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

Chapter 540: The Chief Disciple's Battle (6k monthly ticket required)
Later on, the meeting became more like a chat session.

The focus of the topic still revolves around Chen Linfeng.

It was mentioned before that this year's release plans include two movies, "Joker" and "Now You See Me".

So someone asked, "I heard that Mr. Chen was shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival. Do you plan to win the Golden Bear this time and win the Grand Slam?"

Hearing this, everyone became interested.

This statement was not very popular in the past, but since Zhang Yimou won the Grand Slam, domestic media have marketed this concept many times.

The public also started to pay attention to it.

The media has also counted the awards won by other directors.

The two directors closest to the Grand Slam are Chen Linfeng and Li An.

Together with Zhang Yimou, these three people happen to be the three international directors most recognized by the Chinese people.

What Chen Linfeng lacks is the Berlin Golden Bear, while what Li An lacks is the Cannes Palme d'Or.

In terms of difficulty, the Berlin Golden Bear is naturally a little easier to get.

Therefore, there has been discussion online about when Chen Linfeng will make an impact at the Berlin Film Festival.

Now that the shortlist has been announced, people within the company are also concerned about this matter.

Now when someone asks, everyone immediately gets excited.

Guo Fan took the lead, "Teacher must have planned everything. The three gold medals grand slam will be here today."

Liu Yun nodded, "I think so too. The Golden Bear Award is not that difficult to win. For Mr. Chen, it's a piece of cake."

Chen Linfeng was somewhat speechless. "It's as if as long as I plan, I can win the prize."

“For other people, it may not be the case, but for you, Mr. Chen, it is hard to say.

Everyone knows that you just made two art films, and one won the Golden Lion and the other the Palme d'Or.

In the eyes of outsiders, it seems that they have everything under control.”

This statement is a bit exaggerated and sounds like nonsense.

Even several TV drama directors who had been silent came to join in the fun.

Qian Yanqiu made a serious analysis, "The Berlin Film Festival is not as popular as before, but their attitude towards China is still good. I feel there is hope."

"There is another key point," Kong Sheng said, "This year's jury chairman is Wang Jiawei."

At this point, he looked at Chen Linfeng and said, "Director Chen, you can try to work harder."

Before Chen Linfeng could answer, Wei Jin interrupted and said, "Mr. Chen cannot take the initiative in this matter, especially he cannot directly contact the other party. If the situation goes wrong, it will be difficult to recover."

"That makes sense," Zheng Zhihao agreed, "Mr. Chen shouldn't express his opinion, but we can find a way."

He looked at everyone present and said, "We have all been in the industry for so many years. You may not know Director Wang Jiawei directly, but you must know his relatives and friends. Let's think of a solution when we go back."

"Yes, that's the way."

"Now that you mention it, I do know someone like that."

"That's fine, I'll try it later, just try it indirectly."

Everyone expressed their opinions one after another.

Of course, those who actually accepted the offer are those who have a certain weight in the industry.

For example, Cheng Er, Cao Yu, Qian Yanqiu, Liu Yun and others, they do have corresponding channels to spread the word.

Seeing that the situation was a little wrong, Chen Linfeng immediately stopped them, "I appreciate everyone's kindness, but I have my own plans for this matter, and I don't need your help for the time being."

He actually understood Fang Long and asked him to help find someone to communicate.

It is difficult to say the exact relationship between Fang Long and Wang Jiawei, but they have a mutual friend, Chen Xunqi, which is their intersection.

There is also Liu Zhenwei, who is considered to be a relatively well-known friend of Wang Jiawei.

Public relations is fine, but it’s better not to make it too grand.

Perhaps they understood what he meant, and no one offered to help again.

……

Time flies, and the Lunar New Year holiday is about to end.

The media have focused on hyping up several movies during the Spring Festival.

The biggest winner of this Lunar New Year box office is undoubtedly "Lost in Thailand", and Lu Yang's "Knife of the Assassin" also made a name for itself.

