"'Cangshan' is a place name that has disappeared. It is located in the southern part of Shandong Province. In 2014, it was renamed 'Cangshan' County to 'Lanling' County. This place is my hometown." Just as many directors will focus on their hometowns when choosing the subject of their debut films, Zhang Fan also showcases the scenery and customs of his hometown in "Cangshan".
On March 4, the film "Cangshan" was screened on the National Art Film Screening Alliance. The film was written and directed by young director Zhang Fan, starring Guo Keyu, and supervised by Zheng Dasheng. It was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the 17th FIRST Youth Film Festival and the main competition unit of the Hainan Island International Film Festival. It also received many praises in the screenings of many domestic and foreign film festivals such as the 2024 Beijing Film Festival and the Winter Warm Film Festival.
It is human nature to be homesick. For someone who has been wandering for many years, "on returning to my hometown, I was told that my hometown had changed its name. At that moment, I felt very complicated. My hometown is still the same hometown, but it is not the same hometown." The situation at that time inspired the wanderer's desire to create and refuse to forget. Zhang Fan wrote, "Whether it is active or passive, what I am more concerned about behind 'forgetting' is a struggle for 'freedom'. So what is freedom? Is it a break from the past, or a calm face of reality, or a rebirth from the ashes?"
The movie "Cangshan" is a story about struggling between hometown and foreign land, past and future: a mother escaping from the present, an old man forgetting the past, a child questioning the future, a story of survival of three generations of grandparents and grandchildren in a foreign land, and a difficult journey in pursuit of spiritual freedom. In addition to the outline of the movie, Zhang Fan also thought of a poem by hometown poet Chen Shui: "The butterfly that broke out of the cocoon felt the power of the hurricane. The cocoon-like hometown has long been broken. The people of the butterfly are destined to find another changing valley."
Guo Keyu plays the younger sister
For the audience who have seen this movie, most of them will feel that the phrase "a butterfly emerging from its cocoon", whether it corresponds to the hometown that has been renamed or the alleys in the old city of Shanghai where the film was shot, is more like a filter halo that is sad but full of vitality. It can also be regarded as a poetic and extremely appropriate comparison when applied to Zhang Fan, who was born in 1984 and has worked as a film artist for many years, or to the female lead Guo Keyu, who has been out of the film industry for many years and has returned to the screen in recent years. Before the film was officially released, the two main creators accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from The Paper in Beijing.
Director Zhang Fan on the set
【dialogue】
"Any space is dependent on people, and the relationship between spaces is the relationship between people"
The Paper : As a well-known artist in the industry, your debut film focuses on your hometown, Lanling, Shandong. I also know that you graduated from the Stage Art Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy. In Cangshan, you captured Shanghai so tenderly, and the artist Mr. Song and the alley lady Li also captured the essence of Shanghai people. Can you first talk about your understanding of these two places, and how to use urban space to construct the story?
Zhang Fan : A director's debut film is often about his hometown. When facing his hometown, I am not allowed to be insincere or restrained. Just like when we really want to say something for our hometown, we don't want to exaggerate a certain emotion or deliberately show off their suffering. But I don't think this is my style, it's just that this film forced me to treat it in this way.
Lanling is a county under Linyi, which is an ordinary small county in southern Shandong. It is no different from most counties in the north of the country. It got its name because Lanling Town is in our county, and the history of Lanling Town can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. In 1947, in commemoration of the Cangshan Uprising (1933), Lanling County was renamed Cangshan County, which was branded with the imprint of red culture. In 2014, it was changed back to Lanling County. This is like Linyi, which was called "Langya" before. From the time I was born until I left my hometown, it was always called "Cangshan", and I am still used to calling my hometown Cangshan.
