Reshaping the landscape of the Chinese entertainment industry

Early June 2002, Beijing.

Spring has finally arrived in this ancient city. The poplar trees along the roadside are sprouting tender green buds, and even the air is filled with a moist warmth.

He Yi'an woke up early in the morning, tidied himself up, combed his hair into an adult style, and put on a handsome casual outfit.

Then he went to his study, put the script he had just printed out on the table into his backpack, and went out to attend the first social event of his life that he had initiated.

Sunlight streamed into the study, illuminating the three words printed on the script cover, allowing a glimpse into the script's true form.

A Separation

This was a script that he revised many times, and it was only after meeting Liu Xiaoli again at school that he finally figured out the best way to adapt it.

Some people may not be familiar with this movie because it is relatively obscure.

But just know that the original story took place in Tehran, and that the film won the Golden Bear Award in 2011.

She also won Best Actress and Best Actor, as well as Best Foreign Language Film at the 69th Golden Globe Awards and the 84th Academy Awards (2012).

It was a very fruitful experience!

Of course, its great success is not only due to the fact that the film itself is indeed very well made.

The more important reason, of course, is that they fawn over their American fathers, and that obsessive state of mind may have made America feel good.

That's why they gave away this little bit.

If He Yi'an were to adapt it himself, he certainly wouldn't have made the flavor so pungent.

Actually, setting aside the fanaticism of those who convert without any bottom line, the structure and plot design of this movie are actually quite good.

The story focuses on a middle-class couple going through a divorce due to immigration issues, which then leads to the involvement of a working-class caregiver's family.

Focus all the camera shots on class, morality, law, divine authority, family ties...

By mixing and intertwining these elements, while achieving a situation where no one is truly evil, life is plunged into an unsolvable predicament.

Of course, Persia's national conditions and theocratic system are very different from ours, so He Yi'an made a lot of localization adaptations, which is why it took so long to adapt.

In the initial version, he actually changed the core conflict from immigration to working hard in first-tier cities versus staying in the hometown to fulfill filial piety to one's father.

However, when He Yi'an met Liu Xiaoli, he was inspired and realized that simply focusing on different cities in China was not quite enough.

So he revised the female lead's character design again.

The female lead, Lin Wan, is a senior executive at a foreign-invested enterprise in a first-tier city. She has top-notch business skills and has been awarded a government-funded study abroad opportunity and an overseas assignment by the overseas headquarters. She is determined to take her daughter, Chen Nian, abroad to settle down and study.

She pursues upward mobility and the pinnacle of her career, hates being bound by traditional family values, and dislikes being burdened by family care issues.

As a woman who has been exposed to the new era, her inherent pride clashes sharply with the constraints of reality.

At the same time, He Yi'an also made changes and adjustments to the character design of the male lead, Chen Yan.

The original ordinary middle-class person was transformed into a grassroots employee of a state-owned enterprise who was developing his career in his hometown.

The male protagonist is restricted by the unit's fixed position and staffing policy in 2002. He is a grassroots staff member. If he wants to accompany his wife, he will be unemployed and lose everything.

At the same time, he didn't want to leave at all, because he wanted to stay and take care of his father who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

This is a traditional Chinese middle-aged man firmly trapped by traditional filial piety, livelihood, and family responsibilities.

This character is reserved and repressed, full of bitterness, but when his emotions erupt, they are extremely impactful.

As for her daughter Chen Nian, she is only 16 years old and is an outstanding student in a key high school. She has a gentle and aloof appearance, but a sensitive and resilient heart. She is caught between her mother who went abroad to pursue her dreams and her father who stayed behind to fulfill his filial duties.

They have to face academic pressure and the pain of a broken family.

This character doesn't have many lines, but there are a lot of nuanced crying scenes and scenes of difficult choices. The character is very touching and is the emotional point of empathy for the whole film.

The most important of the other characters is the caregiver, Zhang Guilan.

As a woman from the same working class, she faced family difficulties and a tough life.

In order to earn more money, Zhang Guilan concealed her pregnancy and came to the protagonist's home to take care of the elderly during the day and secretly do handicrafts at night to supplement the family income, just to raise tuition fees for her son back home and pay off the family's debts.

But this is not a reason for her to abandon her post and completely fail to fulfill her responsibilities.

The male protagonist, Chen Yan, discovers that Zhang Guilan has repeatedly left her post without permission, causing his father to fall off the bed multiple times and even get lost once. This pushes his pent-up work pressure, anxiety about retirement, longing for his wife, and resentment to the breaking point.

When the male protagonist returned home late from working overtime again, he opened the door to find his father lying in the corner of the living room, his head bleeding from a head injury, while Zhang Guilan was outside the door crying and complaining to relatives back home about her difficulties.

Blinded by rage, the male protagonist stepped forward and shoved Zhang Guilan hard.

This resulted in Zhang Guilan, who was already pregnant, ultimately suffering a miscarriage.

Upon learning this, the caregiver's husband, Wang Dagui, along with his coworkers, blocked Chen Yan's door, banging on it and shouting that he would pay with his life.

