1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 442 New Work Announcement
Majestic Theatre.

Led by guides, the audience entered the venue one after another, sat on their chairs with excitement on their faces, and looked forward to the performance of Jiang Wen, Liu Xiaoqing and Jiang Xian, who had already announced the news.

"This movie is very good, it is simply a wake-up call. After watching this movie, I realized how changeable our politics is." A worker shared with the fans next to him.

"Have you seen it?"

"I watched it during the preview." The worker said proudly, "I'm a member of the Workers' Film and Television Critics Association."

"Oh, my apologies!"

The Workers' Film and Television Critics Association was an organization founded in Shanghai in 84. The honorary president is Zhang Junxiang, director of the Shanghai Film Bureau, and the president is Chen Xiufeng, vice chairman of the trade union.

Just from these two names, you can tell that this organization is extraordinary.

In the 80s, film and television reviews by employees in Shanghai were very active.

The so-called employee film and television reviews are that workers and employees write feedback on a movie after watching it to express their feelings about the movie.

In the 80s, Shanghai workers had a very high level of participation and received strong official support.

During the several preview screenings of "Furong Town" in Shanghai, the audience were mainly members of the Workers' Film and Television Critics Association.

"Director Xie, the audience is almost all here, please look."

Backstage, Xie Jin was wearing a Zhongshan suit, with a look of difficulty between his brows.

Those who are familiar with the system know that working within the system generally involves a process of "blending".

What does that mean?

In short, you should first report what you are going to do to your leader verbally, or write a letter to your leader privately to report.

If the leader thinks an idea is good or something can be done, he will say: Write a report and I will approve it.

Only after such "blending" can we have a formal report that can be seen on paper.

For the premiere of "Furong Town", Shanghai Film Studio and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television had already "mixed" the plans in advance.

So, they will prepare for the release first, and then the Shanghai Film Studio will complete the documents and go through the motions.

I never expected that something would go wrong at this stage.

".Director Xie, please don't show up later. I will go and explain the situation to the audience."

"Forget it, I'm the director, I'll take all the responsibility."

Everyone has a temper.

Xie Jin was also furious.

The premiere is about to take place, and their superiors are asking them to make such a choice with no choice at all!

But Xie Jin was already grateful enough that "Furong Town" could be released.

You should know that the film "Furong Town" was censored for nearly three months before it was finally released "after revisions".

Before and after this release, a box saying "domestic release only" was added.

But for Xie Jin and Shanghai Film Studio, this is a blessing in disguise!

Xie Jin knew that the opinion to shoot down this film once prevailed.

Mainly Uncle Qun.

"Furong Town", which has a heavy and sensitive subject matter, was classified as "chemical" by Uncle Qun as soon as it was submitted for review.

Fortunately, in the end, Uncle Qun’s old friend Qiao Mu saved the film.

That's right, this pair of old friends, who have always been regarded as having the same voice, have different opinions this time.

Qiao Mu called Chen Huangmei and asked him to provide him with some background information about "Furong Town" from the novel to the movie.

Xie Jin still remembers Qiao Mu's phone call. He said, "I want to defend Furong Town!"

There is a certain heroic spirit in the tone of voice.

With his defense, Uncle Qun agreed to release it, but he made a lot of suggestions for revisions. None of Xie Jin's clever smuggling of ideas escaped his eyes and were completely deleted.

"Hello, comrades. I am Xie Jin."

As he was speaking, Xie Jin came to the screen and greeted the audience.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa."

There was thunderous applause from the audience, and they looked at the director eagerly.

Xie Jin bowed deeply and said, "Comrade Jiang Xian, Comrade Liu Xiaoqing, and Comrade Jiang Wen were unable to arrive at the scene today. I apologize to everyone."

coax.

The audience below the stage were all anxious.

"Not here? I got up early just for Liu Xiaoqing!"

"Aren't you guys lying?!"

"Yeah, deceive the audience!"

"What's going on? The news has already been announced, how could he not come?"

"We came all the way from Tangshan just to meet Liu Xiaoqing."

"Money back!"

The audience burst into laughter on the spot.

Some people even threw things onto the stage.

Meng Mingjie was one of them. He traveled thousands of miles from his hometown in Zhejiang just to meet Jiang Xian.

But he doesn't understand and can't understand the current situation.

"Money back!"

Soon after, all kinds of rumors spread in the cinema, saying: There was a heated debate on the film "Furong Town", and it was still a question whether it could be released publicly, so the capital would not let them come!

