The 1985 version of "Four Generations Under One Roof" directed by Lin Ruwei was popular on the "Revisiting Classics" channel, and the "Beijing Movie" dialogues of Mr. Qi and his family once again echoed in our ears. Among them, the person who plays the role of Qi Ruifeng, the second grandson of Mr. Qi, is the famous director Zhao Baogang who later directed such dramas as "Enjoyable", "Never Close Eyes" and "Like Fog Like Rain and Like Wind". How did Zhao Baogang get the opportunity to participate in this version of "Four Generations Under One Roof"? How did an "amateur actor" play the role of Qi Ruifeng? How did this experience influence his later artistic creation?
The China Television Arts Council recently conducted an exclusive interview with director Zhao Baogang and heard him talk about his indissoluble bond with the 1985 version of "Four Generations Under One Roof".
Getting the opportunity to play "Qi Ruifeng" is full of drama
Before I participated in the filming of the 1985 version of "Four Generations Under One Roof", I was still a worker in Shougang. An editor of "Drama and Film News" recommended me to audition for the role of Qi Ruifeng. After the audition, I left a phone number with the director, but Qi Ruifeng was not included in the list of roles published by Beijing Daily, so I thought there was no chance.
A few months later, I met a lesbian on my doorstep one day when I was coming home from get off work. According to her report, the crew has been looking for me for three months - it turned out that the note I left with my phone number was accidentally stuffed into the glasses case by the director. Afterwards, the director forgot about it, so he has been unable to get in touch. Fortunately, fate finally came. I met director Lin Ruwei that day and was arranged to try out the makeup. I wore my hair in the middle, wore a robe and a pair of cloth shoes, and walked around bent over, and the role was determined.
In order to play "Qi Ruifeng" well, I have done a lot of desk work
At that time, many professional actors were afraid of taking on the role of Qi Ruifeng. As an amateur actor, I thought this opportunity was very rare. In order to make the character more vivid and three-dimensional, I did a lot of work.
First of all, in the original work, Qi Ruifeng has a shriveled face. In order to fit the original work and adapt to the role, I, who is 178cm tall, reduced my weight to 55kg. Secondly, the original work positioned Qi Ruifeng as an idle, uneducated young man, so I developed the habit of throwing melon seeds and peanuts into my mouth. In addition, in order to reflect the character's personality of looking for trouble, I also designed a lot of small actions.
There was a scene where the script said, "Qi Ruifeng's eyes lit up and his heart skipped a beat." How to perform in a traditional way, I need to open my eyes wide and lift my breath in front of the camera. But I felt that this was unnatural, so I performed a natural look in a life-like way. After showing the sample film, the whole group said that "Qi Laoer" acted very relaxedly and full of life.
How "Four Generations Under One Roof" influenced my artistic creation
The experience of participating in this version of "Four Generations Under One Roof" changed my life and had a positive and profound impact on my artistic career. At that time, we always spared no effort in creating. No one cared about the time it took to finish work, and no one cared about the food and accommodation environment and shooting conditions. I remember that during the filming with the crew, I specially set up a bed in the corridor and did desk work there every day. After filming, I chose to stay on the crew to do logistical work and dub Qi Ruifeng and Qi Ruiquan. This experience allowed me to enter the art field that I longed for and became a very important turning point in my life.
I am especially grateful to meet director Lin Ruwei. It was this drama that shaped me and allowed me to grow from an ordinary worker in a steel factory to a qualified director. My initial understanding of director's work was also formed on the set of "Four Generations Under One Roof". During the second revision process, I was responsible for the logistics work of Mr. Fu Zhengyi of China Film Group, so I used this opportunity to let him teach me editing. At that time, Mr. Fu Zhengyi asked me to watch and edit Qi Ruifeng's scenes. I originally wanted him to cut less, but he said something that I still remember vividly: "If you want to learn editing, you must feel that there is nothing in this film." You." This gave me a deeper understanding of the work of film and television drama production and directing, and laid the foundation for directing and filming TV dramas in the future.
Revisiting "Four Generations Under One Roof", this is how I view the classic drama
Looking back at the past, every generation of actors and creators are working hard to record the times and inherit the national spirit. Although these classic works were relatively limited in terms of pre-production hardware conditions and post-production technical level, they still presented the purest and most unsophisticated emotions.
I always think that "revisiting classics" is a very meaningful thing. Every era has its own TV series that audiences love to watch. I think that when we look back on today in a few decades, some of the popular TV series may become new classics. Classic TV dramas should be the same as classic poems. The greatest value is to record the journey we have traveled, carry our memories and perceptions of the times, and mark the spirit of an era. It will leave us with a memory that is not only related to the development of the television industry, but also carries the spiritual temperament of our country.
(This article comes from the "TV Art" WeChat public account, compiled by interviews with Niu Mengdi and Yan Yuran.)
