Chapter 691

"It's not that negative reviews of a movie don't do much harm to it, but rather that if you try to control or suppress negative reviews for the movie 'The Telephone,' the effect will be counterproductive, because it's not the kind of movie that doesn't get bad reviews."

In Lin Yu's television column, she also offered a sharp analysis of this matter.

"For the film industry, due to the high risk of filmmaking, and the decisive role of opening day or opening weekend box office in the life and death of a film, everyone has been afraid of bad reviews for a long time. Even though we all say that bad is bad and bad should be punished, from the perspective of the film company, it is definitely not like that. In fact, I think 'The Telephone' has brought a new direction to the entire film industry, that is, audiences do not necessarily need a film to be perfect before they are willing to go to the cinema to watch it."

"I chatted with many friends about the strengths of the movie 'The Telephone' and what it did right. I summarized a few points and would like to share them with you. If I am wrong, just consider me wrong."

Lin Yu smiled and paused for a moment before continuing.

"First, the core selling point of this film has been very clear since it came into the public eye, and it does not try to ride on any trending topics, such as the two female leads being one of the most easily recognizable women."

"Secondly, with screenwriter Lu Yanhe and lead actress Jiang Yuqian, the film had a clear and realistic box office target from the beginning: 100 to 300 million yuan. This was the target estimated by the production company based on the subject matter and market conditions. They controlled the cost budget around this target, without being blindly arrogant, unlike various films that immediately claim to be aiming for 1 billion or 2 billion yuan in box office revenue. They did not exaggerate their production costs, difficulties, or investments. Instead, while attracting more viewers to the cinema, they did not keep them under high expectations. This is very rare. Nowadays, the promotional pattern for almost all films is to say that the film is amazing and that you will miss out if you don't see it. On the one hand, this inflates the audience's expectations, but on the other hand, it often does not live up to the hype."

"Third, 'The Telephone' was willing to invest heavily in publicity and marketing, and it used its stars wisely. The selling points of 'The Telephone' are its subject matter and the actors Jiang Yuqian and Lu Yanhe. Compared to many films, the cast of 'The Telephone' is not particularly star-studded. You could say that it's basically Jiang Yuqian carrying the film alone—if you don't count Lu Yanhe's contribution, but he's the screenwriter, not an actor. In this situation, they didn't neglect another actress, Wang Jing. They used Jiang Yuqian and Lu Yanhe to expand the publicity and increase brand awareness, and they used Wang Jing to create a sense of novelty for the audience. As far as I know, the publicity and marketing budget invested by the production company in Wang Jing and her role was almost equal to that invested in Jiang Yuqian."

...

“Jiang Yuqian is getting worse as she gets older,” Zhang Lan sneered. “She’s even letting a newcomer challenge her.”

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhou smiled and said, "I told you long ago that she's becoming more and more subservient in front of Lu Yanhe. Her current momentum and popularity are all thanks to Lu Yanhe's dramas. Look at how much she fawns over Lu Yanhe. Once Lu Yanhe stops promoting her, she'll be forgotten immediately."

Zhang Lan: "Did you go see 'The Telephone'?"

"Not yet." Shi Zhou shook his head. "I'm too lazy to watch it. It's obvious that it's not a good movie and they're just here to make a quick buck. I didn't expect that they could somehow make the audience feel that they are very sincere and that they would be willing to watch the movie."

Zhang Lan said, "After 'Even Faking Death Is Not an Option' was a hit, several similar romantic comedy scripts were sent to me. Do you think I should take one?"

“Those scripts are all pretty mediocre. Do you want to take them?” Shi Zhou asked, frowning.

"The main problem is that I don't have any other scripts right now," Zhang Lan said. "I haven't been on a film set for a long time, and I don't have a single drama in the pipeline. If I don't take on any more roles, what will I do?"

