The movie "Chinese Ping Pong: The Jedi Counterattack" (later referred to as "Chinese Ping Pong") was **ficially released on the third day ** the new year, entering the ****** Festival stall where the battle was raging. However, on the fourth night ** the new year, it was suddenly announced that it would be changed to a small-scale release from the fifth day ** the new year, and then released on a large scale on February 17, and looked forward to the "Jedi Counterattack"… This kind ** operation should be the first time in the history ** the ****** Festival. The filmmaker apologized for this, especially to the directors Deng Chao and Yu Baimei. After all, it would be too abrupt to say goodbye to the audience after the hard-earned work had just met the audience. Fortunately, the reporter ** the ******* News had an in-depth interview with Deng Chao before the release. At this time, he already had the determination ** a film director to face all the
The moment he met Deng Chao, he was busy on the phone. The film "Chinese Ping Pong," which he co-directed with Yu Baimei and began planning five years ago, was about to be released to audiences across the country, and he was contacting those who wanted to see the premiere.
Many people asked Deng Chao, "The movie is about to be released, how are you feeling?" The high-frequency word in his answer was "nervous and apprehensive." He felt that this time, "the shooting was not bad." Because the players in the movie were not favored by the headwind, he hoped that the audience could go to the theater to get this power. His wife, Sun Li, understood him best. At the premiere, Sun Li told the audience, "He is standing here, and he is less confident than ever. He really needs encouragement, and he really loves the movie. Anyone who says he is not good, he will not give up, and there is a feeling of a little strong who cannot be beaten to death."
The Beijing News reporter had interviewed Deng Chao many times, but this time was the most special. In front of him, he was calm and self-contained, soberly examining his state, reviewing the past, and facing all different voices. At the end of the interview, the reporter asked him, "What is the lifestyle you desire the most?" He thought for half a second, "It’s now", "Now is my favorite lifestyle, especially this interview, it turns out that I don’t seem to have talked like this. When I had cognitive dissonance in the past, I would learn to avoid it. For example, when the interview talked about controversial issues, I would wonder if they had any hostility and would activate a self-protection mechanism. Even at home, I often reported good news but not bad news. For example, my wife, she has been very tolerant of me for so many years and will not touch my pain points, but I did not do well. Over the years, I have not let my doubts pass, and I am still very concerned. The process of preparing for this movie has made me completely understand that when others are not optimistic about you, you have to admit your shortcomings and do a good job of them. Just like in the movie, tactics can’t be practiced, balls can’t be practiced, physical fitness can’t be practiced… "
Mr. Deng added, "Now I’m very comfortable, very, very comfortable, and can face myself squarely. In this conversation, movies and reality are magically combined, and I will forget about losing and winning and enjoy."
The pain from negative reviews has always been in my heart
How to describe the meaning of the movie "Chinese Ping Pong" is difficult for Deng Chao to say clearly. The film is full of difficulties and challenges from preparation to completion to release. In the past, there were not many domestic sports-themed movies, and there were very few table tennis-themed movies in the world. The whole team could only cross the river by feeling the stones: collecting millions of words, interviewing several industry insiders, collecting countless materials, watching documentaries to build scripts, pulling a group of "Ping Pong Xiaobai" actors to learn from scratch, working hard, traveling around and studying new shooting methods… In the blink of an eye, it has been five years. Yu Baimei said that this is the most difficult time since he made a movie. For Deng Chao, the same is true. In addition to the practical problems encountered during filming, what resonates with him more is the true echo inside and outside the play.
"When you are young and frivolous, or when you have insufficient cognition, it is difficult for you to truly integrate this job with your own destiny and life feelings. The entire process of’Chinese Ping Pong ‘, from preparation to release, is more in line with the experiences of the characters in the play, and it is also very in line with the mental journey of Yu Baimei and me. We have experienced failures on the director’s road, been questioned, criticized by the audience, and ridiculed by the group. They say,’ What kind of combination are you? ‘They will ask,’ What kind of handle did Yu Baimei take on me? ‘and’Did you save my life?’ The pain of criticism has always been in my heart." Deng Chao in front of him is extremely calm and sincere, and now he is very clear about his situation on the director’s road.
