The creator of The Movie Emperor walked into Lanyu living room to chat behind the scenes of the film.

Special feature of 1905 film network With the popularity of many Spring Festival movies, the total box office of cinema movies in 2024 exceeded 10 billion on February 16th. At the same time, the total box office (including pre-sales) during the Spring Festival exceeded 7.844 billion, surpassing the 2021 Spring Festival (7.843 billion), breaking the box office record of the Spring Festival in China Film History!

This issue of "Spring Festival movies are booming" Spring Festival special program, moviesThe Movie Emperor.directorNingHaoStarringAndy Lau、Daniel Yu、Kelly Lin、Dangerous smileBe a guest in Blue Feather Living Room. This is Ning Hao and Andy Lau since 2006.Crazy StoneAs an absurd comedy, the first cooperative work after becoming attached is full of jokes and satire.

Lan Yu: Everyone is looking forward to the first collaboration between director Ning Hao and Mr. Andy Lau in the film after so many years. Let’s talk about the origin of this, or it originated from the Asian new star directing program nearly 19 years ago. I heard that you had seen "Green Grass" directed by Ning Hao before, so you decided to support him.

Andy Lau: I hope one of those (movies) we do must be commercial. Because we all know that the new director will be artistic, if there is another film, then I will clearly tell him that we need something that can really reverberate in the market, and then this one appears. It was originally called Crazy Diamond, so I made Crazy Stone because I had no money.

Lan Yu: During these 19 years, did you say that you also want to ask Mr. Andy Lau to perform and string together?

Ning Hao: No Man’s Land, at that time, he was invited to star in it. It is also because of time that Brother Hua’s plan is so full. Because I am used to setting the time for the actors after writing the script, our rhythm is this kind of rhythm, which is relatively slow, but people have to arrange the work behind one year in advance.

Lan Yu: Is one year enough?

Andy Lau: Almost one year is enough. It’s my fault, too. I like No Man’s Land so much.

Lan Yu: So this time it is a tailor-made work.

Ning Hao: Yes, I communicated more than one year in advance. I haven’t finished writing the script yet. I said I only have one story. I want to tell you first, when will our approximate time happen? Now we understand this rhythm, and we also need to communicate in advance and arrange the later time for production in the mainland.

Lan Yu: Director Ning Hao has always treated Mr. Andy Lau with a grateful heart. During these 19 years, there was no such cooperation opportunity in the crew. Did you see any different or different Mr. Andy Lau in the crew this time?

Ning Hao: I thought he was a person who was very strict with himself. I had this impression, but it was beyond my imagination.

Once dubbing, there was a line, and I modified the word. The scene was Cantonese, so I wanted to change this paragraph into Mandarin, so I wrote a paragraph in Mandarin. After writing, I found that Mandarin was long, but the shot was short, maybe only four seconds, but it took six seconds to read that sentence. When it was matched, it was very fast, and after all, Brother Hua didn’t speak Mandarin since childhood.

He practiced in it, and it was a little longer, and it was a little longer. I read it myself, because I spoke Mandarin faster, and I said I couldn’t reach it either. I said it was too long. I’ll change a few words, the words are a little shorter, and maybe I can come down. I went to him and found that he was already angry with himself. After that, I said that Brother Hua can change a word. In this case, I tried and matched it. (He said) No, I think it’s better for you to write that before. He really deserves it.

Andy Lau: I’m afraid people will feel tired. I don’t need it, so I’ll lower my requirements. That’s what I’m afraid of. We used to do the same thing. They filmed it, but we couldn’t do it well. We hid and practiced every day. Everything can be achieved through exercise. But whether we can succeed in the end, I don’t think we can succeed with hard work, but there are still many different factors hidden.

Lan Yu: You have to work hard to succeed.

Ning Hao: That’s a necessary condition.

Lan Yu: This time, we also combed Mr. Andy Lau’s screen portraits, which are all kinds of characters created in more than 160 films since your debut 43 years ago.

Lan Yu: I just saw this screen portrait, and I also want to ask Director Ning Hao, is it because you created the role for Andy Lau in The Movie Emperor this time that it is different from all previous screen portraits?

