shows the heroic deeds of Chinese climbers.
A little-known eventful period of "mountain climbing for the country". Two generations of climbers, facing different times and challenges, showed the same tenacious and unyielding climbing spirit. As a mature film genre, mountaineering has been filmed by countries all over the world, and "The Climber" is the first large-scale production of mountaineering in China. From the story to the visual effects, it is very Chinese.
The Climber poster
This film, which gathers many film creators such as Tsui Hark, Li Rengang, Wu Jing, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Yi, Hu Ge, etc., uses oriental narrative and Chinese aesthetics to tell the story of Chinese heroes' brave climbing of Mount Everest. The film won over 1 billion in 2019. The box office has also become a "hot blood tear gas bomb" in the theaters that presented the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China that year.
Recently, the list of winning works of the 16th "Five One Project" of the Central Propaganda Department was announced, and "The Climber" won the "Excellent Work Award". It has been almost four years since the filming of this film. Xu Chunping, chief planner of the film and vice president of Shanghai Film Group, recalled the details of the film creation at that time, and the touching and shocking scenes are still in front of my eyes. That "impossible mission" was completed with great enthusiasm and dedication, leaving behind a wealth called "climbing spirit", which still inspires Shanghai Film People to challenge "climbing" again and again.
Everyone did their best for the movie
""The Climber" has cost us too much life and effort. Although it has been 4 years now, it is there when I don't want it. I still have too many deep memories when I think about it." Even Xu Chunping, who has a history of birth, still has a lot of emotion when talking about this movie.
"The Climber" stills
As a key film dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, Shanghai Film Group has been running the "extreme operation" of the countdown to the release time from the moment it received the task. "The National Day of 2019 is going to be held, and there are only 15 months to complete the entire creation from scratch. This process is indeed extremely challenging. It must not only be completed, but also be shot well. Mountaineering is a niche subject, how to make it look good , the filming is real and contagious, and there are a lot of technical difficulties in the film, which are all challenges." Time constraints and heavy tasks are the formidable tests that the project has faced since its inception.
The main creative lineup of "The Climber" is full of big names. Producer Tsui Hark and director Li Rengang have rich experience in the production of Hong Kong genre films. The efficient control of industrial processes ensures the quality and quantity of the film. Wu Jing, Zhang Yi, Zhang Ziyi, Hu Ge, Jing Boran, Wang Jingchun and others formed a top-notch cast. While ensuring a strong box office appeal, they also contributed their own unique creations to the artistic quality of the film.
"Since the day I accepted the task, this project has gathered a group of outstanding filmmakers in the Chinese film industry, and everyone is working hard. These artists are competing on the same stage in the same film, and the actors are very concerned about their roles and every scene. , pondered over and over again, and contributed a lot of creative performance.”
"The Climber" stills
Xu Chunping remembers that Wu Jing was injured in both knees at the time and had been receiving treatment in Japan. The doctor also told him that he would not be able to perform major movements for at least a year. The scene was to climb the boiler with bare hands. At that time, his knee was very painful, so he took a rope after the injection, and climbed up with bare hands without any assistance. We were very moved when we watched it. "
What distressed Xu Chunping the most was that the director Li Rengang didn’t sleep much every day, and insisted on completing the filming in the later period under the serious illness of hematuria. Yes, as long as it stops, everyone's time will be messed up. During this process, everyone has a sense of professional honor, which I am too impressed with."
The whole crew seemed to be summoned and inspired by some kind of secret. Director Tsui Hark believed at the time that when shooting a mountaineering movie, everyone should have "no physical distance" from Mount Everest. So the producer organized a team of 150 people to go to the base camp of Mount Everest in a very short period of time.
"The Climber" stills
When visiting the Mountaineering Museum in Lhasa, the creators were deeply moved, "Wu Jing and Zhang Yi saw that the mountaineering tent was too thin, unimaginably thin, how could they use such a tent to shelter from the wind on Mount Everest? They were deeply shocked, indeed, the mountaineering conditions were too harsh at that time, and the country was too difficult.” The two actors proposed to stay at the Everest base camp for one night on the spot, and almost everyone in the team suffered from altitude sickness of varying severity. Xu Chunping recalled afterwards that all the potential safety hazards contained in it were scary, but after climbing Mount Everest, she seemed to be "hot-headed" and didn't care about it. As a result, after the snowy night of the previous day passed, Mount Everest gave a bright and sunny day the next day, and when the iconic picture of the summit was displayed in front of everyone, "that kind of shock is something that everyone will never forget. "
Chinese Blockbuster Attempt
Different from similar foreign films, the narrative of "The Climber" focuses on national honor and disgrace, collectivism, and deep affection; it also incorporates oriental aesthetics while using film industry standards that are in line with the world.
In Xu Chunping's view, ""The Climber" is a Chinese-style mainstream blockbuster. It has made many valuable and meaningful attempts and explorations. It has expanded the niche type of mountaineering to a more popular aesthetic direction."
