Special feature of 1905 film network Finally, a domestic drama can discuss the topic of sexual assault in such depth.Launched on July 17Imperfect victimbyZhou Xun、Liu Yijun、Jelly Lin、Elaine Zhong、Chen Shu、Yinger、AngelStarring, etc., the whole drama starts from a workplace sexual assault case.
Did the chairman of Dacheng Group succeed in forcibly sexually assaulting Zhao Xun? Why did Zhao Xun, a female victim, change her caliber and attitude repeatedly? Who is the third-party anonymous caller?In the early stage of the series, the audience had doubts and suspense about these three issues. Following the third-party perspective of lawyer Lin Kan, the truth will be revealed soon.
"It’s very easy for the truth to come out. What we want the audience to see is the process of great changes in these characters behind the truth." Screenwriters Echo Gao and Ren Baoru said in an exclusive interview with 1905 Film Network that "Imperfect Victims" is not a suspense drama. Although it has a suspense atmosphere, its core is an insight into the times and social humanity.
On the surface, this drama is shooting sexual assault cases, but in fact, it creates a "grey area observation room" for the audience, leading everyone into the relationship between workplace, acquaintance society and unequal power, so as to reveal the main idea of the whole drama — — The resistance of the weak to the strong and the introspection of the weak.
"As long as there is a similar incident on the Internet, it will become a ball, and controversy is inevitable. Writing this topic is not for controversy, but precisely to calm the controversy. "
In the original intention of the screenwriter’s creation, this work wants the audience to see themselves and bridge the cognitive gap between the strong and the weak, rather than falling into the quarrel of binary opposition.
From sexual assault in the workplace, unfold the folds of human nature
"We are not chasing hot search, we are chasing the greatest social empathy to write."In 2018, Echo Gao and Ren Baoru saw all kinds of sexual harassment and sexual assault incidents at home and abroad frequently, and began to write stories about such subjects. They also had similar experiences and shadows in their growing experiences. This empathy prompted them to write Imperfect Victims.
"Through observation, we found that many victims are often in an unclear state in the whole case", which became the starting point of their creation, and the most difficult character in the whole play was also the victim Zhao Xun.
At the beginning of the series, it was difficult for the audience to see what Zhao Xun really thought. She was willing to go to the police station for trial, but she changed her mind and denied being sexually assaulted. She always repeated her attitude towards the police and lawyers, saying "yes" for a while and "no" for a while, wavering in her attitude and contradicting her words and deeds.
Echo Gao said that the role of Zhao Xun is complicated. She has grievances, cowardice and even inner greed, but "the sharper and more real Zhao Xun is, the more powerful this character is, the more empathy it can produce."
Success, as the perpetrator of sexual assault, has not been portrayed as an absolute villain in a pure drama by the screenwriter. "We have no intention to create a gender confrontation war. Our purpose is to truly restore the cognitive misunderstanding of those with high power."
Success is a successful entrepreneur and an affectionate man. He is full of personality charm and sincere in every emotion. In his cognition, it is impossible to "force" any woman, but women are often forced by his power to lose themselves.
Ren Baoru said that many workplace relationships in gray areas are often like this, and the largest proportion of invisible bullies and sexual abusers are successful.
Lin Kan, a defense lawyer, is a silent observer of the whole incident, always in the contradiction between professional ethics and gender stance. In the script creation, she and Zhao Xun are intertextual characters appearing at the same time. Zhao Xun was Lin Pei ten years ago, and Lin Pei was what Zhao Xun hoped to be ten years later.
Echo Gao said, "We hope to use Zhao Xun as the starting point and Lin Kun as the end point to show the process of every woman moving from Zhao Xun to Lin Kun, that is, the process of women’s introspection, strength, reconciliation with themselves, and if they can go back to the past, let their timid self bravely sayno."
In addition to Zhao Xun and Lin Pei, the successful wife Xinlu fought against each other in the interest-oriented marriage; Li Yi, a successful subordinate lover, poured out her true feelings in exchange for benefits; Mimang ushered in a new life from being beaten to getting rid of domestic violence. ……
They are all different women who have different reactions in the relationship of unequal power and unequal workplace. On the other hand, Yan Ming, a policeman, pursues evidence, upholds procedural justice, and shows the temperature of justice, which is the ideal appearance of a judge in the mind of a screenwriter.
