Chapter 852 Highest Affirmation
Since May, the domestic film industry has been flooded with news about the two epic blockbusters "Hero" and "The Opium War".
As early as early May, the movie "Opium War" held a grand joint distribution signing ceremony in Yanjing. The film will be jointly distributed by China Film Corporation, Emei Film Studio and Sichuan "Opium War" Film and Television Production Co., Ltd.
In order to shoot "The Opium War", Xie Jin raised funds everywhere and finally found several investors including Emei Film Studio, Huitong City Cooperative Bank, China National Culture Promotion Association, Shanghai Jingwen Investment Co., Ltd. for joint investment. He even established a cross-regional joint-stock single-film project company - Sichuan "The Opium War" Film and Television Production Co., Ltd.
The film cost more than 90 million RMB and was publicly announced as a 100 million RMB investment. But in fact, the total cost of the film was much more than 100 million RMB.
Because of the reputation of the great director Xie Jin and because the theme of the film is relevant to the return of Hong Kong, the film has received various welfare benefits support from the domestic government and the public since the beginning of filming.
Free use of Yanying Studio's props, purchase of retired warships at low prices, China International Airlines waiving crew airfare, troops participating in performances...
Compared to the extraordinary treatment of "The Opium War", the treatment of "Hero" was not that high, but during the filming process it also received courtesy from local governments and provided a lot of help. However, the help received by "Hero" was more of a mutual benefit with local governments.
The filming locations of "Hero" are all over China, including the Ejina Populus euphratica forest in Inner Mongolia, Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan, Dunhuang in Gansu...
Local governments are hoping that the movie’s release will boost the popularity of tourist attractions and develop the local tourism industry.
The pre-release publicity campaign for "The Opium War" began on the day of the distribution signing ceremony. Ten days later, various news about "Hero" began to appear in the newspapers.
The publicity campaign for the two blockbusters was officially launched, and for a time, the domestic film industry was booming.
The publicity campaign for "The Opium War" lasted for more than a month, and the publicity planning and distribution work jointly undertaken by China Film, Emei Film Studio and the "Opium War" joint-stock project company was in full swing.
On June 9, "The Opium War" was released under the attention of the public.
Due to more than a month of publicity in advance, two days before the film was released, there was a rare scene of audiences lining up to buy tickets in many cinemas across the country, and tickets were hard to come by. The film was very popular.
"Oh, are we a little late?" Liu Jianzhong was a little scared when he saw the long queue for buying tickets.
Tian Congming looked very pleased and said, "Just queue up first. You can at least get a ticket."
Lin Weimin didn't say anything. He walked past the two people to the front of the line, whispered a few words to someone, took out some money, and got a few movie tickets.
"Come on, come on, I'm inviting the two leaders to see a movie today!" Lin Weimin smiled and distributed the movie tickets to the two.
Liu Jianzhong was surprised and said, "You can buy tickets here? You are amazing!"
Tian Congming said, "This ticket is quite expensive, isn't it?"
"Hehe, that's OK, 20 yuan per ticket!" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Listening to the conversation between the two, Liu Jianzhong suddenly realized that Lin Weimin had paid a premium to buy the ticket. No wonder he ran to the front and bought the ticket so quickly and easily.
"Don't feel sorry for him. How can the GDP grow if he, a rich landlord, doesn't spend money?" Tian Congming said to Liu Jianzhong.
There was still more than half an hour before the movie started, and several people were standing at the entrance of the cinema chatting and laughing.
It was Tian Congming's suggestion that the three grown men go out to watch a movie today. Recently, the domestic film market is about to enter the summer vacation. Two large-scale domestic films, "Opium War" and "Hero", are coming out strongly. The market has swept away the previous decadent atmosphere and is full of vitality and restlessness. The promotion of the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television and the Film Bureau is indispensable.
As one of the behind-the-scenes driving forces, Tian Congming naturally wanted to personally feel the impact of their operations on the market.
Tian Congming and Liu Jianzhong, the two supervisors, were very happy to feel the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies in the cinema. However, after watching the movie, their faces did not look as relaxed as before the movie.
