Golden Goblet Awards entry ｜ Manchurian Tiger presents a chilling aesthetic feeling

In this year's Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), a total of 13 films were shortlisted for the Golden Goblet Awards, among which the new generation director Geng Jun's Manchurian Tiger attracted much attention. The film was shortlisted for the venture capital project of SIFF in 2017, and its competition for the Golden Goblet Awards is of great significance. On the afternoon of June 16, Manchurian Tiger met the audience for the first time, and director Geng Jun, together with leading creators Zhang Yu and Ma Li, appeared at the press conference. Manchurian Tiger told the contradiction between a manchurian tiger, a dog, a forklift driver, a middle school teacher, a poet, a debt collector and a pregnant woman. Director Geng Jun said, Manchurian Tiger is a story about revenge, and the whole film presents a chilling and moving aesthetic feeling.

Geng Jun's hometown is Hegang, Heilongjiang Province. Most of his films were shot in his hometown Hegang. The whole film of Manchurian Tiger was shot in Hegang in the cold winter. The reason why the film is named Manchurian Tiger is closely related to Geng Jun's hobby of going to the zoo. “I often go to the zoo. I like to observe animals. The animal I observe most is the manchurian tiger.” On one occasion, Geng Jun filmed the manchurian tiger for 40 minutes with a camera. “With zooming in of the camera, you can see the expression on the tiger's face. It is languid most of the time. When you look at its expression, you can think of what happens to people. It is docile and lazy ordinarily. Will it be fierce again in the forest?” According to Geng Jun, there were several scenes of the manchurian tiger in the film. It and the protagonist set off each other.

Manchurian Tiger gathered two actors of strength, Zhang Yu, the “God of literary film” and Ma Li, the “Queen of comedy”. Zhang Yu has been widely praised by the audience for his superb acting skills in films such as Dying to Survive and A Cool Fish, while Ma Li has played roles in comedies such as Goodbye Mr. Loser and Never Say Die. By joining Manchurian Tiger, Zhang Yu had a happy time in the cold Hegang for two months. As an actor born in Southwest China, Zhang Yu claimed that he was “more cold tolerant than local actors”. But severe cold was really a big problem. “I had a lot of scenes about riding motorcycles on ice and snow. Because I fell many times, I have psychological shadow now, and I dare not ride motorcycles anymore.”

Mali, who has always been a comedic figure, played a pregnant woman in the film. She was most attracted by the director when she joined Manchurian Tiger. “The audience knows me because of comedies, but I prefer to try different types of roles. The character types of a professional actor should not be fixed. I'm also an actor with a lot of possibilities.” In the film, Mali didn't have to think about making fun anymore, “I just needed to devote and be engaged. The director wrote a female character with power and wisdom.” Zhang Yu also praised that Mali could play a very serious role, “As soon as I met Mali, I felt that the old stereotype was too narrow. She is an open and good actress.”

Geng Jun described the performance of the two actors of “strength” in the film as “profound martial arts”, “Many arrangements were slowly presenting, and different surprises could appear at any time. I like to see the delicacies in Greater Khingan Range, especially the shining mushrooms. I think they all play themselves ‘delicacies’.” In particular, Mali mentioned a major scene that was filmed all night, “This scene shocked my heart very much. I found that there was another way to act. As the director said, everyone in the film was delicacy and treasure.”