As an actor, Deng Chao is fearless. He has several masterpieces, including the TV series "Young Son of Heaven" that became famous at a young age, and the movie "Li Mi’s Conjecture" that has been discussed by fans. The movie "Burning Sun" that won him the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor, and the movie "Shadow" starring Zhang Yimou. On this resume, Deng Chao is shining. But on the road to directing, he has been very difficult. In 2014 and 2015, "The Breakup Master" and "The Villain Angel" two comedy movies with "the same system and style" were released seamlessly, harvesting 660 million and 649 million box office returns, but the reputation was not satisfactory. Audiences questioned whether "director Deng Chao can bring a good movie". "I often chat with Bai Mei, and he says, ‘The elephant is in the living room, can you turn a blind eye?’ I can indeed subtly avoid negative reviews that I don’t want to hear, but unavoidably, you will always remember. Because it only takes 0 seconds for your brain to reach that (negative reviews), and it is also 0 seconds to get rid of them. But the pain is still there, and I have not found the’medicine ‘and have not solved this problem."
"Self-confession" takes time
Deng Chao said that the movie "Chinese Table Tennis" is a movie he really wants to make. Most people mention the national ball table tennis, always think that this is a sport that "wins hemp", and there is still a low period for such a team? "Chinese Table Tennis" takes a different approach and is based on the story of the low period of the national table tennis men’s team in the early 1990s. In the face of internal and external doubts, the head coach and the coaching staff adhered to drastic reforms, and the underappreciated "men’s table tennis new five tigers" played their respective advantages, and finally staged a wonderful Jedi counterattack in the 1995 World Table Tennis Championships and regained the championship.
Movies are not about how people succeed, but how people should face failure: "Bai Mei and I once made a very failed movie, which can be said to be our biggest failure. For many days, we were very anxious and couldn’t sleep. We often have a face that is as gray as death, and this is how we feel. The national table tennis players in the movie are also not favored when they are in a low ebb. They decide that if they don’t play well, they will practice their playing skills; if the glue of the racket is not good, they will make glue; if the tactics are not good, they will practice tactics. People must face up to their own problems. What are the shortcomings? Only this kind of face-to-face can let us come out. The plot in the play is too similar to our real experience. When I see it, I really want to shoot it."
It is not easy to face past shortcomings and failures calmly. Looking back on those years, Deng Chao, who became a household name for his "running man", was a little blindly confident. He believed that he had understood the secrets of comedy and would be surprised by the unsatisfactory reputation of movies. At that time, he only had the strength to rush forward and could not accept failure as bravely as he is now. Talking about this, he smiled lightly and said that his "self-confession" was also phased, and it took time to experience: "In the past, I would also choose a good voice, shut off criticism, and help myself find some reasons to resolve unsatisfactory or unwanted things. I also have moments of blind self-confidence, when the height I want to achieve is not reached, I will be used to imagining, rather than objectively analyzing what I have achieved, what I have not achieved, and what I have gained from it. I have a lot of similar disorientation, but I can’t see it. Just like when everyone praises you, you enjoy it, play a little smart and not be noticed by others, and you are proud and secretly having fun. These are my shortcomings and problems. "
The moment you face up to the problem, you will find the "medicine"
This stage was interpreted by Deng Chao as "self-awareness dissonance". During the days of filming "Chinese Ping Pong", thinking of this group of underappreciated people facing all controversies with faith, he found that failure needs to be faced calmly. When you face the problem squarely, you will find "medicine".
"Bai Mei wrote a lot of lines in the movie that are in the same mood as me. For example, the coach played by Wu Jing came to me and said, ‘I heard that you are ready to give up.’ You are not afraid of death, you are afraid of a ball. ‘I said,’ Then I can’t win before I die? ‘He said,’ You can also close your eyes in a down-to-earth manner. ‘I think this is our life’s theme. We can’t hear this in good times. At that time, you didn’t encounter criticism, and you couldn’t see your shortcomings. But when you ask yourself, how good is your director? Do you really believe that you can continue? After you answer these questions, you can make up for whatever you are missing. When you make up for it, you will find that it is’medicine ‘, which starts to take effect piece by piece. There are times when people can’t carry it, but since we choose to believe, let’s do it step by step. "
When Deng Chao first showed Sun Li two clips from "Chinese Ping Pong", Sun Li felt that Deng Chao had changed. She was the person closest to Deng Chao and knew him best. She said that Deng Chao’s appearance of being carefree and fearless was often his packaging and shell. Friends who were familiar with him knew that Deng Chao was more anxious than her and thought a lot because he cared about other people’s emotions and opinions: "In the past two years, they have had a sense of frustration and faced with distrust. These voices have spurred them, which is actually a good thing. In the past, when they were young, they were a little proud and conceited. In recent years, they have really sunk down and thought about what they really want and how to put into action to achieve what they want to do. This is his change. Until now, it is the real base color of Deng Chao and Yu Baimei, and this time it really became. "Sun Li said.
