"The young man is so young." Looking at the young man in his thirties not far away, Ye Dexian secretly said to Liu Tianwang: "Is it okay?"
"You don't believe me and I don't believe the director?" Liu Tianwang made an OK gesture and said with a smile, "Don't worry!"
Ye Dexian nodded. Although he had seen some of Su Ze's works and his acting skills were indeed very good, he had never really collaborated with him before. This time it was Xu Anhua's work again, so he must be a little worried.
The filming officially started, and the first scene was Sister Tao shopping for vegetables. When we actually came to the vegetable market where people were coming and going, as expected of a Hong Kong Islander, we have long been accustomed to cameras, and everyone basically went about their own business.
Sister Tao is extremely picky when shopping for vegetables, and even wears reading glasses when buying garlic. Upon seeing this, the clerk secretly turned down the air conditioner and couldn't help but play tricks on this troublesome old woman.
"Awesome!" Su Ze looked on from the side and had to say that Xu Anhua was a first-class talent picker and Ye Dexian's acting skills were perfect.
Carrying the vegetable basket, I took out my reading glasses with trembling steps, smiled and trembled, put on my coat, and carefully selected the seafood one by one...
There is no trace of acting, just the most ordinary homely old lady.
This is called returning to nature.
Next came the duel. After setting the makeup, and looking at his completely bare and somewhat old face in the mirror, Su Ze gathered his energy and got into character.
In the small living room, Sister Tao served dishes one after another. Roger, as a young master, sat down to eat alone. He skillfully used chopsticks to remove the onions, ginger and garlic on the steamed fish, and raised his hand to take the rice handed by Sister Tao.
, everything flows as smoothly as a tacit understanding.
Until she finished eating, Sister Tao didn't serve the food. She only served a bowl of rice and ordered some dishes in the kitchen. This has been a habit and rule for decades.
After dinner, I sat on the sofa and read the newspaper. Sister Tao served the cut fruit. There was no conversation in the ten-minute shot. Xu Anhua stared at the monitor, very satisfied.
Needless to say, Ye Dexian is perfect according to the director's standards. Unexpectedly, Su Ze, who is less than thirty, does not fall behind at all!
There was no trace of performance in front of the camera, it was as natural and smooth as boiled water, and the long shot of seven to eight minutes was played over and over again!
Sister Tao asked when she was leaving and when she was coming back. Roger responded casually without raising his eyes. Suddenly he remembered something and muttered: "It's been a long time since I've eaten beef tongue."
"Don't talk about it if you haven't eaten yet. Are you trying to build a bridge again?"
Xu Anhua laughed. In fact, the young master Roger played by Su Ze was a bit annoying at first. Just like every child among us who are blessed but don’t know the blessings, he opens his mouth when food comes and stretches out his hands when clothes come.
After all, after several generations, many habits have been deeply ingrained in the bones, and there is no way to change their words and deeds. These are the so-called rules of wealthy families.
For example, instead of eating at the same table with the host, you serve the meal to the host and put the washing machine in the room...
But from the moment Sister Tao suffered a stroke and collapsed, he finally realized and began to change, truly experiencing and understanding the life of the woman who raised him.
"Tell my wife, I don't want to do it anymore. I can't do it anymore."
Su Ze held Sister Tao's calloused and rough hand, feeling the familiar temperature, looking at the forced smile in front of her, and finally burst into tears.
"I quit my job and can go to a nursing home."
"Don't worry, I have money!"
Knowing that she is useless, Sister Tao stubbornly lives in a nursing home, so all kinds of old people are shown in front of the camera. This is Xu Anhua's greatest ambition.
An old man with trembling hands kept dropping food when he was eating. The old man next to him couldn't stand it and even hit him. The nurse came and stopped him. It turned out that he was the principal.
The principal who liked to take care of others started to giggle when he saw the little girl in the snow globe. An old man opposite even brought someone else's dentures by mistake and angrily asked for his own dentures.
Seeing everything sloppy in front of her, Sister Tao was disdainful. When she first entered the nursing home, it was so difficult to go to the toilet at night, but she still went back to draw some toilet paper to plug her nostrils, went to the toilet again, and washed her hands with difficulty.
She doesn't want to be like other old people, unhygienic, sloppy, and confused. But time doesn't mean it won't take away your abilities if you don't want to.
Slowly, Sister Tao's mentality began to change. She no longer stuffed her nose with toilet paper when going to the toilet at night. Instead, she let others feed her. In the end, when she could no longer move at all, she became like a child, sitting in a wheelchair and only doing it over and over again.
Say: Hot, hot, I want to eat jelly, I want to eat jelly.
At this time, as a young master, Roger patiently wiped off her hair and sighed silently. This is the process of aging, a process of suffering and enjoyment.
You must let go of all your self-esteem, accept your lack of self-care ability, and face that it no longer works for you.
But at the same time, you can be like a child and receive care and attention from others. Who can say that this is not enjoyable?
As the filming progressed, compared to Sister Tao's gradual psychological transformation, Su Ze's Roger also changed again. At first, he could only eat prepared meals, pick and choose, and could not do any housework.
Later in the hospital, when Sister Tao obviously couldn't eat, she was not even willing or aware to feed her.
Later, when ordering, I would order a bowl of white rice for Sister Tao, help her choose fish carefully, and finally take care of her like a child.
Xu Anhua is most satisfied with watching the two roles switch, from the caregiver to the one being cared for, and even if he wants to eat something, the other party says it is not good, but he still does the same thing twice.
In this scene, the process of life is reflected silently.
When he was not acting, Su Ze always stood behind the director, carefully watching various scene arrangements and studying silently.
There are also some impressive people in the nursing home, such as the old principal. When he sees the little girl in the crystal ball, he will calm down and giggle in a daze. He also likes to speak English and recite ancient poems.
He seems to be forever stuck in his teaching career, the most proud era.
There is also that old lady who always quarrels with her daughter every time she comes because her unfilial son never comes to see her and refuses to pay her.
But the old lady still stubbornly preferred her son. When she finally died, her daughter, who had always been fierce, burst into tears.
The most impressive thing is the philandering old man played by Qin Pei, who seems to be the most energetic and youngest person in the nursing home. He can take the old lady who has always wanted to go back to the countryside for a walk, and can make people in the nursing home dance.
When you thought he was the most optimistic one with the youngest mentality, he kept borrowing money, and finally met Roger looking for a girl, a deep sadness came over him.
Everything is just to prove the youth that no longer exists.
Roger was angry, but Sister Tao happily lent him the money and quietly said to Roger: How many more times can he find it?
Including the director played by Qin Hailu who does not go home during the New Year, Zeng's mother who has kidney disease and must live in a nursing home...
There seems to be a wonderful and mysterious story behind every supporting character, but Xu Anhua's shots are surprisingly restrained and never stray away from the main character, Sister Tao.
There are also some ironic scenes such as the failed Three Kingdoms movie produced by Roger, Sammo Hung and Tsui Hark acting in the movie to defraud Fatty Yu out of his money, celebrities performing in nursing homes and so on.
All plots are only shown, not criticized. Even in various sensational places, the shots are only moderate.
Su Ze understood that Xu Anhua wanted to bring people the most real life, not cheap tears.
Everything is as plain as water, but it is indispensable!