Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 858: Spring of Commercial Blockbusters, Winter of Art Films
But now this group of young directors have invited him, and he admires Jia Zhangke as a person, so he has to give them face.

"Okay, where is it?"

"You're staying at the Kunlun Hotel? Then I plan to book a room at the Kunlun Hotel. I'll text you when I'm done."

"Row."

Fang Minghua thought about it and left the room. Instead of going to his daughter’s room next door, he went to find Liu Xiaoli.

After knocking on the other party's door, I found that Liu Xiaoli and her daughter were dressed neatly. Liu Xiaoli had even put on makeup and looked like she was going out.

"Are you going out?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Yeah, visiting friends."

"free tonight?"

"I guess I want to have a meal with my friends, what's wrong?"

"Oh, there's another dinner party."

Fang Minghua briefly explained Jia Zhangke’s invitation and said at last.

"I wanted to ask you to go with Xixi, but forget it since you have something else to do."

After listening to this, Liu Xiaoli looked at Fang Minghua.

"You asked me to go, do you want me to help you drink?"

Fang Minghua was a little embarrassed.

That is indeed what I mean.

If you bring a beautiful woman who can drink to the table, it can help solve many problems. What's more, Liu Xiaoli is very graceful and generous, so it's really nice to have her around.

"Okay, I'll go. How can I not go if you arranged it?" Liu Xiaoli laughed and said, "I'll push it off with my friend. Besides, Xixi and I also want to meet these new domestic directors."

"Then it's settled."

Fang Minghua was looking for Liu Xiaoli, while Jia Zhangke was also notifying his friends.

This time the call was to Zhang Yuan.

"Zhang Yuan, the location is in Room 29 of the restaurant on the 6th floor of Kunlun Hotel. Go on time."

Zhang Yuan was silent on the other end of the phone, and then he said, "I won't go."

"What's going on? We agreed to invite Teacher Fang. I contacted him, but you said you won't come?"

"Oh, I feel embarrassed to see others."

"Why think so much? Isn't it just that the movie lost money? Among us who make movies, who among us doesn't lose money in China? Okay, don't mention it. You must come tonight. I'm hanging up." Without waiting for Zhang Yuan to reply, Jia Zhangke hung up the phone.

He shook his head and lit a cigarette.

Jia Zhangke knew why Zhang Yuan was worried.

In 97, after Fang Minghua helped him win the Dragon Mark for the movie "Xiao Wu", Jia Zhangke specially invited Fang Minghua to Yanjing, and also accompanied him were Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye, Zhang Yuan, Guan Hu, Lu Xuechang and others.

During the dinner, a group of people complained that the film authorities were too controlling and too strict, and that their films could not be released in the country.

As a result, Fang Minghua said: "Even if you lift the ban and your film production goes from underground to above ground, I dare say that you will soon become an underground film in the market economy!"

"You have the right to take pictures, but others have no obligation to watch!"

Zhang Yuan was very dissatisfied and immediately said that if he was released from the ban, he would immediately start shooting a new film and asked Fang Minghua if she dared to invest. Fang Minghua readily agreed.

The next year, Zhang Yuan was released from ban and immediately filmed his new film "Going Home for the New Year". Shengshi Film and Television promised to invest 200 million yuan.

Zhang Yuan was ambitious and prepared to do something big, but in the end the box office was dismal, only 50.

The loss was huge.

Zhang Yuan was hit hard and he didn't dare to make feature films in recent years and instead made documentaries.

Fortunately, I am not so high-profile and I just need to focus on making movies.

At 6:30 in the evening, Liu Xiaoli and Liu Yifei rushed back to the hotel on time and went to the private room with Fang Minghua.

It was the same group of young directors who had dinner together in the summer of 97.

After everyone sat down, Fang Minghua continued to introduce his daughter and Liu Xiaoli and her daughter to everyone. Compared to his enthusiasm for Liu Yifei and her daughter at last night's dinner, today's enthusiasm was relatively lukewarm. Everyone basically talked about movies and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

During the dinner, Zhang Yuan, who was very high-profile last time, seemed unusually low-key today, even a little depressed.

After everyone took turns to toast Fang Minghua, he finally stood up, holding his glass and said, "Teacher Fang, to be honest, I didn't want to come at first, but Zhang Ke forced me to come. Sigh."

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Fang Minghua laughed and said, "What's the matter? Isn't it just a loss? Which one of you hasn't lost money at the box office?"

"Come on, let's summarize our experience and lessons and shoot well next time." Fang Minghua said, and took the initiative to clink glasses with Zhang Yuan, then took a sip and said, "I haven't been feeling well recently, so I'll ask Xiaoli to pour some wine for everyone. New Year's Day is coming soon, so I wish you all can shoot good films in the new year!"

Liu Xiaoli immediately picked up the wine glass and walked around with a smile.

"Teacher Fang, the media said that Shengshi Films is planning to build its own cinema chain. How many cinemas will it have?" The speaker was Lou Ye.

"I don't know the details." Fang Minghua replied, "But according to the plan, the cinema chains under its umbrella will cover provincial capitals and some important cities across the country."

so much? !

Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

Guan Hu immediately picked up his wine glass and said:
"Zhang Ke, Xiao Shuai, congratulations to you two. Once Shengshi Films' cinema chain is established, your screening rate will be guaranteed."

"What's there to congratulate?" Wang Xiaoshuai smiled bitterly: "Boss Song also said that the screening rate is not determined by who the investor is. If no one watches the movie and the vacancy rate is too high, your screening will still be reduced, even if you are invested by Shengshi Film and Television!"

Ah, this?
If Shengshi Films can't even take care of its own son, what about other cinema chains?

At this time, Jia Zhangke spoke up. He looked at Fang Minghua and said, "Teacher Fang, I have a question. The country is now promoting theater reform. If the box office is the only criterion, then won't the film market be dominated by commercial films? What about art films and niche films?"

As soon as Jia Zhangke said this, it immediately resonated with people.

The reform of the cinema chain system brings spring to commercial blockbusters, but cold winter to art films!

Fang Minghua did not answer immediately. After everyone finished complaining, he said, "You have to admit a harsh reality: with the deepening of the market economy, in the eyes of mainland cinema managers, box office is almost the only criterion for them to evaluate the quality of a movie and whether it can be scheduled."

"Then what should we do?" Zhang Yuan, who had been silent for a long time, could no longer hold back and stood up and said loudly, "We also know that by combining business and art, we can make an art film that is both popular and well-received. But is that easy? For example, how many ordinary audiences can understand some experimental and avant-garde films? So should we not make them?!"

"Isn't there AG Art Cinema?" Fang Minghua asked.

"I heard it's going to close soon," said Jia Zhangke.

Everyone was silent again.

At the beginning of this year (2001), AG Culture Films was launched by the Yanjing Forbidden City Sanlian Film and Television Distribution Company, announcing the establishment of an art theater chain that specializes in screening niche art films.

AG is the abbreviation of the English phrase AVANT GARDE, which comes from French and means avant-garde, pioneer, forerunner, and individuality. It also refers to innovation, modern fashion, cultural taste, and deep connotation.

There are two AG culture cinemas in Yanjing area, namely Dahua Cinema and Xindong'an Cinema. I heard that they were very popular when they were first established, but I didn't expect that they would go bankrupt in less than a year!
(End of this chapter)