The long take, the unbroken tracking shot, “The One” – whatever you want to call it, filmmakers agree that it is one of the most difficult technical achievements in cinema. It’s a feat of creativity, but also of great coordination and choreography, when one small mistake can ruin a shot.
Some famous examples: Martin Scorsese’s casino scene goodfellasRecently, action sequences of Alfonso Cuaron children of Men and the entirety of Alejandro González Iñárritu birdmanEven a recent episode studio The title “The Owner” – which refers to the difficulty of filming a long, unbroken shot – was a reference to an owner himself. Seth Rogen’s character calls it “the ultimate cinematic achievement”; It is a perfect combination of artistry and technology. (He then name-checks the three movies I’ve just done, perhaps a sign that consecutive single takes are only a certain kind of movie the brother cares about.)
Yet none of these examples compare to the work of Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan, responsible for some of the year’s most ambitious and impressive long-form works. His new sci-fi film resurrection – a labyrinthine expedition through 20th-century China – is capped by an extraordinary 30-minute tracking shot, which was actually completed in a single take. (For comparison, the longest cut in Sam Mendes’ war film 1917 Nine minutes long, each segment is stitched together to give the film a cohesive look.) Taking the audience from night to broad daylight, Bee’s Wanner takes its characters from a violent gang fight on the docks through rainy streets to a raucous karaoke bar before returning to the harbor, where the romance between the two leads takes an unexpected, demonic turn at sea. The effect is dazzling, unsettling, and unlike anything else seen on screen this year.
What has B achieved? resurrection It’s an extraordinary technical achievement, but also familiar territory for him. his first feature cali blues The 41-minute journey culminated in a 41-minute journey up, down and across the rural mountain town of Dangmai; His last film, long day trip at nightEnding with a dreamy, unbroken 59 minute long take shot in 3D.
Although he spoke through a Mandarin interpreter, Bee, who was only 36, was extremely talkative and perhaps even a little sly. Long Shot may be a tremendous effort of collaboration and coordination between cinematographers, set designers, and numerous extras, but for Bea, it’s her thing. He has become quite good at it. he told The Verge How he pulls it off.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
The Verge: You’re strongly associated with the long take. What effect does a long shot have on the viewer?
B Gan: For me, I really think about the long term and its impact on the audience. Using longer takes will allow the audience to understand time better. Due to the fact that when you’re looking at it over a longer period of time and because of the mise en scene, it can really force you to stop thinking about using jump cuts or fragmented ways of telling the story. Now, you are experiencing time in real time along with the camera.
And when something is a single take, do you want the audience to notice that it’s a long shot?
It doesn’t really matter whether they notice or not that it’s a long time, but I think most viewers will notice it. They know that this approach is somehow going along with you. The most important thing for them is to understand time, to somehow remain uninterrupted due to long hours. But at the same time that time is being compressed in such a way that you experience it as it develops.
When you use time lapse you also play with time in the long takes of this film. Were you trying to distort the experience of time?
In my first film, cali bluesYou have three different tenses within that particular long take: something is happening in the past, in the present, in the future, but all included in that one long take. While I’m moving into my second movie, long day trip at nightI really wanted to somehow use this particular long time to talk about memories in such a concise way. It has also been made in 3D. This reveals something very unique about memories, how some things are very fragmented. But due to the use of long take it becomes more holistic and solid than our actual fragmented memories.
moving forward resurrectionI just think it’s the best way to depict that particular day, which is the last day of the 20th century, going into the 21st century, where two characters run away and then become vampires. The long shot is that it is the best medium to tell that particular story.
Courtesy Janus Films
Did you know when you were writing the script that you wanted the film to have a longer synopsis, or did you figure it out later?
This particular chapter came first because it’s actually an adaptation of one of my titled novels ufoWhich is the story of two lovers running away. I believe that when you translate a written novel into a film, you have to find the best film language for it.
At first, I was still trying to figure out what would be the best way to bring those words to life in a visual way. This did not happen until I had a discussion with me during the shooting process [director of photography] Dong Jingsong and with [production designer] We asked Liu Qiang, How are we going to do this?
Dong showed me this particular painting by Mark Rothko, which was an abstract painting with red colors mixed in with some other colors. And somehow, that particular color combination inspired me to start thinking about using a long, uninterrupted form as a way to tell a story.
We really take this type of film language very carefully. We didn’t want to just do it casually.
Are you worried that whenever someone watches one of your films in the future, they’ll expect it to last longer?
It’s okay, because, you know, I’m not really bound by any rules. You can tell from the films I have made.
This film is associated with a lot of film history. On a longer note, are there other filmmakers who do this that you are influenced by?
In that sense the idea is very much about a film about films, it’s just on the surface. This is the way I approach what happened in China in the 20th century.
In terms of long-term influences from other filmmakers or other films, I don’t really think I was informed by them that much. For me, from the beginning cali bluesThe reason I chose to use the long take was largely on a philosophical level. It was the best way to philosophically present what I wanted to convey in that particular film. As a rule, I try to break down as many preconceived notions or concepts about movies as possible. So I don’t really see myself as paying homage or being informed or influenced by the long ideas of other filmmakers.
When you start making a long-term plan and you’re stuck doing it, what does it look like? How do you do it?
In terms of the script, it’s largely action-based because that’s the only way you can really get it done. One of the biggest challenges for us was finding the right location and location for this story to happen. That is the beginning. I was discussing with the art directors how to find a location that would be the best setting to tell this type of story. We were so lucky with the team of directors and assistant directors that they looked around and eventually found this particular ideal location with the railroad, the docks and ports and then the karaoke bar and the hospital.
Then it’s a constant conversation and collaboration between teams focusing on the script, and then teams focusing on the set, and then teams focusing on the technical rehearsals. They have to constantly work together and evolve in a way that can actually make this happen and make it a reality.
The DP and cinematographer include the art director and we somehow have to work closely and make a lot of adjustments. If during the technical rehearsal, I see a certain type of technical difficulty that needs to be overcome, we discuss the possibility of changing or adjusting the script. And then we do another technical rehearsal, and then, ultimately, figure out that this is the best way to bring everything together.
And then we’ll bring the actors down and do Real Rehearsal.
How long is the rehearsal period?
From the moment the art directors found the space to the actual rehearsal, it took a month.
We could only rehearse at night, and then during the day, the actors and actresses would do some other exercises, like learning to row a boat and learning to sing karaoke.
Are they really sailing?
For this special longer period we also have a lot of extra features included. So as a director, I would give them some context – that it’s the last night of 1999, and then they would be working in certain locations, like barber shops or karaoke bars. And then based on that, I would ask them to really do character development themselves, to think about, “Who are you in this moment, in the space, and how would you play an additional role for this particular role?”
In resurrectionIs it all taken at once or is it stitched together?
In terms of sewing it together, unless you feel If you have to take it once, it’s a good thing. And there is nothing wrong in this. But in my case, for this particular take, it’s actually a seamless take.
I was looking for seams but couldn’t find anything.
How many times did you have to film it?
Just three? that’s impressive.
resurrection Currently in select theatres.
<a href