This director is vindictive.

Chapter 179 Everyone knows that Chen Mo is scolding, but he thinks he is praising
It is not surprising that "Life Events" has a good reputation. After all, in the eyes of many people, Chen Mo's works are relatively reliable.

It will be big news when he messes up someday.

Chen Mo also took the time to pay attention to the box office of "Life Events".

It's not particularly good, but it's not bad either. The attendance rate is pretty good. Although the current estimate of the first-day box office may not exceed 100 million yuan, it is very close.

It certainly can't be compared with "Dying to Survive", but it is already a very good first-day box office.

However, everyone's attention soon focused on "The Legend of the Demon Cat", which will hold its premiere tonight!
Chen Mo also received an invitation. Originally, he didn't have to go. After all, his own movie, poet Chen, was not present.

But, Zhang Yuqi starred in this movie, so when she called to invite him, Chen Mo naturally couldn't refuse.

Compared to the premiere of "Life Events", Shi Shi Chen still has some cards to his name, and after all, the cast is much bigger than that of "Life Events".

Therefore, the scene was indeed extremely luxurious.

Chen Mo walked the red carpet with Zhang Yuqi.

During this period, he was naturally asked by media reporters about the competition between the two films.

"In fact, the themes of the two films are very different, so although there is competition, it is not that big. Moreover, our Chinese market can accommodate several films." Chen Mo smiled and answered in a very formal manner.

"This is not like you! Why don't you admit defeat in advance and lose half the battle?" Zhang Yuqi bumped into someone while dribbling the ball. No, it wasn't just bumping into someone while dribbling the ball, but she was directly sticking to someone while dribbling the ball.

The touch feels pretty good.

It's just that it's a little too early for these tiger women to be happy.

Chen Mo said unhappily, "So confident? Don't cry if you lose!"

"Will I lose?" Zhang Yuqi laughed.

Obviously, she is very confident in "The Legend of the Demon Cat".

In fact, this is also human nature. After all, at the moment, no one really thinks that the movie "Life Events" can have any impact on "The Legend of the Demon Cat".

In other words, the two are not at the same level at all. Whether it is investment or lineup, it can be said that "The Legend of the Demon Cat" really beats "Life Events" in seconds!

An investment of 10 billion yuan! It can be said that such an investment is rare in the current Chinese film industry!
Poet Chen was naturally in high spirits and talked about his creative ideas to the media reporters.

I just don’t know what his expression would be when “Legend of the Demon Cat” was compared with “The Promise”.

Chen Mo was quite curious.

After all, he said that it would take ten years to understand the movie "The Promise". Now it has been 12 years since the release of "The Promise". Can we understand it today?
Speaking of which, Chen Mo found "The Legend of the Demon Cat" quite novel this time. How should I put it?

In his previous life, he watched this movie purely from the perspective of an audience. Although he was also an online movie director at that time, he actually did not consider himself a movie director.

Moreover, it is far from the level of poet Chen, so I would rather watch this movie as an ordinary person.

But now, after all, he has been making theatrical movies for so many years, so he looks at this movie from a different perspective, completely from the standpoint of a fellow director.

how to say?

Objectively speaking, this movie is "worth watching". At least the scenes are okay, the audio-visual effects are good, and it's worth the money.

But if you consider that this movie cost 1 billion yuan to invest, it’s a bit embarrassing.

"The Legend of the Demon Cat" is a fantasy movie. It opens with a demon and the emperor is killed by a demon cat.

The cat also attacked the emperor's guards, causing chaos.

At the moment the emperor died, Bai Juyi, who was the official recording the emperor's daily life, happened to be present. A Japanese monk named Kukai was also present as an exorcist. The two began to work together to find out the truth.

Thirty years after the An-Shi Rebellion, the two men, while investigating the truth, discovered that this strange incident was connected to Yang Guifei's death. Bai Juyi, coincidentally writing "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow," intensified their interest in the investigation. The discovery began when the two men found the diary of Abe, a Japanese official who served in the Tang Dynasty, which recorded the details of Yang Guifei's death. The second half of the film shifts to Abe's diary, using its contents to guide re-enactments, focusing on the feast hosted by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang for Yang Guifei and her execution at Mawei Station after the An-Shi Rebellion.

