Lu Ban did not conduct global publicity and promotion because he believed that the subject matter of this film was rather unique and the ideas it conveyed were not something that people all over the world could understand and accept.

There are creators in this world who want their creations to attract as many general public as possible. There are two forms of development for such creators. One is to grasp the commonality of human beings and create emotions that transcend nationality, ethnicity, ideology, and cultural level. No matter which country or what kind of people read these works, they will be touched.

Another form of development is to package what you think is right into a form that everyone can accept, such as superhero movies, which appear to be a stack of special effects and large scenes, but are actually cultural outputs of personal heroism and liberalism.

There are also some creators who focus on creating things that only a small number of people can appreciate or accept. Their works are full of national and regional characteristics. If you don’t have a certain understanding of their creative background and culture, it is basically difficult to understand the content.

Of course, what is national is also global. As long as the content is good enough, it will attract many people to study these cultures and understand the creative content, which can also be regarded as a kind of cultural output.

Therefore, the thinking contained in Lu Ban's "Nine Streams" is closer to what the Chinese often say about self-cultivation, family management, governance of the country and peace in the world. Each follower of the Nine Streams also upholds the idea of ​​helping the world when they are successful. These core ideas may be regarded abroad as the collective being above the individual, forced personal sacrifice, and even oppression of human rights.

From a cognitive perspective, Lu Ban believes that Chinese people are more likely to accept the content and complete the task more easily.

Anyway, his purpose is not to make money, but to change everyone's perception.

However, Lu Ban's behavior obviously exceeded many people's expectations.

Especially when he announced that the premiere of "Nine Streams" would only be held in China, foreign media were the most vocal in the discussion.

Is this Lu Ban getting carried away?

His previous films, if not for fame and fortune, were at least huge hits internationally. This "Nine Streams" will obviously consolidate his previous status, reap another wave of box office revenue around the world, and trigger a frenzy.

However, Lu Ban did not authorize the premiere in overseas theaters, and did not even make a subtitled version.

This means that this film "Nine Streams" can only be seen in the country.

Why is he just leaving the money there and not making any money?

Of course, the opinions of the media reporters could not change Lu Ban's decision.

With one week left before the October 1st holiday, some foreigners began buying tickets to China, preparing to watch the premiere in domestic cinemas.

In addition, they have to face another problem, which is that they don’t understand Chinese.

When Lu Ban’s films were released overseas before, they were either original with subtitles or dubbed. Regardless of the quality of the translation, at least there was no difficulty in understanding.

But now, this movie has no English subtitles, let alone Chinese subtitles. Not to mention foreigners, some Chinese people feel that they may not be able to understand it.

It’s not that there have been movies without subtitles in history. Early movies didn’t have subtitles either, but people still enjoyed watching them. But the actors at that time were very good, and their words were clear, sonorous, and full of intonation. Listening to the lines was a pleasure.

Many actors nowadays lack basic skills in delivering lines and cannot even speak clearly. Without subtitles, it is really hard to tell what they are saying.

In the two trailers of "Nine Streams", the first one was so clear and melodious that people ignored the existence of subtitles. Even after watching it, many people realized that there were no subtitles.

The second trailer is simple and sincere, as if someone around you is telling you a story. They speak more down-to-earth and don't use the tone of subtitles.

Therefore, most viewers feel that the presence or absence of subtitles should not have much impact on "Nine Streams".

As for foreigners, I'm sorry, please learn Chinese.

In foreign forums, there are some translators of Lu Ban’s early works. They added subtitles to the videos that Lu Ban uploaded online and formed a subtitle group. Some members of the subtitle group are going to watch the movie first this time and then spoil the plot for foreign audiences!

College student Stephen is a member of the subtitle group.

He studied Chinese at Yannan University and speaks fairly fluent Chinese. Just by listening to his speech, people would probably think he was from some ethnic minority. Many domestic reports about Lu Ban were translated by him and posted on foreign fan forums.

This time, he also received an important task, which was to go to the premiere of "Nine Streams".

Like many foreigners who come to China, Stephen is interested in Kung Fu, opera, and Yannan roast duck. As soon as he saw the trailer of "Nine Streams", Stephen fell madly in love with this movie.

In Stephen's opinion, Lu Ban's previous films were more or less meant to cater to the audience, while "Nine Streams" embodies traditional culture. Stephen is very curious about how Lu Ban will present these.

In October, on the first day of the university holiday, he bought the pre-sale tickets and went to the cinema next to the school to catch the early show.

The 10 a.m. show was sold out and the cinema was packed. Stephen also saw some people cosplaying as characters from Lu Ban’s previous works. He shamelessly took a photo with them and felt very satisfied.

When it came time to enter, the theater filled up faster than Stephen had ever seen before.

When he watched movies in the past, many people would arrive late after the movie had already started and the first part of the plot was almost over, and then use their cell phones to light up the way to find seats, disturbing others' viewing. If they got to the wrong seat, they would start a quarrel, which would completely ruin the movie-watching experience.

This time, the theater was already packed with people before the commercials were even over.

Stephen was satisfied.

He sent a message to the subtitle group on the chat app, took a photo of the screening room, then muted his phone and put it in his pocket.

The theater went completely dark.

After the logos of several movie producers flashed, the familiar Silent Media logo appeared, followed by darkness.

In the darkness, a village looms.

The camera came to the village, where a child was wearing mourning clothes and kneeling in front of the mourning hall. In front of him were two coffins.

After a few simple conversations, Stephen learned that the deceased were the child's parents and today was the seventh day after the death, the night of the return of the soul.

The candle flickered, paper money burned quietly in the brazier, and the child knelt in front of the coffin, silent.

On the side, there was a man wearing sunglasses watching this scene, seemingly thinking about something.

Just then, a gust of cold wind blew.

The flickering candlelight flickered twice and then went out.

The child raised his head and looked at the extinguished, still smoking candle.

From behind him, there came a faint voice calling his name.

The child turned around, and the next moment, his eyes were covered by a hand.

"Some things are better out of sight."

The man wearing sunglasses came to the child at some point, covered his eyes and protected him behind him.

Afterwards, he said a few words to the empty mourning hall, roughly telling the child's parents not to worry and to rest assured for their reincarnation.

After a gust of cold wind, the candle began to burn again. The mourning hall became bright. The child didn't know what happened. He looked at the man, wanting to know the answer.

"In this world, the more you know, the more unfortunate you will be. Live well."

The man patted the child on the shoulder and then walked out of the yard.

The camera pulls up to see the mountains stretching out under the moonlight.

The title of the movie was written out bit by bit with a brush.

"Nine Classes".