Shanghai can be said to be my second hometown. Everyone is familiar with the "Magic City". I would like to introduce a close connection between Cangshan and Shanghai - Shanghai's Jiangqiao Wholesale Market is the largest wholesale market in the city, equivalent to Beijing's Xinfadi (farmers' market). Xinfadi's vegetable supply mainly comes from Shouguang, Shandong, while most of Jiangqiao's vegetables come from my hometown. 70% of the stall owners and tenants in Jiangqiao Market are from Cangshan. During the peak period, 60% of the people in the entire county work in Shanghai.
The Paper : So it can be said that Shanghai and Cangshan are a pair of labor input and export relationships.
Zhang Fan : That's right. In my opinion, any space is attached to people, and the relationship between spaces is the relationship between people. "Cangshan" is not a genre film. Realism is its overall tone. For such an artistic drama, the focus of art is mainly reflected in the selection and composition of space. In the film, we see that Xiaomei (played by Guo Keyu)'s home is in Cangshan, and the furniture is covered with cloth and covered with dust; while her well-organized and life-filled rental house is in Shanghai.
Weddings, funerals, cemeteries, and nursing homes all appear in Cangshan Mountain, which is intended to show a traditional "ethical relationship". Shanghai is the space of Xiaomei's "social relationship", where her son's school and the homes of several employers are located. At the same time, Xiaomei has "emotional relationships" with these two places, corresponding to the spaces of Xunzi Park, Garlic Tower, the painter's studio, and the road in the "Wutong District".
My younger sister returned to her hometown and photographed the changes in her hometown from the Cangshan Garlic Tower
The Paper : Speaking of garlic, this is also a key image in the movie.
Zhang Fan : When talking about Cangshan Mountain, we have to mention the most famous local specialty, garlic. In addition, a few years ago, there was a prejudice to describe people from the north and south, that is, "Northerners eat garlic, and Shanghainese drink coffee." I really want to refine the image of garlic - after living in Shanghai for many years, this city is not the cold and arrogant stereotype of the world, but is full of warmth as shown in the movie, but this warmth also requires a sense of proportion and boundaries.
In the film, I romanticized garlic, soaking it in a bowl like a bonsai, it will sprout and grow garlic seedlings, which also reflects the interest of the younger sister and mother (played by Wang Shiyun) in Shanghai. They can also grow, live and find happiness in this city. For example, the mother sang the Liuqin opera "Sister Wang's Thoughts of Her Husband" in the alley, which also attracted Grandma Li from the south in the alley, and a certain connection between them also appeared.
The younger sister and her mother (played by Wang Shiyun) return to their hometown
The Paper : The garlic in the film was brought to Shanghai by the younger sister's mother. Does this image also correspond to the aggregation of Chinese family relationships? The film also features the historical figure Xunzi from Lanling, one of whose views is to promote filial piety.
Zhang Fan : It is possible to interpret it this way. The garlic produced in Cangshan Mountain has four or six cloves gathered together, which is very similar to the members of a family gathered together. What I want to say is that Xiaomei is a domestic helper in the film, but we do not define her as a domestic helper in the strict sense. She came to Shanghai to accompany her son to study, and also to escape from the previous relationship. When Xiaomei broke away from the traditional ethical relationship in her hometown and came to Shanghai, she was "stuck" in various dimensions such as hometown/foreign land, elderly/children, husband/painter, individual awakening/ethical relationship, and there were all kinds of tensions.
The traditional genes flowing in the blood of Chinese people tend to be what Mr. Fei Xiaotong called "acquaintance society". No one can avoid the intricate social relationships, especially for Shandong people. When I wrote this character, I also thought of my mother. She has her own pursuits, but also bears the ties of her hometown relatives. My younger sister is in a gray area in all dimensions. She has to take care of both this side and that side, and cannot make a complete choice.
The Paper : The square of Cangshan County appears at least twice in the film. The statue of Xunzi stands in the square, which can be seen as a symbol of tradition. When the square appears again at the end of the film, the red words "Cangshan" are replaced by "Lanling", and a singer sings Italian opera next to the statue of Xunzi. What is your personal interpretation?
