Wen Shipei heard a piece of social news that the perpetrator could not get along with guilt, so he quietly and quietly approached the victim’s family. He felt that it was full of “crime and punishment”-style depression, guilt and pain.
[ 这些荒诞而真实的故事，以及炎热的回忆，被温仕培糅合进《热带往事》里。彭于晏读到剧本，最直观的感受是人在彷徨中的成长和力量，“年轻人都会彷徨，每个人都会有一个不堪的过去。你怎样去面对、成长，重新得到救赎，迎向阳光，获得新的开始。” ]
The first time I saw Wen Shipei, Zhang Aijia was very curious. She read the script of “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics” and felt that it was a “a bit ambiguous and a bit strange story” and was hit by the character’s loneliness.
The same curiosity also comes from Peng Yuyan. He read in the script a completely different feeling in the past, “After reading it, there are many pictures in his mind. This story has many possibilities and a little suspense, but it is very warm.”
On June 12, the movie “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics” was released, and some people called it “the most watched debut.” Whether it is starring Peng Yuyan, Zhang Aijia, Wang Yanhui, Zhang Yu, or producer Ning Hao, this debut has an unusually luxurious lineup. In the words of director Wen Shipei, “For any new director, it is dreamy and lucky to meet so many actors in his feature film debut.”
Fortunately, it’s not just the lineup. In 2018, “Tropical Past” won the “VFF Talent Highlight Award” cash prize of the 68th Berlin Film Festival’s talent project marketing unit, and has recently been shortlisted for the 74th Cannes Film Festival Special Screening Unit.
“Tropical Past” is one of the new director films supported by Ning Hao’s “Bad Monkey 72 Film Project”. The plan was launched in 2016, and four movies have been released so far, with a cumulative box office of 3.5 billion yuan. Among them, Wen Muye’s “I’m Not the God of Medicine” and Lu Yang’s “Xiu Chun Dao II Shura Battlefield” both achieved both word-of-mouth and box office wins, with the former sweeping awards in major film festivals.
Wen Shipei and his “Tropical Once Upon a Time” are undergoing market testing. The box office on the first day exceeded 28 million yuan, and the reputation was polarized. The Douban score was only 6.6.
Compared with the attention and expectations of the outside world, Wen Shipei’s more real feeling is that since the day of its premiere, the film has been completed, and the rest is to communicate with the outside world. When Bad Monkey Pictures was interviewed by CBN, the new director speaks slowly and concisely. He prefers that the audience go directly to the theater to watch the movie, and he also accepts the polarization of the audience. “Different people will read different things.”
Chinese-style “crime and punishment”
When Ning Hao saw Wen Shipei on the first side, he confirmed that “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics” was worth filming in just a few words.
It was 2017. Wen Shipei won the “Special Concern Project of the Bad Monkey 72 Film Project” at the Shanghai International Film Festival’s film project venture capital. He saw Ning Hao, who was acting as a guest on the set of “The Wandering Earth”. Taking advantage of the filming break, Ning Hao wore an astronaut costume. Hearing a brief summary of the story, he judged this to be a valuable subject.
The story takes place in the hot and humid southern summer. A young air-conditioning repairman drove home late at night when he accidentally hit someone and fled in fear. The guilt and self-blame all day long made him choose to silently approach the deceased’s wife, wanting to surrender to atonement, but was involved in a murder case. The murderer, the police, and the widow, three people whose lives have nothing to do with each other, entangled each other in a dramatic way, bringing out the truth of the case.
Wen Shipei, who grew up in Heyuan, Guangdong, heard a social news article, “The perpetrator cannot get along with guilt, so he quietly and quietly approached the victim’s family.”
He felt that it was full of “Cin and Punishment”-style depression, guilt and pain. When he was a child, he also heard his father talk about smuggling cars-his father’s friends assembled the smuggled cars in Dongguan, drove them to the northeast and sold them, and then stolen them back with spare keys. A car can be sold more than a dozen times.
These absurd and true stories, as well as hot memories, were merged into “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics” by him. When Peng Yuyan read the script, the most intuitive feeling is the growth and strength of people in hesitation, “Young people will be hesitating, and everyone will have an unbearable past. How do you face, grow, redeem salvation, and welcome the sun,” Get a new start.”
When experiencing the work of an air-conditioning repairman, Peng Yuyan found that the repairmen of that era were very thin, sweating while carrying gas bottles under the scorching sun. He lost more than 30 kilograms of weight for the character, almost dehydrated to interpret a hard-working, insomnia young man.
The low chirping of the old-fashioned air conditioner, the rotating sound of the fan, the sound of rain, and the wheezing sound. These sound effects combined with the restless and restless scenes under calm and the constantly flashing back clips, forming a strong stylized image of “Tropical Once Upon a Time”, and even a vaguely American director The shadow of David Lynch.
