China Entertainment: I have been a director since 05

The domestic version of Chapter 360 The Wind Rises, premiered on "Awakening Age"!
In September, which is known as the low point of the film industry, the only grand news officially announced before was the Venice International Film Festival and the comprehensive promotion of Zhang Yimou's "Under the Hawthorn Tree".

Zhang Yimou did not dare to release this movie during the National Day holiday, which was also an unconfident judgment about the box office of this movie.

Subconsciously, he didn't dare to confront Guan Ling head-on, and he was even a little nervous about Feng Xiaogang's "Aftershock".

That’s why it was put in such an unpopular time slot.

Because of the controversy caused by "Movies and TV Series", although Zhang Yimou's film has been widely promoted, he himself is very low-key and has hardly accepted many interviews.

But no one expected that Guan Ling would become the one who took away September's popularity.

After Inception topped the mainland box office, Guan Ling created too many records! However, because he went to Hollywood, his news has gradually disappeared.

But a speech he made in Venice made Guan Ling completely explode in the whole country!

After people's nostalgia for animation, their doubts about Guan Ling, and the surprise announcement of Guan Ling's five animated films at the Venice International Film Festival,
News releases on the Internet are flooding in.

"CCTV Film Channel News: The 67th Venice Film Festival Awards Ceremony is coming soon. However, Guan Ling's official announcement of five animated films has completely lit up the Venice red carpet. The directors, actors, and even reporters on the scene are all curious about this news that is outside of Venice!"

"Lingyun Media announced today the name of its first animated film, Even If the Wind Rises. Chen Guofu told domestic media at the press conference that the script was written by Director Guan himself and is currently undergoing final revisions.

The film tells the bloody history of the Chinese Air Force, from the beginning of Chinese fighter jets to their current soaring into the sky.

The film will cover a series of historical backgrounds including Japan's invasion of China, Japan's defeat, and the establishment of New China.

In the process, the protagonist will continue to struggle to survive between love and death, loneliness and solitude, dreams and reality in order to realize his dream of aircraft design.

In turbulent times, even if the winds are strong, never give up on life! "

"Lingyun Media claims that in the coming period, it will continuously announce the names of new animated films and send invitations to well-known animation design institutes and companies at home and abroad, devoting itself to the joint development of domestic animation."

"According to our newspaper's questions, we know that Director Guan has officially announced five animated films, including three domestic animations and two Hollywood animations, and the scripts have all been completed. All scripts were written and revised by Director Guan himself. As the winner of the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Director Guan's scripts have always been the top S-level resources in the industry. The official announcement of this animated film has caused a collective frenzy among dozens of animation companies across the country."

"Director Guan's first animated film has a very open storyline, a story about a Chinese fighter jet versus Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. Perhaps Director Guan's purpose is not just to attract children to the cinema!"

Under various media reports, public opinion was in an uproar for a while.

The verbal battle with Japan is a small matter, but the official announcement of the first animation has completely caught everyone's attention.

Modern times have always been a rather special period of time, and animation and history are two things that are rarely linked together by animators.

The relationship between Guan Ling and Japan recently has also been a topic of much media attention.

This time, the anti-Japanese war was directly written into the story of the animation, and there was a sense of fate in it.

Netizens are discussing this issue lively on major forums and platforms.

"Who has seen Director Guan's style before? The first animated film officially announced to be about fighter jets, this is obviously to flatter the Japanese! Director Guan really can't tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes!"

"This first part is aimed at Japanese netizens!"

"Everyone obviously knows the years of the Anti-Japanese War and the founding of New China, but the period of Japan's defeat was specially added in the middle. The intention of producer Chen was obvious at the press conference!"

Netizens are very happy.

Especially an animated film with this kind of background, no one has ever seen it before!
Guan Ling had a big fight with Lu Chuan over "Nanjing Nanjing" before, but that was just Guan Ling's expression of personal emotions. Guan Ling herself has not filmed any movies of this era.

At that time, many netizens called for Director Guan to make one.

At least don’t be as depressing as “Nanjing Nanjing”.

But no one expected that the movie Guan Ling finally made would involve this era, but it was an animated film.

Children are ignorant, but many adults have already started to keep this matter in mind.

Isn’t this kind of movie better than animations like “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf”?

Isn’t it more exciting than animations like “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf”? !

……

"Director Guan is calling for partners across the country."

At the Shanghai Art Film Studio, Director Zhang was reading the news online, his teeth clenched tightly, his cheeks puffed up, and he seemed to be struggling with something.

A meeting is being held in Shanghai.

Ren Zhonglun also appeared at the scene. As the boss of Shanghai Film Studio, there should be no affiliation between him and Shanghai Film Studio.

