It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 1290 A Waterloo-like disaster!

"Haha? Cooperating with China Film Group?"

Chen Fei swiped his fingertips across the phone screen and hung up the call. A sneer escaped from between his teeth, and his eyebrows and eyes were full of undisguised contempt.

If you look closely, you can find that today's China Film Group has long lost the edge it had when Han Sanping was at the helm.

Since La Peikang took over and then to the current president Jiao Hongfen, both of these two helmsmen have failed to inject real vitality into the Chinese-language film industry.

Speaking of La Peikang, the movie "Shanghai Fortress" was like a loud slap in the face.

The sci-fi blockbuster, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars in funds and resources to create, eventually became a laughing stock in the industry, and directly crushed all his achievements during his tenure into dust.

Looking at Jiao Hongfen again, although he has not made any obvious mistakes, he has never been able to create a remarkable wave.

As the head of China Film Corporation, he should have shouldered the responsibility of leading the industry, but he always trapped himself in the framework of the "main melody" and was unwilling to take a step forward.

It is undeniable that in recent years main-theme themes have indeed occupied half of the film market. Flood control and disaster relief, defending the country and guarding the border, and revolutionary history, each story has touched countless audiences.

But this shouldn't be the only option.

After all, no matter how rich a treasure mountain is, if you mine it day and night, it will eventually run dry!
With its unique resources and policy advantages, China Film Group should be an industry pioneer, exploring diverse genres such as suspense, science fiction, and fantasy, digging up themes with a more international perspective, and cultivating cutting-edge directors and innovative teams.

If we just stick to the old ways and keep working on established themes over and over again, how can we break Hollywood's market monopoly and allow Chinese-language films to truly gain a foothold on the international stage?
Therefore, Chen Fei would never get involved in the mess of China Film.

Moreover, he has already started a countdown to Jiao Hongfen's term in office in his mind.

As for the so-called invitation for cooperation, he could already outline the other party's plan in his mind.

Most likely, they were attracted by the reputation he has accumulated in the international film scene in recent years, and wanted to use his name to give the film "My Fathers and Me" a layer of "internationalization" gilded by his reputation.

But this kind of patchwork main theme movie is nothing more than a few stories put together in a rigid way.

The director's creative space is compressed to the extreme, and he has to walk a tightrope between layers of review and commercial considerations...

It is easy to imagine that there will inevitably be many clashes of creative ideas during the filming process, and even brilliant ideas will be ruthlessly strangled.

Thinking of this, Fade Chen's eyes suddenly turned to the pile of scripts and materials on the desk.

The corners of the Chinese version of "Parasite" are covered with sticky notes with comments on revisions. Polishing the details that transcend cultural differences is the challenge he loves.

The post-production team of "Changjin Lake" has now returned to Yanjing, and is carving out the shocking effects of the war scenes frame by frame in the editing room. Each frame carries a sense of mission to recreate history.

In comparison, the invitation for the project "My Fathers and Me" seems so pale and powerless.

Instead of spending months running around in an established framework, it is better to invest your energy into works that can truly break through creative boundaries and convey profound connotations.

He immediately picked up his phone, found Su Guohai's WeChat, and sent a message directly: "Cancel it, I'm not interested in this project, let China Film Group do it on its own."

In less than a minute, a reply came.

"Okay, Mr. Chen."

Su Guohai may not have strong pioneering ability, but his ability to get things done is absolutely reliable.

In the ten years since Feiyue Films was founded, there has not been a single order or task given by Chen Fei that he has not accomplished.

Therefore, regarding the matter of "China Film's invitation", Chen Fei immediately put it behind his mind and ignored it completely.

He doesn't need to find reasons or excuses, Su Guohai will naturally help him with it.

……

In the next few days, Chen Fei never left the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions".

The main reason is that the filming of this drama will be completed in a week at most, and by then he can just go back to Yanjing with Liu Yifei.

The premiere time of "Rock Solid" has been confirmed and will start on the 23rd.

