Generation Z Artists

Chapter 235

Mou Zi has been extremely busy lately, but when he heard that Fang Xinghe wanted to organize a gathering, he still mustered up his energy and went to visit.

Sister Li was happily busy, constantly bringing out fruits and snacks.

The conversation between the three began with casual chatter.

“There are quite a few colleagues in our community, such as Director Chen, Youzi, and that other person. They all live here.”

"Who?"

"That guy from Beijing's elite circle just went to the United States..."

"Oh, Wang Shuo... Xiao Fang, you're still at odds with him like this?"

"Is he worthy?"

Fang Xinghe, with a cigarette in his mouth, grinned and raised his eyelids, his roguish air suddenly reaching its peak.

Zhang Yimou gave a thumbs up: "Your demeanor is perfect for playing a petty hoodlum!"

"What can't my brother act in?"

Gong Li was displeased and complained, "Your film is all about fighting and killing, there's no room for my brother to showcase his acting skills at all!"

"How can we sell them if we don't make them?"

At this moment, Zhang Yimou was very clear-headed and said with a wry smile, "No matter how many more Red Sorghum films we make, it won't solve the problems of Chinese cinema."

Li Jie agreed, saying, "That's true. All kinds of blockbusters must be developed; commercial films are the future."

In fact, the idea of ​​vigorously developing commercial films is a consensus among the top echelons of the entertainment industry.

Those who disagree are the veterans, seniors, and stubborn old fogies who have left the front lines.

However, due to various reasons, most people can only shoot low-budget art films during actual filming.

Investment, script, technique, market pressure, face-saving concerns... none of them are easy to solve.

"And you?" Mouzi asked, "What are your plans?"

"I have many ideas," Fang Xinghe said frankly, "but they all have flaws, making it difficult to choose."

Gong Li suddenly advised, "Anyway, don't focus on the domestic market; it's a waste of your global fame."

Zhang Yimou suddenly shook his head: "It's best not to film action scenes either. 'Hero' will be released in December. If you take on another action movie right after, you'll be completely typecast in the eyes of global audiences, which won't be good for your future development."

This is true, and Gong Li agrees.

“You are not Jet Li or Hendrik Willem Van Loon, there’s no need to go down this path to the end. Your potential is far greater than this, and you should have some room to perform in your next film.”

Fang Xinghe frowned slightly: "Non-action Chinese films have almost no chance of finding a market internationally."

"Being famous is fine too, you don't need that box office money."

Gong Li insisted: "This is your first film as the writer, director, and actor, and you are absolutely the main creator. You have to show the world the film industry a higher vision and broader possibilities."

“Yes.” Mou Zi nodded. “You need to showcase your other strengths to the industry and the audience, and build up an expectation in their minds: ‘This is a future master.’”

That way, when you make action movies in the future, the industry will be more tolerant of you and see it as youthful passion, rather than thinking that 'Fang Xinghe has no directing skills and can only make action movies.'

Audiences will also have greater trust in you and be more willing to watch your other films across different genres.

The order matters. You're not incapable of overcoming obstacles, so don't limit yourself.

Fang Xinghe doesn't care what the industry thinks, but the audience's trust is indeed crucial.

The potential of pure action films is not high; the audience for action films probably only accounts for 1/8 of all moviegoers.

It's not that action movies can't be made, but my first film as a director and actor really shouldn't be a pure action movie. Otherwise, once the fans have a fixed opinion of it, it will be too difficult to win back the remaining 7 or 8 points.

With so many choices, there's really no need to create such a dilemma for yourself.

"correct!"

Suddenly, Mou Zi slapped his forehead and handed over a newspaper.

"Today I saw someone criticizing you in the newspaper. The content was somewhat suggestive, so I brought it back with me."

Fang Xinghe glanced at it and realized it was Cheng Yizhong.

This guy reacted quite quickly, stopping his entanglement with topics like "national team," "NBA," and "morality and responsibility," and instead opening up other angles for criticism.

The article contains the following passage:

"I don't care whether Fang Xinghe is willing to fulfill his responsibilities and meet the public's expectations, anyway, he has done more than one or two things that have hurt national feelings."

What I'm curious about is simply how he's going to shoot his first film.

Most readers may not know what kind of trouble he is facing, and I feel obligated to tell everyone.

First of all, he has deeply offended the entire Hong Kong and Taiwan film and television industry.

Throughout Hong Kong and Taiwan, no one, whether in front of or behind the camera, dared to cooperate with him or was willing to cooperate with him.