To build this story from scratch, the main creator once had a hard time. "The theme of mountaineering is easy to make the audience feel tired. The first 10 minutes of snow-capped mountains and blue sky are quite beautiful, but after 10 minutes, the scene looks boring. And the actors wear sunglasses and thick clothes, so they can't have too many styles. There should be no many actions or even lines. These constraints are very lethal to the film. We try to add genre elements, strengthen the emotional connotation of the East, and create Chinese-style blockbusters. I think the audience will accept them. It’s also quite acceptable.”
"The Climber" stills
Yin Hongzeng, vice chairman of the China Film Association and professor of Tsinghua University, commented that "The Climber" embodies the characteristics of the new mainstream film: it uses an individualized way to narrate grand narratives, and uses typified narrative processing, reflecting the great progress of the film industry.
"The Climber" is also the film with the highest industrial standard and the most difficult production in the history of Shanghai Film Production.
"Like Tsui Hark and Li Rengang, these masters who have been highly tempered by the mature Hong Kong film industry and cultivated with efficient processes have made great contributions and taught us a very valuable lesson." Xu Chunping recalled that the scene where director Li Rengang dealt with Dafengkou was "very amazing in our opinion. He used the 'Chinese Ladder' to shoot a thrilling action scene of a game between man and nature. He prepared for a long time, and finally It only takes five minutes to appear in the movie, but such a creative design shows the Chinese ladder full of symbolic meaning and spiritual power in a very plot-like scene, which not only fits the situational narrative of the environment, but also It grabs the audience's attention."
"The Climber" stills
Mountaineering stories are difficult to shoot, and there are extremely high requirements for film setting and special effects. In order to create an artistic conception in line with oriental aesthetics, "The Climber" adopts a combination of documentary lens and film shooting. That is, a part is shot on the set, and a part is intercepted from the documentary screen, and the two are combined seamlessly. Many viewers were full of praise for the special effects of the film after watching it.
"The time for special effects in the post-production was too tight, and in the end, domestic and foreign teams worked together to complete it. The Korean team we hired had experience in filming mountaineering-themed films. They had some mature models, including the performance of snow. With rich experience, we specially sent young people to follow the whole project. It will be of great help to the experience and technical level of the young team.”
In the end, the box office of "The Climber" exceeded 1 billion yuan, and the niche theme of mountaineering achieved a win-win situation of social and economic benefits under the fusion of new mainstream narrative genres in China. "The box office of movies with mountaineering themes all over the world is not high. In the end, "The Climber" also realized its value at the box office. At present, it should be the highest-grossing movie in the mountaineering genre." Xu Chunping said.
'Climbing spirit' leaves a treasured legacy
"Climb up and find yourself" is a motto-like line in "The Climber". The history of "climbing mountains for the country" needs to find broader emotional resonance in the current film narrative. The "climbing spirit" conveyed and settled in "The Climber" is far more lofty and profound than telling a mountaineering story.
As a key film dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, "The Climber" is also a comprehensive creation of Shanghai Film Group's 70th anniversary. "Completing the major creative tasks assigned by the country at important nodes is a mission and feature that has not been interrupted in the history of Shanghai Film. As a state-owned film studio, the 70th anniversary of the Republic and the 70th anniversary of our own Shanghai Film Studio, We want to use good works as congratulatory gifts, this is our mission."
After the film was released, many viewers were moved to tears by the spirit of the characters in the film. A mother took her son to watch the film and said, "The film teaches children to be brave, adults to learn to take responsibility, encourages the frustrated, and gives the courage to start again." An audience in Harbin After the screening, he said, "The people in the movie are climbing Mount Everest, the height of Mount Everest is their height, and the life of each of us ordinary people is a climb, and ordinary people's climbing is to reach a better self .”
"The Climber" stills
Having won the "Five One Project" award again, Xu Chunping also talked about Shanghai Film's experience in creating the main theme along the way.
"It's experience, and it can be said to be a rule. There are no shortcuts or magic weapons in creation itself. If we want to talk about experience, we must first express the spirit of the times in terms of thinking and conception. "The Climber" is a tribute to the Chinese mountaineering heroes of the past , but he should also be a tribute to more climbers from all walks of life in China today, so when the movie was released later, "climbing spirit" became a popular word in society, and today I think it has become an already Words left behind."
At the same time, Xu Chunping also said that "The Climber" brought together the best film artists, and Shanghai Film, as the main controller, fully respected their creations, encouraged their creativity and innovation, and actively absorbed nutrition from them. "In the entire industry, we have integrated and allocated excellent resources and talents to achieve complete master control and leadership in the project. The young team has been following this project, from pre-preparation to post-production, including subsequent announcements. Process. Through the process of working with the best team in the industry, everyone’s confidence, experience, and standards for making movies in the future have been greatly improved, which is my personal feeling.”
As a film produced in Shanghai, Xu Chunping also talked about the great help of all parties in Shanghai to "escort" the film throughout the process. "During the creation process, there was not too much intervention in the creation process, especially in the early stage. To complete a genre film, such a few actors must be hired, including a large number of special effects in the later stage. The overall budget cost of this film will not be low. Getting financial support at the right time will help us the most.”
"The Climber" has been in the past four years, and the inspiration and influence left by this movie are still there. "This kind of task is handed over to Shanghai and Shanghai Film. We have gone from 'produced in Shanghai' to actually realizing it in real sense." Created in Shanghai', this film has left a lot of practical work experience and wealth."
