tearjerker director

"Schindler's List" and "Grave of the Fireflies" are live-action black and white films, while the latter are animated films.

  The former is about the catastrophe of the Jews. Li Yi did not want to make such a movie. In fact, this kind of movie is not about his own nation, so it is difficult for you to make that kind of heaviness.

  As for the latter "Grave of the Fireflies", Li Yi felt that this movie had a good entry point, telling the war from a child's perspective. "War Meridian", which he had shot earlier, was one of these movies.

  In fact, there are really not many similar movies in China.

  So now the question is, should "Grave of the Fireflies" be adapted into a local version and made into an animated film or a live-action film?

  Both animated films and live-action films have their own advantages and disadvantages.

  As for live-action movies, when it comes to expressing the innocence of children, to be honest, no matter how you shoot it, there will be some distorted images.

  Because we cannot ask child actors to treat themselves as harshly as adult actors do for a play or a role.

  But animation is different!
  But animation is still animation, and it cannot replace the sense of reality brought by live-action movies.

  So Li Yi was also a little confused.

  "Why do you think we have made so many movies of that era in the past, but why are we doing the opposite?" Zhao Guangming rubbed his eyebrows and said.

  "how to say?

  I remember seeing a netizen’s post before, which read: We were once poor, so we were eager to show off when we got money; we were bullied, so after we stood firm, we first laughed at our opponents and spit at them. Just spit and tell your opponents that I have stood up; we were once weak, so we must now establish an extremely powerful image for ourselves. In the past, present, and future, we have always been extremely powerful.

  And what about our movies? In fact, this is also true. Most of our movies have one characteristic in their descriptions of that war! "Li Yi thought for a while and said.

  "What characteristics?" Zhao Guangming asked.

  "Never "show weakness"!" Li Yi said.

  "Showing weakness? What do you mean?" Zhao Guangming was a little confused.

  “In fact, looking back at the past to the present, it can be said that the movies and TV series we have made have almost never “showed weakness”.

  Our film and television works, when filming that war, always highlight that we are extremely wise and brave, and the enemy is extremely imbecile; we are extremely powerful, and the enemy is extremely weak; we always win, and the enemy always fails. We have too many movies The purpose is to show our bravery, wisdom, tenacity, and strength, but there is no humanistic expression, and there is no real history that makes people empathize.

  But what is the reality? Are we as invincible as in the movies? How many of us died? How many enemies died? How much of our land has fallen? How many traitors and puppet soldiers have we produced?" Li Yi couldn't help but shake his head as he spoke.

  Zhao Guangming frowned slightly and said: "It's not impossible, right? There are also some film and television works that do not weaken the enemy's strength, right? As for traitors, puppet soldiers, etc., they have appeared in many movies, right?"

  Li Yi shook his head lightly and said: "Yes, there is no problem with any of this. The problem is that our film and television works have always been controlled by the market, because in fact no one likes to see how much suffering we had in the past. We fought that war How hard it is!

  Our movie is more about inferring the process based on the results, because we finally won, so having this and that process seems to be a matter of course.

  Many of our movies and TV series show how powerful the enemy is, but more often than not, they show how abundant the enemy's weapons and ammunition are. But for people, most of them are just trying to trick people's intelligence! "

  In fact, there are many reasons. Many people blame the official, but in fact, this cannot be blamed.

  why?
  Because as Li Yi said, in fact, it is more a choice of the market. It is impossible for Chinese people to like to watch movies where the enemy is strong and we are weak.

  What the Chinese people like to see is that although we are weak, we can defeat strong enemies. This is a typical result derivation process.

  This is also human nature. You can't make your enemy very strong and then make us weak. In that case, where is the excitement?

  It can be seen from the fact that more and more people cannot accept "abuse" plots in online novels. This is human nature.

  So this is a question that can never be answered.

  Because no one really knows how to make movies and TV shows like this.

  The mainstream of the market will never be this kind of film and television works. Another point is, if it is really shot like that, what is it doing?
  Praise the enemy in another way? Therefore, this is also a very critical issue.

  Therefore, Li Yi also disagrees with some comments on the Internet.

  People have a strong mentality, so Li Yi can understand why he doesn't make such film and television works.

  So how to make a movie about that war?

  Li Yi feels that the method of "Grave of the Fireflies" is a very good and smart method.

  The reason why this movie is so controversial is because some people were "touched" by the children of our former enemy country!

  This is human nature and understandable. After all, no matter what, we are human beings first! People will have joy, anger, sorrow, and emotions, and the most critical point of this movie is to capture the point that can make people generally moved.

  The movie does not show how powerful the enemy is, but more shows that under the influence of the war, the originally happy civilian families were torn apart.

  No matter at any time, when you see an innocent little girl being starved to death, what was once a peaceful and peaceful place with blue sky and white clouds turns into a land full of hunger and devastation, shattering beautiful things for you to see, this kind of tragic concept is the key thing. .

  This is why this movie has caused controversy.

  Because these things can indeed move people and make people unbearable indiscriminately, but because the country where this movie was filmed was the country that once caused harm, the audience will be divided.

  Some people believe that as the party that invades other countries, they ignore the facts of history, while others believe that this has nothing to do with innocent children, who are also victims.

  Therefore, when Li Yi watches this movie, he will feel that the source of this controversy is that the people who shot this movie are islanders, and we are the victims in that war. Our stance determines our perceptions.

  Because that makes us feel unreal.

  He is clearly the perpetrator, but he turns himself into the victim.

  What about us?
  Therefore, if the context is changed, this controversy no longer exists.

