On July 6, the new film "In the Octagonal Cage" directed by Wang Baoqiang was officially released. Prior to this, the film had broken many records, and with a box office record of over 400 million yuan, it became the new box office champion in Chinese film history.

In the matter of being a director, Wang Baoqiang finally "cleared" with the audience.

Six years ago, Wang Baoqiang directed "Havoc in Tianzhu" for the first time. The modern version of "Journey to the West" with the "Indian 囧" style won a box office of over 700 million yuan, and at the same time set it at the Douban score "3+" On the "Pillar of Shame". After winning the Golden Broom Award for the most disappointing film, director, and screenwriter, Wang Baoqiang actually became the first A-list star in the history of the Golden Broom to appear in person to accept the award.

"I'm sorry to the audience, I owe the audience this time. I believe that with my hard work and continuous learning in the future, I will definitely become a more qualified director in everyone's mind." This was the goal he set for himself at the time.

Then, he all but disappeared from public view. In June of this year, when "In the Octagonal Cage" premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival, his friend Wang Xun lamented his focus after the screening, "He has spent several years on it, and how many scenes he wants to turn down is all a matter of course." Money, ordinary people can’t do this.”

On June 17, the crew of "In the Octagonal Cage" at the red carpet ceremony of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival Golden Goblet Award Ceremony

"In the Octagonal Cage", a story adapted from a real event, seems to have been prepared for Wang Baoqiang.

He was born in a poor rural area. Since he was a child, his brothers and sisters wore all his clothes left over. The more direct reason for him to practice martial arts was that he could not pay the tuition fees. In Shaolin Temple, Wang Baoqiang practiced the basic skills for three full years, and got up at five o'clock in the morning every day for running. Tenacity and tenacity were the background of Wang Baoqiang's refusal to admit defeat in his youth.

As an actor, he experienced the unfamiliar years of Beijing drift, and after being discovered by famous directors such as Li Yang and Feng Xiaogang, he was once stereotyped as a "stupid root" and restricted his acting path, but with his persistence and hard work, he opened up a wider world for himself .

Wang Baoqiang has experienced the trough of life and was hurt by people close to him and public opinion. He was depressed for a while, but he worked hard to "come back to life" for those who trusted and supported him.

Stills of "In the Octagonal Cage", Wang Baoqiang served as the director, screenwriter and starring role of the film

Rural areas, fighting, youth growth, middle-aged dilemmas, social issues... The elements and patterns that "In the Octagonal Cage" can present and carry almost precisely fit Wang Baoqiang's life experience and current state of mind.

When he was in his 30s, Wang Baoqiang was "spoofed" by his friends to make movies. At that time, the market was booming, and it seemed the general trend for actors to transform into directors. He worked hard as always, following his friends and his past "successful experience" to create a "four different" movie. It was not until he faced overwhelming negative reviews that he realized that he had lost his respect for the movie. heart of.

"Havoc in Tianzhu" directed by Wang Baoqiang currently has a score of 3.7 on Douban

As a director for the second time, he couldn’t find confidence for a long time, “The last film made me realize that I have many shortcomings, and the audience’s trust in me has also collapsed. Investors don’t believe me either. The director's ability is not good, if you make a comedy, you may have some security, the subject itself has risks, after the epidemic, all industries are very difficult, no one is willing to vote for my film."

Wang Baoqiang spent three years going to Sichuan to experience life, repeated trial and error in script polishing, and changed genres and teams back and forth, trying to find a balance for this story that takes into account the audience, reality and self-expression. Fortunately, since its debut at the Shanghai International Film Festival in June, it has been screened in Xingtai, Nanjing, Kunming, Guangzhou, Changsha, Wuhan, Suzhou, and Xiamen, and almost all the films have received sincere affirmation and encouragement.

Stills of "In the Octagonal Cage"

In the movie, Wang Baoqiang is still the familiar Wang Baoqiang, with a disheveled face and a grassroots background. He fights really hard and desperately. If he wants to make a joke with the audience, it will definitely make people laugh. But he has become different again. The contradiction between the survival and education of left-behind children, the stereotype of the collective unconsciousness, and the cyber violence induced by people with intentions... It was a surprise beyond expectations for the familiar Wang Baoqiang, and it was also the story of the children and En Bo. Fight Club evolved from a reality prototype to a more intriguing extension of a movie.

After the screening, some movie fans commented on Douban, "Looking at Teng Hui gave me the illusion that Wang Baoqiang, who was in his forties, engraved his life experience on the screen, depicting an epic scene of the fate of a small person."

This time, Wang Baoqiang is no longer "following the trend", but creating a work "like fate" from the bottom of his heart, "At this age, I have something I really want to express; I also want to use a movie to let The audience saw Wang Baoqiang's changes and growth in the past few years."

