The Shanghai dialect tragicomedy “The Great Skull” opened on June 12th at the main competition showcase of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival. Director Liu Xiaoyang, screenwriter Zhang Xiaoying, and stars Wen Qi, Nie Hongjie, and Yu Entai attended the press conference.
The film, set in Shanghai, is a tragicomedy about a mother and daughter trying to behave normally while grieving a death. Shanghai screenwriter Zhang interweaves her personal experiences into the script, and more than 50% of the dialogue is spoken in the Shanghai dialect.
The origins of the film date back to 2017, when Liu and Chan first met in Hong Kong. Mr. Chan told Mr. Liu about his father’s death with a smile. And he realized that she spoke to the structure of the film: the heavy opening, the descent into absurdity, and the unexpected ending. A few years later, after we both moved to Beijing, we decided to write this book. “I told her, ‘This could definitely be made into a movie,'” Liu said. “And so we started.”
Before his feature debut, Liu had been coming to Shanghai for many years as a movie lover. “I hope that after watching this film, audiences will be able to let go of their emotions, embrace more power, and live their lives with more courage,” he said.
The title is a humorous one, literally referencing the large bones of his late father left behind after he was cremated. When Mr. Liu talked about the title, he forgot his speech for a while and paused for a long time. Admitting he was nervous on stage, he pulled out a note on his phone and wrote: “I want to shout out to our loved ones who have passed away that they don’t have to worry about us. The living and the dead have their own destiny.”
For Zhang, making the film in Shanghai, filming in the city’s distinctive alley districts, and having it premiere at the biggest film festival had a special personal weight. “When I was 18 years old, I used a ladle to collect water from the Huangpu River and carried it far away,” she said. “Now, many years later, it has become a wine called cinema that I bring back and share with everyone.”
Wen Qi, one of the most popular Gen Z actors in Chinese-language films, said that although he felt that his role was very similar to his character, it was difficult at first to convey the Shanghainese aura and portray the deep sadness. She gave a shoutout to Zeng Jian, a veteran Chinese cinematographer known for his collaboration with Lou Ye. “He was like a big parent to us on set, guiding us, keeping us going, helping us solve all kinds of problems. We couldn’t have made this movie without him,” she said.
Ni, the only Shanghainese actor in the main cast, expressed his excitement for The Great Skull to premiere in Shanghai. “Our films are like seeds that grow into trees in the soil,” she said. “As an actor from Shanghai, I feel very lucky that this film will be shown here.”
Yu Entai, who plays the role of his late father, reflected on one of the most unusual preparation experiences in his career. The production used a real funeral parlor rather than a constructed set, with Yu lying in a real coffin as the cast filed past. Unable to move, he spent his time contemplating death, texting people on his cell phone. “I realized that there are separations in life,” he said. “Whatever we do, we are saying a grand farewell to this world,” Nee said, adding that Yu spent the time between takes taking funeral portraits of himself, painting his face white like a corpse and inviting his castmates to pose with him.
Yu admitted that he was previously worried about being the go-to father in Chinese dramas, but this role gave him a different experience. The film features a minimalist style and is about learning to stay simple. “The film’s minimalist acting also taught me that being an actor is never easy,” he said.
Shanghai’s dialect has emerged in recent years as an indicator of local cultural identity, with works such as “Flowers of Shanghai” and “B for Busy” setting the trend ahead of “The Great Skull.”
