光影里跳动的“大国匠心”
2018-06-09马悦
马悦
这是一个关于匠人、匠心、匠行的故事——
故事的主人公身有缺陷,却心无旁骛,磨炼自己的技能,享受专注做事带来的内心宁静;故事的导演也将自己视为身有残缺的主人公,五年磨一剑,试图通过小人物的故事反映中国匠心。
不久前,在法国文化部、法国匠心联合会主办的法国匠人国际电影节(FIFMA)(又名法国国际工艺电影节)中,由中国美术学院影视与动画艺术学院教师陈雨执导的短片《Li》,从世界各地千余部电影作品中脱颖而出,在5个评审委员会大奖中获得最佳短片奖。评委会给出了极高的评语——“我们被这个敏感的个像电影深深感染,短片出色的电影写作,展现了导演在主题选择及对其呈现上的力量。”
值得一提的是,电影节的主旨与中国美术学院所提倡的“如哲人般思考,像匠人般劳作”出奇契合——怀匠心、践匠行、做匠人。创立近30年的法国匠人国际电影节,一直在用电影表达艺术领域中凝结的匠人精神;作为中国美院“哲匠”精神的践行者,陈雨在把镜头对准传统手工艺匠人的同时,也在向世界传递中国的匠人故事。
再现真实故事
这是一个基于真实故事改编的短片作品。片中的主人公Li是一名80后,他是一个出色的木雕手艺人。
画面从Li的旅行开始,记录沿途的种种风景。期间,穿插着他与自己内心、他与手中的工具之间的私密对话。用陈雨自己的话说,影片是想要表达一种被压抑、被残缺包裹着的富有勇气的美好梦想与旅行。
选择Li作为主人公,源于一次机缘巧合的拜访。期间,陈雨被一只精雕细琢、栩栩如生的木狮子所折服,心生感叹。这只在影片开头闪现的木雕狮子,正是这部短片的灵光一现。“这只木雕狮子的创作者是一名聋哑人,他是Li的师父,也是故事的原型。”Li在述说自己师父的故事时带给陈雨极大的触动,“他身有残疾,但心中格外笃定。”
师父已经离世,但匠人匠心代代传承。陈雨找来Li作为替身,讲述创新传统技艺、传承工匠精神的故事。Li在片中说:“这个职业很苦,没有多少人真正愿意做这个事情,可是我做,一直在做……”相信这段内心独白,也是他师傅的一生追求。
陈雨在接受法国当地媒体采访时说,自己喜欢并认同葡萄牙著名作家Fernando Pessoa的一句话——“文学像其他任何存在的艺术形式一样,是人对生活得不到满足的一种自我招供。”他说,“我们写作、绘画、雕刻或者拍摄,是因为我们需要用这样的艺术行为去阐发思想。电影也一样,导演在拍摄某个人物的时候,势必会把自己放在被拍摄对象的位置去思考、度量。”
作為影片的导演,陈雨时常认为自己和影片中的主人公Li一样,也是“残缺”的。“其实,在某些方面,我们每个人都不完美,所以,这部作品就是想用真实的故事唤起人们对于‘完美的探讨,让更多的年轻人主动追求精益求精。”
不到5分钟的短片,从开拍到结束,历经多次剪辑,耗时5年。如今呈现在我们面前的每一帧背后,都有鲜为人知的故事。因此,想要完整又“浓缩”地呈现这个故事,不是一件容易的事。语言要尽可能简练,情节要更加紧凑,结构也不能拖沓。片中涉及Li的个人独白不过20多句,但每一句都是真实而富有张力的。
慢镜头的逆光特写,匠人专注的眼神,手上多年的纹路,作品的点滴细节……逐渐渲染出Li平日里的工作氛围和意境。因为画面本身已经有足够的说服力,在后期,陈雨并没有进行过多的包装,极大部分的画面只有功能性的中法双语字幕出现。简明的节奏让短片更有一份传递精神力量的厚重感,让匠人匠心得到纯粹透彻的传达。
传递匠人精神
用匠心,做匠人。Li是这样的做的,陈雨亦是如此。
陈雨在《Li》声音的创作上倾注了巨大精力,与法国声音团队共同创作。20多句Li个人的独白,就来自陈雨模仿聋哑人发出的含糊不清的气声。
“电影的声音有时比画面更重要。”陈雨说,如今,视听技术的发展迅速,特别在同期声录音方面,不少技术难题都得以迎刃而解,但如何将“声音风景”Paysage sonore介入艺术创作思维,是一个非常值得深究的问题,也是一个非常难解决的问题。影片中,陈雨就用了这样的尝试。
