This article is revised according to an interview with Ying Da, the director of I Love My Family, and the material is provided by Xinxing Publishing House.
Director Ying Da and screenwriter Liang Zuo (right)
There are many political jokes in I Love My Family. Why can it pass the censorship?
At that time, it was difficult to pass the censorship, which was similar to that now, but the consultant of our play was Wang Guangying (vice chairman of the Sixth and Seventh National Committees). In 1993, he was elected as the vice chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC)), the leader of the Party and the state.
It’s not generally getting support, (this) was taken by his company. The closing subtitles of I Love My Family show China International Culture and Art Center and Changchun Hengda Enterprise Development Co., Ltd., and Wang Guangying is the chairman of China International Culture and Art Center. He also came to the scene when we were filming, and he also came to turn it off, so he may pay a little attention to the censorship. I believe he didn’t use his position to say anything, but people will give a green light when they see him.
(Seeing the jokes made by Lao Fu) Wang Guangying thought it was funny. He said, What’s wrong with it? So in fact, the really big leaders are very open-minded and have a global concept. If we don’t have a lot of superstitions in the film and television industry, two factors are too beneficial to my success, one is called "Guangying" and the other is called "Hengda". Think about it, isn’t it providence? It must be successful.
How to invite those guest stars?
The guest actors in an episode are called guest stars (guest stars), or in English, guest stars. We set a policy that all guest stars must be big names. President DEC, I also have this consideration when I play, because it is too difficult for us to find a wrist, especially if there are few such plays, you have to find a wrist, so I have to keep it for myself. The guest star’s plays are generally full, so since I’m here, I’ll use an episode.
Wei Liu
The first guest star we agreed on was Liu Wei, while Zhao Mingming was filming The Kyoto Chronicle. Zhao Mingming and Liu Wei were both in the crew of Kyoto Chronicle, and Zhao Mingming called Liu Wei. Liu Wei didn’t say anything. He was a very, very brave man, and I cooperated with Liu Wei many times later.
Wang Zhiwen, Jiang Shan.
And some people also want to try comedy, otherwise their comic talents may never be known. For example, Wang Zhiwen, Wang Zhiwen is one of the best comedians I have ever seen. His comic talent is not below that of any comedian, but no one thought that he would play this role (the mental patient in Friends of Life). You see, he performed a scene in I Love My Family, but how well he performed it!
At that time, it was because "Addiction" was very popular, so we said that these two people must come together. Wang Zhiwen agreed in advance that Jiang Shan had been waiting for his time, and we waited for a long time when he was free to come again. At that time, we said that the situation of actors in China was the "Big Six" (Jiang Wen, Ge You, Chen Daoming, ZhangFeng yi, Li Xuejian and Wang Zhiwen), and the crew invited four.
Jiang Wu, Xia Yu, Jiang Wen
At the end of Witness, Jiang Wen was not filmed in the shed of I Love My Family, but in the shooting scene of Sunny Days. It was my first time directing a play. At that time, there were too many things and I was in a hurry. I thought in advance that the ending of this episode must be such a bottom, which is also the plot in an American sitcom. This man is a housewife, an aunt, who saw things moving out across the hall. When she asked about it in the past, people said it was from a moving company. At night, the police came and said that things across the hall had been stolen. Ask her if you saw it. The women said they saw it, not only did they see it, but I also bought a porcelain dog from them. At the end of the story, the police asked her to tell her what the man looked like. She said that he looked particularly like Bob Hope (bob hope, an American comedian). As a result, he was the last to appear in this episode.
When shooting, we felt that we had to talk about one person at the end, so who? At that time, "Beijingers in new york" was playing, which was very popular. I said that it would be Jiang Wen. It was Liu Bin who played the police. He played many policemen at that time, and he was a "professional policeman", such as Jiang Wen’s Animal Year. Jiang Wen and I know each other very well. He is my classmate in middle school and Liu Bin’s college classmate. We are always playing together. Liu Bin asked what to do if he couldn’t shoot or didn’t want to do it. I said he dared, and he could change his lines if he really couldn’t. Finally, Jia Zhiguo spoke Wang Qiming (the name of Jiang Wen’s role in Peking Man in new york).
I then called Jiang Wen and said that we had said it was you, so you had to come. He said yes, but he was filming in other places and was busy editing later, so I forgot about it. Later, Jiang Wen always called me and said whether you would shoot or not. Finally, he said that my crew had two days left in Beijing, and I said that I would shoot tonight. The machine in the shed can’t be used for outdoor shooting. I have to rent the machine again.
Jiang Wen is very serious. I really didn’t expect it. (The people standing with him in the play were all found by Jiang Wen). I originally thought that we would just stand there and shoot him last. There are Liezi and Er Yong in front of them, both of whom are figures. Er Yong is the son of Zhang Yongshou (actor and director), who was the production director of Jiang Wen at that time. Jiang Wen called Jiang Wu and Xia Yu, who was still a child and had no place to stay in Beijing, and followed him every day. Now, this "child" is married.
