1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 603 "Banned" Film Critic
Wenxiu became Puyi's imperial concubine at the age of 13, even earlier than Empress Wanrong.

It was a day early.

Why bring Wenxiu into the palace first?

The reason is simple: there was a rule in the Qing Dynasty that when "marrying" the empress, an imperial concubine was required to perform the ceremony.

In addition, when 15-year-old Puyi was faced with a bunch of photos to choose an empress, his first choice was actually Wenxiu.

Wenxiu might not be pretty to him at 15, but she was pleasing to the eye.

As a result, Puyi's concubines felt that his decision was too frivolous and, disregarding his thoughts, chose Wanrong, who was more beautiful and had a better family background, as empress.

It was precisely because of this inside story that Wanrong, after becoming empress, greatly ostracized Wenxiu, a concubine.

Wenxiu was very well-behaved at first. After paying her respects every day, she would return to her palace to read and write, and never competed with Wanrong for favor.

However, as time went on, the woman's ulterior motives accumulated, and Wenxiu developed resentment towards Puyi, while Puyi became increasingly distant from Wenxiu.

Later, Feng Yuxiang expelled Puyi from the palace.

Puyi was furious and vowed never to become a citizen of the Republic of China. He even began to secretly contact the Japanese.

Wenxiu firmly opposed it, saying that the Japanese were bullying and oppressing people on Chinese soil, and that she would rather die for her country than dishonor her ancestors and become a traitor.

Puyi, however, felt that this was a woman's view, and the conflict between the two intensified. From then on, Puyi no longer liked her and spent all his time with Wanrong, never taking Wenxiu with him when eating or shopping.

Wenxiu then began living a life of isolation, confined to the "cold palace."

Because she spent a lot of time indoors reading and doing needlework, her eyesight deteriorated to a high degree. In addition, she rarely interacted with people and was often stimulated by Puyi and Wanrong, so she often couldn't sleep at night and developed insomnia.

So, in 1931, seven years after leaving the Forbidden City, Wenxiu, unable to bear this life any longer, formally filed for divorce from Puyi.

Moreover, it was a grand affair, with the divorce announced in the newspapers.

That's how it was portrayed in the movie. A newspaper published a news article titled "The Concubine's Revolution, the Emperor's Resignation," which made Puyi's face twitch with anger, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Then hatred clouded his judgment, and he defected to the Japanese, running off to Northeast China to become the puppet emperor of Manchukuo.

The funniest thing was that during the coronation ceremony, someone whispered a complaint:
"This is like a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of a factory."

What's even more disheartening is that the captain of the guard was also a spy monitoring him.

By this point, the movie was nearing its end, and the audience, who had initially been confused, were now filled with sighs of emotion.

"This person's fate is truly legendary."

"Although he was the emperor, he seemed a bit foolish and a bit pathetic."

"His background is too complicated."

"."

Feng Xiaogang silently observed the audience's reactions and felt that the film "The Last Emperor" was a great success.

Puyi's life was so legendary it was unbelievable, but the legendary story really happened.

The era that this ignorant emperor experienced was one that even the most imaginative literary giants couldn't comprehend when they were drunk.

The era encompasses the late Qing Dynasty, the warlord period, the puppet state of Manchukuo, World War II, the civil war, and finally, a buzzing ending.
In human history, who has ever encountered more complex historical experiences in their lifetime?
As fate would have it, this person happened to be an emperor!
So where do you begin when making a movie?
In Feng Xiaogang's view, the most obvious success of "The Last Emperor" is that it is easy for the audience to understand.

That alone is no easy feat!

The audience he was referring to wasn't just Chinese people like himself, but also the foreign audience members in the cinema who were unfamiliar with Chinese culture and this history, yet they watched with great interest.

It's so hard.

Feng Xiaogang tried to think about it.

If he were to direct, he probably wouldn't be able to portray Puyi's life and background in a way that even foreigners could understand.

