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wenella · 11 months

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Zhu Yilong: A New Adventure is about to Begin

朱一龙：新的冒险即将开启

EN translation of Zhu Yilong's Harper's Bazaar June 2023 Cover Issue Feature Interview by wenella

2023 is a brand new year for Zhu Yilong. It is also a year full of possibilities.

The 35-year-old has started promoting two films that he starred in, namely “Lost in the Stars,” a suspenseful crime film produced by Chen Sicheng, which will be released soon, and “Only the River Flows,” a collaboration with Wei Shujun, which was selected for the 76th Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard category.

At the age of 35, Zhu Yilong is entering a phase that he has been anticipating.

He performs roles and writes new stories for them.

He is the person in the story, yet he is also the person who creates the story.

"I calculate time with my work."

Zhu Yilong calculates time with his works. Two movies a year. Ten more films later, he'll be 40 years old. This is how he counts.

Zhu Yilong was filming on his 35th birthday on April 16, 2023. He didn’t prepare for his birthday live stream but took the opportunity to chat with his fans on his birthday. He seemed a little nervous as he was doing the live stream alone. “Well, I don’t see anyone else while live streaming.”

Among the new generation of male actors, Zhu Yilong’s career trajectory is considered rather smooth; he learnt to play the piano in elementary school, enrolled in Beijing Film Academy to learn acting, and kickstarted his acting career in his junior year. After graduation, he garnered audience’s attention and support for his various drama roles. The web drama Guardian propelled him to popularity in 2018. In the show, he played three roles Shen Wei, Black Robe Envoy, and Ye Zun, and impressed viewers with his mature acting skills.

Yet, he also seems a little different from his peers. He seems rather mature for his age. Perhaps it is due to his shy, introverted personality, or the way he looks at people with his soft, glistening gaze in films, conveying sentiments that can only be spoken through his eyes. He is rather arty too and has performed Liang Bo’s “Boy,” Lo Ta-yu’s “Dream Chasers,” and Hedgehog’s “Cloud Bound Train” on stage. He doesn’t appear on variety shows and rarely does live streams. All these make him seem a little special.

In one of Zhu Yilong’s rare live streams in 2022, he sang the theme song of “Lighting up the Stars.” The film is a tragicomedy that deals with a unique theme; he plays Mo Sanmei, a young man from Wuhan who works in the funeral industry. After an encounter with a little girl, Mo Sanmei finds a sense of responsibility and the meaning to his life. In order to play this role well, Zhu Yilong experienced life in a funeral parlour and sported a buzz cut. “I love the joys of reunion and sorrows of parting; I love the everyday life in this world.” He has sung the film’s theme song on several occasions. Each time, he played either the piano or the guitar, with his head lowered, while articulating the lyrics in his deep voice clearly. Beneath his gentle demeanour, we see occasional flashes of Mo Sanmei’s defiance and enthusiasm.

Zhu Yilong said that there are so many film genres that he would like to try. “I want to work with different directors and try different acting styles.” As such, he feels the lack of time acutely. He wants to keep making movies. The sceneries of his journeys, the waves of the sea, the winds of the world…… he hopes to depict everything that he sees, encounters, and feels, through the cinematic lens.

In Zhu Yilong’s opinion, there is no distinction between the status of a film actor and a TV actor. It has nothing to do with status. Rather, making movies requires the actor to immerse himself in a totally different circumstance. “You will experience something different from your life, you will need to leave your comfort zone and experience a circumstance that you are unlikely to encounter in your life.” As an actor, he enjoys this kind of life. He said that being an actor has taught him to be reflective. He used to read scripts and find certain situations unreasonable. However, if he encounters such issues now, he would reflect to see if he finds the situation unreasonable simply because he hasn’t experienced something similar, or if it is one that he doesn’t truly understand.

“In fact, most of the time, it is most likely due to the fact that we haven’t experienced such situations before. Real life can be more dramatic and hyperbolic than in scripts.”

“Hiding behind his role and helping the creator to complete the work"

In May 2023, the film Only the River Flows, directed by Wei Shujun and starring Zhu Yilong, was selected for the 76th Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section.

