Midi Z, Zhao Liying on the universal themes of “Invisible Sister”

Burmese film director Midi Z created buzz and received good reviews for its 2019 film. Nina Wufocused on the exploitation of women in entertainment, and was released in the midst of the global #MeToo movement, a long-overdue public reckoning with powerful men who have committed acts of sexual violence and misconduct.

Selected for the main competition in Tokyo this year. International Film festival, new film Z, Invisible Sisterat least superficially, has similar themes to Nina Wu — that is, the routine violence against women in the entertainment industry, as well as the trials of women on the margins of society.

Adapted from Zhang Yueran’s book. Invisible SisterThe film tells the story of two sisters, one of whom was officially born as Qiao Yang, and the other who took the name Qiao Yang but lives in a twilight world of illegitimacy, under the constant threat of being discovered. Switching personalities at a young age, the sisters grow up to lead completely different lives in two different countries. The real Qiao Yan lives on the edge of poverty in Myanmar, and the supposed Qiao Yan becomes a famous actress in China. Fate inevitably brings them together.

The film stars Zhao Liying (The Legend of Shen Li, The History of Minglan The Legend of Chu Qiao, The Legend of Lu Zheng And Journey of Flowers and Wild Flowers), a well-known television actor in China who is moving on to a feature film. The cast also includes Huang Jue, Xin Zhilei and Chinese rapper Jam.

Invisible Sister is produced by Shanghai Linmon Pictures and is part of the company’s efforts to create feature films with international appeal. After screening in Tokyo, the film will screen at the Singapore International Film Festival in December.

During Tokyo Film Festival, Hollywood Reporter talked to Z and Zhao about Invisible Sisterthe challenges of making a mainstream commercial film with an arthouse feel and the universal themes of a feature film.

Is Invisible Sister Your first mainstream Chinese film?

MIDI Z Yes, that’s right. This is the first mainstream film that I have acted in, compared to the previous ones. This is the most commercial film, both in terms of production budget and scale of production. All my previous films were a little smaller and there were fewer people on set, but this one had over 300 people on set. Ultimately, the essence of the story and the essence of the entire production is very Chinese. We are talking about the Chinese. It’s about family. We are talking about values ​​that the Chinese value very much.

Were there any specific challenges for you as a director in the larger work? Has your process changed in any way?

MIDI Z I think the most important thing (for me as a director) is communication, namely communication with the actors. In a story, in a production, the chemistry and performance of the actors is actually much more important than the story itself, because the actors are the people who tell the story. So, for two months, right before filming, there was a lot of communication between me and the actors, and the actors met very often to rehearse and work out the story together to clarify the chemistry and get the story ready for release. skating. This is very valuable and it really helped me bring out the story through the acting.

So, the film uses two languages: Mandarin and Yunnan. Why did you decide to use two different dialects?

MIDI Z It’s because of history. This is because of the character’s setting. The character travels from Yunnan to Beijing.

Zhao, as an actor, do you speak Yunnan dialect? If not, was it a real challenge to get it right?

Zhao LIYING No, I don’t speak that. We spent about a month before production working on the dialect to go through all the lines that are in the script in the Yunnan dialect so that we would be more comfortable during production. This is how we overcame the difficulties of working with another dialect.

From an outsider’s perspective, is the use of multiple dialects of Chinese unusual for a mainstream Chinese film?

MIDI Z It is becoming more common now to use a different dialect because there are many different people traveling between different cities in China and the dialects are much more familiar. The Sichuan dialect, the Guizhou dialect, for example, are becoming more common in content, and I think that’s great.

I’m watching Invisible SisterI felt that the sensibilities and perhaps the audience of this film would be more international, especially in the themes and ideas that the film deals with. Is it fair to say this?

MIDI Z Ultimately, this is a very, very Chinese film. And when we think about the Chinese nature of the film, there are two different parts to it. The first part is the essence of the story itself – the values ​​of this story are very Chinese. It’s about a man and his family, how the wants and desires of the individual clashed with the wants and desires of the family, and what that looked like in the end. And then when we come to the second part, which is the external side of the story, what we see visually is the landscape, the location. His aesthetic, like all the production design, the architecture that we see. There was a lot of snow and it’s a very poetic aesthetic style, a very Chinese style.

And the themes are universal. My films truly express people’s lives. To speak to an audience, you need to truly understand the life they are going through. And this film is really about women and what they go through in society, the difficulties they face and their struggles. Their struggle against everything that oppresses them, their desire and desire for freedom and a better life.

Zhao, regarding your role as Qiao Yan, she is very complex and an outstanding actress just like you in real life. What attracted you to the project? Also, did you relate to the fame and pressure that Qiao Yang experiences in the industry?

Zhao LIYING I chose this character and chose this project because I really wanted to challenge myself. What really attracted me to this project was Midi’s style and his unique style of storytelling in films and stories. And honestly, the character being an actress is really just a setting for the character in the story. And it’s not about this one character in this setting. It’s really about the whole thing, like the overall story, structure, style and storytelling that really attracted me.

As for whether the character was interesting…obviously the story is very dramatic. Of course, I can understand it to some extent, but of course the character is going through a very dramatic experience. This doesn’t happen in real life. The general pressure, the suppression that (Qiao Yan) faces at work, I can definitely attribute to this specific thing. There’s a scene where my character is filming in a hospital and she gets stuck with a needle, and that really excited me.

Midi, Invisible Sister bears some visual resemblance to your latest film Nina Wusince it stars an actress, she is exploited by the men around her and the entertainment industry is portrayed very negatively. Why did you focus on stories about women being mistreated?

MIDI Z I grew up in a female-dominated household. I grew up under the protection of my mother and sister. They are both wonderful women. My interactions with my family influenced my considerations when it came to storytelling and creating characters. This insight into the lives of my mother and sister also influences me when I write and create female characters. IN Invisible SisterQiao Yan truly expresses the type of woman who is already successful by the standards of our current society, she is famous, she is rich, and yet she still faces such difficulties. This situation can truly affect everyone.