Shanghai Film Group's new film "Secret Files" wrapped up, interpreting the Shikumen secret war from a new perspective

On April 21, the film "Secret Files" was completed at the Shanghai Film Studio Chedun Film and Television Base. Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and the 120th anniversary of the birth of Chinese film, the film tells a secret war legend hidden in the Shikumen in Shanghai.

The crew of "Secret Files" wrapped up

The legend of Shikumen residents guarding confidential documents

The film is mainly invested and controlled by Shanghai Film Group and produced by Shanghai Film Group. It is directed by Zheng Dasheng, a director of Shanghai Film Group, and written by Zhang Qi and He Zizhuang. It stars Yuan Hong and Li Yanxi, and is co-created by art director Wu Jiakui, photography director Yan Daiyao, modeling director Wang Haiting, sound directors Zhang Jinyan and Long Xiaozhu, and editing director Chen Xiaohong.

It is reported that "Secret Files" breaks through the framework of traditional suspense spy films, condenses the legendary experiences of several generations of underground CCP workers into several protagonists, tells the difficult struggle of the protagonists as library keepers to protect tens of thousands of top-secret documents, and also vividly outlines the various lives of ordinary citizens in Shanghai during the war. The protagonist couple played by Yuan Hong and Li Yanxi are ordinary people in Shikumen alleys on the surface, but in fact they are underground CCP workers with heavy responsibilities. In the darkest moment when Shanghai fell under the iron hoof of the Japanese invaders, they guarded the confidential files in their daily lives on thin ice.

In order to shoot "Secret Files", the main creative team also visited the site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the former site of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China many times to collect materials, understand the background of the times, and explore the prototypes of the characters. The leading actors Yuan Hong and Li Yanxi both lamented that the process of shooting this movie was a process of receiving historical education and feeling the red spirit.

Stills from "Secret Files", Yuan Hong and Lee Yeon-seok

Talking about the filming process of "Secret Files", the lead actor Yuan Hong commented that he was "touched by the entire crew's creative attitude of polishing fine products". "Shanghai Film Studio provides a rare creative space at present, and the filming method also breaks the convention." Yuan Hong introduced that this time the actors joined the crew 15 days in advance to conduct script reading, life training and improvisational sketches. "Live like the Shanghainese of the time, starting from learning how to light a coal stove and knit sweaters, starting from the real life of firewood, rice, oil and salt, to restore the countless people in the Shikumen of Shanghai in that era."

On the set, the actors got along like real neighbors in a Shikumen house. The crew even asked that the costumes of the leading actors be hung directly in the character's wardrobe, and the actors could choose them themselves. This made Yuan Hong feel that "the authenticity is the most beautiful and touching part of this work."

Another lead actor, Lee Yeon-seok, revealed, "In the film, every character living in a Shikumen house has his or her own secrets, and every actor's performance is full of surprises." The unique creative mode of "Secret Files" gave the actors a lot of room for improvisation and brought them a new experience. "In today's fast-paced era, this creative mode of slow work and fine work is so valuable."

Youth relay inherits the red gene

On the eve of the filming of "Secret Files", the crew came to the former site of the Literature Department of Shanghai Film Studio, "No. 52 Yongfu Road", to shoot a major scene. The film sets the main location of the story at "No. 52 Xiaoshadu Road", which is a tribute to the "original place" of Shanghai Film Studio. On the day of filming, director Zhang Jianya and many other Shanghai Film Studio artists visited the crew, imparted valuable experience, and jointly supported this work.

No. 52 Yongfu Road Studio

This red heritage has also completed a spiritual relay spanning a century among contemporary youth. On the eve of the filming, a group of special young extras participated in the filming of "Secret Files" through the "I Speak - I Act - I Am" activity initiated by the "Secret Files" crew and the Youth League Committee of Shanghai Film Group. Nearly 200 young people from various industries and college students from 18 units played patriotic young people who witnessed the liberation of Shanghai, and immersively experienced the youthful faith and passionate moments of shouting for the new China nearly a hundred years ago by participating in the film.

Nearly 200 young people from various industries played the patriotic youth of that year

Wu Jiaxing, a master of architecture from Tongji University and from Macau, was moved by the passionate atmosphere when he walked past the statue of Chairman Mao. He said, "We must inherit the ideals of our predecessors and contribute to the construction of our homeland." Haisar Wuerlewu, a young Kazakh working in Shanghai, exclaimed, "In the past, Shanghai was a fashionable metropolis. This movie gave me a deeper understanding of the century-old history of Shanghai." Dr. Zhang Jian from the Chinese Academy of Sciences tried to return to the historical scene in his performance. In the parade, he tried to interpret the image of a "young scientist who returned from studying abroad" in his mind - with a passion to build the motherland with knowledge and eyes full of expectations for the future. "The spirit of Chinese youth who went forward to serve the motherland one hundred years ago has also continued to us today."

It is reported that after the filming of "Secret Files" is completed, it is planned to carry out post-production at Shanghai Film Haopu Film and Television Base. Relying on Shanghai Film's one-stop production service platform, it will create a good-looking movie for the audience that highlights the "red background, Jiangnan charm, Shanghai characteristics, and the bright colors of the times."