Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

The students watched the entire movie with their mouths open, unable to close them, and were stunned the entire time.

There were constant exclamations and applause in between.

Because it is so shocking!
When the movie ended, the students burst into tears again.

Because the final farewell was so touching.

The robot imitated humans and forced out a smile, wiping away their tears.

"Now I know why you're crying, but that's something I could never do!"

The robot finally sank into the boiling steel furnace and stretched out its hand with the thumbs up.

How can one not cry when a cold robot learns human emotions?

Then, there was thunderous applause.

Yang Ye stood up amid the applause and walked towards the podium.

Behind him are the students looking at him enthusiastically and with admiration!
Even Yang Jianxun, who felt like a green grassland had grown on his head because of Gong Li and Yang Ye's appearance together, temporarily forgot about that matter.

After Yang Ye came on stage, he bowed first.

This is his habit. He is an actor and it is his duty to bow to the audience.

In the past, whenever his movies were released and he went on roadshows with the main creative team, he would bow to the audience.

This is a very common thing, nothing big.

However, the students in the auditorium were extremely excited when they saw his action.

He is an international superstar, but he is so humble and polite. It's really... amazing.

At Yang Ye's repeated signaling, the applause finally stopped.

Yang Ye cleared his throat and said into the microphone: "Hello, leaders, teachers, students of the Central Academy of Drama, and students of the Beijing Film Academy. I am very happy to be able to stand here today and exchange ideas on film art with you all."

"Snap, snap, snap, snap!"

As soon as Yang Ye finished speaking, there was another round of warm applause from the audience.

As soon as Yang Ye came on stage, he bowed and talked. Everyone felt that this big star was humble and polite, without any airs. In addition to admiration for him, they also liked him more.

Celebrities are like this, they have their own halo.

“Seven years ago, I came to Beijing for the first time and exchanged ideas with students at the Beijing Film Academy. I brought a copy of The Terminator with me.

This time I came to the Central Academy of Drama to communicate with you all, and I also brought a movie "Terminator 2". I am very happy because I did not come empty-handed.

When we communicated with classmates of that class, we adopted the form of roadshow. What is a roadshow?
After the movie is released, the main creative staff of the film will go to the cinema to meet with the audience and have face-to-face communication.

They talked about the process of film creation and answered questions from the audience on the spot, bringing them closer to the audience.

In Hong Kong, during the release of a movie, we probably have to run nearly fifty roadshows and interact closely with tens of thousands of audiences.

Sometimes they even travel to Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and even Europe and the United States, covering tens of thousands of kilometers.

Why do we do this? Because our movies are made for the audience, and we need to understand the audience's opinions in a timely manner in order to make more popular movies.

In the words of Chairman Mao, that is... come from the masses and go to the masses!"

"Clap clap clap clap!"

It's so down-to-earth that a Hong Kong director would actually quote Chairman Mao.

The students felt that Yang Ye was very kind, and the distance between them and him became closer. They all raised their hands to speak enthusiastically.

Yang Ye pointed casually and said, "Student, come here!"

The man was Cao Baoping, a famous director in later generations. He stood up and said, "Hello, Director Yang, my first impression of your Terminator 2 is that the technology is so advanced that it is breathtaking.

Especially when T1000 got up from the floor, turned into a person exactly like the security guard, and then killed him, it was so realistic that I couldn't believe my eyes.

Of course, the film's consideration of human nature and its warning about the future of mankind are enough to make people think deeply. My question is, how do you strike a balance between art and commerce? "

Yang Ye said: "It's not that exaggerated actually. What you call realistic is because... I found a pair of twins to shoot this scene."

"what?"

Everyone present was stunned. They had been amazed by the superb computer special effects technology reflected in this shot, but they didn't expect that the truth behind it was so simple and crude.

Yang Ye said: “In fact, only more than 30 shots in this movie used computer special effects, and the rest were shot by our production team using various creative ideas.

For me, the process of making a movie is a process of constantly encountering difficulties and solving them. If you feel that the conditions are limited and you don’t do it, then you will never be able to do it. "

Wow, the students quickly wrote down Yang Ye’s words of encouragement.

“As for how to strike a balance between art and business, for me, there is no such thing as balance, nor is there any such thing as choice.

More than seventy years ago, Giotto Canudo published the famous "Manifesto of the Seventh Art", and since then film has entered the mainstream and been recognized as an art.

But we must understand that there are essential differences between film and the six major arts: architecture, music, painting, sculpture, poetry and dance.

