Chapter 892 Let the movie return to being a movie
What kind of story does "The Boat" tell?
When this film was being created, someone suggested that if the script had been made even more obscure during filming, even if the truth behind the surface was eventually uncovered, the discussions would not have been about the film itself.
In other words, that's not something that belongs to the film itself.
During the pre-production stage of a film, deciding on the direction and extent to which a film should be developed based on its script is a very painful process for the film's creators.
When Lu Yanhe initially suggested deleting the scene of him destroying the poison, no one openly objected, but privately many said it was unacceptable. Without that scene, the film has no direct evidence linking his father's death to him. For the story, without the "parricide" ending, the bonds and mutual support among the family in the first half cannot be pierced by a sharp knife, and the impact would be lost.
However, this is what Lu Yanhe said to Luo Yuzhong and Yu Mengling.
"The screenwriter of this script, Ms. Zhang Qiuping, wrote this script because of her own family background. She had a hypocritical father who, in order to create the image of a good father and husband and for his own career, concealed the fact that he already had another family outside and deceived everyone."
"So, Teacher Zhang wrote this script to expose the hypocritical, loving, and deeply affectionate father image. And at the end of the script, she also designed a counterattack plot, which I think is probably her regretful wish that she wanted to fulfill but could not."
"However, let's not forget that after her father passed away, she actually had a lot of time and opportunities to film the script. Even if she didn't film it, she had many opportunities to expose the lies her father told back then. However, in order to save face for her family, she endured it all and said nothing."
"Isn't this another objective truth? We all have to silently, diligently, and even humiliatingly maintain a semblance of dignity, even with regret, because life must go on. Revenge is the truth, and so is the cover-up. The ending is that the father dies. What caused this ending? Every viewer can have their own answer. Even the script, from the son's perspective, writes that he poisoned her, but what about the parts that weren't mentioned? Did the sister do nothing?"
"It should be shrouded in mystery and complex. Everyone has their own secrets. Even with your closest relatives, you will never know what others have done. You can only know what you have done, and you can only see the truth as you see it."
Lu Yanhe used these words to persuade Luo Yuzhong and the others.
Every family is a Rashomon-like situation.
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The program booklet for "The Boat" gave it a score of 2.9, which is considered above average.
This score was lower than Lu Yanhe had expected.
However, despite its low ratings, it generated the most enthusiastic media response and discussion at this year's Situ International Film Festival.
Many people are discussing this movie.
Almost every film critic has discussed this movie on their social media platforms more than once.
Lu Yanhe left Xituer in a hurry after the media conference.
He had to rush back to film "The Original Father".
Unable to interview Lu Yanhe, media reporters scrambled to secure the schedules of Luo Yuzhong, Wen Shengming, and Yu Mengling.
Wen Shengming had just gone through a long public relations campaign during the North American awards season, which was when his international fame was at its peak. Now, with "The Boat," he is once again receiving a barrage of media attention. Many people can see that Wen Shengming will solidify his status as a performing artist on the international stage.
From the very beginning, Lu Yanhe was introduced in this way.
Indeed, from "Dingfeng No. 1" to "Zhou", his performance in the films truly demonstrates his superb acting skills as a performing artist.
Yu Mengling garnered significant media attention for several breathtakingly beautiful scenes in the film. Her appearance in the movie, particularly the single tear under the eaves, was mentioned by numerous media outlets, many saying it was a scene that might be widely discussed in the future.
Yu Mengling is already one of China's top actresses. After winning Best Actress at the Picardo Film Festival, she began to attract attention from international film media. It can be said that even if this film didn't have Lu Yanhe, but only Wen Shengming and Yu Mengling, as long as it was selected for the main competition at the Situ International Film Festival, it would definitely be a film that received attention and was not neglected.
Media predictions suggest that Yu Mengling is unlikely to compete for the Best Actress award at this year's Situ International Film Festival—due to limited screen time and the film's focus not being on her character. However, her portrayal of the gentleness, restraint, and subtlety of an Eastern woman, especially her own artistic and aloof temperament, is unforgettable. Some actors may not be known for their acting skills, but they are simply darlings of the camera, leaving a lasting impression from the moment they appear.
"The Boat" is also considered by many media outlets to be one of the most promising films to win awards at this year's Situation.
Even if the score in the event program isn't high.
Many people say this: because some media outlets are not smart enough to understand it, they can only give it a low score.
Colleagues can be very harsh on each other.
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"Does 'The Boat' have a chance to compete for the Situer Prize?" Chen Ziyan asked over the phone.
Lu Yanhe said, "Maybe, but there are no Chinese filmmakers on the jury this year, so it's uncertain whether anyone will speak up for 'The Boat'."
Chen Ziyan said, "Yes, it depends on whether any judges really like this movie."
For a film to compete for the top prize at a film festival, it's not enough for the film to be good.
The reason why Ang Lee's "The Wedding Banquet" was able to win the Golden Bear at Berlin along with "Woman Sesame Oil Maker" was because Zhang Yimou was on the jury.
Later, Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" was able to win the Venice Golden Lion Award for the second consecutive year after "Brokeback Mountain" was also due to good luck, as Zhang Yimou was the chairman of the jury that year.
—What? You don't understand what's so good about "Lust, Caution"? No problem, let's watch it again.
Zhang Yimou is ruthless when it comes to awarding prizes.
The "tearing" here doesn't mean tearing apart awards just because they're all Chinese films. Rather, it means that these films—after so many years—are objectively good films. Are there judges who can immediately see why they're good and explain their historical and cultural background and details to other judges to help them better understand the films?
