Five years ago, Wang Mu, who was still a screenwriter, collected styles for his own creation. At the gate of a rehabilitation center in Dalian, while waiting for the director to come downstairs to pick him up, he anxiously observed the situation inside the iron gate. Through an iron gate, the people inside sometimes looked at him, and sometimes turned a blind eye. And he suddenly found that the iron door in front of him was not locked. This broke Wang Mu's cognition, and the expected barrier in his heart disappeared suddenly. He pushed the door open and opened a world of pain and tenderness.
"Gentle Shell" won three awards at the 6th Pingyao International Film Festival at the beginning of the year: "Fei Mu Honor Best Director", "Fei Mu Honor Best Actress" and "Fei Mu Honor Best Actor" , is the first feature film directed by director Wang Mu. It tells the story of a man and a woman in mental trouble who meet in the darkest moment of life, illuminate each other with love, and face greater challenges in life together.
In the closed environment, love is refined to be pure and poetic, while life continues, the test of reality also makes the film's realistic texture ready to emerge. Many cruel parts are buried deep in affectionate dreams and longings. The director can't bear to expose them. Watch It is difficult for people to turn a blind eye.
"Gentle Shell" poster
Extraordinary lovers fall in love with each other, two-way healing is the outer shell of the story, and the inner part is the pain of life, loneliness, and the tenacity and strength that may be underestimated by individuals. Wang Ziwen and Yin Fang contributed extremely profound performances in the film, bringing the audience into the fate of the characters. Powerful actors such as Baike, Yongmei, and Zhang Qi appear beside the protagonist as some "family members of the mentally troubled people". As the closest people, they unintentionally inflict harm and also suffer unspeakable pain. Movies have a gentle and compassionate view of life and society.
"They should not be treated as an event or a group. They should live and love like every ordinary person of us." It is not easy to express the emotional world of people with mental distress. Possibly use the lens to wrap a layer of armor with halos on the characters in the film.
"What a movie should do is to approach and understand, rather than a spectator's gaze." Wang Mu wrote a director's explanation for the movie the day before the movie was released. "To this day, regarding the future of this film, it has also become ongoing. I feel uneasy, as if I am going to lead Jue Xiao Dai Chun into their wedding hall. I hope they can receive guests. Blessings, but worrying about it, what other people will think of them both."
On May 26, the movie "Tender Shell" was released nationwide. During the film's release, director Wang Mu accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper.
Director Wang Mu
【dialogue】
Love this thing, equal in absolute sense
The Paper : How did you come up with the idea of making such a love story? What preparations have you made for this?
Wang Mu : At the beginning, I really wanted to make a different romance film. Later, because of some things about my family and friends around me, I found people who were mentally trapped. Those experiences on them touched me. Those experiences make me feel that this is the most vigorous love in my mind, it is cruel and extreme romance, but it is also the most beautiful moment in the world.
Before writing the script, I also went through a long period of writing and gathering. I went to five institutions one after another, read dozens of related reference books, visited some psychologists and psychiatrists, interviewed some friends who were troubled by emotional problems, learned about their current spiritual dilemma, and analyzed their self-analysis. cause of mental distress. The path of creation also changes with the deepening of these understandings.
Stills of "Gentle Shell"
The Paper : How do you get into the inner world of these mentally trapped people? Will there be any pressure when you first contact them?
Wang Mu : Of course there were some barriers at the beginning, because of past experience, for example, when I was a child, there was an uncle who looked a little "weird" in the community, and my family would always tell me to stay away from him. This kind of barrier makes me seem to have some barriers between them naturally, but after I really get in touch with them, I will find that they are actually just like ordinary people, with normal emotions, maybe some places are very sensitive, and their eyes will change when they talk. Keep looking at you, or suddenly calm down at a certain moment, and close the door to the call at any time. But sometimes they will play jokes and pranks on you.
Maybe we were in a different situation, which caused us to be inconsistent in handling things, but it doesn't mean that the world will deny them. Of course, the most important help comes from some friends. They have got rid of these predicaments to some extent, and they can work and fall in love normally, and they will chat with them relatively more.
The Paper : In the past, some film and television works showed the life of this group of people, there were some elements of "hunting for novelty", or they tried to explore some dilemmas. In your creation, to what extent can you express their mental problems and living conditions, accurately show the plight of the characters, and avoid "spectacles"?
Wang Mu : From the very beginning, I thought about whether to make this topic bigger and more social, to show their situation in society, the discrimination and injustice they suffered. But after you get in touch with more, when you jump out of the material and look at it from an objective perspective, I find that we can't see them most of the time in our lives.
You don't know where they are or how they live. The so-called "out of place" that we think is also a natural way we treat them differently. Can they still fall in love? Can they still get married? Can I still have children? Therefore, in the movie, a lot of life is done in the background. I don't put this matter in a position that must be "discussed". It is always behind the person, not before the character.
