Huayu: Director started with art films

Lee Yi-su is quite familiar with the movie "Parasite".

After all, when this movie became popular all over the world, he also specially went to watch it. There is definitely no problem with the quality. Apart from some factors, the filming is also very good.

Otherwise, it would not have been possible to win dozens of awards around the world, including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
At the Academy Awards, it won four awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Film, and Best Original Screenplay.

It was released in dozens of countries at the same time and grossed $2.5 million worldwide.

The box office may sound average, but the production cost of this movie was very low, not to mention the various awards that the director won and the actors became overnight hits, truly becoming famous all over the world that year.

Of course, there are companies behind the scenes fueling this, but it also indirectly shows that the quality of the film is very high, otherwise the audience would not buy it.

The gap between the rich and the poor in South Korea is large, but the gap between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong is also large.

A few years ago, Wong Ka Kui filmed a movie called "Prisoners in Cages", which tells the life of the lower class people in Hong Kong where the gap between the rich and the poor is too large.

Li Yishu went to watch it at that time, which reminded him of a Hong Kong documentary about cage houses that he had watched in his previous life.

Cage houses are also commonly known as "bed houses". A room is divided into different areas. The beds are surrounded by wire mesh, just like cages. In addition to beds, there are also various daily necessities in the cages.

These people living in "cages" are figuratively called "cage people", and some people describe cage houses as coffin houses.

Living in a "cage", when used in movie visual effects, is actually more impactful than living in a basement.

If you live in a basement, at least you have a home, but if you live in a cage, that is not a home anymore; it is like a prison.

Although it may seem a bit of a waste for a film like "Parasite" that has won the Palme d'Or to compete for the Best Director award, it is definitely worth it for Lee Yi-su.

He has won the gold medals at the four major film festivals, and now he has won the Best Director Awards in Cannes and Venice. If he works hard in the future, he will win the Best Director Awards from the other two.

Only then can he be said to have truly created the unprecedented Grand Slam of four Golden Globes for Directors.

Even if we don't count the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival, Lee Yi-su is still a grand slam winner of three major awards for directors, and a truly unprecedented first!

When Lee Ye-seo attended the celebration reception held by the organizers of the Venice Film Festival,

Zhang Xiaobo had already sent the content of the interview and the film festival award results back to China.

At around three in the morning in Yanjing, Xinhua News Agency was still working overtime.

As the fax machine spit out the paper, an editor who had been waiting nearby saw the content and shouted excitedly without waiting for the paper to finish spitting out, "Director Li won another award, the Best Director Award and the International Film Critics Award!"

"It's really amazing that they won the Best Director Award again."

"If we count the awards Director Li has won at European film festivals, not counting the small awards from film critics, Director Li should have won the four major gold awards, a Venice Silver Lion, and a Best Director Award each at Cannes and Venice."

"Hiss, with so many awards, wouldn't Director Li be the number one director in our country?"

"Director Li is the number one director in China, right? He has won four European gold medals, the only one in the world. The news channel even did a three-minute report on it a while ago."

"From this perspective, Director Li is about to win three Best Director awards. He has already won Cannes and Venice, so the only one left is Berlin."

"Four director awards and a Locarno Film Festival."

"Yes, but the Locarno Film Festival is not very famous, so I think it should be more difficult to win an award."

"..."

A group of people who stayed behind to work overtime in the company were chattering while they worked.

The editor-in-chief had already rushed over to take the fax, and had someone pass the content to major newspapers, asking them to work overtime to print it.

Around seven o'clock in the morning.

As the sun rises, the thousand-year-old capital of Yanjing begins to wake up gradually.

The streets and alleys were crowded with people riding bicycles to their units and factories.

In every breakfast shop, the steaming hot water and the delicious breakfast attract a large number of people who get up early to go to work or school.

At the entrance of Nortel School.

Early in the morning, several staff members, under the command of their leader, began to hang banners at the gate.

“Warm congratulations to our director Li Yishu from the 88 class for winning the Best Director Award at the 1995 Venice International Film Festival.”

Above this banner, there are two more banners, one announcing that Lee Yi-su won the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival, and the other announcing that he became the first director in the world to win the gold medal at one of the four major European film festivals.

As soon as the three banners came out, they attracted the attention of many students who got up early and went out.

A pair of young female students, arm in arm, stood at the gate and read the content of the banner.

"Director Li is really amazing."

Sun Li looked at the banner hanging high up and couldn't help but sigh: "I really hope I can have the opportunity to star in Director Li's movie in the future."