Only the River Flows was shot on 16mm film, making it a brand new experience for Zhu Yilong. Zhu Yilong described Wei Shujun as an extremely talented young director and they would often discuss filmmaking.

"The overall creative direction of this film, the acting style, and the way the plot advances, differ greatly from my previous films. Unlike regular movies that utilize character's emotions to create plot twists, Only the River Flows shows how the whole story and atmosphere changed the character instead.”

Zhu Yilong’s upcoming film is a commercial suspense thriller “Lost in the Stars.” He adopted a completely different way of acting in this film. “There are many types of films and there is no one way of acting that is necessarily more ‘superior.’ Different genres require different acting styles.” He said, “I was initially hesitant to accept the role when I first read the script because the character is highly complex. He often vacillates between different states – this character isn’t linear and I wasn’t sure how the role would be presented eventually. However, audiences might find this aspect thrilling because there are plenty of plot twists.”

Zhu Yilong spoke with the film’s producer Chen Sicheng many times and in great detail about the film’s production and expected outcomes. Chen Sicheng told Zhu Yilong that he wanted to make an extreme genre film. Zhu Yilong agreed with the mode of presentation and decided to join the team.

“I realised something very interesting.” After making Lighting up the Stars and Lost in the Stars, Zhu Yilong noted, “Transforming into a character isn’t only about changing a look, gaining or losing weight for the role, or simply growing long hair or a moustache. Rather, it is related to one’s understanding of acting. The transformation needs to be thorough. If I use only one type of acting method to take on different genres, I am just merely repeating myself and not really challenging different genres.”

On the topic of self expression, Zhu Yilong admitted, “It is difficult for an actor to express his world views through his character or performance.” He feels that an actor is only a medium. A film is constituted by its director, lighting, art…… and many other creators; the actor is just one aspect of the entire creativity process. Therefore, he doesn’t seek to express himself through the lens. Rather, he hopes to help every creator and director to realize their work and to present their vision as holistically as possible – a film isn’t merely about what an actor has to say to the world.

Zhu Yilong, who wishes to remain hidden behind his role and avoids repeating himself, is striving to do his best in every step he takes. He shows us how an ordinary person can gain recognition through hard work, one step at a time.

"Allowing myself to be more relaxed"

When Zhu Yilong isn’t filming, his life is quite boring. He admitted that he is an introvert and said, “My lives in films are so exciting. I’m actually quite tired each time I wrap a film. So I just want to keep things simple and comfortable; I will be more than satisfied just to get enough rest.”

Zhu Yilong is 35 years old. He is considered to be at his prime, though not necessarily young anymore. However, his smile, eyes, and posture, still exude a youthful charm. On his birthday, he said that he didn't want to celebrate, but he would like to make a birthday wish. When we asked him what he would like to say to his 40-year-old self, he said, “I don’t want to talk to my 40-year old self. Time is passing so quickly. I don’t feel like 40 years old is a distant age. Time passes very quickly when one is busy.”

A few years ago, Zhu Yilong thought that getting less exposure and not going on variety shows could help to preserve an actor's mystique. But he thinks differently now. “Everyone has the right to choose how they want to live and everyone has the right to choose their acting style. There is no hard-and-fast rule regarding acting. If they feel comfortable or enjoy participating in variety shows as part of their job, why not?”

These changes happened over the past two years. Previously, Zhu Yilong would think, “I aspire to become this type of actor, I will work hard in this manner, I will go to this extent for my role…” However, he feels that it doesn’t really matter anymore. “As long as it isn’t something calculated or deliberate, I think it is fine,” he said with regards to what type of acting he preferred and the goals he hoped to achieve.

“I just want to let my acting be more natural, I want to be more relaxed. I don’t deem my roles as pathways to quick success nor weigh the advantages of each role I play. I don’t think about what I can get from a role.”

“I don’t want to seek approval or recognition for the characters I play or my acting style. I don’t think too much about this issue. I just hope that I am able to enjoy the process of creating my roles, of emptying and transforming myself into my character as much as possible.”

For him, every performance is a door.

The completion of a work is not the end, but the door that leads to his next adventure.

