On the day “Chinese Doctor” premiered in Wuhan, sitting among more than two hundred medical staff including Zhang Dingyu, the former director of Jinyintan Hospital, Liu Weiqiang was in a mixed mood.
“The first ten minutes are very nervous, surrounded by experts. If there are unprofessional medical details in the movie, I will be ashamed.” Liu Weiqiang said, “Looking on, I will really take off my glasses and wipe my tears. Why do I cry like this when I filmed it? Because this is our common experience, a real experience.”
On July 9, the film “Chinese Doctor” adapted from the real events of the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic was released. The film was produced by Bona Pictures and directed by Liu Weiqiang, starring Zhang Hanyu, Yuan Quan, Zhu Yawen and others. He has filmed a series of films based on real events such as “The Great Cause of Army Building”, “Heroes of Fire” and “Captain of China”. Hong Kong director Liu Weiqiang has already explored the commercial blockbuster filming of the main theme film many times. Rao is so, “Chinese Doctor” is still an unprecedented challenge to him.
Had it not been for the sudden outbreak, Liu Weiqiang would have started filming the movie “Changjin Lake” on February 20, 2020. Suddenly, this long-prepared film was about to shut down when it started, and the entire film industry was shut down. Everyone was in an unknown fear of the epidemic… When it came to filming “Chinese Doctor”, whether it was the significance of the project or the epidemic prevention. Pressure, economic pressure, “Chinese Doctor” is a mission that cannot be lost.
“You can ask her if she could sleep well during that time.” In an exclusive interview with a reporter from “Daily Business News”, Liu Weiqiang pointed to Li Jinwen, the producer of “Chinese Doctor” beside him, and said, “Fortunately, we all Survived.”
“Not an ordinary person, but a filmmaker”
As of 1:30 pm on July 12, the professional version of Maoyan showed that the cumulative box office of “Chinese Doctor” reached 370 million yuan.
When the life order returned to normal, recalling the sudden outbreak of the new crown epidemic a year and a half ago, everything seemed to be far apart. But when it comes to the events at that time, it seems that everything is just like yesterday.
When the “Daily Business News” reporter asked how he felt “as ordinary people at the beginning,” Liu Weiqiang shook his head repeatedly: “We are not ordinary people, we are filmmakers.”
For filmmakers, the set is the battlefield, and what makes them most uncomfortable is that they are forced to turn off the fire before the battle begins.
On January 15 last year, Liu Weiqiang returned to Hong Kong for the Chinese New Year, preparing to rush to Dandong on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year (January 29). At that time, about 2,000 staff had arrived in Dandong, and everyone was gearing up for the “Changjin Lake” that started on February 2, 2020.
The new crown epidemic disrupted all plans. “On the third day of the new year, I received a call from Yu Dong,’Liu Weiqiang, we have to stop.'” Liu Weiqiang said.
“We have to stop and the cinema has to be closed. My feeling at the time was that it was on the street! It’s awful, it’s horrible.” In Hong Kong, Liu Weiqiang is as anxious as everyone. The safety of family and friends. Many friends in Beijing asked us if we had enough masks and sent them to us. Looking back now, you will find that in the face of a catastrophe, people care about and help each other to get through together. Overcome difficulties.”
When he resumes his film work, Liu Weiqiang wants to withdraw from “Changjin Lake” and take over “Chinese Doctor”.
As the city is recovering, preparations for the movie are intensively carried out. Liu Weiqiang met Zhong Nanshan in Guangzhou and listened to his suggestions for “Chinese Doctor”. “Although this film does not directly express Academician Zhong, when I shake hands with him, it seems to pass on some power to me.”
At that time, when talking about his expectations for the production of the “Chinese Doctor” film, Zhong Nanshan said: “I hope you will not only visit some experts who have appeared more frequently, but also interview more medical staff who are working hard on the front line. Most.” Zhong Nanshan said that he had watched “Me and My Motherland” and “Captain of China” before, and that way of telling big-format stories from the perspective of ordinary people is very good.
“Border epidemic prevention while making movies”
There is no turning back in the bow. How to shoot while preventing the epidemic and how to get as close to the reality as possible are the two mountains that Liu Weiqiang must climb.
At the end of August 2020, “Chinese Doctor” was set up in Wuxi, and it was officially launched on October 1, shooting for more than three months. During that period, the epidemic had not completely ended, and all work needed to be carried out on the premise of ensuring that the epidemic was safe. “You can ask her if she can sleep well during that time.” Liu Weiqiang pointed to Li Jinwen next to her.
“The hundreds of people in our crew are concentrated in Wuxi, and the director told me, Peggy (Li Jinwen’s English name), we are shooting “Chinese Doctor”, and our group cannot have a new crown (infected).” Li Jinwen said to “Every The Nikkei reporter recalled, “We conducted a nucleic acid test for the entire group almost every two weeks, and every entrance and exit was strictly inspected, wiped with disinfectant water every day, and sterilized with a purple light for two hours…”
In terms of striving for truth, the consensus among the creators is that they can only try to get close to the truth instead of restoring the truth. Li Chen, who plays the role of the doctor of the medical aid team in Hubei, put it well: “You can stop filming scenes. But when the epidemic really happens, who will stop with you?” Yuan Quan also felt the same: “Do our best to They approached.”
