Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 236 246 [Times Magazine: Who is the greatest Chinese director? ]

Two o'clock in the afternoon the next day.

Arts Entertainment Group.

In a tidy office, Li Yishu was chatting with Maria, a reporter from Time magazine.

Maria is a senior reporter in the sports, entertainment category of Time magazine. She has interviewed many well-known athletes, directors, actors, producers, novelists, etc.

She has her own logic for questioning, which is not to embarrass the person being interviewed, because once embarrassed, the subsequent conversation will be meaningless.

So after getting to know Li Yishu, Maria asked, "Li, is there anything you can't ask?"

“Anything but politics.”

Li Yishu made it very clear that she would not discuss topics related to politics.

"Ok."

Maria nodded, and then drew a line on the notes she had made in advance.

"So are we officially starting now?"

"Sure Maria."

Maria glanced at the contents of the notebook and then asked, "Li, we all know that you became famous at a young age. You won the Golden Lion Award for your first directorial work right after graduating from college, and then won the Palme d'Or. You have also achieved remarkable commercial success. Last year's "The Sixth Sense" made more than 4 million US dollars in box office worldwide. You have achieved success in both art and business. Do you have any secret to your success?"

"The secret? Maybe it's just persistence!"

Lee Yi-su smiled and said, “Success is like a ladder. People with their hands in their pockets cannot climb up. Only those who work hard and stretch out their hands can reach the top…”

His success cannot be replicated, so we can only talk about some chicken soup literature, and it just so happens that Li Yishu is very knowledgeable about chicken soup literature.

Time passes little by little.

During the question-and-answer period, Li Yishu gradually got used to the other party's questions. Maria also asked a big question at this time: "Li, I heard from my colleagues at Asia Times that you are known as the number one director in China. Some people also think that you are the number one Chinese director. Do you think you are?"

After hearing this, Li Yishu perked up.

Don't look at his current achievements, he is indeed worthy of this title.

But there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts, and film directors can be classified as literati.

Some people think that he is not qualified, even though he has won two major European awards and countless awards from other film festivals, and even though he has achieved a global box office revenue of more than 7 million US dollars as a director, some people still think that money cannot decide everything.

After thinking for a while, Li Yishu shook her head and said, "I don't think I am the greatest director in China or among the Chinese."

Maria's eyes lit up. She finally found a hot topic. She quickly asked, "Li, are you being modest, or do you think you are not worthy of the title of the number one director? Or who do you think is the number one Chinese director?"

Li Yishu did not respond to the other party's words, but asked back: "Do you think Einstein is a great scientist?"

Maria said without hesitation: "Of course, Einstein is a great scientist!"

Li Yishu asked again: "Is he the greatest scientist of the 20th century?"

Maria was obviously hesitant, but she answered the next second: "I think so."

She is still very smart. Who is the greatest scientist of this century is a hot topic in itself. Maria is a journalist, so naturally she would not be the subject of gossip.

"So do you think he is the greatest scientist in human history?"

"This one……"

Maria didn't know how to answer this question.

“Is Einstein the greatest scientist in human history? I’m afraid no one can answer this question!”

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Because human history is divided into the past, present and future. We can comment freely on scientists in the past, because that is all in the past. We can also comment on scientists now, because it is happening in our time, but no one can comment on scientists in the future..."

"Yesterday is history, and tomorrow is a mystery. We never know what miracles human scientists will invent in the future, so we can only cherish today and answer the questions we know and understand."

Maria frowned. She knew that Li Yishu was deliberately changing the subject, but for the sake of news focus, she continued to ask, "Li, I think you haven't answered my question yet."

"Okay, then I'll answer your question."

Seeing that the other party didn't understand what she meant, Li Yishu smiled and said, "You asked me if I was being modest or incompetent. My answer is that the four words "China's No. 1 director" are macroscopic, and the words "Chinese No. 1 director" are also macroscopic. Because in the future, there will be countless talented Chinese and even Chinese directors emerging, but if you compress this issue to the microscopic level, compress it to today..."

At this point, he paused and looked at the other person seriously: "Yes, if you ask me who is the number one Chinese director today, it must be me!"

Li Yishu's unique temperament made Maria's eyes brighten. This is exactly what she wanted!

Combined with the previous conversation, Li Yishu's recognition of herself as the number one Chinese director is even more shocking.

This is not a director who is arrogant and ignorant in the eyes of Orientals, nor is he an Asian who is always overly modest in the eyes of Westerners, but a young man with reasonable reasons.

