Chapter 288: The song contains drama, so fitting and appropriate for the occasion...
It's unclear what Shang Lanyu is thinking now, but Li Sishi undoubtedly feels a sense of "the cycle of nature."
Perhaps luck is indeed a mysterious thing—cheap things are never completely free or monopolized by one person. Even a top-notch actress like Shang Lanyu, whose acting talent is so exceptional that she is a once-in-a-millennium talent, still had her singing career shut out by God.
It's admirable that Shang Lanyu has consistently pursued this hobby diligently, almost day after day, for over a decade. I believe hard work can make up for any shortcomings...
Shaking her head to dismiss the somewhat inappropriate thought, Li Sishi lowered her eyes and then refocused her thoughts on the wedding banquet that was about to unfold—a scene that appeared joyful and pleasant on the surface but was actually fraught with undercurrents.
In this scene, the male lead, Wei Shaojun, finally reunites with his "good friend" Lü Yao, whom he has lost contact with for a long time. Unfortunately, before he can react to Lü Yao's successful young appearance, she takes the initiative to introduce her husband, the second male lead, Tiger, to Wei Shaojun.
And so, these two "good friends" who once stood hand in hand through thick and thin have now each started their own families and careers, becoming the most familiar "strangers".
Even because of their complicated past, which went beyond ordinary friendship, the two of them, despite their eyes being filled with great complexity, could only speak as if they were old friends who had been separated for a long time, with a tone of feigned distance and politeness.
However, the second male lead, Tiger, is a well-informed and experienced gangster. He can see the strangeness between the two in just a few glances and then deduce the reason based on what he sees.
However, a big shot in the underworld is a big shot in the underworld after all. Knowing the truth but covering it up is his forte. So, not only does he not say anything in public, but he also helps to cover it up, smiling and praising Wei Shaojun, the groom, and the bride, as a handsome couple who are a perfect match.
It can be said that, apart from the bride Fang Ning, who was completely unaware of the inside story and was genuinely laughing, the other three of the main characters in this wedding banquet scene were laughing with a different kind of feeling in their hearts.
As for Li Sishi's self-positioning of her character in this wedding banquet scene, she is the legendary "perfect victim".
Unlike her previous debut scene where lines were cut for the sake of smooth pacing, this wedding banquet scene features a character who genuinely has no lines whatsoever, relying entirely on facial expressions and minimal body language to act.
If one were to simply let things slide, this would be a rather "easy" performance, maintaining the shy smile befitting a bride throughout, while simultaneously presenting a turbulent undercurrent of rivalry to the male lead, female lead, and second male lead.
Just be a human backdrop for the play...
But Li Sishi was certainly unwilling to just let things slide, and Cheng Hesheng, who had strongly invited her to play the second female lead, was even less willing.
Therefore, she had to break free from constraints to make her presence felt, even when the character design and plot were not favorable to her. On the one hand, she couldn't overshadow the main character; while highlighting herself, she also had to remember to maintain the harmony of the entire scene.
Based on these two almost contradictory potential requirements, Li Sishi positioned herself as the "perfect victim" in this play, using a performance so perfect it seemed unreal to break the unique human predicaments of the male lead, female lead, and second male lead.
Because Li Sishi's character, the second female lead, only appeared when the female lead and the second male lead asked her about it, she, who wasn't on screen, could watch the three of them perform up close from the sidelines.
It must be said that Shang Lanyu not only gets into character quickly, but also knows how to use atmosphere to draw people into the role. A single, extremely complex look in her eyes seems to convey a sigh of a thousand years.
Even though it was just a simple and brief exchange of glances between the male and female leads, a deep, lingering connection was already evident. Then, Tiger turned around following the voice of the introduction.
The exchange of glances between the three immediately became even more captivating than before.
The next scene shows Lü Yao and Tiger standing on either side of the newlyweds, taking a photo with them in the middle.
Arranged from left to right according to their positions, the four are Lü Yao, Fang Ning, Wei Shaojun, and Tiger.
Lu Yao's smile was dignified, a smile that reflected the passage of time; Fang Ning's smile was one of happiness, full of hope; Wei Shaojun's smile was a forced one, a smile that reflected complex emotions; and Tiger Brother's smile was one of profound insight, knowing everything.
One group photo reveals three relationships and four different feelings.
Although she knew that the other three characters in this scene had more dramatic tension than hers, Li Sishi had already prepared herself mentally. When she smiled, she was full of preparation. Her anticipation and longing were accompanied by an extremely touching innocence and simplicity, which separated her from the surrounding undercurrents. Anyone who saw this scene couldn't help but feel sorry for her at first glance.
Her clothes were a striking contrast to the other three, their vibrant colors contrasting sharply with her pale skin, which only accentuated the serene tranquility of the blue. Yet, ironically, the one who smiled the most happily and beautifully was also the one about to suffer the most in this scene.
Tragedy often touches the deepest parts of people's hearts by cruelly destroying the most beautiful things.
Conversely, precisely because this tragedy needs to be so unforgettable, the preceding scenes must be crafted to depict the ultimate beauty.
Only this
The extremely brief, repeated glimpses of such an innocent, pure, beautiful, and touching smile instantly caught up with the complex entanglement and lingering connection between the male and female protagonists. The empathy evoked by "morality" firmly established this character, who had few scenes but was almost perfect, in the viewer's heart.
And this is the essence of the "perfect victim"—the real regrets in the world are heartbreaking, but the foreseeable fall of beauty is also lamentable.
