(For capsule reviews and links to other reviews of Tong Yao's work, please CLICK ME)
NOTE: Edited 22nd June 2022 to reflect the name change of the official English title from Night Night to The Night Belongs to Us.
At first, I thought that I would just do a short write-up of some bits but I
ended up translating most of the interview in this video. 😅
I think the reason why the production company Bobosnap called this a documentary rather than just a regular behind-the-scenes video is because they proposed a “thesis question” so to speak and are attempting to answer it. They are trying to answer this question by documenting Tong Yao as she participates in the making of the short film The Night Belongs to Us.
I'll try and explain the question they are trying to answer first. In the post with a series of posters advertising the documentary, Bobosnap wrote:
极境，通常指人迹罕至的地区，也比喻学问或技能所能达到的至高境界。 但，演绎的极境是否存在？ BOBOSNAP出品纪录片《极境所在》，记录下演员@童瑶 在短片《属于我们的黑夜》拍摄现场的种种，希望从中探寻这个问题的答案。
Source
“极境” (Utmost Boundary) usually refers to a place where there are very few people, it can also be used to describe a certain point in a field or a skill when once attained, one can be considered a master. However, when it comes to interpretation, is there an utmost boundary? 极境所在 (The Location of Utmost Boundary), a documentary produced by Bobosnap, hopes to find the answer to the question as we document Tong Yao as she works on the short film The Night Belongs to Us.
In the post linking the 30s trailer for the documentary, Bobosnap wrote:
七月底的西宁，@童瑶 在年轻导演的镜头下演绎着另一个女性的生活。感情投入，精力付出，形象颠覆——童瑶通往“演绎极境”的过程也足以成为另一个故事。 ... 极境，或许是可以抵达的地方。
Source
At the end of July, in Xining, under the direction of a young director, Tong Yao participated in the interpretation of another woman’s life. She invested all her emotion and energy into this role. She also changed her image for this role. Tong Yao’s journey towards the utmost boundaries of interpretation is another story of its own. … Perhaps this extreme boundary is a place that can be attained.
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Actually, I’m of the opinion that the search for the answer to this question is really just an excuse to give some kind of credence to the suggestion that this is a documentary and not just a simple behind-the-scenes video. But honestly, I don’t really care. I like behind-the-scenes videos and I like interviews with artists, production and post-production crew where they talk about their process or views of the industry etc, so I never say no to more of this kind of material.
I’m not going to translate every single thing or try to be as accurate as possible in anything that I translate because that will take too much time and I don’t really have that kind of time. Also, my Mandarin isn’t that strong. As in, I can understand and read Mandarin but my vocabulary isn’t wide enough to get some of the nuances, hence why I don’t think I can be accurate enough and I will probably get bogged down in the details if I tried too hard to be 100% accurate.
Okay, now that the disclaimer has been written, let’s cut to the chase.
CHAPTER 1
Tong Yao: Actually, the Magnolia Award is awarded in recognition for
the previous year’s work. What I expressed then is my honest reaction
because it belongs to last year. I mean, actually, after work has been
completed on the series and I entered the next year, I felt that the page
has already turned. The award possibly summed up the achievements of the
previous year. I truly believe that winning an award may make me happy for a
night but what would make me happier for 3 to 4 months would be meeting a
good role or script. That kind of excitement is not the same.
ASIDE: Tong Yao has actually said this more than once. It seems like she wants to emphasise that she’s happy to win but after winning, she feels like she needs to start over again with each new project.
On Location
- chatter about how timely it was that she has pimples now because it suits the look of this character.
Tong Yao: After I received the script for The Night Belongs to Us in the first
half of the month, we all began to do our homework. We began to believe this
character, build this character and smoothen out the character lines. There
is this process. After arriving at the location and putting on the makeup,
visually it has a big impact on me and I can believe in it.
On Location
- There is some banter about how the makeup has completely destroyed her image. And they talk about where the scratches should be.
ASIDE - My thoughts: I must say that what one of the production
crew said isn't wrong. There is nothing glamorous about this makeup at all.
Tong Yao herself even seemed quite pleased earlier in the video when she was
inspecting the makeup. She said that it was timely that she has some pimples at the time of the shoot.
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Coincidentally, I just happened to watch a video recently where
上海气质-城市会客厅 conducted an interview with her. They asked Tong Yao if
she had an actor that she admired the most and she picked Charlize Theron. She said that she
was impressed with the lengths that Charlize Theron would go for a role. For example, when Theron was shooting Monster, she not only gained weight but she didn't brush her teeth for two weeks. When asked if she would be willing to do the same,
she said, without missing a beat, that she would be very willing to. It’s just
that she hasn’t yet met a role that required her to do it yet.
