Where was this shot taken? Detailed below
Although Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" filmed in Shanghai, although there are not many plots, the director still used many important and iconic locations in Shanghai.
What is even more commendable is that Spielberg paid attention to the contrast of light and dark when dealing with the shots, and the pictures were rich in layers, which well reproduced the vicissitudes of old Shanghai. In a word, the pictures are like oil paintings, very realistic and full.
Looking at the same scene at the same time as the Chinese film, one can see the paleness and falsity of Chinese film.
For example, in the movie "The War on the Other Side", which shows the life of Shanghai during the Anti-Japanese War through the eyes of children, there are also people fleeing, but there are only a few people in the camera, and the running posture is like running a low-level marathon. There was no tension.
Stills of "The War on the Other Side"
Looking at the scenes that Spielberg restored, it is almost incomparable, and when Spielberg was shooting, it was still at the level of the 1980s.
In "Empire of the Sun", the protagonist, Jimmy, a young British boy, wanders around the streets after being separated from his parents, and encounters a young Chinese boy bullying him. Jimmy walked under a movie poster with "Gone with the Wind". After the camera opened, you could see that there was Suzhou River next to it. This section should have been filmed by the Suzhou River (netizens in Shanghai said that Spielberg It was once filmed at Sanguantang Bridge, this section seems to be the Suzhou River in this section).
Then the Chinese boy chased Jimmy all the way. Jimmy rode his car and chose the way to escape. The camera showed Jimmy speeding out of an alley. He made a right turn and drove into an alley. The Japanese army was in front of him. Come in line, this scene is impressive in the movie, so where was this scene filmed?
Shanghai has changed a lot in recent years, and the buildings when Spielberg was photographed have changed beyond recognition. It is very difficult to find them. Fortunately, Baidu Street View can now bring us real-life records of the city, making it possible for us to find the pictures in the movie in the Street View map.
After some searching, I finally found it. The real shooting point of this scene is the road from the intersection of the Yellow River to Fengyang Road, which is actually the backstreet of the majestic International Hotel.
In the distance, a spire-shaped building can be seen, but now it is no longer visible because of the occlusion of the new building. In fact, that building is the Golden Gate Hotel on Nanjing Road, which was originally called the Overseas Chinese Hotel.
Let's take a screenshot of Baidu Street View on Nanjing Road:
Take a closer look at this building:
And the building with the statue of Chiang Kai-shek hanging in the distance is now the Moss Saint Garden Restaurant. I once ate in it, and the environment is quite good.
When I was a child, I once went to a relative's house and lived in an old house beside the Yellow River Road. I still had a lot of affection for that location. At that time, standing on the balcony of the roof, I could see the International Hotel, which was very close at hand, erected high in front of my eyes. Looking at the past, I saw the roofs of the low houses, rushing towards the International Hotel like waves, and then I was shocked when I bumped into the edge of a tall dark hotel. Now every time I pass through the downtown area of Shanghai, I always like to take a walk on the Huanghe Road, looking for the old house with wooden stairs that I lived in in the past, but the time has changed, and I can't find the location of the year. I am full of heart. of lost despair.
Later, in the novel "Good Girl, Who Gives Me", I specially let the characters eat here. Check out this description from the book:
Relevant part of Shanghai Triple Edition "Good Girl, Who Gives Me"
The reason why I pay attention to Spielberg's reappearance of old Shanghai is also because I have always been interested in the hidden corners of Shanghai.
In 1987, when Spielberg filmed the film, it was still the Yellow River Road Pharmaceutical Factory. Later, the pharmaceutical factory was relocated, the building was repackaged and decorated, and the external interface had undergone major changes, but it can be seen that the loneliness of this building The shape of the outer frame is the same as the building in the movie. The basic skeleton is the same.
Now let's go back and look at how this set of shots was made.
Jimmy rode his car and rushed out of a small alley like a shooting star. Comparing the street scene, it should have come out of this alley:
scene in the movie
Screenshot of Baidu Street View in October 2013
Screenshot of Baidu Street View in June 2016
We can see that the width of the alley and the wall column on the right are generally similar. After all, it has been more than 20 years since the filming of the movie. From the street view, this section is undergoing demolition and renovation. The building on the left that was taken in the movie is now hanging alone on the roadside, with a large building on it. The word "demolition".
Then Jimmy drove off towards the east in the direction of Yellow River Road, and we could see the frame of the Moss Garden Hotel building with Chiang Kai-shek's statue in the distance.
The building shape is much more complex than in the past, but the frame is the same
The window on the right of the present Moss Sacred Garden is exactly the same as the window of the same building now.
The film continues to show that the Chinese boy chased Jimmy to the vicinity of the Moss Saint Garden Hotel and saw the scene of taking down the portrait of Chiang Kai-shek.
Through the following set of shots, we can see that the Changjiang Apartment across the Yellow River Road from Mossant Garden has become the background behind Jimmy:
The building on the left of this picture is the current Changjiang Apartment
At this time, the Japanese motorcycles came murderously from the east of Fengyang Road. The comparison between the past and the present in the lens:
Fengyang Road in Baidu Street View
The motorcycle drove to the west of Fengyang Road. We could see that the Changjiang Apartment on the right was still there, while the building on the left was gone.
Then the little boy ran against the Japanese convoy and ran to the east of Fengyang Road, and this section was over.
The following shot appears in a dilapidated burning street. According to the information provided by Shanghai citizens, this section should be at the intersection of Hengshan Road and Gao'an Road, which was undergoing large-scale demolition and renovation at that time. Spielberg Taking advantage of the innate conditions here, the old appearance of Shanghai in the war-torn era was restored.
In fact, we can see that this group of seemingly coherent shots of Chinese boys chasing and beating Jim is far apart geographically. Spielberg took three or five shots each in different streets and alleys. Then the groups are connected to form a complete plot, and the relationship between these real scenes in reality is completely "Guan Gong vs Qin Qiong", which is irrelevant.
But through the combination of these shots, perhaps we can get close to the secret of Spielberg's filmmaking.
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