"Please believe, a father’s love for his son." This is the theme that Deng Chao and Yu Baimei want to express in the third directorial work "Galaxy Tutoring School" jointly directed. This time, they removed the parody in the first two films, and added father-son love and the current popular aerospace elements to "Galaxy Tutoring School". The movie will be released on July 18. Judging from the current screening situation, Deng Chao’s progress in directing has been recognized. When talking about the movie, which premiered on the evening of the 14th, Deng Chao said that the father Ma Haowen played has a kind of magic power, which makes him extremely involved in acting, crying for 100 days, and "almost crying blind".
Inspiration comes from real life
A movie dedicated to "dads"
The story of "Galaxy Tutoring School" was inspired by the real life of Deng Chao and Yu Baimei, two fathers. The transformation from a man to a father’s identity, the company and education of children, let them have a lot of experience and thinking, and also poured their most sincere and delicate emotions. As Deng Chao said at the opening ceremony of the film: "This movie is only dedicated to our father and our children. I have wanted to be a father and son movie for a long time, and the experience of being a father has given me a lot of energy." He also said that he was not very good at buying gifts and caring for people before, and was often complained by people around him, but "after having children, this aspect seems to have been upgraded again, and it will still allow you to learn new things."
Deng Chao plays his father Ma Haowen in the film. This is the first time Deng Chao has challenged himself to play a father on the big screen. Previously, Deng Chao created a number of classic images, including the unruly playboy, the sinister schemer, the business elite and the humorous little guy. But this is the first time such a forbearing and affectionate father image has been portrayed.
The story is about love and growth
I cried for 100 days while filming
The story takes place in the 1980s and 1990s, and tells the story of a father and son who have gained love and growth over a long period of time. Deng Chao has been playing from youth to old age, and the age span is very large. Yu Baimei said that Deng Chao’s old makeup is like his father. "Deng Chao has been preparing for this role for 40 years. I have been a good friend of his for 20 years. I never thought it was Deng Chao on the set. As long as he wears old makeup, I can’t stand it."
Deng Chao admitted that the character Ma Hao’s text body has a kind of magic power. "Playing other characters is an experience, but Ma Haowen is different. His magic power is to say in front of me every day, ‘Chao, come with me’." Deng Chao said that since the beginning of writing the script, he and Yu Baimei have often cried. "When Yu Baimei showed me the script, I cried there after reading it at night. I called him the next day, I read the script to him in the tone of’Ma Haowen ‘, and the two of them cried on the phone again. If the movie was filmed for 120 days, then I cried for 100 days, because those 20 days were action scenes."
In Deng Chao’s view, Ma Haowen was no longer a fictional character, but a real father with a sense of life, "Ma Haowen is there, put on his clothes, and shout start, that’s right." Looking back at the monitor, Deng Chao burst into tears many times, "The tears I’m crying now are definitely not Deng Chao’s, but the father’s in the movie."
Yu Baimei also said that this play is easy to watch and cry audiences, and a big reason is related to Deng Chao’s performance.
A good father in life
Sacrifice bedtime with children
As a gift to his father, Deng Chao is full of affection for the film. He chose to start the first stop of the film roadshow in his hometown Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. Deng Chao also specially arrived in Nanchang in advance to accompany his father to drink in front of his father’s death on the morning of the roadshow. Deng Chao wrote on Weibo: "I have started the roadshow with the movie dedicated to him. The first stop is from my hometown Nanchang. I will also leave an empty seat in the audience for you. I hope you like it and love your father."
The release of Deng Chao’s new film, which was well-liked, was naturally attended by friends. Wu Jing, Zhu Yawen, Li Chen, and others all played CALL for it. At the film’s Shanghai premiere, Sun Li also made a special trip to ask for leave from the crew, bringing her son, etc. and daughter Xiaohua to participate together. The family of four made their first collective public appearance.
In the post-screening exchange, the two children gave flowers and sweet kisses to their father, shyly saying that the movie was "good". Sun Li commented that "the movie is really good". She praised Deng Chao, who was the father, for sometimes being very busy with work and sacrificing sleep time to play with the children. He even made a special trip to buy plane tickets to fly back and forth just to go home and have a meal together. Sometimes he fell asleep after eating because he was too tired.
Deng Chao also confessed his original intention of inviting his wife and children to watch the movie: "I always wanted to protect my children and give them a stable childhood, so I always hid. Today I have to let them know what my father does, I am proud of my work, work is for the family, and I hope to be recognized by my family." At the Beijing premiere, Deng Chao also invited his mother and sister to the scene.
No longer take the purely comedic route
The audience reaction was surprising
As for why the third director’s work is no longer as purely comedic as the first two, Deng Chao said that they are not deliberately "deep". "It’s like tailors making clothes and carpenters making cabinets. There will be different genres in different periods. If you always do the same thing, it will become an assembly line. It can be said that’The Master of Breaking Up ‘and’The Villain Angel’ are our most important piers. Without them, there would be no’Milky Way ‘."
Deng Chao admitted that during the roadshow, the audience’s reaction surprised him, "Some people said they had fought with their father; some people said they were going to call their father and say I love you; there was also a boarding school director who said she was the director in the film…" Deng Chao lamented that after watching the film, many viewers felt like they had opened the door to express their family problems and education problems.
The 147-minute film is also where Deng Chao and Yu Baimei were torn. Deng Chao said: "The publicity team said that cutting another 20 minutes will help the box office and so on. We communicated with the editor, who is also the editor of’Wrestling Dad ‘. He said he could cut another 20 minutes, but asked us’Do you want more films at the box office? Or keep the expression?’ What else can we say, just 147 minutes."
Text/Our reporter, Xiao Yang, coordinator/Man Yi