This section is the highlight of the film, showcasing the so-called Tang Dynasty atmosphere by creating a grand banquet of bliss - it looks like the Tang Dynasty Spring Festival Gala. Two new characters appear in this section: the white crane-like young Bailong and Danlong, who are deeply involved in the death of Yang Guifei, and the demon cat is actually Bailong.

However, "Legend of the Demon Cat" still has some narrative issues. For example, the first half of the film suddenly jumps to the memories of Abe, a Japanese man, in the second half. However, if the truth is all in Abe's diary, then the previous efforts of Bai Juyi and Kukai to solve the case seem meaningless. Moreover, when the truth is revealed, the demon cat, also known as Bai Long, speaks, filling in the missing information in Abe's diary. If the demon cat was willing to tell the truth directly to Bai Juyi and others, why did it do it earlier? Why didn't it say it earlier, but had to wait until the end of the movie?
Anyway, what can I say about this movie? The visuals can be given a high score of 9, but the plot is only 5 at most!
Chen Mo actually doesn’t quite understand why some people like to use a foreigner’s perspective when filming domestic history?

This is true for Lu Chuan and also for poet Chen.

The key point is, you are a Chinese!
What Chen Mo wanted to complain about most about "The Legend of the Demon Cat" was not the plot or anything, but the fact that the movie itself had big problems since it was adapted from a novel by an island writer.

Tang Dynasty! Chang'an! The so-called powerful Han and prosperous Tang!
In the minds of Chinese people, the prosperous Tang Dynasty has an extremely special meaning.

The Japanese were nothing at that time! Chen Mo was puzzled. There were so many classics and stories circulating during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, but why did they choose to adapt a novel by an islander into a movie?

Don’t talk nonsense about art. Those Japanese people know nothing about the prosperous Tang Dynasty of China!
Closer to home.

Maybe it’s because everyone has their own subjective stance, but Chen Mo felt disgusted just watching it.

Of course, this is not to say that there are no great aspects to this film. The background of this movie is indeed magnificent and the pictures are exquisite, but that’s all.

"Legend of the Demon Cat" perfectly continues director Chen Shiren's style of a strong first half followed by a weak second half, making it a worthy companion piece to "The Orphan of Zhao." While the first half is a passable thriller, the second half seems to suddenly forget about that and shifts to a freewheeling, unstructured pursuit of expression, completely disregarding logic, pacing, climax, and resolution.

Another awkward performance in the second half is by Yang Guifei. She puts on a half-hour acrobatic extravaganza and delivers a couple of bland lines like, "Li Bai, the Tang Dynasty is truly remarkable for having you." Does this mean Yang Guifei is a remarkable woman with a profound understanding of the Tang Dynasty's spirit? Did she foresee her fate long ago, believing she was a treasure during prosperity but no longer needed in troubled times? So even after realizing she's entering a scam, she willingly falls for it with a broken heart? This suggests Yang Guifei is a symbol of the Tang Dynasty's fortune, a figure inherently captivating and destined to be the undoing of anyone who sees her. The last similar character was Qingcheng in "The Promise," undressing on a rooftop.

Likewise, the aesthetics of the first and second halves are not on the same level. Chen Mo was completely impressed by the architecture, costumes, singing and dancing, even the utensils, food, and tea in the first half, and felt that his six years of preparation were worth it. However, once he entered the second half, he couldn't contain himself, eager to express his own understanding of the Tang Dynasty's atmosphere, and everything started to go off track.

Is Yang Guifei swinging on a swing high above Chang'an the epitome of the Tang Dynasty? Are folk acrobatics, traditional magic tricks, and a few magic tricks a feast of bliss? Yang Guifei, who died at Mawei Slope, was then interred in a fantastical forest tomb, her body then removed and placed in a water-curtain cave halfway up a mountain. Why?
What kind of novel is the original novel of "Legend of the Demon Cat"? It's not a historical novel, and it contains numerous historical errors. The emperor's temple name was given before his death; because the imperial surname was Li, carp (Li) was forbidden in the Tang Dynasty, yet it's often eaten in the original novel; Hami melons were rare before the Ming Dynasty, yet the Jinwu Guards enjoyed them; and the claim that Yang Guifei was of Chinese and Hu descent makes no sense. Regarding this, Japanese author Yumemakura Baku issued a disclaimer: "Even if Japanese imitations are as close as possible, they can never convey the true meaning and charm. Buddhism teaches that 'seeing a mountain is not a mountain, seeing water is not water.' I hope readers understand that I'm writing a fantasy story, not a legendary novel."