旁白中,有一句话令人印象深刻。“我相信,努力下去不放弃,一个人一定会鹏程万里!鹏程万里!”反复揣摩中,陈雨激起自己的共鸣点:要像Li那样,用精湛的艺术手艺来弥补自己“不完美”,让执着与勇气带来精神世界升华。
陈雨告诉笔者,自己在法国留学时,曾拜访过一位当地著名的手枪雕刻师,即便是手枪雕刻这种令人叫绝的工艺活,也面临着后继无人的问题。再看国内,多少手工艺人正面临传统技艺将在自己手中终结的境地……于是,强烈的使命感在陈雨心中迸发:“在现代社会,传统工艺应该有自己的生存法则,我应该用光影让这些传统技艺在这个时代留下自己的影像,延续技艺的生命。”
物件是否美,可能取决于手艺人的技艺,也可能是他们用手给物渗入的心魂或生命。我们在主人公Li的故事中找到了“美”,也在陈雨打磨无数次的影片中,挖掘他身上无法忽视的匠心。“我希望,更多人都能够被匠人们精益求精的态度所打动,把这份执着和讲究代入现实生活,让这个力量指引年轻人找到自己的方向。”
匠心于木,用心于人。中国美院一直坚持“像哲人般思考,像匠人般劳作”的“哲匠精神”。如今,我们时常能在美院校园里感受到哲与匠相糅相叠的气息,捕捉不断地闪耀的哲匠身形。
在平日里,陈雨也将“哲匠精神”融入教学工作中,创立了肖像纪录电影课程,课程创立10年来,取得非常不错的成绩。令他颇为骄傲的是,多部学生作品拿下或者入围国内外重要电影节奖项,如《后人》《老酒》《圣诞之诞》《僧活》《锁》《号簿》《囚域》等。在纪录电影创作中,许多真实经验都成为了他们后来剧情片创作的珍贵来源。
講好中国故事
嗜之越笃,技巧越工。无论是捕捉Li的匠心,还是倾注了拍摄者的匠心,归根到底,陈雨还是希望让全世界看到中国匠心。
“中国传统手工艺人的身上有种强大的精神磁场。他们不只是在发挥技艺,更是在淬炼心性和人品。过去,工匠们一点点地学到手艺,再一点点用手传递下去,这也是人情的温暖和无法割舍的感情。”陈雨说,他们不仅追求技艺上的进步与创新,在人品上同样胸怀坦荡,将自己一生所学倾囊相授,毫不藏私,令人敬佩。
“这种‘美、这种正能量来自平淡真切的生活,让我们的视觉、听觉、触觉被彻底唤醒。”陈雨直言,“我们需要用艺术的方式向世界展示中国的形象。”在陈雨看来,纪录片是建立人与人之间交流的最真诚的媒介,它的职能是去探求人类或者社会浓缩的世界,用艺术来重组生活的本原。
今年是中国美院建校90周年,在中国美院人看来,艺术从来就不只是风花雪月,而是面向社会的有为之学。在全球视野和本土关怀的双轮驱动下,艺术教育实可从中提炼出更普世的人文教育体系,在专业教育之外有所作为。
眼下,由陈雨操刀的两部匠心之作正处于后期剪辑阶段,一部是一个纪录电影《遗产》。影片讲述的是一批白领、大学生、企业家等不同身份的城市居民回到中国乡村进行再创业的故事,他们汇聚在一起,致力种植干净的食物,渐渐经历了从“自救”到“他救”的角色转变。另一部是中国美院和浙江卫视联合制片的作品——《田园》,讲述中国村落的故事。
“这些都是整个中华民族的无形财富和荣耀,值得我们每一代人去努力传承。”陈雨说,现代科技对手工行业的冲击是无法想象的,当前人心的浮躁也是显而易见的,但好的作品中包含的精气神,需要我们每个中国人尽自己一份心力,好好地维护它,继承与发扬它。
陈雨,杭州临安人。本科毕业于中国美术学院,硕士与Post-dipl?me(高等美术学院第三阶段学位)毕业于法国圣埃蒂安高等美术学院。现任教于中国美术学院影视与动画艺术学院影视系,法国斯特拉斯堡大学博士候选人(博士在读)。获第十三届浙江美术奖优秀作品奖、法国弗朗什孔泰(Franche-comté)电影写作基金奖等。
This is a story about craftsmanship and about how a disabled man achieved inner peace and satisfaction through devotion and passion.