  Because we have never harmed others, we are pure victims!
  The brilliance of "Grave of the Fireflies" is that this movie does not explain the causes and rights of World War II. This can be said to be the key point of the controversy! The movie has its own material and perspective. It only tells a small story and expresses human nature through a small story. There is no problem at all. It is not a documentary, let alone a scientific and educational film. It has no obligation to explain a global war clearly and completely in 90 minutes. In fact, no film can do that.

  Of course, if the other party explained the reasons and rights and wrongs of World War II, it might not be possible to capture that feeling. But on the other hand, from the perspective of "Grave of the Fireflies", it was not originally filmed for us to watch. So from this point of view, doesn't this film reflect the harm that militarism has caused to our country?

  Of course, Li Yi actually also feels that the biggest highlight of the movie is from the perspective of children, or the entry point of the action, but the movie itself actually has big problems.

  Regarding the death of my sister, which was the most tearful point, it is hard not to feel that it was the male protagonist's inaction and willfulness that killed his sister!

  The younger sister in the movie is very pitiful, but the protagonist's young master's temper is also very easy to hate. He is living under someone else's roof and doesn't even know how to wash the dishes. It's understandable that a 14-year-old child doesn't know that he has nothing to do during the war. He is capable of taking good care of himself and his sister, but he can't even wash the dishes and has a bad temper. When his sister gets sick, he is unwilling to look back. Rather than saying that the male protagonist is pitiful, quite a few people already think that the male protagonist is hateful when they see this. .

  If Li Yilai were to film it, it would definitely need to be overhauled.

  At least, this really cannot be explained by someone who was too young and ignorant at the time.

  Closer to home.

  Li Yi actually hasn't figured out what to do yet.

  It is relatively easy to remake a movie, but to adapt it locally requires a lot of modifications to the plot, which is completely different from the difficulty of replicating a movie.

  Of course, in fact, this movie can also be said to be an "extremely sensational" tear-jerker, which is exactly what Li Yi is good at.

  However, is this kind of movie really suitable to be shot with real actors?

  The little girl in the movie starved to death. If a real child were to film that state, to be honest, Li Yi would find it difficult to achieve the effect of an animation.

  And one more thing, how to avoid those pictures that are too large and too cruel?
  It can be said that Li Yi was also in a dilemma between choices.

  First of all, if it is made with animation, should it show those real cruel scenes?
  How to control the scale?

  Will it affect the movie itself?

  Secondly, if it is shot with real people, how to choose the actors?
  At the same time, some local customs of that era, etc., also need a lot of information to fill in.

  Therefore, even if Li Yi wants to make this movie, it will not be possible in a short time. Such a movie, whether it is a live-action movie or an animated movie, requires a lot of preparatory work.

  In fact, there is another point, which is very crucial.

  Many directors in our country always hope to make films that will be recognized by "foreign audiences" and want them to acknowledge the suffering we have suffered in this war and the brutality of the enemy.

  But in fact, Li Yi really didn't think about it.

  Why do you say that?

  Because this is our own suffering. When outsiders watch it, they can at most express some sympathy out of human nature. Therefore, in Li Yi's view, there is really no need to be demanding for foreign audiences to recognize this type of movie.

  For a movie like this, first of all, the stance should be very firm, that is, it should be made for ourselves.

  Let our own audience re-experience that period of history, understand the harm that war brought to us, and understand how hard-won our current life is.

  Instead of placing your hopes on outsiders!

  So what if you win an award? So what if you are recognized?
  This is also a common problem with this type of movies. Some directors want to shoot movies from the perspective of "foreigners" and "bystanders", but in doing so, they lose the greatest meaning.

  Of course, we were not that powerful in the past, so this mentality is understandable, but now there is really no need to think about what foreign audiences think, how foreign film critics think, and how foreign media think, because there is really no particularly big one. significance.

  So Li Yi does not need to consider this, and if there are some things that are not even recognized by our own audience, then why should we film them in China?
  From the perspective of influence, if you make a movie that is a hit at the domestic box office, your influence will naturally increase. If it doesn’t bloom inside the wall and blooms outside the wall, then what’s the point?
  Going back to movies, what are the universal emotions of human nature?

  Why is "Life is Beautiful" so touching? Is it because of that history?

  No, how many Chinese people really understand that period of history?

  What really moves us even though we don’t understand their history is the relationship between father and son and the sacrifice that the father made for his wife and children.

  These are the universal emotions of human nature.

  In the same way, what moved people in "Grave of the Fireflies"?

  It's a child, because no one can watch such a lively, cute, innocent and well-behaved child suffer like that.

  This is the most common point of empathy.

  "The Story of Hachiko the Loyal Dog" relies on Hachiko's ten-year loyalty to make people sympathize.

  "Mom Love Me Again" relies on great maternal love to make people empathize.

  Short films like "Deal" rely on children's sensible and heart-warming qualities to make people sympathize.

  Having made many sensational and tear-jerking films, Li Yi still has a relatively clear understanding of this aspect.

  Like anti-war films, the key thing to show is not the process, but the result. It is not the result of victory, but the result of the damage left after the war.

  Only such a result can make people universally empathic.

  Let people understand the horror of war, and let people understand that today's peace is hard-won.

  The reason why the "Once Upon a Time" series makes people empathize is because the theme shown in the movie is the most common point of empathy for Chinese people.

  We all know that is our past history, we all know that we won, and we all know that we have many martyrs who shed their lives and blood for it.

  We will know why people like Lu Haodong deserve our respect and admiration.

  These are the key!

  (End of this chapter)