Therefore, Chen Mo completely couldn't understand what was going on in the mind of poet Chen. He had to use a novel that he himself said could not express the true connotation and charm of knowledge to make a story about the prosperous Tang Dynasty, which Chinese people have a very special complex about.

The movie is over. As a popular director nowadays and the most direct competitor of "Legend of the Demon Cat" in the same period, Chen Mo was naturally not spared by the media, and was asked to talk about his thoughts on the movie.

"Director Chen, what do you think of "The Legend of the Demon Cat"? " a reporter asked.

"I can only say that it is worthy of being a big production with a 10 billion investment. The pictures are magnificent and grand. At least I can't achieve this effect at the moment!" Chen Mo replied with a smile.

But unfortunately, today's media reporters have also learned their lesson. When they heard Chen Mo's praise, their first reaction was that their eyes lit up. Why?
Because this smell is too familiar. Isn't this the rhetoric they often use when they praise a "bad movie" because they have received red envelopes and have no choice but to praise it and not criticize it?
How do you really praise someone?

"The movie is great, the visuals are fantastic, the actors' acting is top-notch, and the story is full of twists and turns, leaving you with a lasting impression!"

Well, that's the real compliment for a movie.

You're just praising a picture, what's the point?
We don’t know what’s going on, right?

"So what about the plot?" the reporter asked persistently.

Chen Mo glanced at the reporter. How could he be so tactless? He had to get to the bottom of this. Was that even remotely interesting?

Do I have to be so blunt?
At this time, I don’t know what happened, maybe because there were too many reporters surrounding him, so Shi Shi Chen also noticed him and he actually walked over.

"Yes, let's talk about it! No need to be shy, I want to know too." Poet Chen actually spoke.

Chen Mo couldn't help but feel speechless. No, where do you get your confidence from?

"I don't quite understand the plot! It's just that Yang Guifei in it reminds me of Qingcheng in "The Promise". I wonder if it's an illusion?" Chen Mo said directly.

The reporters' eyes lit up. It's here, it's finally here. This is what they were waiting for Chen Mo to say.

Sure enough, when we praised the so-called grand and exquisite pictures before, it turns out that the real idea is right here.

In fact, Chen Mo was already prepared to break up, but he couldn't help it. Some people had different ways of thinking, such as Chen the poet.

In fact, it was Chen Mo himself who misjudged the situation, because those who criticized "The Promise" were the audience and film critics, but Chen Mo himself never thought that "The Promise" was a bad movie.

So, when Chen Mo said that Yang Guifei made him feel a bit like Qingcheng in "The Promise", he felt that he hit the nail on the head.

"You can understand it after reading it a few more times!" said poet Chen as if this was normal.

Chen Mo didn't know what to say. "I, a director, can't understand it. Don't you think about how the audience will enjoy it?"

He looked at the reporters in some surprise, but the reporters were all amused by Chen Mo's reaction.

But they were not surprised. They understood the self-righteous poet Chen very well, so this was just what they wanted.

There are some things that the audience and the media can say, but it is really hard for Chen Mo to say, after all, he is the director.

This is also an unspoken rule in the industry.

But in fact, Chen Mo has said enough today.

I guess after poet Chen reads the media reports, he will not be so confident anymore.

This is indeed the case. There is no need to wait until tomorrow, as the media people have already made arrangements impatiently.

"Chen Mo openly praised and secretly criticized the film. 'Legend of the Demon Cat' has exquisite visuals, but the plot is a mess! Another 'The Promise'!"

"Chen Mo's allusion to 'Legend of the Demon Cat' is incomprehensible! It's a carbon copy of 'The Promise'!"

"At the premiere of 'Legend of the Demon Cat', Chen Mo disrupted the show, saying it was a sequel to 'The Promise'!"

