Warning: This article contains serious spoilers

There is still the scorching sun and torrential rain in Southeast Asia, there are still the constant reversals of the strong plot and the overwhelming shocking scenes, there is still the scrutiny and extreme questioning of the world and human hearts. On December 28, 2024, the "Mistakenly Killing" series, which won the Lunar New Year box office championship twice, returned for the third time, which undoubtedly ignited a fire in the sluggish film market in winter.

"The Accidental Murderer 3" full lineup poster

After becoming a contracted director of Yitong Production, director Gan Jianyu's first work was to direct the movie "The Accidental Murderer 3", which was both stressful and challenging. Considering that his big screen debut "Desperate" was produced by director Cao Baoping, who is well-known in the industry for his ability to shoot crime films, Gan Jianyu's advancement as a genre film director is not too surprising. This time, he hopes to work with producer Chen Sicheng and the series's leading actor Xiao Yang to dig deeper into the intensity of crime, audio-visual scenes, and human expression, to bring the audience a fresher experience.

Gan Jianyu

In an exclusive interview with The Paper, Gan Jianyu talked about how to make the twists and turns in "The Accidental Murderer 3" both unexpected and logical. He said: If we break down the title, "murder" undoubtedly has a strong criminal color, but how should we understand "mistake"? "In my opinion, this is not just a mistake, or a simple case of manslaughter by accident, but it is necessary to do a good job in the "misleading" aspect. You can see that the characters in the movie are misleading their opponents, and they are also misleading the audience in the narrative. It can be said that misleading is the core means of this kind of film at the narrative level."

"If 'killing' is the 'breakthrough' of the whole article, 'mistake' is the 'key point'. Only by organically combining the two and achieving unity in the genre film, with unity, no matter how you play with the reversal, it will have a natural rationality and will have a great natural advantage in acceptance. It is precisely because of this recognition that we dared to play the reversal to the extreme this time." Gan Jianyu said.

【dialogue】

"A story of seeking the truth"

The Paper: Could you please first tell us why director Chen Sicheng, who has been the producer of the "Mistakenly Accidental" series of films, chose you to direct "Mistakenly Accidental 3" this time?

Gan Jianyu: We all know that the IP of Manslaughter was created by Director Chen Sicheng as the producer of the series of films. The previous two films were also directed by young and cutting-edge directors in the industry. As for why Director Sicheng asked me to direct Manslaughter 3 this time, to be honest, I don’t know his logic for choosing it. I can only speculate that he may have seen my previous directorial works before throwing the ball to me, and felt that I had my own thoughts and accumulation in the overall creation of genre films, and I could also complete the filming of the film at the production level.

Producer Chen Sicheng and director Gan Jianyu (wearing masks) on the set

The Paper: The producer of your big screen debut "The Accidental Detective" was director Cao Baoping, and the producer of "The Accidental Detective 3" was director Chen Sicheng. It can be said that they have made considerable contributions to the development of domestic crime films in recent years. What have you gained from working with them?

Gan Jianyu: You may think I am lucky, but for me, this is a process of learning. The styles of these two directors are different. One is more inclined to the extreme of realism, and the other is expanding the territory in a more typological direction, so what I can learn from them is also different. Including in terms of production, they also have their own habits and methods, which are too precious learning opportunities for a young director like me.

In fact, the process of my meeting Director Sicheng was very simple. I was doing post-production work for other films for a while. One afternoon, a friend said Director Sicheng was upstairs. Should I go up and say hello? So we met in his office for tea and chat. We talked about life, work, hobbies, movies and books, and also talked about our respective perceptions of genre films. He also asked me what kind of movies I wanted to make in the future, and I shared my thoughts.

That meeting was like meeting a senior in the industry. Director Sicheng also told me that he hoped we could work together in the future. I thought it was just a polite remark. Then one day, he suddenly sent me an invitation to work with "The Accidental Murderer 3". I certainly understood the importance of this series of movies. After reading the script carefully, I also made an explanation and discussed it with Director Sicheng.

Stills from "Manslaughter 3"

The Paper: How did you explain this to Chen Sicheng? Why did you choose to tell an original story for "The Accidental Murderer 3"? What made you decide to make this major adjustment to this well-known commercial IP?

