The main contents of the film Thirteen Paulownia

This film is adapted from He Dacao's novel Knife and Knife, and it is the most admired by young readers in He Dacao's cruel youth series. The story describes the unspeakable feelings between He Feng, a small town girl, and several boys, as well as a youth story that happened in the summer when she was 18 years old.

He Feng is a "problem student" who was looked down upon in middle school: he has a "inch board" head and wears leather boots. The mascots are two cold knives. Knife and knife dyed youth black. The apparent calm of Class One, Grade Two, where she was located was broken with the arrival of transfer students Bao Jingsheng and Jin Gui. Ali, a rich boy, has become a lamb to be contested, just like competing with others, full of tension and confrontation. He Feng and his companions, charming and mysterious Zhu Zhu, half-blood and talented Eva, strong and gloomy Tao Tao, burly and rough Bao Jingsheng, as simple and precious as Indians, were all happy and miserable in that sweaty summer.

Comment in one sentence

The story of middle school students, several young actors are all 16 or 17 years old, and they are all acting for the first time. They are all doing well. This is the best movie in the near future! -Xu

The 250,000-word novel has been adapted into a 100-minute film, and the deletion is affirmative, but the spirit of the film is consistent with the novel. -He Dacao

Behind the scenes production

About the director

Lu Le, the director of this film, was born as a photographer. Together with Hou Yong, he worked as a photographer for the film Zasa in the Hunting Ground. After filming Zasa in the Hunting Ground, Lv Le was chosen by Evans, a world-renowned Dutch documentary master, as one of the photography jobs of The Wind (Documentary). After 1985, Lv Le successively filmed Pure Land, Godly Bodhisattva and other films, and directed and filmed the documentary Nujiang-The Lost Canyon, which won the grand prize of the Paris Anthropology Film Festival.

From 65438 to 0992, Lv Le worked as a photographer for the film Draw the Soul, which made a new pursuit and breakthrough in the use of light in modeling. 1993 and 1995, Lv Le was the photographer of Zhang Yimou's two films, Alive and Shake, Shake, Shake to the Waipo Bridge. Won the Best Technology Award at Cannes International Film Festival, and entered Hollywood, and was nominated for the Best Photography Award at the Academy Awards.

1996, Lu Le cooperated with Zhang Yimou for three times as a photographer for the film Let's Talk. In this film, Lv Le continued his usual photography style that the lens follows the story, and the transformation and application of the lens can be said to have reached the extreme, which caused a strong controversy in the society. Before shooting the first real film "Beautiful Grass", Lu Le directed the film "Mr. Zhao" independently. Although the film was not shown in China, it laid a solid foundation for Lv Le's career as a director.

The story of paulownia

Thirteen Paulownia is adapted from the novel Knife by novelist He Dacao. The novel was praised by critics as "China's version of The Catcher in the Rye".

The story tells the living conditions and spiritual world of a group of post-80s middle school students.

The film begins the perceptual self-report of the post-80 s generation from the first perspective of the heroine "Feng Zi". The whole movie is unfolded through the eyes of a middle school student. I am a girl of 18 years old, not a good student. Knife is my birthday present and my mascot. I grew up watching the comic books of Macmurd, a desert hero. My father was not strong enough, so my mother ran away with others. The inferiority of single-parent families makes me more indifferent. ...

Director Lv Le said that the heroine "Fengzi" played by Liu Xin is a maverick high school girl. She is completely different from the image of a girl in dress, words and deeds, and there are many realistic comparisons in today's middle school campus. However, her heart is very clean, and the yearning for the injured Arab soldier makes her keep a clean and bright place for her heart forever.

Lv Le wrote in his directorial discourse that when we recite the word "youth" among the waves, it may really be a very sunny and beautiful word. But with the strong sunshine, it is the darkest shadow. Think back to our youth. The pronoun of youth is actually confusion and rebellion. I even clearly remember the frustration and helplessness when I walked through the campus alone on a windy afternoon in winter. ...

The original author, He Dacao, was full of praise for the creative staff.

He Dacao, the author of the original novel, didn't participate in the screenwriter of Thirteen Paulownia, but he didn't mind: "My original work was written in the first person of a girl, but I am a male writer and write from a male perspective. Lu Le asked Liu Ying, a screenwriter who graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy. As a woman, Liu Ying adapted the script, which is complementary. " He Dacao said with emotion that it is very normal that a 250,000-word novel was adapted into a 100-minute movie. Although the film has changed a lot compared with the original, I feel that the spirit, temperament and context of the novel have been preserved when watching the film. When I read it, I was filled with emotion and mixed feelings. The hot summer of 2002 came back to my memory. Lv Le is a very good director. He is reserved and low-key, but once he acts, he will be very powerful, and he will also play a decisive role in the actor's natural inspiration. "

When it comes to winning the Tokyo Film Festival, He Dacao owes it not only to the director Lv Le, but also to a group of unprofessional actors in the film, especially Liu Xin, a Hunan girl who plays the heroine He Feng. He Dacao admired Liu Xin very much: "She is not as naive and romantic as a girl born in 1980s. She is a smart girl with stories and talents, which will surprise the audience. "

titbits

The film won the special prize of the jury at 19 Tokyo Film Festival. After winning the prize, director Lv Le said that children's world and adults' world are inseparable, but they are isolated from each other, which is the secret of their growth. The jury members of this film festival spoke highly of this China film which reflects the life of contemporary youth.