Ning Hao: This is indeed a problem. I have a meeting with you to discuss. I said that there is something that Andy Lau hasn’t played. It seems that he has dabbled in all kinds of occupations and played many, many looks. But I really feel that if I play a person who is very close to himself, it may be less.

Andy Lau: This role is stressful for me. The whole process, whether you want him to look like it or not, is difficult to control. I don’t know where I got the courage, but I think it should appear.

Lan Yu: So when you are acting, you will deliberately want him to have a little Andy Lau’s shadow, or completely abandon Andy Lau’s identity?

Andy Lau: I totally acted with Andy Lau’s attitude, but the plot was different, and the feelings in it were exactly the same. Because there is a distance in real life, if Andy Lau’s life becomes like that, what will Andy Lau do? I can’t tell them apart. He just has differences in the plot. Only Andy Lau lived once in Liu Weichi’s world, in his life.

Lan Yu: It is also very difficult to perform these multiple identities this time, because there is also an old father image of the countryside in the play, an identity of Liu Weichi and Andy Lau outside the play. How do you switch between these identities every day?

Andy Lau: From the headgear, the beard, the clothes and the net, after I took off my headgear, I completely put it on the styling. What is this model? This is Liu Weichi, this is the father in the play, and this is his husband. What should I do in front of the children? It’s the same as my real life. Put Andy Lau’s mentality into it. Because we usually do the same thing when filming. Before makeup, we were still Andy Lau, but when we put on makeup, we were completely the same person, just like Andy Lau to face all those things.

Lan Yu: This time I completely put Andy Lau into this movie. Maybe everyone will understand after reading it, that is, there is a scene of falling off a horse. In fact, this incident is also related to yourself, because you also experienced it in 2017.

Andy Lau: Yes, because of the part that affected my filming and riding, I was really in the hospital for a long time, so I stopped for about eight months. It took me almost a year to start filming again. Now I’m afraid of horses. Many people didn’t think I would get so badly hurt by riding, because I rode for many years. I went to the United States that day and filmed a chorus. I went for one day and then flew directly to Thailand to shoot advertisements. I just dragged the horse, but I didn’t expect it to be so high. I asked a trainer for a newly retired horse. I said that you would help me run it until it was tired. If it wasn’t tired, it might be difficult to control. We will shoot other scenes, and we will drag the horse after lunch at noon. It is not tired at all.

Lan Yu: Too energetic.

Andy Lau: Yes, I pressed it several times, but it didn’t come down. As a result, something went wrong. I never thought that after that, I was afraid now, and it has been many years, but now my physical influence is not too great, but my psychological influence is relatively great.

Lan Yu: Everyone plays a different role in the film circle. First of all, from the teacher Lin Xilei, how did you think of letting her play Brother Hua’s lover?

Ning Hao: I also discussed with Brother Hua and looked at all the actresses who had acted with Brother Hua before. I used to fall in love, but now I should be able to get married.

Lin Xilei: I didn’t expect this feeling after marriage.

Andy Lau: Still love, still love.

Lan Yu: The first cooperative play should be Gambler vs. Las Vegas.

Lin Xilei: Just so you know, it was my first kiss.

Lan Yu: First kiss on the screen.

Lan Yu: Later, another collaboration was Full-time Killer. Therefore, the feelings forged in and out of this kind of play also help you to shape this kind of belief between husband and wife in The Movie Emperor.

Lin Xilei: Yes, and it’s amazing that we won’t be strangers when we meet again in 20 years.

Lin Xilei: He just doesn’t know how to communicate in the play. The most important thing in marriage is communication. If you don’t communicate at first, it’s actually difficult to take the initiative to speak again. Over time, it will cause misunderstanding. The relationship between us is like this. He is a superstar outside, but he has no position at home.

Lan Yu: How did Mr. Wei Xiao come up with this performance?

Ning Hao: I have known Wei Xiao for a long time. Wei Xiao is also a director and screenwriter.

Lan Yu: I heard that I will play this role. Have you learned more about the management?