Secondly, his relationship with the Beijing elite circle was equally poor.

The bigwigs in Beijing's film circle have already made it clear: If you want to film something, do it yourself, don't come to us.

Then, as Mouzi was working on the later stages of the hero, the disorganized Northwest Circle also looked at him with awe and kept their distance.

Throughout China, only the fading Changying Film Studio can be considered a staunch supporter of Fang Xinghe.

With no actors and no behind-the-scenes staff, what can he film?
According to reliable sources, the seven major Hollywood studios have reached a tacit agreement to block Fang Xinghe from seeking resources there. Japan and South Korea only want to invite him to play leading roles, but refuse to accept him as a top figure in their respective entertainment industries.

I've never seen a superstar so besieged on all sides before. It's hilarious.

This is the price to pay for youthful arrogance, and I can't wait to see his finished product.

My first directorial masterpiece, wow, I hope it's just a beautiful misunderstanding, not a wonderful illusion..."

She went on and on, babbling like an old woman.

But I have to admit, this guy has finally learned his lesson.

Instead of mindless insults, they publicly revealed Fang Xinghe's embarrassing situation.

To be fair, his judgment was spot on. Fang Xinghe's directorial debut was indeed challenging, a fact that had long been a consensus within the industry.

Gong Li asked with concern, "What happened? I heard them mention it, saying that Hollywood has a lot of complaints about you. Weren't things fine before?"

"They want to make money off my popularity, not find a father figure for themselves."

Fang Xinghe chuckled to himself.

“My request was indeed quite excessive, but this is their usual tactic, nothing surprising.”

"Train the dog," Mou Zi said succinctly, "Only feed it meat once it's trained."

Gong Li raised an eyebrow: "Just like when they approached you to make movies before?"

"Ah."

Mou Zi nodded, unwilling to say more.

Few people know that Hollywood had invited Zhang Yimou to develop his career there a long time ago, and there were more than just one or two production companies willing to offer him opportunities.

However, being a pure director in Hollywood is too limiting.

Mouzi was unwilling, while Senzi went eagerly; that was the difference between the two.

“Your situation is different from mine.”

Zhang Yimou objectively advised, "As long as you can prove yourself with your first film, Hollywood will be willing to give you power; your value is too great."

“Then the question changes…” Gong Li looked intently at Fang Xinghe, “Little brother, do you want to break into Hollywood?”

"To be honest, I don't want to."

Fang Xinghe spread his hands: "From a money-making perspective, I don't care about the North American market, even though it is the world's largest single market."

"So, from another perspective, you need the Hollywood market?"

Gong Li saw it very clearly and succinctly pointed out the core issue: "For example, the significance of establishing a cultural front and cultural self-reliance?"

"Yes."

Fang Xinghe nodded without pretense.

"My love for movies and TV shows has never been about money, so I need every important market in the world, whether I like it or not."

"You're such a contradictory child."

The older sister felt sorry for him and muttered, "What's the point..."

What are they after? Career and a sense of accomplishment, I guess.

Mou Zi understands this situation very well; he genuinely doesn't care about money anymore.

"That really needs to be handled carefully; you can't just film based on your mood. What backup plans do you have?"

Fang Xinghe counted on his fingers: "A big-budget, movie-quality fantasy drama, a war epic film themed around Huo Qubing, a modern action film that can already be passed over, a stream-of-consciousness art film that leans towards showing off technical skills, and a modern idol drama specifically designed to counter the Korean Wave and the Bay Area Wave..."

"Wow! You've got a lot of ideas! You even have notebooks for them?"

Mou Zi was startled.

However, he quickly waved his hand: "Whether there's a script or not doesn't matter, it just feels like we're going down the wrong path." Gong Li chimed in: "You should debut as a film director, you can put idol dramas and fantasy dramas later, focus on movies first."

These days, film directors are on a completely different level than television directors.

Chungmuro ​​in South Korea, Roppongi in Japan, Hollywood in the United States... it's the same all over the world.

The hierarchy of contempt is deeply ingrained in people's minds; there's no need to confront the whole world over such a trivial matter.

The author of the article said, "Even Huo Qubing won't work. Ancient Chinese war films have neither the potential to achieve high global box office returns nor the possibility of winning awards, unless they are not realistic and continue to focus on action."

"Arthouse films..." Sister Li hesitated for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Could you describe the theme?"

Fang Xinghe shook his head and smiled wryly: "A niche art film depicting the lives of people on the fringes of the city, what clear theme does it have? It's more like a reflection of a specific stage in my life. I mainly wanted to show off my filming techniques..."