Cai Ming
Originally, I wanted to ask Cai Ming to play it directly, but I can’t say it directly. At that time, Song Dandan and Cai Ming were equivalent to two comedies "Big Sisters". Although they had never made such a comparison, the people thought so, and they had never cooperated before. I came forward to ask her to play a supporting role for Song Dandan, which is tantamount to degrading others, so I don’t think she is necessarily willing to participate. But Cai Ming is really getting worse. Let’s invite her to the scene first. After reading it, she said, needless to say, I want to act. Later, I directed a play specially for Cai Ming, which led to the later "Sister Ma" series. Yang Qing was also introduced from me, so I have a relationship with a female comedian.
Ge You
In 1988, Ge You, Liang Tian, Zhang Guoli and others first made The Stubborn, which was a work by Wang Shuo. At that time, I found that Ge You was an excellent actor. The following year, due to a very good chance, Ge You and I made a film "Yellow River Ballad". I was the deputy director, and he played a supporting role, a villain and a bandit. We shared a room, so I was very thin at that time, because I didn’t snore when I lived with him, a man who loves insomnia. Ge You could get up in the middle of the night and turn off the hose in the water room, but he didn’t say I snored. We became very good friends and always had two sips of wine together. I always drink from Ge Youjiao, because I thought drinking Erguotou was for old people. Why do young people drink it? Ge you always said you had to have some, some. He had few scenes in that play. We filmed in northern Shaanxi and Ningxia, and there was nothing around. There was only one court around the small county. Ge You really had nothing to do and ran to the court to listen to the trial. When he came back, he told me that I heard an interesting case today. I said, what are you doing listening to this? Anyway, we became good friends and drank together every night. When he came back from filming, he took pig ears and dried tofu with scallion. He cut it himself, mixed it with soy sauce and vinegar, and waited for me to come back and drink it together at night. Hey, what did I say about this? Anyway, I think Ge You is a very good actor. Wang Shuo said that’s good. Let’s make a play for him.
By 1990, I recommended Ge You to play in Besieged City. Director Huang Shuqin always wanted to play Li Meiting with someone who just won the Golden Rooster Award, but he couldn’t wait. Finally, I told the director that I had a friend named Ge You who could play Li Meiting. Huang Shuqin agreed, Ge You gave a performance, and Huang Shuqin commented that it was great. The story of the editorial department was filmed next year.
Why is Leslie Cheung absent?
When filming Farewell My Concubine, we agreed that he (Leslie Cheung) would come to take part in the film, and I called him again in the middle. He said that there was no problem. On what date would he be in Beijing, and we specially moved this episode to those days. But I couldn’t get in touch with Leslie Cheung by phone when shooting. At that time, we said we should forget it, because we had a backup plan, that is, he didn’t come himself, and the plot was also established. The backup tape has also been recorded according to this.
Then in the evening, Song Dandan went to … I don’t know why I went to Shijiazhuang to shoot an advertisement, maybe it was a acupuncture point. I don’t remember it clearly now. Anyway, she said that if Leslie Cheung didn’t come, she would go, and it would cost a lot of money anyway. And that’s equivalent to making money for our family. As soon as I saw it, I couldn’t wait for Leslie Cheung, so I let her go. And at that time, I also thought of a remedy, that is, even if she went out for a day, she would come back. In case Leslie Cheung could come again, for example, it was Saturday, and she left on Saturday night, so it was really impossible to shoot on Sunday.
She left that night, and there was no one in our family. Leslie Cheung said in advance that he would take part in the singer competition of the "King’s Financial Cup" when he came to Beijing. He was the judge and the venue of the competition was in Poly Building. There was nothing else, so I went to Poly that evening. I checked to see if Leslie Cheung was there, and I found that he was there, besides him, there were many people such as Aaron Kwok. Leslie Cheung was sitting in the judge’s box commenting, so I went over and patted him on the shoulder. He asked, why are you here? I said, we agreed to shoot tomorrow. Can you shoot tomorrow? He said no problem. I thought that Song Dandan couldn’t make it back the next day, so I asked if it was ok the day after tomorrow. He said it wouldn’t work, and I had to leave tomorrow night. Opportunity, so missed. That night, he dragged me to sit on the bench for a long time, pretending to be a judge.
Leslie Cheung also mentioned it at that time. What do you think? I’ll just take a photo. I don’t think so, because all the people who shot this scene must be on the scene. We are not short of audiences. The story that peace is not on the scene simply doesn’t make sense, so we have no choice but to adopt an alternative.
I remember very clearly that in the "King’s Financial Cup", a little female singer won the championship, and several other singers looked very good to me. Later, I decided to invite this champion (Dai Rao) to sing the ending song of "I Love My Family". It was the first theme song of TV series sung by Dai Rao. Later, I got to know Liang Tian and others, and later I acted in a play.