It is the seventh art that integrates the six major arts. When we create a movie, we have to gather the wisdom of everyone. It is not something that can be accomplished by the director alone.

This means that if you want to complete a movie in your mind, the cost will be very expensive, unlike writing a poem, painting a picture, or composing a song.

So when we make a movie, we often need an investor, and we filmmakers need to be responsible to the investor.

He invested money in your film and helped you realize your dream. Morally, you have to be responsible for him. You can't cheat him or make him lose money, right?"

Cao Baoping nodded and said, "That's right, so you think the business of movies is greater than art?"

Yang Ye shook his head: "It depends on your definition of art. During the Tang and Song dynasties, poetry flourished. In the Song Dynasty, people sang Liu's poems everywhere, which shows the mass base at that time.

But after continuous development, poetry became more and more niche and was only circulated among literati, so vernacular novels began to flourish.

The vernacular novels continued to evolve, with many people participating in them. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, novels flourished. The four great masterpieces that we regard as national cultural treasures today were all born during that period.

However, we cannot even confirm the authors of the four great classics. The author of "Journey to the West", Wu Cheng'en, was just a fabrication by Lu Xun, Hu Shizhi and others.

Whether the author of "Dream of Red Mansions" is Cao Xueqin is also a mystery. And who is Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng in "Jin Ping Mei"? Who knows?
It can be seen that the authors at that time did not regard writing novels as a noble thing, otherwise, why would they not use their real names?
But it is precisely works like these, because they grow among the masses, that have infinite vitality and have been passed down to this day.

To be honest, a hundred years from now, the masterpieces of many literary masters in our country will be lost in history and no one will mention them anymore.

On the contrary, the martial arts novels of Jin Yong and Gu Long will be passed down because they are popular and have a broad mass base.

If art is separated from the masses, it will lose its vitality and will soon die out. The best outcome will be to be put in a museum.

If an artist feels that he is superior and that ordinary people are not worthy of appreciating his art, then I would like to give him a poem.

Some people carve their names into stone, hoping to achieve immortality... Those who carve their names into stone will have their names rot away before their bodies do!"

Yang Ye recited the modern poem "Some People" in memory of Lu Xun on the spot.

The students were all very surprised. Yang Ye, a Hong Konger, not only knew Chairman Mao’s words, but also knew Zang Kejia’s poems. Isn’t his knowledge so profound?
What’s more, he speaks Mandarin so well, is he a fake Hong Konger?
……

Yang Ye then mentioned mainland films, which have won a number of awards since the rise of the fifth generation of directors.

“Especially Chen’s Yellow Earth and King of Children, but these two films were not well received after they were released in China, and the audiences did not like to watch them.

It's not just that the audience doesn't like it. When "The King of Children" was exhibited in Cannes,
Our Baiyang Film Company's deputy general manager, the famous actor Xu Feng, and Taiwan's famous director Hou Hsiao-hsien have all seen it.

The consensus was... they couldn't understand it.

Even senior people in the film industry said they couldn't understand it, so you can imagine how it makes ordinary people feel.

Of course, I am not denying Director Chen's talent. In fact, Xu Feng was impressed after watching the film and admired Director Chen very much. He also said that he would definitely work with Director Chen in the future. My question is, who do you make your films for? Only for people who understand?

Oh, 不知觉力 means that although I don’t understand what you mean, it feels like you are very powerful.”

"Hahaha……"

There was a burst of laughter from the audience, amused by Yang Ye's explanation of the novel four-character abbreviation.

But Yang Ye's words also made many people at the scene very confused.

To be honest, the film talents cultivated by the mainland's education system look down on commercial films.

For example, Zhang Yimou once said directly in his early years that he looked down on commercial films and believed that they were not art.

He later went to Hong Kong with Gong Li to develop his career and agreed to star in "Terracotta Warriors" with Cheng Xiaodong.

In fact, he didn't think highly of this movie at all. He was just looking for an opportunity to have an affair with Gong Li.

In addition, he also considered that Gong Li was an actress who needed to develop in Hong Kong, so he was willing to help her.

Despite this, the artistic level of this film was greatly improved due to Zhang Yimou's participation.

The scene where Gong Li in red, suddenly turns back, and then jumps into the sea of ​​fire without hesitation, combined with Sally Yeh's "Burning Heart with Fire", is simply the best of the best. With Cheng Xiaodong's level, he definitely can't pull it off.

Yang Ye's words overturned the cognition of some students, and to some extent, even returned to the old path of decades ago.

