Wei Minzhi's "No One Can Be Less" stills
文| 王珍一
Edit | Sun Dasheng
A girl in 1985 Born in Zhenningbao Township, Chicheng County, Hebei Province, she was undernourished and thin due to poor family. In order to make her literate, her parents struggled to make money for her to study. She is also very sensible. When she is not in school, she helps her parents with work, cooking, feeding pigs, etc. At that time, she would never have thought that her name Wei Minzhi would be famous all over the world in a few years, and her life would be changed by a man.
Before meeting her, the man who changed her destiny had already become a well-known director in China through films such as "Red Sorghum", "Raise the Red Lantern" and "Qiuju's Lawsuit". But before they officially met, he was at a low point in his life. At that time, he and Gong Li broke up. The comments on the new film "I Have Something to Say" were polarized. When he went to Italy to direct the opera "Turandot", his father died. . In such painful days, he decided to do what he loves most to relieve the pain, and he decided to make another new movie. Once by chance he saw the novel "There is a Sun in the Sky" by Xinjiang writer Shi Xiangsheng. He was moved by the heroine who served as a substitute teacher in the story and loved the students and tried to keep the spirit of each student. He decided to adapt this novel into The movie, and named "No One Less". This year is 1998, he is 48 years old, and his name is Zhang Yimou.
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Because "No One Less" is a film that reflects substitute teachers in poor areas, Zhang Yimou decided not to use professional actors, but to find real teachers and students. So the crew of "No One Can Be Less" divided into several groups and went to various places in Hebei to find people. When the deputy director Li Hong came to Zhenningbao Township, he was attracted by a pair of twin sisters, especially the sister of the twin sisters, and the twin sisters were named Wei Minzhi and the younger sister was Wei Congzhi.
With a fancy girl, Li Hong asked if Wei Congzhi could sing? The shy Wei Congzhi hid behind his sister Wei Minzhi. On the contrary, Wei Minzhi, who was not afraid of the sky, said aloud "I will", so she sang "Our Motherland is a Garden". Li Hong asked her again if she could dance? She said: "I haven't learned, but I can dance", so she boldly danced her own Indian dance. Wei Minzhi's performance surprised Li Hong, so he continued to ask her "Do you dare to make a movie?" Wei Minzhi replied loudly: "Dare". In fact, Wei Minzhi hadn't even been to a movie theater before.
Wei Minzhi's "No One Less" stills
After this conversation, Wei Minzhi still goes to school and works normally. What she didn't expect was that Li Hong found her at her school just a week after their conversation, and took her to see Zhang Yimou. She was not targeted by Zhang Yi once, but for two months she had to follow the crew to the hotel to audition every Saturday. In the end, within 2 months, Zhang Yimou chose her and another girl from tens of thousands of girls. But Zhang Yimou couldn't decide who would play the leading role. In the end, the crew thought of a way. They took Wei Minzhi and another girl to a crowded place and asked them to shout to the crowd. As a result, the other girl did not dare to shout, but Wei Minzhi yelled without hesitation. Wei Minzhi's shout made Zhang Yimou confirm that she was the heroine of "No One Less", and the heroine in the movie directly used her original name. Wei Minzhi was 13 years old this year.
Wei Minzhi's "No One Can Be Less" stills
On September 7, 1999, "No One Can Be Less" was released in theaters across the country and moved countless people. This film also won ten awards including the Golden Lion Award, the highest award at the 56th Venice International Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the 19th Chinese Film Golden Rooster Award, and the Best Feature Film Award at the 22nd Popular Film Hundred Flowers Award. Zhang Yimou's career once again ushered in a small peak, and Wei Minzhi, who was only 14 years old this year, became famous all over the world.
After becoming famous, Wei Minzhi received olive branches from many schools.Many directors invited her to act in movies. Should we continue to study or go out to act? Young Wei Minzhi came to a crossroads in her life. She didn't know how to choose. She thought of Zhang Yimou, and what Zhang Yimou said to her changed her destiny again.
Wei Minzhi and Zhang Yimou
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When Wei Minzhi and Zhang Yimou finished their confusion, Zhang Yimou said to her with earnest words: "Child, you have successfully starred in a movie, only I can say that your life has a different experience. Don’t listen to others boasting that you are a big star. I hope you calm down. You are not suitable for entering the entertainment industry. I don’t want you to enter the entertainment industry. The key is to study well , Was admitted to college.”
