The King of Huayu Science Fiction

Chapter 446 Chen Jingxing's "Heretics"

Casual and lazy sweater, bright eyes, exuding the vitality of young people...

This was the host Wang Ning's first impression after seeing Chen Jingxing.

Not only her, but also the cameraman at the scene were a little surprised.

Once upon a time, Chen Jingxing, who was still a genius director, was a more conspicuous label on him at that time.

I don't know when it started, maybe it started when "Source Code" broke the box office record of Huaguo movies, or maybe it started when Chen Jingxing won the Oscar for Best Director, or maybe DreamWorks went public and became the first stock in film and television, Chen Jingxing himself When he appeared on the Forbes list with a net worth of tens of billions.

In short, because Chen Jingxing rarely appeared on TV programs in the past few years, the age label on him seemed to have been completely covered up by other labels.

Until now, seeing Chen Jingxing entering the studio in a casual outfit that is not inferior to a trendy star, people suddenly realized that this legendary director known as the "King of Science Fiction" and "Master of Science Fiction" was nothing more than a 27-year-old young man.

He is younger than the current popular "children", "future is promising", and "brother who makes people feel distressed".

But this young man is already a world-class director, controlling a well-known film company at home and abroad, and a little resource leaked from his hands can make all the actors in the entertainment circle beat their heads.

It wasn't until Chen Jingxing took a few promotional photos and sat on one of the two facing single sofas that Wang Ning looked away and began to think about the interview that was about to start.

Soon after Chen Jingxing came back from Cannes, he accepted a face-to-face interview with CCTV. In fact, this was also part of the "Ninth District" publicity plan.

Winning the Palme d'Or is indeed a commercial benefit for "The Ninth District". Not only has the attention of domestic audiences further increased, but "The Ninth District" has also become famous internationally.

After all, it is the first sci-fi film in the history of Cannes to win the Palme d'Or, and with the blessing of Chen Jingxing's fame, not to mention that "The Ninth District" also caused some political ripples. European and American people are also quite curious about this film. The publicity began quickly there.

The domestic official response to "The Ninth District" winning the Palme d'Or was also extremely positive.

After all, Cannes is also one of the most influential film festivals in the world, and "The Ninth District" is the second domestic film in history to win the Palme d'Or. The last one was Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine". An enduring classic.

And from the official point of view, the significance of "The Ninth District" winning the Palme d'Or is more meaningful than all the Chinese films before it won the award in Europe.

After all, the domestic films that won three major awards in Europe were more or less "critical" and "showing China's backwardness and even ugly appearance", and some of them also involved elements such as pornography that broke through the scale.

And there are quite a few banned films.

Officials are clearly unhappy.

Therefore, for many films that have won three major awards in Europe, the official attitude is actually relatively cold.

In contrast, although "The Ninth District" is not a film that can fully define the main theme like "Gravity", it is also a commercial science fiction film with a lot of investment, even if it contains elements that expose the ugliness of human beings or are strongly critical , but after all, the background is not Huaguo, and the display and metaphor of racial discrimination and apartheid are also things that the West should reflect on, and it has nothing to do with Huaguo.

The fly in the ointment is that it is difficult to say that he is a Chinese film. After all, the hero is a staff member of the United Nations, and the background of the movie is still in South Africa. The main languages ​​are English, the language of alien prawns and the local Afrikaans. Chinese is only used by the hero. Appears only when playing with girlfriends and when emotional.

However, the male and female protagonists are both Chinese actors, and they are all positive characters-even the male protagonist has shown the power to touch people's hearts behind the amazing arc of characters.

Therefore, CCTV and DreamWorks hit it off immediately, and Chen Jingxing gave "Face to Face" the opportunity to appear on a TV program for the first time in two years.

Of course, it's not just Chen Jingxing, director Tian Xinye, Xinke Cannes best actor Zhang Yi and rimmed heroine Wan Qian have also appeared in many programs and interviews.

"Director Chen, many people say that "The Ninth District" winning the Cannes Palme d'Or is another milestone for sci-fi films after "Gravity", because there are even few sci-fi works that have been shortlisted in Cannes before, which represents the highest level of film art. film festival, let alone win an award."

Wang Ning graduated from Communication University. Regardless of her status as a host, she herself is also a literary youth who likes movies. The legendary director who has entered the palace is also quite curious.

In the past two years, even if Chen Jingxing received interviews, they were mostly brief telephone interviews, or answered reporters' questions at press conferences and premieres.

This is really the first time in two years that a serious in-depth interview has been conducted.

So for this visit, she not only attaches great importance to it, but is also quite excited.

Wang Ning tilted his head and asked with a smile: "Does this mean that science fiction films are moving in the direction of film art? Accepted by the mainstream of film art? Does the birth of "District [-]" mean the future development direction of science fiction films? ?”

It's a question of repeating the same old tune, but CCTV's interview must sing a high-profile one.