Zhao Yanzi's "So Young" was released almost at the same time as "The Blade of the Assassin". Facing double competition from Xu Zheng and Lu Yang, it only earned around 3 million yuan at the box office.

It can only be considered decent, as it no longer has the same box office of 7 million as in its previous life and shocked the industry.

I think that in the next few years, there should be relatively fewer cheesy youth films.

After all, the role model is not that prominent, and those who follow the trend will naturally look at the situation.

In fact, the youth campus movie that is most highly praised in the industry today is "Your Name".

During the May Day holiday last year, the industry released several similar youth campus movies, whose plots focused on campus romance, but they were severely blocked by the censorship authorities.

How can students fall in love?
There's nothing we can do. What Director Chen can shoot, others may not be able to do.

Moreover, Director Chen specially planned that the male and female protagonists would officially become a couple after they graduated and started working.

That's not called dating during school days.

In short, the right of interpretation belongs to the above.

Far away.

Chen Linfeng was very suspicious whether the box office of "So Young" was also affected by this factor.

After the audience has tasted good movies, it is hard to say how they will react when they watch other youth films because of their preconceived ideas.

At least looking at some comments online, many people used "Your Name" to criticize "So Young", believing that what is described in this movie does not resemble youth at all.

"Real youth should be like in Your Name, studying in class, playing around after class, and at most time traveling occasionally."

"God damn, time travel occasionally."

“I have to say, Your Name does have a campus atmosphere. When watching it, it always reminds me of my youth. Compared to So Young, Tsk tsk…”

"Abortion, a scumbag, and a dim filter, how can you say this isn't youth? (dog head)"

"..."

At the end of the month, Zhang Yimou called me. On the one hand, he asked about the situation at the Berlin Film Festival, and on the other hand...

"Director Zhang is going too?"

"Well, we'll screen it in Berlin then."

"The schedule is a bit tight," Chen Linfeng said, silently calculating the time in his mind.

Next month’s New Year’s Eve is on the 9th, and this year’s opening ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival is on the 7th, almost right around the same time.

"Well, I have communicated with the organizing committee. We will premiere it in Berlin on the 8th, come back on the 9th, and hold another premiere in China. It will be released on the 10th, the first day of the Chinese New Year."

"That's fine," Chen Linfeng asked, "I heard that Director Wang's The Grandmaster will also premiere in Berlin?"

"Well, it's the opening film. His role as the jury chairman is not in vain."

"So of the three of you who are directors for the Spring Festival, isn't Zhou Xingxing the only one left?"

Zhang Yimou shook his head, "He has Huayi behind him, so he has no shortage of publicity."

Yes, it is easy to market Stephen Chow’s movies just by himself, not to mention the support of Huayi.

You know, before Chen Linfeng, the most famous actor and director in China and the one most loved by the audience was undoubtedly Zhou Xingxing.

His output was low at first, but his works generally had a good reputation.

After all, it was not the time when "The New King of Comedy" came out in later generations.

Zhou Xingxing’s experience in his previous life made Chen Linfeng very alert.

They shot a lot of good films, but in the end they came up with a lousy one, which really hurt their reputation.

Of course, the marketing slogan "I owe xxx a movie ticket" and personal flaws are also important factors affecting word of mouth.

Chen Linfeng is always careful to avoid similar problems.

At this time at the end of January, as the Chinese New Year is approaching, it is time to visit people everywhere.

It's just strange. He is still young and just celebrated his 25th birthday, but after visiting only a few houses, people often come to his house carrying things.

Apart from anything else, these students in particular are very active.

At this time last year, he gave several people new scripts, but this year he is not in a hurry.

I just asked Lu Yang what plans he had for this year.

"Teacher, I'm not as fast as you. The movie has just been finished, and I still have to think about it before I can decide what movie to shoot next."

After receiving help from his teacher once, he didn't want to take on scripts again.

