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

Chapter 546 The most exciting historical war film (6k monthly ticket required)
"Director Chen, do you feel anything after winning the three gold medals this time?"

"I feel very happy. It can be regarded as fulfilling one of my biggest wishes."

"I heard that Joker has a very good reputation and is very well received by critics and audiences. Do you have any plans to strive for an Oscar next?"

"Yes, I can't make it this year, but I should be participating in the Oscars next year."

Leonardo is so eager to win the award that he will definitely try.

Media reporters also thought of this question, and someone in the crowd asked it.

"Will you mainly push Leonardo to win the Oscar next year?"

"Leo also won the Best Actor Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Wasn't he with you?"

Chen Linfeng replied, "We will definitely try to submit our entries when the time comes. As for which one will win, it depends on the judges' opinions."

We all know that the Oscars rely on public relations, and the direction of public relations represents the direction of promotion.

But it's better to give Oscar some face in public.

He paused, and then continued, "As for Leo, since he won the award, he must want to go home and be happy. When the movie is released, he will help promote it."

Speaking of the movie release, a reporter asked, "Will "Joker" be released in mainland China? I heard that this movie is likely to be stuck with a big scissors."

Chen Linfeng was surprised and asked, "Who told you that?"

"Anyway, I haven't heard of it. The film review depends on the opinions of the higher authorities. Now the results haven't come out yet, so I'm not sure."

"What do you think of the current film censorship system?"

Who is this? He's making me uncomfortable.

Chen Linfeng looked up and found that it was a reporter from People's Daily Online. There was a label on the microphone he was holding.

Or is it the official media that is stabbing itself in the back?

“Just like what the public thinks, I also think that the review system does have loopholes.

But I think the direction we should correct is not to relax restrictions as some people say.”

Chen Linfeng said seriously, "In fact, I also face the problem of censorship in Hollywood. Or to put it another way, every country has its own taboos that should not be touched."

“For example, in Europe and the United States, you cannot positively describe a failed art student, or explain that the so-called villain also has soft or positive emotions.

Or maybe you want to describe the humanity of the Nazis, and think they might be good people.”

"Similarly in China, the higher-ups are more concerned about certain points and don't want people to touch on them, which is understandable."

“Of course, the big scissors are indeed too strict in some places and can be relaxed appropriately, and I agree with this.

But correspondingly, I think that some areas should be more stringent, for example, the obvious falsification of history is too loosely managed.”

Hearing this, a sentence popped up in the crowd:
“Is Director Chen blaming Director Lu’s The Banquet?”

Ok?
Provoking trouble again!

How does this have to do with Lu Chuan again?
Chen Linfeng felt a little puzzled. After a brief recollection in his mind, he realized that Lu Chuan seemed very brave to release the movie during the Spring Festival.

Before he was in Berlin, he hadn't paid much attention to the situation of this year's Spring Festival period.

"Are there any problems with Director Lu's "The Banquet of Kings"? I haven't seen the film yet."

In fact, I watched it with my nose pinched in my previous life, and after watching it, I almost felt like my brain was strengthened.

Now he has no intention of eating shit again.

He asked curiously, "By the way, I remember that The Banquet was released during the Spring Festival, right? How is the battle going now?"

All journalists want to watch the fun.

Everyone really wants to see the excitement of Lu Chuan.

Everyone talked about the guide's "great achievements".

"The Banquet of Kings was overshadowed by the other three directors and has only grossed 3 million yuan so far."

"It has a rating of 4.8 on Douban and 5.0 on V-site. Netizens spoofed it and gave it a nickname, 'The King's Leftovers.'"

"Many people have said that he is distorting history, which is exactly in conflict with the strict direction you mentioned earlier."

"..."

It is a bit difficult to comment on Chen Linfeng.

This evaluation feels even worse than the previous life.

By the way, why did Lu Chuan insist on releasing the film during the Spring Festival?

To compete with the three major directors.

Oh, that's okay.

"So that's how it is. My expectations for Director Lu's new film are already low enough. I'll go see what it's like later."

Let’s pass this topic for now.

The interview lasted for more than an hour, after which Chen Linfeng and others left the airport under the protection of security and company personnel.