Ultimately, all emotions erupted, tearing everyone apart.

When things had completely spiraled out of control, a community mediator appeared and began to mediate the situation.

But even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes, let alone a mediator.

Ultimately, in the community mediation room, the four parties confronted each other, and class differences, moral guilt, and choices based on family ties became completely intertwined.

The elderly father, who eventually regained his senses, told the protagonist to let go...

The mediation was reached, and Chen Yan sold his father's old belongings to raise the compensation. The couple then officially signed the divorce papers.

Unfortunately, Lin Wan's opportunity to go abroad was delayed due to a dispute and was eventually cancelled. Chen Yan continued to stay at the grassroots level to take care of his father. Life seemed to have returned to its starting point, but everything had changed.

After He Yi'an made these revisions to the script, everything seemed to flow smoothly.

The female protagonist, as an employee of a foreign company, wanted to study abroad and make progress, which was not wrong. It was also not wrong for her to hire a caregiver to take care of her sick elderly father because she did not have time for him.

The nanny worked hard to make ends meet even while pregnant, and although she concealed many things, which led to the situation spiraling out of control, she also had a pitiful side.

The male protagonist endured everything so that his family could be maintained, so that his father could enjoy his old age, and so that his family could not be broken up. He was not wrong at all.

The daughter, caught in the middle, had to make such a choice at such a young age, which was pitiful and helpless.

Even those who came to demand an explanation were doing so because their wives and children had been lost, which is understandable from a human perspective.

In this way, the film focuses entirely on real-world issues such as family anxiety, challenges in elder care, class disparities, and choices regarding family relationships.

Even the final community-based civil mediation involves a tug-of-war between human sentiment and legal principles.

The script is filled with the everyday experiences that ordinary families encounter, which should resonate strongly with people in this era.

Furthermore, He Yi'an did not exhibit any sensitive political inclinations.

After all, the mediator, who is the only one who can represent the general trend, is doing it all for the good of everyone and to truly resolve the issues and conflicts between the two parties, thus representing a positive image.

Everyone is just trying to make a living.

At the same time, the style of this film is not significantly different from He Yi'an's recently completed film, "Fireworks in the Human World".

Even the things they exhibit show a consistent lineage.

This is why He Yi'an chose this movie.

He actually pays a lot of attention to this, after all, everyone's style is a system in itself.

Especially art films!

If the styles are too different, it's like having a split personality.

This script was a public relations tactic by He Yi'an, a gift to Gong Li.

Because he remembered that Gong Li did not film a single movie for two whole years, from 2002 to 2003, but instead served as the chairperson of the jury for several film festivals.

At her level, she would definitely prefer to have fewer roles than to accept inferior ones.

Only truly good books can impress her.

He Yi'an felt that he could achieve this with his book, "A Separation".

So, under the pretext of visiting Zhang Yimou, he showed him the script and expressed his desire to invite Gong Li to star in it.

Zhang Yimou was very interested in the script after reading it, and knew it was a good script, so he agreed to help him contact Gong Li.

However, simply contacting He Yi'an was not enough, which is why Zhang Yimou arranged for him to personally talk to Gong Li.

Zhang Yimou agreed to this, which led to He Yi'an's self-care at the beginning of this chapter.

……

The International Club on Jianguomenwai Street in Beijing.

This hotel is one of the earliest international clubs in Beijing, with an elegant environment and attentive service, making it the first choice for many celebrities to meet privately.

He Yi'an arrived half an hour early and was led into a private room on the second floor by a waiter.

The private room wasn't large, but it was decorated exquisitely.

He sat down, took the script out of his bag, placed it on the table, and then, after a moment, felt it was inappropriate and put it back.

Ten minutes later, the door to the private room was pushed open.

Zhang Yimou walked in, wearing a dark jacket.

The fatigue on his face hadn't completely faded, clearly indicating some trouble with the post-production of "Hero".

"Director Zhang." He Yi'an quickly stood up and went to greet him, "You've come, please have a seat."

Zhang Yimou didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly opposite him, picking up the teapot on the table and pouring himself a cup.

Seeing him like this, He Yi'an looked outside the door again, but did not find anyone else.

"What are you looking at? She didn't come with me!"

"Oh, I see," He Yi'an smiled awkwardly, and seeing that Zhang Yimou had already drunk his tea, he quickly poured him some more. "Then what about Teacher Gong Li...?"

"She'll be there soon; there's a bit of traffic."

Seeing that Zhang Yimou knew so much, He Yi'an looked at him with some surprise.

Only then did he notice that Zhang Yimou was dressed more formally than usual today, and his hair seemed to have been washed and styled.

It's much better than when he went to see him a few days ago.

As for why this was the case, He Yi'an immediately understood.

It's rare to see an old strategist like this.

He Yi'an completely relaxed: "No rush, it's just that Director Zhang and I will have to wait a while."

------

P.S.: Monday seems to be when all the data is refreshed, so I'll try updating it early Monday morning to see how it goes.

Also, although it's only two chapters, it has over 6000 words, which is almost like three chapters. Please support me with monthly tickets and recommendation votes!