"With a mind open to all rivers, and a ambition to climb the mountain, and a vision of thousands of years, the heart and earth are on a plain." On May 21, the film "Liu Qing" was released, telling the story of the people's writer Liu Qing taking root in Huangfu Village to create the classic novel "History of Entrepreneurship", and showing a generation of intellectuals' family and country feelings and childlike hearts that share the same breath and destiny with the people.

Why shoot Liu Qing? How to reproduce the process of Liu Qing's taking root in the grassroots, going deep into the people and concentrating on creation with light and shadow? Recently, Wang Miaoxia, the producer of the film Liu Qing, Tian Bo, the director, and Cheng Taishen, the actor of Liu Qing, were invited to the People's Daily Online "Celebrity Talk" to tell the story behind the shooting of the film and the creative experience.

Determined to shoot Liu Qing to tell the story of people's writers' mental journey

The desire to shoot Liu Qing was rooted in the heart of director Tian Bo many years ago.

In 2010, when Tian Bo was shooting the documentary "Lu Yao", he found a story about Lu Yao's creation: when Lu Yao encountered difficulties in writing "Ordinary World", and when the first part of his work "came out" was criticized, he would come to Liuqing Cemetery and stay alone for a while. Even after the great success of "Ordinary World", Lu Yao chose to be interviewed in Liuqing Cemetery - at the high moment of life, Lu Yao paid tribute to his life mentor and literature guide Liu Qing.

Tian Bo saw the power of inheritance. What kind of spiritual inspiration made Luyao successful? From then on, Tian Bo began to investigate Liu Qing's life story. He found that Liu Qing had given up the treatment of senior cadres and the excellent life in the city, and had been in the countryside for 14 years. In order to better take root in the people and go deep into life, Liu Qingli changed his flat head into a peasant style jacket and wore a melon skin cap, just like a native Shaanxi farmer; He persevered in the countryside and tenaciously wrote the stories of real Chinese farmers by recording the great changes in the mountains and villages of New China with literature.

Liu Qing is directed by Tian Bo. Photographed by Zheng Jiahao on People's Daily Online

What struck Tian Bo most was that Liu Qing was not only a true chronicler of the times and an innovator of language style, but also a practitioner of the unity of knowledge and practice. Liu Qing's life was rooted in the earth. He worked hard and lived a simple life. He donated all the 16065 yuan of contribution to the History of Entrepreneurship to the local people. Tian Bo sighed that his creation and deeds had a profound impact on Lu Yao, Chen Zhongshi, Jia Pingwa and other "literary Shaanxi army", but contemporary youth knew little about Liu Qing. In order to remind everyone of this people's writer, Tian Bo decided to carve Liu Qing's character and conscience on the big screen sincerely and truly before he was 40 years old.

"Liu Qing really loves the people and the characters he wrote. The people have provided him with a lot of vivid stories, nourished him, and made him successful. He also gave back the money he earned for his achievements to the local people," said Tian Bo, "We want to bring the spirit of Chinese intellectuals and the heritage of Chinese literati for thousands of years into the film and show it to more people."

Six years of sharpening a sword to restore the era and character texture

Six years, just to polish a good movie.

"If you want to write, you should live first, and if you want to shape heroes, you should shape yourself first." This sentence is used by Liu Qing to spur herself, and also constantly spur the film's main creative team.

Six years ago, Tian Bo began to prepare the film Liu Qing. In addition to a lot of desk work, he visited the place where Liu Qing was born and lived, and accumulated a lot of materials about Liu Qing. When writing the script, Tian Bo set himself the principle of "Six No Three Adherence": no tampering, no elevation, no devaluation, no concept, no preaching, no flattery; Adhere to excellence, adhere to true restoration, and adhere to the original intention of creation. In order to create a flesh and blood character image, he carefully read the History of Entrepreneurship, invited more than 20 party history experts to check, and also talked with Liu Qing's daughter, the people in Huangpu Village, and literary critics. He learned a lot of artistic details about Liu Qing: how he speaks, how he writes How to treat others... Liu Qing's voice and smile gradually became clear in Tian Bo's mind.