The time is just right to catch up~
What’s more, when I come back home at night, I can spend time with my wife and relieve my homesickness. How great is that?
As for the post-production work of "The Battle at Lake Changjin", Kang Honglei has been idle recently and has no new projects to start, so just let him handle it first.

However, Guo Fan can't wait to start preparations for "The Wandering Earth 2".

Chen Fei naturally wouldn't stop him.

"If you need money, people, or resources, just write a report and I'll sign it."

"Haha, OK, Director Chen, you are simply my God!"

The police and gangster crime TV series "Black and White Forbidden Zone" starring Ou Hao is currently on the air on the iQiyi platform.

Some funny netizens have dug up the "You are my God" meme again, causing the internet to be filled with mocking voices.

The most important thing is that Haiqing himself is also playing with this joke, which makes it even more fun~
Guo Fan, a surfing expert, naturally also noticed this fun thing, and then turned around and used it on Chen Fei.

"What the hell is this."

Chen Fei hung up the phone speechlessly.

He has no interest in being a god.

But he turned around and opened the Douban app, and looked through the film reviews of "The Battle at Lake Changjin" which was released at 12: am last night with great interest.

China Film Group is almost praising this movie as a "masterpiece". I wonder what netizens think of it after watching it?
"I finally understand why this movie was shot so quickly and released in such a short time. It turns out that there were so many cameras that they managed to cut it down to two hours!"

"Well, isn't this just a low-profile version of Dunkirk? And the main plot is shot over and over again. What's the difference between this and writing poetry? It's even worse than the previous film, The Eight Hundred."

"Is this the main theme of the film "Resisting U.S. Aggression and Aiding Korea" released by China Film Group? Oh, I took a nap in the middle of it and found that I didn't miss anything."

"It's an aesthetic disaster! Holy crap!"

"If "Eight Hundred" is Zhao Yun, who rescued his master at Changbanpo alone, then "King Kong River" is the story behind Zhao Yun; Huang Xiaoming is Zhang Fei, and Li Chen is Guan Yu, and their purpose is to rescue Guan Yu, but they failed."

"..."

It was already noon outside the window. The weather was pretty good today, and people were in a very good mood.

Chen Fei's fingertips slid quickly across the screen of his mobile phone, and he saw complaints from the comment section pouring in like a tide.

The corners of his mouth first slightly raised, then he couldn't help but chuckle, and finally he held his stomach and laughed so hard that he fell backwards.

"Hey? It was supposed to be the masterpiece of the year, but it turned out to be the joke of the year?"

Chen Fei laughed while secretly mocking himself in his heart.

A few days ago, all major platforms were promoting "The Battle at Lake Changjin" extensively.

The grand scenes in the trailer, the big-name lineup, and the fantastic reviews all hyped up the movie and successfully fooled countless audiences into willingly going to the cinema.

But now?

The joking name "a crazy work" has spread rapidly on the Internet and has become the most appropriate label for this movie.

Chen Fei leaned back in his chair, his eyes full of gloating.

He couldn't help but imagine how overwhelmed the three "great directors" Guan Hu, Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yibai would be at this moment?
If this movie really has outstanding features, even better than "The Eight Hundred" released in the summer vacation, then everyone will naturally be convinced.

But the reality is that the audience gave overwhelmingly negative reviews, and some even bluntly stated that its quality was far inferior to "Eight Hundred", which undoubtedly gave "King Kong River" a resounding slap in the face!

After casually flipping through a few more pages of comments, Fade Chen finally put away his phone and forced himself to turn his attention back to the work in front of him.

Soon, night fell and the lights came on.

After a busy day at work, Liu Yifei returned to the hotel. After having a simple dinner, she followed Chen Fei out and went straight to the cinema.

Although the reviews online were ridiculously bad, Chen Fei always believed that "seeing is believing", so he had to verify it in person no matter what.

After all, in his opinion, "live and learn" is not just empty talk.