But at this moment he was sitting in the main seat with his hands on the table.

"Director Zhang, what are you struggling with?"

Ren Zhonglun looked at Director Zhang with a bad tone, "Whether it's funding or publicity, Shanghai Film Group will provide you with sufficient support, but the premise of all this is that we must win the opportunity to cooperate with you this time.

This is Guan Ling's movie, and it's Guan Ling's first animated film. It's impossible to lose money!"

Ren Zhonglun was so angry that his teeth were itching.

"I know this is a great opportunity for Shanghai Film Studio, but I don't want to put all the control in the hands of Shanghai Film Studio, Mr. Ren." Director Zhang looked at Ren Zhonglun, "Rather than Mr. Ren mediating, I hope that we can rely on our own strength to win the opportunity for cooperation this time."

"What we lack is never money or publicity," said Director Zhang, still looking worried. "What we lack is talent. Too many talents have left Shanghai Mei. I can't say that I can definitely get this opportunity."

"I'll pay for the money." Ren Zhonglun nodded, "You decide on the talent, you can recruit them from anywhere.

If you have any ideas about how we should distribute the rights, Shanghai Film Group can sit down and negotiate with you.
But you have to know that the reason why I am sitting here this time is not entirely for the sake of being in the movie.

I also want to take the film and television cooperation between Modu and Guan Ling a step further, so that both you and I will have more opportunities to cooperate with Ling Yun."

"I understand. Everything Mr. Ren does is for the development of Shanghai Film Group."

Director Zhang nodded in agreement.

In this regard, Director Zhang does not think that Ren Zhonglun has any selfish motives.

"It's good for you to know. This opportunity belongs to you and us as well."

Ren Zhonglun sat in the main seat and looked at everyone, speaking word by word.

“In fact, I have already said some of these things to people at Shanghai Film Academy, and I have even talked to some professors at Shanghai Theatre Academy.

I have kept some words in my heart for a long time. "

Ren Zhonglun looked at Director Zhang.

"Guan Ling has been working with China Film Group for so long, how could I not envy her? But, there is nothing I can do! It's bad luck, I got to know her a step late, and one wrong step leads to many wrong steps.

And then I couldn't catch up anymore.

I was very anxious about this opportunity at Shanghai Film Academy. To be honest, I was even more anxious than Shanghai Film Academy when it first encountered this situation.

Because I know how great Director Guan is."

Everyone looked up at Ren Zhonglun. The atmosphere was very quiet. No one said anything. Only Ren Zhonglun spoke to himself. "I came here uninvited this time. It was a bit presumptuous, but my intention was good. Even if Shanghai Film Studio got the opportunity and Shanghai Film Studio didn't have much share, I still recognize the efforts made by Shanghai Film Studio. I am also happy for you."

"Thank you, Director Ren."

Ren Zhonglun sat down and suddenly felt like a stone had been lifted from his chest.

He didn't know why he was so anxious, perhaps because he couldn't get Guan Ling.

Or maybe he was just envious of Han Sanpin.

Then there is his responsibility towards Shanghai’s films and art.

Only after saying these words could he calm down a little.

As the chairman of Shanghai Film Group, what he did today was clearly beyond his authority.

But he doesn't regret it at all.

If others don't say it, he will say it.

Guan Ling is now not only the face of Chinese cinema, but also the golden signboard of Chinese cinema.

It is also a dream that seems both real and unreal for Chinese films!
"Maybe I'm crazy."

Ren Zhonglun suddenly smiled, seemingly mocking himself.

The record of "Inception" has made him mentally unstable these days.

The dark cloud brought by "Avatar" to domestic films was ruthlessly pushed away in the short term, but China Film Group Corporation brought a new dark cloud to Shanghai Film Group.

It was out of reach for him and he could only drool with regret.

……

The screening of "Sword Rain" at the Venice Film Festival sparked a lot of discussion among netizens on site, which is the only good news for Chinese-language films at this year's Venice Film Festival.

Unlike "Ip Man 2" which opened the show, "Sword Rain" received incomparable attention.

As a film produced by Wu Baige and directed by Su Zhaobin, at the beginning of the premiere press conference in Venice, everyone's attention was on Wu Baige!
In recent years, with the decline of costume martial arts films, people's expectations for them have been low. "The Blade of the Assassin" has increased many people's love for martial arts.

Although "Sword Rain" is a clichéd story, the characters are well established. Whether it is the protagonist or the supporting role, the character's background can be explained in just a few words, and the character's personality can be portrayed with a few glances and actions, which shows considerable skill.

