This director needs to apologize

Chapter 146 The director invites creative freedom
Chen Yiming was not surprised to see Jiang Shuai.

This fat man actually spends more than half of the year overseas. When domestic entertainment news mentions him, most of them are at a certain film festival.

Every time a film is made, it is a routine operation to go to double-digit film festivals.

It is precisely because of the diligent work that each film can recoup its costs by selling copyrights, without causing overseas funders to lose money, so they can always find funds to finance the next film.

This fat man is very familiar with overseas film producers, so even though the film bureau routinely blocks his films from being released in China, when they encounter overseas promotion activities like China Night, they still have to hold their noses and send him a film. Invitation card.

However, Chen Yiming was surprised when he saw Lai Zhifei, who had been "famous for a long time".

If Mr. Lai's films were released in China, they would most likely be treated the same as Fatty Jiang. However, he is very sensible and uses overseas funds and distributes overseas, without even entering the country.

More importantly, Lao Lai is well versed in the essence of using China to control foreign countries. He can step on the bottom line of the film bureau every time and make a river tragedy movie that scratches the itch of old Europe.

A Chinese director living in China, using Chinese actors, making Chinese-language films, following the official Gaul way, and participating in the Golden Globe Awards and Oscars for foreign language films, is simply off the charts.

Chinese-language films were shortlisted for the Oscars, but the genuine ones produced in China were not shortlisted, and the A-grade products with Gaul trademarks were shortlisted. You can imagine the embarrassment of the film bureau.

Teacher Lai gained a lot of reputation with a series of magic tricks and established a firm foothold in the European literary and art circles. Then he wisely backed down.

Speaking of which, Lai Zhifei has not published a new book or made a new film for five or six years. The only rumors circulating in the world are that he has really retired from the industry.

Now it seems that not necessarily.

After the pleasantries, the only topic we could talk about was movies.

Fatty Jiang has nothing to do this year, so he is quite bold in predicting the big prize.

"Yi Ming, don't blame me for being crow-mouthed, "1951" can aspire to the best cinematography, but it will definitely not win the Palme d'Or or Best Actor.

I'm more optimistic about "Fourteen Months". This movie is indeed not to Tony's taste, but I can't resist the fact that it comes from a good background.There are 5 nutty judges in this session, and I can tell with my butt that this is old Henry showing his goodwill to the New World. "

Teacher Lai twirled his goatee a few times and retorted, "Chiang, don't be narrow-minded. The European Film Festival has always advocated being eclectic and not encroaching on one's own interests. What's more, the Nut judges themselves are not monolithic. They also have left and right.

The major trend in recent years still revolves around class divisions and social anxiety. These are universal topics and everyone has equal opportunities.

Xiao Chen's "1951" did have a great breakthrough in technology. Unfortunately, Cannes is an art-oriented film festival and it does not have technical awards.

However, I think the jury has expressed some appreciation for the technical innovation of "1951", and it is very promising to win the jury award. "

Lai Zhifei's words sounded nice, but who still doesn't know what the jury award is about.

It sounds similar to the Jury Prize, but in fact it is a special award that is not fixed and is specially used to "comfort" a certain judge whose opinion has not been recognized by the jury and who has extenuating circumstances.

Yes, it's the judges, although the one who received the award was the film's creator.

The Jury Prize is the best film with the second highest number of votes, and that is the real consolation prize awarded to the movie.

Chen Yiming's left ear went in and his right ear went out, and he listened absentmindedly.

Of course, he cannot be indifferent to the Palme d'Or. After all, no one has won the Palme d'Or in mainland China at this time. With the Oscar basically hopeless, this is already the highest international honor that mainland filmmakers can expect.

The problem is that only Tony has the final say whether to get it or not. They are just guessing here. Isn't it just a waste of time and saliva?

He turned to look at Duan Yining with doubts on his face. Was he calling him over just to chat?
Old Duan was also a little strange. He also looked at Jiang Shuai. Didn't he say that he had something to talk about? Let's get to the point quickly.

Fatty Jiang was still giving advice, not paying attention to Duan Yining's eyes.

In the end, Fan Xiaolong elbowed him twice, and Jiang Shuai stopped using his magical power.

“That’s right, Yiming, Teacher Lai has a notebook that he has been polishing for several years, and he hopes you can take over and shoot it.

In fact, I told Teacher Lai that I can take the photo myself, but he is more optimistic about you. "

Lai Zhifei took over and explained, "After all, I haven't directed a film for many years, and my artistic intuition has deteriorated greatly. I spent a lot of effort on this book, and I really don't want to waste it.

Yiming, your technical talent is unparalleled, and you are born with a broad global vision, so after the script was finalized in the middle of the year, I first thought of you. "

Chen Yiming was very surprised, "Teacher Lai, as far as I know, your works are all modified by your own novels and shot by yourself. This is a creative rule that has been verified by many consecutive high-scoring movies.

To be honest, like you, I just want to tell my own story.

And as for the director, isn’t Teacher Jiang a ready candidate, so why bother looking far away? "

Fatty Jiang looked embarrassed, and Lai Zhifei also smiled bitterly. After a while, he said, "Due to some historical reasons, my movie has never been released in the mainland."

Jiang Shuai also added, "Me too, of course it's not completely impossible. It needs major changes, so much that it makes no sense. How can I agree to this?"