Dangerous laugh: At least the management mentioned in this play is not the same industry, not the closed space of the film circle, but an intersection of the two industries. Each of them has his own purpose. It is possible that the management needs capital by using movies, and it is interesting. That conflict is natural. A buddy still plays golf and doesn’t care about it at all. He insists on turning the whole film industry into his own advertisement. This is a mental illness. He doesn’t respect you because he doesn’t understand it.

Lan Yu: We saw a different Mr. Andy Lau in the movie. I still want to ask you to tell me what Mr. Andy Lau looks like in your heart first.

Lin Xilei: When I was a child, I loved him the most. He was an idol. After contact, I found that he is really such a gentleman, and he has not changed at all until now, that is, at least I feel that he is very considerate and careful.

Wei Xiao: I have to tell you the truth. I didn’t fall asleep the night before, and I thought all this was false. Until he came to me, Brother Hua began to speak words. Later, the director told me that none of your words are the same, and you will play each one by yourself, but I never explained to Director Ning Hao why I am different. I am extremely excited, but I don’t know that I am nervous. Every time I say the general meaning, it seems that I have changed my words again, but Brother Hua has always looked at me with a very tolerant eye. His eyes give you a strong sense of security.

Lan Yu: This is the first time to cooperate with Mr. Andy Lau, but Mr. Yu Lao and Mr. Andy Lau are classmates in Grade One. What kind of student was Hua Ge in school, and did he work as hard as he does now?

Daniel Yu Wai-Kwok: He is much smarter than me. He is very purposeful. He knows what he wants. He was the limelight of the school.

Andy Lau: Really? Am I?

Daniel Yu Wai-Kwok: You’re a school hunk.

Lan Yu: You don’t even know?

Andy Lau: I don’t know. I remember there was a drama troupe in our school. I was in charge of writing plays there. I never acted. At first, my dream was to be a director. A few days later, people thought I could be an actor, and then I thought I wanted to be a big star. Because dad often says that you want to study, and I’m not that good at it, just tell him that I will become a big star, so just let me go.

Lan Yu: In the style of the whole film, we will see that we have abandoned the "Crazy" series directed by Ning Hao before, and it seems to return to the feeling of your early Incense and Green Grass. What is your definition and breakthrough in style this time?

Ning Hao: Brother Hua gave me the impression that he is a very elegant person, in a dignified and elegant state. I think there should be a slightly stable narrative method that is more suitable for this role, so I choose a simpler shooting form.

Lan Yu: So it presents an elegant comedy.

Ning Hao: Yes, and the scales in it are all relatively well controlled. Some people ask me, how do you define elegance? When I say polite, I mean polite comedy.

Lan Yu: When you watch this movie, there will be a lot of smiles. Moreover, I think people in the film circle seem to be particularly empathetic, which contains many topics related to communication.

Andy Lau: I hope it is through this understanding that everyone will have some communication difficulties that cannot be solved. It is very important to be open, listen more, see more and be more tolerant, and finally find a way to coexist.

Lan Yu: Finally, let’s ask everyone to recommend this movie to you again. Also talk about the connotation that I want to convey and express from this film.

Dangerous laugh: Director Ning Hao is filming a superstar facing the surrounding process, and there are all kinds of jokes and funny things, and at the same time there are things that sink. It is a discussion or a game that everyone can find their own reference.

Daniel Yu Wai-Kwok: And it should be easy to read, and the audience should be able to find places to like it.

Ning Hao: The Movie Emperor is a film about communication. I hope everyone can have free time during the Spring Festival and go to the movies to understand how we communicate with others and people around us.

Andy Lau: If you like Ning Hao, you should feel what the whole process is like. If you like Andy Lau, you should feel what Andy Lau would be like if he were in that situation. Then two ridiculous people finished such an absurd film in the past period of time. I think it is ridiculous. Go to the cinema easily, and watch The Movie Emperor with great prosperity.

Lin Xilei: the Year of the Loong is here, so I hope everyone can easily go to the cinema to watch The Movie Emperor.

Lan Yu: Today, we are sitting here talking about this movie, hoping to open a door for the audience to communicate with The Movie Emperor. We also hope that this movie will become a door for everyone to communicate with people around us, our work partners and our relatives. We hope that everyone can communicate better and feel love better.