Falling in Love with A City Because of A Movie, TALE OF THE NIGHT 一部电影一座城：《长沙夜生活》

By Wulanna

TALE OF THE NIGHT, a film produced by Peter Chan and Zhao Xiaoshi and written and directed by Zhang Ji, was aired in mainland China in the past May Day Holiday. This movie puts spotlight on the struggling youth of this city, and shows different joys and sorrows of ordinary people that are happening every night. A night in Changsha is just an unremarkable night for contemporary Chinese youth that fuses their dream and confusion, pressure and hesitation, as well as alcohol and love, rebellion and introspection. It is a true portrayal of Chinese youth.

The movie TALE OF THE NIGHT has successfully identified the most unique and charming features of Changsha and vividly displayed its nightlife scene. This movie is a tourist guide of Changsha that not only presents the city’s famous attractions such as Yuelu Academy and Orange Isle, but also brings a variety of mouth-watering food such as stinky tofu and stir-fried beef. It is a brand new promotional film of Changsha as the audience can follow this movie to listen to dialogues in Changsha dialect and walk on its streets. Co-created by the people of Changsha, TALE OF THE NIGHT represents a vigorous exploration of the mode of "film + cultural tourism”, said the producer. We hope to set a typical case and enhance the reputation of Changsha through our movie.

With Changsha City as its leading actor, this movie has attracted wide attention. This movie was shot in places that can fully and deeply display diverse styles and cultural customs of Changsha City.

Famous landmarks including Yuelu Academy, Orange Isle, Huangxing South Road Pedestrian Commercial Street and Changsha Railway Station all appeared on the big screen; old streets engraving the mark of time such as Taiping Street and Chaozong Street as well as must-visit sites for the new generation such as Meixi Lake City Island and Malanshan Duckbill Park were also involved in the movie’s story. Delicious food, a vivid label of “Internet celebrity city Changsha”, is also presented in this movie. Several popular dining places such as Benluobo Liuyang Restaurant and Changsha Wenheyou are a full reflection of the hustle and bustle of Changsha. In addition to displaying rich flavor of life, it also highlights the city’s bookish atmosphere by shooting in a distinctive physical bookstore named “Changsha Day+Night”. Though located in the downtown, it provides people with another place for their soul to dwell in the hustle and bustle.

Zhang Ji, the movie’s director, sought to tell a story of "One Family in Changsha", covering all the locals and foreigners who work and live in the city. To better record urban nightlife, it requires vivid and natural character reflection. During thirty-two late nights shot in Changsha, many street scenes were filmed with hidden cameras, which very tested the actors' ability to improvise. “There would be people recognizing us and taking pictures. But our policy is to shoot as much as we can for subsequent editing.” It was also a fresh experience for Zhang Ji to get out of the photostudio and shoot on the street. “Extras were unable to reflect real experience and reaction of nightlife. We tried our best to keep it real.” Zhang holds that performance requires resonance on both sides. The crew visited the streets of Changsha day and night for a month, seeing many touching moments that outpour people’s true feelings. Due to long night shooting, the actors looked tired in the camera. But Zhang Yi said, “This tired effect is what I pursued because Everyone who is trying to make a living is tired and lonely, with something weighing on their mind. But they also have a desire to love and be loved, to reconcile and to be together.”

Zhang Yi said, “We can see too many foreign films named after a city, but the number is smaller in China, let alone those that show the spirit of a city. Every city can open itself by multiple means, among which movie is one of them. The step taken by us today is of pioneering significance for urban movies.”

Changsha is favored by many film and television productions for shooting, including popular TV series in mainland China like DRAW THE LINE, LEFT RIGHT and CRIME CRACKDOWN, and blockbuster movies like CLOSE TO LOVE.

Shot in Changsha in early 2022, the movie CLOSE TO LOVE tells the story of two young people from a small town in Hunan Province who support each other on their journey of growth and learn to cherish the moment. In a close-to-two-month period, 66 scenes of the movie were shot in Changsha sites we are familiar with, including Changsha Railway Station, Changsha IFS, Huangxing Square, Orange Isle Bridge, Xiangjiang Middle Road and Beichen Delta. The audience can witness the "Changsha romance" of two movie protagonists. Many of its scenes were shot in the landmark sites of Hunan Normal University, including Yuewangting Road, Wenyuan Building, Athletic Field and Taozihu Rd. Youyan Street. According to the movie’s production team, the original intention of setting Changsha as the background is to have the audience learn about Changsha and feel the romance of people living here through this movie. Boasting beautiful university campus, tall buildings and old streets full of life, it is a place suitable to show the transformation of the hero and heroine’s identities from campus to society as well as their inner emotional changes from immature to mature over the years.

Thanks to its presence in excellent film and TV series, Changsha has become one of the most popular cities recommended by Internet celebrities during the May Day Holiday. During the five-day holiday, Changsha is one of the mostly frequently visited cities in China, attracting a large number of tourists, according to the data of Ctrip and other platforms.

By well telling stories, highquality movies and TV series can make audiences yearn for the place of story and connect emotionally with cities they have never visited before. Falling in love with a city because of a movie, which will become the biggest surprise behind the screen.

(Editor: YANG Lihong)