There are more than actors Mary and Zhang Yu in the story of the movie Northeast Tiger!

Special feature of 1905 film network　Won the Golden Jubilee Award for Best Film at the 2021 Shanghai International Film Festival. At the moment when the award was announced, the director and the starring actor embraced each other tightly.

　

They were not prepared to win the grand prize. Later, when the main creator had dinner together, Geng Jun said that they cried again.

"Northeast Tiger" is not easy. From the creative idea to the cinema release, after ten years, coupled with the epidemic, the production cycle is longer and more difficult.

　

It’s not easy for Geng Jun. It’s been 25 years since I came to Beijing from my hometown Hegang, Heilongjiang Province to make movies.

　

"I am a migrant worker in Beijing. I lived in the basement, was driven out in the basement, and shared with others. I never lived in the Third Ring Road when I came to Beijing. I didn’t think it was too bitter."

"Northeast Tiger" is about Paradise Lost of a middle-aged man, which won the highest honor at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Geng Jun is also a middle-aged man, and this is also his Moon and Sixpence.

"Middle-aged, will you continue to be brave?"

　

In 2008, Geng Jun made a film called Youth, which discussed the difficulties encountered in youth. By the time the film "Northeast Tiger" was filmed, Geng Jun was 40 years old, and he thought it was time to film the middle age after a young man.

　

Xu Dong, the hero, is trapped in his marriage and family and Hegang town. A 19-year-old Siberian tiger kept in a zoo is the most vivid metaphor for his midlife crisis. I want to run wild and play, but I am old and my strength is gone.

"Where is the ferocity of the Siberian tiger? These roles are reflected in me. I wonder if I will continue to be brave in middle age? Can we break through their predicament? Is there a brave middle age or a lazy old age? "

　

Xu Dong has to face two problems, one is that his wife Meiling catches the mistress, and the other is to avenge her dead dog. Another hero is Ma Qianli, who also has two problems, one is debt collection and debt evasion, and the other is the trouble he got into because he killed Xu Dong’s dog by mistake.

We survived today together, and tomorrow will be interesting. Xu Dong said this sentence and looked at the kite flying in the air, and the movie was over. In the end, the film did not provide any correct entrance and exit for these middle-aged people, which was unresolved, but it also gave a glimmer of light.

　

Geng Jun said, this is a kind of warmth. When we gradually come out of the predicament, new hope will be ignited.

　

"Zhang Yu and Mary have missed, and my back is cold."

　

"Northeast Tiger" is the first time that Geng Jun has used professional actors. Zhang Yu plays Xu Dong and Mary plays Meiling. They finalized their cooperation as soon as they met.

Zhang Yu is a native of southwest China, but he quickly integrated into the atmosphere of the northeast and captured the demeanor and temperament of the local people.

　

Geng Jun said that he let Zhang Yu play a mushroom. "Because local actors in Hegang played my previous movies, many viewers especially liked them. They thought they were the delicacies in the northeast. I said that the cutest thing in the delicacies was mushrooms."

　

After the film was finished, Zhang Yu asked him how my mushroom was. Geng Jun said, you this mushroom is as bright and beautiful as Hegang local mushrooms.

The general impression of Mary is comedy, Mahua FunAge and Ma Dongmei, but Meiling is another creation of her."She is a very comprehensive and broad actress. Her image, temperament, and the dynamic feeling between her brow are particularly suitable for this role. Some people say that Mary plays likeSakura AndôJust as good. "　

After reading the script, Mary knew that Meiling in the script was her. Geng Jun said that all of Meiling’s toughness and strength are to protect this family. It is particularly "scary" for men to grasp the relationship with her own personality and methods.

The lines of the film are concise and short, and the language speed is slower than that of the general film. Every word spoken by Zhang Yu and Mary is equivalent to an over-the-top, and words are precious, so they should also be read between the lines. This kind of drama tests the control of psychological activities. "It takes more energy and physical strength than acting in action drama, running and chasing those," Geng Jun said. "My back is cold when I edit."

"It’s good to have a threshold, and the audience should not go into the cinema by mistake."

Geng Jun’s filming speed is not fast. Today is not good. We can shoot again the next day. It is common to shoot 40 or 50 films in one scene, so we are not in a hurry. His movies are also very slow, easy and steady. Compared with Mahua FunAge or other lively comedies, Geng Jun thinks that what he filmed is not a comedy, but a tragicomedy, and he interprets the tragedy in a comedy way. His humor is also relatively small and elite.

In the eyes of fans, "Northeast Tiger" has some shadow of directing movies, and Geng Jun said that it was influenced imperceptibly because he liked it. On the other hand, the climate and environment in Northeast China are similar to those in Northern Europe. "Once at the airport, I saw people from northern Europe taking their luggage and transferring there, just like canned sardines sleepwalking. It was too similar to people from our side, that is, they were not awake or sober. I called myself, Cauris Markey, roy andersson, and our movies in Heilongjiang as frigid movies."

"Northeast Tiger" has to face the public more. This is the first time that a Geng Jun film has entered the domestic cinema. Will there be a threshold for viewing? "Improving aesthetics is the result of the interaction between filmmakers and people watching movies. I hope this interaction can be a little more. A little threshold is good. " Are you worried that the audience will complain too slowly? "This slowness is a graceful slowness, and it is poetic. If you are used to watching short videos, some people may not adapt. I hope they can go to the right cinema, so don’t go into the cinema by mistake. I hope Northeast Tiger finds the right audience. "

"This is not a funeral, it is a normal life."

Before winning the Golden Goblet Awards, Geng Jun also won some awards, the best short film creation and the special prize of the jury of the 33rd Sundance Film Festival. All his films are aimed at Hegang, his hometown, and absurd stories in reality are staged again and again in the vast north.

　In recent years, Hegang has attracted national attention because of its low housing prices. In Geng Jun’s eyes, the city is full of his homesickness. "Those who walk on the road with their breath, those excited faces after drinking, as well as parents and classmates. I photographed the living areas I am familiar with, and now there are no people, but I have a particularly deep feeling for it. "

　Geng Jun’s films also aim at the losers in the times and society. He said that he is also a part of this loser atmosphere, but this is not "mourning". "It is a normal life. Everyone’s spiritual world is particularly rich, but some people have been made into movies. What I filmed is actually a large crowd. We are a group."

　After winning the Golden Jubilee Award for Best Film, the film was released smoothly. Geng Jun hopes that everything will be better in the future, he can talk to the audience more and become a collaborator with more people. His next film, Assassin and Postcards, is scheduled to start shooting this year. It will be his traditional style, with elements of crime types added, and will be performed by Hegang’s old friends and professional actors. Zhang Yu and Mary have also seen the script, and they may continue to cooperate next.