It is not easy to shoot biographical films, especially biographical films of writers. If they are not handled properly, they can easily become a dull "running book". How to select if there are too many materials? How does a large number of psychological activities behave? How to set the conflict on the plot? Tian Bo finally decided to intercept several important decisions in Liu Qing's life. "Although the road of life is long, there are often only a few critical steps, especially when people are young." Tian Bo said that Liu Qing's words, though simple, have far-reaching significance. Whether at the peak or at the bottom, Liu Qing's choice is sincere and admirable

In addition to going deep into Liu Qing's life and restoring the quality of characters, the team of Liu Qing also restores the original appearance of history with the spirit of craftsmanship. Starting from Liu Qing's Entrepreneurship History, the team purchased a large number of farm tools such as wheelbarrows, invited 300 farmers to participate in the performance, and planted 30 mu of corn and 30 mu of wheat on Shenhe Plateau. The towering Qinling Mountains, gurgling streams, golden rice fields, theaters and temples with a strong sense of local flavor and history... The rural beauty of the land in Guanzhong described by Liu Qing is spread in the light and shadow.

Wang Miaoxia, producer of Liu Qing. Photographed by Zheng Jiahao on People's Daily Online

Planting crops for shooting effect is a costly and laborious thing. As the producer of Liu Qing, Wang Miaoxia understands and supports Tian Bo's choice. She said that this is consistent with their original intention of filming Liu Qing

Play Liu Qing's "Dream Fulfillment" and Represent the Original Mission of a Generation of Writers

"This is a work of conscience" "Especially at the end of the film, Liu Qing stands on the plateau after experiencing difficulties and watching the rising sun, which is particularly moving"... After the release of "Liu Qing", Liu Qing, played by Stanley Cheng, moved many audiences.

The choice of Stanley Cheng as Liu Qing dates back to the time when Tian Bo made a documentary for the film White Deer Plain. Tian Bo found that Stanley Chan has always been low-key and calm to be alone, with both the compassion of intellectuals and the simple temperament of farmers. "The biggest feature of Liu Qing's facial features is that his eyes are round and bright, and Stanley Chan's eyes are also very intelligent."

After receiving the invitation from Tian Bo, Stanley declined politely at first because of the difficulty of the role. "He was afraid that his own structure was not enough and the script was not good enough", but when Tian Bo sent the 30th version of the script, Stanley was moved. He said that only when he saw a mature script and mature characters could he have confidence, and even felt that the role "had to be me".

Stanley Chan knows that it is not easy to enter the spiritual world of writers. He found the source of Liu Qing's spirit from Liu Kefeng's works such as Biography of Liu Qing, The Story of Planting Grain, and The Iron Wall, "In terms of details, Mr. Kefeng, the director and the art teacher gave me some help to capture Mr. Liu Qing's simplicity from his crutches, his pens, his tea cups, and experience his transformation from a cadre in suits to a farmer."

Liu Qing stars Stanley Cheng. Photographed by Zheng Jiahao on People's Daily Online

"Like a seed, he really entered the land of Huangfu Village and the era when New China was just starting." Stanley Cheng said that if he wanted to "become" Liu Qing, he must first "break" himself and integrate into Liu Qing's life experience.

In the film, Stanley Cheng takes Liu Qing's "truth" as the focus of his performance and tries to restore Liu Qing as a "party member, writer, husband and father". When learning the news of the death of his wife Ma Wei, Liu Qing did not complain, but went out of the room alone with all his strength. This paragraph made many audiences cry and choke several times. Originally, there was a line in this play, but at the suggestion of Stanley Cheng, the line became silent

Stanley Cheng was born in Jiaocheng County, Luliang City, Shanxi Province, just across the Yellow River from Wubao County, Shaanxi Province, where Liu Qing was born. The same land and water connect their common spiritual ties. Playing Liu Qing is of great significance to Stanley Cheng, "Not only has my literary dream come true for many years, but more importantly, I found the tradition of 'literature carries morality' that Chinese traditional literati have always adhered to from Mr. Liu Qing. He combined works and personality, pointing out a bright path for the growth of young people today."

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