Wei Minzhi followed Zhang Yimou’s suggestion, and she refused the invitation of other directors. She decided to go to school. At that time, Zhai Zhihai, the chairman of Shijiazhuang Elite Middle School, had read "No One Can Be Less" and learned about Wei Minzhi's real family situation. He invited Wei Minzhi to the elite middle school to study without tuition and miscellaneous fees. He also gave her monthly subsidies. 300 yuan living expenses, and arranged for her sister and parents to work in an elite middle school.
Wei Minzhi and Zhang Yimou
In the elite middle school, Wei Minzhi studies seriously. But because of the filming of "No One Can Be Less", she had an actor dream in her heart, but she also knew that she could not meet the standards of a professional actor in many aspects, so she decided to become a director.
When she told her family about this idea, her father said to her: "You'd better not have the dream of a director, and honestly go to the normal school, and you will be able to teach like your sister in the future." "There is something. The past is over, you are not eating that bowl of rice, don't take it seriously." Her sisters, teachers and classmates think that she is honest, dull, can't perform, and is not suitable for the art school.
But at that time Wei Minzhi wanted to be a director so determined, she begged her father to say: "Let me try it", seeing his daughter so persistent, Wei Minzhi's father finally let go, he Said to her: "Well, you can spend some money."
Wei Minzhi, who got his father's permission, flew to Beijing to take the Beijing Film Academy exam, but she was eliminated in the second round after passing the first test. Up.
Knowing that Wei Minzhi was eliminated by Beiying, there have been many malicious remarks about Wei Minzhi on the Internet. Some people said: "Wei Minzhi was only famous accidentally through a movie. He lacks artistic talent and is not suitable for the artistic path." . Faced with all kinds of malicious remarks, Wei Minzhi was sad. She was lost. She didn't know whether it was the right way to choose the director. In the end, Zhang Yimou's words gave her peace of mind. She remembered what Zhang Yimou told her to study hard. So she tried her best to prepare for the college entrance examination, and all three flashlights were out of use.
魏敏芝
Just before the college entrance examination was approaching, the Xi’an International Studies University Xi’an University of International Studies in Zhang Yimou’s hometown invited Wei Minzhi to apply for their school in writing, and promised that he would be exempt if he passed the exam. To her tuition and fees of 11,000 yuan per year. Faced with the invitation, Wei Minzhi was moved, but she hesitated again. Instead, her father, who opposed her being a director before, encouraged her. His father said to her: "Either you try again, or you don't regret it later."
Wei Minzhi knew that she still wanted to be a director. She did not fail this time. In 2004, she exceeded the admission score of Xi'an International Studies University by more than 100 points and became a student of choreography.
Wei Minzhi worked very hard when she was in college, because she knew her own life direction, and because she knew that it was not easy for her to go to college. Her living expenses were saved by her mother picking up a bottle in exchange for a dime. She Distressed mother.
Wei Minzhi’s efforts were seen by the teachers. When the boss of a film and television company who wanted to shoot the TV series "Mother's Wish" was looking for a director at Xiying Media College, the teachers strongly recommended Wei Minzhi, and Wei Minzhi succeeded in this film. The director of the TV series, and was successfully completed on January 17, 2006. During school, Wei Minzhi not only filmed "Mother's Wish", she also directed and acted in the movie "A Fairy Tale of Night" based on her college entrance examination experience.
is in WeiMinzhi studied hard and was serious about filming, when a man named Chen Ergang appeared in her life and changed her destiny again.
魏敏芝
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Before meeting Chen Ergang, Wei Minzhi never thought that he could study abroad, but Chen Ergang made the impossible possible. Chen Ergang is a Chinese-American professor at Brigham Young University in the United States. In 2004, he went to Hebei to participate in an international exchange meeting on elementary and middle school education. At that time, "Don’t leave a student behind" was one of the themes of the meeting. This reminded Chen Ergang of Wei Minzhi. Before that, he had watched Wei Minzhi’s "A Capital Can not be less". He knew that Wei Minzhi was from Hebei and he happened to be in Hebei. He wanted to see her. But at that time Wei Minzhi was already studying in Xi'an, so Chen Ergang rushed to Xi'an.