It’s worth noting that Tong Yao probably gave this interview after her shoot for the FIRST Training Camp. So, it seems like she’s not kidding. She is willing to overturn her image for a role. Provided that the role is worth doing it for.
Tong Yao: Actually, this role isn’t particularly difficult for me but
I hope to be able to see how the young director will shoot this.
ASIDE: The director of this film is Bo Hanxiong 薄汉雄 and I’ll
talk a little bit about him and his short films at the end of this
post.
Bo Hanxiong: I was initially afraid that I would not be able to handle it well when I first found out that there would be celebrity actors on location. However, I found out later that Tong Yao was actively involved in the entire creative process; I felt greatly encouraged and relieved because I needed time for the team to get used to each other on the first day and, also because all the scenes on the first day were big emotional scenes.
Tong Yao: There are some realistic portions and non-realistic
portions in the film and some of them are very romantic. I think the film
wants to give the audience room to imagine and make their own meaning. I
think that’s interesting but I will tell the director what my understanding
of the character is and my grasp of what I think is the basis of this
character.
Tong Yao: I think that they are a group of young and energetic
people. I didn’t know what the director’s way of thinking was and how he
would shoot something. I didn’t know how all the actors will act and what
unexpected things might happen on set. A lot of things are not known.
On Location
- There is a bit here where they find out that they have run out of fuel for the generator and that they will have to drive out for a few miles from the location to get fuel.
Tong Yao: Maybe they don’t have too much work experience yet and problems often crop up. It feels like how it was when I was a college student trying to complete my assignments. It’s like everyone really wants to do a good job but sometimes everyone gets flustered. And sometimes it’s not well done but you can see that everyone is passionate and you’ll find it very moving.
CHAPTER 2
Tong Yao: Everyone gets tired; you can’t change that. I
often joke with the people I work with. Every day, when they do my makeup, I
will say that I don’t feel like shooting today, I feel like going out to play
because you give your life to the production every day. You don’t get a lot of "me time" each day. After I return home from the shoot, I’ll read the screenplay
and then sleep. Every day is the same. You don’t get a lot of time to live
life or to do stuff. Occasionally, when I am able to squeeze out two hours to
go to a Pilates class, I already feel that it’s an unexpected surprise. It’s
like a gift. I feel that I can’t continuously exhaust myself this way. After
completing one project, I will probably need some time to rest, learn
something and recharge. It is by doing this that I will be better able to
enter a new project. If I continuously take on project after project, I feel
that anyone who’s human will certainly become exhausted.
Tong Yao: I
remember when I first started acting, everyone was like that. Everyone had a
fully completed screenplay before production began. Everyone was in that kind
of work environment. It was a very smooth/efficient working model. However, in
the last few years, perhaps because there is more investment money now, things
have become hastier and not many screenplays are complete before principal
photography begins. Everyone is in a rush and every day we are playing
catchup. I need to finish production in 2 to 3 months, I’m going to run out of
time, I need to do something. It has become a vicious cycle.
ASIDE: I’m honestly a little surprised by her candour here. I didn’t think that Chinese actors will say anything negative about the system. Even if it was a tiny bit negative. I’ll have to say though, that this is not just a problem for the Chinese industry. It’s a problem for the Hollywood film industry too. I’m not as familiar with other industries but I do know from personal experience that turnaround times for VFX work has gotten quite ridiculous partly because there is more demand for VFX now mostly because there’s more money, hence, more productions and studios can afford it.
CHAPTER 3
Tong Yao: When I do something, I
don’t think that I’m doing it because I’m doing it for the future. It’s just
that I feel that, at this moment, I feel that this is what I want to do, what
I want to try. I don’t really think too much about tomorrow or what would
happen in the future.
On Location
- Tong
Yao advises another actor on how to speak the Yunnan dialect. (Tong Yao is a
Yunnan native from Kunming)
Tong Yao: I feel that of course there will be resistance. I feel
like in trying to escape reality, this cruel circumstance, this is a form of
resistance. She can do braver things.