Before the film was released, Wang Baoqiang wrote on Weibo, ""In the Octagonal Cage" is the history of struggles of small people. I have suffered a lot in life, and I know that even if people are in a desperate situation, as long as people dare to endure hardships, life still has hope. There is still a way out. Even the most ordinary and inconspicuous person in this world, as long as he has the tenacity to not admit defeat, he will be able to meet guides and fellow travelers, and a ray of light in his life."

Wang Baoqiang accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper. The Paper reporter Xue Songtu

【dialogue】

I know that I owed the audience, this time I want to make up for it

The Paper: "In the Octagonal Cage" and your last directorial work "Havoc in Tianzhu" are very different in terms of topic selection and style. How did you make such a change?

Wang Baoqiang: "In the Octagonal Cage" and "Havoc in Tianzhu", if you just look at the movies themselves, you should never imagine a director. And "In the Octagonal Cage" was filmed after "Havoc in Tianzhu". This is because I want to break the audience's perception of me before, and it also breaks my own perception of the past self and the film.

Shi Pengyuan as Su Mu (adult)

When I first met this story, I was deeply touched. The first is the special identity of these children, whose growth I am particularly familiar with. At the same time, this kind of MMA mixed martial arts is like a caged animal fighting in a cage. The spirit that you can only live if you win, from the expressiveness of the movie, it brings a strong visual and psychological impact to the audience. irritating.

Most people don't know about this sport, and it is relatively niche in fighting sports, but what is behind the real story here has a lot of room to explore. Coupled with the controversial nature of the protagonist, and the social topics that naturally arise when the three meet together, I think this movie story is really good.

A good movie story must have dramatic conflicts, social conflicts, and self-contradictory conflicts, which are inherent in the prototype event of this story.

Wang Baoqiang talks to actors on the set of "In the Octagonal Cage"

The Paper: Why did this project take so long? What was the process of struggling with this film over the years?

Wang Baoqiang: All aspects of this story have been in my heart before, but we still tried in many directions when we started to create. I thought about a particularly realistic one, showing life in a more literary and niche way, and I also thought about presenting it in a comedy way, or adding more action and more intense ones. But I think that with such a serious subject matter of realism, it should be real, but not too realistic, so as to make the audience feel good-looking.

So I wrote a lot of drafts and changed a lot of screenwriters. This is the most difficult part in the past few years. It's fairly quick to shoot. It is difficult in the later stage, how to present it with the logic of the movie and pass it on to the audience.

This movie took a long time, but also through this movie, I really feel that many things need to be honed, and it takes time. This movie is like life to me, I can't take my life as a joke.

The Paper: Why is this movie so important to you?

Wang Baoqiang: My first film "Havoc in Tianzhu", because of its shortcomings, the audience told a lot of truths, and to be honest, it hit me very hard at the time. At the same time, it also made me realize the sanctity of movies. It has a threshold, and I can't shoot it lightly, and I can't underestimate it. You have to really understand movies, and you have to understand thoroughly before you can express yourself.

"Havoc in Tianzhu" stills

If this one fails, I may have to give up my idea of being a director later.

"In the Octagon" became a new beginning for me as a director. If I haven't grown up, the audience won't recognize me. In fact, when looking for investment for this film, no one recognized me. They think there is a market for you Wang Baoqiang to act in comedies, but many people think that no one wants to watch them.

I said that I was better at playing realistic roles, but no one believed me. They think my highest-grossing work is a comedy, and I can understand that. Coupled with the bad environment of the epidemic, investors have also become cautious. People are unwilling to invest in such themes and have concerns about this type and theme. In addition to the word-of-mouth of the previous film, my directing ability has also been greatly questioned.

So just like a movie, it talks about the difficulties and constraints of life, and life often feels like an octagonal cage. Many people must think that Wang Baoqiang is a celebrity, and he must be doing well. They don't know what I have experienced in the past 6 years, and no one can feel it. My difficulties are not only in my career but also in my heart.

Stills of "In the Octagonal Cage"

The Paper: People have rarely seen you on other shows in recent years. Friends say that you have made a lot of less money. Did you deliberately avoid the audience after being "struck"?

Wang Baoqiang: I know that I have failed the audience, so this time I must make the audience regain their trust. In fact, it doesn’t matter if you change the screenwriter or do other things, it’s money in all aspects. Time is money. I have many things that can make money, but I choose not to do other things because it requires dedication. to be created. Looking at it now, everything is worthwhile. The audience's recognition of me is more valuable than I am going to make a lot of money, and it is more meaningful in my life. Those viewers who have always supported me not to abandon or give up, I will not let them leave me.