"From the perspective of creation and expression, if works on historical themes use the past to satirize the present, then science fiction works can use the future to satirize the present, and in essence they can return to the expression of the real society. It is a kind of compensation for doctrine, which extremizes some contradictions or phenomena.

Because if the realistic theme is too extreme or extreme, the audience will feel divorced from reality. If it is a science fiction theme, the creator will have the opportunity to explore themes that the realist theme cannot imagine.

This kind of flexibility and extensibility in creation is an aspect of science fiction, and it is also more attractive.

But—" Chen Jingxing changed the subject: "The entertainment of science fiction is his greater advantage. Even in "The Ninth District", we added a lot of commercial and entertainment elements to the script, and there are very good thrillers in it. Elements and special effects fight, there are cool mechas, and director Tian Xinye's audio-visual spectacle-like lens language, I think this is a science fiction movie that appeals to both refined and popular tastes.

Whether it is "Gravity" or "The Ninth District", no matter whether they have won the awards that people could not imagine for sci-fi themes, but this is something that sci-fi movies can do. District Ninth is more advanced than The Martian or Signal or Edge of Tomorrow.

Entertainment is always the most important thing in sci-fi movies. It can entertain the audience with audio-visual spectacle, entertain the audience with brain-burning plots, entertain the audience with novel imagination, or let the audience get interpretation and solve puzzles. fun of.

But it’s not enough without entertainment. I don’t want Dreamworks’ movies to become something that only a small circle or people who have crossed a certain threshold can evaluate and understand. Most ordinary people will only see what you get. The award lamented that it was so tall and powerful, but he was not interested in watching it.

That just makes me sad, I hope that DreamWorks movies will always keep the audience looking forward, full of curiosity, always hungry, and everyone can get entertainment from it, even if we are really good people, we always want to educate the audience, I want to spread some private goods, but I also hope that it will be entertaining and educational. "

"Director Chen, do you think that entertainment is the most important thing in movies?"

Wang Ning was somewhat surprised by Chen Jingxing's frankness.

After all, this is the Palme d'Or that I just got from Cannes, and when I turn my head, I stab it in the back. What "small circles" and "talented but not interested in watching", if you say this, anyone will think you are talking about it. A film festival like Cannes.

Moreover, words like "educating the audience" and "spreading private goods" seemed to be satirizing many people. Even if Chen Jingxing himself did not have such thoughts, the audience would definitely have an interpretation.

Not to mention the saying that "the most important thing in movies is entertainment". To be honest, this is a bit incorrect. There are many people in the film industry who claim to be art workers, and "artistic pursuit" is also a decent part of the film industry. The reason is that although Chen Jingxing's words did not deny art, there must be many people who would feel uncomfortable hearing it.

If it is a director like Guo Xiaosi, or a filmmaker like Wang Jing from Hong Kong Island who is not short of controversial remarks, it will be fine.

But you are a filmmaker who has won the Golden Rooster, Hundred Flowers, Golden Globe, Oscar for Best Director, and even the Palme d'Or as a screenwriter. Even if you are still a commercial film director, it is not too bad to say this directly Appropriate.

"Of course, this is my philosophy all along." Chen Jingxing was still very happy.

If "The Ninth District" had just won the Palme d'Or, he might not have said these words. Although he is not the director of "The Ninth District", the Palme d'Or is awarded to the entire film, as a screenwriter and producer , his influence and importance to the film is something no one can deny.

It’s just to have the halo of Oscar and Cannes on your head, and it’s enjoyable to say this kind of words, otherwise, if you say "the most important thing in movies is entertainment", it will only make people feel that you are similar to Wang Jing.

As a commercial director, no matter how high the box office is, you can’t touch the holy grail of art. In the eyes of many people, awards such as the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers obviously have nothing to do with the holy grail of art. Able to refute and criticize confidently.

You, Chen Jingxing, are not an ordinary audience or a film critic. When you say something like this, will others mock you as "you can't eat grapes" or "you can do it if you want to"?

But the most enjoyable thing about commenting on whether the refrigerator can cool is that you can actually cool it.

Holding the top awards at home and abroad, it is more refreshing to say such "not correct" words.

"If the depth and connotation are the most important, why not send someone to read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" or other world famous works in the movie theater with emotion? Doesn't "One Hundred Years of Solitude" have depth and connotation?
If you want to educate the audience and spread your philosophy, can't you write your philosophy on paper and read it affectionately in the cinema?
Entertainment is not just about special effects. I said that it is a multi-dimensional concept. You must let the audience feel that your movie is interesting first, and then they can accept your education. Entertainment is of course the basis of movies. There is room for other things to exist. "

Obviously Chen Jingxing's fallacies made Wang Ning unable and unwilling to refute them, not to mention that these fallacies came from a person who had just won the Palme d'Or.

She is the host, and it is not her turn to refute.

Wang Ning secretly sighed excitedly that Chen Jingxing really gave face, and the response of this program is expected to be not small, while resisting the urge to continue adding more fuel to the fire, and moved on to the next topic.