Gan Jianyu: The story of "The Accidental Murderer 3" is brand new, but it was not decided by me. I knew it as soon as I got the script. In fact, the core of the "The Accidental Murderer" series lies in its typified form of expression, the film's discussion of human nature and emotions, and the expression of tension and confrontation. These are what need to be maintained in the new work. I think it is like a new way of playing for an old brand in the contemporary era. On the basis of retaining the advantages of the old brand, there must be new attempts at the same time, so as to meet the audience's gradually upgraded expectations.

When you watch the film, you will find that this time the story is no longer simply about a father who protects his family, but involves the issue of global human trafficking. In terms of the entire character relationship, almost everyone has a dual identity. From the perspective of the continuity of the series, although it is still the main plot of a father who takes risks alone to rescue his daughter, you will understand after watching the movie that what we are going to tell this time is a story about the truth and the pursuit of the truth. Because the framework of the script was basically set up at the time, it was already very watchable. The focus of my discussion with Director Sicheng was on how to realize the image and how to get the audience involved in the story, including how the colors and characteristics of the characters in the film are more in line with the current audience's cognition, so we repeatedly deduced the clues of each character from the details.

Gan Jianyu (left) on set

The Paper: Among the screenwriters credited with "The Accidental Murderer 3", Li Peng participated in the script writing of the first two films. What specific contribution did he make to the story of "The Accidental Murderer 3" this time? Wu Pipi was the screenwriter of "Across the Sea of Anger". How did she contribute to the intensity of the story, or the sense of pain and tearing?

Gan Jianyu: Both of them have made great contributions. The specific creative process is actually divided into several stages. Everyone first creates separately, then each proposes their own plan, and sits down to compare which possibility is better. When the direction of a play is determined, we will refine the details based on the original one, so the whole process is both separation and integration.

Filmmaking is a team effort and cannot be attributed to any one person. It is the result of everyone’s brainstorming. Before I joined the team, they had been working for a long time. After I joined, everyone stayed in Langyuan Park (the location of the Yiyi Heguang Film and Television Production Base founded by Chen Sicheng) every day, meeting every day to discuss the script, which took several months. During this process, Director Sicheng, as the producer, has been determining the creative direction of the entire story, and his goal is very clear.

A more complex "father" image

Xiao Yang as Zheng Bingrui

The Paper: Xiao Yang has always played the role of a father in the "Manslaughter" series. Unlike the previous two films, Zheng Bingrui is not a purely good person. He has a painful past that he cannot bear to look back on, and he also has sins buried deep in his heart. It can be said that there has been a great improvement in both the text level and the richness of the actors' performances. I noticed that you described Zheng Bingrui as a "practitioner with insufficient Taoism", can you elaborate on this?

Gan Jianyu: When I started talking to Teacher Xiao, we were also looking for how to summarize this character. Zheng Bingrui must be more complex than the "father" image in the first two films. After reaching a consensus, we created in this direction. I think that the setting of the scene in the film is actually a good externalization of the inner world of this character.

When we were scouting locations in Thailand, we noticed the unfinished temple. Zheng Bingrui seemed to be a successful man, but his criminal past tortured him. To find peace of mind, he also wanted to build a "Buddhist temple" by bathing Buddha to settle his heart. But this "Buddhist temple" was also unfinished, or it was leaky everywhere, and the Avengers got in through those gaps, which in turn activated his animalistic and most selfish side.

Teacher Xiao's acting skills gave me great confidence. I remember when filming the scene where Zheng Bingrui saw his daughter's finger being chopped off, he was completely immersed in that state of madness, tears streaming down his face, and he forgot himself completely. The scenes given to him in the movie are all quite extreme. It can be said that this character is always being pressed to the ground and rubbed. In dealing with such extreme scenes, Teacher Xiao's great point is that he can also ensure the sense of reality in front of the camera lens. This balance is particularly difficult to grasp, that is, there is both an outburst of emotion and a down-to-earth reality.

Tong Liya as Li Huiping

The Paper: Tong Liya and Liu Yase's performances were also impressive. If we use one word to describe their characteristics, the former is "hidden" and the latter is "ruthless". Let's first talk about Li Huiping, played by Tong Liya. She revealed the biggest reversal at the end of the film.