After communicating with Wei Minzhi, Chen Ergang found that Wei Minzhi is the same as "Wei Minzhi" in the movie, they are "same persistent and full of dreams." This gave him the idea of letting Wei Minzhi study at Brigham Young University in the United States. . At that time, Brigham Young University had a scholarship program and was always looking for poor students from all over the world to study abroad. Chen Ergang felt that Wei Minzhi was very suitable. However, Wei Minzhi had a serious problem at that time. Her English was very bad. If she could not speak fluent English, the possibility of her attending Brigham Young University would be very slim. But Chen Ergang did not give up Wei Minzhi. They agreed that if Wei Minzhi's English reached the standard two years later, Chen Ergang would recommend her to Brigham Young University.
Wei Minzhi seized this opportunity. In addition to completing other homework and filming for two years, she devoted a lot of energy to English. When she and Chen Ergang met again in 2006, Chen Ergang was amazed at her English Ability improvement. This year, after Chen Ergang's recommendation and an examination, Wei Minzhi successfully entered Brigham Young University's media and television major and was exempted from tuition.
魏敏芝
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At Brigham Young University, Wei Minzhi did not disappoint Chen Ergang, nor did he disappoint the family, friends, and teachers who cared about her. She received a full scholarship from the school, served as the host of the school choir, and was the assistant director of the touring troupe. But it was also during this period that she met love, and she met Liu Jinhui, a Chinese American. They fell in love and got married in 2008. After marriage, Wei Minzhi gave birth to two lovely children for Liu Jinhui.
Although she started a family in the United States, Wei Minzhi never thought of becoming an American citizen. Instead, she returned to China with her husband Liu Jinhui in 2010. In this year, she became the producer of the documentary "Daughter of Miracles" Assistant and actor, and this documentary mainly tells her growth story. For the filming of this documentary, Wei Minzhi admitted frankly that one is nostalgia, the other is gratitude, and the third is to give more friends an inspiration: as long as you work hard, there will be miracles in your life. In an interview with the media, she said emotionally: "My destiny has been changed by others, and I hope that I can also become a person who changes the destiny of others!" She thanked the noble person who helped him at every stage of her life. She said: "If the filming of the film "No One Can Be Less" is not done without the help of Mr. Zhai Zhihai, the chairman of the elite middle school, I would not be able to go to middle school. Without the help of Xi'an International Studies University, I would not be able to continue to study in choreography. Without the help of Professor Chen Ergang, I would not have been able to go to the United States, so every step of the way was someone supporting me behind.”
Wei Minzhi and husband Liu Jinhui
During Wei Minzhi's filming of "Daughter of Miracles", some media asked her if she knew that Zhou Dongyu, the heroine of Zhang Yimou's new film "The Love of the Hawthorn", was also from Hebei. Wei Minzhi said frankly that she did not know, but she said she was lucky to make a movie with Zhang Yimou. thing.
A few months after the interview, Wei Minzhi and Zhang Yimou met again.
At that time, Zhang Yimou and Zhou Dongyu were sitting on the stage at the sharing meeting of the movie "The Love of Hawthorn Tree", while Wei Minzhi sat down. Zhang Yimou didn't know that Wei Minzhi was there that day.
When the sharing session went to the audience questioning session, Wei Minzhi stood up and asked the question, and met Wei Minzhi who had not seen him for many years.Zhang Yimou was very happy. He said with emotion: "I haven't seen Wei Minzhi for many years. You've grown up, like a story. When you filmed a movie with me, you were only 14 years old. Now you are sitting here and giving me a kind of Feeling like a dream."
Wei Minzhi and Zhang Yimou
Seeing Zhang Yimou again, Wei Minzhi was also very excited, she knew clearly that Zhang Yimou taught her "knowledge changes destiny" The truth is that Zhang Yimou opened a new door to her life. She expressed her gratitude to Zhang Yimou. She said: "The experience of filming "Nothing Less" has changed my life track. I might have the opportunity to go to university and go abroad for further studies. Without this movie, I might be at home. Raising pigs, getting married, having children, and being a housewife.”
Today, Wei Minzhi continues to be a director, shooting film and television works, and has a happy family, and this is a life she could not even think of before. Cherish such a life very much.
She also deserves to have this kind of life. When fate gave her a chance to change, she always seized it so hard, she succeeded!
魏敏芝家族
