China Entertainment started in 2004

Chapter 483 Praise and Killing
On February 2, the closing awards ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival was held as scheduled.

The "Mei Lanfang" crew did not show up on the closing red carpet.

In this case, there is only one answer.

"Mei Lanfang" was not selected for the final main competition unit, and Chen Kaige and his team returned home empty-handed.

that's the truth.

As the 59th Berlin Film Festival came to an end, "Mei Lanfang" failed to give Chinese movie fans a generous gift in Berlin like "Tuya" did that year. The failure of "Mei Lanfang" made director Chen Kaige return home with regret.

The Peruvian and Spanish co-production "Sad Milk" defeated all opponents and unexpectedly won the "Golden Bear". The Uruguayan romance "Unrequited Love" won three major awards including the Jury Grand Prix, thus continuing the South American storm created by the Brazilian film "Elite Force" last year. South American films once again became the biggest winners at the Berlin Film Festival.

Chen Kaige just felt regretful, but did not return home in disgrace.

Because "Mei Lanfang" was the only Chinese-language film shortlisted from across Taiwan, Mainland China and Hong Kong, which was enough for him to brag about.

Furthermore, compared with "The Milk of Sadness", neither the Hollywood films nor the new works of film masters in the competition have achieved any breakthroughs.

This also allows Director Chen to find a reason to save his face.

Many internationally renowned directors participated in this year's Berlin Film Festival, but they all lost to new directors.

With someone to keep him company, it won't be embarrassing for a Palme d'Or-winning director.

However, domestic media still directly criticized the failure of the film "Mei Lanfang" at this year's Berlin Film Festival, saying that it not only made Chen Kaige lose all his glory, but was also a heavy blow to China's fifth generation of film directors.

It means that the fifth generation directors have lost face by not winning the award.

First he made sarcastic remarks about the fifth generation directors, and then he hinted that, in a sense, the core position of Chinese film directors was beginning to change.

Directly on the face of yin and yang
From the movies "One and Eight" to "Yellow Earth", the fifth generation of directors also started out amid controversy among the domestic literary and art circles and audiences.

It was not until 1988 that Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, followed by "Ju Dou" in 1990, "Raise the Red Lantern" in 1991, "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" in 1992, and "Farewell My Concubine" in 1993... Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige swept all the awards at the three major film festivals of Berlin, Venice and Cannes, thus establishing their glorious position in the film industry.

Today, the sixth-generation film director Jia Kechang became famous in Berlin with "Xiao Wu", Wang Quan'an unexpectedly won the "Golden Bear" with "Tuya's Marriage", and Wang Xiaoshuai won the "Silver Bear" twice with "Seventeen Years Old Bicycle" and "Left and Right"... The frequent awards of the sixth-generation film directors have not only successfully made their status in the domestic film industry surface, no longer the so-called "underground directors" in the past, but also took on the responsibility of promoting Chinese film art and quality, as well as thinking about real life.

In comparison, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, two core figures of the fifth generation of directors, successfully surrounded the cities from the countryside. Their films became more "Western" and their wallets became fatter, but they were increasingly unrecognized by the audiences, and also by the international film scene.

Wang Quanan once said: The sixth generation opened an era of personal perspective. Although our personal power is very weak, emotions are the most real and the best way to express the essence of film. Today, there are too few films that reflect the reality of our living environment. I think the fifth generation of directors avoided too much in this regard.

Then, the eighth-generation director Wang Shu was mentioned.

Wang Shu is three generations behind the fifth-generation directors and two generations behind the sixth-generation directors.

At such a young age, he won both the Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Golden Globe Award.

It is inevitable to brag a lot, and then use the achievements of the young director Wang Shu to make sarcastic remarks about the fifth-generation directors.

It implicitly indicates that some so-called experienced and academic directors are not worthy of their reputation and their boasting is greater than their actual ability.

In other words, the emergence of Wang Shu may be the turning point of Chinese film.
When Wang Shu and Chen Hong learned about this matter when they were chatting on their mobile phones, he immediately exclaimed, "Who the hell is praising him to death again?"
There are indeed quite a few directors in China who like to brag.

But... just be clear about this in your heart, don't say it out loud.

There's nothing wrong with saying it. Let the 5th generation directors and the 6th generation directors fight each other. What does it have to do with him, the 8th generation director?

Isn't it a slap in everyone's face to use him, an 8th generation director, as an example?
This is a complete overpraise!
Wang Shu sighed secretly. It seemed that only by winning the Oscar could he suppress everything. Otherwise, someone would definitely be sarcastic about this kind of flattery.

It’s different with the big Oscar, it’s just a gag.

"Everyone in the country is saying that you are the best director in the country." Chen Hong sent a text message to Wang Shu.

"Overpraising! Absolutely overpraising!" Wang Shu replied.

"Haha, why are you so excited?" Chen Hong teased.

Wang Shu was not excited at all, but he was indignant when facing this topic.

He did not answer the question, but replied again: "Someone must be praising me to death."

Chen Hong hadn't thought about this at first, but now she was a little unsure.

Because domestic voices are not only saying that Wang Shu is the best director in the country, but also using Wang Shu's achievements as an example to criticize other directors.

Especially since the one at home had just returned from Berlin with a failure, while Wang Shu had the hope of winning an Oscar.

It really feels like both flattery and provocation.

But this is very media style.

Then he replied: "You may be overthinking it. The media just likes to stir up trouble. It is very likely that they are deliberately stirring up trouble to attract attention."

Wang Shu was of course aware that this was most likely the case. The media usually had no moral integrity in order to generate publicity, and it was common for them to stir up trouble like this.

But no matter what, his attitude needs to be expressed.

After all, he is only in his twenties.

According to domestic culture, if a public figure of this age is too arrogant, it will most likely cause disgust among the public.

On the contrary, maintaining a humble personality can win favor.

With Wang Shu’s current achievements, he is not worried at all about offending domestic filmmakers.

Anyway, as long as it doesn't get banned by the higher-ups, nothing will happen.

Similarly, with Han Sanping's care, he doesn't have to worry about being banned even if he offends his seniors in the circle.

Of course, even if he is banned in China, he can still make it in Hollywood.

It’s just that now that he has Han Sanping’s care, he doesn’t have to worry about offending some filmmakers and being banned.

He made his attitude clear just because he didn't want rumors to spread that he was arrogant and looked down on others.

Given the culture in China, if these rumors were heard by the general public who were unaware of the truth, they would most likely be disgusted with him, thus affecting his box office appeal.

Therefore, we must pay attention when we should, so as to avoid being exaggerated and hyped by those with ulterior motives.

(End of this chapter)