The key point is that the audience thinks what Chen Mo said is absolutely right.

"Holy crap! I went to see Legend of the Demon Cat last night and it kept giving me a sense of déjà vu. Chen Mo must have woken me up! This Yang Guifei really looks a lot like Qingcheng!"

"To be honest, I went to watch The Promise on purpose. Poet Chen said that people would understand it after ten years. Sorry, I still don't understand it after watching it. There's no story, no emotion.

But when you consider the character setting of Yang Guifei in "Legend of the Demon Cat," she's inherently charming, and anyone who sees her is doomed. It's exactly the same as Qingcheng taking off her clothes on the roof in "The Promise."

"Chen Mo is really bold. Isn't he afraid that poet Chen will be so angry that he will vomit blood on the spot?"

"Hahaha, you're mistaken about this. Poet Chen doesn't think 'The Promise' is a terrible movie!"

"I don't understand why the calligraphy of Kūkai, a native of an island nation, can be compared with that of Wang Xizhi? Why must Yang Yuhuan be half-Hu people? Why, at important historical moments, do we repeatedly emphasize the participation of people from the island nation?"

"This is adapted from a novel by an author from an island country. The author has juxtaposed the island country and the Tang Dynasty, thereby "raising his own status." His love for the prosperous Tang Dynasty is not just a love for the cultural source or the Tang culture itself, but a love for the prosperous Tang Dynasty that has been filtered through layers of island culture and is imprinted with the island country's mark everywhere.

It's perfectly normal for Japanese works to reflect this kind of ideological tendency. But a Chinese director, taking this logic literally and using it as a narrative framework to express his own understanding of the Tang Dynasty's atmosphere, is effectively a direct heir of Tang culture. In establishing a narrative about the Tang Dynasty, he singles out the Japanese version, declaring that this is what the Tang Dynasty was all about, that its legacy is half Li Bai and Bai Juyi, and half Kukai and Abe no Nakamaro. This is the most suspicious point when I say "Legend of the Demon Cat" has questionable logic. Does this portrayal of the Tang Dynasty truly bear even a shred of its own?

In fact, the next day, poet Chen was furious.

Because although the score of "The Legend of the Demon Cat" is not low, at least it is one of the higher-rated works of poet Chen in recent years.

But look at the comments.

"The visuals are top-notch, but the story is subpar, and the characters are all puppets. The Tang Dynasty in my mind isn't this enchanting. Shota Sometani, who's smiling sweetly from beginning to end, I really want to ask you, what are you laughing at? (emphasis added)"

"It's too much money to shoot such beautiful scenes, and then tell such a story? My heart is screaming in rejection - Chen Mo is so right, this is fucking "The Promise 2.0"!"

“It’s the same familiar recipe, the same taste.

Poet Chen once said that it would take 10 years to fully appreciate The Promise. Unexpectedly, I rewatched it 12 years later and still couldn't grasp it. From The Promise to Legend of the Demon Cat, do human nature and Eastern aesthetics have to be presented this way? Do they have to be convoluted to make them incomprehensible? Then why do Ang Lee's films always leave me so completely convinced?

"After watching the movie and seeing many critics praising it, I still feel a little guilty. Is it because I, as an ordinary audience member, didn't understand it?

I had a brief chat with a few friends who work in the film industry, and I found that some people really liked this movie, especially its aesthetics and visuals. However, everyone pointed out the same problem: the aesthetics were stunning, but the narrative was insufficient, so they only liked the first half of the movie.

Of course, I admit that the film's aesthetics are indeed brilliant, and the scenes presented in the film are breathtakingly beautiful. But I feel more like it is making up for a dream that was not fulfilled by the shoddy special effects of "The Promise".

Yes, "The Legend of the Demon Cat" was dubbed "The Promise 2.0".

This is nothing to worry about. Even though "The Promise" was so bad back then, its box office was still pretty good!
It’s a shame that things are different now than they were back then. Back then, there really weren’t any movies to watch! But now, audiences have so many choices.

Isn’t it nice to watch “Youth” and “Life Events”? At least you can understand and comprehend them.

You should cry or laugh, instead of feeling depressed after watching it!
(End of this chapter)