Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 40 Though there be millions of people, I will go!
The crowd fell silent.

Cao Zhong's swift response made people suddenly realize that things were not so simple.

As Wang Hongwei listened to Cao Zhong's words, the more he pondered them, the more he felt that something was amiss.

"Mainstream film industry discourse power?"

"Bullying 'mainstream' films within the genre film industry?"

Is it wrong to love one's country?

That aggrieved expression, that pitiful cry, was as if he had suffered countless injustices and been persecuted by many people.

This struck Wang Hongwei as odd.

As expected, Cao Zhong once again set up his Italian cannon.

He raised the microphone, his eyes filled with tears, and looked down at the countless flashing lights below.

He looked from south to north, circled around once, lowered his head, and then raised it again.

His throat moved.

With each turn, his gaze remained fixed on the constantly flashing camera lens.

The crowd fell silent.

Some people began to feel sad for Cao Zhong.

Those supporters,

Inexplicable,
My heart was clenched.

They all knew what criticisms Cao Zhong had received online during this period.

His personal character, academic performance, home address, and even details of which girl he pulled by the hair, which girl he untied by the neck, who he fought with, and who he bit when he was a child were all thoroughly exposed.

The boxes have all been opened.

As a pivotal figure who triggered the four major battles, Cao Zhong grasped one central point and two basic principles. Together with his supporters, he held firm to his position and targeted one point, preventing the enemy from even making a move.

However, there were too many enemies, and many of them had drawn their firing lines.

They also fired indiscriminately at Cao Zhong.

Furthermore, people like Jia Zhangke and Su Mu evaded the issue and stirred up trouble, causing Cao Zhong's central argument to be drowned out by the sea of ​​people discussing the topic.

Cao Zhong's words, after all, lack concrete evidence.

Apart from Yasujiro Ozu, it is all his own account.

Just my opinion.

And it's very weak.

This gave the enemy an opportunity, and several enemies launched a joint attack, making the wave of attacks quite terrifying.

Cao Zhong won in his approach to the art department.

But from other perspectives, it was actually a defeat.

Meanwhile, those enemies are launching fierce local counter-offensives, and there is even a possibility that local setbacks could lead to overall victory.

The reporter I just interviewed actually just received a huge sum of money from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

One of the media outlets that attempted to criticize Cao Zhong.

Before being invited, Cao Zhong had no idea whether they were human or ghosts.

Of course, he actually really wanted such a ghost to exist.

Because he had already made arrangements; if there were no ghosts, he would arrange for someone to impersonate them.

Cao Zhong's famous outburst against the art department, which is widely praised, has actually been gradually suppressed by several other arguments during this period, due to the deliberate concealment by relevant parties and the pressure from the school.

They were paid, and it was an organized group.
Their combat power is still quite formidable.

Those people didn't want to see Cao Zhong continue to run rampant, so this all-round debate, with the many ganging up on the few, a war of attrition, and numerical superiority, was inevitable.

Supporters are heartbroken.

Some of the neutral parties also felt a sense of unease.

Wang Hongwei was momentarily stunned; this student, who had a strong sense of self, was facing an extremely difficult path.

Zu Feng, Mei Ting, and Hai Qing were also deeply moved at this moment.

They are from Nanjing, and they saw that Cao Zhong had received so much criticism because of the movie.

Suddenly, the feeling of having my money reduced came back.

It's nothing in an instant.

"What grievance do I have? Isn't Director Cao wronged? He devoted himself entirely to our film!"

It's all for our Nanjing!

Suddenly, they all understood!

Huang Xiaoming shook his head, looked at his fellow Shandong native, and sighed inwardly, "Director Cao, you really have it tough."

To say that he is an enemy of the whole world is a bit of an exaggeration, but to say that a large number of people hate him to the core is not an exaggeration at all.

Xu Zheng also felt a trace of sadness.

Patriotism is indeed something to be proud of.

But how did things turn out this way?

Below the opening ceremony, Yang Mi, wearing a hat and a mask, looked at Cao Zhong on the stage, her heart aching.

"How much pressure is he under?"

"A man like him is a hero. He knew he was cutting himself off from the industry, but he still went ahead without hesitation. That kind of man is so charming." "I, Yang Mi, have good taste. Among all the students in the class, I was the first to see Cao Zhong's charm."

"He must be suffering a lot. He must be under a lot of pressure."

