Hu Ge, Diao Yinan and Gui Lunmei
1905 movie network feature "The Wild Goose Lake" has a field score of 2.7, ranking third among the ten films that have been scored in the main competition of this year’s Cannes."This is an intricate Chinese film noir," the review said. "The film is full of the minimalist and existential style of Jean-Pierre Melville, and it also confirms the endless vitality of film noir in China."
So far, Rotten Tomatoes is 89 percent fresh, with eight out of nine media outlets giving it positive reviews. The Hollywood Reporter described it as "a bleak, sharp film noir staged against a rough contemporary Chinese backdrop." Variety said: "Diao Yinan has completed a high-level Chinese film noir, with a distinct personal style that is fascinating."
For every creator of "The Wild Goose Lake," Cannes was another brief gathering on a long journey, and we also chatted with them behind the scenes and in between about the "burning" secrets behind "South Station".
Diao Yinan saw some true stories about criminal gangs in urban villages and swimming girls by the water. He suddenly realized that there seemed to be a hidden heterotopia within himself, projecting some mysterious and disturbing colors. He wrote these ideas into a story called "Wild Goose Lake".
In 2019, Wild Goose Lake was unveiled and renamed.The original title of the film has been preserved as the English title of the film. "In fact, our English name is’Wild Goose Pond ‘, not’Wild Goose Lake’, because foreigners don’t have the concept of a pond," said producer Shen Qian. In her mind, the pond is more wild, symbolizing the life of the wild, and the lake is too beautiful.
The water in this pond rippled in Diao Yinan’s heart for a long time. Before "Fireworks in the Day", he had a rudimentary story. Li Li, the boss of Heli Chenguang, who had known Diao Yinan for many years, was a friend of Diao Yinan and the chief producer of the film. He told Li Li about the news events he had seen. Li Li felt that Diao Yinan had found what he wanted to shoot, a film that combined typed films with author expressions.
"I think the most difficult thing is actually to surpass yourself. Diao Yinan surpassed himself in’Southern Station ‘, and even I think it was much more affectionate than his’Fireworks in the Day’," Li Li said, recalling his first reading of the script. "We have to think about what kind of audience, what kind of content can empathize with and make them like it more in three years, or even five years." Li Li felt that Diao Yinan’s script achieved his appeal.
Among those who went to the party were Diao Yinan’s old friends Liao Fan and Gui Lunmei. Hu Ge and Wan Qian were working with the director who won the Berlin Golden Bear Award for the first time. When Diao Yinan found Liao Fan again, Liao Fan said that he was thinking wildly, thinking that the police officer he played again was the story of his youth in Zhang Zili.
Fireworks by Day is directed by Diao Yinan and stars Gui Lunmei and Liao Fan
But it took a while to decide on Hu Ge. Producer Shen Qian recommended Hu Ge to director Diao Yinan. Because of the size of the film, it must have a market. Chief producer Li Li said he did not know if Hu Ge would like to play such a role. He remembered getting a set of photos of Hu Ge, including one that made him think he had found Zhou Zenong from "The Wild Goose Lake."
Diao Yinan was also hesitant. But he immediately went to watch "Langya Ranking" and quickly found Hu Ge’s temperament. Shen Yan said that in the present, Hu Ge is very similar to Abe Kuan; in the past, he is very similar to Nakadai Daya, an actor who has worked with Kurosawa and other masters.
So the producers arranged a meeting between Diao Yinan and Hu Ge. Li Li recalled that after Hu Ge met the director, "I didn’t expect that after the director talked to him, he liked this role very much. It can be said that it was a natural fit, so Hu Ge also joined in. I also think that the whole crew is very satisfied with his performance."
Hu Ge on the red carpet in Cannes
"The Wild Goose Lake" does take place in the south, unlike the biting northeast wind and the unmelted snow. When Diao wrote the story, he hoped it would take place in Guangdong, where there are large areas of water and villages in the city; but he was a little disappointed when he went to see the scenery. So he went to Yinchuan, which is colloquially called Jaishang Jiangnan. But he didn’t find the ideal location either.
The difficulty was not limited to the scouting. Producer Shen Qian also served as the executive producer of "The Last Night of the Earth." Her original plan for the two films was that "Earth" would be shut down in September 2016 and work on "South" would begin in October.
As a result, "The Wild Goose Lake" did not start production until 2017 due to the delay in filming "Earth". "South", which started construction almost a year later than originally planned, was slightly confused about finding a location.
After many disappointments, Wuhan finally appeared in the consideration of Diao Yinan and the crew. On October 7, 2017, Diao Yinan and the crew came to Wuhan and found a real world existence in the city of Hundred Lakes in this province of thousands of lakes.
The location decision is just the beginning of more problems. Diao Yinan, who decided to shoot in Wuhan after watching the scene for two days, found that when the extras were all speaking Wuhan dialect, he could only let this group of actors from all over the world who came to the south for dates also learn this dialect.
"The Wild Goose Lake" work photo
Mr. Liao, who has studied Shanxi dialect before, and Ms. Wan, both from Hunan, have a bit of a linguistic affinity for learning Wuhan. Ms. Gui’s accent is perhaps the most distinct on the set. When he arrived in Wuhan, Mr. Liao said, she had been there for two months.
During these two months, she lived in a hut in the village of the city for a week. She went to chat with the "Street Girl" every day. Unlike what she imagined, Gui Lunmei found that these girls were far more alive than she had imagined. She described the role as her own bet, not knowing if she had a chance of winning, but willing to bet because it might change her life.
Another lead actor, Wan Qian, also prepared for the role in advance. She went to learn carpentry, learning the whole process from sawing wood to painting and polishing. Her hands had blisters, and she had to endure the smell of sawdust and paint from sawing wood. For the character, she did a lot of design. There were scraping marks on her neck due to illness, acupuncture marks on her ears, and the shape became extra rough.
