Golden Goblet Awards Entry | “The Chanting Willows”: “For Sake of Reality not Beauty”

This film is adapted from the novel "West Lake in Love" by Wang Xufeng, winner of Mao Dun Literary Award. The story takes place at the "Warblers in the Willow Waves", one of the ten sceneries of the West Lake, and tells the romantic entanglement between Chui Tao and Yin Xin, performers from a Shaoxing opera troupe and the painter Gong Yushan.

Although the subject seems quite poetic and pictorial, director Dai Wei said that she did not want to make this work into a landscape album of West Lake, but wanted to guide the audience to focus on the emotional expression of the characters. She revealed that at the beginning of the filming, the director of photography boldly proposed to adopt a 4:3 format, which means that a lot of picture information will be sacrificed. "I was hesitant at the time. We did so many beautiful costumes to match the beautiful scenery of West Lake, and it would be a pity if the frames had to be cut off. But when I changed my mind to ask myself what I wanted to express, I suddenly became clear that I am not pursuing beauty, what I want to pursue is real emotions, I want everyone to see the expressions and hearts of performers."

Actress Wang Yang plays the role of Chui Tao, the girl player in the troupe, she said, "I have waited for this role for ten years." As a native of Zhejiang, Wang Yang has been influenced by Shaoxing Opera since she was a child, and Chui's character is almost another herself. However, in the face of such a valuable opportunity, Wang Yang was a little bit nervous. In two months, she had to learn eleven classic Shaoxing Opera episodes. This is an almost impossible task, even the specially-invited Yue Opera teacher by the crew also shook his head, "This will take at least ten years of practices staring from early age."

When the director was about to find a substitute, Wang Yang decided to give it a try against all odds. "In the past two months, apart from sleeping, I spent all my time studying and practicing." Dai Wei added that at that time the crew also often reported to her, "Chui Tao did not eat today." Wang Yang said that it took two months for her to change this state of obsession after the film was finished, but she still didn't change the habit of "having a fan in her hands". At today's press conference, she also generously performed an excerpt from the Yue Opera "The Butterfly Lovers ", and she was full of confidence in her every gesture.

The other leading actress Kan Xin is a new performer. Regarding her first appearance on the big screen, director Dai Wei gave a very high praise: "She is a very explosive actress, and many emotional scenes are shoot without cuts. This is something I didn’t expect at all.” And Kan Xin said that unlike Wang Yang, the role of Yin Xin, the young woman player in the troupe, is quite different from herself. “My personality is weaker, and this character is very brave. Every time I have to accumulate a lot of energy to support it."

Actor Zheng Yunlong, who was unable to attend the press conference due to work reasons, also sent a WeChat message to the director before the premiere today to cheer for the crew. And Dai Wei also praised Zheng Yunlong’s dedication, “The character of Gong Yushan is a southerner and a painter. He needs to have some melancholic temperament, but Long is too tall and handsome. I just suggested he to restrain himself at the time. But when we met again, we got to know he lost 20 pounds for the role, and the whole person seemed to have changed."

Yue Opera is an important element throughout the film. The film presents not only eleven Yue Opera episodes, which takes up 20 minutes of screen time. For such an attempt, Dai Wei said that this was an "unintentional move". "In the beginning, the two heroines had a lot of inner monologues, but when we laid out these Yue Opera episodes, we suddenly realized that we don’t need a narration anymore. The deep meaning of the expression has been included in these episodes, and it is more contagious than the monologue we designed, so we finally decided to replace the narration with episodes to express the step-by-step development of the characters’ emotions."