Is Einstein great? Yes, but is he the greatest of mankind? This is definitely not the case, because human history has not yet ended. There are still countless years in the future, and there will be endless great scientists.

These five words, the greatest of mankind, are a paradox in themselves.

Only when human history comes to an end and aliens or another species replace humans can they define the greatest of humans.

It's like we can only talk about human beings in the past history and human beings in the present, but we cannot talk about human beings in the future.

Thinking of this, Maria said with emotion: "Li, you are the most philosophical director I have ever seen!"

"Perhaps this is the charm of Eastern culture?" Li Yishu smiled slightly.

"Yes, the charm of Eastern culture. Your film "The Sixth Sense" is great. I like it very much and even bought a video tape to keep as a treasure."

"Then you can look forward to a film written by me and directed by a Chinese director that can more directly reflect the special charm of Eastern culture."

"what movie?"

"Death is coming!"

Li Yishu would naturally not miss such a good opportunity to promote it, and he also found that Maria was a reporter who was good at talking.

"Death is coming?" Maria frowned: "This sounds like a horror movie."

Li Yishu nodded: "It is indeed a horror film, but the core of the film is a typical Chinese cultural interpretation of the "God of Death". In our place, the name of the God of Death is "Yanwang"!"

"Yan Wang?"

"Yan Wang, one of the controllers of hell."

After Li Yishu briefly introduced the King of Hell, Maria also became interested. This is an American horror film that is full of oriental mythology.

"Lee, I'll go see it when it's released."

"I'll have someone send you movie tickets later."

"That's settled." "No problem."

The two chatted for a while, and Maria asked whether Li Yishu had any plans to direct a new film in the United States recently.

In response to this, Lee Yi-su could only say that she would continue to strive for the three major European film festivals this year, and it might take some time to shoot an English film.

In fact, he himself didn't know what to shoot, so he decided to finish filming "Rumble in the Bronx" first.

Seven or eight minutes later.

After the interview officially came to an end, Maria smiled and said, "Director Li, we will take a photo for you next."

"No problem. How do you want to shoot it?" Li Yishu agreed readily.

At this time, the photographer who had been waiting for a long time came over and said with a smile: "Director Li, I just had an idea. I think maybe we can use the bullet time in your movie "Sword Rain" that prohibits rain."

Filming rainwater suspension?
Li Yishu was surprised and said, "Of course you can, but how are you going to shoot it now?"

The photographer said, "We can modify the photos later. Now, Director Li, please move to the open area downstairs."

"can!"

Li Yishu nodded in agreement, and soon the group came downstairs.

Li Yishu stood in the middle of the square downstairs, with people coming and going around him. He had a cool expression and raised one hand in front of him, making a prohibiting gesture.

The photographer will later photoshop the photos. Although today’s PS technology is not as good as that of decades later, it is still possible to create the effect of suspended raindrops.

Bullet time is currently Li Yishu's most representative symbol.

As Canon advertisements were released all over the world, the advertisement he shot before had already been deeply rooted in people's hearts. It even won many advertising creativity awards last year, but he asked Amy to help him collect these advertising awards.

After all, a big director who has won three European awards and has a global box office of over 7 million US dollars is competing for awards with a bunch of advertising directors. That's really like adults bullying children.

After seeing off the reporter from Time magazine, Lee Yi-shu went back to the company and prepared to take Gong Li for a tour of Hollywood. He had been busy dealing with the affairs of the American company in the past few days and had not taken Gong Li to visit the famous attractions in Hollywood.

Now that the Golden Globe Awards are over and the interview with Time magazine is over, I'd like to have as many days of fun as possible while the Berlin Film Festival has not yet announced the shortlist.

On the other side, the inland across the ocean.

Beijing Film Studio.

In the factory director's office, Han Sanping looked at Brother Chen Kai in front of him with a look of surprise: "Brother Kai, are you sure you got the investment?"

"Yes, Director Han, I have successfully attracted investment, and it is a huge investment!"

Brother Chen Kai raised his chin with pride. He had already reached an agreement with Japan's Kadokawa Group half a month ago. The reason why he only spoke about it now was because the other party had prepared the money and now all that was left was to sign a contract with the Beijing Film Studio.

Hearing this, Han Sanping frowned. As the factory director, he had heard a little about Chen Kai's plan to film Qin Shi Huang.