The appearance of the tip of the iceberg that is “close to the real” at sea level is determined by the larger iceberg below sea level.
“Chinese Doctor” is adapted from real events in the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic, with Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital as the core story background. And the professional threshold of medical care and the fight against the epidemic that the whole people have experienced means that the story, characters, and professional details can not be wrong, otherwise everyone will have a play when they watch it. After Wuhan was unblocked, the crew of “Chinese Doctor” went to Wuhan to collect a lot of material from medical institutions. After entering the filming, the crew found genuine medical staff and medical equipment.
“There are about 30-40 medical staff who are on-site to guide. The CT, B-ultrasound and other medical equipment we used for shooting are also real.” Liu Weiqiang said, “Actors have to wear three-layer protective clothing, which is very burdensome to walk. , But they can’t be slow, because doctors really can’t be slow to save people.”
In Li Jinwen’s eyes, the director is a “detail control.” “For example, all of our patients are actors. They have no symptoms of the new crown. But on the medical equipment next to them, what is the severity of the disease and what is the mild disease must be displayed accurately. The director asked us to follow the truth of the patient. The case is used to adjust all the data on all the instruments, including how the broken lines go. They must be exactly the same. In short, whether you implement it well or not, he will ask for it anyway. Anyway, you just want to do it.”
“Let’s learn a lot first”
Some directors prefer one subject throughout their lives and shoot one genre to the extreme; some directors are brave enough to experiment with any subject and genre, and have a strong ability to adapt to the times and trends. Liu Weiqiang obviously belongs to the latter.
Liu Weiqiang, born in the 1960s, used to go to the theater run by his classmate’s father to watch movies since he was a child. He was fascinated by light and shadow. After graduating from middle school, he joined the “Shaw Brothers Pictures”. “I set goals from the beginning of my job. I told myself how old I was to be a photographer and how old I was to be a director. I had been a photography assistant for more than 3 years, and I was a photographer at the age of 24. I thought I could be a director at the age of 25. I didn’t do it until I was 28, because I had to prepare enough ammunition. I didn’t read much, and I relied on actual combat experience.” In 2003, Liu Weiqiang described his experience in an interview with the media. That year, his director’s “Infernal Affairs” had a good box office and word of mouth.
But at that time, Liu Weiqiang said: “”Infernal Affairs” is just a stage. I don’t want this to be the peak of my career. I still want to move forward. There are many scenes I want to shoot.”
As he said at the beginning, with the growth of the mainland film industry, Liu Weiqiang has opened up his career path in this vast waters.
Starting from 2014’s “Take the Tiger Mountain out of the sky”, Bona Pictures has teamed up with Hong Kong directors such as Tsui Hark, Lin Chaoxian, and Liu Weiqiang to explore the methodology of the “main theme commercial blockbuster”. At present, more and more “theme commercial blockbusters” are launched by different companies. “Wolf Warrior 2”, “The Climber” and “1921” have been released successively, which have become a “new mainstream” in the market.
How can Liu Weiqiang’s “main theme commercial blockbuster” win the market?
“While studying a lot, while blending in my own style.” Liu Weiqiang told the “Daily Business News” reporter. When “The Founding of the Army” was released in 2017, everyone noticed that he had directed the first two parts of “The Founding of the Country”. Huang Jianxin of Daye” and “Party Founding” was appointed as the producer, and it was Liu Weiqiang who picked up the guide. “At the beginning, I was also puzzled. I was not familiar with that period of history. Let me film it. Can you? But Yu Dong believed that the main theme movie and commercial blockbuster can be combined, and the main theme movie should attract a lot of audiences. “
“I think they are right. Then I first have to study a lot. I have studied “The Great Cause of the Army” for nearly a year, and my office is full of historical materials. Then I blended into my style. To express and deal with it. Of course, be very careful. History cannot make mistakes. This is a challenge for me. Fortunately, many experts are nearby and I can keep asking them for advice.” Liu Weiqiang said.
And then to “Chinese Captain” and “Chinese Doctor”, although they are the main theme movies, the type of film and the professional field involved are new and unfamiliar every time. “These are good opportunities for me to learn. Just like this “Chinese Doctor”, every very small thing must be accurate. Otherwise, once it is released in Wuhan, everyone sees professional errors and word of mouth It’s not so good anymore.” Liu Weiqiang said.
After the premiere, Liu Weiqiang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the doctors’ reaction. And after the special day that the whole country has experienced together, what feedback will the audience give to “Chinese Doctor”?
Liu Weiqiang was both excited and anxious.
Real-time query of global new pneumonia epidemic