#zhu yilong #朱一龍 #zhuyilong #朱一龙 #cannes2023 #cannes #lost in the stars #消失的她 #lighting up the stars #only the river flows #wenella #河边的错误 #人生大事

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double-croche1 · 11 months

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[CANNES 2023] NOTRE TOP

Le Festival de Cannes est désormais terminé. On a vu pas moins de 85 films (dont 19 sur les 21 de la Compétition), toutes catégories confondues ! Le classement de nos films préférés parmi ceux-ci, avec les dates annoncées de sortie en salles, ci-dessous : 1. ‘Eureka’ de Lisandro Alonso (CPR) 2. ‘Le Procès Goldman’ de Cédric Kahn (QC, 27/09) 3. ‘Anatomie d’une chute’ de Justine Triet (SOC, 23/08) 4. ‘Jeunesse (Le Printemps)’ de Wang Bing (SOC, 03/01/24) 5. ‘L'Enlèvement’ de Marco Bellocchio (SOC, 01/11) 6. ‘Les Feuilles mortes’ d’Aki Kaurismaki (SOC, 20/09) 7. ‘Fermer les yeux’ de Victor Erice (CPR, 16/08) 8. ‘May December’ de Todd Haynes (SOC) 9. ‘La Zone d’intérêt’ de Jonathan Glazer (SOC, 31/01/24) 10. ‘L'Eté dernier’ de Catherine Breillat (SOC, 13/09) 11. ‘The Sweet East’ de Sean Price Williams (QC) 12. ‘Los Delincuentes’ de Rodrigo Moreno (UCR, 27/03/24) 13. ‘La Grâce’ d’Ilya Povolotsky (QC) 14. ‘Only the River Flows’ de Shujun Wei (UCR) 15. ‘Les Herbes sèches’ de Nuri Bilge Ceylan (SOC, 12/07) 16. ‘Conann’ de Bertrand Mandico (QC, 28/11) 17. ‘La Chimère’ d’Alice Rohrwacher (SOC, 06/12) 18. ’La Fille de son père’ d’Erwan Le Duc (SM, 20/12) 19. ’Lost Country’ de Vladimir Perisič (SC, 11/10) 20. ‘Conte de feu’ de Weston Razooli (QC) 21. ‘Mars Express’ de Jérémie Périn (CPL, 22/11) 22. ‘Vers un avenir radieux’ de Nanni Moretti (SOC, 28/06) 23. ‘L’Autre Laurens’ de Claude Schmitz (QC, 04/10) 24. ‘Elémentaire’ de Peter Sohn (HC, 21/06) 25. ‘Banel & Adama’ de Ramata-Toulaye Sy (SOC, 30/08) 26. ‘Anselm, le bruit du temps’ de Wim Wenders (SS, 18/10) 27. ‘Le Règne animal’ de Thomas Cailley (UCR, 04/10) 28. ‘Simple comme Sylvain’ de Monia Chokri (UCR, 08/11) 29. ‘Ama Gloria’ de Marie Amachoukeli (SC, 30/08) 30. ‘Club Zéro’ de Jessica Hausner (SOC, 27/09) 31. ‘Linda veut du poulet !’ de Chiara Malta et Sébastien Laudenbach (ACID, 18/10) 32. ‘Si seulement je pouvais hiberner’ de Zoljargal Purevdash (UCR, 27/12) 33. ‘L’Amour et les forêts’ de Valérie Donzelli (CPR, en salles) 34. ‘La Mère de tous les mensonges’ d’Asmae El Moudir (UCR) 35. ‘Légua’ de Filipa Reis et João Miller Guerra 36. ‘The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed’ de Joanna Arnow (QC) 37. ‘Augure’ de Baloji (UCR, 22/11) 38. ‘Les Colons’ de Felipe Galvez (UCR, 20/12) 39. ‘Vincent doit mourir’ de Stéphan Castang (SC, 15/11) 40. ‘De nos jours...’ de Hong Sang-soo (QC, 19/07) 41. ‘Merle merle mûre’ d’Elene Naveriani (QC) 42. ‘Dans la toile’ de Kim Jee-woon (HC, 08/11) 43. ‘The Old Oak’ de Ken Loach (SOC, 25/10) 44. ‘Monster’ de Hirokazu Kore-eda (SOC, 27/12) 45. ’Sleep’ de Jason Yu (SC) 46. ‘Occupied City’ de Steve McQueen (SS) 47. ‘Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe’ de Martin Provost (CPR) 48 ‘Goodbye Julia’ de Mohamed Kordofani (UCR, 08/11) 49. ‘L’Arbre aux papillons d’or’ de Thien An Pham (QC, 13/09) 50. ‘Chambre 999’ de Lubna Playoust (CC) 51. ‘Le Livre des solutions’ de Michel Gondry (QC, 13/09) 52. ‘Les Meutes’ de Kamal Lazraq (UCR, 19/07) 53. ‘Le Ravissement’ d’Iris Kaltenbäck (SC, 11/10) 54. ‘Little Girl Blue’ de Mona Achache (SS, 01/11) 55. ‘Creatura’ d’Elena Martín Gimeno (QC) 56. ‘Perfect Days’ de Wim Wenders (SOC, 29/11) 57. ‘Lost in the Night’ d’Amat Escalante (CPR, 04/10) 58. ‘La Fleur de Buriti’ de João Salaviza et Renée Nader (UCR) 59. ‘Le Syndrome des amours passées’ d’Ann Sirot et Raphaël Balboni (SC, 25/10) 60. ‘Un hiver à Yanji’ d’Anthony Chen (UCR, 22/11) 61. ’Power Alley’ de Lillah Halla (SC, 22/11) 62. ‘Asteroid City’ de Wes Anderson (SOC, 21/06) 63. ‘Une nuit’ d’Alex Lutz (UCR, 05/07) 64. ‘Les Filles d'Olfa’ de Kaouther Ben Hania (SOC, 05/07) 65. ‘Indiana Jones et le cadran de la destinée’ de James Mangold (HC, 28/06) 66. ‘Chroniques de Téhéran’ d’Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami (UCR, 27/12) 67. ‘Acide’ de Just Philippot (SM, 20/09) 68. ‘Un prince’ de Pierre Creton (QC, 18/10) 69. ‘Déserts’ de Faouzi Bensaïdi (QC, 20/09) 70. ’Il pleut dans la maison’ de Paloma Sermon-Daï (SC) 71. ‘Rien à perdre’ de Delphine Deloget (UCR, 22/11) 72. ‘La Passion de Dodin Bouffant’ de Tran Anh Hung (SOC, 08/11) 73. ‘How to Have Sex’ de Molly Manning Walker (UCR, 15/11) 74. ‘Le Jeu de la reine’ de Karim Aïnouz (SOC, 28/02/24) 75. ‘A Song Sung Blue’ de Zihan Geng (QC, 06/12) 76. ‘Jeanne du Barry’ de Maïwenn (HC, en salles) 77. ‘Rosalie’ de Stéphanie di Giusto (UCR, 24/01/24) 78. ‘In Flames’ de Zarrar Kahn (QC) 79. ‘Hopeless’ de Kim Chang-hoon (UCR) 80. ’Tiger Stripes’ d’Amanda Nell Eu (SC, 13/03/24) 81. ‘The Idol’ (série, épisodes 1 et 2) de Sam Levinson (HC, 05/06) 82. ‘The New Boy’ de Warwick Thornton (UCR) 83. ‘Omar la Fraise’ d’Elias Belkeddar (SM, en salles) 84. ‘Hypnotic’ de Robert Rodriguez (SM, 23/08) 85. ‘Agra’ de Kanu Behl (QC) SOC : Sélection Officielle - Compétition UCR : Un Certain Regard CPR : Cannes Première CPL : Cinéma de la Plage HC : Hors Compétition QC : Quinzaine des Cinéastes SC : Semaine de la Critique SM : Séances de Minuit CC : Cannes Classics ACID : L’ACID Nos chroniques de ces films sont à retrouver dans les articles Daily #1 à #11 sur notre page dédiée.

A&B

#cannes2023

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