Of course, this also reflects the profound skill of screenwriter Jiang Xuan.

To tell the story of Puyi in just two or three hours and make the audience understand that some simplifications and omissions of history are necessary.

This is considered a misrepresentation of historical facts.

But if you're going to nitpick, you'll always find a reason to criticize.

Aside from simplification and some cuts, Feng Xiaogang felt that this film, "The Last Emperor," did not deviate too much from historical facts.

And this is a movie!

Movies need to have a story!
Making some adaptations is certainly understandable.

What Feng Xiaogang admires most is that, under such circumstances, Jiang Xian's "The Last Emperor" does not distort historical facts in any way, nor does it seem to be exaggerated or sensationalist.

He presented the extraordinary story of "The Last Emperor" in an ordinary way, adding interest and emotion to the details, and clearly conveying the key points.

In Feng Xiaogang's current view.

Jiang Xian's adaptation was undoubtedly a success.

There wasn't a dull moment throughout the entire film!

More importantly, he completed an incredibly complex story in one go!

"The boss is really awesome." Feng Xiaogang admired Jiang Xian so much that his scalp tingled.

The story is there, but how to write it well is something that seems simple, but is actually incredibly difficult.

Jiang Xian not only managed to understand the story clearly, but he also added "clues" to the original story to connect the entire narrative.

Take the element "door" for example.

There seem to be many doors in "The Last Emperor".

The door that Puyi could never leave during his childhood; the door through which Yuan Shikai rode into the Forbidden City in his car after his coronation; the door that Puyi sawed off the threshold to make it easier to ride a bicycle; the door that the prison warden kicked open after Puyi cut his wrists; and the Forbidden City gate that Puyi wanted to enter but could not, only able to peek through the cracks years later.
It seems that every plot segment contains a "door" element, and these "doors" connect the stories in the movie one by one.

There is also "katydid".

When Puyi ascended the throne at the age of three, an official gave him a cricket, which became his childhood playmate.

At the end of the film, Puyi buys a ticket and enters the Forbidden City. He hunches over and climbs the long steps back to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

At this moment, he was stopped by a child. To prove that this was his home, Puyi took out the jar containing the cricket from under his former dragon throne and handed it to the child wearing a red scarf.

The little boy opened the jar, and a cricket, looking as old and frail as Puyi (the last emperor of China), crawled out.

When they saw this, the entire movie theater gasped in surprise. They hadn't expected that the cricket from the beginning would foreshadow this.

Feng Xiaogang was also holding his head, feeling a chill run down his spine.

This plot is so well-designed!
Jiang Xian is such a great writer!
The appearance of this cricket elevated the quality of the movie!
While praising the script's quality, Feng Xiaogang was also glad that it was written by Jiang Xian.

Otherwise, foreigners would make such good films about Chinese subjects that it would put the Chinese film industry to shame.

That's such an embarrassing thing.

After all, in Feng Xiaogang's view, Chinese films made by foreigners in the past, such as the Japanese versions of "Journey to the West" and "Water Margin," were always a bit confusing and absurd, making Chinese people laugh.

However, "The Last Emperor" broke with convention and won by not having anything that would make Chinese people laugh, at least not in Feng Xiaogang's opinion.

If it weren't for Jiang Xian, a Chinese man, writing the script and offering some comfort to Chinese filmmakers, the Chinese film industry would be truly embarrassed today.

It's so embarrassing that our own subject matter isn't as good as what foreigners make! At the end of the movie, the tour guide leads a group of tourists into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and the camera zooms in from the crowd onto the dragon throne.

"This is the Hall of Supreme Harmony."

"It is the place where the emperor is crowned."

"The last person to be enthroned here was the Xuantong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Aisin-Gioro Puyi."

"He was only three years old at the time and died in Beijing in 1967."

The scene freezes on the gilded dragon throne, Ryuichi Sakamoto's music begins, and the cast list scrolls up.