Behind Big S's brutality lies lust, behind Shawn Yue's opportunism lies mediocrity, and behind Wang Xueqi's strength lies weakness. In just over two hours of the movie, the ins and outs of each character are thoroughly explained! It can be said to be one of the models of fast-paced martial arts films.

For a time, there was a constant stream of news on the online media.

"Sword Rain pays tribute to Face/Off and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Although Wu Baige did not direct the film, the style of this film is clearly that of Wu Baige! Although there are no poetic fighting scenes like in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, its performance of swordplay and fighting is full of fantasy and entertainment, which will surely satisfy Kung Fu fans!" - Screen

"Without resorting to strong visual effects, nor imitating the style of other martial arts blockbusters, this movie has given new life to martial arts movies that have been striving to break through in the past 20 years. "Sword Rain" is like a classic martial arts novel, but it is not simply retro. It has definitely created its own unique new style. It is undeniable that this is indeed a five-star commercial martial arts film directed by Wu Baige, the most classic Chinese martial arts film!" - "Asian Film Information".

In this year's Venice Film Festival, "Sword Rain" has completely dragged down the bottom line of Chinese-language films in terms of positive reviews.

Although there are not many Chinese-language films in the main competition unit, those that are promoted are at least not too bad in terms of reputation.

As time slowly flows.

The 67th Venice Awards Ceremony has finally arrived.

Guan Ling had received the call a long time ago, and he will be attending the ceremony as the recipient of the Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement.

On the evening of the 11th local time, many filmmakers from all over the world walked on the red carpet of the awards ceremony held on the Lido Island in Venice, Italy.

A number of female stars appeared in gorgeous costumes, vying for beauty, but only Helen Mirren and Sofia Coppola could be called big names, and the former directly exposed her breasts, attracting the attention of the entire audience.

The male stars' star power was quite dim, and only Quentin and Guan Ling could attract everyone's attention.

After Guan Ling stepped onto the red carpet, Guan Jinpeng appeared behind him.
As the only Chinese judge on the jury of this year's film festival, Stanley Kwan missed the main competition and served as a judge for the Virgin and Debut units of the film festival.

"Hello, Director Guan!"

Guan Jinpeng walked up to Guan Ling and nodded sincerely,

"You really brought the greatest popularity and exposure to Venice this time!"

Regarding Guan Ling's ability to create news.

Guan Jinpeng is really convinced!
I can’t accept it!
The Venice International Art Fair this year is not very popular, but it has a great impact in the Chinese community. After all, the previous Venice International Art Fair's most China-loving chairmen are about to retire.

But in fact, the starlight of this Venice Expo is still quite dim, which is particularly evident on the opening red carpet.

When Guan Ling arrived later, just a few words from him were enough to make Venice explode.

Guan Ling greeted Guan Jinpeng. Although they were from the same family, Guan Ling was not familiar with him. Although Guan Jinpeng was very excited, Guan Ling was just being polite in conversation.

During the award ceremony,
The "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Venice Film Festival caused an uproar in the domestic media.

Even Wu Baige himself was shocked.

Quentin and Guan Ling served as award presenters. They took the trophy from Mark Muller and handed it to Wu Baige. The handshake scene between the several people became a classic of this Venice Film Festival.

During the ceremony, Wu Baige and Guan Ling hugged each other tightly many times.

When giving his acceptance speech, Wu Baige was silent for a long time. After raising the microphone, he suddenly smiled.

"If I hadn't held this trophy in my hands, I would have thought it was all a joke.

I am still young, and I have a lot of struggles, pressures, and projects to do, not only in China but also in Hollywood. Winning this trophy in Venice today is a story I never imagined.

In fact, I never expected that the person who presented the award to me was Director Guan Ling."

Many people below pricked up their ears.

"Everyone in China knows this, but few people outside know that Director Guan's first film was released at the same time as mine. At that time, my "Seven Swords" was released in mainland China, and Director Guan's first film "The Uninvited Visitor" was scheduled to be released only eight days after my film.

I remember it very clearly, because after "Seven Swords" completely flopped at the box office, I went to the theater and watched Director Guan's movie. That was a scene I never want to recall in my life, because I thought I didn't deserve to lose.

From that day to now, it has not even been five years.

I stood on the stage to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Venice, and Director Guan was the presenter.”

As soon as this statement came out, there was an uproar below.

In five years, Guan Ling has completed a journey that countless directors may not be able to complete in their lifetime.

Wu Baige picked up the microphone, looked at Guan Ling and smiled.

"Director Guan, you have to fight for your own success, not to prove that you are great, but to tell others that you just want to get what you deserve."

(End of this chapter)