18 | Thursday, August 29, 2019 LIFE CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION

Still images of the series The Legendary Tavern, in which actor Chen Baoguo plays the protagonist tavern owner (left in center photo), with the storyline involving his romance with two women, respectively a former Peking Opera performer played by actress Qin Hailu (in right photo, and right in center photo) and a forest girl played by actress Wang Xiaochen (left). PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Legends from beyond the bar

Spanning more than 20 years and centered on a tavern in Dalian, a new drama series recounts the clientele’s tales of struggle through the colonial and wartime eras up to the creation of New China, Xu Fan reports.

n Chinese social circles there is actresses Qin Hailu, Yuan Shan­ pecting in the forests of northeast­ a well­known joke which says shan, and actors Feng Lei, Liu Hua ern China. that an outsider should never and Gong Hanlin. Yearning for a more stable life, boast that they can drink Gao, also 63, reveals the story is a Chen Huaihai and several of his We hope that The Imore than dongbeiren — somebody tribute to his late father, a Shand­ close friends used their savings to Legendary Tavern — from one of the three northeastern ong immigrant who previously ran open a tavern in Dalian, where he Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, a tavern on a bustling street in makes friends with patriots, with all its innovation Jilin or Liaoning. downtown Dalian. reunites with his long lost daugh­ in terms of design and While it’s hard to quantify this “My father was benevolent, gen­ ter, and meets the woman who he scientifically, the quip at least sug­ erous and had a good sense of eventually falls in love with. narrative — will also gests that alcohol plays a signifi­ humor. His tavern treated a lot of The storyline is complicated and appeal to young cant role in the lifestyles of the customers from different walks of unfolds a bit like “an umbrella”, locals in the region. life, including businessmen, gov­ according to Liu Jiang, the director audiences.” For screenwriter Gao Mantang, ernment officials, Japanese and of the series. Liu Jiang, director the drinking culture of Dalian Soviet soldiers, and even local ban­ Comparing the protagonist’s life became the inspiration that dits,” recalls Gao. to “an umbrella handle”, Liu spawned his latest television dra­ Many of the customers became explains that the other characters “We all lived on a local farm. ma, The Legendary Tavern. friends with Gao’s father, and they — mostly regulars at the tavern — Every morning we took a one­hour Starring veteran television actor often recounted anecdotes and leg­ all have their own legends, which ride to the edge of the forest, and Chen Baoguo as the protagonist endary tales to him as a young child combine to offer a panoramic snap­ then we had to trek for around 30 tavern owner, the 46­episode peri­ when they visited the family home. shot of the locals’ struggle to resist minutes to arrive at the place used od drama began airing on Beijing All these tales have been etched the Japanese invaders. for filming,” recalls Liu. Satellite TV and Guangdong Satel­ in his mind for over half a century, In a preview screening in Beijing The forest was so dense that it lite Television on Monday. yet it wasn’t until three years ago last week, it was clear the cast had was difficult for sunlight to pene­ Chen, who is known for playing during a trip to visit his father’s an impressive array of supporting trate the thick foliage after 4 pm, so emperors, reveals that the new dra­ tomb that Gao decided to pen the characters, including a feudal the crew had to work hard to ma marks his sixth venture with script. father who threatens to commit ensure they captured the best Gao, who has won dozens of awards Over the decades from late 19th­ suicide if his overseas­educated son shots of their natural surround­ including two best screenwriter century until the mid­20th century, refuses to divorce his foreign wife, ings. awards at the Flying Apsaras — one Dalian was contested by conflicting and a policeman of the puppet state Liu also reveals that the costume of the TV industry’s top honors in foreign powers. The collapsing who ends up switching sides to join designers sought inspiration from China. Qing Dynasty (1644­1911) was his anti­Japanese compatriots. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar­win­ “It’s the best timing for me to play forced to lease the city to the Rus­ Shooting lasted for around four ning movie The Revenant for the this kind of character. I had to sian Empire in 1898. After Russia’s months, Liu recalls, with most of clothes they used in the scenes set spend around four months prepar­ defeat in the Russo­Japanese War the scenes taking place in a set rec­ in the frozen wilderness. ing for the script, which is in line in 1905, Dalian was colonized by Top: Actor Chen Baoguo (left) and director Liu Jiang share reating a street in the style of old “It’s an epic story. You will see the with my previous works, but found Japan between 1905 and 1945. behind­the­scenes stories of their new TV series The Legendary Dalian built on the outskirts of noble Chinese spirit and values the role (which spans 21 years in the “I have a special affinity for Dali­ Tavern during a Beijing promotional event on Aug 21. Tianjin. The more remote scenes that have been passed down TV series) is a good fit for me now, an. The city represents an impor­ Above: Actress Qin Hailu and Chen go up in a swing, recreating a were filmed in the forests of through the generations. As well as as I have learned more about life in tant chapter in modern Chinese romantic sequence in the drama at the same event. Mudanjiang in southeastern Hei­ fans of Gao’s works, we hope that recent years,” says Chen, 63. history,” says Gao. longjiang province. The Legendary Tavern — with all its “There were some things that I “The stories in The Legendary The forest sequences revolve innovation in terms of design and couldn’t accurately interpret at a Tavern are inspired from the older help them learn more about their TV drama spans the years between around the protagonists’ search to narrative — will also appeal to younger age. But this time I felt that generations who had struggled for ancestry,” he adds. 1928 and 1949 and centers on the avenge the death of his only son, young audiences,” concludes Liu. the protagonist had actually taken independence and freedom during Set against the historical back­ character of Chen Huaihai, an which took more than 20 days to over my body.” the colonial era. I hope it will bring drop of the Japanese invasion and explorer and Shandong native who shoot and recounted in one epi­ Contact the writer at The veteran cast also includes history to life for youngsters and the Manchukuo puppet state, the earned his fortune by gold pros­ sode. [email protected] Disney premieres live­action Mulan trailer at D23 Expo in LA