"Director Tian Xinye said at the media press conference after the awards ceremony that "The Ninth District" was inspired by "Edge of Tomorrow" directed by Guo Fan. Is it true that the idea or the story is so different?"

Chen Jingxing nodded calmly: "It's true. At that time, "Edge of Tomorrow" was in preparation, and when the special effects team was designing alien creatures, Guo Fan joked that the aliens were too weird and could be called the ugliest alien in history. Alien, and then I said this is so good, I can design uglier aliens for you, and even make you sick.

Then I thought about how to make it uglier than the aliens in "Edge of Tomorrow", because I am very afraid of insects, so I think it may be difficult to integrate into the image of arthropods, especially the mouthparts of locusts or praying mantises. Even more scalp-tingling, this is the image inspiration.

As for the plot, you know I don’t like repeating myself very much, you can find that even if it is like "Mirage" and "Your Name", the information transmission setting that can travel through time and space that inherits "Signal", or "Edge of Tomorrow" imitates " Source Code" is a setting that is constantly going back and forth. I try my best to add more novel elements to the new movie.

Aliens also came to the earth. Since "Edge of Tomorrow" is about humans resisting aliens, how about we turn it into humans bullying aliens, and then aliens resist humans?
But it's a bit strange that aliens come to the human land to resist human beings, so I simply designed it as an alien refugee.

As for the later elements about apartheid and racial discrimination, in fact, when I wanted to perfect the story and make it more reasonable, interesting and shocking to the audience, I thought of the refugee issue in the past few years, and then gradually filled it into the story. of. "

Seeing Wang Ning's eyes widen behind the mirror frame, Chen Jingxing secretly sighed that he had already mastered the skill of telling nonsense with his eyes open, and his pretense was quite convincing.

There is no way, this is the story he told Tian Xinye, Guo Fan and others.

You can't just make up nonsense, can't you?

We must know that whether it is a director, screenwriter, composer or writer, all creators have something in common, that may be a style, a certain creative habit, or something else. In short, there must be a core that can In the same line.

He has never seen a chameleon-like creator, even if it is a real chameleon, there must be a thread to follow.

Although Chen Jingxing's works are mainly science fiction, the span of his works is still very large, so he has long developed the habit of constructing the creative context, which can give others an explanation, even if he is a monster, there should be traces to follow, others can interpret and can The evildoer who understands.

For example, "Fatal Identity", "Source Code" and "Matrix" and even the unreleased "Inception" are all in the same line.

"Source Code" and "Edge of Tomorrow" have similar rewind settings.

The core science fiction concepts of "Signal", "Mirage", and "Your Name" are even more the same.

"Matrix" and others in the fifth episode of "Black Mirror II" Prometheus, "Suspect Tracker" and "Special Mobile Team" also have a context to follow in discussing artificial intelligence.

After his slight changes, the space trilogy is even more consistent in conception and connotation.

This proves that although Chen Jingxing is a genius, his inspiration and creativity have a vein, a genius with source and evolution, which can be interpreted and understood.

But obviously, Chen Jingxing's explanation of trying to reduce his "monster level" seemed to have the opposite effect on the host Wang Ning.

Of course, Wang Ning recognized and accepted the fact that Chen Jingxing is a genius director. Even though she is not very interested in science fiction, she still admires the unrestrained imagination in the film.

And like the "Signal" series and some episodes of "Black Mirror", she likes it very much.

But what Chen Jingxing's genius presented to the audience was the result, although the result was also amazing.

But most people don't know the process of bearing fruit, and they didn't expect it to be even more shocking.

Wang Ning just watched "The Ninth District" yesterday. I couldn't help crying from the second half of the film. After watching it, I feel that this film is shocking and has great stamina. I first saw the appearance of the alien prawn How ugly I think it is, and I worry about the hero and his alien prawn friends later.

In the end, this is how such an alternative to the extreme alien movie came about?

Want to design an alien uglier than the alien life in Edge of Tomorrow?
Want to design a plot that is the opposite of "Edge of Tomorrow"?

Then I thought of the "refugee crisis" in Europe, and came up with such a sci-fi movie that just hit the heart of the European literary and art circle?

Not only gave the Palme d'Or directly, but also made many European filmmakers use the topic at the closing ceremony of Cannes to call on the government to be more tolerant, call for better living conditions for refugees, and call for vigilance against the stigmatization of refugees and the right wing caused by the refugee crisis. Keep your head up and be alert to the consequences that may result.

The brains of people and people are too different, right?
Wang Ning, who recovered from Chen Jingxing's "Versailles-like" speech, also asked Chen Jingxing about his next film plan by asking about the donkey.

"... "Matrix III" and the last part of the space trilogy have entered the schedule. In addition, there is a big project called "Once Upon a Time on Earth."

"Once Upon a Time on Earth? Is it science fiction too? Is it about space?"

"It's a science fiction work, and the others can only be kept secret temporarily."

"..." You don't want to reveal anything, why did you mention him?
""Once Upon a Time on Earth" will be a sci-fi universe composed of several film and television dramas."

(End of this chapter)