China Entertainment: Been working as a director since 03

Chapter 706: Master of Commercial Films

When filming "Barbie", Li Yu never considered the domestic market.

Similarly, he did not consider the overseas market when filming "Thief".

When you can't have your cake and eat it too, you have to make a choice.

If you clearly cannot have both but still insist on doing it, then the final outcome may be the same as that of the National Master.

They tried their best to cater to the aesthetic tastes of Western audiences, but were severely criticized by Western media.

Western media say his films are a hodgepodge of national proportions, with abrupt character changes, superficial depictions of acute brutality, and weak narrative themes.

Domestic audiences also find it a bit awkward to watch, and always feel that something is not right.

This is not something Li Yu made up. This is the situation that the national master's "The Flowers of War" faced.

When Li Yu was interviewed by media reporters, someone asked him this question.

"Director Li, the brilliance of this film doesn't seem to match its box office success abroad.

In the past, people were always excited to watch the premiere of Director Li's films, but this time many people's reactions were indifferent, and some people felt bored and fell asleep. "

Li Yu picked up the topic and thought about it, then answered very honestly: "Everyone knows that I am a director who is more commercial. I like art films very much, but when I make movies, I prefer to make commercial films. I do this not for anything else, but simply because I like money. I can make more money by making commercial films."

Li Yu's honesty amuses many people.

It is rare to see someone who would say so bluntly that he makes commercial films just because he loves money.

Many people like to embellish it and say that there is no difference between commercial films and art films, they are all art.

“If you want to make a good commercial film, you must respect the market and the audience. If you can’t do these two things, you will never succeed.

Our ancestors taught us that when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you want to make money in an unfamiliar place, you must first understand the local customs and what kind of products they need.

Only by satisfying their needs can you make money. This is true for doing business and making movies.

It should be acknowledged that there are huge cultural differences between China and overseas.

In many Guojia, people don’t think there is anything wrong with living next to a cemetery. Instead, they feel it is very peaceful.

in the country, I think no one would like to live next to a cemetery, right?

This is just a small microcosm of the differences between Chinese and Western culture. There are many more differences, so I won’t give examples one by one, otherwise it would take three days and three nights to finish.

What I want to convey to everyone is that many times, we who make movies cannot dominate both the domestic and overseas markets.

It is a rare case that both sides are successful. Every year, we can see many foreign films that achieve good results in China, so we subconsciously believe that the cultures of China and overseas are interconnected.

We Chinese also like to watch the movies that foreigners like to watch.

In fact, there are movies that are not popular among foreigners, but we Chinese people also like to watch them.

But movies that Chinese people don’t like to watch will not be imported at all.

Those imported films account for only a tiny fraction of the annual output of foreign films.

The movie "Barbie" is a bit like most foreign language films that are not usually imported.

This movie was originally made for foreigners, and the target audience is white women under the age of fifty.

So from the very beginning, I didn't have high expectations for this movie's performance in the domestic market.

You ask me this question because I am a Chinese director.

If I were a foreigner, you wouldn't have such questions.

It’s not unusual for people in China to find the film’s highlights interesting because it’s directed by a foreign director and performs well abroad.”

Li Yu's speech was very long and lasted for several minutes.

After Li Yu finished speaking, there was warm applause from the audience. What Li Yu said just now was well-reasoned and clearly answered the question raised by the questioner.

It is said that laymen see the excitement, while insiders see the door.

When laymen listen to what Li Yu says, they will only think that Li Yu is awesome.

It’s different for experts like National Master Chen Kaige. In their eyes, Li Yu is just pretending.

What Li Yu said just now was equivalent to showing off to everyone that he is a master of commercial films and has a deep understanding of both the Eastern and Western markets.

As long as Li Yu wants, he can switch states at any time. If he wants, he can make movies that Chinese people like to watch when he makes movies in China, and he can make movies that foreigners like to watch when he makes movies abroad.

This is really awesome, as it means we have conquered both the domestic and overseas markets.

For a director, being able to handle a single domestic market or a single overseas market makes him a master.

People like Li Yu are really rare.

After all, not everyone has cheats like Li Yu.

Li Yu had seen the finished product of "Barbie" and he knew how to make this movie to win the hearts of foreign audiences.

In other words, how can an ordinary director compare with a wall-hanging director like him? It's a complete dimensionality reduction attack.

Liu Yifei and Aunt Liu were also clapping in the audience.

After listening to Li Yu's words, Liu Yifei became more certain that it was a right decision not to participate in the interview for "Mulan".

Li Yu even knows what kind of movies domestic and foreign audiences like to watch.

Li Yu also knew how Deshini planned to film "Mulan".

Li Yu felt that according to Deshini’s idea, neither domestic nor foreign audiences would buy it, so the probability of it being reliable was very high.

"I have made it very clear. No one will ask me similar questions again, right? I can tell you straight away that this movie will probably flop in China.

I hope that if the movie really flopped, people would stop making fun of me. After all, I am also a human being, and it is normal for me to fail once or twice. "

Li Yu joked.

Many people laughed out loud.

The Imperial Master and Chen Kaige couldn't laugh.

Damn, this guy is so pretentious.

"Barbie" defeated a lot of its competitors of the same period abroad. Do you call such a result a flop?

You've already called it a street crash, what should we call it? The street is not even worthy of being a street crash, but a sewer?

"Director Li, can you tell us what the difference is between making a movie in Hollywood and making a movie in China? Everyone still yearns for Hollywood, after all, it is known as the kingdom of movies."

Li Yu pondered for a moment and replied, "I don't think it's any different from making movies in China."

"No difference? How come?"

Li Yu added: "There is really no difference. The box office is several hundred million or even tens of billions, just like when I make movies in China."

Blanch!
This time many people couldn't bear it anymore and their back teeth were almost broken.

If Li Yu had not hired dozens of security personnel to maintain order at the scene, they would have rushed up and beaten Li Yu up.

The movies you make in the country cost hundreds of millions or even billions, that’s RMB.

The movies you made abroad made hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, that's a lot, how can it be the same? The same box office, but converted back it's six times different, okay?

(End of this chapter)