"Last time I wanted to be with him, and if he agreed, we could have something happen. But he rejected me with vulgar words, probably to keep me out of these situations, right?"

"He's so nice!"

Yang Mi looked at Cao Zhong on the stage, lost in thought.

If it weren't for the potential impact, she would have gone up with them.

Cao Zhong looked at the media and continued, word by word.

"I am heartbroken, extremely heartbroken, and I feel... deeply distressed about the wrong path that Chinese cinema has taken in recent years."

"hiss!"

"It's over!"

Wang Hongwei, after all, knew what Cao Zhong had said to Han Sanpin at China Film Group.

Now, just by looking at Cao Zhong sticking his butt out, you can immediately tell what kind of shit he's going to take.

How is this statement any different from the prelude to his criticism of Yasujiro Ozu?
Wang Hongwei wanted to run away!
He felt very panicked!

But Cao Zhong spoke much faster than Wang Hongwei fled.

After Cao Zhong finished his initial attack, he unleashed his ultimate skill.

“They are wrong!”

"I am an art student, so I understand. I know what people around me think about mainstream films. They value foreign films more than domestic ones, and art more than the audience."

I'm begging for the top three European teams, and for the Olympics!

Pursuing it for ten years, twenty years, forever and ever!

But which films received those awards?
"Still Life"!
Look, this is a great project of our new era, and it has already been awarded an award as soon as it was completed!

It's a great film. It depicts the immigration crisis created by engineering projects, and the hardships of low-income workers intertwined with broken families.

They're so incredibly humane!

The ordinary people are cursing and suffering! How wicked! They're driving us away just to build this dam; we're not free!
"Peacock"!
The oppressive atmosphere in the small town on the eve of opening up was like the older sister's dream of becoming a paratrooper being rejected by the system, and she had to take off her pants and exchange them for a parachute!
My brother's artistic talent and ideas were stifled! How can personal freedom be so intolerable in this world?
This world is truly wicked...

When it comes to this, it's all about art.

When the topic of the mainstream ideology comes up, everyone scoffs at it.

Mission films and promotional videos are ignored, they are considered fake, grandiose, and empty, heavily labeled, and their creation and production are stretched thin. There are also rumors circulating. Nobody likes to watch patriotic films, and nobody wants to support them.

They're wrong!

Some people have disregarded the true history of world cinema!

From a global perspective, film has had a profound relationship with national political systems since the very beginning of its formal industrialization.

The classic Soviet film, *Battleship Potemkin*, is world-famous. Is it not a patriotic film?
The founder of the Venice Film Festival, Mussolini, what did he do? Everyone can look it up and find out.

Is "Triumph of the Will," directed by Hitler's protégé, not of high artistic merit? Doesn't it receive recognition in world film history education? It's a Nazi brainwashing film.

The film *Forrest Gump* conceals the political intentions of American conservatives.

A movie, at least ninety minutes long.

Every minute is meaningful; the metaphors you see are all true.

The direction the buttocks face is what you see.

Why don't people make patriotic films, which can garner countless accolades and prestigious awards?

Because your main theme doesn't resonate with them, they're unhappy!
He wants that kind!
He wants it, and someone will give it to him!
This isn't the fault of the mainstream ideology, but rather the fault of certain filmmakers who haven't put their heart and soul into making movies.

It is the fault of those few who compared themselves to concubines, striking poses and trying to gain the favor of the West.

I didn't mention my senior from the Literature Department, I didn't!

So, do you understand why *Tokyo Story* hits some people's sweet spot?

Cao Zhong looked honest; the grievances and frustrations he had felt earlier had vanished without a trace.

"I'm different; I value my audience."

My films are made solely for Chinese audiences!

Even in patriotic films, I strive to make people feel my sincerity and emotions, and to show them the courage and spirit of our generation of young people.

As for external criticism, indirect smear campaigns, and suppression.

Let them come!

Just like Mr. Mao Yushi, now that you've come, how can we not respond?!

Only my utter failure, my social death, or even my physical death, can make people let go of "Nanjing Photo Studio" and let Nanjing go.

I will struggle until my last second of life!

Tell people they are wrong!

The crowd fell silent.

Cao Zhong is just like a lone warrior walking alone in the dark night.

It is just like the roar of reforms in various countries, in which there were always bloodshed and sacrifice. Today, China's reforms have also been accompanied by bloodshed and sacrifice, starting with Tan Sitong.

He stood on the stage.

For a time, it left countless people bewildered!
(End of this chapter)