I'm just an actor

Chapter 220 Chaos
Xu Rong stood on the ancient city of Chang'an, leaning on the ancient city wall, and sighed: "I really dare not think that this was once the center of Chinese movies."

In the 80s, there were sayings in the film and television industry that "the hope of Chinese films lies in the northwest" and "looking at Chang'an in the northwest".

Because there is Xiying here.

In the history of Chinese film, especially the history of mainland film, the West Film Studio, which produced "Farewell My Concubine", "Red Sorghum", "Tuya's Marriage", and "A Chinese Journey to the West", is a name that cannot be avoided.

It is from here that famous directors such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Huang Jianxin, He Ping, Zhou Xiaowen, and Wang Quanan came out.

As for honors, Xiying has won all the awards it can get. Among the award-winning works of mainland films, three have won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival so far, and three are from Xiying Studio.

A total of three mainland films have won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival in Italy, two of which are from Xiying.

A total of four mainland films have won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and three of them are Xiying's films.

However, since the 90s, Wu Tianming, the director of Xiying Films, was excluded due to internal conflicts and left overseas, Xiying Films has gradually declined.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Huang Jianxin and others who were discovered and trained by him left one after another.

In today's Xiying, perhaps only Wang Quan'an is the only director who can still make a move.

When Huang Jianxin heard his sigh, his expression was subtle, and he said: "It is because there is a tenacious spirit here that so many excellent stories have been born. It is a pity."

He didn't say what was a pity, but Xu Rong clearly understood the unfinished meaning of his words, and said: "It's really a pity."

Huang Jianxin was talking about the old stories of Xiying. In the early 80s, few people had heard of Xiying’s name. But when Wu Tianming’s drastic reforms led Xiying to become the center of mainland movies, stare at this piece of fat. There will be more people.

If Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Huang Jianxin, He Ping, and Zhou Xiaowen are still gathered in the same film company, other film groups will go crazy.

As Huang Jianxin walked, he said, "We share hardships and hardships, and we share joys and sorrows."

To this, Xu Rong couldn't agree with it. The state-owned factory was not good at this point. Once someone did something good, the peach pickers could line up.

He came to visit this famous director and senior, of course, not to visit the ancient city or listen to him talk about old things about old sesame seeds and rotten millet 20 years ago.

He glanced at Xiao Zhang, who was following him, then turned his head and asked, "Director Huang, do you really think I can play a great man?"

Huang Jianxin hesitated for a while, nodded slowly, and said: "We have cooperated before, I know your level, and I have discussed it with Lao Han. What we want to photograph is the leader when you were young. You have certain characteristics. Very similar, at least in line with the audience's imagination of a great man."

"Trait?"

Huang Jianxin shook his head and said, "I can't say it, but it feels like the sun just rising in the morning."

"Ok."

Xu Rong couldn't refute this rather subjective judgment, and he asked the question he was most concerned about: "But I feel that my image is not suitable."

Huang Jianxin turned his head and asked, "Have you watched "River Running?"

"Seen."

"You should be familiar with the actor who played the leader. Do you think he looks like our leader?" Huang Jianxin asked with a smile, "In that era, the leader had just passed away, and almost everyone was familiar with his appearance. , but actors have not been criticized for their image, don’t you think you’re not good enough?”

Xu Rong smiled and said, "Director Huang, don't compare me with Teacher Yu. I haven't grown to that extent yet."

"Hahaha, it's not here now, does that mean it will arrive one day?"

Seeing Xu Rongguang smiling, Huang Jianxin neither admitted nor denied, stretched out his hand and pointed at him and said, "Yes, what I value is the arrogance in your bones. What we want is similarity in spirit. If we have to be close in appearance, then I will directly How convenient is it to find a group of special types?"

Xu Rong didn't bother with this anymore, and instead asked: "Then should I learn the dialect?"

Huang Jianxin immediately shook his head and said, "Don't do it, this is a gift film, and it's going to be shown to people all over the country and audiences all over the world. The dialect will limit the audience instead."

"What you have to do is to reveal your hidden edge."

Xu Rong nodded lightly and said, "Thank you Director Huang."

Huang Jianxin shook his head lightly, and said meaningfully: "You don't need to thank me, you should thank yourself."

As he said that, he glanced at Xiao Zhang, who had been silent all along, and asked, "Is your girlfriend also an actress?"

Xu Rongxin said that you were right in asking the question, and said, "Yes, that's right, I acted in "Latent" with me before, and he really liked your play."

Huang Jianxin looked at him and smiled. Xu Rong's meaning was already clear enough.

After chatting with Huang Jianxin for a long time, after having a meal, Xu Rong took classmate Xiao Zhang back to his hometown and brought his grandfather to the capital.