After coming back, I have to go back to see my parents and make up for the Spring Festival.

It is only the tenth day of the first lunar month and the Lantern Festival has not yet arrived, so it is still within the year.

Of course, since Liu Qianqian is not here, it is necessary to visit Liu Xiaoli on her behalf.

After she no longer had to worry about her daughter, she became more ambitious and opened a dance class to teach young children.

Life is very fulfilling.

After we met, I just asked more about the Berlin Film Festival, and then we got started.

I feel there is no difference between me and middle-aged and elderly women.

In addition, Chen Linfeng is more concerned about this year's Spring Festival period.

Although his participation was missing, the excitement was no less.

At the beginning of the year, the media hyped up the competition among three major directors, and it turned out to be a prophecy in the end.

The most intense competition is between the three films "Song-Mongol War: 1259" (the full title of the movie), "The Grandmaster" and "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

This has determined the main situation since the first day of the Lunar New Year.

At that time, Lu Chuan's "The Banquet" still occupied some screenings, about 10%.

However, "The Banquet" only earned 1000 million yuan at the box office during the first day of the Chinese New Year.

This is equivalent to directly declaring the end of the war.

It didn't make much at the box office, but it became very famous.

Of course it is negative.

He was badly criticized by netizens.

It mainly focuses on his "gay" descriptions of past historical figures such as Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, and Han Xin.

Not to mention various historical conspiracy theories.

Even so, Lu Chuan has always claimed that she is recreating history, and for this purpose she has looked up a lot of information.

Originally, the movie "Nanjing" became famous after being criticized by Chen Linfeng.

Nowadays, many movie fans and audiences don’t trust him very much and want to wait and see how the situation develops.

As a result, after watching the film, the public opinion of the first-year students was completely ruined.

Basically, apart from those who try it out (shit), no one else watches it.

The film schedule also plummeted.

The competition during the Spring Festival is the most intense. If you can't hold on, the theaters will be rude and will definitely reduce your screening schedule.

Therefore, it is still a competition between those three parts.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, the box office gap between the three films was not too big, at around 8200 million, 7800 million, and 7300 million respectively.

After all, early stage marketing is almost all bundled together.

Stephen Chow's "Conquering the Demons" came first, "Song-Mongol War" came later, and "The Grandmaster" came last.

In terms of box office, all three obviously benefited from the Spring Festival period.

In his impression, the box office of the previous life's "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" should have been less than 80 million.

This number is not low for movies that have not appeared in "The Song-Mongol War".

"The Grandmaster" even changed its release date, and the result was obviously different.

In the previous life, the first week was only 1.8 million, but now it is obviously much higher.

In the previous two years, Chen Linfeng's "Your Name" and "Police 2" had indeed prepared the Spring Festival period in advance.

Audiences have gradually developed the habit of watching movies on New Year's Day.

This habit spreads quickly.

Today, the daily market size has exceeded 2.8 million, which cannot be compared with later generations, but compared with the past, it has been rising.

On the second and third days of the Chinese New Year, the rankings of the three movies remained basically unchanged.

"The Grandmaster" gradually failed to keep up the pace, earning 1.8 million in three days, exactly the same as its first week box office in the previous life.

The competition between "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" and "The Battle of Song and Mongolia" became increasingly fierce, with three-day box office revenues of 2.5 million and 2.4 million respectively.

By the third day of the Lunar New Year, the box office revenues of the two films were almost the same.

However, "The Song-Mongol War" is reversing the decline and its reputation is getting better and better.

The market gradually gave way to these two films, and theater schedules were basically the same.

One is a movie about gods and demons, based on the theme of Journey to the West, which is a natural hit.

One is a grand slam, national master director, with large-scale war scenes.

The key point is that the plot this time is actually quite good, it can almost be called Zhang Yimou’s best movie in recent years.

The competition soon became fierce.

During the fifth day of the New Year, there were news reports in the newspapers every day that slandered the other party.

Zhang Weiping and Wang Zhonglei were almost on the verge of a fight.

Not only that, Zhang Weiping also emphasized that the movie "The Song-Mongol War" had the blessing of Chen Linfeng, and the movie script adopted a lot of his opinions.