Deng Chao confessed that his family was his greatest "Jedi counterattack" strength, and his family gave him more comfort than anything else, even making him feel that he had not done well enough: "Xiaohua handmade is very good, she often writes things, designs various organs to make small notes, and hides them in various places in the house. There is one by the bedside, one in the shoe cabinet, and each one says’Dedicated to everyone who is not optimistic ‘; our family has a small blackboard, and I will write some messages to them before each business trip. How many days of business trip, I will miss you, and every time I come back, I can see their messages to me on it. In the past few days, waiting has always led me to the blackboard. As a result, he wrote the word "Sa" (the son of the head coach played by Deng Chao in "Chinese Ping Pong" shouted to him); so did my wife. When she heard the news that the movie could be released, she gave me a hug and burst into tears, but I was like an outsider. At that moment, I taught myself a new lesson in the family unit. I felt that I was not doing well enough, because I have been showing them my cowardice and predicament, and they always have to appease me and give me strength. "At this point, Deng Chao’s eyes were full of guilt:" So I told Wait and Xiaohua that day, thank you very much for these days, these days you are more like my father and mother. "
What is Deng Chao’s dream of being a director?
In the eyes of the outside world, Deng Chao should be in a stage of no desire and no desire. Why is he so obsessed with being a director? The Beijing News reporter frankly asked Deng Chao the most essential question, what is Deng Chao’s dream of directing?
The following is Deng Chao’s autobiography
In this world, we have really encountered too many moving stories. Art itself has fascinated me. I am a person with a strong curiosity. Movies, performances, comedies, reality shows, hosting, and singing, as long as they tell stories and express emotions with their voices, they are fully attractive to me. Any artistic creation we make is related to the world.
I confess that every time I create a work of art, I am skating on thin ice. For better or worse, I have been reborn. Like a huge high-speed rail station, there are many trains in the station, many tracks, these tracks and trains are like each of our lives, we are all on our own train. The end of this train is death, which is an irreversible arrangement of life, but along the way you need energy to drive through each stop, you don’t know what the next stop is, you will face life and death, and you can’t see where to go. Most people, including me, can be very confused at times, but at this time you see your partner, your audience who likes you, and countless strangers who have never met.
Last year’s Spring Festival Gala, after I performed "A Sense of the Times", someone grabbed me at the door of CCTV. He said, "Deng Chao, my son especially likes to watch your (director and star) " Galaxy Tutoring School ". We were all very anxious during his senior high school entrance examination. At that time, our father and son had a very bad relationship. Because of this movie, he understood some things and gained energy, so you must have a video call with my son." This had to be done, and then he made a video with his child. At that time, the signal was very bad, and it was stuck and mushy. But later I found out that the other party was not stuck, but stopped there and was stunned. When he recognized me, he called out "Brother Chao". That expression made me realize that movies can really influence people, and I really feel that the power of movies is like this. For example, I often meet some very young audiences, who tell me "Brother Chao, I have been watching your variety shows since I was a child". Later, I calculated that it has been almost ten years since the first season of "Run, Brother". These children have graduated from primary school and are about to go to college now, which made me realize that I still have the opportunity to communicate with everyone like this. How lucky is this! And what I do, what I do, is I take the occasional train ride, or I make a track, I make a train, I make a movie, and that’s like giving people a space to ride, to share. And when I think about those moments, I make up my mind to do whatever it takes to keep going, and when I do, I don’t give up, and it doesn’t matter if I fail.
As a director, I really want to do it well. Of course, at this stage, I am even more skating on thin ice, and I also feel that I have not done enough. I keep telling myself "you have to be calm, don’t be impulsive, face up to your shortcomings, don’t have cognitive dissonance, and work hard in a down-to-earth manner." My dream as a director is the last sentence in "Chinese Ping Pong", "You may not win until the day you die, but you must also close your eyes in a down-to-earth manner." (Writing/Beijing News reporter, Zhou Hui Xiaowan)