Zuo Xiaoqing beside him smiled and said, "If you really want to perform, you'd better build a good relationship with Senior Jiang."

"Why?" Sun Li looked confused. She knew who the senior sister Jiang that Zuo Xiaoqing was talking about was. It was the junior sister Jiang Qinqin. She was very famous in the Beijing Film Academy.

Not only did he star in director Li's first film "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog", he also starred in the highest-grossing martial arts epic "Sword Rain", and last year he filmed the hit CCTV "Legend of the Han Palace". It is said that this year he also participated in director Li's big production "Three Kingdoms Red Cliff" with an investment of 500 million yuan.

In addition, Jiang Qinqin is beautiful and is known as the number one campus beauty of Beijing Film Academy!

Not to mention the older students, even the freshmen who had just finished military training and had been enrolled for less than two weeks were all familiar with the name of Senior Sister Jiang.

What makes Sun Li feel confused is why can she star in Director Li’s movie just by having a good relationship with Senior Jiang?
"You don't know?"

"what do you know?"

Zuo Xiaoqing was surprised and said, "Senior Jiang is Director Li's sister."

"Ah?" Sun Li was surprised: "No way, they don't have the same surname."

"She's my sister."

Zuo Xiaoqing said, "Senior Jiang is the goddaughter adopted by Director Li's mother, and the two have known each other for a long time. Otherwise, why would they have chosen a female student who studied Peking Opera when they were filming That Mountain, That Man, That Dog?"

Sun Li suddenly realized, no wonder Jiang Qinqin had such good resources. She had filmed so many movies and TV series before graduation, and was even able to participate in the big production of "Red Cliff of the Three Kingdoms". It turned out that she was Director Li's godsister.

"By the way, Xiaoqing, how do you know all this?"

"I heard it from a senior."

"Senior? No way, is he the one you're pursuing?"

"It's annoying. He's just a new senior. It's nothing."

Zuo Xiaoqing blushed. Although she was not very beautiful, she had regular features and a pretty face, so naturally there were people pursuing her. Before the military training, she had attracted the attention of many senior students, including those from other departments.

Seeing that Sun Li was about to speak again, Zuo Xiaoqing waved her hand and said, "Stop talking. Don't you have a teacher named Huang chasing you?"

Hearing this, Sun Li frowned and said unhappily, "Xiao Qing, don't talk about him anymore. He is so much older than me, and he is also the assistant teacher of our acting class. I really don't want to have anything to do with him."

Hearing this, Zuo Xiaoqing hesitated and said, "You really don't want to consider it. Mr. Huang is quite handsome, and he has starred in a movie directed by Brother Chen Kai, played the leading role, and is currently a graduate student."

"Don't consider it. He is six years older than me!"

Sun Li shook her head and refused without hesitation. She was only 18 years old this year, at the age when a girl's feelings are always poetic. How could she possibly like someone who was six years older than her and was also an assistant teacher?

Teacher-student love is always a frowning matter in any era.

"That's true. He was already thirty when you graduated..."

While Zuo Xiaoqing was talking, she suddenly saw a figure running out of the school and hurriedly said, "Lili, Teacher Huang is here!"

Hearing this, Sun Li looked towards the school gate and saw Huang Lei jogging out. She couldn't help but frown subconsciously, "Don't come over here, don't come over here, don't come over here..."

Sun Li was muttering to herself, but when she saw Teacher Huang walking towards her, her face instantly fell.

Teacher Huang smiled and said, "Sun Li, I was thinking that today is a day off, so I'd go to your dormitory to find you and take you to visit Yanjing. You and Xiaoqing came out so early in the morning, where are you going to play? How about I take you with me?"

"No need, Teacher Huang, we just came out to watch the fun." Sun Li quickly shook her head.

"lively?"

Teacher Huang was puzzled, and then he saw Zuo Xiaoqing pointing behind him. He turned around and saw a new banner hanging on the school gate.

Venice Best Director Award!

Seeing the award-winning Li Yishu win another award, Teacher Huang felt jealous. He is only one year younger than Li Yishu. When he first entered Beijing Film Academy in 1990, he became famous in the school for his role in "Walking and Singing" directed by Chen Kai.

With his handsome appearance, he became a celebrity in Beijing Film Academy.

At that time, Li Yishu was just a senior in the directing department two years older than him, and in terms of fame, almost no one had heard of him.

Unexpectedly, in just one year, he went from being an unknown junior student to the winner of the Golden Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival in Europe, becoming famous all over the world.

In the following years, the other party took off on the spot like an airplane!

