The literary era since 1979

On February 2, good news came back from West Berlin. "Red Sorghum" became the first domestic film to win a grand prize at an international A-level film festival.

All of a sudden, all major media outlets rushed to report on the film. Although the communication information at that time could not be compared with today's online media, the name of Red Sorghum quickly spread across the country. After all, before Zhang Yimou, only the mainland dialect appeared on foreign award ceremonies.

The only difference is that this time Fangyan won the Oscar for Best Screenplay for "Saving Private Ryan".

This time, "Red Sorghum" went a step further and allowed Chinese-language films and the Chinese flag to appear in the hall of one of the three major European film festivals.

This Golden Bear Award is not only the first time that a Chinese film has won this honor, but also the first time that an Asian film has won this honor.

The news spread like wildfire, and it was no surprise that it spread among the crew of "Farewell My Concubine".

Looking at the scene where everyone in the crew was talking about something, Brother Chen Kai felt very uncomfortable and the corners of his mouth kept twitching.

After all, his father was a famous "fourth-generation" director of the Beijing Film Studio and even in the entire film industry. His starting point was so high that few students of the same class at the Beijing Film Studio could compare with him. What's more, when he graduated, he was assigned to be a director at the Yanjing Children's Film Studio.

Zhang Yimou, a photographer who got into school through connections, was also assigned to the frontier after graduation and was arranged to work at the Guixi Factory.

Originally, there was a huge difference between the two of them, but Zhang Yimou's current achievements are far ahead of himself.

"Why, are you jealous or envious?"

Seeing that his son was silent and had a serious expression, Chen Huaiai immediately understood what his son was thinking.

Brother Chen Kai gritted his teeth and said unwillingly: "Dad, I..."

"It would be a lie to say I'm not jealous or envious. After all, it's normal for you to be competitive at your age." Chen Huaiai looked calm, "But you don't have to be like that. Everyone has their own source method. Even if you're not satisfied now, you may still be able to make great achievements in the future."

"But Dad, I don't think I'm any worse than Zhang Yimou! Why hasn't my destiny come yet?"

Brother Chen Kai was very unconvinced. Zhang Yimou did win the Golden Bear Award, but he himself had also won the Silver Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival.

Although the movies he participated in, such as "The Mountain, the Man, the Dog" and "The Ring", are all excellent, his own "Yellow Earth" is not bad either.

“Isn’t it Farewell My Concubine?”

Chen Huaiai shook his head and said that based on the quality of this movie, it is only a matter of time before it wins the Cannes Film Festival or even the Oscars.

Brother Chen Kai sighed quietly, "But I'm just an executive director..."

Chen Huaiai snorted coldly, don’t treat the executive director as a director, many people want to be one but don’t have the chance.

Zhang Yimou, who won the Golden Bear Award, was only the executive director and cinematographer of "Farewell My Concubine". If it weren't for Fang Yan and Gong Xing who showed some respect to them, how could they have let Chen Kai be the executive director of such a major project? At most, they would have made him an assistant director.

"..."

Brother Chen Kai was speechless, but the arrogance in his bones still made him unconvinced.

Isn’t it just that I’m valued by Teacher Fang?

I can do it too!
"Please put away your tricks."

Chen Huaiai said seriously, "In a few days, the Film Bureau will definitely hold a celebration party for the Red Sorghum crew. Teacher Fang, Xiaoxiang, Zhang Guorong and others will definitely attend. When the time comes, congratulate Yimou. After all, you are classmates and have worked together on Yellow Earth. You must cherish and maintain this hard-earned friendship. Do you understand?"

"Ming, I understand."

Brother Chen Kai said this, but in his heart he was thinking, it’s just the Berlin Golden Bear Award, sooner or later he will win a prize that is no less than this!

………………

The Film Bureau arranged a celebration banquet at the Yuanwanglou Hotel, and the crew members of "Red Sorghum" were taken here as soon as they got off the plane.

As soon as Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, Gong Li and others appeared at the hotel entrance, they were immediately captured by the media cameras.

The reporter from China Film News took the lead and asked questions, and other media outlets were not to be outdone and asked questions one after another.

Zhang Yimou answered them one by one. When he was about to enter the hotel, a young and beautiful female reporter stopped him and asked a very bizarre and irrelevant question, "I heard that you have seen a UFO. Do people who have seen a UFO have good luck?"

"Haha, I have seen flying saucers twice. Once was when I was filming "The Great Parade" in northern Hubei, and another time was when I was in elementary school in northern Shaanxi. But I don't know if this has anything to do with filming the movie."