The original author He Dacao revealed that the film was originally submitted for review in the name of Dao Dao, but it failed to pass the review. Because the main characters in the film are dating under the paulownia tree, they are renamed thirteen paulownia trees.

Lv Le: Compared with the original edited version, the version I saw in the cinema has been adjusted by 16 places. I don't think the later adjustments were made to make the film more suitable for the public to watch. The adjustment includes: domestic violence. In the 1970s and 1980s, domestic violence was straightforward. Parents punched their children in the mouth, and felt it was too serious when they checked, so they couldn't delete it. The other is the sexual orientation and sexual relationship between teachers and students in the school, with the largest adjustment. In fact, many girls have encountered hints from male teachers at school, either strong or hidden, holding hands, hugging the waist, or more intimate, have been removed; Another is the content of social violence.

Sleeping in class, passing notes, making trouble with teachers, loitering on the road after school but not wanting to go home, hooking up with male classmates and hating exams … If you didn't have these when you were young, then I must say that you must have a personality defect now. Everyone's memories of youth is inextricably linked with the school, and some people even carry scars from the school. Lv Le's Thirteen Paulownia tells such a story. In very simple and plain language, the film unfolds a certain youthful memory of a girl to the audience. The narrative style at the beginning of the film is similar to Wang Quanan's "The Wedding of tuya", in which a suspense conflict is thrown as a foreshadowing, and then the plot development is detailed. Unfortunately, there are too many films in this mode, which is nothing new for a critical audience like me.

Everyone in the circle likes to call Uncle Lu, because he is a famously nice guy. I remember the last time Lv Le was interviewed by a magazine, we were sitting in a cafe in Beijing Women's Street. The sun was particularly warm that afternoon, and he sat opposite me facing the sun. It's the same orange down jacket that has been worn for many years, driving the most common Beijing jeep. People in the circle say that after all these years of filming, Lu Le still doesn't belong to the rich class. I think from the above two details, those rumors should not fall into the void. As soon as Lu Yue sat down, he began to talk to us about the system. When you talk to him, he will listen to you intently like a child, and then he will hesitate for four or five seconds before answering your question. During the whole interview, our conversation was particularly high. You can hear me and two editors laughing from time to time. When we arrive, Lv Le must pay for us ... I heard that he is one of the best photographers in China and one of the kindest and easiest people in the circle to get along with. At the same time, he is also one of the film directors who are most influenced by personal feelings.

I have always had high expectations for Thirteen Paulownia. Unfortunately, I should have read the original novel Knife by He Dacao before going to the movies. I saw a comment written by someone saying that in the original work, the disabled image of an Arab soldier represented perfection in He Feng's mind, which always defended and guided her growth. This abstract image is very natural in the text. However, in the film, a youth story full of realistic style, an Arab riding a camel suddenly intrudes, which will bring a stiff and absurd feeling. In the text, Macmurd is a brave warrior and a beautiful incarnation, but when it is reflected in the image, everything changes its flavor. Also giving people this feeling is the drama "Why Dad bought a skirt in the wind", which seems to ruin the whole movie.

I have always felt that China's contemporary literary works lack an elegant humor. The so-called elegant humor, in my opinion, is like Marquez's magical realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Yu Hua has always worshipped Ma Lao. Li Guangtou appeared in his novels from time to time and went to the toilet to see a woman's ass. As a result, he finished writing and left, becoming a pile of rubbish that amused himself. I guess, if Thirteen Paulownia can handle the fantasy of the little girl He Feng about Arab warriors well, it will definitely lead to another China version of Pan Shen's Labyrinth. The reason why I feel stiff may be related to the electronic censorship system and the investment cost of movies, and I can't blame the director entirely.

Thirteen paulownia trees will once again let you stand in the perspective of sympathizers and look at the children who are experiencing youth experience. Through various realistic descriptions, the film resonates with those of us who have experienced it: teachers and classmates, schools and society … everything remains the same, but the oppression on children has not changed at all. Those teachers are still hypocritical. They often use the turning point of their lives to describe the importance of the college entrance examination, while the school is still waving a butcher knife and robbing them of their trust and sense of security in society by means of punishment such as "expulsion" and "detention for observation". The look in the eyes of the boy you like, the teacher's comments, and the small report of your deskmate friends ... may all hurt you. That girl named Huang Zhenzhen is right. She said that youth is like a sugar cube-sweet, crisp and angular.

I don't know if it would be unkind to compare sunny days with thirteen paulownia trees here. But frankly, I personally prefer Jiang Wen's film language, which is straightforward and powerful. The youth reflected by Yang Can is brilliant. In the memory of his and Wang Shuo's generation, youth is full of possibilities. Even in the darkest times, reality can be melted by hopes and fantasies.

If only youth were like this. . . . . .