LOS ANGELES — With the live­ac­ world ... I love the values the stories tion feature version of Disney’s promote and the impact they have Mulan slated for release in March, on a huge audience.” the official trailer has been screened Horn points out filmgoers have a to an appreciative audience. Its certain expectation of the Disney director Niki Caro and Disney execu­ brand, no matter what culture they tives discussed the film at the compa­ depict, “Audiences may not always ny’s D23 Expo last weekend. know what they are going to see, but The blockbuster, starring Liu Yifei they know what they are not going in the lead role, is based on the Chi­ to see. The Disney brand conveys a nese legend of Hua Mulan and is a certain responsibility to the public, live­action remake of Disney’s 1998 to parents and families, to make animated film of the same name. them feel safe.” Mulan, a beautiful, spirited young When asked if Disney has any woman seeking to spare the life of plans to do more Chinese stories, her ailing father, disguises herself as Horn says: “The China market is a man to go to war in his place. Still images of the live­action version of Disney’s Mulan, featuring Chinese­American actress Liu Yifei (left), which will be screened in obviously a large and important Smart, brave and determined, she March. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY one, and we care about the Chinese flouts tradition to embrace her true people and their history and tradi­ potential, blazing a courageous trail tions, so we will certainly continue in the fight against the enemy. than 1,000 actresses of Chinese the success of many Hollywood has a Chinese cast but also brought ies such as Coco and Moana. to explore what other Chinese sto­ “I’m most excited for the audience descent to find just the right lead to blockbusters. in a Chinese producer to make the Alan Horn, co­chairman and chief ries and legends might have univer­ to see this movie, which is on a truly play Mulan, someone who had the Tackling a beloved legend from movie with them. creative officer of The Walt Disney sal appeal that we could bring to the epic scale,” Caro told the attendees at perfect mix of acting talent, martial another culture can be fraught with “What I’ve found, when trying to Studios, says: “In today’s social screen.” D23. “What drew me to this project arts training and likability. public relations peril if handled bad­ make an authentic movie about Chi­ media environment, we get a lot of He says: “We could run out of was Mulan herself, her journey from They picked Chinese­American ly. Disney executives explain how na or the Middle East or Boston, is feedback. And we listen to it. We are Marvel stories, so we are interested village girl to soldier, to warrior, to actress Liu and cast other leading they approached a movie like that if you put a lot of knowledgea­ aware of the importance of keeping in stories from all over the world hero,” she said. Caro is the second Chinese actors, Donnie Yen, Jet Li Mulan to ensure cultural integrity ble people in front of and behind the a finger on the pulse of what’s hap­ that can show us something differ­ female director hired by Disney to and Jason Scott Lee, and actress and authenticity. camera, they will tell you, ‘Hey, I pening out there.” ent and special.” direct a film budgeted at over $100 Gong Li. “Initially, we spent a lot of time think this is a little off,’ or ‘I think you Bailey adds: “We do a lot of work He notes that it’s important to million. Mulan is one of Disney’s big­ As the world’s second­largest with scholars, experts and people can improve this a little’,” he to populate the production as well as make movies that “have lasting val­ gest budget films ever, with a report­ movie market, China is a major ter­ from the region, before spending a explains. we can with knowledgeable people ue, that mean something and that ed purse of $300 million. ritory for Disney. China’s box­office great deal of time in China,” says Disney takes its mission to make in front of and behind the camera.” touch people”. Smiling, he adds, Adroitly sidestepping any con­ revenue grew 9 percent to around Sean Bailey, president of Walt Dis­ universally accessible and culturally He continues, clearly enthusiastic “And it never hurts to be funny.” cerns of potential “whitewashing” of 61 billion yuan ($8.5 billion) in ney Studios Motion Picture Produc­ accurate movies very seriously, as about Disney’s productions, “I love it the role, Disney auditioned more 2018, becoming an essential part of tion, adding that the studio not only evidenced by its treatment of mov­ when these movies go out into the XINHUA