You've already achieved some initial fame, so there's no need to rush. There's plenty of time to slowly polish the script.

He also tried hard on screenwriting.

Several students summarized the teacher's achievements and felt that a large part of the reason was that the teacher understood the script.

As a director, even if I can't say that I have to create the script entirely by myself, at least I have to delve into every aspect of the script writing.

You have to understand the key points of storytelling so that you know how to focus on the shooting and editing.

In their private discussions, directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou are both negative examples to some extent.

As the saying goes, teaching by example, Chen Linfeng's creative ideas have obviously influenced several students.

However, for them, the changes should not be significant.

In the original world line, these people are mostly directors and screenwriters at the same time, and they are the type who attach great importance to scripts and screenwriters.

In Chen Linfeng's view, this is also an essential quality for a certain type of director in the new era.

Directors in the past often made a clear distinction between the identities of director and screenwriter.

Chen Linfeng asked Shen Ao again, "When will you start working? The team should be formed by now, right?"

Shen Ao quickly responded, "Yes, I've found someone and will start work after the New Year.

Many of my team members are outstanding junior students recommended to me by Director Wang, and several teachers have also joined us.”

Chen Linfeng nodded. "It's about the same as what I was treated like back then, but you have to remember one thing. When the teachers join the group, although you have to respect them, you are the director, so you have to keep the initiative in your own hands."

"I understand," Shen Ao said seriously, "Except for Teacher Chen, I only regard other teachers as employees."

"Um, that's fine."

Then, before he could ask, Guo Fan took the initiative to say, "I will also start working after the New Year."

Chen Linfeng nodded and said, "Okay, you don't need anyone's help for most of this year, just work hard on your own."

Guo Fan was dissatisfied, "Teacher, why don't you ask me how my team is doing and whether we need anyone?"

Chen Linfeng glanced at him and said, "You are so shameless. I would worry about anyone else but you. Maybe one day you will come to me and ask me to work for you."

Guo Fan was speechless for a moment, "What kind of image do I have in the teacher's mind?"

Shen Ao joined in the fun and said, "That's right, I haven't told you yet. The few students who were interning with our teacher at the time were definitely the best alumni, but most of them were taken away by this kid."

He slapped his thigh and regretted, "At first I only saw him dragging those people to eat together, I didn't expect him to be waiting here."

Guo Fan's eyes widened. "How can you slander someone's innocence out of thin air? I just share the same interests as everyone else."

Song Yi sneered, "Oh, why are you pretending in front of the teacher? The teacher has already seen through your true colors."

Shen Ao glanced at him, "Song Yi, you should be content. Guo Fan took away most of them, and the rest are in your hands. Do you think I don't know?" Chen Linfeng asked curiously, "Then Shen Ao, why didn't you get anyone?"

Shen Ao suddenly fell silent.

Lu Yang said, "In the final analysis, it's because the junior students have been running around outside and have become wild. They want to make special effects films such as science fiction and mythology, and they don't like the plot-heavy genre films anymore."

"Oh, that's it." Chen Linfeng understood.

In fact, this was also his original purpose. The older generation of domestic filmmakers have path dependence and most of them are still stuck on the same past themes.

Even if he sets an example in front of others, when others follow suit, they will still unconsciously go back to the old ways.

Just like the special effects, nowadays, there are still few directors in China who are willing to go in this direction.

To put it bluntly, fear of failure is also cowardice that comes from the heart because of lack of understanding.

To be more specific, these older generation filmmakers may not understand the workings and specific details of special effects movies as well as the newcomers brought up by Chen Linfeng.

"That's good. There aren't many people in China who understand special effects and want to work hard in this area. Shen Ao and Lu Yang, you two can look for suitable people elsewhere. It's better to leave these people to Guo Fan and Song Yi."

Lu Yang agreed, "Indeed, to be honest, we don't need any special effects when filming Blade of the Assassin. It would be a bit of a waste if we really asked the junior brothers to come over."