There is no color in life, you have to create color by yourself

The Paper: In addition to the change in the director's style, this time there is actually a big breakthrough in the performance. What efforts have you made in shaping the character of Xiang Tenghui?

Wang Baoqiang: You have experienced so much, and it will eventually be reflected in your works. I believe that the audience will see this performance, which is very different from the previous performances. At this time, there is a more real and restrained power, and that speed is a natural self-consciousness. In the past, when performing comedies, we needed to use a lot of exaggerated means. When we let ourselves out to act, it was a kind of external tension, but this time we need inner tension.

Wang Baoqiang as Xiang Tenghui

The performance challenge this time is a self-inward exploration, and Xiang Tenghui has his own inner hurdles. This character hasn’t been home for several years, and his heart knot is his mother, because of his reasons, his mother has been stuck on a certain thing in that era and has never passed, and this has become his own inner turmoil. . When meeting these children, they have obtained two-way salvation, mutual achievement, and found a more accurate and better direction in life in self-achievement.

The Paper: Judging from the movie, you portrayed a depressed middle-aged man, did you deliberately gain weight?

Wang Baoqiang: Xiang Tenghui is a middle-aged man who was almost defeated by life. I need some changes in the external image to increase the persuasiveness of the characters. I've always had a standard 6-pack, and although I've gotten fat at times, I've never pushed myself past a certain point. But this time for the role, I watched my abdominal muscles disappear piece by piece and my chest sag a little bit. I felt very sad when I watched all these changes, but when I put on clothes and became this character, I felt very sad again. I feel happy because this character is right.

Stills of "In the Octagonal Cage"

It is not easy to gain weight with long-term self-discipline, and it is not easy to eat a fat man immediately. I have been eating non-stop for nearly two years, and it took a long time to make myself fat. The time of a year slowly comes and goes down. Gaining weight and losing weight in a short period of time is not good for your body. Fortunately, I didn't go to film other scenes during that time, so I slowly gained weight and lost weight slowly.

But I don't want to emphasize the matter of gaining weight and losing weight, because obviously no audience will watch your movie because you Wang Baoqiang is fat, right? In the past, audiences liked me not because I was handsome because I had abs, right? Actors still serve the story and the characters themselves.

The Paper: You are also a "martial arts practitioner". What considerations do you have for the design of the action scenes?

Wang Baoqiang: There are action elements in movies, of course I am good at them. But this time I chose not to play as much. It is these children who will ultimately be beaten. In terms of action design, I don't want to play fancy. The children have gone through a lot of real training, never attended the meeting, and there were no substitutes during the actual filming. The opponents hired professional fighters, and the final battle showed the audience a real fighting competition.

The Paper: Why was the final battle played in black and white?

Wang Baoqiang: It actually has many meanings. On the one hand, fighting is a somewhat cruel sport, and because it needs to be presented realistically, some bloody and uncomfortable movie-watching experiences can be avoided through color changes. At the same time, more importantly, these children are colorless when they are born, and a colorless person can stand on the field by himself, relying on his own fists to play out the color, way out and dignity of his own life. So after the game is over, it will gradually become a colorful presentation, and the audience watching the movie can also feel this change psychologically. This is in line with the situation of the characters in the movie. At the same time, this is also my perception of my own life, which I want to express in the movie.

Stills of "In the Octagonal Cage"

The current Wang Baoqiang can best represent the heart and experience of "Wang Baoqiangs"

The Paper: The first half of the film spends a lot of time talking about these left-behind children and the poverty and suffering in the countryside. Is this your selfishness as a director based on your own growth experience?

Wang Baoqiang: There must be. There are too many places in this movie that I feel and express myself. Every character, every character's story is closely related to myself. At this age, I have a new perspective on many things. In the movie, I look back and see why I chose those children. In fact, that is also my previous self. I know very well the people at the bottom who have climbed up all the way, their growth environment, their true inner feelings and thoughts, and their future.

For the first half of the movie, I tried to be as real life as possible. To establish the state of the characters and the relationship between the characters, the plot conflict is not as strong as the second half, but this kind of contrast is needed. If there is no foreshadowing in the front, the burning, moving, and excitement in the back will not be established. The audience must agree with the protagonist. His every move will affect your heart.

So arranging a movie is also the same as practicing martial arts. The front must be solid, and the basic skills are well laid, so that it will look good when playing with swords, guns, swords and sticks. But you can't just look good. You can't fall down every day when you kick your legs, lower your waist, hold your big top, and straddle your horse. This is what I realized during my martial arts training. This is not only for the script structure of this movie, but also for making movies.

