director of the millennium

Chapter 52
Outside the Beijing Funeral Home, a bus stopped at the door.

"Director Wu, is this here?" Zhang Guorong pointed curiously at the funeral parlor with whitewashed walls, and asked curiously.

"It's here, everyone get out of the car."

After clapping their hands, Wu Yuan got off the bus with the main actors of "The Undertaker".

This is their first stop to experience life.

There were already people waiting for them outside the funeral home.

"Hi Director Wu, welcome to learn about our funeral business."

The director of the funeral home smiled like a chrysanthemum in bloom.

It's so pitiful that even though the art of film has been around for so many years, there has never been a film that focused on the "funeral" industry.

Now there is actually a movie that is going to film the work and life of an undertaker, and reveal to the audience the importance of the profession of an undertaker, as well as the sadness and difficulty behind it.

Upon receiving the news, the curator immediately patted his chest and promised that the crew of "The Undertaker" would definitely be treated like home!
Well, it seems a little inappropriate to say that, but the intention is in place.

"Come, come, please."

"Several masters in our museum are waiting for you."

Although it was said that they were experiencing the profession of an embalmer, Zhang Guorong and the others were not allowed to actually follow the embalmers to do the work of embalming the remains.

Every deceased should be respected.

Except for the general teacher in the medical school who dedicated his body to the cause of medicine, any other deceased should not be the object of visit.

Not even for making a movie!
Therefore, the crew of "The Embalmer" cannot really witness the specific working methods of the embalmers while they are working.

They can only simulate the career of an embalmer through the dictation of master craftsmen and using some practice prostheses.

Of course, for the funeral ceremony after encoffining, with the permission of the family members, several main actors can participate as guests to experience it.

Under the leadership of the curator, Wu Yuan, Zhang Guorong, Chen Hong, Li Xuejian, Wu Yanshu, Sun Li and other main creators quickly arrived at a family lounge in the funeral home.

Three well-dressed morticians were already waiting for everyone inside.

All three are men, two of them seem to be 50 to 30 years old, and one is younger, only [-] to [-] years old.

"These three are the embalmers of our funeral home. The two elders, Gan Jianxiang and Master Gao Yan, have been embalmers in our funeral home for 20 years. They are very professional."

"That young guy is called Ji Jun, and he is an apprentice led by Master Gao Yan."

In fact, except for the special nature of the job itself, people who work as undertakers are no different from ordinary people in other respects.

It may be the first time to see a big star, the faces of the three embalmers are a little nervous, standing there at a loss, not knowing what to do.

Seeing this, Wu Yuan took the initiative to step forward and shook hands with them one by one.

When reaching out their hands, the three of them were obviously hesitant. It seemed that they seldom shook hands with people and were not used to this kind of "intimate" contact.

"Hello three masters, I am the director of the film "The Undertaker", and my name is Wu Yuan."

"This time I came to our funeral parlor in Beijing, I just wanted to know with the three masters what the real life and work of the embalmers are like."

Perhaps because their circle of friends is relatively narrow, the three masters are all relatively taciturn.

After they looked at each other for a few moments, Gan Jianxiang, the oldest, replied stammeringly: "Actually, we are ordinary people, just doing jobs that many people can't accept."

"Usually, although the deceased has seen a lot, they can see through life and death without saying it. Instead, they have seen a lot of warmth and warmth."

"I don't know what you want to know, director."

"As long as we know, you can ask, and we can answer."

"Okay, let's sit down and talk first." Wu Yuan smiled and nodded, calling for everyone to sit down together.

In fact, he also needs to learn the specific situation of this industry from these real embalmers, and understand what kind of life they usually face and come into contact with, so that he can better improve the details of the script.

As soon as he sat down, Zhang Guorong, who had been looking at the three of them curiously, looked at the youngest undertaker and asked softly: "Aren't you afraid of doing this?"

Facing the big star's question, Ji Jun was very shy and nervous. He scratched his head and said, "I will definitely be scared at first. After all, I face the deceased every day."

"I was very scared when I encountered the body for the first time. Everything felt cold. I felt very nervous and wanted to end it quickly."

"I didn't expect that one body after another followed. I suddenly realized that so many people died every day. I didn't fall asleep that night. When I closed my eyes, the image of the corpses was in my mind."

"But after working for a long time, I am not afraid anymore. It's not that I have become more courageous, but I have figured it out in my heart after working for a long time. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"On the contrary, it is a gratifying thing to think that in the last stage of the deceased's life, it was me who dressed and organized them so that they could leave this world with dignity and dignity."

"In my opinion, although they are the dead, they used to be living lives one by one. It's just that we are helping them to complete the final journey of life, and we want to give them the final dignity."

"I think even if there are ghosts in this world, they won't harm us, but just thank us, right?"

Zhang Guorong stared blankly at Ji Jun, at the encoffiner who should be "avoidable" in the eyes of most ordinary people, and at the sincere and gratified smile he showed when he mentioned his work. For a moment, he I don't even know what to say.

Thousands of words were choked in his throat, but in the end it just turned into a sigh.

Wu Yuan, who also listened silently, turned his head to look at Gan Jianxiang: "Master Gan, how do you usually work in this line of work?"

"How does it work?" Gan Jianxiang frowned, and after thinking for a while, he said dryly, "Actually, the process is not complicated."

"The body is first taken out, bowed to the body, then repaired, bathed, wiped, and the nails of the hands and feet trimmed, and then dressed and put on makeup."

"Sometimes they have to be massaged to relax the stiff remains and facilitate dressing."

"In terms of gender, if you are a man, you need to cut your hair and shave your beard. If you are a woman, you need to apply foundation, blush, and lipstick for her."

"Finally, after everything is sorted out, the body will be placed in the coffin, and the family members can perform the farewell ceremony."

"Of course, it's relatively simple to say, but each step is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Not only do you need to master these professional skills, you must also be able to withstand the pressure of a heavy workload."

Compared with the stuttering at the beginning, Gan Jianxiang, who was talking about his career, immediately started talking.

Looking at his simple but bright eyes, Wu Yuan sighed deeply in his heart.

Because of people's taboo on death, most ordinary people have a deep prejudice against the undertaker, and they are afraid to avoid it, or even speak ill of each other.

But they never complained, but took the initiative to isolate their lives from the outside world.

They actively refuse invitations to various birthday banquets, wedding banquets, weddings, and birthdays. They are used to not shaking hands with others and hiding their hands.

Even greetings such as "goodbye" and "see you next time" are not easily uttered for fear of being misunderstood.

In order to make the last journey of the deceased's life beautiful and dignified, they choose to sacrifice themselves to fulfill the deceased.

They are silent and silent on weekdays, as if they have disappeared into the society and disappeared from the sight of most people.

But they have been silently giving dignity to death and well-being to the deceased.

This is the undertaker.

(End of this chapter)