Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 350 Sensational Effect

"How many? How many did you say?"

"450 copies? That's 450 copies?"

"When has your China Film Academy ever been so efficient?"

In the director's office of Shanghai Film Studio, Xu Sangchu stood in front of the desk holding the telephone receiver in his hand, his face excited and his tone full of disbelief.

At this moment, he was talking on the phone with someone from China Film Group. Ten days after the release of "The Garland under the Mountain", the number of 35mm copies distributed had exceeded 450.

What kind of result is this?
When "Shaolin Temple" was released in 1982, it set a record of 480 copies distributed, which was a milestone in the distribution of 35mm copies in the domestic film industry.

It has only been ten days since "The Garland under the Mountain" was released, but the number of copies distributed is already approaching that of "Shaolin Temple".

According to China Film Corporation, there is now a huge demand for copies of "The Garland under the Mountain" from provincial distribution companies across the country. They are still asking recording studios to work overtime to produce copies. It is only a matter of time before the number of copies distributed by "The Garland under the Mountain" breaks the record of "Shaolin Temple".

The 1970s was the peak period of the Chinese film industry. In that era when there were no other means of entertainment, movies were the best form of entertainment available to the general public.

Also because of the love of the general public, it was not uncommon for many movies to have over 100 million viewers after their release at that time, and there were also a few movies every year that had hundreds of millions of viewers.

The more people watch a movie, the more copies of the film are needed.

Today's film distribution copies are divided into three types: 35mm, 16mm and 8.75mm, corresponding to different film widths, and the suitable screening scenarios are also different from wide to narrow.

35mm copies are basically prepared for cinemas in big cities, 16mm copies are suitable for screening in cinemas in small and medium-sized towns, and 8.75mm copies are to be shown in rural areas.

In terms of quantity alone, the number of 16mm and 8.75mm copies of general movies distributed far exceeds that of 35mm copies.

After all, the number of urban cinemas in China is far from comparable to that of cinemas in small towns and the vast rural projection teams.

However, distribution companies and studios will still pay more attention to the circulation of 35mm copies, because in China Film's projection system, only 35mm copies can make money and truly achieve commercial profits.

The 16mm copies and 8.75mm copies are more responsible for the mission of enriching the spiritual life of the people in small towns and rural areas.

Entering the 83s, especially starting from , the number of domestic moviegoers and the number of moviegoers have actually begun to decline, but people in the industry have not felt this change clearly because the foundation laid in previous years is so solid.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Sangchu's expression was still shocked. He said to Xie Jin who was sitting on the sofa in an amazed tone:

"450 copies, this is heading for 500 copies. Our movie "The Garland Under the Mountain" has launched a big satellite!"

Xie Jin couldn't hide his excitement when he heard what Xu Sangchu said.

A few days ago, he was still complacent about the extraordinary reception he received in France, but since the release of "The Garland under the Mountain", he has never stopped being surprised every day.

"Legend of Tianyun Mountain", "The Shepherd" and "The Garland under the Mountain", the movies he directed were more successful than the last, and the fruitful results intoxicated Xie Jin like fine wine.

"Old Xu, the bonus..."

Xie Jin came to see Xu Sangchu today about the bonus.

The huge success of "The Garland under the Mountain" is inseparable from the collective wisdom and hard work of the crew, and they deserve rewards.

Last year, "The Shepherd" was a huge success and the crew members also received bonuses. Director Xie Jin received 1000 yuan and screenwriter Lin Chaoyang received 800 yuan.

This year, "The Garland under the Mountain" was released, and the sensation and influence it generated was even greater than "The Shepherd", so Xie Jin naturally had to fight for some benefits for everyone.

"Give it out! Give it out for 3! You as the director get 3000 yuan, and Comrade Chaoyang also gets 3000 yuan. The success of The Garland Under the Mountain is largely due to his original work."

Xu Sangchu gave Xie Jin 3 yuan with a wave of his hand. Xie Jin was extremely surprised. He didn't expect him to be so generous.

Xie Jin hesitated and said, "Other leaders in the factory..."

3 yuan is not a small amount of money. For Shanghai Film Studio to make a feature film, the buyout price from China Film was only 90 yuan. "Wreath under the Mountain" was a big investment and was a losing business in itself. Now they are going to give out a huge bonus of 3 yuan, which may easily cause dissatisfaction among some people in the studio.

People don't worry about scarcity but about inequality.

"You don't have to worry about this matter!" Xu Sangchu said firmly.

“The huge success of The Garland Under the Mountain cannot be measured by economic value.

The political impact and social significance it has generated are extraordinary, not only for your directorial career, but also for our Shanghai Film Studio.”

Xie Jin nodded, agreeing with what Xu Sangchu said.

"I didn't tell you just now that the troops have been waiting for the copy from China Film. This movie is to be watched by the entire army. The General Political Department's Cultural Department has just issued a notice." Hearing this, Xie Jin smiled. "The Garland under the Mountain" is about soldiers and war, so of course it has to be shown to the troops.

