Zhang Yimou didn't like it, and neither did Mo Yan. Why did Gong Li exclude Shi Ke from starring in "Red Sorghum"?

In 1987, Zhang Yimou spent 800 yuan to obtain the copyright of "Red Sorghum" from Mo Yan.

After the story was sold, Mo Yan wanted to step aside and let Zhang Yimou do the filming.

It’s Zhang Yimou’s glory if he takes a good shot, but it doesn’t ruin his own brand if he fails to take a good shot.

However, Zhang Yimou said that "Red Sorghum" involves many folk customs as an excuse to "rush the duck" to the shelves, and earnestly asked Mo Yan to be the screenwriter and check it for him.

Mo Yan had no choice but to agree, and together with Chen Jianyu and Zhu Wei, he changed the novel into a script.

After the script was finalized, Zhang Yimou hired Gu Changwei as the cinematographer and Yang Fengliang as the assistant director to pull up the team.

After the behind-the-scenes staff are gathered, the next step is to choose actors.

In the 1970s and 1980s, people’s aesthetics were very different from today. Men had to be broad and square to look majestic.

A woman is beautiful if she has thick eyebrows, big eyes, and round pearls.

"Red Sorghum" tells the story of "the folk customs of the yellow land" and "the love story of farmers".

The actors who play "my grandfather" and "my grandmother" must not only be good-looking, but also have to be enthusiastic and generous.

After much consideration, Zhang Yimou selected Liu Xiaoning and Shi Ke as the first choices for the male and female protagonists.

This "Red Sorghum" is Zhang Yimou's debut on the screen. At that time, he was just starting out and was not yet a great director who responded to everything. No one took him seriously.

Therefore, even though he received the invitation from Zhang Daonan, Liu Xiaoning did not pay much attention to it and instead took on another drama.

So my grandfather Yu Zhan'ao in "Red Sorghum" was replaced by Jiang Wen.

As for the female lead, Zhang Yimou spent a long time choosing and choosing, but he still felt that Shi Ke, who was a sophomore at the Chinese Theater Academy, was the most suitable.

Because Shi Ke is very close to the "big breasts and fat butt", "strong and aggressive" image in the original work.

For a time, everyone believed that Shi Ke was the female lead in "Red Sorghum".

At that time, there were "Five Golden Flowers" in the 85th China National Theater Academy, namely Shi Ke, Gong Li, Wu Yujuan, Jin Lili, and Chen Wei.

Among these "Five Golden Flowers", Shi Ke and Wu Yujuan are the most popular couple.

As soon as they entered school, they were selected by magazines and became calendar girls.

The now famous Gong Li is the most inconspicuous among the five people.

Her eyes were not big enough, her nose was not straight enough, and her face was flat and flat. At the time, it could only be said that she was "plain-looking".

When she was studying, she often envied the other four "Golden Flowers" who could go out to make money before graduating.

Gong Li is like a "thousand-mile horse" that is well hidden, and people simply don't pay attention to it.

When Zhang Yimou chose Jiuer for "Red Sorghum", he didn't consider her at all and didn't even look at her.

Although "Bole" doesn't always happen, Gong Li met one.

Before Shi Ke was selected, Li Tong, who was studying in the directing department of China National Theater, recommended Gong Li to the crew.

And I can say with certainty that she is definitely suitable for this role.

Seeing this, you may wonder how Li Tong, just a student, has the ability to influence Zhang Yimou's casting.

Indeed, Li Tong was not very powerful at the time, but her father Li Wenhua was a famous cinematographer in New China and a national first-class film director.

The films he directed, such as "Scout", "Prisoners", "Trail of Tears", and "The Red Detachment of Detachments of Women", can be said to be classics of a generation.

No matter when, Zhang Yimou must respect him as a senior.

With such a good father, Li Tong’s words naturally have weight.

Once recommended, Zhang Yimou and Yang Fengliang immediately invited Gong Li to audition.

