The Birth of the Best Director

Chapter 31 Is this your first time making a movie? A work of genius!
……

Director Li An, although he is the president of the jury of the Venice Film Festival, this year he also has a work of his own that will be participating in the Cannes International Film Festival.

The name of this movie is "Taking Woodstock".

A very unpopular movie.

Maybe many people have not heard of it.

Two years ago, when Li An was promoting "Lust, Caution" at a San Francisco TV station, he met Elliott Taber, the founder of the Woodstock Music Festival, at the airport.

The two briefly chatted for a few words.

The founder gave Li An his memoir, "Making Woodstock: A True Story of Riots, Concerts, and Life."

After reading the book, Li An planned to adapt it into a movie.

From a certain perspective, the movie "Maze" will become Li An's direct competitor at the Cannes Film Festival.

Of course, as a great director, Li An doesn't care at all.

Not everyone is qualified to be his opponent.

At the beginning, Director Li An was invited by Lu Zheng to come to Xingguang Canlan Company to give some guidance on the works of newcomers for the sake of money and the desire to help the younger generation.

That's right.

Please give me some advice.

His thought just now was like a rich man finding a tutor for his unsuccessful child, checking the homework, giving some encouragement, and helping him to relieve his psychological stress, which is conducive to his healthy development.

however……

Soon, he became a little restless.

"Something's wrong."

"Let's not talk about the art style of this movie for now. Perhaps this director used to work in art."

"But isn't this his first time making a movie? How come his camera style is so mature?"

In the movie "Maze", under Lu Zhiyuan's deliberate request, the actors don't need any explosive acting skills at all.

He used various close-ups to set the mood.

For example, Zong Yao's lips were trembling slightly, but he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

The village chief, who obviously didn't smoke, lit a cigarette that flickered continuously.

When Liqin was asked by Wang Baoshan to testify, she lowered her head and avoided the camera, and when she was leaving, the camera suddenly zoomed away, showing her isolation, helplessness and panic.

Although the characters in these scenes do not have any lines and no explosive acting, the atmosphere is created just right through the language of the camera.

The audience can all feel that the truth is about to come out at this moment.

The silent truth, though silent, has already awakened the audience's hearts.

As a director, Li An's feelings are more profound than those of ordinary audiences.

It is not so easy to achieve this.

A director must have a strong foundation in basic skills.

"From the director's perspective, and considering the language of the camera, his narrative style is quite restrained. This restraint perfectly blends with the overall style of the film, the atmosphere of suppressed silence, and the acquaintance-oriented philosophy of 'seeing the truth but not speaking out'."

[Liqin] was involved with [Wang Baoshan]. Don’t the villagers know?
[Chen Zili] He has a mistress outside, don’t the villagers know?
These things are the silent philosophy of the East Asian world.

If you think about it carefully, the movie will seem more interesting.

"This is a textbook suspense film."

From a certain perspective, "Labyrinth of the Heart" completely conforms to Hitchcock's "Bomb Theory".

From the very beginning, the audience knows who the murderer is.

Whenever the characters in the movie are about to discover the truth, the audience starts to get nervous... and as the camera flips again and again, additional information is given.

The direction of the plot has undergone another drastic change.

Full of absurdity and black humor.

This is "Labyrinth of the Heart", which is different from Hitchcock's suspense and has its own style.

"Is this really his first time making a movie?" If Lu Zhiyuan was his friend, Li An would have been unable to sit still and would definitely stand up and applaud excitedly.

He would excitedly raise his glass to celebrate Lu Zhiyuan for making such a genius work.

But he had never met Lu Zhiyuan before, and this time he was even paid to come and help praise him... It's like visiting a friend's house. No matter whether the friend's son is promising or not, you always have to praise him a few words, saying that the child will have a bright future.

However, the current situation made him feel a little embarrassed.

Because, this other person's child seems to be a real genius!
Blow directly...

Others would think that he took the money and just said nice things without putting his heart into it.

But if you criticize...

Give me a break.

Although I feel that my own film "Taking Woodstock" is not bad, I can't say with a clear conscience that it is better than "Labyrinth of the Heart", right?
"But he's not perfect either."

"Well, this handheld camera shot is a bit immature in trying to convey the character's inner panic. There's still a lot of room for improvement."

Li An could only comfort himself in this way.

And just at this moment, the movie came to an end.

In the picture, a coffin is placed on the hillside.

The village chief, Zong Yao, and Huang Huan looked at each other silently without saying a word.

At this moment, the wind suddenly grew stronger, the sky turned leaden gray, dark clouds rolled in, and the light became dim, making their faces gradually blurred and somewhat unrecognizable.

The entire shot is depressing to the extreme.

The silence at this moment is like the calm before the storm.

The three of them looked at each other in silence, but it seemed as if all the truth was written on their faces!
“Good shot.”

Li An said "good" in his heart.

I have to say that director Lu Zhiyuan is really good at creating atmosphere.

Actors don’t need to have great acting skills. By relying on changes in light, they can express everything they want to express through the language of the lens.

Really great.

"what?"

I thought the movie ended here because the story was already very complete.

Hear thunder in a silent place.

Really great.

Although everyone in the movie is silent, in director Li An's mind, the last scene where the three people look at each other in silence will definitely stir up a storm in the hearts of the audience.

Who would have thought that the scene would suddenly change and they would arrive at a temple with a lot of incense.

In this temple, [White Tiger] comes to burn incense, [Zong Yao]'s mother comes to ask for a talisman, and Huang Huan reveals a fake pregnancy...

This shot seems to provide some additional explanation for the whole story.

If it were just this, Li An would give it a good evaluation in his heart, but that's all.

However, suddenly, the camera suddenly pulled up and floated towards the sky, showing a wide-angle shot looking down. The countless creatures below were as humble as ants.

"This……"

After seeing this last scene, Li An felt goosebumps all over his body, as if there was a ghost in the sky, silently watching all this.

He couldn't help but think of the beginning of the movie, when Zong Yao returned home and his mother told him that they wouldn't be cooking today because someone in the village had been burned to death and they were going to have a feast...

No way?
"No wonder the whole movie gave me a ghostly feeling, as if I was being watched by someone. So that was his idea."

"It's like a depth charge! It makes your scalp numb!"

“It’s a work of genius!”

"Hopefully, the reviewers won't understand the implication here."

(End of this chapter)