During the reign of Emperor Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, Britain's opium trade posed a serious threat to the Qing Empire, and Emperor Daoguang was forced to issue an edict appointing Lin Zexu, Governor-General of Huguang, as the imperial commissioner to go to Guangdong to ban opium.
However, the opium trade was complicated, and corrupt officials were in collusion with British merchants. Lin Zexu's anti-smoking campaign faced many difficulties. On June 3, the 19th year of Daoguang, Lin Zexu directed the gunpowder on the Humen Beach in Guangzhou, which made the people applaud.
But soon, British merchant Dent returned to Britain on behalf of Elliot to lobby for war, and Britain declared war on China. The British navy was well-equipped and sailed straight down from the mouth of the Pearl River to Tanggu. Emperor Daoguang was weak and incompetent, and blamed Lin Zexu for angering the foreigners, dismissed him, and sent Zhili Governor Qishan as an imperial envoy to reconcile with the British.
Later, the British side proposed to cede territory and pay compensation. Emperor Daoguang could not bear to cede territory, so he ordered the navy to fight. Guan Tianpei and others led troops to fight fiercely with the British army at Humen Fort, but they lost the battle due to their backward weapons. All officers and soldiers died for their country, and Lin Zexu was exiled to XJ. The British side signed the Treaty of Nanjing with the Qing government in 1842, and Hong Kong became a British colony from then on.
After the movie was over, the three of them squatted on the curb in front of the cinema and analyzed the movie they had just watched.
The advantages of "The Opium War" are obvious. The content basically restores history and truly reflects the beginning and end of the Opium War. It not only praises the heroic spirit of the Chinese nation in resisting the opium of foreign powers and fighting bravely, but also breaks through the shortcomings of previous domestic films of stereotyping characters. It reproduces historical figures on the screen one by one, leaving a deep impression on the audience.
But the shortcomings are also obvious. The film is too faithful to historical facts. The story line of the film is almost completely based on historical facts. Watching the whole film makes people feel depressed and extremely cowardly.
Even professionals like Liu Jianzhong and Lin Weimin have seen this, not to mention the feelings of ordinary audiences who just go to the cinema for entertainment.
The outcome of history is certainly unchangeable, but as a narrator, one should focus and make choices. Especially for a movie with a huge investment like "The Opium War", this way of handling the story is very dangerous.
When Lin Weimin and the other two walked out of the screening room, they heard more than one audience member making negative comments about the movie.
Most moviegoers who go to the cinema to watch movies are definitely not looking for a sense of frustration or cowardice.
Even if people already have a certain psychological assumption about the content of the movie through the title, and they can accept appropriate emotional frustration during the viewing process, the final ending must give the audience an outlet for emotional catharsis.
This outlet does not necessarily need to be a comedy ending, but it should be able to allow the audience to express the emotions accumulated throughout the show.
In the second half of "The Opium War", officers and soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country, Lin Zexu was exiled to the frontier, the Qing court lost its sovereignty and humiliated the country, and ceded territory to seek peace. The shot of Emperor Daoguang crying under the angry eyes of his ancestors at the end of the film was handled very literary and artistically, but it was a fatal mistake.
This is a mistake that no big-budget movie should make.
The negative emotions accumulated in the audience's heart have not been vented or relieved, but are instead piled up in their hearts. The more they think about it, the more aggrieved and helpless they feel. No matter how well-made the film is and how thrilling the story is, it is difficult for people to identify with it.
Such movies may be good, but they will definitely not watch them a second time, let alone recommend them to people around them.
Movie promotion, the publicity work of the film producers and distributors is very important, but their job is more like igniting the fuse in their hearts, so that they can accept and love such a movie from the bottom of their hearts. Because of the love of these audiences, the influence of the movie will be further expanded, and then attract more audiences to go to the cinema, just like many domestic movies in later generations that achieved super high box office by relying on tap water.
After listening to Lin Weimin's analysis, Liu Jianzhong nodded and said, "Weimin is right. There is nothing wrong with the filming of this movie. It is an excellent work, but it just doesn't take the audience's feelings into consideration. The way the second half is handled is close to historical facts, but it is too direct. The audience will definitely not accept it. I felt very upset watching it, let alone ordinary audiences. I think it will more or less affect the box office."