Chen Yiming immediately understood that he was looking for him to be the gunman.Most of the time, it's the same old habit of letting the film bureau be in trouble, knowing that it's impossible to pass the review, and only then will it be blamed on itself.

But I'm not interested in your stuff. I'm not from the same group at all.

Because of Lao Duan's reputation, Chen Yiming couldn't refuse directly, so he took a roundabout way.

"Teacher Lai, after the restructuring, especially in recent years, domestic control over movies has become much looser. Why not give it a try?

Mr. Han recruited so many foreign stars to film "The Founding of the People's Republic of China", didn't the film bureau also give the green light? "

Lai Zhifei didn't answer, but took out a folder from his bag, put it on the table and pushed it over, "Xiao Chen, you can read the notebook first."

Fatty Jiang's eyes lit up as he looked at the folder, "Yi Ming, this is such a good book. If I wasn't sure about the war scenes in it, I definitely wouldn't give it to you."

Chen Yiming glanced at Duan Yining and said, "I can't get rid of you after just one look. Old Duan, you've tricked me to death this time."

Opening the folder, there are four big characters on the first page, which should be the title of the film, "Miss Saigon".

Chen Yiming continued to read without changing his expression. The title of a literary movie is "Floating Clouds". It is common for the text to be wrong and there is no reason to be surprised.

The book was not thick, with only about twenty pages combined front and back. Chen Yiming read it quickly, and then he knew why Lai Zhifei came to him.

This time, Lao Lai finally no longer stared at the 70s, and the background of the story was pushed forward, all the way to before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The protagonist is a low-level officer on the Kuomintang side. He was chased and driven into the Silver Triangle. After a fight, he settled down there and opened a small hotel called "Miss Saigon".

Using the hotel as the stage, the script tells the story of the next 50 years.

The stage of the story is in the Silver Triangle, but the main characters in the story are all inextricably linked to the mainland.

For example, supporting character A is a Chinese middle school student deserter from the Cotton Rouge guerrillas. This BUFF is stacked with great pains.

Supporting character B is an educated youth from China who is "married" to a local girl. The old man has never been able to reach the threshold of becoming an educated youth in his life.

Supporting character C is the daughter of the protagonist Shangfeng. She is obsessed with Desheng's ideas. She ran away from home and ran north and came back pregnant.

The final ending is even more ridiculous than the character design. The child born by supporting character C takes the ashes of the aforementioned people north to recognize their relatives, and then buries them back to their hometown one by one.

Chen Yiming simply couldn't complain. Is this the script that you, the old man, have worked so hard for several years to polish?
What else did Fatty Jiang say about "war scenes"? Was it necessary to specially shoot the scene in the opening scene where the protagonist is defeated and escapes?

By bringing together so many frustrated and marginalized people after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the meaning behind the script is self-evident. It is either to summon ghosts or to overturn the verdict.

People with different opinions cannot work together, and Chen Yiming doesn't even have the will to discuss it.

He pushed the script back to Lai Zhifei, "Teacher Lai, I'm sorry."

Before Lai Zhifei spoke, Fatty Jiang became anxious, "Yi Ming, you can think about it again. This project is supported by three film foundations in Gaul, Deutschland, and Henan. The funds can be available at any time. With this subject, we will be shortlisted." Being able to win awards is not just talk.

If you really don't have enough skills, I'll ask Xiaolong to be your assistant director. "

As Jiang Shuai spoke, he patted Fan Xiaolong on the shoulder. The latter looked at Chen Yiming eagerly with his eyes shining.

Lai Zhifei raised his hand to stop Jiang Shuai's further persuasion, looked directly at Chen Yiming and said, "Xiao Chen, can you please tell me frankly what you think of the script?"

Therefore, even getting to know each other is torture for people with different views.

After meeting Lao Lai, Chen Yiming really didn't think he was a bad person.

You can regard his act of "consuming" China's scars as a utilitarian thing, but considering that he himself has been consistent in his words for many years, it is not wrong to say that he is an idealist who cannot get out of the past.

Chen Yiming thought for a while and replied, "Teacher Lai, I always feel that filmmakers can have their own doctrines, but when making movies, they should remain as neutral as possible.

Movies released to the public are aimed at the general public, and social impact must be considered.

Especially if you want the book to be filmed in the Mainland and the film to be released in the Mainland, then you should respect the Mainland's system, history and culture.

After reading the script, I think that rather than telling a complete story, you are more inclined to use it as a carrier to express a certain point of view. This is obviously the creative idea of ​​an auteur film.

In this case, its director can only be yourself, not anyone else, such as me. "

Lai Zhifei nodded thoughtfully, "Auteur movie? I can't agree with this. No matter what movie, it must have warmth and attitude. Compared with mainstream rights holders and ordinary people, marginalized victims are more important. It deserves to be documented and presented, and that’s the creative freedom of the filmmaker.”

Chen Yiming nodded and stood up, "I partially agree with this. There is no unbounded freedom in the world. You naturally enjoy the freedom to shoot Chinese films in Europe. I think Teacher Jiang must have felt this deeply.

Here is a suggestion for Mr. Lai: if one day you want to express your views on a certain European issue through movies, you can consider returning to China. You will find that there also has the creative freedom you want. "

(End of this chapter)