Gan Jianyu: That's right, the two of them had different dramatic tasks this time. For Li Huiping's role, she had to show a big contrast between the beginning and the end. She was relatively weak in the beginning, and then she had to be fierce in the end. The contrast between the white and black clothes was also the externalization of this contrast. In the process of real interpretation, when the actors and the characters began to get closer and closer, you would find that the "grey" part began to appear, which was very interesting.

In addition, when Tong Liya was interpreting this character, she always had to keep a "bottom line" - she approached Zheng Bingrui and his daughter with a purpose. We discussed a lot about her relationship with Zheng Bingrui, and finally decided not to cross that emotional boundary, so that after watching the movie, the audience would focus more on her identity as a mother.

Liu Yase as Yayin

The Paper: The character Yayin played by Liu Yase is quite different from her previous image on the big screen. Can you talk about the touching aspects of her performance this time?

Gan Jianyu: In a sense, Yayin and Li Huiping are like the two sides of the "angel of revenge". The latter is to be "hidden" until the end, while the former is to jump out and "show" at the very beginning.

In fact, audiences now watch a lot of movies. They are so smart that they keep guessing the true identity of the characters when watching such movies. All our designs are also to predict the audience's predictions in advance, how to fight against everyone's viewing habits and experience, and then give everyone something new. Yayin's "appearance" is also a cover for other Avengers. The stronger she is, the later the audience can guess the identity of the entire Avengers. The answer must be left to the end, and only by leaving it to the end can it give the audience the greatest impact.

One thing that stands out in Liu Yase's performance this time is that she has very accurately grasped the root of the character's inner pain, and her performance is very solid. She has a thorough understanding of the role. Although Yayin appears as a kidnapper, she is actually a pitiful and kind mother. She is playing the role of a kidnapper and is deliberately vicious. In fact, she is the same as the parents in the "Revenge Squad". The motivation that prompted them to fight against Zheng Bingrui and the evil forces behind him is the pain of losing their sons (daughters), and this pain is deep in their bones. Only by conveying this pain, that is, their motivation for doing this, to the audience well, can we make everyone believe that after they encounter such injustice, they want to find the truth and punish the perpetrators, which is at least reasonable at the level of people's empathy and feelings.

Gan Jianyu talks about the play for Liu Yase

The Paper: The goat in "The Accidental Murderer" and the fireflies in "The Accidental Murderer 2" are both full of symbolic meanings. Why was the octopus element chosen in "The Accidental Murderer 3"? How do you interpret its significance in relation to the characters?

Gan Jianyu: I saw that many viewers raised this question online after leaving the theater. Octopuses are extremely smart and are the smartest species among invertebrates. They have nine brains, the main one is located in the head, and the other eight are distributed in eight tentacles. They also have two memory systems, one long memory system and one short memory system. This is very similar to Zheng Bingrui, who also systematically fabricated his own history and sometimes even deceived himself.

Furthermore, the mimic octopus is nature's top camouflage master and an absolute "good actor". It can imitate the forms of many creatures in the ocean and make corresponding changes to itself according to the surrounding environment. In fact, all the characters in the film are like the octopus. In addition to their true identity, they have a performative nature or a layer of disguise.

Octopuses are also extremely good parents. They usually can only reproduce once in their lifetime. After mating, male octopuses often die within one or two days. It can be said that they reproduce and protect the offspring of the group by sacrificing themselves. This is similar to the parents who formed the "revenge team" in the film and were willing to give up everything when faced with the tragedy of their children. Including the end of the film, we also left an open ending. When Zheng Bingrui faced his daughter being shot, he also desperately blocked it. Did he block the shot? The movie did not explain, but this behavior did happen after all.

Stills

"Kill" is the "opening point" and "mistake" is the "key point"

The Paper: When it comes to the "Manslaughter" series of movies, the biggest feature is the constant twists and turns. How can you avoid aesthetic fatigue with the twists and turns, while also making the audience feel both unexpected and logical as they follow the plot twists?

Gan Jianyu: The density of reversals in "The Accidental Murderer 3" is particularly high, and almost all the characters are in reversal, which is consistent with our original intention of creating a more brain-burning film. As a director, what I care most about is the consistency between so many reversals and the narrative, as well as the characters. This is originally a story about finding the truth, and the truth of this story is the truth of the characters. When the audience digs out Zheng Bingrui's identity, the whole truth will naturally surface with the character events.