At that time, the title of the "King’s Financial Cup" competition was very loud and was publicized everywhere. There are other particularly strange factors, such as how can I get in when I suddenly go to the competition site? Because it happened that Song Dandan’s sister was a manager in poly theatre, I was free to go in and out of Poly. Now everyone knows the emperor, but I haven’t heard the name before. At that time, it was selling watches, which I found particularly strange. This is the only company I have ever seen that put my last name with "Huang" …
Front row: Pu Cunxin, Cai Ming; Back row: Liang Tian, He Bing
Why don’t so many viewers particularly recognize Meng Zhaoyang?
It turns out that many of these plays are simply Liang Tian’s, and Liang Tian has to go. What should I do with so many plays? I have to put them on this character. This thing of comedy performance is simply unclear, which is particularly strange. In fact, it turned out that people said they couldn’t do it, and I dragged them here. At the beginning of this role, we thought … Liang Tian was ugly, wasn’t he? We’re looking for a handsome guy, but at the same time a little rascal …
We’re looking for Xu Yajun, and Xu Yajun is going to play a wonderful role. He can play the hooligan’s strength. He played The World Found Back. He was originally recommended by Song Dandan, and Xu Yajun and I are also very good friends. We always play mahjong with them.
And if he plays, even if the role is particularly irritating, the audience is willing to forgive him, because he is handsome, handsome boy. As a result, someone in Xu Yajun’s family got sick. Just a few days before the start of shooting, he began to recite words with the script. To be honest, he couldn’t shoot it. At that time, the contract had been signed.
At that time, we thought about others. There was a man named Zhong Hao who starred in "The Story of Shrimp Ball" and felt sorry for him. Later, he was asked to play a role in "Start Parking". Many people were invited to audition. First of all, they couldn’t pass Liang Huan, because as long as it was Meng Zhaoyang’s plays, most of them were written by Liang Huan. She just shot herself. The original plays were all written for her brother Liang Tian. Now, if someone else comes, she says I have to see if the young man is handsome. She is naive, so she thinks one is beautiful, this one is not good, that one is not good, so marrying me in the end is also a punishment for her.
Zhang Yongqiang (as Meng Zhaoyang) has always been my dad’s pet. My dad dotes on him in the boy and Song Dandan in the girl. They both starred in one of my dad’s plays called "God’s Beloved", so people in the theater (Peking People’s Art) said that Ying Ruocheng was God, and these two were darlings. My father said that you should choose him, and I will also play for you in the last 80 episodes.
In fact, many people are like that. I followed my dad’s advice. For example, Wen Xingyu, I originally chose Zhu Xu, and Zhu Xu did have "Heart Fragrance" later, so I started to choose others. My dad later mentioned, aren’t you familiar with Wen Xingyu? I said he wasn’t an actor, and he said he did some plays without an actor, which was not bad. And when Wen Xingyu was idle at home, I was ordered to look for him. Of course, I also had some relations with him, but I didn’t know him completely. Wen Xingyu was a young cadre (51 years old) at that time, and the young cadre played the old man directly when he arrived at the crew.
Han Ying plays the mother of peace.
Young Guo Tao.
Ying Da’s father, Ying Ruocheng, made a guest appearance in Laohu.
Song Chunli also made a guest appearance in I Love My Family.
How did the audience laugh in the play?
A good audience has several characteristics. First of all, the culture is high. One of our particularly good audiences came from Peking University, and many of the little baggage in it could be understood, so later we formed a consensus that a sense of humor is directly proportional to the level of education or people’s intelligence.
Secondly, it is better to have more girls. Girls love to laugh, while boys, especially older men, don’t. In fact, he felt ridiculous in his heart, but he only laughed in his heart, and he had to be stretched on the surface and carry a shelf. Later, when I discussed the nature of comedy with many people, I said that it was difficult to answer whether men or women had a better sense of humor. If we want to create burdens, write comedies or even perform comedies, men are definitely better than women, and excellent female comedians are rare. But if you want to make fun of it, you can understand your comedy and laugh. Women are much better than men. As soon as we (including the actors) saw that all the people present today were male audiences, we felt that it was over, all of them were older men. When I see all the girls, I say, here we are.
"The crew came to my house", that is, the episode of "Cats Ignore Butterflies", started shooting on April 27, and there were no students in the Broadcasting Institute during the summer vacation, which was very deadly. At that time, the Beijing Evening News helped us find audiences, including those from dingfuzhuang Middle School and Coal Cadre Management College, including primary school students, and several scenes were attended by primary school students. Pupils have nothing else, and they are really very happy when they are happy. However, due to the limited educational level, he can’t understand it, but his enthusiasm is really enthusiastic. He is happy when the actors are strange, but he doesn’t understand what he should be happy about, and we are also anxious.
There are at least hundreds of kinds of laughter. When we make canned laughter, we try these real laughter again and again, and we can’t change this paragraph. In other words, the director should know what kind of laughter a burden should produce. Shang Jing used my laughter from his "Xiangyang Photo Studio" to "The Story of the Cooking Squad" to "The Legend of Wulin". All of Lin Cong’s "Family with Children" are also laughter borrowed from me.