Guo Fan felt something was wrong. Why did Lu Yang keep calling them “junior brothers”?

Oh, I understand.

This is a movie called "The Blade of the Assassin". He is very thoughtful and is quite like a senior brother.

Shen Ao and Song Yi also noticed something.

The three of them glanced at Lu Yang secretly, and their meaning was very clear.

You, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, don't think that you can get away with it just because you made a movie like "The Blade Strikes" and gained some fame.

Wait, let’s finish this round and then we can discuss who’s better.

Lu Yang looked at the three of them with scrutiny.

Haha, I was the first one to arrive. If I don’t take the role of the eldest senior brother, who else can?

The four of them were making faces at each other in private, having a lot of fun.

Of course Chen Linfeng noticed their little action.

However, he still didn't know the ambitions of these disciples, and he didn't even understand why these people were fighting for the position of the eldest senior brother.

After all, it was his first time as a teacher, and he did not understand his current status in front of the public.

The identity of a chief disciple is also a very important asset.

Although these people were joking, it would also be a joke to say that they don't care about the title at all.

……

In early February, Chen Linfeng, together with Sister Mei, Xiao Chang and others, boarded a plane to the Berlin International Film Festival.

As usual, Liu Xixi will go to Emily Ken to film "The Walking Dead" during this period at the beginning of the year.

She had no role in "Joker", so she did not appear with Chen Linfeng.

At the airport, they were surrounded by many media reporters.

Everyone knows that Chen Linfeng will go to the Berlin Film Festival these days. As long as you try hard, you will always be able to meet him.

Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping, along with the crew of "The Song-Mongol War", were spotted by reporters yesterday as they were leaving for Berlin.

We should communicate about the film festival premiere in advance.

Among Chen Linfeng's group, Sister Mei and Xiao Chang are both well-known figures in the media and were easily discovered.

Faced with the sudden attack, Chen Linfeng was not panicked at all, as he had experienced a lot of this.

"Is Director Chen going to Berlin?" the reporter asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, the media has been reporting it every day recently. It was shortlisted for the Berlin Film Festival, so I went to see it."

The reporter then asked, "Is Director Chen confident of winning the award?"

"Then it depends on what award you get."

"Golden Bear?"

"It's hard to say. I do think so, but the film festival committee also knows that I'm just one Golden Bear away from the Grand Slam. Normally, there will be some delays."

Recent public opinion has been a bit overheated, so Chen Linfeng decisively poured a bucket of cold water on it.

"Ah? There is such a saying?" The reporters were shocked.

"This is also a kind of unspoken rule. Just look at Director Zhang. He was only one award away from the Palme d'Or, but he always won the Grand Jury Prize, but never the Palme d'Or."

This is about "To Live".

Just look at the previous century-old classics in film history and you will know that "To Live" was highly praised in China and won many international awards that year, but not the Palme d'Or.

Although "Pulp Fiction" was indeed very powerful back then, the unspoken rules of the competition between the two superpowers came into play.

"Besides, the Oscars also have a similar unwritten rule. For those who have won awards, the difficulty of the next award will be slightly increased. This can be regarded as a kind of human nature."

Chen Linfeng had a sincere expression and tried hard to cool down the matter of winning the award.

This statement made sense and the reporters were somewhat convinced.

"Then Director Chen, you can only serve as a qualification this time to make your presence felt?"

A reporter accidentally spoke out what was in his heart.

“Not entirely, it still depends on the quality of the film, which is hard to say, but the probability of winning an award right away is indeed not as high as you reported.

I hope that everyone will explain it to the public when reporting on it, so that they don’t end up being blamed if they don’t win the award.”

The words were spoken with such sincerity that all the reporters agreed.

OK, the trick has been accomplished.

Chen Linfeng must have wanted to win the award himself, so who would have the time to just sit there and do nothing else but take advantage of it?