Tang Wei, nominated for Best Actress at Cannes one year for her role in "Decision to Break Up," was widely considered a worthy contender both domestically and internationally. The role seemed tailor-made for her, perfectly complementing her youthful and natural acting style. However, because there were no Chinese members on the jury, and one of the jurors was an old acquaintance of another favorite, who later frankly admitted his opinion in media interviews, the Best Actress award ultimately went to another actress.
There's really no way around it. Film festivals with juries can never truly award prizes fairly. And film is, after all, a matter of personal taste and aesthetic judgment.
Chen Ziyan said, "If 'The Boat' can win the top prize, it can still make a run at the awards season at the end of this year."
"Even if we don't win the top prize, we can still give it a shot, right?" Lu Yanhe said. "Judging from the current international media response, it's very popular."
Chen Ziyan: "Of course, I'm just saying that if it wins the top prize, it's a sure thing. After all, last year 'The Wind Rises' was unexpectedly rejected at the last minute. If 'The Boat' goes for the Oscars again this year, many judges will vote for 'The Boat' as compensation for this reason. It would be a pity if we can't take advantage of this advantage."
What Chen Ziyan said actually makes a lot of sense.
That's true.
The failure of "Calm Wind No. 1" to win Best Foreign Language Film last year sparked much discussion. Everyone knew the core reason, but no one would say it publicly; they only expressed regret and confusion. If "The Boat" were to compete for Best Foreign Language Film again this year, it could indeed receive a lot of compensatory votes.
Lu Yanhe asked, "Has someone already contacted you?"
"Not yet, but a leader from the Film Bureau asked me before who the distributor of the film 'The Boat' was in the United States this year, whether it had been sold, and whether it would be released on a large scale or not."
That means they are indeed considering this movie.
Lu Yanhe said, "The film 'The Boat' will still be distributed by Green Valley, and Schmidt is currently in Situ."
“Midori has now become the regular distributor for almost all of your art films.”
“Whether it’s Parameter or Soren, their collaborations with me are all direct Hollywood films. It’s not that they’re not interested in the non-Hollywood films I star in, but on the one hand, they’re not like Green Valley, who has been deeply involved in finding films for North American distribution at international film festivals. On the other hand, their influence during awards season is not as great as Green Valley’s,” Lu Yanhe said. “Back when we were working with Green Valley on ‘Road to Glory,’ looking back now, Schmidt was really quite impressive.”
“Of course he’s amazing. He bought shares early on, and he got so many of your movies,” Chen Ziyan said. “Back then, Hollywood hadn’t even noticed you yet, but he was already contacting you ahead of time.”
"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded.
“This year’s ‘The Boat’ and next year’s ‘The Original Father’ are the two films that will be nominated for awards in the next two years,” Chen Ziyan said. “However, it’s a pity that the film ‘The Boat’ probably won’t bring you any acting awards. Apart from Teacher Wen, your performance and Yu Mengling’s performance were weakened too much and were not presented at all.”
“It’s okay,” Lu Yanhe said. “The movie ‘The Original Father’ really highlighted my performance, but to be honest, I don’t think that based on the current shooting ideas, the final film will have a higher level of artistic completion than ‘The Boat’.”
Chen Ziyan: "Okay, that's true. People need to have some different works. You can't have every work that really highlights your acting skills. If you highlight them too much, people won't appreciate it."
Lu Yanhe was both amused and exasperated.
“That’s not what I meant. I think the film is the most important thing,” Lu Yanhe said. “Moreover, even if ‘The Boat’ really highlights my acting skills, and I just won an award for ‘Tropical Rainforest’, under this small judging system, even if the whole world thinks my performance deserves an award, they won’t give me the Best Actor trophy again in such a short time.”
“That’s true.” Chen Ziyan nodded. “How’s filming ‘The Original Father’ going? The production team contacted me again, saying they need to postpone it and are asking us for an extra ten days of time.”
"Yes, the filming actually went very smoothly, but you know how demanding Huang Tianlin is of the camera. If he wasn't satisfied, we'd reshoot it again and again. I was also willing to shoot a scene multiple times. It felt great, especially with this show. To be honest, the more I acted, the more narcissistic I felt. I would always sit behind the monitor and watch my performance, and then I would think, 'I acted really well,' and want to do an even better take."
“Okay, what about Men in Black?” Chen Ziyan asked.
“It’s okay, we can start filming normally. There are many scenes in the movie that don’t include me anyway, so I can join the crew later,” Lu Yanhe said. “This movie can’t be filmed for a long time in one day. The union there has all sorts of regulations, which made it so that we could have finished filming in 90 days under normal circumstances, but we ended up having to do it in 130 days.”
The most important point is the working hours of the other male lead. Including makeup and other time, his working hours cannot exceed eight hours per day. Of course, this was negotiated and written into the contract by his agent. It wasn't specifically for this movie; he had made the same request when he signed the contract ten years ago.
Since it was a big-name actor making such a request, Lu Yanhe had no choice but to agree. After all, he had signed a contract with the film crew, and his agent would also make such a request to avoid film crews making him shoot on set for more than ten hours at a time.
However, Lu Yanhe usually speaks frankly about the unpleasant aspects upfront, but during the actual filming process, he will relax his contract requirements based on the actual filming situation. In the film *Men in Black*, however, the actor's agent demanded a strict 8-hour workday, not a minute more.
Fortunately, that's the typical working environment in Hollywood anyway, and the entire production management is handled by Soren's people. Lu Yanhe only needs to control the film's shooting quality and final appearance, as well as do his job as an actor. If the shooting schedule drags on, so be it; it's convenient for him.
Therefore, with the postponement of "The Original Father", he can easily coordinate the filming schedules of the two films without being caught in a dilemma.
(End of this chapter)
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