Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 366 About "Geisha"

Zhang Chen had been in Hollywood for several days and had basically no time to surf the Internet. When he came back this time, he discovered that the most controversial thing on the Internet recently was not the upcoming "Huo Yuanjia", but "Memoirs of a Geisha".

Many people are clamoring about why "Memoirs of a Geisha" has not been released in the country yet.

Bullshit, Zhang Chen remembered that this movie was never released in China.

How could an art film possibly take up a valuable import quota unless it could win an Oscar?

However, there is indeed a fierce argument online. The reason why it is called a argument is that there are not only many netizens who support it, but there are even more netizens who oppose it.

Many people have expressed their dislike for this movie. The most common reason is: why does a movie about Japanese prostitutes have to have three Chinese actresses to play the roles? Can't Japan find any actors?
Zhang Chen didn’t know why and couldn’t understand this logic.

But the main roles of "Geisha" are indeed played by Chinese actresses, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh.

Michelle Yeoh is not Chinese, but she is Chinese and became famous in Hong Kong.

Zhang Chen read it for a long time and felt that the quarreling parties were quite boring. It seemed that neither of them was very good at quarreling and they just kept repeating the same few sentences over and over again.

After thinking about it, he decided to write a blog to share his views and to make things difficult for Sister Ziyi.

He is a very petty person, and he has always been upset that Zhang Ziyi chose "Memoirs of a Geisha" and gave up "Eden Lake".

Actually, to be honest, was Zhang Ziyi's choice wrong?
That's right.

Zhang later became famous thanks to "Geisha".

She is indeed a capable person. With the help of her Jewish boyfriend, she won a nomination for Best Actress at the Golden Globe Awards, and she has been on a meteoric rise since then.

Zhang is the only Chinese woman to be included in the list of '2005 Most Influential People in the World in 100' selected by Time magazine.

Later, he received numerous endorsements.

At her peak, she had more endorsements than all other women in the country combined.

In comparison, "Eden Lake" is just a low-budget horror film and it really can't give her much help.

But Zhang Ziyi's way of rejecting him at that time was too unworldly, which was equivalent to putting the then-up-and-coming Zhang Chen on the spot.

So Zhang Chen must be blackmailing her~
Open the blog and start typing~
About "Geisha", blah blah ~
I had almost finished writing when my phone suddenly vibrated. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Han Sanping.

"Third Master~"

“You’re back from Hollywood?”

"Yeah, last night's plane~"

"Are you still in the capital now?"

"Hmm~"

"Then come to my side~"

"Why, Master San has some good tea again?"

After becoming familiar with Han Sanping, Zhang Chen now speaks more and more boldly.

"Why, you won't come if you don't have good tea?"

"Come on, come on, I'll be there soon~"

Zhang Chen immediately gave in. Han Sanping called him over, so there must be something going on.

An hour later, Zhang Chen appeared in Han Sanping's office and sat down to drink tea.

"Third Master, this tea tastes much worse."

"Nonsense, you've looted all the good stuff. What do you think this place is? Someone sends me good tea every day~"

The old man and the young boy were joking. Last time, in order to stop the fight between Zhang Chen and poet Chen, he gave all the good tea he had obtained with great difficulty to Zhang Chen. Now this kid was here making sarcastic remarks.

"This is the release schedule for this year. Take a look to avoid running into ..."

Han Sanping pushed a piece of paper over to Zhang Chen, who picked it up and took a look. It was a list of foreign blockbusters introduced in 2006 and their release dates.

The number of films is fixed, but many dates are not marked, only an approximate time.

The first blockbuster to be affected in January is "King Kong", followed by "Poseidon", "Mission Impossible 3", "Superman Returns", "The Da Vinci Code" and "Miami Vice".

Wow, this is definitely internal information.

The reason why China Film Corporation can easily control other film and television companies is not only because it controls many cinema chains, but also because it holds the right to introduce Hollywood blockbusters.

China Film Group has the final say on what movies to import and when to release them.

If you don't get along with him, when your movie is released, he will directly arrange a Hollywood blockbuster to compete with you, and you will have no choice but to cry.

Now is not like twenty years later, when few people want to watch Hollywood blockbusters.

Today's Hollywood blockbusters are still synonymous with fighting ability.

The list will not be announced to the public, and the specific release date will generally be announced a few months before the movie is released.

"For "A Quiet Place", "Painted Skin" and little Ning Hao's new film, please confirm the release dates in advance so that I can let the people below prepare early..."

Han Sanping admired Ning Hao very much, both in his previous life and in this life.

China Film also invested in "A Quiet Place", but the amount was very small. Han Sanping's investment focus this year is "Painted Skin".

But because of the lesson of "The Promise", Han Sanping also learned his lesson.

Although he had confidence in Zhang Chen, he still decided to prepare in advance.

Even if "Painted Skin" also fails, we won't be too passive.

Moreover, there is a red line in the work of China Film Group, that is, the annual total box office of the current year must be higher than that of the previous year. Originally, "The Promise" failed, and the annual box office almost failed to meet expectations. Finally, China Film Group urgently moved "King Kong" forward from January 06 to December 1, which was able to save the situation.