When shooting, I will set a limit for myself and the whole team. You can see that most of the whole movie is hand-held, very close to the characters. In my experience, after watching so many movies, if the camera is too far away and the characters are placed in a specific environment, as if with a "scrutiny" perspective, I will feel uncomfortable. There are many documentaries like this, as if I was "watching" an event that happened at that time, they are a group being watched.
And I hope to use audio-visual means to further enter their emotional world. I believe that their emotional world will not be different from ours, because love is equal in an absolute sense. So when we chose to get the camera closer, it was to capture the feeling of that scene.
Stills of "Gentle Shell"
The Paper : In reality, what is the love of a mentally troubled person like? I noticed that you wrote in your self-report that you learned from the director of the rehabilitation center that "people here are easy to fall in love". In your observation, what is the reason for this ease?
Wang Mu : It is a kind of sympathy for each other. In it, no matter how different the traumas they experienced, they can understand each other better when they see each other, and know each other's needs better. In this case, the feeling of mutual affection will be more likely to arise.
Another point that touches me in my observation and research is the desire and pursuit of love by these people, because it makes them more like a complete and normal person, more like a specific ordinary person.
The Paper : In the movie, it seems that these troubled people are more courageous when facing many choices in life. Do they have a purer part when dealing with love or life?
Wang Mu : The reason why it seems purely is that there are too many things lost in their world, and they have never been affirmed. When there is such a person in life, who can understand his past pain and care about what he cares about , to share the future for him, this is the most real part of love.
Stills of "Gentle Shell"
Shot in sequence, actors at their best, camera close to capture
The Paper : For the actors, the performance of this film is extremely mentally consuming. What kind of atmosphere did everyone create on the set? How did the two actors get into their state?
Wang Mu : The entire movie was shot in sequence, which is conducive to the actors and staff to experience the life course of the characters together. At the same time, there is a big rule on the scene. I almost never shout to start, and I will never interrupt. There is no regulation on how many seconds this shot will take, and what is the next sentence after this sentence. At the scene, I didn’t talk about making a very precise scheduling, how the actors must move, and must cooperate with my lens. More importantly, I hope our lens can capture them, and our scenes can make them feel very real. They live in this world.
From the beginning, I asked them to finish the whole scene. When they are really in this situation and in the relationship between the characters, they can feel and show it to their heart's content. Although it looks like a storyboarded filming method in the end, in fact, every performance is completely run through.
The Paper : During the filming process, were there any times when you were brought in that impressed you?
Wang Mu : I was more impressed by the scene where Yin Fang and Bai Ke bid farewell in the corridor of the hospital——Dai He (played by Bai Ke) gave him (Dai Chun) money and said, "Can you act as if you didn't have me?" younger brother". In that scene, we emphasized that the character Dai He is actually his younger brother, but he looks "older" because he has been very tired in the secular world. On the contrary, Dai Chun was protected very innocently in the orphanage , but he will say that they suffer the same.
All of us in front of the monitor cried in that scene. Everyone seemed to be able to empathize with Dai He’s emotions. After two or three shots were finished, I went to the scene to chat with the actors, and then I realized that the filming crew Some people are also crying, because when watching their performance, it seems that they are really going to part.
Stills of "Gentle Shell"
The Paper : There are many transitions from the objective world to the subjective world in the film. How to use the lens to express the inner world of the mentally troubled people? What kind of consideration and design did you do?
Wang Mu : The most direct way is through the help of some friends, listening to them talk about what their experience was like when their emotions were very low and out of control, what kind of voices they could hear, and what kind of pictures they saw .
Like Dai Chun's dream, it's more like his spirit is a projection. A man will definitely feel a sense of panic when faced with the fact that he is going to become a father. In fact, watch carefully, when he gave the watch to Juexiao, and Juexiao returned the gift and said that he was pregnant, although he had a smile on his face at that moment, the light in the background of the camera continued to dim, which showed that he was very concerned about the sudden accident. Surprise is vigilant. To a greater extent, he has to judge whether he can be a good father. So the entire seaside scene is very subjective, like a fantasy or a dream, all talking about his getting along with his daughter, and whether he can help his daughter bravely.
Stills of "Gentle Shell"
The Paper : After Juexiao became pregnant, facing Dai Chun's various situations, she was once depressed, and her performance has been very stable afterwards. Do you worry that the state of the two people will be quite different in the second half of the period? ?
Wang Mu : I personally think that in a love movie, put it in this movie, Dai Chun’s greatest redemption to Juexiao, or comfort, has become a beautiful preservation in her life, precisely because the first 30 minutes seemed a little Only the beauty of Xanadu can make Jue Xiaoyi stay by his side and pull him without hesitation. Because those good things will always come up to remind you why you are with this person.