The group finally broke through the siege of reporters and walked straight into the grandly decorated conference hall.

I ran into Fang Yan, Gong Xing, Zhang Guorong and others head-on, and we exchanged greetings and congratulations.

"Teacher Fang, I am where I am today thanks to you."

Zhang Yimou's tone was full of gratitude.

If Fang Yan hadn't personally selected the people to be his role, there wouldn't have been "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" and "The Ring". He wouldn't have been able to stand out so quickly, saving himself more than a decade of sitting on the bench as a photography assistant and becoming famous in the film industry.

Similarly, if it weren't for Fangyan's strong recommendation, the Xi'an Film Studio would not have offered such a great condition to recruit me to the studio as a director, and I would not have had the opportunity to shoot "Red Sorghum", thus losing the possibility of winning the Berlin Golden Bear Award.

In short, I can never repay Teacher Fang’s kindness enough!

"Haha, if you can help me, it's because you are worthy of help."

Fang Yan only felt that his hands were being held tightly and shaken vigorously, and he could fully feel Zhang Yimou's excitement and gratitude.

"Teacher Fang, and me."

At this moment, Gong Li, who was standing next to Zhang Yimou, also spoke up and expressed his gratitude repeatedly.

"If you really want to thank me, then you must perform well in Farewell My Concubine next time."

Fang Yan half-jokingly said, "This novel is one of the few pure literary works of mine that is popular and well-known overseas."

"Teacher Fang, please rest assured, we will do our best!"

Zhang Yimou, Gong Li, Jiang Wen and others made the assurance almost in unison.

"It will be your turn to act soon. You must shoot and act well. Let's try to go to Cannes, France again this year."

Fangyan patted them on the shoulders and looked at Zhang Guorong at the same time, his meaning was obvious.

Zhang Guorong immediately understood the meaning in his eyes, and was even more glad that he had accepted the offer to star in "Farewell My Concubine".

The film not only has a well-known original novel both at home and abroad as the basis, but also has a great writer and Oscar-winning screenwriter like Fang Yan writing the script, and it also brings together elite talents from mainland film studios in the same crew. Even a Golden Bear Award-winning director like Zhang Yimou is willing to serve as executive director and photographer.

With such a cast, "Farewell My Concubine" shouldn't win nothing at the Cannes Film Festival, right?

This kind of opportunity is something that is hard to come by in the whole of Hong Kong, or even in the entire Chinese-language film industry, but I just happened to come across it!
If Mr. Fang had not personally chosen me to act in "A Better Tomorrow", I might still be singing in the Chinese music scene.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with being a pop star, but the Chinese film industry is much more open to me! ……………

Everyone was present and the seats were packed. The leaders of the Film Bureau stood up one by one and gave speeches one after another at the celebration party.

"Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award, which is an unprecedented honor in the film industry. It is the beginning of Chinese films winning awards internationally. All the names related to this film have a certain symbolic meaning: director Zhang Yimou, cinematographer Gu Changwei, art director Yang Gang, music director Zhao Jiping, "my grandmother" Gong Li, "my grandfather" Jiang Wen...

Blah blah, I said a lot, nothing more than "don't be arrogant or impatient", "keep up the good work", "create greater glory" and so on.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa."

There was a burst of applause from the audience, and then it was time for discussion and exchange, where the successful experiences of "Red Sorghum" were shared.

Fangyan glanced around and saw many people looking down and taking notes in their notebooks. He didn't know whether they were really taking notes or just pretending to do so.

But just as everyone was praising "Red Sorghum", many discordant voices of opposition emerged from the crowd.

A bespectacled film critic stood up and said that the scenes in Red Sorghum exaggerated the "earthiness" and "roughness" of the modern rural people. If such a film full of earthiness and wildness were shown internationally, it would probably give overseas audiences a bad impression and prejudice.

Another person also agreed: "This is not aesthetics, it is completely ugly, and it damages the image of peasant comrades!"

"Also, the original novel that the movie was adapted from, Red Sorghum, is simply historical nihilism, and it actually praises bandits!"

"........."

Seeing Zhang Yimou being attacked by everyone, Chen Kai, who was sitting in the back row, couldn't help but lower his head and reveal a gloating smile.

At this moment, Jiang Wen, who had once opposed Zhang Yimou in the crew, suddenly stepped forward and pretended to cough:
"This comrade has not seen the movie, so don't make any preconceived assumptions. Novels are novels, and movies are movies."