He added: "It would have been better if Director Xie had handled the ending a little more gently."
Lin Weimin shook his head. "Director Xie has been filming for a lifetime. He should understand this kind of thing."
Tian Congming said: "Is this the problem of creative consciousness of these two generations of domestic directors that you mentioned?"
Before the fifth generation of directors, Chinese film directors had no idea about "commercialization" and "market". In their view, making movies was artistic creation, at the very least a propaganda machine, and talking about money and business was vulgar.
"almost."
When the others talked about this, Liu Jianzhong asked Lin Weimin again, "Weimin, isn't the story of Jing Ke assassinating Qin Shi Huang in your film Hero also a tragic one? This kind of problem also exists. How did you deal with it?"
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Won't you know when you see it?"
"You're still keeping us in suspense!" Tian Congming scolded Lin Weimin with a smile.
Liu Jianzhong smiled and said to Tian Congming: "He will keep it a secret for just one day. I will treat you to a big movie tomorrow."
"Hero" was just completed in the past two days, and the videotape will be sent to the Film Bureau for review tomorrow. The content of the film is naturally no secret to Liu Jianzhong and Tian Congming.
The next afternoon, in Lishi Hutong, not far from Chaonei Street, there is a house from the Qing Dynasty, close to the intersection of Dongsi North Street. This was the residence of Liu Yong, an important official of the Qianlong Dynasty, and the prototype of Liu Luoguo in "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo".
Liu Yong Mansion is now the office of the Film Bureau and is a beautiful large courtyard.
The Film Bureau attaches great importance to the censorship of "Hero". Today, not only comrades from the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television are present, but also comrades from culture, publicity and other fields.
Seeing that several deputy-level comrades had arrived, Zhang Yimou's face became nervous involuntarily.
He had never seen such a scene in the films he had shot before.
Looking at Lin Weimin, who came with him, chatting and laughing with a group of leaders, Zhang Yimou couldn't help but feel envious.
"I think most people are here, shall we start?" Lin Weimin suggested to Tian Congming.
In an occasion like today, Liu Jianzhong, the landlord, had little chance to speak, and he didn't care when Lin Weimin spoke up.
Just by looking at Lin Weimin chatting and laughing freely with those leaders who were higher in rank than him, Liu Jianzhong couldn't get angry and could only feel admiration in his heart.
We are all at the same level, why are you so awesome?
The movie starts, right at the beginning, before the plot unfolds, the strong impact of color catches the eye.
The bold setting and the collision and fusion of various colors are a highlight of "Hero".
The originally relaxed expressions of the people present immediately became serious, and even their postures while watching the movie became solemn involuntarily.
An idea popped up in everyone's mind.
This is the kind of movie they've never seen before!
This is true not only in terms of content but also in form.
Bold, the director's creative concept is very bold, not only bold, but also novel, unique and distinctive.
As soon as the film started, everyone watching the movie was immersed in the beautiful pictures.
Afterwards, the plot slowly unfolds and various characters appear on the stage.
The plot of "Hero" is not much different from the original version, but with the intervention of Lin Weimin, the solidity of the script is far beyond that of later generations.
Without some pretentious plots and character settings, the dialogues are concise, powerful and in line with the characters' personalities.
In the early stage, the negative portrayal of the continuous wars among the seven countries was strengthened, which made the purpose of Wuming and others to assassinate Qin reasonable, and also emphasized the righteousness of Wuming's concern for the country and the people, and laid the groundwork for the tragic ending of the film in which he was willing to sacrifice himself.
The 96-minute film ended, and the final cast and crew list was still rolling. Zhang Yimou looked around in the darkness, trying to see the expressions on the faces of the many leaders who came to review the film.
Lin Weimin, who was sitting next to him, was the first to applaud, and then applause broke out in the screening room.
The film review team of only a dozen people in total could not create deafening applause, but Zhang Yimou, who has participated in film review many times, knows that not every movie can enjoy such applause.
The leaders’ applause is the highest affirmation of “Hero”.
(End of this chapter)
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