Gong Li didn't pay much attention to this sudden invitation, so she came wearing loose clothes.

Zhang Yimou took a look and saw that this girl was thin, innocent, pretty, and smart. She could play a female student, but she didn't look like Jiu'er in "Red Sorghum".

But everyone was standing in front of him, and it was Li Tong who recommended him, so he couldn’t refute his reputation.

So, they began to arrange for staff to apply makeup and style on her.

As soon as I put it on, it really has some flavor.

Zhang Yimou took the makeup photos of Gong Li and Shi Ke and pondered for a long time, but he still couldn't make up his mind.

As for Gong Li, she doesn’t look like Jiuer, but she has a tenacity in her bones.

As for Shi Ke, he looked like "Jiu'er" at first glance, but he was quite satisfactory and lacked a bit of surprise.

Swaying back and forth, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li got closer and closer.

After further contact, Zhang Yimou discovered that Gong Li, a girl who looked innocent, was actually very wild.

That character is simply like Jiuer Benjiu.

Looks like a little white sheep, but is a wolf at heart.

In this aspect, Gong Li is very similar to Zhang Yimou.

On the surface, he is easy-going and unassuming, but on the inside he is extremely restless, and from time to time he will show an aggressive aura.

According to Chen Kaige’s description, his heart is as high as the sky.

Although Zhang Yimou secretly prefers the female student Gong Li, the heroine of his first work must not be ambiguous.

So, he asked the two actresses to film a sketch each.

After many comparisons, I finally felt that Gong Li was more suitable to play "my grandma", and she also matched up better with Jiang Wen.

Looking back at Shi Ke, he is a little bit "strong on the outside but hard on the inside". He looks tough, but in fact he is indifferent to the world.

Since the casting, she has not actively pursued this heroine.

Normally, I don’t know how to get close to condoms or perform well.

Therefore, she, the original first choice, was eliminated without realizing it.

Zhang Yimou did not do things in an honest way, but his words were very nice.

In order to save some face for each other, he tactfully wrote a rejection letter to Shi Ke, saying that the original male lead was Liu Xiaoning and she would match her well.

But the man had other drama appointments and could not act. The male lead was replaced by Jiang Wen, who did not match her, so the heroine chose someone else.

If there is an opportunity in the future, we will cooperate again.

After being ignored by Zhang Yimou for a long time, and being robbed by a female classmate who usually got the upper hand, Shi Ke felt unconvinced and tore the letter into pieces.

Fortunately, Shi Ke is a person with a big heart. Once the incident was over, she turned around and let it go.

Afterwards, she turned around and shot other works.

Although Gong Li snatched the heroine from Shi Ke, she was still under great pressure.

Before filming started, Zhang Yimou took his assistant director Yang Fengliang, photographer Gu Changwei, Grandpa Jiang Wen, Grandma Gong Li and others to the courtyard of the Gaomi County Guest House to meet with Mo Yan, the original author and screenwriter of the film. .

As soon as Mo Yan saw Gong Li, his fiery heart for the movie "Red Sorghum" instantly cooled down.

This girl is dressed in a nondescript manner and has a worried look on her face. She doesn’t look like my grandma, and she is pretty good at playing my granddaughter.

He seriously suspected that Zhang Yimou had made a mistake.

I am even worried that this drama will fall into the hands of Gong Li.

It wasn’t until the filming of the movie was finished and after watching the samples that Mo Yan’s anxious heart finally calmed down.

The "Jiuer" played by Gong Li creates a new visual image.

Although she is not the "my grandma" in Mo Yan's mind, she still brought to life the "my grandma" in "Red Sorghum".

Even though all participants are full of confidence in this film, it still has to be tested by the market.

Who would have thought that Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" would already be popular abroad before it was released.

The film that the Film Bureau sent to Berlin for competition that year was Chen Kaige's "The King of Children."

Hader, the festival’s selection chairman, also admired the film very much.

