CEE started with Nortel lecturers

Chapter 298 Political Correctness of Film Festival

Compared with the big brother Venice Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival is an out-and-out younger brother. However, nowadays, the influence of Big Brother is getting weaker and weaker. It turns out that many third countries regard participating in Venice as an honor. With the Its status has declined, and more people have focused their attention on the Toronto International Film Festival, which is backed by the large North American market.

Venice still adheres to its own neo-realist style, which is highbrow and low-key!

But the world has changed, and it is really difficult for people to appreciate art films that are too high-quality.

In addition, in recent years, the Toronto Film Festival seems to have become the previous stop for films competing for the Olympics. "The Beautiful Girl", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Brokeback Mountain", "The King's Speech" and "Escape from Tehran" are almost every Every film that won the Oscar for Best Picture has been a hit at the Toronto Film Festival, which has led to more directors and producers being more willing to bring their films to the Toronto Film Festival!

Many people may ask why the Oscars and most of the film festivals around the world don't like that comedy or science fiction film that is a hit at the box office. Nonsense, you have already sold out at the box office and you still want to win an award. Do you want it? Face?

The arrival of Gu Zhongyu and his group was warmly welcomed by the organizers.

There are no absolute secrets in Hollywood, and "The Invisible Guest" that Zongheng and Lionsgate Films completed in less than two months has long been kept secret.

The reason why "The Invisible Guest", which has not yet been released, has such a big name is due to the promotion of Lionsgate Pictures and the strong popularity of Shalizi, a Hollywood movie queen.

As the film's distributor, Lionsgate and Zongheng bought a total of ten screenings of "The Invisible Guest" at the Toronto Film Festival. From the first screening, the venue was full, even if there were no The attendance rate for the next few shows where Shalizi, the movie queen, appeared was over 95%!

On the first day of the Toronto Film Festival, "The Invisible Guest" was screened three times in total. The public's reputation was very good, but the reputation of the media and professional film critics was completely suppressed by another movie.

This is the early masterpiece "12 Years a Slave" that launched political correctness in Europe and the United States.

This movie is dark, literally dark!

It's about a free black man living in New York, educated and married. Then he met two people who promised to help him find a job in Washington. When Solomon arrived in Washington, he discovered that he had been abducted and kidnapped, and his life as a slave began. After years of hardship relying on a kind Canadian to help deliver letters home, he regained his freedom after a lawsuit.

When you listen to the plot, you can imagine how correct it is. What kind of film critic dares to criticize such a correct movie?

Asians, Africans and Latinos, equality between men and women, people of color, civil rights, LGBT, etc., these things or ideas, now in Europe and the United States, have gradually become more than just the opinions and demands of some people, but have become an ideology, a kind of The idea of ​​serving the vested interests of a certain group has begun to dominate.

In the end, "21 Years a Slave" won three Oscars in history: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was also selected as the "Best of the 100st Century" by the British "Guardian" "2 Movies", ranked second.

The only way to face a movie like this is to admit defeat. Unless Gu Zhongyu is willing to have a bunch of black men, Nantong, transsexuals, etc. in his movie, he won't even be qualified to fight.

But there is also a bit of surprise, that is, the film "Partners in China" has become the only Chinese film among the 20 films in this year's main screening unit. Although it is not of much use, for the distributor Zongheng, There are two movies participating in the exhibition at once, at least it can be familiar again.

"What a pity! With this kind of film, our film may not win the most important "People's Choice Award" this time."

Seeing the unanimous praise of "12 Years a Slave" by the online media, Chen Sicheng was very discouraged. He felt that a great opportunity was wasted and that there was no hope of winning the Olympics.

"It's okay. Even if we don't win the grand prize, our goal has been achieved. Foreign film producers are still very interested in "The Invisible Guest". It would be good if it can be exported to a few more countries."

How can you become fat in one breath? In the previous life, "The Invisible Guest" was of such high quality that it only won the Douban Best European Film Award of the Year. Can you believe it?