He didn't take his grandfather to the hospital for a physical examination immediately. The old man was old and had to take a rest after a long journey.

I just rested for two days, went to the hospital for a thorough check-up, and the surgery was postponed until the middle of the year.

According to the doctor's opinion, before the operation, it is best to take good care of the body, which is conducive to postoperative recovery.

Because it dragged him down in the past, and grandpa himself retired early, all the little salary was spent on him. Although the living conditions have improved in the past few years and he has made up a lot, it is not a matter of a day or two after all.

During the recuperation time, Xu Rong didn't let the old man stay at home all day. In addition to buying some flowers and plants, a pet dog, and a few pigeons for the old man to deal with the time, he also took the old man to listen to operas and watch cross talk every now and then. , drama.

After 20 years of hard work on him, it's time to enjoy the blessings.

He plans to hire a nanny after a while, and when he goes out to film, he needs someone to look after him.

On the fifth day in the capital, he brought his grandfather to the top drama theater in China.

human art.

Because the classic play "Thunderstorm" in the theater will be staged today.

This performance was not included in the performance plan made last year, but before this year, the Northwest Territory was hit by extreme snowstorms, and more than 50 people were left homeless.

The hospital temporarily decided to hold a round of public welfare performances to raise donations for the disaster area.

Early in the morning, Xu Rong and Xiao Zhang took their grandfather into the gate of the Capital Theatre.

Walking in the corridor, classmate Xiao Zhang introduced the general story behind the poster to the old man. The old man walked slowly and looked at it carefully. He hadn't seen the drama yet, so he was quite curious about this form of performance.

Because he had heard a long time ago that in addition to acting in TV, Xu Rong also participated in a drama theater.

Xiao Zhang was halfway through the introduction, pointing to an early poster and asked: "Mr. Xu, when can your name be written like this?"

The old man looked at her in surprise, and asked, "Why, is there anything special about it?"

Xu Rong glanced at the poster, then turned his head and gave her a blank look, Xiao Zhang really thought of him.

She was referring to the name Mr. Zheng singled out on the rearranged "Longxugou" poster.

"Grandpa, this is too big, the name is so horizontal, it is equivalent to the top card."

"Oh, if you want to say that, I understand."

There is a row of doorways, the poster is not big, but the content and information volume is not small at all.

For example, the ranking of creative personnel and the rules of human art have always been that screenwriters come first and directors follow.

Firstly, Renyi’s screenwriters have always been very famous. Among Lu Guo Mao and Lao Cao, only Mr. Lu Xun did not ask for a draft due to objective reasons, but directly adapted his article. As for Lao and Cao, they are both from their own family , The script is also a customized text.

Secondly, whether the drama is good or not, the script is the deciding factor.

The names of the actors are even more particular when they are lined up. There are certain rules for who "sits", who "stands" and who "squats".

Sitting means in the middle of the poster. Arrange the three characters of the name in a triangle. If there are two characters, arrange them vertically. The actors who can "sit" on the poster are generally the leading actors in the courtyard. , or master figures in the entire art world, such as Zheng Rong and Mr. Lan Tianye who are still alive at Renyi.

Standing means to write it vertically next to or under the actor who is sitting, which means standing on the sidelines. Although it is said to be standing, those whose names can appear on the poster are all actors, such as Wu Gang, a second-rate actor in the courtyard. and others.

There is another way to write horizontally, which is to write the names horizontally. Some of them need to write the names of the most famous actors in the theater horizontally for typesetting. Famous artists invited outside, for example, if Jiao Min is invited to perform as a guest, but there are not many roles, it is not enough to ask him to sit, and it is not appropriate to ask him to stand, so he can simply let it go.

Xiao Zhang's meaning is obviously "striking horizontally", that is, it is listed under or next to the name of the play, but above the screenwriter and director.

Renyi's treatment, even if they searched all the actors in the country, few can enjoy it.

After entering the theater door, Xu Rong couldn't help frowning.

He felt that what he entered was not a theater, but a movie theater. There were already many people in the auditorium. Probably during the Spring Festival, students had not yet started school. Most of the audience who came to the theater today were young, and some looked underage.

Those who are joking and those who eat are different.

The most different thing about the atmosphere of a theater from a theater or a movie theater is that it is quiet.

After all, it cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to buy the tickets. It would be a pity if you missed the wonderful clips because of eating and chatting.

It was the first time for the old man to watch a drama. After sitting down, the old man looked at Xiao Zhang and said, "Xiaofei, how much is it for this show?"

Xiao Zhang opened his mouth and came: "Six"

Xu Rong hurriedly interrupted her and said, "Six yuan."

The old man thought for a while, shook his head lightly, and said, "It's a bit expensive, and you don't need money for temple fairs and operas."

Classmate Xiao Zhang secretly glanced at Xu Rong and laughed dryly.

