Saturday Fiction, a film directed by Lou Ye and starring Zhang Songwen and Mark Chao, will be screened as the closing film of the 11th BJIFF, and made its debut at the festival. The film is also scheduled to meet the audience at cinemas on October 15.

 

Gong Li has been in the film industry for more than 30 years, which happened to be a period in which Chinese-language films have risen and made great strides in the world film scene. From Red Sorghum in early days to recently screened Leap, Gong demonstrates her persistence in acting with practical actions: "Actors who continue to break new ground, innovate, and work hard will be respected by audiences all over the world." With a love for performance, she deliberately makes alive every character. On the journey from China to the world, Gong wins over her audience from the four corners of the earth with characters and earns praise from the world with outstanding acting.

 

 

With three actors being present at the site, acting skill was naturally a topic that could not be avoided.

 

Gong Li said: “I think the words ‘acting skill’ are not appropriate. In fact, actors do not need any skill, because if you perform a character with a skill, you will become very stiff. Skills are not required, and the only thing you should do is to interpret the character wholeheartedly.” Taking Lou Ye’s film Saturday Fiction for example, Gong further explained this topic. “Director Lou told me to practice the disassembly of a gun, and I said OK and began to practice, no matter it is important or not. The gun was real and already rusted. After it was torn down, it could not be assembled as the spring did not work well. I broke the skin on my hands, but I kept practicing. However in the film, the gun disassembly scene was deleted. I understand it very much, because this skill must be grasped and must be with you always.” Gong Li said the most important thing is to integrate her body with this skill. When skills have naturally become part of the body language, there is no such thing as acting skill.

 

Mark Chao couldn’t agree more, saying: “We are pursuing the same thing, which is the most fundamental and essential human emotion.”

 

Zhang Songwen, who once taught performance classes at school, noted: “We sometimes said that an actor is good at acting, which I think is the praise for us from the audience.” To obtain acting skills, I think the first step is to master basic skills, including voice, speech, movement and acting. The second step is to get prepared before shooting. The third step is to experience and observe life. The fourth step is to show my understanding of a role after communicating with the director. 20 years ago, an old actor told me that life experiences are the key to an actor in the end. At that time, I did not like what I was told, and I thought he didn’t taught me anything. As time flies, today it is my turn to tell this sentence to other people.”

 

Lou Ye, who have once cooperated with the three actors, also shared his own opinions about what is good acting. “Different directors have different understandings of performance or criteria for evaluation, but for me good acting means forgetting acting skills.”

 

 

During the dialogue, the most interesting part was that three guests recalled how they entered the film industry, and became professional actors or directors. Lou Ye said: “At first I liked watching movies, and then accidentally made movies.” Mark Chao noted: “The answer of the director is exactly the same as what I thought in my mind.” Zhang Songwen simply told his experience in entering the film industry. “When I was 4 years old, when someone I knew engaged in film projection, I came into contact with movies, and began to think I would be a projector after growing up. When I was 24 years old, I had already worked for six or seven years. At that time, I just remembered that I wished to go to the Beijing Film Academy. Through careful consideration, I decided that making movies and being an actor would be the happiest thing in my life. Therefore, I took the entrance exam of Beijing Film Academy. When I graduated, I was almost 30 years old.”

　　 

Gong Li shared stories in her childhood. “When I was little, I had four brothers and sisters and I was the youngest. All of them were more than 10 years older than me, and nobody wished to play with me. I went to watch movies. Sometimes I did not have a ticket, so I drew one by myself. I knew what color it is next week, so I would draw a ticket to assume it is genuine. Later on, I took the entrance exam of the Central Academy of Drama, but I was really like a piece of white paper. I didn’t know what is acting, but only knew how to walk into a character with my true feelings.” During her sophomore year, she was rejected by TV series through trial acting, but soon received an offer from the crew of the film Red Sorghum directed by Zhang Yimou. Gong said she particularly hopes to share this experience with young people who are eager to enter this industry and become a professional actor. She added: “It does not matter that you are rejected during trial acting, and what really matters is to seize every moment and opportunity to improve your own basic skills.”

 

When asked about from which movie or character she has really walked into films, Gong answered that she was really aware of the mechanism of film shooting from The Story of Qiu-Ju. “That movie took a perspective of sneak shooting that presents a feeling of pseudo documentary. Actors only had one route, going from here to there, and had no idea about where the camera was. 80% of the film was completed like this, so you may perform any way you want. When you really entered that role, you could feel a high degree of freedom, as if you were acting on the stage. After the shooting of the film, I really had a different feeling about film images, and reached a different relationship with the camera.”

 

Zhang Songwen mentioned one of his experiences in the early years. He said that Gong Li has significantly influenced his acting career. In those days, he rented a room from actor Liu Peiqi, and accidentally found Liu's notes about shooting The Story of Qiu-Ju. Squatting down on the floor, he spent three hours reading them, and learned a lot. “At that time, Gong Li was already a senior actor with a high position. When I saw the notes, I knew she observed life to enter the character in that way, and I was deeply amazed and inspired.”

 

 

At the end of the masterclass, three actors also gave sincere suggestions about acting.

 

Gong Li said: “In this fast-paced age, as an actor, you should really have time to calm down and think about how much you love it if you want to do this job, and whether you can remain true to your original aspiration. Because this profession is very special, and there are so many temptations.”

 

Mark Chao stated: “Young people should go to watch movies, because I think they now have many choices. You can watch short videos at home, or go outdoors to play live action role-playing and room escape games, but watching movies is still a particularly good choice. It can improve your aesthetics very well, and refresh your understanding of the world. It is also a process of spiritual communication with yourself.”

 

Zhang Songwen added: “If you just begun to engage in the film industry, whether you are a professional or a non-professional, you might as well try to contact each department of the industry briefly and give yourself a period of time. After this time, you can look back to confirm whether you really like movies or not? What type of work in film shooting do you like?”