The film Lemon tells a tragic yet romantic story regarding transnational love affairs. At a recent promotional activity for the film, Zhang Jiarui explains his interpretation of the film.
"Love affairs are like the taste of a lemon and are eternal in our hearts. My film expects to show the immortality of love. Some pairs get love, and others miss their chance to fall in love. Some have their love deep in their minds, and others suffer the barbs of being in two different nations."
Zhang Jiarui attracted much attention in recent years. The films "Red River", "Aromatic Journey" and others established his reputation as a film director and created a fresh impression on his unique exhibition of local cultures in China.
According to film producer Wu Qi, Lemon gives the director another chance to display his strengths.
"Our shooting spans two countries, and the production team traveled some 30 thousand kilometers, with our footprints on Tibet, Beijing, almost the whole of Sichuan Province and as far as South Korea. We filmed picturesque scenes as well as remote and inaccessible areas."
Wu Qi added that audience will still feel love between the characters despite of the long distance they have to overcome.
Singaporean singer and actor Leon Jay Williams stars in the film as young Zhou Nuo who has a pioneering spirit and falls in love with a popular anchorwoman, played by So-hee Hong from South Korea.
Williams described his experiences shooting.
"There are many emotional points in the film, which put me under great pressure to convey the inner world of the main character I played. Our tour to Sichuan Province, where we saw steam trains and ancient stone sculptures over 1,000 years old, brought many pleasant surprises to a foreign film actor like me."
The film will premiere on 12:12 p.m. on December 12th, simply taking advantage of the numbers 1212, as they may sound similar to the pronunciation of "wanting love" in Chinese.
For CRI, I'm Wei Tong.