Her character, set as a sufferer, has an episode in which she suddenly falls ill, foaming at the mouth with toothpaste. Then an actor puts a bandage on her mouth. After the scene, she eats a lot of toothpaste and has blood bubbles on her mouth.
The actors all said that Director Diao Yinan would not make too many demands and clarify the scope of the performance, but each play was particularly meticulous and torturous.
Thinking back to the state at that time, Gui Lunmei said that her heart was full of uncertainty. This complex character of mood twists made her unsure of how to deal with it, so she was always uneasy and uncertain.
The same was true for the male lead actor Hu Ge. No matter what role he played before, his habit was to adjust to his best state before filming, and to be confident in the face of the camera when he was on the set. Having acted in a large number of national TV dramas, when he got his first male lead in a movie in his life, he suddenly found himself uneasy.
In fact, he had done a lot of preparation before filming. Director Diao Yinan had given Hu Ge many movie and book recommendations, such as the 1950s American film noir, the classic Japanese samurai film, Camus’s "The Outsider" and so on. But for Hu Ge, who had just entered the group and had completely different camera requirements from TV dramas, everything was new.
"I don’t know if the acting is good or not. I was panicked and worried at first." This was his mental state after joining the group. But one day, he suddenly figured it out.
Hu Ge found that this state is what the character Zhou Zenong needs, isn’t it? "Anxiety in life, not having enough confidence, insecurity and people create links. I carried this uneasy emotion to the end. At the end of all unrest, there must be a point of desperation. This character faces Liu Aiai, played by Gui Lunmei, and in the end will go all out on her and pin all his hopes on her. The point of my desperation is that I can fully commit and fully put myself in."
Hu Ge, who completely put himself in, made Diao Yinan feel Zhou Zenong’s existence. When choosing an actor, he also considered a lot. For such a bandit role, there should be some established candidates in the hearts of many people. But "I may not choose an actor from a realistic perspective. For example, Hu Ge must look like a bandit, or a bandit in a preconceived concept. I started from temperament and asked him to act, and he was a bandit. At the same time, he entered his existence."
It wasn’t until the film premiered in Cannes that Hu Ge and Gui Lunmei realized that they were in the same mood when they made the movie. And during the movie, the two of them have been in the sticky and cold rain in the south, with a little bit of love rippling on the wild goose pond.
The scene on the pond was a gentle and mysterious moment in the movie. But the shooting didn’t go so smoothly. There were too many waves on the water surface to shoot, and the water surface was too flat and needed artificial waves. Hu Ge and Gui Lunmei were lying on a wooden boat with sand at the bottom of the boat. Just when they got into a mood, the boat that made the waves was not well controlled, and a big wave hit their face.
Diao Yinan did not devise many lines for the two of them. He hoped that Zhou Zenong and Liu Aiai could have a delicate and complex relationship. He saw the two characters as lonely souls under great pressure. In this way, the meeting of souls requires only actions to express the feelings that exist within. "I think this smell is fascinating. I don’t want to use words to convey it, I don’t think it fits the situation."
He organically listed the stories he saw, heard, and collected. Although the film has a strong story design, the final presentation is the state of several characters in such a southern city, like the American film noir in the 1950s. In this way, Diao Yinan felt that it was easy for film noir to produce good-looking and expressive works. The development of China has also provided a natural soil for creation.
Chief producer Li Li also remembered that for this story, Diao Yinan had written the script for three years. Shooting in Hubei, more than 80 locations, more than 80% of the night scenes. It happened to be the rainy season when shooting. For the movie, he let his completion guarantor directly enter and made all the plans.
Without a strong story, Diao sees "The Wild Goose Lake" as a movie about personal experience. "I think everyone has their own dilemma, and everyone in it has their own dilemma, but through risk, sacrifice, resistance, freedom is achieved. That’s what drives our lives."
From "Night Train" being shortlisted for a focus section of the Cannes Film Festival, to "Fireworks by Day" returning with fame, and then to this year’s "The Wild Goose Lake". Diao Yinan also completed his own adventure and resistance.
"The two of us often chat, and he also said that he thinks he is still telling a Chinese story after all, and he is more concerned about the kind of dialogue and communication with the Chinese audience. I think he and I have the same idea on this point. And he is also very simple, so he doesn’t think it is important for us to say that he has been shortlisted for Cannes, or won or not won." As a friend, Li Li commented on him.
Diao Yinan
Before the film premiered in the Lumière Hall of the Palace of Cinema in Cannes, Diao Yinan was still working overtime on the later stage of the film. The rough cut of the film was more than 130 minutes, and then it was changed to 123 minutes. Finally, for the sake of scheduling and marketing, the audience saw the 113-minute version.
Mr. Shen said that after "Fireworks in the Day", Diao Yinan also changed: "He found a way to find more audiences, not only to maintain his own expression, but also to find more audiences, and I think his attitude is very good, a very open attitude, he wants his film to be more attention and accepted, hoping to sow more seeds."
One of the seeds that Diao Yinan sowed was picked up by Hu Ge. "The true purity of art is especially pure, so it also makes me enjoy it. I am very moved. I used to think that the profession of actor has brought me a lot, but I always feel that there is something missing. This time I feel that the director has given it to me."
This "giving" probably also involves some kind of dilemma. Hu Ge followed Diao Yinan into this dilemma, and then found freedom again through risk and resistance. Therefore, when looking back at the entire shooting process, he felt: "The whole shooting process was a very precious experience. It also made me firmly determined that this road must be continued."
Image Source: Wanda Films
