Huayu: As a child star, I just want to be famous

Chapter 455: Top Classics?

"Chen Linfeng's new film "Inception" announced the first batch of cast members, Keanu Reeves (The Disguiser), Laurence Fishburne (The Pharmacist), and the Matrix reunion."

The media reports attracted widespread attention across the Internet.

Chen Linfeng’s new work, "Your Name", has attracted obviously more people’s attention.

"Keanu Reeves? I'm looking forward to working with a big Hollywood star."

"Keanu shouldn't be that popular now, right?"

"It's reasonable to suspect that Director Chen is chasing stars at public expense. When he was a child, Keanu was at his most popular."

Movie fans have long known that Chen Linfeng is preparing a new work, "Inception," which is adapted from his early short stories.

A small number of people found the original text and naturally knew that the two characters, the pretender and the pharmacist, were not the main characters in the novel.

Considering the roles announced, it is definitely from low to high, and the heavyweight ones are often revealed last.

"Fuck, Keanu Reeves is just a bit player?"

"Not really. The pretender is also a very important member of the protagonist's team in the later stage."

Both the media and the public have shown a new level of interest in Inception.

Especially now that it has been confirmed that Keanu Reeves will be a supporting role, then who the protagonist will be is very exciting.

Keanu Reeves was used as a gimmick at first, and 5 days later, Chen Linfeng announced the second batch of candidates:
Cillian Murphy (Rich Second Generation);

Ken Watanabe (Tycoon);
Shi Xiaolong (outpost).

Among this group of people, most people in China only know Shi Xiaolong.

Some netizens joked that this was Chen Linfeng opening a back door for his brother.

However, not many people care about this. Shi Xiaolong has a good reputation and word of mouth, so it is normal for him to play a role in his brother's new film.

It has almost become a common occurrence for the two brothers to guest-star in each other's movies.

Only people in the industry are envious.

Others either work hard on their own or rely on their parents for support, but Shi Xiaolong, at a young age, relies directly on his younger brother for support.

I also want a brother like this.

The news was announced simultaneously to East Asia, Europe and the United States. It was not a big deal in other places, but it caused an uproar in Japan.

"Watanabe-kun actually collaborated with Kirin-sensei!"

“I’m already very excited about this movie.”

Watanabe Ken's status in Japan is probably similar to that of Chen Daoming in China, except that one focuses on the film industry while the other focuses more on TV dramas.

The collaboration between such an actor and Chen Linfeng is seen as a powerful combination by the Japanese industry.

Chen Linfeng didn't pay much attention to the public opinion. He was frowning as he read a report:
"The Long River of Light and Shadow: Top 100 Chinese Classic Films in Film History"

This was organized by the Golden Horse Awards Executive Committee, and they invited voting experts at the end of last year.

Vote for the 100 classic Chinese-language films of the past 100 years.

Chen Linfeng had heard something about it at the time, but he had too much time at that time and didn't pay much attention to it.

Recently, the Golden Horse Awards announced the top 50 directors they voted for.

Mainland Chinese actors Zhang Yimou, Chen Linfeng, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, Ning Hao and others are among them.

A large number of media outlets are hyping this matter, and there are signs that it is about to expand.

Several famous directors in the mainland are on the list, which has attracted a lot of attention to the relevant public opinion.

It was also at this time that Chen Linfeng paid more attention to this matter.

Afterwards, Sister Mei found him a list that had not yet been published, and he felt a little unhappy after reading it.

Among the 100 films, 36 were from Taiwan, 28 were from Hong Kong, and the rest were co-productions from multiple locations and films from the early years of the Republic of China.

There are only 16 mainland films.

Even though Chen Linfeng's "Sunset" was on the list, he was still very unhappy.

Especially the top few ones on the list, "A City of Sadness (Hou Xiaoxian)", "A Brighter Summer Day (Yang Dechang)", "A Time to Live, a Time to Die (Hou Xiaoxian)"...

These were all movies that he had never heard of in his previous life, but only knew about them after he increased his film viewing volume in this life.

Looking at the place of origin, it is obvious that it is from Taiwan Island.

Hou Xiaoxian has surpassed all other directors in this list and become the most powerful director.

But this selfishness is too strong.

Chen Linfeng could understand why Hou Xiaoxian was so prominent on this list.

As the founder and president of the Golden Horse Film and Television Academy, it is normal to vote for the president.

But you either need to be fair and not make it so ugly, or you just have fun on your own and don't drag us in to serve as your foil.

He had never heard of this list in his previous life, but in this life it was obvious that this matter was about to become a big deal.

It cannot be said that just because Chen Linfeng had never heard of these movies in his previous life, these movies are not good movies.

But as an ordinary person who paid attention to movies in his previous life, he had never heard of it, which means that the general public really knows very little about these movies.

There are many works that are unknown to the general public, but are listed among the top 100 classics in film history, which is a bit inappropriate.

Chen Linfeng was not happy to be taken advantage of like this.

His ideal in life determined that he must work hard to strive for a good reputation after his death.