Tong Yao: Everyone is promoting women power or they are talking about not objectifying and labelling women, I feel that’s a good thing. Women and men are the same, they are equal. Women can have choices. She shouldn’t be expected to get married or have children by a certain age or that she has to do something. This path shouldn’t be a template. Women should have choices. What she does and how she lives shouldn’t be pre-determined. I think it’s unrestrained, everyone makes their own life choices and there will different kinds of ways of living. Why does everyone have to live the same kind of life?
Tong Yao: The first time I saw wrinkles at the corner of my eyes, when I laugh there were wrinkles at the corner of my eyes, I felt, “Ah! I can become old too!”. Now that I think back about it, it’s quite a funny way to think. But I think these things are just changes in your body or your appearance. Actually, I prefer the “me” that has past 30 years old. I feel that this state of self-awareness is very good. You will know what you strongly believe in, you’ll know which is the path that you want to walk on, or at the very least, you will know which path you don’t want to take. You will feel more steady, more confident.
CHAPTER 4
Tong Yao: The label of an actor is very
important to me. Being a good actor is my ultimate goal. As for the rest,
maybe today I’ll try working on a short film, tomorrow maybe I’ll try working
on a film, the day after that maybe I’ll try working on a web drama, but this
standard won’t change. The label of being an actor; that won’t change.
On Location
- Discussion on what dress her character should wear. And of the actual shoot.
Tong Yao: Everyone is promoting women power or they are talking about not objectifying and labelling women, I feel that’s a good thing. Women and men are the same, they are equal. Women can have choices. She shouldn’t be expected to get married or have children by a certain age or that she has to do something. This path shouldn’t be a template. Women should have choices. What she does and how she lives shouldn’t be pre-determined. I think it’s unrestrained, everyone makes their own life choices and there will different kinds of ways of living. Why does everyone have to live the same kind of life?
Here’s the product placement bit which they have to do
because it’s sponsored by Estee Lauder. I won’t translate this section.
Tong Yao: The first time I saw wrinkles at the corner of my eyes, when I laugh there were wrinkles at the corner of my eyes, I felt, “Ah! I can become old too!”. Now that I think back about it, it’s quite a funny way to think. But I think these things are just changes in your body or your appearance. Actually, I prefer the “me” that has past 30 years old. I feel that this state of self-awareness is very good. You will know what you strongly believe in, you’ll know which is the path that you want to walk on, or at the very least, you will know which path you don’t want to take. You will feel more steady, more confident.
CHAPTER 4
On Location
- Discussion on what dress her character should wear. And of the actual shoot.
Super: Tong Yao left the production on the 23rd to return to the set for 心居 Life is a Long Quiet River. Eight days later, she attended the 15th FIRST Training Camp Opening Night and watched the screening of The Night Belongs to Us together with the audience.
Super: Does the ultimate boundary for acting/interpretation exist?
Tong Yao: With regards to my future, I don’t have a clear goal
that I feel that I need to attain or a path that I must take. I’ve never had a
clear target or given myself a predetermined goal, I just feel that I
definitely have to try, I have to work hard, I have to dare to take on
challenges. It is in so doing that you may be able to reach the pinnacle or
where you can attain mastery of acting/interpretation. There is a
possibility that it cannot be attained but you’ll still need to work hard because without that you will not even have the chance to attain it.
END CREDIT ROLL
DIRECTOR Bo Hanxiong (CLICK ME) was born and raised in Beijing but is now based in LA, USA. He’s found success with his two previous short films, in particular Drifting. I’m actually quite interested in watching both Drifting and Haircut. The topics and the treatments sound really interesting. However, unfortunately, unless I manage to attend a short film festival where both films have been selected for screening, it looks unlikely that I will be able to watch these.
The reviews for both films, especially Drifting, are pretty good and the film has either been screened or has been selected for screening at quite a few film festivals. Sounds like Bo is quite creative in his use of narrative structure to tell his stories. This makes me quite interested in The Night Belongs to Us, not just because Tong Yao’s in
it but also because Bo seems like a director with a lot of promise
and I’m interested to see what the theme and treatment for this short film is
like.
Trailer for Drifting
Drifting's information page. (CLICK ME)
Trailer for Drifting
Drifting's information page. (CLICK ME)
An interview with Bo about the film. (CLICK ME)
While the above short films aren’t available for viewing online, his student short film is and it's actually quite impressive considering that this is student work with a limited budget. The camera work, the editing, the makeup, sound design, lighting, etc are all pretty good. The VFX isn't the best but it's good enough since this is a no-budget student work. I do recommend watching this especially since this has English subtitles which would mean non-Mandarin speaking viewers will be able to understand it.
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