Zhang Fan : This treatment is more authorial. The man singing opera is my middle school classmate and a vocal music teacher at Linyi University. He sang the famous aria "The Wounded Bride" from the opera "Bayatie". The emotional resonance and contrast behind Italian opera certainly have a sense of alternation between the new and the old, and the collision between the East and the West. When the "Cangshan" that marked the name of the hometown became "Lanling", it undoubtedly indicated the changes in the hometown. In fact, these are all "reality", but when they appear at the same time in a specific time and space, they themselves bring out a certain "magic" color.
Xunzi is one of the representatives of Confucianism. In 261 BC, the State of Chu attacked the State of Lu to the north and annexed this place. At that time, the climate there was mild like the south of the Yangtze River, and orchids were blooming everywhere. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, orchids were as important as peonies today, and were known as the "fragrance of the king". When the scholar-official Qu Yuan of the State of Chu arrived, he named this place "Lanling", which means where orchids bloom. After that, Xunzi was sent to Lanling and became the first magistrate of Lanling County, and lived here until his death. The statue of Xunzi stands in the square here, representing the "origin" of history, watching the changes in the world.
The performance is "real, delicate, and a little twisted"
The Paper : Xiaomei, the protagonist of Cangshan, is different from the usual themes of "leaving" or "returning". Instead, she presents an ordinary middle-aged Chinese woman's vacillation and hesitation between different emotions and regions. How do you define the character of Xiaomei? Why did you choose Guo Keyu to play this role?
Zhang Fan : In the whole film, Ms. Guo Keyu is the only professional film and television and stage actor. The reason why I invited her to play the role of the younger sister is that I value her authenticity, delicacy, and a little twisted feeling in her performance, which fits the setting of the younger sister very well. The so-called "twisted" here is not a derogatory term, but the complexity of a good actor in Ms. Guo, which I particularly value.
The Paper : This question is for Mr. Guo Keyu. Cangshan is the first film you starred in and released after your comeback in recent years. Can you talk about your reading experience after receiving the script? How do you view the character of Xiaomei? As both of you are middle-aged, what are the similarities in your mentality?
Guo Keyu : I think Xiaomei is like a hub in Cangshan. She is connected to many characters, such as her mother, children, or employers. When I first read the script, I caught the typical psychological fluidity of the characters. In fact, there are some stagnations in middle-aged women. I can empathize with Xiaomei's behavior and actions in the film, such as having old people above and young children below, and dreams and reality.
Life is a mixture of sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. The more we grow up, the more we feel that we live for ourselves and for others. Our emotions are always flowing, and there will definitely be some helplessness and ups and downs in the middle. This movie is about a life. There is no so-called good or bad, right or wrong. The most important thing is to live truthfully.
The Paper : You won the Best Actress award at both the Shanghai International Film Festival and the Hundred Flowers Film Festival for your performance in Red Cherry at the age of 17. I think you were still ignorant about acting at that time. Can you talk about your understanding of actors and acting in light of your own growth?
Guo Keyu : I didn’t study acting, so I don’t really know how to answer this question, but I can’t avoid it because of my profession. People always ask me how I performed this scene, and what performance ideas I had for that scene, and I’m never really sure how to answer it (laughs).
Like you mentioned the works I shot in my early years, they were suitable for my age group at that time. If I were asked to play the roles I took on at that time now, I would definitely not be able to play them. On the other hand, if I were asked to play a mother at that time, it would definitely be a "natural performance". There is also a certain element of assumption in the process of playing a woman giving birth. For me, acting means that I live seriously at every stage, and then naturally express some of the feelings in life.
I also consulted some real experts, such as teachers in the acting department. I really want to know what the threshold for learning acting is, and what so-called acting skills an actor should master. These are of course inspiring, but to be honest, I still don’t know what I’m doing on the set (laughs).
Guo Keyu watches the monitor playback on the set
The Paper : But we all think your performance in "Cangshan" is charming, including the painter Mr. Song in the film who also has a crush on the young girl who does housework.
