Recently, Sunflowers in the Evening, the debut film directed by Li Xu, a young director born in the 1990s, was nominated for two awards at the 36th China Golden Rooster Awards and was screened at Xiamen University, kicking off a nationwide tour of screenings in colleges and universities. The film tells the story of urban woman Xu Manfang (played by Na Renhua) who is terminally ill and abandons treatment to return to the place where her deceased husband once went to the countryside to join the team. Everything there also quietly changes her attitude towards death.

The main creative staff communicated with students from Xiamen University

The movie "Sunflowers in the Evening" uses a prose-poetic visual expression to convey the philosophical propositions of life and death. Talking about the theme of the movie during the post-screening exchange session, director Li Xuyan said that this film is about the inner state of an older person at the time of life and death. "There is actually no distance between life and death. When we discuss life and death, we are actually discussing time. When time begins, there is life, and when time stops, there is death. The heroine's 'root-seeking' behavior in the film is a kind of wisdom and can be Looking forward to the future, and if a person ignores the past, he will not be able to embrace the future, and the death of the spirit is likely to precede the death of physical life.”

"Sunflowers in the Evening" Poster

In addition, Li Xu also revealed the hardships of film shooting, "Every link, in the end, weaving into a complete movie is to find an accurate path from the darkness. This path is not only about production skills, but also the transformation of abstract concepts in the heart of the creator. , this is particularly difficult." As a director born in the 1990s, Li Xu has been constantly reflecting even after the film is completed. He believes that some things can be made more extreme, such as sound, sound effects, background music and the creation of atmosphere. etc. "What is atmosphere? Does the atmosphere participate in the narrative? Does the atmosphere enter the psychology? Natural sound effects can also participate in the narrative. You can even grasp a rhythm and control a structure. This is something I have been thinking about recently."

Director Li Xu

The heroine of the film, Na Renhua, has starred in film and television works such as "Xiao Xiao, a Hunan Girl", "Black Horse", "Eji", and "Heavenly Grassland", and has won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress and the Huabiao Award for Outstanding Actress. She said that she is a Mongolian actor, and "Narenhua" means "sunflower" in Mongolian. Na Renhua is also particularly excited about cooperating with directors born in the 1990s. "A director born in the 1990s actually dares to make a film about life and death. And his vision is completely different from that of us born in the 60s, 70s and 80s." , his mastery of film language is also different. He uses his lens language and film language to interpret life and death. The director's method of 'interpretation with the soul' this time has also benefited me a lot."

Starring Na Renhua

Director of photography Jin Guirong was nominated for the 36th China Golden Rooster Award for Best Cinematography for "Sunflowers in the Evening". When it comes to photography style, Jin Guirong said, "As a photographer, don't show too much photography skills and photography skills. The most important thing is It is to present the connotation of the story and the performance. The tone of the entire photography this time is to follow the actors, which I call 'creative laziness'. The poetic long lens creates a lot of white space, and this white space treatment also creates The audience brings more space for deep thinking.”

Stills from "Sunflowers in the Evening"

The filming process of "Sunflower at Evening" lasted four years. It was not easy for the film to be nominated for the 36th China Golden Rooster Award for Best Small and Medium-Cost Feature Film. Director Producer Li Xingguo said, "Today, small and medium-cost films account for more than 80% of the film market. "Sunflower in the Evening" is a small-cost film with only a few million investment. There is no way to compete with large-scale commercial films. But under Li Xu Under the leadership of the director, all the main creators are sharpening the lens every day. Sometimes they only shoot a few shots a day, and spend more time on crafting. The significance of this movie is to explore a way that is different from other movies. creative and aesthetic path.”

Stills from "Sunflowers in the Evening"