Chapter 128 Celebration Banquet

Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige were classmates at the Beijing Film Academy, both of whom entered the school in 78.

Because of his bad family background, Lao Mouzi went to work in a production team after graduating from high school and then worked in a cotton mill.

In my spare time, I bought a Seagull camera and became a professional photographer.

After the college entrance examination was resumed, he made an album of his photography works and showed it to the admissions tutor of Beijing Film Academy, hoping to get an opportunity to enroll in the photography department.

But he was already 26 years old that year, exceeding the admission standard of 22, and was repeatedly rejected. He wanted to study photography at Beijing Broadcasting Institute, but was also rejected.

After many twists and turns, he asked relatives and friends to find the vice president of Beijing Film Academy, and handed his portfolio and a "letter of application for admission" to the senior official, and only then was he able to be admitted.

So in Chen Kaige's words, Zhang Yimou barely went to school and could not be compared with him.

Lao Mouzi was cautious and taciturn while in school because he was over the age limit and was initially told that he would only need to study for two years.

After two years, the school called him for a talk, and Zhang Yimou thought, "As long as I'm given a college diploma, I'll be fine."

He also complained to Tian Zhuangzhuang and others, "I'm afraid I won't be able to come back after I leave."

But the final result was that he was allowed to study in the photography department for four years like other undergraduates.

In comparison, Chen Kaige had it much smoother because his father was Chen Huaikai, a director at the Beijing Film Studio.

It is precisely because of the existence of Mr. Chen that many people have been spreading rumors that "Farewell My Concubine" was not directed by Chen Kaige.

When the college entrance examination was resumed, Chen Kaige wanted to apply for the Chinese Department of Peking University, but when he arrived at the examination room he found that even for the Chinese Department he had to take exams in mathematics, physics and chemistry, so he chose Beijing Film Academy as a second choice.

However, although Old Chen's family background is good, he is not as good as his childhood friend and classmate Tian Zhuangzhuang.

The latter's father was the first director of Beijing Film Studio, and his mother later became the first director of Children's Film Studio.

During the written test, Tian Zhuangzhuang, who came from a family of academicians, finished answering the questions in half an hour, handed in the paper and went out to wait for Chen Kaige.

That kind of calm and composed demeanor is something that ordinary children cannot compare to.

In this world, wealth, vision, resources, and connections can all be inherited.

Even farmers who grow crops have lower grain output than others because their fathers passed away early and there is no one to teach and help them.

Chen Kaige was confident and high-spirited in college, which led to his developing an arrogant personality.

I like to participate in various activities, especially poetry recitation.

When he was running for the director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 08 Olympic Games, he did not immediately announce his plan, but passionately recited Du Fu's "Hearing that the Government Troops Have Recovered Henan and Hebei."

Such an irrelevant action immediately eliminated the team by the organizing committee and did not even make it through the first round.

And from what Chen Kaige said afterwards, he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he did.

Some people call him a poet director because he has an overly strong and unrestrained desire to express himself. He only focuses on what he wants to express, but rarely considers whether the audience can understand it.

The screenwriter Lu Wei made an indispensable contribution to the classicization of "Farewell My Concubine".

Because Chen Kaige had no intention of filming this at first, but because "Walking and Singing" suffered a huge loss, he had to accept the producer's suggestion.

After reading the original work, Lu Wei said that it was a first- or second-rate novel.

Chen Kaige said that your evaluation is higher than mine. I think it is a third-rate novel.

Perhaps he simply didn't think highly of the story, for when screenwriter Lu Wei suggested that not a single word of the script he had written could be changed, Chen Kaige readily agreed.

The way they collaborated was that Lu Wei wrote the script, and Chen Kaige marked it into three levels: best, middle, and worst. The best ones would be filmed directly, while the worst ones would continue to be revised.

Lu Wei wrote a total of 46 scenes, and Chen Kaige only took out two. After the film was completed, it won the Palme d'Or at the th Cannes Film Festival.

Chen Kaige has also become the most famous "film master" in the country. To use the words in "Farewell My Concubine", he has become a "star" who is "dignified in front of people".

His style of doing things and his speaking posture all reveal the "master style".

In terms of artistic creation, he gave full play to his desire for expression, and his works began to be controversial.

However, before "The Promise", although "The Emperor and the Assassin" suffered a box office failure and lost a lot of money, it was still able to maintain its reputation.

Chen Kaige's reputation as a "master" is still well-known, and he still has a great psychological advantage over a commercial film director like Jiang Heng who only has box office success but no awards.

On the evening of Saturday, September 02, 9, the crew of "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother" held a grand celebration ceremony in the banquet hall of the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing.

A huge poster of the film was hung at the event, with the final performance of the mainland market printed on it: 7.21 million.

In front of the poster is a row of numbers made of ice cubes, which read 700, representing the 000 million box office mark in the Chinese film market.

A few years ago, the total annual box office of films in the mainland film market, excluding Jiang Heng's works, was only about 10 billion.

Today, the box office of one of Jiang Heng's works in mainland China has exceeded 7 million, which really excited many officials.

There were quite a lot of people coming to today's banquet.

Even the head of the mainland film market, Han Sanping, had to stand up and toast, with compliments.

However, the leaders who came kept praising Jiang Heng, which made Chen Kaige very unhappy.

"The world has changed. Big awards are not as useful as box office. Those of us who 'bring glory to the country' are no better than commercial film directors!"

Chen Kaiqiao muttered in a low voice, with a look of disdain on his face.

However, Zhang Yimou did not remain silent as usual. He looked at Jiang Heng who was chatting and laughing with the leaders with some envy in his eyes.

He said: "Times are changing, the country is changing, and we should also seek change. I think there is nothing wrong with commercial films. If they can sell well at the box office and win awards, it will be even better!"

Chen Kaige sneered, "What award? An Oscar?"

When the filming of "Farewell My Concubine" had just finished, the screenwriter Lu Wei called Zhang Yimou over to ask him what he thought.

Zhang Yimou said that this is the film that most resembles Hollywood.

In that era when art was paramount, Hollywood, which advocated commercial films, was a derogatory term. This statement really made Chen Kaige and Lu Wei very angry, and Old Chen has never forgotten it over the years.

Zhang Yimou didn't think that Lao Chen was mocking him, perhaps because he was used to hearing words in a similar tone when he was in school.

"An Oscar is a big Hollywood award after all. It would be a great thing if we could win it. It's a pity that The Matrix didn't win it."

Chen Kaige sarcastically said: "If he succeeds, your film "Hero" will only be able to compete for the second Oscar-winning film in China!"

Zhang Yimou looked at Chen Kaige in surprise, knowing that he was upset, and remained silent.

Soon, it was time to smash the ice numbers.

The leaders, including Han Sanping, Jiang Heng, Yu Dong, and senior executives from China Film Group, iQiyi, Youku and Tencent Video, a total of nine people stood in a row and used small hammers to smash the digital ice in front of them.

This means that the box office performance of a single film in the domestic film market has exceeded 700 million.

The moment the hammer fell and the ice broke, all cameras and video cameras were aimed to record this historic moment.

(End of this chapter)