This is a story where everyone deserves pity and sympathy; the difference lies in whose perspective you choose when watching it.
Seeing that Li Sishi had indeed broken the constraints imposed by the character's persona and plot with a performance that was completely out of place with the atmosphere of the scene yet perfectly in harmony with the storyline, Cheng Hesheng shouted "cut" with satisfaction. He then told them that after they had reshot some close-up shots and other angles, they could prepare to eat...
He's not the type to nitpick; he's satisfied as long as he has enough material for post-editing.
Filmmaking is about capturing the moment when everyone's performance is closest to the requirements of the plot through repeated performances.
While pursuing perfection might lead to a lucky take, most of the time this kind of insistence on multiple retakes for a better performance only drains the energy and resources of the entire crew.
After successfully filming the remaining footage, the production crew immediately rushed to arrange the location changes for meals and follow-up work. However, because the wedding banquet scene was filmed smoothly and most of it was done in one take, the crew members who might have been asked to eat together were also given the opportunity to eat together without having to come in batches.
However, considering that there was a "bed scene" to be filmed later, there was no drinking or joking around during dinner. Everyone was quiet and focused on eating, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious for a while.
After dinner, everyone, along with their "goods," moved to a pre-rented old-style tenement building room nearby.
This scene depicts the newly rented room for the male protagonist's wedding, which is slightly more spacious than his old subdivided flat. However, the small living room is still piled high with wedding gifts, reflecting his indescribable state of mind.
Cheng Hesheng is adept at using the environment to highlight the character's mood. The camera moves from the living room piled high with congratulatory gifts to the bright red double happiness symbols against the backdrop of the colorful neon lights outside the window. The red double happiness symbols pasted on the window are vaguely submerged in this dazzling chaos.
Compared to the love-and-desire intertwined in the bedroom of the male and female protagonists, which metaphorically represent their mutual support through hardship,
The scene, which should have been a wedding night bed scene, was much more subtle, even the pajamas were long-sleeved and long-legged.
The only time they could be considered close was when Fang Ning, as his wife, rested her head on her husband's arm, facing him and snuggling close.
This is also completely opposite to Lü Yao's sleeping posture with her back to Wei Shaojun in the hourly room, highlighting the contrast between the mentality of a "proper couple" and a "partner couple".
In this scene, facing Fang Ning's exclamation that seemed to say her long-awaited wish had finally come true, Wei Shaojun also began to recall the past with mixed feelings.
He talked about the difficulties he faced when he first arrived in the port city, that feeling of novelty mixed with loneliness, and then, with a mix of guilt and regret, he said—if only she had been by his side back then.
Corresponding to his inner monologue, Fang Ning closed his eyes, indicating that it was late at night and time to sleep, and a smile appeared on his lips.
She thought this was a heartfelt remark from her newlywed husband, but little did she know that it was actually the beginning of their growing estrangement.
The camera continues to pan upwards, and after shooting an empty shot of the window, it transitions to the female protagonist's room through a change in the street scene outside the window—although they are in the same bed but dream different dreams, they are actually more likely to communicate because they are both mature and worldly-wise.
Of course, the scenes featuring the female lead were filmed later.
Tonight's main focus is on filming scenes with the male lead and the second female lead, as well as music video footage requested by Li Sishi.
Because Shang Lanyu mentioned during dinner that in order to make a scene where the male lead sings to the female lead in a short-stay hotel room more "realistic," they specially recorded "Sweet Love Song" while lying down... Feeling that she couldn't lose, Li Sishi also decided, after some heavy thinking, to record an additional version while lying down, for any unforeseen needs during post-production.
"Are you serious?" Ling Chen, who was drinking water, couldn't help but ask. To achieve the hoarse voice required by the scene, he had taken two big drags of a cigarette and then recited the lines in one breath. After filming, he quickly went to drink water and cough...
"Is there such a thing as a fake? You're allowed to pursue perfection, but I'm not allowed to strive for excellence?" Li Sishi's expression at this moment perfectly embodied the phrase "a lifelong striver."
"Alright..." So he obediently lay down again, because the Mandarin lyrics of Li Sishi's two songs contained the line, "When I hug you from behind, I look forward to her face."
In the first half of the movie, Wei Shaojun is holding his "good friend Lü Yao" while looking forward to his fiancée Fang Ning; but after he hugs his wife Fang Ning, he begins to miss Lü Yao, who had his back to him.
Such a perfect match for the occasion, yet fate plays such a cruel trick on us.
Seeing Li Sishi still singing a song with great emotion while lying in bed, Shang Lanyu almost burst into tears: Was the blow she suffered in the early morning not enough, and now Li Sishi was going to rub salt into her wounds?
Why can they sing so well even when they're lying down, while she sings off-key, out of breath, and misspells every word when she's standing up?
"It can't be that bad, can it? Sing a couple of lines and let me hear how it goes?" Seeing Shang Lanyu's pitiful expression, Li Sishi ignored Ling Chen's desperate attempts to wink at her as she climbed onto the bedside table, and recklessly spoke up.
"Oh, you probably don't know this song yet, so how about you sing 'Sweet Love Song'? In Mandarin, can you do that?"
Li Sishi slapped away the hand that was trying to cover her mouth in the early morning and added.
“No problem. Although I’ve been speaking French and English more often abroad these past two years, I haven’t neglected my Mandarin practice!” Shang Lanyu nodded, and then, encouraged by Li Sishi’s gaze, bravely began to sing, “Sweet, sweet, your smile is so sweet, like a flower bud blooming in the spring breeze…”
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