This is another collaboration between Director Chen and Director Zhang.

This is the second "Sunset".

Then he was scolded by Huayi as shameless.

However, Xiao Chen had nothing to do with "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons". He also wanted to use it to market the movie, but he had no reason to do so.

In the end, after the first week, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons took in 6.6 million.
"The Battle between the Song and Mongolia" had 7.2 million yuan, and it exceeded million yuan in a single day for several days in a row, having already surpassed the previous record.

During the time when Chen Linfeng came back, the two sides were still fighting.

He went to the cinema specifically to watch the finished film of "The Song-Mongol War".

I've only seen the edited version before, without dubbing or post-production special effects, and it's really not beautiful.

The current plot is the version that was modified based on Chen Linfeng's suggestions.

The opening scene is an aerial shot, showing a large scene of Mongolian cavalry covering the entire grassland. They marched from the grassland into the Central Plains and rushed towards a small town.

The protagonist of the movie is a young tyrant from the Central Plains.

It was at this time that the family was invaded by the Mongols and their family was destroyed.

He was the only one left, and he fled all the way from the north to the south with a group of fellow villagers who were unwilling to surrender to the bandits because of family feuds.

Eventually he became a minor officer in the Southern Song army.

The prologue of the movie mainly tells the background of the Mongols' southward march, burning, killing and looting, as well as introducing the male protagonist.

Zhang Yimou chose Liu Ye to play the male lead in the movie.

The first scene then shows the mountain fortress of Diaoyucheng and the war preparations of the commander Wang Jian (played by Zhang Fengyi) from the perspective of the male protagonist.

In this regard, Zhang Yimou followed Chen Linfeng's advice and sought out many experts and professors to ensure restoration as much as possible.

The craftsmen transformed the city’s defenses, using giant iron-smelting equipment like the “Nine Pots,” and dug through mountains to drink water to prevent the river from cutting off the city and surrounding it... Outside the city, the hero accepted orders to implement the fortification and clearing of the fields, and led a scout team to fight against Mongolian scouts.

The first act focuses on setting off the war atmosphere and also lays the tone for the entire film, which is an ensemble drama.

Deputy General Zhang Jue (played by Hu Jun),

Yu Jie (Bao Guoan), head of Sichuan's defense,

Mongke Khan (Basinjab),
The Mongolian general Shushuhuli (Deliger) and others,

They all appeared at this time to show the situation of both sides.

When a close-up of Diaoyucheng appeared in the movie, showing the unique "single-line city wall" (using the mountain ridge to divide the enemy troops), as well as the stone turrets and crossbow arrays, the texture of the entire movie instantly rose to a higher level.

Some audience members in the same cinema even exclaimed in amazement, apparently amazed at the level of costumes, props and special effects scenes in domestic films at this time.

Then in the second act, the Mongolian army attacked the city and the entire battlefield became a meat grinder.

This is also the first climax of the movie.

When Chen Linfeng was watching the movie, he felt as if he was watching "The Lord of the Rings". The movie had the feeling of the Battle of Minas Tirith in "The Lord of the Rings".

In the first stage, long-range bombardment will be carried out.

The Mongolian army's Huihui cannons fired kerosene bombs vs. the Song army's "Thunder Cannon" counterattack.

Then there is a scene where Shusuhuli leads a Mongolian suicide squad to climb rocks and launch a surprise attack, and the soldiers are knocked down by rolling logs and rocks.

There were also large-scale fighting on the city walls, with everyone using their swords to kill each other, creating an exciting scene.

The intensity of the war gradually increased.

The battle for the city gate became the focus.

The Mongolian army's battering rams rammed the iron-clad city gates, and the Song army poured hot oil to burn the enemy troops. The charred corpses were stuck to the ironware, and human lives were worthless.

Zhang Jue led his soldiers out of the city to launch a counterattack and destroyed the ladders with hook-and-sickle spears.

All happened during this period.

The Song army and its people were united in fighting the bandits, with the general leading the way and the soldiers fighting for their lives.

The Mongolian army had people of all ethnic groups. During the siege, they used strong attacks, surprise assaults, cowhide shield formations, night attacks, and coordinated operations of multiple arms.