, a short film directed by Chen Yu, a teacher of the School of Film, TV and Animation of China Academy of Art, won the Best Short Film accolade from FIFMA 2018. “We were deeply moved by the playwriting, the motif chosen by the director as well as the power of its presentation,” the judging panel concluded.
The biennial International Film Festival for Fine Crafts is an invitation to discover fine craft professions from around the world, through image and cinema. Through a large selection of documentaries, dramas and experimental films, accompanied by encounters, exhibitions and other events which invite exchanging and sharing, FIFMA reveals the secrets of a unique creative universe that eulogizes ingenuity.
The painstaking effort put into the short film by the director also echoes what the film strives to convey to the world - the “China craftsmanship”, which also matches the keynote of the prestigious film festival.
Chens film is based on the true life story of a woodcarving master. All by chance, Chen Yu met a young student of the woodcarving master; and his admiration knew no bounds at the sight of a wooden lion created by the young students master. The vividness and precision of the artwork, made by the master who was hearing-impaired, moved him deeply. The young artist shared the story of his master with Chen Yu. The master had passed away. “He was disabled physically, but knew all the answers about life in his own humble way,” recalled the student. The story inspired Chen and the master became the prototype of the film.
The awe-inspiring image of wooden lion is used by Chen Yu at the beginning of the film to go with a monologue by Li, the protagonist fictionalized on the basis of the master sculptor. “The hardship is beyond the imagination of outsiders, but I never quit and will never quit on what I chose to do in the first place,” said Li in the monologue.
“We write, paint, carve or take photographs to express our thoughts in an artistic way about the world where we are living. The same is true with film-making. I relate the story of someone by envisioning myself to be in the same situation with the protagonists,” said Chen Yu.
“We are all ‘disabled, by which I mean we are all imperfect in some way. The film also works to trigger the viewers thoughts about ‘perfection and I hope it encourages todays young people to pursue ‘perfection through the spirit of craftsmanship,” noted the director.
The five-minute film took as long as five years to craft. Behind every frame of the final product was a story that illustrates “craftsmanship” and “perfection”. Every detail, from a backlighting, slow-motion close-up of the masters intense eyes and callus hands to the powerful monologues and carefully arranged structure, contributes to the concision and tension of the cinematic presentation. The film is convincing, compact, fresh and clean, just like a piece of art carved by the magic hands of Li.
Working with a team from France, Chen Yu put tremendous effort into the films sound production. The breathy, fragile sound of Li, which runs throughout the monologues, constitutes a key element of the films emotional power. The film is also Chens experiment of using the ‘Paysage sonore technology in his cinematic creation. “More often than not, sound plays a more important role than images do in a film,” Chen explained.
“The film pays tribute to the unsung heroes whose skill, dedication and blazing passion breathes new life into time-honored professions and traditions that, but for them, could well fade to grey in a generation or two. With the film having been made and released, at least the profession as well as its inheritors left a mark in the ‘art of light and shadow.”
It is the self-torturing dedication of the maker that bestows “beauty” in an artwork. “Such perfectionism is what the film tries to convey to todays young people so that they can find a new direction and set a higher goal.”
“Craftsmanship” is also a running theme in Chens career as a teacher at CAA. His decade-long exploration in documentary art has borne abundant fruits. Over the years, the works by his students have found their way into the worlds most prestigious film festivals.
Chen Yu is now working on two documentary projects – one is and the other recounts the stories about the rural reconstruction and revitalization of China. He is reaching the finishing line.