"Everyone, be quiet for a moment, everyone, be quiet for a moment!"

Xie Jin pressed his hands down and explained on the stage:

"Jiang Xian, Liu Xiaoqing and Jiang Wen all live in Beijing. They didn't come this time because they couldn't buy tickets."

After bowing to express his apology, Xie Jin made a solemn promise to the audience:

"Keep your ticket stubs. We're going to hold it again, and the movie star will come again."

"You don't need to buy a ticket if you come again. You can watch it again with this ticket stub."

In fact, Xie Jin himself didn’t know when the next time would be.

However, in order to calm everyone's emotions, he had no choice but to resort to this last resort and make this promise to the audience.

The premiere of "Furong Town", which was set to be a big success, ended in such a hasty manner.

News about the premiere soon appeared in major newspapers in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Evening News reported:
"Today, the much-anticipated film "Furong Town" held its premiere at the Shanghai Majestic Theatre. Director Xie Jin, along with the original author Jiang Xian, movie stars Liu Xiaoqing, Jiang Wen and other main creators attended the event and interacted with fans."

"However, an unexpected scene occurred at the scene: Jiang Xian, Liu Xiaoqing and Jiang Wen did not show up, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the audience."

"According to the theater staff, before the premiere, the organizers had advertised that the three leading actors would be present."

"The theater was packed that day, and the ticket price was once raised to 20 yuan, but half an hour before the show started, the organizer simply informed us that 'three people could not attend for some reason' without giving any detailed explanation."

"The fans were very emotional, shouting 'refund' and 'cheating the audience', and the order at the scene was disrupted for a while."

"It is worth mentioning that Furong Town has been censored and cut many times due to its sensitive subject matter. The original 164 minutes was cut to 130 minutes. There are speculations that the absence of the main creators may be related to the pressure of the film's review, but this statement has not been confirmed."

"."

All kinds of rumors were flying around.

However, "Furong Town" was officially released in such an environment.

The audience gave rave reviews to the movie, but they also mercilessly criticized the incident at the premiere of "Furong Town".

The movie is well made, but your creative team is not doing their job!

As the film's positive reviews counteracted the negative reviews from the creative team, a delicate balance was created.

The person in charge of ideology breathed a sigh of relief.

After the premiere, Jiang Xian stayed in Shanghai for a while and visited his family and friends there. Many people heard about the premiere.

People like Zhang Leping and Ba Jin had heard some rumors, and therefore felt somewhat indignant about the unexpected disaster suffered by the crew of "Furong Town".

But there was nothing he could do for him, so he could only say some comforting words to Jiang Xian.

After returning to the capital, Jiang Xian was called over by Wang Meng before he could even get comfortable at home.

"Teacher Wang, what's wrong?"

"You were in Shanghai a few days ago, and I happened to go to Xinjiang. The China Writers Association held a meeting, and some things were discussed at the meeting." Wang Meng poured Jiang Xian a glass of water, his face not looking good.

"What did you say?"

“It’s mostly criticism of new publications.”

Wang Meng smiled bitterly. "Comrade Feng Mu criticized a few articles. I expected that, but I didn't expect them to publish an article in People's Digest."

"People's Digest?"

"Someone reported that the accounting situation of People's Digest was unclear and they wanted to investigate. The publishing style of People's Digest was also brought up. In short, you are asked to suspend publication and rectify the situation first."

"Stop publishing for rectification?"

Jiang Xian knocked on the table. "The manuscript for the April issue is almost ready. Why are you asking us to suspend publication and make corrections at this time?"

"Continue with the ones in April, and stop for a while in May."

Wang Meng sighed, "I have already gone to Comrade He Jingzhi to argue, but this time his attitude was very tough. Either People's Digest accepts suspension and rectification, or People's Digest ceases publication."

"."

This is absolutely a naked threat.

Jiang Xian's mind was as clear as a mirror.

The conspiracy between him and Wang Meng this time really caused the old guys to suffer a great loss.

But those old guys are not just here to eat and do nothing.

This time it seems that they are attacking People's Digest, but in fact it is Xiang Zhuang's sword dance aimed at Pei Gong.

Wang Meng’s confidence in making major changes to People’s Literature comes from People’s Digest.

Once People's Digest collapsed, it would be natural for them to take action against Wang Meng.

"Damn, each one is more sinister than the other." Jiang Xian cursed.

It's not just about People's Digest, it also includes the premiere of Furong Town.