Guo Keyu : Are there? Ha, middle-aged women are the most charming. For a while, you may have noticed that when you browse Douyin, you will see some collections of selfies of ordinary people in life. We will see a woman selling vegetables in the vegetable market dancing waltz, or a courier brother can immerse himself in playing the piano. Such scenes will definitely touch us. It's like everyone has a social skin, but the soul inside is free and will pursue poetry and the distance. Sometimes when classmates get together, everyone will talk about their marriage life and career. I am lucky that I am engaged in a job that I love and can also bring myself an income that is enough for food and clothing, but many people in life may not be so lucky. Their work may be for a livelihood, but it does not prevent them from having their own hobbies and pursuits.
Teacher Song (played by Qu Fengguo) came to visit Xiaomei and spent New Year's Eve with her family.
The Paper : The opening scene of "Cangshan" shows the morning light and one of my hands in the photo taken by my younger sister on a rooftop in Puxi, Shanghai. It is very artistic. Later, this photo also moved the painter Mr. Song.
Guo Keyu : This is a design in the director's script. My understanding is that as a woman, Xiaomei naturally loves beauty, and even as an ordinary person, she will explore and freeze the beauty in life. It's just that in the face of unsatisfactory life experiences and circumstances, she may forget her most original childlike smile in most of her daily life, but this does not prevent her from picking it up again at a certain moment. Painter Song and Xiaomei are employers and housekeepers who met by chance. They are people from different classes. I don't think, or from the perspective of the Xiaomei I play, I never think there is any affection between them.
My little sister took a photo of the morning light on the roof of her rental house
I am not an artist, but when we go to an exhibition and see a work, we can actually feel whether the artist's use of color or the outline of lines at that moment is pleasing, or whether he is really expressing a sincere and true state of mind. The latter is of course more touching. The same is true for Mr. Song in the film. He can capture Xiaomei's spiritual world from a photo of her and feel the heartbeat of a real life. He understands and cares about her, and is willing to give Xiaomei a kind of respect and care. This is a kind of warmth that people who drift in big cities may encounter, and it is the warmth of humanity between people. This is how I personally understand it. This is the kind of warmth that transcends class or the emotions between men and women.
Little sister and teacher Song
The Paper : After watching the movie, I felt that there was an unspoken love between Xiaomei and the painter Mr. Song, and their final breakup was also filmed very beautifully.
Zhang Fan : This scene was filmed on a road further south of the intersection of Wukang Road and Hunan Road. I forgot the exact name of the road. The road has an arc, and it is quite beautiful in the dead of night. We filmed two people passing each other and parting on that night.
My younger sister and Teacher Song say goodbye
The actor who plays Mr. Song is an artist, Mr. Qu Fengguo, who plays the role in the film. The painter's studio in the film is Mr. Qu's personal studio. Mr. Qu was my professional teacher when I was studying at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, and he is now the director of the stage design department of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Two years ago, a 30-year retrospective of his paintings was held at the Long Art Museum in Shanghai. He is an artist ranked in the first echelon of Chinese contemporary art.
I would also like to add that the alley where my sister rented a house in Shanghai was filmed in Jiazhili, Huangpu District. At that time, we wanted to find a place that represented the texture of the old town of Shanghai, and Jiazhili was next to the Confucian Temple. I started to conceive the script in 2020. When the filming started on February 3, 2023, it coincided with the demolition of the old neighborhoods around the Confucian Temple. At that time, 70% of them had been demolished or closed. When we went there, more than half of the neighbors had moved away. It can be said that the last fireworks of that alley were left in the film.
The filming location of the film in 2024 is Jiazhili, Huangpu District, Shanghai.
The conflict and integration of concepts, "all melted into the days like water"
The Paper : The interaction between Grandma Li and Xiaomei in the film is also meaningful. Grandma Li is also single. Although Xiaomei has not divorced her husband in her hometown, she seems to have gotten used to the single life in Shanghai. There is a scene in the film where Xiaomei brings her hometown food to Grandma Li to taste during the Spring Festival. The latter also makes yellow croaker rice cakes to return the favor. But when Xiaomei wants to keep Grandma Li for dinner, she declines, saying, "I'm used to being alone."