The Paper : The younger brother played by Baike has a passage persuading Dai Chun not to have children. Did you also try to discuss some reproductive ethics topics, such as people with mental problems or even people who may inherit, should they have children?
Wang Mu : This is actually a misunderstanding. Dai Chun's mental problems are not hereditary. The role played by Bai Ke represents the misunderstanding of most of us about these people, including the voice after the movie is released, saying why they should have children, and they shouldn't have children. But this is a misunderstanding that many "normal people" fall into all the time. I don't want to discuss deeper ethical issues. I just want to talk about the experience of these two people. If I want to discuss more, I will find that there is no room.
The Paper : Did you notice that in the process of making this film, your own living conditions have changed. Having a child, is this experience the reason why you make this story more "gentle" in terms of choices?
Wang Mu : Yes, this experience is quite important. My child was born at the end of March 2020. At that time, only one relative was allowed to enter the delivery room. My wife went through a difficult delivery process and could not move for more than ten hours. move. When my child was born and the doctor asked me to cut the umbilical cord, I felt that this matter was so sacred, and it gave people a wonderful feeling about life.
The vitality and continuation of this world gave me a lot of new perspectives, so there was a big adjustment to the script before the filming started. From the direction of the ending and the texture of the screen, I hope to bless such a brave couple even more. .
Three years have passed in the middle of the project, and the changes in the past three years have been particularly great. My current way of thinking and the results of observing the world seem to be completely different from when I first wrote the script. Now I especially hope that movies can comfort people.
Stills of "Gentle Shell"
The Paper : From screenwriter to director, what kind of help did previous experience bring? When do you feel the most tormented and the most rewarding?
Wang Mu : A lot of screenwriting work is done on the desk, and then it is handed over to the director, and then collides with the actors, and after the editing process, after several creations, the screenwriter has become the person farthest from the film. Although sometimes it is said that "a play is based on" or something, but when I really do it, I find that there is still a lot of work to be done, so I have to jump out of my identity as a screenwriter as much as possible, and don't be bound by the text.
Constant modification and adjustment on the spot, I think this may be the most beneficial part of this filming. When facing specific actors and shaping a specific character, I can feel the magnetic field and emotions more directly.
The most torturous part is actually still going on until now, probably because I want to find the so-called balance between artistic attributes and commercial demands in the film. It is not a pure art film, it is a video work to be entered into a film museum or an art gallery, it is a story that hopes to reach more audiences, and it tells relatively universal emotions, but the experiences of these two people are different Yes, it should be presented in a slightly different way. How to find a balance and make ordinary audiences feel friendly is something I have been thinking about and reflecting on to this day.
The Paper : How did you embark on the path of film creation, and what kind of director do you hope to become in the future?
Wang Mu : I am not a professional. I used to write columns, film reviews, and dramas. In the past, writing scripts was not considered a particularly genre film. After working as a screenwriter for a long time, I also want to try, just want to see if I can be a director.
For me, it seems too early to talk about what kind of director I want to become. Maybe I will be more clear about the fact that my biggest move to this world still comes from reality, and I definitely want to shoot some realistic themes in the future. , may use some more commercial film narrative methods, but still stick to the truth I saw.
In the future, I may not necessarily say that I must be a director. I think it is better not to define yourself in a very framed identity in this era.
The Paper : This project has achieved very good results all the way from venture capital investment to finished film and winning awards, but after it is actually released, will the film schedule and box office fall short of previous expectations?
Wang Mu : I can't say that I don't care about grades at all. When you sit there and hear the guests calling your name, you will definitely be excited, and you will definitely have a great sense of gain and loss and ambition.
But I also think it is not so inevitable, there is still an element of luck.
Recently I discovered an interesting thing. I have a wisdom tooth that has been in pain this year. It hurts for two or three days almost every half month. When it hurts, I can’t extract the tooth, but people have a kind of inertia and luck. Well, forget about it.
Not long before the movie was released, I had another pain. At that time, I made up my mind to go back to Beijing to pull out my tooth, because I was very worried that the movie would make me more anxious and cause pain. I think the body may be the most honest, maybe your pressure and ambition on this matter have passed.
In the test film stage, we asked audiences from various industries to see their ideas. At that time, I realized that it is not an ordinary emotion, and there may be obstacles in the understanding of this process. So I may face similar themes in the future, and I still need to find a more appropriate way. I don’t want to say whether the more popular one is a better way, maybe I’m too close to this group of people, sometimes I can’t write it more objectively or more dramatically, but in the subsequent creation, a more commercial creative concept To complete the desired expression is the direction I will try to work hard. Because I always feel that it is more important to reach more audiences and let more people understand what you want to convey.