Because he emphasized Chairman Mao’s words, “Come from the masses and go to the masses.”

This breaks the sense of superiority in some people's hearts and their mentality of thinking they are superior to others, making them feel resentful.

But the problem is that in today's Chinese film industry, Yang Ye is definitely a leading figure.

If you compare the awards he has won at international film festivals, all the directors in China combined cannot win as many as he has.

What qualifications do you have to talk to him about art, let alone criticize him?

……

Yang Ye pretended to be a role model for a long time at the Central Academy of Drama, and in the end he made fun of Brother Kaizi, and then left in a cool manner.

Gong Li watched Yang Ye leave, feeling a little disappointed. Suddenly Yang Jianxun came over and asked coldly, "Xiao Li, where did you go this morning?"

Gong Li said: "I went to see Director Yang!"

"What did you do to see him?"

"I got a chance to star in a play called Red Sorghum. You know it. That play was invested by Director Yang's company."

"His company invested in it. What does it have to do with you meeting him?"

"He's going to give a speech at the Central Academy of Drama today, and I happen to be a student there, so I'll show him the way."

"Are you kidding me? He is such a big shot. When he comes to give a speech at school, there will be school leaders to receive him. He needs a student like you to show him the way. I think he has ulterior motives!"

"What do you mean?"

"I heard that those big directors love to play with female college students. I'm just reminding you kindly!"

"You don't believe me?" Gong Li raised her eyebrows.

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust that Yang Ye. You'd better stay away from him. Listen to what he said at school today. According to him, is film still art?"

"Whether a movie is art or not is not up to you, right? He is an internationally renowned director and a big star, what about you?"

"Yes, I can't compare to him, so you just climb up the social ladder and get close to him!"

"You bastard!"

"You're the fucking bastard!"

"Pa!" Yang Jianxun slapped Gong Li in the face, and half of Gong Li's face was swollen.

Gong Li covered her face, stared at Yang Jianxun fiercely, and said coldly: "We are finished!"

After saying that, he turned around and left.

After Yang Jianxun hit Gong Li, he immediately felt regretful. He stared at his hand for a while, then suddenly chased after her: "Xiao Li, I didn't mean it!"

"Get out of here!" Gong Li pushed Yang Jianxun away.

This happened at school, and their noise immediately attracted a lot of people to watch.

Yang Jianxun looked at Gong Li's murderous gaze and knew that it would be useless to continue pestering her, so he just sighed, turned around and left.

The two of them left separately, but the students who were watching the scene were whispering to each other.

"Wow, Gong Li is not really having something with Director Yang, right?"

"How can it be false?"

"I heard that Gong Li got a chance to film a new movie called Red Sorghum, which is directed by Yang Ye."

"Didn't you say the director's last name is Zhang?"

"The guy named Zhang is the photographer. He shot Terminator 2. The director must be Yang Ye."

"Yes, Gong Li is also the heroine of Red Sorghum."

"That's right. Gong Li is a newcomer, and she's the leading lady in Director Yang's new film. Doesn't it clearly mean she has something to do with Director Yang?"

"Wow, Gong Li is getting rich now that she has Director Yang's big legs."

"of course?"

"I never thought that Director Yang, who looks so righteous, would play with female college students."

"You wish you were a college girl, don't you?"

"roll!"

"Yang Jianxun is in such a pity. He has this green hat on his head that he can't even scratch it off!"

"Then he doesn't lose out, he is Director Yang's senior!"

"Hahahaha!"

The rumors quickly spread throughout the school. When Gong Li went out to get hot water at night, many people pointed fingers at her behind her back.

After returning to the dormitory and hearing the whole story from her roommate Wu Yujuan, Gong Li felt extremely aggrieved and burst into tears on the table.

On the other hand, after Yang Ye left the Central Academy of Drama, he immediately took the opportunity to look for his "Peacock Princess".

I haven't seen you for a long time, and I miss you so much. Now that I'm in Beijing, I have to take some time to relax.

But I didn't see her anymore, she went abroad to perform. Yang Liping is now a national treasure and often performs abroad.

Yang Ye was bored, so he called Liu Xiaoqing again and asked her to come over to vent his anger.

Unexpectedly, Liu Xiaoqing brought one more person with him.

"Brother Ye, this is Fu Yiwei, an actress from our crew. She admires you very much and wants to meet you."

Yang Ye was stunned... Shit, are you really a brothel owner? (End of this chapter)