The strength is so strong that the pressure can be felt through the screen.

When the battle was at its most intense, a sudden rainstorm hit, and the Mongolian army's gunpowder became damp and ineffective (historical records).

The war was paused, and the city was able to take a breather. The string that was about to break was finally stabilized.

This scene lasted about 50 minutes, which was not a short time, but the audience was so focused that they hardly felt the passage of time.

Even though Chen Linfeng had seen it beforehand, he was still completely immersed in it with the help of the sound effects and BGM.

He just felt that the money was well spent, and that you get what you pay for.

After the script was finalized, the cost was calculated.

Upon learning that the production cost would be at least 3 million, which was a substantial amount, Zhang Weiping backed off because the risk was too high and he did not have that much money.

It was Chen Linfeng who contributed most of the effort, and the project was finally officially approved.

This is also the reason why Zhang Weiping has become increasingly weak when facing Zhang Yimou in recent years.

People really don't need you anymore.

The production cost was 3 million, but the actors didn’t account for much of it. This is also the first time such a large-scale film has been made in the country.

With these thoughts running through my mind, the movie continued.

After a brief respite, an even more brutal battle ensued.

However, history is often filled with many unexpected and accidental factors. When it was almost impossible to hold on, the protagonist's cannon shot hit Genghis Khan and knocked him off his horse.

The entire war reached a critical turning point.

At this time, the camera zoomed out and showed the Mongolian army outside Diaoyucheng retreating. The soldiers sat in a pool of blood. There was no cheering, only numb breathing.

Further west, a cavalry force (Egyptian Mamluks) defeated the Mongol army's westward expedition.

The Battle of Ain Jalut ended the westward expansion of Mongolia.

The northern Mongol Empire was headquartered in Karakorum, where Kublai Khan and Ariq Böke competed for the throne.

The huge Mongol Empire seemed to finally see hope of its end.

At the end, time speeds up.

Diaoyucheng remained there until one day, when the Mongolian army came again.

The elderly Zhang Jue summoned the soldiers and civilians, and the male protagonist was also present, heralding the arrival of another war.

The movie ends here.

Chen Linfeng sighed. This war 36 years later was a losing battle.

Then came the Yashan Leap, which marked the first time that China was completely ruled by a foreign race.

It’s Chinese New Year, so of course we can’t film something so depressing, so the movie only briefly shows that there will be tough wars in the future.

Most ordinary audiences don’t know much about the history of Diaoyucheng and don’t know what the last part represents.

Most of them were excitedly discussing the film's depiction of war scenes.

"It's so exciting. It's the first time I've seen such an awesome war drama."

"Yes, in the past, when we talked about siege, we just meant climbing up with ladders. This is the first time I know there are so many siege weapons."

"The part where they defeated the Mongolian Khan with one shot was a little abrupt and felt fake."

“Dude, this is historical fact.”

"what?"

"..."

After returning home, Chen Linfeng specifically searched for movie reviews on the Internet.

As expected, the most praised thing was the presentation of the war scenes, which were so realistic.

Many of the warfare tactics used in the ancient cold weapon era were seen for the first time.

This time the expert consultant really worked.

Everyone generally expressed appreciation for Zhang Yimou's listening to professionals for the first time.

"The war scenes in Hero and Curse of the Golden Flower were so fake before, but now they stand out so well after a different idea."

"I've watched 1259 three times and never get tired of it. This is a real war movie. What kind of things were those before?"

“Indeed, this is the most fascinating historical war film I have ever seen.”

“After watching the movie, there were almost no boring moments. The movie even implicitly mentioned the suppression of military commanders by the Southern Song Dynasty and implied that the Southern Song Dynasty was doomed to fail.

But it was just a little bit, there was no love scene in the whole film, and there were not even many women in the film. The details were so precise that it didn't seem like a film shot by Zhang Yimou. "

"Haha, I heard that Xiao Chen was the script supervisor. It was he who first suggested filming this period of history. I feel like I understand something now."

"They didn't hide it. Chen Linfeng's name is clearly written in the screenwriter column on the encyclopedia."