Guo Keyu : There are some conflicts in concepts, and some integration of concepts, but these are all refined in the days like water. There is no particularly strong dramatic conflict in "Cangshan". I think the relationship between Xiaomei and Grandma Li is that they gradually accept each other in daily life. The interaction between them is born naturally step by step. During this period, it is very subtle which part is melting and embracing, and which part is sympathy.
The Paper : The younger sister and her mother have the most scenes together in the film. Can you two talk about the performance of these actors?
Zhang Fan : The actress who plays the mother, Wang Shiyun, is a veteran actor from Xuzhou Liuqing Drama Troupe.
Guo Keyu : She is very good. Although it is her first time to act in a movie, she has no trace of the stylized performance of opera actors. On the set, Teacher Wang is always jumping around like a little girl, more innocent and lovely than me. Later I found out that her husband accompanied her throughout the whole process and doted on her very much in life. They have known each other since they were teenagers and have been working in the troupe. They can be said to be childhood sweethearts. The mother she plays in the film is an old man with dementia. In fact, after dementia, the old man is like a child to some extent. He will feel wronged and helpless, and will need the understanding and help of his children. This happens to coincide with the child side of Teacher Wang's life, so she easily transferred her empathy into this performance.
Little sister blows her mother's hair
The Paper : In the film, the younger sister returns to her hometown Cangshan after her mother's death. At the funeral, she sings her mother's favorite Liuqin opera "Sister Wang's Thoughts of Her Husband", which is her only emotional outburst in the whole film. Was the singing of this scene also taught by Teacher Wang Shiyun?
Zhang Fan : This scene was taught by Liu Guihong, the elder sister of the younger sister in the movie and the director of Linyi Liuqin Opera Troupe.
Guo Keyu : The play "Sister Wang's Thoughts of Her Husband" expresses the feelings of my mother and my younger sister towards their hometown. My younger sister was willing to sing this play at her mother's funeral. She definitely wanted to send her mother off and fulfill her filial piety. But I may have entered the character in the process of singing, and unconsciously brought out a trace of complex emotions, which is a sense of loss that I have been thinking about. The lyrics literally talk about the love between young men and women, but the meaning of my younger sister's singing is more complicated. We will also encounter a certain pain point in life, but you may not be able to express it at the time, or you may not be clearly aware of it. When there is an opportunity for you to vent, this point will produce a new chemical reaction with other points.
The youngest sister returned to Cangshan, and the three sisters made dumplings together
The Paper : You have to speak Shandong dialect in the film. Did you learn it specifically for this film?
Guo Keyu : The director's assistant accompanied me at the time. He would chat with me in Shandong dialect when he had nothing to do. The most important thing about learning a dialect is to experience its flavor and rhythm. Slowly, I immersed myself in it. Teacher Liu Guihong sang "Sister Wang's Thoughts of Her Husband" once and sent me the audio. I set the alarm every morning on the set, listened to it when I woke up, and learned to sing along.
Zhang Fan : Teacher Guo had discussed this with me before she joined the group. She hoped to arrange for a little girl who could speak Shandong dialect to live in the same room with her. She said at the time that the most important thing in learning a dialect is to have a daily life context.
The Paper : Last question, can you talk about which scene in the filming of "Cangshan" left the deepest impression on you?
Guo Keyu : To be honest, I really forgot. Acting is also a fluid process, one scene after another, and you can't say which scene is the most important. As an actor, I am such a person that before the filming is finished, it is best for no one to pay attention to me. I will compete with my role every night (laughs). But when I leave the crew, I will put this role aside immediately. Maybe it's also a matter of age. My memory is not very good now. If you ask me how "Red Cherry" was filmed back then, I have forgotten it.