It was just a notice from the General Political Department’s Cultural Department that this standard is not something that ordinary movies can enjoy.

Xie Jinyao remembered that the original novel of "The Garland under the Mountain" seemed to have enjoyed the same treatment.

The two filmmakers, Xu Sangchu and Xie Jin, are delighted with the achievements of "The Garland under the Mountain", and their peers in the film industry are also surprised by the effect the film has caused.

The original novel of "The Garland under the Mountain" became popular in China after it was published in 79. As early as when the movie was being filmed, many people in the film industry believed that the performance of this adapted movie would be good.

But when the movie was actually released, the sensation it caused still exceeded the expectations of people in the industry.

It was so sensational! So shocking!
Even the releases of "Lush Mountain Romance" and "Shaolin Temple" did not achieve such an effect. In every cinema in every city in China, the seats were packed, and the corridors and entrances and exits were filled with people.

In order to watch the movie, some viewers sneaked out of the office and left early, some specially switched shifts, and some came from far suburbs and rural areas just to watch a movie.

Although these people are well aware that the screening range of "The Garland under the Mountain" may continue to expand in the near future and they will be able to watch the movie easily, they still want to see it first.

These people sat quietly in their seats in the cinema's screening room, or stood silently in the aisles and at the entrances and exits, crowded together.

No one cared about these things. They just kept their eyes fixed on the screen, not wanting to miss any shot or detail.

I don't know when it started, but in this crowded crowd, one person started to take out a handkerchief, and then the second, the third...

At first, everyone just shed tears silently, then someone started sobbing, and finally someone couldn't control their tears and cried out loud. It seemed that the crying was contagious, you infected me and I infected you, but no one felt embarrassed.

Because these tears are dedicated to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives defending their country.

Many enthusiastic audiences were deeply moved by the movie and wrote letters to Shanghai Film Studio and Xie Jin to express their love for "The Garland under the Mountain".

Zhang Weiguo, a worker in the second workshop of the Capital Steel Plant, said in his letter: "When I read the novel "The Wreath under the Mountain" when I was still a middle school student, I was so moved that I cried and wet my quilt.

Now that the movie adapted from the novel is released, I was even more moved when I watched it. Those vivid characters in the novel seemed to really come alive under the lens of director Xie Jin.

This is a great, heart-shaking film that shows us who are the most lovable people in our country and nation!"

Ni Huiping, a sophomore majoring in English at the Foreign Languages ​​Department of Shandong Normal University, wrote to Xie Jin:

"I hope my future husband will be a hero like Jin Kailai and Liang Sanxi. They may not be pretty, their behavior may not be elegant, and their education level may not be high, but people like them have a heart of gold.

When the country is in trouble, they will step forward, and I believe they will also lend a helping hand when strangers are in trouble.

It is because of people like them that we ordinary people can live and work in peace and contentment.

Salute to the heroes! "

In addition to writing letters to Shanghai Film Studio and Xie Jin, these enthusiastic readers also actively contributed to newspapers to express their love for the movie "The Garland under the Mountain".

Since the movie was released, hundreds of readers' impressions and reviews have been published in newspapers and magazines across the country, all of which have been overwhelmingly positive about the movie.

The overwhelming praise comes not only from enthusiastic audiences but also from critics in the film industry.

Film critic Zhong Dianwei wrote in "Film Review" that "The Garland under the Mountain" is a rare military-themed masterpiece in recent years. The film is deeply touching and will surely become a milestone work in Chinese military literature and art.

In 1979, Li Tuo, who became famous in the film industry for his article "On the Modernization of Film Language", published an article in the "Film Review" column of "Popular Film" - "The 'Xu Lingjun Years' of Chinese Film".

In the article, Li Tuo first used "The Garland under the Mountain" as the starting point and praised the wonderful aspects of this film.

In the middle of the article, he changed the topic and talked about "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor" which were released in the past few months, linking these three films together and pointing out the unsung hero Xu Lingjun behind these three films.

“We who do drama always like to say: The script is the basis of a play.

I think this sentence is very appropriate for Comrade Xu Lingjun. The excellent scripts he created laid the foundation for the success of the film, and also let us see that the importance of an excellent screenwriter to film creation is no less than that of the director.

From "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" in September, to "The Behind-the-Scenes" in October, to "The Garland under the Mountain" in December, the films written by Comrade Xu Lingjun have been released so intensively and have been widely popular, which not only reflects his high productivity as a screenwriter, but also demonstrates his unparalleled superb skills in drama creation.

As a practitioner who has watched these three films, I deeply feel the excellence and success of these works.

I would like to say that the Chinese film industry in 1983 belonged to Xu Lingjun, who used his talent to create his own era.

In another twenty years, people may forget which movies were released that year, but they will never forget Xu Lingjun's works and his 'Xu Lingjun Year'."

(End of this chapter)