Huayu: The young actress is heavily dependent on me

The May campus marks the beginning of summer in Beijing.

The first-year students in the performing arts department have a very tight schedule of professional courses.

Vocal music, diction, physical expression, and basic acting—class after class, there wasn't even enough time to catch one's breath.

Chen Li is gradually catching up on the coursework he missed during the two months he was away filming "Nirvana in Fire" and "Ban Shu Legend".

The contract for "Wu Xin: The Monster Killer" was signed several days ago, but filming won't start until the end of the year.

So Chen Li plans to catch up on the classes he missed at Beijing Film Academy and prepare for his project during this time.

On the afternoon of September 15.

Beijing Film Academy Standard Screening Room.

Today, director Zhang Yimou and the creative team behind his new film "Coming Home" will visit the Beijing Film Academy for a post-screening Q&A session in the standard screening room.

After a two-year hiatus from the big screen since "The Flowers of War," Zhang Yimou is now touring five major cities across China with "Coming Home."

The film is scheduled for nationwide release on May 16, and a special exchange was held at the Beijing Film Academy the day before the release.

He himself graduated from the Cinematography Department of Beijing Film Academy, and bringing his new film back to his alma mater for screenings and exchanges has become a habit of his for many years.

The standard screening room at Beijing Film Academy, which can accommodate about 300 people, was packed to capacity, with people standing in the aisles as well. The air was thick with excited heat.

When Chen Li entered the screening room, the event had not yet started, and the pre-screening credits for "Coming Home" were being projected on the screen.

As he squeezed in, he looked around for an empty seat. Meng Ziyi had arrived before him and had already taken a seat in the middle left row.

Her eyes lit up the moment she saw Chen Li enter through the back door:

"Chen Li! Here! I've saved you a seat!"

Chen Li squeezed through the crowd and sat down next to her.

There was an empty seat to Meng Ziyi's left, and her bag was lying crookedly on it.

"Are you tired from class? Are you thirsty?" Meng Ziyi took a bottle of mineral water out of his bag and handed it to him.

"Tell me, have you thought of me a thousand times during this time?"

Chen Li took the water, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, turned his head to look at her, and a smile curved his lips:

"It's not just that, it's about thinking about you until you sneeze."

"Haha, how annoying!"

Meng Ziyi was overjoyed by his words, and her cheeks flushed slightly.

The two were flirting when a soft voice suddenly came:

"Um...it seems there are no seats available."

Chen Li turned his head and saw Chen Yao standing beside him, looking at them somewhat awkwardly.

"Chen Li, can I sit next to you?" she said, her gaze falling on the empty seat to his right.

Meng Ziyi immediately recognized Chen Yao.

These are Chen Li's classmates; they seem to be artists under Tangren Media.

Meng Ziyi immediately sensed that there was something wrong with the way Chen Yao looked at Chen Li.

Looks like a lovesick fool, ugh!

"Who is this?" Meng Ziyi gave a standard business smile.

"Why don't you introduce it?"

"This is Chen Yao, from our class. She went to audition for 'Wu Xin: The Monster Killer' at Tangren Media a while ago, and she's already been cast as Yue Qiluo. We'll be acting opposite each other, and we'll be joining the cast together in December."

Meng Ziyi looked at Chen Yao with even more suspicion.

The female lead? Her co-star? A classmate who'll be spending every day together on set?

She couldn't help but glance at Chen Yao a couple more times.

Slender, fair-skinned, with delicate features and a cool temperament, but the way she blushed and lowered her head at this moment made her look exceptionally beautiful.

"Really? What a coincidence!" Meng Ziyi said, quickly taking his bag from the chair on his left and patting the seat to his left.

"Yaoyao, sit next to me." She stood up with a smile and warmly pulled Chen Yao to her side.

Chen Yao felt a little embarrassed to refuse, so she sat down to Meng Ziyi's left, with a whole person between her and Chen Li.

Chen Li looked to her right and saw that there was clearly an empty seat to her right...

He shook his head helplessly.

Is it necessary to take such precautions?

The screen slowly lit up, the lights dimmed, and the entire audience fell silent.

The light and shadow of "Coming Home" unfolded on the screen in the standard screening room.

It is a story about the emotional changes between intellectual Lu Yanshi and his wife Feng Wanyu during a special era, adapted from the ending of ***'s novel "Lu Yanshi".

When Feng Wanyu screamed Lu Yanshi's name on the overpass and was dragged away by a group of people, someone in the screening room sobbed.

When Lu Yanshi was playing the piano and Feng Wanyu was standing outside the door but dared not push it open, even the sound of flipping through notebooks stopped.

As the end credits rolled, the lights came back on, and the applause lasted for nearly half a minute.

The host walked onto the stage, microphone in hand, his voice loud and clear:

"Let's welcome Director Zhang Yimou, lead actress Zhang Huiwen, and the original author, Ms. ***, to 'Coming Home'!"

Zhang Yimou, wearing a dark jacket and with gray hair, looked to be in good spirits and was the first to walk onto the stage.

The new "Zhang Yimou Girl" Zhang Huiwen followed behind, with her hair in a ponytail and wearing a white dress. She looked very young, while *** sat calmly on the far side.

Zhang Yimou picked up the microphone, his voice calm:

"I'm very happy to be back at my alma mater today. I put a lot of effort into the film 'Coming Home,' and I'd like to hear what the students here think."

The first person to ask a question was a senior from the directing department, who was holding a notebook in his hand when he stood up:

"Director Zhang, 'Coming Home' makes extensive use of long takes and fixed camera positions. Whether it's the several scenes at the train station or the snowy scene at the end—the camera remains steadily positioned without any push-pull, panning, or tilting. What was the reasoning behind this?"

Zhang Yimou nodded, his voice steady:

"A fast pace has become the mainstream movie-watching habit in modern times. People are used to that kind of fast pace where there are climaxes everywhere."

"But the story of 'Coming Home' itself needs to be told slowly and deliberately, it needs to return to simplicity. Long takes and fixed camera positions force the pace to slow down..."

"And the most important emotions in this film are precisely those expressed in silence."

The second question came from a female student in the photography department:

"Director Zhang, your early works such as 'Red Sorghum' and 'Raise the Red Lantern', including the later 'Hero,' all feature very strong colors, especially the use of red."

"But the entire color palette of 'Coming Home' is very muted. Why did you completely abandon your most proficient color style in this film?"

After listening, Zhang Yimou smiled and picked up the microphone:

"Okay, that's a good question."

"Every director has their own preferences when it comes to color. But the subject matter of 'Coming Home' is different; it doesn't need that kind of flamboyant and intense color language. The story takes place in a special era, and gray is the underlying color of that era itself."

"This time I'm going against my own nature, using the most restrained way to express the fullest emotions, which is an interesting challenge in the creative process."

After asking another question, the host looked around and asked, "Does anyone else have a question?"

Meng Ziyi pinched Chen Li's arm and said with a smile:

"Chen Li, why don't you give it a try? Maybe Director Zhang will take a liking to you?"

To Meng Ziyi's astonishment, Chen Li raised his hand.

No, I was just joking, did you really take it seriously?