As for historical fame, because he debuted late and was stuck in the 100th anniversary of film and television, he could tolerate being suppressed by predecessors like the Northern and Southern Xie.

He can fight again in 150 years. Anyway, he will definitely live to that time unless something unexpected happens.

But he could not accept being suppressed by the previous generation of directors through such means. When Chen Linfeng talked to Zhang Yimou face to face, he clearly expressed his dissatisfaction.

“If you were to crush me in the awards like you did, that would be fine.

Even if we take a step back, like Wang Jiawei, who has been filming for a longer time and has more experience and good works than me, I can accept it for the time being.

I just can't stand people like them tampering with the voting process."

Zhang Yimou himself is a person who doesn't care about these things, but now that he has won the Grand Slam of three major awards and an Oscar, he has begun to care about historical evaluation.

Because he can be sure that he is worthy of this evaluation concept.

Now, Zhang Yimou is very dissatisfied with the opponent's behavior.

"But the other side has already done this, Xiao Chen, there's no point in us saying anything."

“Well, let them do their thing and we’ll do ours. Let’s also have a selection of classics in the century-long film history.

The size gap between the two sides is so huge, as long as we can ensure basic fairness, in a few decades, I guarantee that no one will care about the other side’s list.”

Chen Linfeng said confidently, "Time will make it forgotten."

"Is that so..." Zhang Yimou pondered, "That's a good idea."

"Someone has to take the lead in this matter, and it should be organized by an official association."

Chen Linfeng had already prepared a plan in mind, "Since we are going to do it, we have to do it in a more formal and fair way."

Zhang Yimou felt something was wrong. "The leader you mentioned wouldn't..."

"That's right, who else could it be except you, brother?"

"No, no," Zhang Yimou shook his head quickly, "How can I do this? Please find someone else."

"I can't change it. If we consider your qualifications, awards, and works, you are the only one who is suitable."

Zhang Yimou didn't say much, just said "no" and didn't respond at all.

He really couldn't get the limelight. He couldn't even contact the initial crowd to create momentum.

Seeing that he was really a little resistant, Chen Linfeng said, "Then how about we expand the scale and bring in President Han, Director Kai Ge, Jiang Wen and the others?"

Zhang Yimou's eyes lit up, "You're coming too?"

Chen Linfeng nodded and said, "I'll help you find someone for the beginning. I'll be filming later, so you guys can do it."

"That's fine."

Zhang Yimou had no objection this time.

“But we still have to find Director Xie Tieli. He is a senior and his words carry a lot of weight.”

Director Xie Jin, one of the two great Xies from the north and south, passed away a few years ago, and this is the only one left. He is indeed a good candidate.

Chen Linfeng nodded, "As it should be."

"Then I'll make a call and choose a day to visit." Zhang Yimou was about to stand up and start.

"and many more."

Chen Linfeng said, "There is another question."

"what?"

"Which official should we take as the main body? The other side is the Golden Horse Awards, so we have to have an equivalent one, right?"

"What about the Golden Rooster Award?"

As soon as Zhang Yimou finished speaking, he felt something was wrong. Everyone knows that the Golden Rooster Awards has some serious problems.

Chen Linfeng said, "We should look for the Golden Rooster Awards, but there are many in-laws behind the Golden Rooster Awards. I think we should look directly for the mother-in-law behind them, instead of asking the Golden Rooster Awards to convey our opinions for us."

He blinked, "Cut out the intermediate processes and don't let the middlemen make a profit from the price difference."

Otherwise, if a bunch of old men join the ranks of voters, and when the list is selected, it will be a bunch of works that the public has never heard of, what should we do then?
There are some movies that are old, slightly niche, but of extremely high quality and professional.

Chen Linfeng learned a lot about this type of work when he was taking appreciation classes in school.

These works are also the mainstream preferences of some academic circles.

But in a project like the 100-year classic film history, there shouldn’t be too many similar works.

Zhang Yimou understood what the other party meant, "If it can be done, of course I agree with your idea."

Without further ado, the two of them split up and contacted each other.

Zhang Yimou went to communicate with Xie Tieli.

Chen Linfeng talked about this matter with Han Shanping, Chen Kaige and others.

Han Shanping agreed on the spot. He would fully support anything that could increase the number of Chinese-language films, or more accurately, increase the influence of Chinese films.

Chen Kaige agreed immediately. The Beijing circle still has considerable influence in this era.

In other words, now is the eve of the end of the Beijing circle.

However, their influence on public opinion and their weight in the circle cannot be underestimated.

Several influential directors such as Jiang Wen and Feng Xiaogang were handed over to Chen Kaige for communication.

Chen Linfeng then went to find his predecessor.

"Auntie Tie, do you think this can be done?"

Tie Zong expressed his amazement at his young generation’s ability to make trouble, “Several well-known directors in the arts world have agreed to this?”

“Well, the mainland side is almost done. Later I plan to talk to Fang Long and Xu Ke in Hong Kong Island and ask them to contact several directors in Hong Kong Island.

Finally, I will gradually expand the scope and invite many filmmakers from Taiwan and Taiwan."

(End of this chapter)