"That's not suitable as a first film either."

Gong Li immediately rejected it.

Her attitude was somewhat absolute, but that was precisely evidence that she was wholeheartedly for Fang Xinghe's good.

Zhang Ziyi smoothed things over, saying, "Actually, the idea of ​​making an art film is acceptable. The first core condition for your debut film is internationalization, or rather, a global target audience. So there are only two paths—either pursue box office success or pursue awards."

There has to be something to prove you made a good film, right?
The problem now is that it's really hard to find commercially viable themes that suit your age and have a global appeal. Making an art-house romance film is definitely the best option.

If the story is good and the filming is good, it might achieve both critical and commercial success, replicating Leonardo DiCaprio's path.

He didn't dare to suggest replicating the Titanic, that would be too far-fetched.

“Yes.” Gong Li said seriously, “Don’t underestimate the issue of age. You’re too young to play young men now. Your face is too handsome and too youthful.”

Fang Xinghe certainly knew.

Age and appearance can transcend acting skills themselves and influence the audience's sense of immersion.

With his stunning good looks, if there's even the slightest inconsistency in his character portrayal, it will instantly break the immersion in the story, causing viewers to focus only on his face and disbelieve the plot.

The reason he wanted to film a fantasy drama was to avoid this shortcoming.

"I really had no choice. I couldn't just stop being a lead actor and keep playing supporting roles."

Fang Xinghe helplessly spread his hands: "Artistic romance film? Only the script of 'Cang Ye Xue' is suitable, but it can't be changed or filmed, and I don't want to film it myself."

"Give it to me!" Mouzi jumped up in a flash. "I'll revise it for you, I'll take you to film it, I can get it approved!"

"I can't give it to you."

Fang Xinghe rolled his eyes: "This is not a story that can be explained in 120 minutes."

To truly capture the profound, tragic, and absurd aspects of "Cang Ye Xue," the only way is to create a high-quality drama.

With such a short runtime, even the supporting characters aren't fully developed.

"Ugh……"

Mou Zi sighed deeply, his emotions collapsing.

Gong Li suddenly remembered something, and her eyes lit up.

"Hey, little brother, could you extract the part of the story that involves school bullying and make a separate movie on that topic?"

Fang Xinghe didn't understand: "It is possible, but what's the special significance?"

"Oh my, that'll be incredibly useful!"

Gong Li suddenly became excited and launched into a rapid-fire explanation of scientific facts.

"You know, I was the president of the jury at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. In the last two years, the three major European film festivals have asked me to be a jury member several times, so I have some understanding of the trends there."

In terms of the criteria for the awards, the three categories each have their own inclinations, which are complicated to explain, but there is a basic tacit understanding among them.

Hmm, how am I supposed to explain this to you?
It's that compassionate tone... Let me organize my thoughts...

Gong Li was a little anxious and got stuck for a moment.

Zhang Ziyi added, "Winning a major award isn't simply about filming suffering or exploiting tragedy. While European artists can be a bit aloof, their respect for artists is genuine, and they're tolerant of differing opinions, unlike Hollywood..."

Fang Xinghe remained noncommittal regarding his opinion on Mou Zi.

However, after spending a year traveling, he had a fairly clear understanding of certain things.

Right now, Europe isn't deliberately hostile towards China. AFP's smear campaign is still many years away, and the BBC's professional denigration is also rare.

There was no promotion of the "China threat" theory in South Korea; the media mostly used mockery.

Japan is a rare hotspot for vigilance, discrimination, and appeasement.

These days, American NGOs aren't expanding domestically on a large scale; public intellectuals who take money from abroad mostly receive Japanese yen.

Especially after last year's incident, the United States' attention has shifted to the Middle East, and coupled with its need for cheap industrial goods from China, the two countries are currently in the closest honeymoon period in their history.

Dialectical materialism tells us that things are always developing dynamically, and we cannot simply apply future situations to the present.

Looking at the present, it is Japan that is truly plotting trouble domestically. The attitude of the American political and business circles is to win them over and invest in them. Hollywood has a natural tendency to discriminate, while Europe looks down on all non-European regions equally.

The difference here is essentially a distinction between different levels of hostility, and also a judgment of priorities.

Opposing Europe, criticizing Europe, or being hostile to Europe are not urgent matters, and there is absolutely no need for them—just quietly watch them decline, why bother with anything else?
Therefore, Fang Xinghe is not entirely opposed to winning the three major European awards; he simply does not accept winning awards by "smearing domestic figures to curry favor with judges."

