Film 'A Man and a Woman' explores human communication
From left: producer Liang Jing, director Guan Hu and actor Huang Bo
The creators and cast of "A Man and a Woman," shortlisted for the Golden Goblet Awards' main competition, spoke to the media about the film at the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival crew meeting on Wednesday.
The film tells the story of a man, played by Huang Bo, and a woman, played by Ni Ni, who land in Hong Kong on the same flight and end up the same hotel as they wait to enter the Chinese mainland.
Director Guan Hu likens the content of the movie to climbing a mountain.
"When people come of age, I have a feeling that it is sometimes difficult to communicate between men and women," said director Guan Hu.
"In this movie I mainly wanted to discusss about the problem of communication between men and women and also used a lot of the real situations."
The birth of the movie came about from casual conversations between Guan and Huang.
Huang Bo plays the man in "A Man and a Woman."
Guan explained the title of the movie. Huang had suggested "He and She," but, in the end, everyone agreed it was about human relationships, the communication between two tired souls, rather than the simple emotions between men and women. (The Chinese translations of man and woman both include the word "human.")
Producer Liang Jing says the movie has a message about life's burdens.
"When one reaches middle age, sometimes the breakdown is only a moment away," said Liang Jing, producer of the movie. "And sometimes one just finds it hard to go back to the simplicity of being a teenager, carrying a lot of labels and responsibilities given by society.
"I think this movie is also telling people that when one encounters the burdens of one's own life, they don't necessarily have to solve them right away. We have to learn how to accept the reality, be optimistic, release the pressure and then look for solutions."
Guan likened the content of the movie to climbing a mountain. In the middle of such a journey, there are always bumps.
"This movie is a gaze halfway up this journey up the mountain. There're a lot of exclamations about life in it, more like an instruction manual for life," Huang said.
He said the movie was both simple and complex.
"Simple to the point that it's just a man and a woman in the movie, complex to say it's a life and a world, but often sometimes the simplest covers the most complex."
Huang was full of praise for his co-star. "This experience is a surprise for me, and she (Ni Ni) is in the best time for an actress. Her understanding of life is mature, and her interpretation of the character is accurate and wonderful."
?