On the one hand, this is because the Spanish company that produced the film is too weak and did not do a good job in public relations. On the other hand, it is also because there is not a single black minority in the film, which does not conform to the trend of political correctness.

There is never an inevitable connection between the quality of a film and whether it wins awards. Gu Zhongyu has long understood this, but Chen Sicheng has only been a director for a short time and is not mentally prepared for this.

Fortunately, a few newspapers finally said something good about "The Invisible Guest".

Los Angeles Times: "The plot of "The Invisible Guest" is compact and fascinating. The story has ups and downs and makes people guess the ending. It cleverly displays complex psychological activities and interpersonal relationships through the language of images, making the film full of suspense and tension. Atmosphere. The characters have distinct personalities and rich emotions, and the audience can easily immerse themselves in the inner world of the characters..."

The New York Times: "Overall, "The Invisible Guest" is an excellent suspense film with high viewing value. The film's compact plot, distinctive characters, and outstanding actor performance make the audience guess the truth of the case. At the same time, you can also feel the complexity and contradiction of human nature. I highly recommend this movie, which will bring a visual and spiritual feast to the audience..."

These media reviews and reports have attracted the attention of many movie fans in North America, especially some qualified movie fans, who even came to the Toronto Film Festival to watch the film in advance.

The domestic media was a little slow to react, and many people even didn't know that the movie starring Gu Zhongyu was shortlisted for Toronto.

Now that "The Invisible Guest" has become a hit in Toronto, they know that Zongheng and Lionsgate Pictures have actually produced a feature film together.

After they learned about the specific situation, each one of them was full of doubts: Gu Zhongyu, who has always been in love with the domestic market, actually followed suit and made a suspense film that has almost become synonymous with bad movies?

So Sina News promptly sent reporters to Toronto to interview Gu Zhongyu and his party.

In fact, interviews like this should only come from the director, but Gu Zhongyu is the producer, producer, screenwriter and starring of the movie. He is the one with the biggest say, so he is the one being interviewed.

Just like Zhang Jizhong, people often say that Zhang Jizhong is a version of Jin Yong dramas, but in fact Zhang Jizhong has only been a director twice, and he was a producer at other times. However, because of his strong control over TV dramas, his actual power is far greater. More than the director, these TV series are all marked by his mark.

The same goes for "She Disappeared". The directors are Cui Rui and Liu Xiang, and Chen Sicheng is only the screenwriter and producer, but almost everyone regards this movie as a work of Chen Sicheng.

Therefore, it is difficult for Gu Zhongyu to cooperate with those big directors, because the bigger the director, the stronger his desire for control. Even if Gu Zhongyu is the father of the financial sponsor, he may not always be able to listen to him. “I took a look at our movie. Why did Mr. Gu adopt the form of a co-production instead of localization?”

"Because the movie-going age in China is still too young, if "The Invisible Guest" is filmed in China, it must first be censored. The subject matter is sensitive, and I estimate that it is unlikely to pass censorship. Even if it is lucky enough to pass censorship, I don’t think the box office will be very satisfactory. But the North American market is different. Their mainstream viewing age is around 40 years old. Coupled with the emphasis on this type of movies during the awards season, the box office revenue is still very considerable. This time I came to Toronto to attend At the festival, we have sold almost $ million in out-of-town screening rights.”

Perhaps it was because he had not faced the domestic media for too long and he was abroad. Gu Zhongyu seemed very excited, so he spoke out a lot of what was on his mind.

"So, you still have a negative attitude towards domestic censorship?"

"I'm afraid this is not my opinion alone. Most domestic colleagues have some opinions on the review with vague and uncertain standards."

Gu Zhongyu answered very calmly, and he told the truth.

Not to mention practitioners of film and television dramas, even ordinary viewers are absolutely full of complaints about the domestic censorship system. How many movies, games, and animations are introduced to the country are destined to be castrated.

"Actually, making a movie in Hollywood is not as easy as everyone thinks. There are at least hundreds of things to note. Firstly, it must be politically correct. Secondly, it must have a black actor, and it cannot be a villain. There are too many..."