But no one has ever taken it seriously. Which director in the factory doesn’t want to shoot this and that?
But in a word, there is insufficient funding!

This is no longer the era of unified planning and distribution, and the government will no longer allocate funds to the major film studios.

This also led to the directors who used to not care about the box office and only wanted to make movies they liked, gradually being marginalized in the Beijing Film Studio.

These veteran directors were naturally dissatisfied and made a fuss about it in the first half of last year, but in the end, the issue came to nothing after the meeting.

Because the factory really has no money to pay those directors to make films, but these are veteran directors who have dedicated their entire lives to the factory. We can't just say that if they want to make a movie, we won't let them do it because there's no market or box office.

The end result is that some directors with strong personal networks are able to film the literary and artistic works they "like".

This situation continued until Han Sanping took office as the director of Beijing Film Studio, and it was completely ended. He himself was not a member of the Beijing Film Studio, and most of his past network of relationships was in Emei Studio, so naturally he didn't need to care about those old guys.

Want to make a movie?

Yes, once the script is ready, ask the production department to review it and make sure that the script is in line with the current market environment, then you can start filming!
Of course, Han Sanping did not have the power to cover up everything in the Beijing Film Studio. In order to get these old guys to compromise, he gave them a total of 200 million yuan in special funds a year to shoot non-profit films.

Seeing Chen Kaige's confident look, Han Sanping asked curiously, "How much investment did you get?"

Chen Kai raised his lips and said, "I'm going to shoot 'The Emperor and the Assassin',' a movie about Qin Shi Huang unifying the world and conquering the six kingdoms! So the budget is a bit high, about 1.5 million RMB."

1.5 million RMB!!
Han Sanping was surprised, then frowned: "Brother Kai, you should know that the factory doesn't have that much money now, let alone half, we can't even take out 1000 million."

Brother Chen Kai shook his head: "Japan's Kadokawa Group has agreed to fully invest in this film. The cooperation with Beijing Film Studio is just to obtain the qualification of a co-production."

"If it's just qualifications, then it's fine."

Han Sanping nodded. Currently, there are only two forms of co-production films in China.

One is that both parties jointly invest and share the profits and risks; the other is that the investor invests money and the production studio provides manpower, effort and resources, thereby obtaining part of the domestic box office revenue.

Brother Chen Kai said, "Director Han, I think the factory can invest some money in this. This movie is a big production. If all the money is invested by Japan, it might not be a good idea, right?"

He actually didn't really need to invest in the factory, his main purpose was to suppress Li Yishu.

"this…"

Han Sanping was a little hesitant. A movie about Qin Shi Huang, and from what Brother Chen Kai said, it was going to be a film about a sweeping world. If it was fully invested by the Japanese, it would be embarrassing if the media reported it.

He thought for a while and said, "How about this, Brother Kai, you go back first. I'll think about this matter and then we'll have a meeting at the factory to discuss it."

"Okay, Director Han, I'll take my leave now."

Brother Chen Kai left satisfied. This was exactly the attitude he wanted from Han Sanping.

As long as Beijing Film Studio invests, Brother Chen Kai can better operate the directing and borrow some resources from Beijing Film Studio.

And it's not just the Beijing Film Studio, he also plans to return to his old employer, the Xi'an Film Studio, and ask people from the Xi'an Film Studio to get involved. After all, when making a movie about Qin Shihuang, one cannot avoid the Xi'an Film Studio, as the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang is located there.

Whether it is Qin Dynasty props, costumes or historical materials, the Xi'an Film Studio has more abundant ones.

Fast forward two days later.

1 month 25 number.

The Berlin International Film Festival officially announced the shortlist for the 1994th Berlin International Film Festival in 44.

There are a total of 22 films shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival this year, including two films shot by Chinese people, namely "Central Station" directed by Li Yishu and "Firefox", an action film directed by Wu Ziniu from Hunan Xiaoxiang Film Studio.

As soon as the list was announced, Li Yishu took Gong Li on a plane back to the mainland and prepared to contact the main creative staff of "Central Station" to go to Berlin. The list of personnel included but was not limited to Qiu Fusheng, one of the investors, producer Han Sanping, child star Xiao Yejin and others.

The reason for being so anxious is that the timing of this year's Berlin Film Festival is a bit rushed, with the opening ceremony of the festival held on February 2.

And this day happens to be the first day of the Chinese New Year.

　I was embarrassed before, everyone could get the monthly ticket package, now I can beg all the readers to give me a wave of monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)