But Chen Kaige didn't like the "Golden Bear Award" and voluntarily gave up the competition and turned around and voted for Cannes.

As a result, the film bureau urgently requested help from film studios across the country and solicited entries.

It just so happened that Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" had just been completed.

When Yang Fengliang, a director at Xiying Film Studio, heard the news, he recommended this film without hesitation.

After some screening, Zhang Yimou’s debut film became the final winner, and a copy was sent to Berlin.

After watching the film, Hader liked it very much and said excitedly: "This is exactly what the Berlin Film Festival wants!"

As a result, "Red Sorghum" became a sensation in Berlin and won the Golden Bear Award in one fell swoop, becoming the first Asian film to win this award.

The King of Children sent to Cannes by Chen Kaige only received a Palme d'Or nomination.

My first film won such a big award.

Zhang Yimou was so excited that he stayed up all night.

He feels that the Berlin Film Festival's "Little Golden Bear" is not an affirmation of him alone.

But the entire Chinese film industry is following suit with pride.

In fact, it is Zhang Yimou and Gong Li who are really proud.

With the blessing of the grand prize, "Red Sorghum" became popular before it was broadcast, and it was hard to get a ticket.

The ticket price, which was originally a few cents, has been increased to 5-10 yuan.

Zhang Yimou and Gong Li, two newbies in the film industry, became a blockbuster and became popular all over the country.

After that, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li became a "golden partner" in the Chinese film industry.

It has successively presented films such as "Ju Dou", "Raise the Red Lantern", "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" and "Alive" to the audience.

Along with Gong Li and Zhang Yimou's film and television career, in addition to glory, there is also the bloody love between the two.

When filming "Red Sorghum", the two people went back and forth, just like "Yu Zhan'ao" and "Jiu'er" in the movie, exposing their "primitive wildness".

Although one of them has a family and the other has a boyfriend, they can't suppress their inner restlessness at all.

Later, one of them abandoned his wife and daughter, the other abandoned his boyfriend, and fell in love together as they pleased.

It’s a pity that Zhang Yimou only loves and does not marry. The two have been together for 8 years. Gong Li proposed marriage countless times, but Zhang Yimou always stalled and refused to nod.

In 1995, Gong Li couldn't wait any longer.

While filming the movie "Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge", her second brother approached Zhang Yimou and solemnly talked about their marriage.

But Zhang Yimou looked indifferent and said that he had never considered marriage at all, and said:

Isn’t marriage just a piece of paper? Why do you have to value this piece of paper?

At this point, Gong Li's heart was completely cold.

After filming the last scene of the movie, the two officially announced their breakup.

Shortly afterwards, Gong Li turned around and married Huang Hexiang, the president of the Asia-Pacific region of a multinational company.

It was not until 10 years after their breakup that Zhang Yimou and Gong Li joined hands again and collaborated on the movie "The City of Gold".

Twenty years after their breakup, they collaborated on the movie "Return".

After the passage of time, Gong Li’s eyes when looking at Zhang Yimou are still full of content.

It’s a pity that they are each other’s passers-by after all.

For Gong Li, Zhang Yimou was the person she loved in her best years. She wholeheartedly wanted to be with him in this mortal world and never leave him.

I have been lovely for eight years, but I couldn’t get a marriage certificate.

For Zhang Yimou, Gong Li is just another scene in his advancement in life.

Although he was nostalgic, he didn’t want to stay, so he never made a lifelong promise.

As a result, this man who had always refused to give Gong Li his status married a lovely wife who was 31 years younger than him and gave birth to three children.

Gong Li’s marriage broke up three years after she married Huang Hexiang. Many years later, she married a French electronic musician who was 17 years older than her.

Sometimes, fate is like this. The person you love regardless of everything is often not the one who will accompany you to the end.

Because time will eventually make people understand that love is never a momentary impulse, but a steady stream that lasts over time.