Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

Chapter 93: The Fortune of Suffering, Huang Xiaoming's Reflections

Zhao Yanxi did not attend the closing ceremony on September 9th.

Liu Yifei will have to fly back to China to participate in the second round of auditions for "The Forbidden Kingdom," while he himself will return to Hollywood to continue supervising the special effects production for "Painted Skin."

The Venice awards ceremony proceeded as expected, with Jia Zhangke's "Still Life" winning the Golden Lion and Liu Jie's "The Court on Horseback" taking home the Best Film award in the Horizons section.

Although some international media outlets have expressed reservations about the award results, this does not change the established outcome.

Afterwards, Jia Zhangke's own Beijing Xihui also announced the results of the copyright transaction for "Still Life"—4000 million RMB!

While the price is somewhat low compared to "Buried," "Still Life" is indeed far inferior in terms of storytelling and entertainment value.

Judging from the investment by the French company LumenFilms, this is a typical award-contending film, which is exactly what these international film companies like to do.

Targeting the types of Chinese-language films that are most likely to win awards, we specifically sought out domestic directors who excelled in these types of films to create custom productions, which were then submitted to major European arts festivals for awards.

If they don't win an award, they'll only lose a few hundred thousand RMB, since the production cost of this kind of film isn't too high; but if they do win an award, the profit will be hundreds of times greater.

This type of film is mostly about suffering, revealing the hardships of ordinary people in China!

The three musketeers—Jia Zhangke, Wang Xiaoshi, and Lou Hua—are all masters of this art, which is why Zhao Yanxi doesn't particularly like them.

Times are changing, but many people at the bottom of society still live relatively difficult lives due to various reasons such as family, education, and differences in development across regions. They need great directors like Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai to give them a voice.

There was nothing wrong with what was done; in fact, it deserves praise.

However, after so many years of reform and opening up in China, the country has been working on poverty alleviation, literacy campaigns, and assistance for the widowed, orphaned, and lonely. Yet, just before Zhao Yanxi's rebirth, when he was analyzing films in the directing department of Beijing Film Academy, he discovered that they were still making these kinds of films about suffering, such as Jia Zhangke's "Mountains May Depart" and Wang Xiaoshuai's "Sunshine".

Making one film shows concern for the underprivileged; making two films gives voice to the underprivileged; making three films makes it hard not to suspect that it's just profiting from suffering.

The suffering of the people has always existed, yet creators who use it as material have made a fortune.

Foreigners overseas enjoy seeing China's suffering to highlight the evils of the "socialist" regime, which gives these films about suffering the opportunity to be shown at major film festivals and subsequently spread widely overseas.

Furthermore, with the continuous misinterpretation by overseas media and film critics, China's international image has been gradually tarnished!

Although these are all Zhao Yanxi's speculations, rather than Jia Zhangke and his team's true thoughts, perhaps they simply felt that this subject matter was suitable for winning awards.

Zhao Yanxi didn't want to use dark thoughts to speculate about others, but since he couldn't distinguish between good and bad, he could only choose to stay away from them!

While "Still Life" caused quite a stir in the international film scene, it seems to have made little impact domestically.

A photo of Jackie Chan returning to Beijing and meeting with Wang Zhonglei of Huayi Brothers instantly silenced all other speculation: "Jackie Chan?!"

"It seems to be confirmed, the other male lead is Jackie Chan."

"Holy crap, Jay Chou and JJ Lin are finally collaborating! This is bringing back so many memories!"

Netizens are buzzing with discussion. This time, Huayi Brothers didn't come up with any new tricks; they simply announced publicly that the other lead actor in the co-production is Jackie Chan!

"The name of the new film can finally be announced! Both of them are kung fu superstars, so the film is called 'The Forbidden Kingdom,' or, following Hollywood's naming convention, 'The Double J Project'!"

This truly shocked the entire film and television industry!

Although Jackie Chan and Li Lianjie are both international kung fu superstars, they have never collaborated!

This collaboration between the two has made "The Forbidden Kingdom" a hit even before filming began!

"With this lineup, whoever gets the female lead is guaranteed to have a perfect start!"

"No matter what, we must give it a try."

"This is the first time these two have collaborated, it's no exaggeration to say it's attracting global attention, it's a pity I'm not a woman..."

'

During a break on set of "The Deer and the Cauldron," Huang Xiaoming quietly approached Shu Chang.

"Changchang, how did Yifei's audition go? Is there any chance she'll get the lead role?"

"Of course!" Shu Chang said nonchalantly, "Who is my Sister Fei?!"

Seeing Shu Chang's confident expression, Huang Xiaoming felt that a certain guess in his heart might have come true. After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Huang Xiaoming asked again in a low voice, "The gift Yan Xi gave Yi Fei for her birthday last time, it wasn't the female lead from 'The Forbidden Kingdom,' was it?"

"Cough cough..."

Shu Chang nearly choked on her water, staring in astonishment at Huang Xiaoming as he argued, "How could that be! This film is a co-production of Huayi Brothers, not Yanxi Films."

"No matter how capable Director Zhao is, he can't possibly handle Lionsgate."

"Hehe~~"

Huang Xiaoming smiled mysteriously. Couldn't handle Lionsgate? Juno is published by Lionsgate, so it's not unusual for them to have connections.

Judging from Shu Chang's reaction, Huang Xiaoming had confirmed his guess and sighed with emotion at the unpredictable nature of life.

When he was on the set of "The Return of the Condor Heroes", he felt that Liu Yifei had a good foundation, was willing to work hard, and had the capital to support her, so she was bound to have a bright future.

Therefore, from the moment the machine started, he paid close attention to her, wanting to make her a good friend, hoping she could lend him a hand in a critical moment.

As for Zhao Yanxi, he really didn't take him seriously at all at first.

It wasn't until after he fell into the water and rescued the person that I realized he was a good person and someone I could be friends with.

Then, less than two years after filming wrapped on "The Return of the Condor Heroes," the development of the cast and crew members became very different.

Liu Yifei has indeed become a popular young actress, but what's even more astonishing is that Zhao Yanxi, a minor character, has suddenly risen to become a renowned domestic director and a Silver Bear winner at the Berlin International Film Festival...

Now they can even manage relationships in Hollywood and secure leading roles in A-list productions!

However... I was still clever enough not to have chosen the wrong powerful ally.

It's probably more effective to appease my aunt than my uncle these days.

"Yifei, Yifei, you must prove yourself and let me, Guo'er, live off you for the rest of my life!"

Huayi.

Wang Zhonglei hung up the phone in frustration, looking at Wang Zhongjun helplessly and saying, "Brother, Liu Xiaoli still won't budge!"

"I will resolutely refuse to sign with Huayi Brothers and will stay in Hongxingwu."

"Heh, they won't shed a tear until they see the coffin," Wang Zhongjun sneered, then suddenly changed the subject, "How's that Minkov doing lately?"

"He's having a great time. Li Xue arranged a few for him. Brother, what do you mean?" Wang Zhonglei's eyes lit up.

"Doesn't Liu Xiaoli think her daughter has everything she needs to do?" Wang Zhongjun sneered. "Let's make things difficult for Minkov during her second audition!"

"Let her know that she couldn't have gotten the role without Huayi Brothers!"

"good!"