Cuihua Hutong.

In the courtyard of People's Digest.

"Comrade Liu Bei, Comrade Liu Bei."

Yu Hua ran over breathlessly, "This is an article I just wrote, can you help me take a look at it?"

"Why don't you ask me to look at it?"

Liu Bei shook her braids and pushed her bicycle out of the yard. She had taken a day off today to go to a film crew for an audition.

Just as I was thinking about it, a black Volga came towards me and slowly stopped.

"Editor-in-chief, you're back!"

Looking at Jiang Xian getting off the car, Liu Bei greeted him with a bright smile.

"Ah."

Jiang Xian nodded at her and said, "Please help me call Editor Zhu Wei to my office."

"See what you said, it's no trouble."

Zhu Wei quickly got the news, put down what he was doing, and quickly walked into Jiang Xian's office.

"Editor-in-chief, when will you come back from Shanghai?" Zhu Wei asked, glancing at Jiang Xian taking out stacks of manuscript paper from his briefcase.

"Old Zhu, sit down, I want to tell you something."

Seeing Jiang Xian's serious face, Zhu Wei quickly sat down.

"You say."

"First of all, our publication will be suspended for a period of time for rectification. Please calm everyone down."

"Do we really want to suspend publication and rectify the situation?"

Zhu Weiteng stood up suddenly. He had heard some news recently, but he didn't quite believe it.

"Don't worry, we still have to publish the April issue."

Jiang Xian pushed a manuscript in front of him, "This is the second thing. Please help me publish this novel in our April issue."

In April, the copies of "Furong Town" that China Film Corporation ordered quickly flowed to theaters in various provinces and cities.

An even more enthusiastic movie-watching frenzy was set off.

Many people find it not enough to watch it once, so they go to the cinema whenever they have time to watch it a second or third time.

"Meng, are you going to watch Furong Town tonight?"

After work that day, the section chief came up to Meng Mingjie, holding two crumpled movie tickets and the aluminum lunch box jingling around his waist.

"The Cultural Palace's 7:30 show, Liu Xiaoqing's figure, wow"

He winked and made waves with his hands in front of his chest, which made the young workers nearby laugh.

"No."

Meng Mingjie put the tools into the metal toolbox. When he bent down to lock the toolbox, a yellowed ticket for the premiere of "Furong Town" fell out of the box.

After returning to his hometown, Meng Mingjie felt resentful towards the creators of "Furong Town".

You won’t come if you don’t buy the ticket?
The creative team's perfunctory attitude shows that they don't take the audience seriously at all.

Therefore, except for the premiere, Meng Mingjie did not go to watch any other performances of "Furong Town", and he always felt uncomfortable.

But in recent days, I have heard a new saying:
It is said that the creative team of "Furong Town" was given a choice: either cancel the premiere of "Furong Town" or don't let Jiang Xian, Liu Xiaoqing, Jiang Wen and others appear on stage.

It seems like there is a choice, but in fact there is no choice.

However, this statement has never been confirmed. What Meng Mingjie currently faces is only the fact that the creative team was perfunctory.

For Meng Mingjie, a loyal reader of Jiang Xian, Liu Xiaoqing and Jiang Wen don’t really matter. He really hopes that Jiang Xian will stand up and explain.

At least don’t use such a ridiculous reason as “I didn’t buy the ticket”.

Unfortunately, after so much time has passed, Jiang Xian has never stood up or spoken.

The newly installed fluorescent tubes in the factory office were crackling overhead.

Meng Mingjie walked out of the workshop and caught a glimpse of a centipede-like scar on the back of the section chief's neck. He heard that it was left by the flying iron filings when they were robbing a steel furnace last year.

"Doesn't Xiao Meng like watching movies? Why didn't he watch "Furong Town"?"

"I heard he went to Shanghai to watch the premiere. I guess he was really pissed off."

"Oh, you went to Shanghai specifically to watch it? That's a big loss. The premiere was described in the newspapers. It's hard to describe."

"."

Meng Mingjie rode his bicycle back home, and his wife had just returned from work.

"On my way back just now, I bought a new magazine on Xingye Street."

"What magazine?"

Meng Mingjie took it in his hand and took a look

——The fourth issue of "People's Digest" in 1985.

Meng Mingjie took a quick look and a name on the catalog caught his attention:
Jiang Xian.

He followed the name and looked forward. The article corresponding to this name was called:

《You have no choice!》

(End of this chapter)