Elephant sitting on the ground

When he made films, he was Hu Bo; when he wrote novels, he was Hu Qian. These two identities, like parallel lines, traversed his creative career, forming two uniquely captivating paths, until they intersected in the film "An Elephant Sitting Still." This book contains the complete 30,000-word film script for this remarkable posthumous work, showcasing Hu Qian's keen sensitivity and expressiveness in both literary and visual language. It also includes Hu Qian's debut novel, "Community," completed in 2011 but never published. The novel follows a community where sewage overflows, Zhao Xiang, a woman living in unit three, is murdered, and Huang Qiang, the carport manager, is made a scapegoat. This compels Hu Qian to pay close attention to the changes in his community, and he gradually uncovers the secrets hidden within each resident. This novel launched Hu Qian's literary career. Its sharp social insights, ingenious textual structure, and narrative techniques create a highly concentrated dramatic tension. Its oppressive tone also foreshadows the theme that Hu Qian would constantly reinforce in his subsequent novels: the world is a wasteland.
Reading this book is like watching a silent film. His talent, his sharpness, his edginess—every word is a burst of life energy bursting onto the white page. Although two years have passed since Hu Qian's passing, his absence continues to impact us and the world. To pay tribute to this extraordinary masterpiece, a 36-page commemorative booklet has been specially prepared to accompany the book, collecting over a hundred behind-the-scenes photos from "An Elephant Sitting Still" for readers who love the film to treasure.
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We often work hard to make movies, burn ourselves out, and invest our entire lives into movies. We dare not say that we can light up the world, but we want to share our hearts with the audience. "An Elephant Sitting Still" is the best example. The creators put their lives into the movie, which is very touching.
-- Ang Lee, renowned director. "An Elephant Sitting Still" is Hu Qian's remarkable posthumous work, a story whose seriousness and tragedy are woven into crisp, unpretentious dialogue. At nearly four hours, it surpasses the traditional cinema format, yet never feels boring for a single minute.
—Teresa Vena, Berlin Film Festival jury: Hu Qian deeply cherishes the self trapped in suffering. He deeply values ​​that suffering; it is the soil of his creation. He opened my eyes to a kind of existence: that in real life, there is such a pure state of life, that a person can truly live and die in this way. His absence has impacted the world (us). In any case, "An Elephant Sitting Still" has become an indelible presence.
——Zhang Yu, the protagonist of "An Elephant Sitting Still", is a young man whose mind is like a precision instrument. He will most likely be constantly shaken by the various unavoidable and brutal collisions in the world. In order not to be damaged, he must inevitably suppress the displacement for a long time. The suppressed energy will eventually burst out in his writing, like cotton, snow-white.
——Huang Liqun, writer We found the filming location at Huang Ling's house. He was driving me back on his motorcycle, very happy, when he saw a dog lying in the middle of the road from a distance. Then he stopped the car, picked up a piece of discarded bubble wrap from the roadside and drove over. I went to wrap up the dog. It was a Teddy, and it was still breathing. We found another broken cardboard box and put Teddy in it. I sat on the back seat, holding the box with one hand and holding the back seat of the motorcycle with the other. An old man on the roadside led us to a small clinic in the alley to give it antibiotics. Hu Bo continued to scout the location, and I brought it back to the crew for observation. Later that day, I told the assistant director about this. The assistant director said it was amazing. God knew that there was a dog scene in our script, so he let you pick up a dog like this. If it can be cured before filming starts, we can act! Hu Bo said that thinking like that is too utilitarian.
—Yaoyao, assistant director and subtitle translator of "An Elephant Sitting Still"

2019-11-01

译林出版社

300

9787544780216