"Love Letter" sold hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office in Japan, and "Sword Rain" sold 1.8 million US dollars worldwide. After that, he won the Cannes Golden Palm Award, the Berlin Golden Bear Award, and the three major film festivals. He was rated as the Godfather of Asian Film by Time magazine...

When Teacher Huang thought of this, he felt very sad and didn't want to look anymore. He turned around and caught a glimpse of Sun Li, Zuo Xiaoqing and others who were looking at the banner again, and whispered something like "How amazing!"

Teacher Huang suddenly had an idea and said with a smile: "Director Li is indeed very good. When he was studying in school, he was a famous figure."

Zuo Xiaoqing quickly asked, "Really, Mr. Huang?"

Sun Li also looked curious.

Seeing that he had successfully attracted the attention of the two by talking about Li Yishu, Teacher Huang immediately smiled and said, "Of course it's true! This is not the place to talk. You two probably haven't had breakfast yet. Let me treat you to some authentic Lao Yanjing soy milk, and by the way, I'll tell you something about Director Li."

The two girls looked at each other. Zuo Xiaoqing didn't care. Sun Li hesitated for a few seconds, but wanted to know more about Director Li, so she nodded and agreed.

Seeing that he had succeeded, Teacher Huang smiled and was about to take the two away.

But at this moment, a voice came from behind: "Sun Li? Zuo Xiaoqing?"

When Teacher Huang turned around, he saw Jiang Qinqin and Jia Jingwen appear.

Seeing that it was a beautiful girl from Beijing Film Academy, they hurriedly said, "Senior Jiang!"

"It's really you two!"

Jiang Qinqin said with a smile: "I was going to look for you guys before, but you were busy with your studies and I was busy recently, so I didn't look for you guys. How are you thinking about what I told you before?"

Jiang Qinqin was talking about joining the Wen Yi Shi Dai agency.

During the art exam in April, Jiang Qinqin took a fancy to the two of them and wanted to get them to sign with an agency. However, the two of them knew nothing at the time and were still quite wary of Jiang Qinqin, a senior who was only two years older than them.

How could they be from an agency at such a young age? Moreover, they don’t even know what an agency does.

Jiang Qinqin did not force them to do so. She just smiled and told the two to think about it carefully when they returned. When they came to Beijing Film Academy for classes, they would know whether what she said was true.

After the military training, it was almost ten days since classes started. Zuo Xiaoqing and Sun Li both knew what an agency was. They also knew why Senior Jiang was able to sign artists for an agency at such a young age. It turned out that she had someone behind her.

Zuo Xiaoqing glanced at Sun Li and said hesitantly, "Well, Senior, I am willing to sign the contract, but I haven't been to Director Li's company yet..."

Jiang Qinqin said enthusiastically: "So that's it. I happen to be going to the company today. Why don't you come with me to take a look?"

"Okay, okay!" Zuo Xiaoqing agreed readily.

Seeing her friend agreed, Sun Li nodded and said, "Thank you, Senior Jiang."

"You're welcome, let's go!"

Jiang Qinqin smiled and took the two of them to the company.

Looking at the four girls' leaving backs, Mr. Huang hesitated to speak and finally did not follow them. In fact, he also had the opportunity to sign a contract with Li Yishu's company, but he was just thinking about making a career after graduation.

He has made some progress in his career now. Last year, he collaborated with Zhang Guorong on a movie "Midnight Song", which was released in July this year. The boss of a Hong Kong Fenghua Records company also took a fancy to him and hoped to sign a record contract with Mr. Huang.

But Mr. Huang had been hesitating. Now seeing that Li Yishu was getting more and more powerful, he gritted his teeth and decided to join a record company, making movies, releasing records and working as an assistant teacher at the same time!

9 month 12 number.

After the Venice International Film Festival, Lee Yi-su stayed to participate in the international copyright transaction of "Fireworks".

Although it did not win the Golden Lion Award, the Best Director Award and Lee Ye-seo's fame are enough to sell this movie for a considerable price.

But compared to the previous "Fireworks in the Daytime", the price is still two million US dollars less.

Li Yishu doesn't care about this. With Japan as a voting base, "Fireworks" can fully recover the production costs and even make a profit in Japan. As for Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, any profit will be a good one.

Then the copyright in Europe and the United States is basically pure profit.

Takeshi Kitano returned to Japan with the main creative team with great ambitions.

Li Yishu also took Izumi Sakai and flew back to the mainland.

Then he went to Wuhan.

Prepare to participate in the filming of the Battle of Red Cliff. (End of this chapter)