Anna Doria is divided into four sets of shots.
Ironically, although the story is set on an island, Luo Yao didn't actually dare to film the movie there. The reasons are extremely complex. In short, most of the scenes in *Anna Doraemon* needed to be filmed on the mainland. Only a small portion of the filming and establishing shots required a trip to Taiwan.
Shang Yechu didn't care about that. After all, she didn't need to actually go to Taiwan; she just needed to convince the Shang family that she was there.
What troubled Shang Yechu was the interpretation of the two main characters.
Shang Yechu is heterosexual, and she secretly asked Yang Huanyi, who also said yes. Neither of them knew what Luo Yao and his group were thinking. Several performances were abruptly stopped by Luo Yao each time.
Initially, Shang Yechu considered herself a man and Yang Huanyi her woman. After being scolded by Luo Yao, she reverted to being a woman, but still treated Yang Huanyi as her man. Yang Huanyi was even more outrageous than Shang Yechu. She believed that an older woman caring so much about a younger girl must mean she treated her like her own child, so she treated Shang Yechu with leniency, as if she were a mentally challenged child. This infuriated Luo Yao, who opened her eyes wide and cursed at her in the island's local dialect.
To prepare his two main characters, Luo Yao spent an entire day setting out a large collection of old objects, such as photographs, snuff bottles, handkerchiefs, pocket watches, bullet casings, and whips, and meticulously explained the prototype of "Anna Doriya" to Yang Huanyi and Shang Yechu.
When Luo Yao was young, she often visited a nursing home to do charity work. There was an elderly woman in the nursing home who was in a wheelchair, had difficulty moving around, a bad temper, and was often confused. Luo Yao and the old woman took a liking to each other, and the old woman kept telling her stories from her past. After a while, Luo Yao remembered them.
Later, the old woman passed away, leaving her estate to Luo Yao. The so-called estate was actually just some long-expired old currency and other rubbish. Even her burial clothes were provided by Luo Yao.
In the days that followed, Luo Yao found himself frequently thinking about this incident.
Having passed his thirties, Luo Yao also found love, and their relationship was deep and devoted. Amidst his happy life, he often thought of this poignant old man. Remembering the past of "Zhao Lele" and "Lin Fengyu," and recalling the old man's incoherent speech and the happy, joyful expression on his face when he spoke of these things, Luo Yao gradually formed an idea: to make this story into a film.
What was initially thought to be a pipe dream turned out to be a completely different story. When Luo Yao mentioned it to her partner, he surprisingly supported her decision, believing that "Anna Doriya" had potential. To this end, Luo Yao quit her job, studied directing for several years, and even sold their small apartment with her partner, borrowing money from various sources, but it still wasn't enough to make the film. Fortunately, Yang Huanyi stumbled upon the script and invested heavily, bringing his own funding to the project, which finally got the project started.
Even Taiwanese artists dared not film it; only mainland artists were willing to take the risk. Although Yang Huanyi was not quite the right age, fortunately, her acting skills and appearance were acceptable. Therefore, Luo Yao was overjoyed.
Luo Yao talked all day, her lips practically worn thin. Before becoming a director, she was a journalist and had excellent oratory skills. She not only moved Yang Huanyi to tears, but even Shang Yechu was slightly touched—and then, her acting became even worse.
After hearing Luo Yao's story, Yang Huanyi and Shang Yechu both opted for a tragic performance style, imbuing their portrayals of the two characters with a sense of tragedy. They depicted the seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl and the young man not yet thirty as prematurely aged and burdened with deep-seated bitterness and resentment. It was as if they were about to burst into song at any moment!
Luo Yao was so angry that his forehead was practically spitting fire, and he almost died along with the old lady.
Left with no other choice, Luo Yao, with his lover's consent, recounted their sweet memories of their courtship to Shang Yechu and Yang Huanyi, hoping to awaken the same-sex desires within these two protagonists. However, as Yang Huanyi and Shang Yechu listened, their faces turned green.
That evening, Yang Huanyi called her agent, subtly implying that she had no interest in women.
Shang Yechu also felt a pang of uncertainty, recalling her own past and comparing it to Luo Yao's romantic history. Finally, she couldn't resist calling Ji Juntao, and after much hesitation, quietly asked, "Do you like me?"
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