"A Quiet Place is in the summer schedule, Painted Skin is in the Lunar New Year schedule, and Ning Hao's The Racer is scheduled for the National Day holiday..."

The schedule chosen by Zhang Chen basically did not surprise Han Sanping. In the current domestic market, there are only two or three most profitable schedules, and the best of them is undoubtedly the Lunar New Year schedule.

The blockbusters of various companies are basically released during the Lunar New Year period. During the Lunar New Year period, China Film Corporation basically will not arrange Hollywood blockbusters to compete.

"Okay, as long as you know what's going on~"

Zhang Chen hesitated for a moment, "Let me ask you something, won't Memoirs of a Geisha be shown in China?"

Han Sanping lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair: "Have you also seen the discussion online?"

Zhang Chen nodded: "I just saw it today, it was quite noisy."

Han Sanping blew out a smoke ring. "It's unlikely to be introduced. This film is too controversial. Colombia did apply for it, but we didn't agree. You don't know that up to now, there have been a lot of reports about "Geisha" every day..."

Zhang Chen felt relieved when he heard that it would definitely not be introduced.

"Indeed, this movie doesn't have a very good reputation in North America~"

"You read?"

"Hmm~"

Zhang Chen nodded: "I watched the preview in Los Angeles..."

"Geisha" is obviously going for awards, just like Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain", it was first screened on a small scale, and after gaining a certain reputation, the number of screening halls increased to about 1000...

The domestic media made a mistake at first, frantically reporting that Memoirs of a Geisha was a flop in North America, with a first-day box office of only $66.

Little did they know that it was just a preview screening and there were only a few cinemas showing it.

Of course, it is also true that it has a bad reputation.

“Really bad?”

“There are no problems with the props, lighting, photography, and the actors’ performances, but the overall narrative is terrible. It’s completely telling an Eastern story from a Western perspective. It feels like the director has not figured out the core of this Eastern story at all…

The whole movie is about 'Geisha is a secret, detached art', but it's the exact opposite."

Let's take a look at how this film is reviewed on Zhihu. The plot of the whole film can be summarized in four sentences - family members are separated and sold to a distant place, a fallen girl asks for help, she has no choice but to lose her virginity, and after a sudden turn of events, she becomes a mistress.

I really don't understand why Gong Li and others took on this role, just because the producer is Spielberg?
Comparing Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi, you will find that the development of female stars is really like the new generation pushing the old generation forward, and the old generation dies on the beach.

In "Memoirs of a Geisha", Gong Li was not even the female lead. Sayuri, played by Zhang Ziyi, was the female lead. The original female lead of "Night Banquet" was Gong Li, but was later replaced by Zhang Ziyi.

It can be said that at this stage, Zhang Ziyi was completely relying on Gong Huang to achieve enlightenment.

Gong Huang was completely defeated in both fights, and only Zhang Yimou supported her and asked her to star in "Curse of the Golden Flower", which was considered a barely able way to save her reputation.

But to be honest, if a female star wants to move up, this step is inevitable.

The track is too narrow.
There isn’t much demand for Chinese female characters internationally; a face is enough.

If the person behind wants to go up, the person in front must make room.

If you want to be among the best, you need acting skills, scheming, calculation, and luck.

Gong Li's career didn't go very well after going abroad. The only three memorable works of hers are "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Miami Vice" and "Rising Hannibal".

"Miami Vice" was also released this year. This movie is not outstanding at all and is mediocre in all aspects. The only highlight is probably Gong Huang's passionate scenes, but it was almost cut when it entered the domestic market.

……

The next day, Zhang Chen was at home discussing his schedule with his parents when Zhang Guoli came again.

"Is the filming of Searching finished?"

"Yes, it's already in post-production. I heard you were back, so I came to take a look~"

"when are we leaving?"

"It should be soon, just in the next few days~"

"I've prepared some New Year's goods for you, specialties from the capital, I'll bring them to you later..."

"You don't have to be so polite~"

"Yes, you can only go back to your hometown a few times a year, so when you go back you must bring some local specialties to your relatives and friends as a token of your appreciation. Listen to me..."

When it comes to social skills, Zhang Guoli is indeed...

"Okay then, thank you Uncle Zhang~"

"Why are you being so polite to me? By the way, I heard that the results of Hong Kong's annual selection of the worst movies have come out, and "The Promise" was rated as the top of the four worst movies..."

"Oh, I'm more curious, who are the other three?"

"Haha, I don't know either."

"By the way, when are you going to release "Search"? " Zhang Chen suddenly remembered the list of foreign films he saw at Han Sanping's place yesterday, and was worried that "Search" would collide with that Hollywood blockbuster.

"I'm going to be on the May Day schedule."

Now that the movie has been finished, it must be monetized as soon as possible, and the nearest release date is the May Day holiday.

Of course it’s possible on Valentine’s Day, but the effect will be much worse during the Valentine’s Day period.

Zhang Chen thought about it and said, "Okay. I saw a list of Hollywood films at China Film yesterday. The Da Vinci Code and Poseidon will be released in mid-May and late May respectively. If you choose early May, it shouldn't affect..."

(End of this chapter)