But Gong Li's advice was... you don't need to please anyone.

"Anyway, there has been a trend in the last two film festivals—focusing on school violence and the corresponding real-world pressures."

The reason is the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in the United States. This incident caused a huge uproar. The shooter's motives were complex, including revenge against bullying, seeking fame, dissatisfaction with society, and an addiction to violent culture, which had a tremendous impact.

This influence has gradually spread to Europe, as evidenced by the previous Venice and Cannes Film Festivals, but it has not yet reached its peak.

I think the real peak of attention will occur this year.

Because movies have a time lag, the film industry's examination and reflection on such socially sensitive issues also lags behind, ultimately giving similar works a special space for display and a final verdict.

Have you realized that this actually has a surprising similarity to your "Azure Night Snow"?

If you shoot on this subject and capture its depth and relevance to reality, you'll have a great chance of winning awards at Cannes early next year and Venice in the middle of the year.

You don't need to exploit the suffering of the Chinese people. Just make a solid film about teenage romance set against the backdrop of school bullying, and you'll have a chance to win an award—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Because of her excitement, Sister Li's words were somewhat incoherent.

But Fang Xinghe understood completely.

It has to be frontline experts! This line of thinking, stemming from information asymmetry, is absolutely brilliant.

Zhang Yimou fully agreed with Gong Li's ideas and further refined them from a director's perspective.

“I’ve been a judge, an actor, and an award winner. Look at the works that Lao Chen and I won awards for. They’re not just about exploiting suffering. They have a spiritual core. Don’t think that Europeans can’t understand our core. We’re all human, and we share many common emotions.”

That's why I don't get along with some directors in China; they've gone astray.

While some Western audiences may enjoy the exoticism of the East and like to comment on our suffering, we filmmakers must never create suffering for the sake of suffering, or darkness for the sake of darkness.

You won't win the grand prize that way; at best, you'll just make some ill-gotten gains. It's pointless!
To be a good director, reflection is necessary, even essential, as is spirit and drive; one must be willing to fight and take responsibility!
From this perspective, you possess the basic requirement to become a master—ambition.

I think you could listen to your sister Gong Li and compile the school scene from "The Snow in the Night" into a film with an anti-bullying theme, and try it out at Cannes next year.

These European awards, they're fair in some ways, but there are plenty of unspoken rules too. Quality accounts for half, luck for the other half. You get the attention, we'll pave the way for you, so go for it!

These words from Mou Zi gave Fang Xinghe a new understanding of him.

You know what, if you really look at his works, whether it's "To Live," "Red Sorghum," "Raise the Red Lantern," or all his subsequent films, they're definitely not the kind of films that Jia Zhangke makes just to please people.

Aside from not being able to understand the script, Lao Zhang's early and middle works never deliberately smeared China; they contained a certain spirit.

While his contemporaries were exploiting suffering and darkness, he was filming the captivating beauty of the countryside.

His background made him good at shooting dirt, there's nothing you can do about it.

But the environment didn't break him, which is really impressive.

He has flaws, but from the perspective of Chinese cinema, he is almost the best teammate available right now.

We can't expect anything from poets, deer, Da Lu and Xiao Lu, or 523, can we?
If Starry Sky Films grows bigger and can't keep up with all the projects, then Zhang Yimou will be an excellent employee.

Fang Xinghe doesn't care how much money he can make for the company. As long as good projects aren't ruined and key projects aren't turned into "Nanjing Nanjing," that's enough to earn him a great credit.

Because of the change in his perception, Fang Xinghe also began to seriously consider Mou Zi's opinion.

"The Snow in the Night" is definitely out of the question, but an art-house romance film on the theme of school bullying is indeed the best solution at present.

The chance of winning a big award is one thing, but there's nothing wrong with making universal films without discrediting the domestic film industry and winning awards fairly and squarely.

Fang Xinghe himself does not need awards, but the objective reality is that the country and its people do.

Taking the path of cultural independence and gradually inspiring national self-confidence is a long and arduous task. The three major European cinemas and even the Oscars, box office revenue and international influence are all necessities for this long road.

Furthermore, regardless of whether he can win the award, this is practically the only type of film Fang Xinghe can make.

Age and subject matter, appearance and performance, audience and market, reputation and dissemination...

When everything is balanced, this is the best outcome.

But Fang Xinghe didn't want to use the plot from "Cang". In a hazy moment, a better idea emerged in his mind...

(End of this chapter)