“I think we should be selective and not accept inferior products,” Shi Zhou said. “Look at the two dramas you took on when you lowered your standards. They didn’t do well in the end and actually dragged you down. With your status, fame, and popularity, you could maintain your current situation even if you didn’t act for two years. Every time your career has experienced a major setback, it has been after you started acting.”

Zhang Lan: "..."

Shi Zhou added, "Unless we are very confident that this show will be a hit."

"How can you say for sure? If we could all be certain that a show would be a hit, there wouldn't have been so many shows that failed one after another." Zhang Lan sighed. "Do you think I've been having a run of bad luck these past two years? Maybe I should go to a temple and pray to a Buddha?"

Shi Zhou: "Okay, let's get rid of this bad luck."

-

On a weekday, the decline in "The Telephone" was quite significant, exceeding everyone's expectations.

According to box office analysts and audience tracking personnel, the film's target audience is very small, with viewers over 35 years old making up only 17%, which is very few. Therefore, the decline was severe after the weekend.

"However, there is still hope that the total box office of 'The Telephone' will exceed 400 million. The market was relatively cold throughout January, and there were no competitive films that would erode the screening space of 'The Telephone'. This period is very friendly to films with a medium-sized box office volume like 'The Telephone'."

At the time, the publicity department had actually done special research before choosing this time slot.

Jiang Yuqian was unable to continue promoting the film with the crew, as she had many other jobs to do.

Therefore, Wang Jing was basically the only one running the promotional tour after the film's release.

Wang Jing ran with great focus.

This movie brought a lot of attention to her.

Whether it was "Late Spring" or "Squid Game," she wasn't actually playing the lead role. Although the shows were popular and brought her a lot of attention, they didn't really create a large-scale fan base, so she didn't become a true "overnight sensation."

This time, her portrayal of the constantly reversing villain in "The Telephone" allowed her to showcase her acting skills in her comfort zone, firmly capturing the audience's attention and making her a true star.

This can be seen from the fact that Wang Jing suddenly received four scripts within a week—all of which were for leading roles.

In addition to her promotional tour, Wang Jing also took a day to complete her cameo role in "Home Alone".

Linghe specifically marketed this event.

After all, it can both promote "Telephone" and maintain the film's popularity, and also generate buzz for "Home Alone".

Home Alone is a movie that needs to constantly attract attention—but it has even less star power than The Telephone.

Just then, the Citium Film Festival suddenly announced the list of this year's jury.

Liu Bige was among them, which attracted some attention.

After Lu Yanhe, Li Zhibai, and Yan Liang completed a rehearsal for the Spring Festival Gala, the Xituer Film Festival announced another batch of films that entered the main competition.

Lu Yanhe's film "Tropical Rainy Season" and screenplay "Raise the Red Lantern" are among them.

With Lu Yanhe's works winning awards on the international stage over the past two years, and these two films being shortlisted for top international film festivals again, everyone is no longer discussing whether they can win an award, but rather what kind of award they can win.

The media wants to know:

1. Can Lu Yanhe win another Best Screenplay award for "Raise the Red Lantern"?

2. Will Chen Bige be able to win her third Best Actress award at an international film festival with this film?

3. How could a Malaysian art film like "Tropical Rainy Season," directed by a newcomer and without the backing of a major production company, be promoted to the main competition by Lu Yanhe? When did it become so easy to get into the main competition? Wasn't it initially said that this film could only be placed in the next lower category?

4. Will Chinese-language films be able to win the top award this time?

After all, Liu Bige is among the jury members for the main competition section of this year's Citium Film Festival.

It's not that he, as a single judge, can make the final decision. He's not the chairman of the judging panel either; it's not like that.

However, having a judge present allows for a detailed explanation and interpretation of the film's cultural background to the other judges. Ultimately, a film is a cultural product; understanding its cultural context allows for a deeper appreciation of its content.

-

Lu Yanhe thought to himself, "Raise the Red Lantern" is a standard award-winning film.

With director Wang Zhong and lead actress Chen Bige, plus the film's presentation style and themes, it would be hard for it not to win awards.