A movie, whether good or bad, has something worth learning and reflecting on.

We can learn from the advantages and take the disadvantages as a warning.

So, it is also beneficial to go and see the finished film.

The two of them entered the cinema in a low-key manner. After taking out the movie tickets from the ticket machine, they followed the crowd into the theater and found their seats.

As the lights dimmed, the movie officially began. At first, Chen Fei was still somewhat expectant.

But as the plot progressed, his brows furrowed more and more, and Liu Yifei beside him also took out her mobile phone to play with it out of boredom.

He really didn't expect that the fatal injury caused by rushing the work would be so serious!
After cutting the story into three angles, it not only failed to advance the plot, but also broke the heaviness of the group portrait.

The first two chapters are particularly weak, and only the third chapter barely establishes the characters.

You have to know that the starting point of non-linearity is that linear narrative cannot tell the story well.

But this movie clearly feels that a straightforward narrative would be more outstanding, and there is no need to play narrative tricks at all.

Then add a large amount of "broken limb plasma", which seems to reflect the cruelty of war, but the in-depth exploration of the dark side of human nature and the problems left over from the war is almost nonexistent.

Another biggest problem is that this movie has no idea what it wants to express!
War films can generally be divided into two categories.

One is the anti-war type, which is regardless of one’s stance, unites the human community, and praises peace.

The other type is the political propaganda that highlights the contradiction between us and the enemy, that is, if someone offends me, I will offend him.

If you want to do the former, then downplay ideology; but if you want to do the latter, there is no need to mix in thoughts about the enemy's humanity.

But Guan Hu obviously wanted to be a "rationalist". Knowing that the former could not do so, he still insisted on digging out the cowboy spirit of American soldiers. As a result, the second chapter seemed particularly twisted, and he created a twisted character who could not please both sides.

And then, the final product of the film was very embarrassing.

It was obvious that they could have used the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea" to attract a lot of attention and popularity, but in the end they turned themselves into a "crash scene".

“Why do I feel weird when I watch this movie?”

After leaving the cinema and on the way home, Liu Yifei asked Chen Fei this question.

"That's normal." Chen Fei shrugged and said, "The reason why mainstream movies can sell well at the box office is mainly because they can move the audience.

However, only logic can create reality, only reality can create empathy, and only empathy can express emotion, but the presentation of this movie is too inconsistent with the logic of war, so it naturally looks strange. "

"That's what I told you." Liu Yifei pouted and muttered softly, "Anyway, the plot is not good for crying at all. I feel like the climax is like the director cutting onions next to me, telling me stiffly: This is the climax, it's going to be sentimental, you should cry."

"Hahaha."

After laughing, Fade Chen gave Liu Yifei another thumbs up and said, "Not bad, you now have a good appreciation ability. You can find more movies to watch in the future. It will help you quickly understand the basic framework of filming."

“So, I have a talent for directing, right?”

"Of course I did. I discovered that when I visited the set that day. If you work hard, you will definitely be able to achieve the process of 'being a good actor and then a good director' in time and become a very good director."

"Hehe~ Love you~ Thank you husband for encouraging me."

"Just thanking you with your mouth?" Chen Fei's eyes rolled and he had evil thoughts again.

As they were an old married couple, how could Liu Yifei not understand what he meant?

Her pretty face turned slightly red, and she couldn't help but stretched out her hand to pinch Fade Chen, "You're going to die, why are you saying such things outside? What if someone hears you?"

"Then let's talk about it when we get back to the hotel."

Chen Fei stretched out his hands and hugged her waist directly. His restless hands were ready to move down to touch her buttocks.

Liu Yifei did not refuse, but moved closer to him.

But she grabbed the mischievous hand and held it in her arms.

"You bad guy, you can touch me however you want when you get back to the hotel, but don't do it outside."

She blinked her watery autumn eyes and gave Chen Fei a coquettish look.

……

After a night, it was November 12th.

Early in the morning, the hot search has already exploded!