It’s just that there is indeed an objective difficulty. It really depends on luck, the same period, the quality of the movie itself, and whether Wang Jiawei can give it a try.

It’s hard to talk about winning the award now, as the reporters still have a lot of questions prepared.

"At this year's Berlin Film Festival, only Director Chen was shortlisted as a Chinese filmmaker. The same was true at last year's Cannes and Venice. No Chinese director was shortlisted for the main competition unit.

Does this represent a certain decline of domestic films? "

"This is a big topic,"

Chen Linfeng thought for a moment and said, "In the past two years, everyone should be able to feel that the domestic film market is gradually turning to commercialization. The situation you mentioned may be a reflection of this."

"Does this count as a good thing in your opinion?"

“We can’t judge films by good or bad. Human energy is limited. If we focus on commercial films, we will naturally ignore art films.

The market is developing very fast now. I believe that in a few years, when commercial films gradually become saturated, some people will return to art films.”

A reporter asked about other things, "Will Director Chen return to China to make movies? You haven't made a domestic movie since "Your Name"."

"Yes, I am writing a TV drama script recently. Although I will not be the director, I will be the producer."

This was big news, and the reporters became instantly interested.

"What's the subject matter?"

"It's kind of a historical drama, but it's different from regular historical dramas."

I knew Director Chen would come up with something new.

Hearing him say this, the reporters became even more excited.

"Can you tell me a little more?"

Chen Linfeng decisively refused, "It's a bit early to release the news now. If you hadn't asked, I wouldn't have told you."

After finally catching Director Chen, everyone had a lot of questions. Someone asked,

"Joker is your second collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio. Will you look for other top Hollywood stars to collaborate with in the future, such as Robert Downey Jr. or Tom Cruise?"

"It depends on luck. On the one hand, I have the right script, and on the other hand, other people have to like it."

"Director Chen, besides Infinite World, will you star in other Hollywood blockbusters?"

"There are relatively few Asian roles in Hollywood. If I have the chance, I will give it a try."

"..."

The reporter wanted to ask more questions, but Chen Linfeng interrupted, "Time is almost up, we can talk again when we have a chance."

This ended the interview.

The plane landed at Berlin Tegel Airport.

As soon as he got off the plane, Chen Linfeng was surrounded by a group of foreign reporters.

Passengers passing through the airport saw the group of people being interviewed and asked which star was being surrounded.

This was before the Berlin Film Festival, and as everyone knows there will be a lot of celebrity interactions recently.

When they heard it was Chen, many passengers gathered around.

"Chen, I'm a fan of your movies/books."

"Chen, I love you!"

"..."

Reporters and fans in Europe and the United States are just as hungry, or even hungrier.

Although he rarely appears on screen in China, he has appeared there at least once.

The situation abroad is even worse.

Chen is only in Hollywood for a few months a year, and when he is there he is often busy with work.

I attend fewer cocktail parties and give even fewer interviews.

You can usually only see him once when promoting a movie.

It just so happens that he has a great reputation in the Western world, especially after the release of his new book "Lord of Mysteries".

The combined sales of the two volumes are close to 1500 million copies, making it a new sales miracle after Harry Potter.

Then there is "Inception", a movie that grossed nearly $13 billion, which brought visual wonders and a suspense frenzy to the world.

In the second half of last year, he was not in Hollywood, but Chen's name has been circulating in Europe and the United States.

"Chen, do you have any new plans this year?"

“Sherlock Holmes 3 and Infinite Worlds 2.”

"Oh!" "Wow! There's finally a sequel." "What great news."

There were cries of surprise from the crowd.

There are also fans of Chen among the journalists.

The reporter who just asked the question was very excited, but he soon thought of a problem.

"Doesn't that mean there are no new plans this year?"

Chen Linfeng spread his hands and said, "There's only so much time. There's nothing I can do."

It’s broken, there’s not enough chen!

For a moment, movie fans couldn't tell whether this was good news or bad news.

(End of this chapter)