The 2020 documentary "Great! "Youth" records the story of a group of troubled teenagers from all over the country who were selected into a loving baseball base in the suburbs of Beijing to form a special baseball team. Among them, the young sloppy broke into the base in a "stabbed" state

Sloppy played the role of young sloppy in "The Octagonal Cage"

The Paper: What was the process of casting and shooting the young actors in the film? In the process of teaching them to fight, do you think of yourself who once left the countryside to practice martial arts?

Wang Baoqiang: Definitely. So I insisted on running all over the country to find these children in the mountains. I didn't go to a sports school to pick kids, even though that might make some actions easier to shoot. But these children are very precious. The process of finding them is like digging for gold. I have traveled thousands of miles to find them.

Many of them don't know what filmmaking is all about. Neither of their parents have ever been down the mountain, but they see a kind of hope in their eyes, that is, they will feel that this is an opportunity. world. From their eyes, I really saw that I was their life-saving straw.

During this process, I saw all kinds of lights in the children's eyes, and I saw simplicity and innocence. Facts have proved that this child does not need to act, and no one can play them. And such vivid faces are very rare on the big screen. I think this movie can only be successful if it can find them.

Zhou Debowen as Su Mu (teenager)

The Paper: If those rural children were you in the past, the role of Xiang Tenghui should also be the expression and portrayal of many of your current moods, right?

Wang Baoqiang: Those children cast the shadow of myself, and Xiang Tenghui has many reflections of my current stage. Of course it is not exactly the same, but I tried to present Wang Baoqiang at this time through the film. For example, Xiang Tenghui in the movie is a person who chooses not to speak even if he is misunderstood. Adults will have a lot of heartache to bear by themselves. He has devoted himself to many things with a clear conscience, but the incomprehension of others has caused harm. Explaining sometimes feels unnecessary to the person concerned, and this is also my own attitude when encountering things many times. I will not explain, let everyone understand what is the truth. What you say may not be believed by others, but time will be the best proof. Time and your own actions to be seen by others, I think this is the most convincing, much more powerful than words.

In addition, this is what touched me at the time of the incident. When the audience sees this movie now, it is from a third-party perspective, but when this incident happened at that time, the real audience is the person who is watching these incidents in the movie. When a news event breaks out, everyone expresses their opinions based on their subjective feelings, but in many cases, the understanding of the event and the situation of the parties involved is not comprehensive, and you can only understand and feel it after reaching a third party. From this level, the film has its thickness and its deeper meaning, which is very unusual.

Jia Begging Lang as Su Xiaobu (Youth)

The Paper: You happened to be 40 years old when this drama was finalized. People say that 40 is not confusing. Have you experienced this feeling at this stage?

Wang Baoqiang: Yes, the day of the finale happened to be my 40th birthday, and the feeling at that moment was amazing. Of course, it won't be the moment from less than 40 to suddenly 40, and you will be "not confused" all at once, but there will indeed be subconsciousness, which makes people want to look back. Then in this "look back", you will find that in your experience, all the things that were once young have different colors. I also think about the stage when I will be older in the future. I feel that I am middle-aged and I am going to be old. I think of "flowers blooming and fading".

This is indeed given to me by experience. Before this age, it is difficult to express myself by shooting such a realistic subject. Now I have this desire to express, and this way is the best window. Use a movie to let the audience see Wang Baoqiang's changes and growth in the past few years. He is now a real man. I think "In the Octagonal Cage" is the best gift for me at this stage of 40+, and it is also the most suitable expression for me now. At present, Wang Baoqiang should be able to represent Wang Baoqiang's experience and inner mentality, right?

Wang Baoqiang plays Shagen in "A World Without Thieves"

The Paper: Even representing "Wang Baoqiang", you have actually been a grassroots representative since your debut, and many people have seen a kind of tenacious vitality from you.

Wang Baoqiang: So for these children, I always want to do something for them. This society is not absolutely equal. Children born in good families and children born in a special environment will have completely different lives. I was born in the countryside, from a very remote place, and worked hard on my own. Although your background determines that you have to work harder than others, you can still work hard on your own, find your own dignity, and find a new balance and starting point. As I said before, if life is not glamorous, it is up to you to create the color of life by yourself.

At the same time, just like the title "In the Octagonal Cage", it is very meaningful. Children are separated in octagonal cages to fight, and Xiang Tenghui also has his own octagonal cage. Whether it is fighting sports or reality, whether it is a child or an adult, in fact, in life, everyone has their own octagonal cage. own predicament.

What the movie wants to say is how people can break through this heavy bondage. Everyone has great potential energy, as long as they have faith, they can break the cage of life and destiny. I am also very grateful that I completed it, which made me feel that life and career are good now, and I still like the present and the future.