“We spent a lot of time at the beginning to determine the temperament of the image and create a language style.” Wen Shipei said that the photographers of the film are a pair of partners from Austria. Together they designed the audio-visual style of the film, just like before playing a game. The rules of the game are the same.
They all like Francis Bacon’s paintings. The distorted pictures show their inner anxiety, which becomes a kind of inspiration. The German expressionist films of the 1920s, especially “Dr. Caligari’s Cabin” in 1920, also gave Wen Shipei a lot of imagination.
“The most critical art design concept is that the three protagonists have their own colors, and they use colors to distinguish their spaces.” Wen Shipei’s design ideas are meticulous. In order to shoot the memories that flash back in the movie, he used lens plus The way of silk stockings removes the overly sharp and realistic texture of modern photographic equipment and deliberately creates a flaw. More than 400 pairs of silk stockings with different textures and materials, and the only one antique lens from the 1970s in China, have created a psychedelic and ambiguous sense of age in the movie.
But he still has a lot of uncertainty. For example, the slightly distorted vision presents inner anxiety and loneliness under the heat. He is afraid that if it is too strong, it will push the audience away. He is also worried that the effect will be too much, and the technique should be more restrained. Recalling the entire shooting stage, he said that pain is the norm.
“Making a movie is like building a house.” He likened a movie to a building. The location of a building is like choosing the subject matter of a movie. The function and purpose of the building are like the type of movie. The architectural drawings are the script, and the elegant interiors in the building are like It is the audio-visual effect of the movie, “When the movie is finished, it is like the completion of a building, inviting the audience to come in.” He believes that the job as a director is over at this moment.
The new direction of “Bad Monkey”
While studying at the Graduate School of the Art Institute of Columbia University, Wen Shipei received attention with several short films.
In 2015, his self-written and directed short film “The Carpenter” was nominated for the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Later, he participated in the shooting of short films “Ping Pang” and “Iron Hand” as a director of photography. He was nominated for the Tribeca International Film Festival in the United States for two consecutive years and won the Best Short Film Award.
Looking back on his path of growth, Wen Shipei said that he was a hindsight type, “I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a long time, but I always had the desire to create.”
Born in Heyuan, a southern city, he has almost no memory of movies during his growth period. I only opened a window when I went to Shantou University to study journalism. I am full of interest in art, architecture, and film. When he was in college, he watched all the movies he should watch, and he kept revisiting classics like “The Godfather”, and his favorites were Akira Kurosawa and Kubrick.
The first time I really experienced a movie was when I went to Luzhou, Sichuan to participate in the shooting of the independent film “Her Love Story” in 2011. Wen Shipei took the initiative to apply to director Gu Qiao to be the assistant of photography. In order to get the opportunity, he wrote four emails to learn about the equipment used by the crew in advance. His sincerity, meticulousness and rigor left a deep impression on Gu Qiao.
“At that time, I really loved it. When the photographer set up the lights, I would first design the lighting plan by myself, and then see how he did it.” Wen Shipei said that when I went to the crew for an internship, I didn’t expect any return, but just verified whether I was suitable for making movies. , Whether you really love movies.
“Her Love Story” gathers young people who want to make independent films. From the director to the starring role, several of them are studying films in the United States. Wen Shipei gradually saw the path he wanted to take.
After many years of thinking back, this independent film gave him the initial motivation and made like-minded friends. Wang Yinuo, a master of fine arts in film production from Columbia University, was the lead actor in the film at the time, and is now the screenwriter of “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics”. The producer at that time also became the associate director of “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics”.
“Several screenwriters are all alumni. One of the prerequisites for cooperating with screenwriters is smooth communication, which is the kind of relationship that, even if you quarrel, you will be fine the next day.” Wen Shipei said that they have a kind of relationship with each other. Barrier-free trust, “Willing to show your most vulnerable, most sensitive, and most precious things with another person.”
Smooth and lucky are the growth space and freedom that every new director who participates in the “Bad Monkey 72 Film Project” will experience.
Wen Shipei said that as a producer, Ning Hao helped him build the best creative team and gave him great creative space. “He respects the personality of different directors and supports everyone in finding their own voice.” He often talks to Ning Hao a lot. Topic, how to keep the creator’s sensitivity, how to understand the rhythm of the movie.
“In the era of Director Ning Hao, it was very difficult to be a director. At that time, the film market was not big enough, and it was a relatively small form of entertainment.” He believes that for the new generation of directors, the opportunities will follow the huge and mature Chinese film market. , Is becoming more and more. After filming this somber “Once Upon a Time in the Tropics”, he wants to try a southern comedy in the next film.
On June 14, Bad Monkey Pictures announced a new plan. The number of contracted directors for the “Bad Monkey 72 Film Project” increased from 10 to 19, and 3 of the 8 new films went into production. “Miracle” directed by Wen Muye and starring Yi Qianqianxi has also become the next “miracle” of this project, which is highly anticipated. Return to Sohu to see more
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