Gu Zhongyu changed the topic and did not continue to discuss the censorship system to avoid being made a fuss by some people. Instead, he talked about many Hollywood filming regulations.

"So, our colleagues in China think that it is wrong for Hollywood to be freer than us, unless you are making a non-theatrical film, but as this "The Invisible Guest" is a co-production, it has to pass the censorship of both countries. , if you want to make a commercial blockbuster, you must restrain yourself! This regulation is the same in every country!"

The reporter asked: "So you don't think censorship is the main reason for China's lagging behind in film art?"

"For example, Iran's censorship system is definitely more stringent than that of our country, but they have produced far-reaching films such as "A Separation", "Little Shoes" and "The Color of Heaven". Therefore, many domestic directors have I think it’s very unfair that my own lack of ability is pushed into the review!”

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Gu, for accepting our interview. By the way, can you predict which film will win the top award at this year's Toronto International Film Festival? Is there any hope for "The Invisible Guest"?"

"Haha, although I am very confident in my movie, I can tell you clearly that the one that won the grand prize in the end must be "12 Years a Slave". You can go see that movie!"

After the reporter finished the interview, Alexandra couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked Gu Zhongyu: "Gu, do you really think that "12 Years a Slave" is very good and can beat us?"

Chen Sicheng also looked at him a little puzzled. Such praise for a movie was inconsistent with his understanding of Gu Zhongyu.

"There is a saying in our country that you will die if you are hot! Have you heard of it?"

Gu Zhongyu smiled and did not explain why he mentioned "12 Years a Slave" on various occasions.

"12 Years a Slave" is certainly a good movie, but it's a pity that director Steve McQueen's skills are somewhat lacking, making this big proposition seem too neat, so that it is a bit bland, even mediocre.

A movie that denounced the history of black slavery did not make the moviegoers angry at all, and sometimes it almost made them laugh out loud.

Even if there is disgust, it is human nature to hate unfairness, and it is not given by the movie.

However, in the past two years, especially after Ao Guanhai was re-elected, political correctness seems to have become the trend of the Oscars. This is also the reason why "12 Years a Slave" won the best picture.

"Did you do it on purpose?" Shalizi, who knew more about film selections, quickly understood what Gu Zhongyu meant.

"Yes, if you look at the movies of the past few years, there are endless movies with anti-terrorism themes or related to terrorism, such as "The Hurt Locker", "The Hunt for Bin Laden" and "Escape from Tehran". As long as the production standards are met, they can be produced in Making waves during awards season…”

"Similarly, this situation is also consistent with movies related to "color narrative", such as "Django Unchained", "Fruitvale Station", "The Butler", "Mandela", etc. There are many movies with the same theme. On the one hand, it expresses a certain demand, but on the other hand, it is also an unoptimistic phenomenon. Hollywood has been dominated by visual blockbusters, and many high-quality independent films cannot be promoted by good distribution companies. As a result, they remain unknown from the beginning to the end. Moreover, even if a few of them are picked up by major distribution companies, it will ultimately be difficult to compete with films like "12 Years a Slave" that seem to be tailor-made for the academy. Therefore, the ecosystem of Hollywood is not so optimistic. It would be somewhat sad if films like 12 Years a Slave continue to dominate awards season."

After saying a lot of things eloquently, several people were dumbfounded. Shalizi couldn't help but praise: "Dear, I can't even figure out which one of us has won the Oscar. What do you think?" It’s so right!”

Chen Sicheng quickly got the key point of Gu Zhongyu's words: "So you mean to make people hype the political correctness of "12 Years a Slave"? Absolutely not mention the film itself?"

"That's right, find a few film critics to objectively compare "The Invisible Guest" and "12 Years a Slave". Just mention the content of the movies casually, and focus on the actors' performances and their predictions about the awards. Let everyone It feels like this year’s grand prize is 120 Years a Slave!”

Gu Zhongyu smiled like a thief.

　The monthly ticket is doubled. If you have any unwanted tickets, please give them to Shitou!

　　

　

(End of this chapter)