In fact, this film isn't that difficult for foreigners to understand. The theme is very clear, without any pretense; anyone who watches it will understand that it's about "human alienation."

As for the oppression of feudal ethics—

This is true for Chinese people. Foreigners, even if they don't understand the oppression of feudal ethics, can still appreciate this film.

They may not understand feudal ethics, but they certainly understand power structures, especially the power structure between men and women. This kind of story theme is also common in foreign films.

Lu Yanhe has always felt that the most outstanding aspect of "Raise the Red Lantern" compared to other films is its extremely rigorous structure, to the point that it allows viewers to appreciate its structural beauty.

Whether it's the frequent symmetrical scenes along the central axis, the rhythmic sound of foot massage, or the repeated lighting of lamps, they all create a ritual imbued with ancient charm...

It could be said that this film is filled with metaphors and allegories. The entire world has become a self-contained system.

The original film won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In China, Gong Li and He Saifei won the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards at the Hundred Flowers Awards, respectively, achieving remarkable success.

Lu Yanhe will always remember the shock he felt when he first watched this movie.

At that time, he thought that this kind of movie was critical, serious, not very good, but just a work with so-called high artistic value.

But one afternoon, he saw this movie on TV, so he drew the curtains and watched it alone for a while, and ended up getting engrossed in it.

The film itself is a compelling story. All the criticism, seriousness, and the value and significance bestowed upon it by critics are secondary. The story itself is a convoluted tale where the next turn is completely unpredictable.

In particular, Songlian's change in attitude towards the foot massage, and how she gradually became twisted and turned into the kind of person she used to despise in order to win favor before and after her marriage.

At that moment, Lu Yanhe truly felt that Zhang Yimou's ability to achieve such great fame was truly due to his solid skills.

Some directors make their living from critics, some from audience reviews, and some from the market's profits, but he makes his living from all of them.

-

Lu Yanhe hasn't seen Wang Chong's film "Raise the Red Lantern" yet, but based on his understanding of Wang Chong, he knows very well that this film will only be more "gloomy" than the original.

He is also looking forward to the film's performance at the Cittour Film Festival.

This is the first time he has actually put forward an award-winning film to compete for awards after so many attempts.

Previous films like "Rouge" and "Love Letter" were primarily films that were well-received by audiences, but their artistic value in terms of mainstream awards was not particularly outstanding.

But they have also achieved some success in this world.

I wonder how "Raise the Red Lantern" will turn out.

Lu Yanhe sincerely hopes that this film can win a very prestigious award.

Don't let it become a burden you carry.

Lu Yanhe couldn't stand this.

-

After Lu Yanhe and two others participated in one round of rehearsals for the Spring Festival Gala, the production team gave Lu Yanhe a break because his schedule was really tight. He was allowed to miss two rehearsals in the middle, as long as he could make it to the final round.

This is truly a "preferential treatment" given to Lu Yanhe by the Spring Festival Gala production team. Basically, the Spring Festival Gala production team would not give such preferential treatment to celebrities.

Of course, this is also because, given Lu Yanhe's current situation, the production team still hopes to give him a chance to perform on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

The Spring Festival Gala now aims to bring together the most popular, representative, and accomplished stars of the year, especially those who have made remarkable achievements representing China on the international stage, to perform, much like a variety show.

If Lu Yanhe didn't show up, it would indeed be a bit unreasonable.

Not to mention, this show is a three-person chorus stage.

If Lu Yanhe doesn't go, neither can Li Zhibai and Yan Liang.

If those two were paired with another person, they would definitely be criticized to death.

God knows how many fans are waiting for their annual reunion performance.

As the three of them went further and further down the path of acting, their stage appearances as idols became fewer and fewer, not to mention performances together.

After the leaked photos of the three of them during their last Spring Festival Gala rehearsal were released, they have already attracted tremendous attention and anticipation.

Unless there is some unforeseen force majeure event, it is impossible to take their program off the air now.

(End of this chapter)