It can be said that halfway through the film, the audience can already confirm the grayness of Zheng Bingrui, but how "black" he is is still unknown, including the fact that he keeps making up memories, saying that he has always been passively doing evil. Suddenly, when the audience discovers that he also has active choices, especially in the tragedy that killed so many children, it was he who pressed the button to detonate the bomb with his own hands, and then examines his previous actions to save his daughter, he can kill anyone who stands in his way, and kill Buddhas, it will feel more reasonable. Including so many "Avengers", they appear in the middle of the plot development or nodes, until the end, they appear collectively as a group portrait, which will also make people feel reasonable.

Why does the "Manslaughter" series of movies have a reversal? In my opinion, the title "Manslaughter" is synonymous with the best crime suspense movies. When you separate the two words, "killing" undoubtedly has a strong criminal color, and "killing" is also the core criminal element of this series of movies. There are also incredible displays of "killing" in three consecutive movies. How to understand "mistake"? I think this is not just a mistake, as simple as accidental manslaughter, but it is necessary to do enough work at the level of "misleading". You can see that the characters in the movie are misleading their opponents, and they are also misleading the audience in the narrative. It can be said that misleading is the core means of this type of movie at the narrative level.

If "killing" is the "opening point" of the whole article, "mistake" is the "key point". Only by combining the two organically and achieving unity in the genre film, with unity, no matter how to play with the reversal, it will have a natural rationality and a great natural advantage in acceptance. It is precisely because of this that we dared to play the reversal to the extreme this time. Every character is reversed, no one is left behind, and each one has at least one reversal.

Stills from "Manslaughter 3"

The Paper: I have a few interesting moments in your career as a director that I would like to ask you about. First, when you were a student, you suffered from insomnia after watching The Shawshank Redemption. Can you tell me about the impact this Hollywood movie had on you?

Gan Jianyu: The spiritual power and character power presented in "The Shawshank Redemption" also have reversals at the narrative level. I watched this movie many times when I was a child. Of course, I was shocked when I watched it for the first time. It turns out that classic movies are so powerful, or that movies can still have such a strong aftereffect. In recent years, I prefer the suspense trilogy of Spanish director Oriol Paulo, "The Corpse of a Woman", "The Invisible Guest", "Mirage", until "The Best of Innocence" in 2021.

Frankly speaking, when I become a director, I will not only watch movies from the perspective of a pure audience, but also think more about them. For example, what new types of works have appeared in this field? I want to study and analyze how others deal with the same plot, and how I can make it more interesting. Of course, the fun or touching of watching movies is always there. For example, among the recently released films, I quite like "Breaking Hell", which took two days to recover after being hit by the ten rings. When I watched it, I was the only one in the whole theater, crying my eyes out.

The Paper: You spent your graduate school years at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where you had many opportunities to observe Hong Kong directors at work and learn about the industrialized production process of Hong Kong films. Can you talk about the aspects that benefited you?

Gan Jianyu: The creative methods of Hong Kong filmmakers are very flexible and professional, and they are very efficient in making movies. Many Hong Kong directors dare to start filming before they even get a complete script, and they will not exceed the deadline, and the works they produce are of high quality.

In fact, being a director on the set requires the ability to constantly solve problems. The production of "The Accidental Murderer 3" was very difficult. There were children on the set, and there were many action and explosion scenes. For example, there was a dock scene that was originally scheduled to be filmed in three days, but due to weather reasons, it had to be filmed in one day and one night. As a director, you must be able to flexibly modify the shooting plan according to local conditions while ensuring the quality of the shooting.

Gan Jianyu comforts the young actor on the set

The Paper: The first two films in the “Mistakenly Detective” series have both grossed over 1 billion yuan at the box office and were also the box office champions of the Lunar New Year holiday that year. Finally, could you please tell us about your box office expectations for “Mistakenly Detective 3”?

Gan Jianyu: For me, it is great that "The Accidental Murderer 3" can be seen by everyone. The current market environment requires us to face it rationally and calmly. The advantage of making a series is that it has the audience base of the previous work, and the fans who like crime suspense films are the core audience of this movie. The other thing is to attract as many movie audiences as possible.