"It turns out that Director Chen has to take the lead. He can just be the screenwriter. I hope Director Chen will continue to be the screenwriter for Director Zhang in the future."

"Yes, the images and grand scenes of the national master, plus Director Chen's script, are simply invincible."

"The box office has reached 1 billion. Keep going. Movies like this need to earn more."

"..."

When Chen Linfeng saw this, he searched for the current box office of the Spring Festival.

"The Battle between Song and Mongolia" grossed 10 billion yuan in 10.4 days.

"Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" grossed 9.2 million yuan, and "The Grandmaster" grossed 4.8 million yuan.

According to the memory in his mind, the first part of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" exceeded his previous life, but returned to it in the latter part.

In the previous life, it had almost reached 10 billion in 10 days, but now it is still a long way off and it will take almost two days to break through.

This is normal. The competition during the Spring Festival is fierce, and if the screening schedule cannot be compared, the box office will definitely be affected.

"The Grandmaster" did have an advantage. Even though its box office was much lower than the other two, it was well-known after all because of its marketing.

This is much better than the final box office of 2.8 million in the previous life.

The biggest winner is still Zhang Yimou. Both the industry and filmmakers have given high praise to "The Song-Mongol War".

The second director after Chen Linfeng to break the 1 billion mark.

Moreover, it is a real breakthrough based on quality, which is different from the significance of "Lost in Thailand".

The key point is that the film cost 3 million to produce, plus marketing expenses, 3.5 million is not enough.

Such a large-scale production was unthinkable in the past.

Unlike in the past when the cost was exaggerated, people in the industry can really see whether a movie really cost a lot of money to make.

In addition, there is a script, and the industry has already tacitly acknowledged that Xiao Chen was involved.

After all, Zhang Weiping is doing so much marketing to promote his products. If it wasn’t true, who would dare to do that?

Xiao Chen is known to be petty, how could he let you take advantage of him like this?

It is for this reason that some people in the industry have specially studied the script of "The Song-Mongol War".

Actually the plot is very simple, it is just a normal sequential shot.

The only thing that is commendable is that the plot has a good rhythm and follows the Hollywood three-act format.

But in fact, the three acts are not strictly followed.

In a normal Hollywood script, there is an initial climax in the second act, and the final act must have a higher emotional point, which is the common showdown with the villain.

But the "Song-Mongol War" ends in the third act. After a short siege scene, Genghis Khan suddenly dies.

Then it turns into a montage-style high-angle shot.

The scene where the entire battlefield was swept clean while the soldiers, military personnel and civilians below looked up one after another seemed to break through the dimensional wall, which was shocking.

It not only highlights the cruelty of war, but also seems to warn people today not to forget the past.

Some film critics called it the best shot of the year, comparable to those classic shots in film history.

Then someone who had been to the Berlin Film Festival refuted that there was also Arthur's solo dance on the steps in "Joker", which was real art.

That's a bit far.

After analysis by many industry insiders, they feel that "The Song-Mongol War" is a typical film that focuses on major scenes, special effects, and little on the script.

But some people pointed out the importance of story rhythm. If the script rhythm was not as good as Chen Linfeng's, he could still use short scenes to show group portraits in epic wars. This shows great skill.

Indeed, grand war dramas represent the collective, while the story conflicts and emotional flows of movies all focus on individuals.

The two are inherently conflicting.

This is also why those war history films in the past were always portrayed as family affairs.

Slogans like "Mengmeng, stand up" or "Go to war for women" are all about creating characters, but they deviate from the theme of war.

From this perspective, Chen Linfeng's script seems to be extremely brilliant.

Both sides praised Zhang Yimou's camera skills and his ability to command so many people to create a grand scene.

The script written by Chen Linfeng is wonderful, and it creates so many vivid characters.

They argued endlessly with each other.

Coupled with the news that Chen Linfeng has now won three gold medals, public opinion is very strong.

This movie also pushed Zhang Yimou to a higher level.

After all, the box office has exceeded 1 billion, and the quality of the movie has truly exceeded the public's psychological expectations.

Therefore, there are many people who flatter him.

The box office of the movie continued to rise amid all the hype.

(End of this chapter)