Xu Rong took the conversation smoothly, and said: "When they perform for two hours, they have to buy two bottles of water to moisten their throats, don't they?"

Today's performance of "Thunderstorm" is led by Yang Lixin and Gong Lijun. From the perspective of the interpretation of the script, it can be regarded as the third edition in the courtyard.

Not long after sitting down, Pu Cunxi touched him at some point, sat down beside him, and said, "You're coming?"

"Why are you here too?"

Pu Cunxi smiled and said, "I heard that you wanted to come and see, so I asked someone to reserve the seat next to you."

At this time, Pu Cunxi noticed the old man between Xu Rong and Xiao Zhang, and hurriedly asked, "Who is this uncle?"

The old man looked at Pu Cunxi, and couldn't help being slightly surprised, because he always saw him when he was on TV.

Xu Rong introduced: "This is my grandfather, who just came from his hometown after the Chinese New Year."

Pu Cunxi hurriedly stood up and said, "Hello, Uncle Xu."

"Well, hello, hello." The old man looked at Pu Cunxi very strangely, and wanted to say a few words to the real person, but when he noticed the curtain in front of him, he stopped his mouth in a hurry.

Classmate Xiao Zhang hurriedly found a black glasses case from his bag, took out his glasses, handed them to the old man, and said softly, "Grandpa, glasses."

Her voice was not high, but Pu Cunxi immediately turned his head and stared at her who was two blocks away. After seeing her movements, he suddenly smiled on his serious face and said nothing more.

In the theater, it also slowly fell silent.

This is the atmosphere of the theater. Once the show starts, even if they cough, most people will try their best to keep their voices down.

As the curtain opened, frogs croaked and cicadas sang, gradually revealing the busy maid Sifeng and housekeeper Lu Gui.

It's just that after he didn't say a few lines, Xu Rong's brows slowly frowned. The two actors on the stage were not in the right state.

Soon, he realized the reason.

There is audience laughter in the theater.

Considering that he will be rehearsing this play next time, he has been watching it very seriously since the beginning. The two actors on the stage are too devoted to imitating the classic 54 version.

It's just that he has been concentrating on observing the stage, but ignored the movement in the auditorium.

Laughter is no accident.

Bai Huigang, who played Sifeng, said a few more words, and the laughter sounded again.

And this kind of laughter, in turn, affected the actors on the stage.

Moreover, with the appearance of the actors, especially Zhou Ping and Zhou Chong, the laughter of the audience has not eased, but has become more intense. Some obviously tragic lines and fragments not only did not arouse the sympathy and silence of the audience, but even Provoked roars of laughter.

According to the feedback from the scene, although the actors on the stage have not made low-end mistakes such as forgetting or wrong words, the rhythm and state are already in a mess.

Although Xu Rong was sitting in the auditorium, listening to the laughter coming from behind from time to time, a capital theater had already been buckled under his feet.

Today is also the first time for him to personally experience the torment of a drama actor.

If it’s a film and television, the audience doesn’t care how to scold them, as long as they don’t surf the Internet or read newspapers, they can pretend that they didn’t hear or see it. The situation is a devastating blow to any drama actor.

He didn't know if he could persist in performing for more than two hours amidst such a group of ridicules.

It wasn't until this time that Xu Rong understood Pu Cunxi's urgency. Zhou Ping's Wang Ban was originally the banner bearer of the next generation of Renyi.

Sitting next to him, Pu Cunxi looked sideways at the laughter in the arena, completely dazed. "Thunderstorm" was not the first performance since it was rearranged in 04, but it has never been as embarrassing as it is today.

As Renyi's housekeeping repertoire, today's performance is simply a great shame and humiliation for the 58 years since the establishment of the Renyi Academy!
At the curtain call, when the curtain was about to close, Xu Rong clearly saw Yang Lixin's hands clutching his thighs on the stage.

After all the audience had left, Xu Rong let go of the handrails he had been holding tightly, and let out a long breath.

He wanted to say a few words, "This generation of audiences don't understand drama." To comfort Pu Cunxi, who was expressionless next to him, but in the end, he held back the words.

The success of "Wotou Guild Hall", which was released last year, has proved that the drama has a huge audience and market, whether it is among the middle-aged or the young.

And the script of "Thunderstorm" has no problems, because although the times are different, the core of the play has changed from class struggle to reflecting human nature, and the reason should not be pushed to the audience just because the audience is young.

Looking at the closed curtain, the old man frowned, but only slightly shook his head when he caught sight of the more serious faces of Xu Rong and Pu Cunxi next to him.

Pu Cunxi looked at the curtain as if he had lost his soul. After a long while, he got up silently and walked towards the exit. When he reached the door, he turned around and asked in a hollow voice: "Do you still want to leave?" row?"

(End of this chapter)