"The movie Red Sorghum only selected the essence of the first two chapters of the novel Red Sorghum Family and removed the dross."

"During the script creation stage, we specifically called Mr. Fang for advice on this issue. He suggested that we weaken the heroic and fearless bandit leader Yu Zhan'ao, changing him from a majestic hero to an ordinary, even somewhat cowardly person."

"This this……"

Everyone looked at each other, and then turned their attention to Fangyan.

"Yes, I did give such guidance to Yimou, Jiang Wen and others."

Fangyan smiled and said that the movie version of "Red Sorghum" was completely different from the TV series and even the original novel.

First of all, the "Commander Yu Zhan'ao" who was full of banditry became Yu Zhan'ao, who shouted "Grandpa wants to eat beef" but only dared to eat "cow's head" in action. With a cowardly and reckless spirit, his identity as a "bandit" was transformed into a "master" who stayed in the wine-making workshop.

From the "bandits fighting against the Japanese" in the novel, the villagers in the wine-making workshop were aroused to their bloodiness, drank to give themselves courage, and actively fought against the Japanese.

"So that's it."

Most of the people present were whispering and talking to each other.

Teng Jinxian looked left and right, "Comrades, do you have any other questions or opinions?"

Seeing that the director of the Film Bureau had brought the topic to an end, Zhang Yimou was no longer being troubled and he breathed a sigh of relief, then cast a grateful look.

"Teacher Fang, I..."

"Controversy always comes with success. You have to learn to adapt to it."

Fangyan used himself as an example. After all, almost every time his novels were published, they would trigger a fierce and bloody debate in the literary and art circles.

“Artistic debates and conceptual disputes cannot become a heavy burden for literary and artistic works to bear.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yimou deeply understood and sighed, "Teacher Fang, then what do you think I should do?"

"I once told you that your gifts and talents should not be limited to art films, but should also be released in commercial films."

"Commercial film?"

"Take Farewell My Concubine for example. It looks like an art film, but it is more accurate to say it is a commercial art film." Fang Yan said seriously, "If you can recognize the difference between Red Sorghum and Farewell My Concubine, you can understand the difference between commercial and art films."

"I also filmed Farewell My Concubine for a while, and it was indeed different from when I filmed Those Mountains, Those People, Those Dogs and Yellow Earth."

Zhang Yimou pondered for a while, "In terms of narrative logic and expression techniques, it is a bit like The Ring."

"For your next movie, you can try to make a commercial film."

Fangyan suggested that Zhang Yimou has now officially entered the peak of his creative career.

It’s just that in the previous life, “art films” and “new wave” were popular in the film industry, so the golden age of creation was spent on making art films.

"Ju Dou", "Raise the Red Lantern", "Qiu Ju Goes to Court", "To Live", "My Father and Mother"...

It was not until the end of his peak creative period that he made the pretentious "Hero", but its core was completely similar to Kurosawa Akira's "Rashomon".

But despite the empty pictures and weak story, "Hero" can be regarded as the beginning of the Chinese-language commercial blockbuster films.

It's better than "The Promise" directed by Chen Kai, but in terms of excitement it's not as good as the funny edited version of "A Murder Case Caused by a Bun".

While he was thinking, Zhang Yimou lowered his voice and said:

"Teacher Fang, to be honest, before the meeting, Director Teng found me and gave me a filming assignment. It was a commercial film."

"Oh?"

The dialect is interesting.

"It's a co-production. It tells the story of how terrorists hijacked a Taiwanese businessman's private plane and forced it to land in Beijing. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait work together to fight the hijackers and rescue the hostages." Zhang Yimou explained the plot in detail. "The film is temporarily called Codename Jaguar."

Fangyan raised his eyebrows, and a bunch of hijacking-themed movies immediately flashed through his mind, including "Sky Hijack", "Con Air", etc.

Zhang Yimou looked at him eagerly, "Teacher Fang, I hope you can help me look at the script and give me some advice when the time comes."

Fang Yan thought about his pleading attitude and could not refuse, so she agreed.

"In fact, compared to Codename Jaguar, I would rather shoot Mr. Fang's novels, especially your Three-Body series."

Zhang Yimou's eyes were fiery.

Fangyan smacked his lips and said, with the level of your work on "The Great Wall" and "Man Jiang Hong", you still want to make "The Three-Body Problem"?
He could have been asked to film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, after all, Zhang Yimou's bamboo forest scenes in House of Flying Daggers were pretty good. (End of this chapter)