"On its first day of release, the main theme movie "King Kong River", produced by China Film Group, co-directed by Guan Hu, Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yibai, and starring Huang Xiaoming, Li Chen, Li Jiuxiao and Wei Chen, grossed 1.13 million yuan."

"Due to the extremely polarized word of mouth, the film only received an overall score of 6.2 on Douban."

"The famous domestic film critic 'Ke Nuo' said: This propositional film, which took only three months to make, is inevitably a shoddy project with a golden appearance but rotten inside. Although it is grand, it is not well-thought-out."

"After eight days of release, the cumulative box office of Life Events has exceeded 8 billion RMB."

"The latest suspense masterpiece "Solid as a Rock" directed by Zhang Yimou will hold its premiere event in Yanjing on the 23rd..."

"From "Eight Hundred" to "My Hometown and Me" and then to the current "King Kong River", the main theme of China Film Group has been unable to hide its decline..."

China Film Group.

"boom--"

Seeing the many comments that suddenly appeared online that were not optimistic about "The Battle at Lake Changjin", Jiao Hongfen's face turned very ugly, and he couldn't help but slapped the desk hard.

It was clear that some time ago, the whole Internet was full of praise.

But how come now, those praises seem to have suddenly retreated, leaving only a large number of unpleasant and negative reviews...

What's happening here?
However, before he had time to investigate the situation, the secretary brought him some very bad news.

"Mr. Jiao, all major cinema chains have begun to reduce the screening schedule of "King Kong River". Some of it has been allocated to "Life Events", and some has been moved to other movies of the same period."

There is not only the movie "King Kong River" on the 18th, but also many other domestic and Hollywood imported blockbusters such as "Emergency Rescue" and "Wonder Woman 1984" at the same time.

"why?"

Jiao Hongfen stood up suddenly, his brows furrowed!
"Because..." The secretary observed his expression, gritted her teeth, and lowered her voice, "Because the theater chain doesn't think highly of this movie."

Swah——

In an instant, Jiao Hongfen's already ugly face turned as dark as ink.

You know, this is the "blockbuster" he prepared for this year's Lunar New Year holiday.

But it’s only the first day of its release and the theaters have already labeled it as unpopular. This is not a good sign.

However, at this moment, a situation that gave him even more headaches arose.

The phone on the table suddenly rang. After answering the call, the leader's voice hit him like a heavy hammer: "Come to the bureau, the organization wants to talk to you..."

In fact, whether a movie has sufficient box office potential can be concluded by looking at the data from the first day.

Guan Hu was still unwilling to give up and waited for three days.

It was not until the morning of the 21st, when the box office of "The Battle at Lake Changjin" in its first three days of the weekend closed at 2.85 million yuan and the single-day box office dropped to 9128 million yuan, that he suddenly felt a sense of frustration as if he had been struck by lightning.

"It's useless. This movie is really useless..."

The Waterloo-like decline finally became apparent on the fourth day.

When the figure of 3698 million was placed in front of Jiao Hongfen, Guan Hu, Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Yibai, they were immediately stunned!
All the previous promises, assurances, and military orders turned into slaps in their faces one after another at this moment.

For this, Jiao Hongfen had to give up his position as chairman of China Film Group Corporation, and was left with only the power of chairman of China Film Co., Ltd.

The project "Revolutionary", which was written by Guan Hu himself, was temporarily suppressed by the investors.

He actually wanted to continue being a director, but after seeing the performance of "The Battle at Lake Changjin", the investors no longer dared to invest in him, and the two sides are now in a stalemate.

As for Zhang Yibai, he has to go back to the youth film field. It won't be so easy for him to return to the mainstream film industry.

Among the group of people, Feng Xiaogang was the one who was least affected.

After all, he has now fallen to the point of filming a web drama, how bad can it be?

At the same time, the crew of "Dream of Hualu" at the Xiangyang Tangcheng Film and Television Base started filming the final scene...

(End of this chapter)