"We use 29 episodes to deeply touch the deep hearts of all sentient beings in such cases and deeply express their human nature entanglement, contradiction and reversal. We spread it out like a fold of human nature."Echo Gao used a kaleidoscope of colorful human nature to describe the portrayal of many characters in this play. Both men and women are not created in black and white. They all change.andsucceedLong.
There is no short board in the performance of the whole drama, and Zhou Xun "sees thunder in silence"
In the eyes of the two screenwriters, the performance of the actors in the whole drama can be said to be "neat and tidy, without a short board.""She is Lin Pei, and there is no second person in my mind." Echo Gao thinks that Zhou Xun’s performance is full of energy, and he can "see thunder in silence". The audience will be firmly grasped by the delicate micro-expressions and micro-performances on her face, especially when expressing the traumatic feelings of the characters.
"She has a lot of content in her heart to enrich her performance, so that you can see the play without even saying anything." Ren Baoru said.
As a lawyer, Zhou Xun has a large number of lines and a high degree of professionalism. He is not simply reciting laws and regulations, but expounding jurisprudence. Zhou Xun also said in the production of the special feature that the lines of the play were the most difficult since she started filming.
Echo Gao revealed that Zhou Xun was preparing a long line of the defense play one or two months in advance. "I heard from her agent that she recited these lines every day by singing." By the time she arrived at the actual shooting scene, Zhou Xun had already formed a muscle memory, and she could finish a page and a half of criminal defense lines in one go. "She put all her attention on the performance instead of reciting the lines, and she made great efforts."
In order to play a romantic, confident and affectionate success, Liu Yijun strengthens the law of fitness and life, and fits the body shape of successful men. He said that this is the most fully prepared role he has played in recent years.
The screenwriters said that they succeeded by saying that "the society says that he still rapes, and others rape him almost". This character is both charming and deeply trapped in the misunderstanding of self-righteousness and arrogance.
"Liu Yijun perfectly embodies the success we want to write." Liu Yijun accurately interprets the naivety and handsomeness of success, as well as the self-centered unconscious state of the high-ranking people in power.
The performance of the role of Zhao Xun is very difficult. It is even more difficult for young actors to play her psychological state of duplicity and internal and external contrast. "After we finished writing the script, we didn’t expect which actor and Zhao Xun were fit."
Ren Baoru believes that the reason why Lin Yun was asked to play is that her image is suitable. Director Yang Yang and Jelly Lin have cooperated in Dream of China, and they have also established a good tacit understanding. Jelly Lin trusts the director 100%, and the director grasps the role accurately, and the final result is a surprise.
Echo Gao said that when watching the rough scissors, Jelly Lin’s performance made them properly relieved. "It is really possible to see a huge leap in Jelly Lin."
Exhausting the judicial process and broadening the creative scale
Before the whole story was formed, the screenwriter spent half a year consulting legal knowledge and completely got through the judicial procedure to be established in "Imperfect Victims".
"Such a long judicial process, from criminal litigation to public opinion to civil litigation, may not have a drama that has written a case completely like us."
In addition to revealing issues such as power inequality and incorrect workplace relations through sexual assault cases in the workplace, the series also derived many social issues such as authoritative violence, domestic violence and cyber violence, which expanded the expression boundary and scale of film and television themes and developed the depth and breadth of social issues.
"The core of workplace sexual assault is not sex, but power." In Echo Gao’s view, many victims end up not hating the perpetrators, but hating themselves. "What pains you is your weakness."
It is precisely because of the common fault of "imperfection" in human nature that the weak groups will shrink back when they face the power struggle of the strong groups.
Echo Gao hopes that after watching this drama, the audience will realize that once they encounter similar incidents, they can choose to say "no" on the spot, or choose a clever detour to avoid it, so as to shorten the process of identifying themselves in the fog. Ren Baoru hopes that "even if one person has the courage to act and help others to be brave because of watching this drama, it is the merit of this drama."
"Carefully open the scar and embrace the injured person with love." As director Yang Yang wishes, there are no perfect people in Imperfect Victims, but there are brave people, and I hope their bravery will be seen by people.
![[Image from The Observer]](http://www.searchtmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/1P09n2XT.jpg)