Inside the movie theater, the audience didn't rush to leave, but sat quietly in their seats, watching the scrolling list.

"It's really good," someone whispered. "The photos are really well taken."

"It's so legendary. I would like to watch this movie a second time. There are so many things worth re-experiencing."

"My God, I want to go to China to see this palace. It's so beautiful. You can't find such an ancient place anywhere in the United States."

"The script is great, the cinematographer is great, the director is great. My God, this team is perfect."

"."

Feng Xiaogang kept hearing such praises until the list of actors finished rolling, at which point people began to get up and leave.

Seeing that most people had left, Feng Xiaogang reluctantly got up and returned to the restaurant. When he left the movie theater, he found many people queuing at the ticket counter to buy tickets for the movie "The Last Emperor" for the next few days.

Feng Xiaogang was startled; there weren't this many people queuing when he bought his ticket.

How long has it been, and the number of people in the queue has increased so much?
On the way back, Feng Xiaogang reflected on the movie. That's what good movies are like; they leave you wanting more.

"How was it?" Lu Liping asked him curiously as soon as he saw him return.

"Great, really great."

Feng Xiaogang remarked, "I feel that this movie will probably be the hottest movie in the United States for the next while."

"A film with a Chinese theme?" Lu Liping was taken aback by his words. She didn't quite believe Feng Xiaogang's statement. If a film with a Chinese theme became a hit all over the United States, then these foreigners must be crazy.

What's there to see? You eat coarse grains every day and have never seen wild vegetables, have you?
Lu Liping felt contempt for him but didn't say it aloud.

But Feng Xiaogang's judgment was correct.

The distribution department of Today Pictures in New York.

Zhu Hong and Zhao Zhenkai were startled when they saw the forms that were handed to them.

The film has only been released for a few days, yet it has already grossed five million dollars at the box office!
"This is almost surpassing the total North American box office of 'Greenlight'!" Zhao Zhenkai exclaimed excitedly.

The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that he lacked judgment back then.

At the time, he was most optimistic about "Green Light" and opposed Jiang Xian's investment in "The Last Emperor".

See now.

Thank goodness he wasn't the boss.

Otherwise you'll regret it to the core.

"I never expected that a Chinese-themed film would be so popular in North America," said Zhu Hong, who was wearing a black women's suit. She hadn't been in the United States for very long, but she seemed to have changed. She had matured a lot and her hair was tied up in a bun, making her look very neat.

“Yes, this film, ‘The Last Emperor,’ is truly the most profitable investment so far today,” Zhao Zhen exclaimed upon opening his business.

Many people may have the stereotype that movies like "The Last Emperor" would only receive a lukewarm reception overseas.

In reality, "The Last Emperor" was an exceptionally successful box office hit in North America, according to its original historical trajectory.

Later generations have compiled statistics on the box office revenue of Chinese-language films in North America.

The number one film is Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which grossed $1.28 million.

Second on the list is "Hero," the one starring Li Lianjie and Tony Leung, which grossed $50 million.
The third and fourth films after that are "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "The Great Wall".

The Last Emperor ranks fifth.

How much did it gross?
More than forty million US dollars!

What concept?
"The Grandmaster" and "The Wandering Earth" each grossed seven million and six million respectively.

"Ne Zha 2" grossed over $2000 million.

Not only was it popular in North America, but the film also performed very well at the box office in Japan, and even became a huge hit in Taiwan.

"Film Review has published a film review." Zhong Acheng ran over happily and shoved a copy of the magazine into Zhao Zhenkai's hands.

"Film Review?"

"This is the most authoritative professional film review publication in the United States."

Zhu Hong and Zhao Zhenkai immediately tensed up.

In the United States today, print media still dominates, and in the era of print media dominance, heavyweight film reviews published in newspapers were used by cinemas as an important basis for scheduling films.

It's no exaggeration to say that a film critic's pen can determine the life or death of a movie.

If a film critic can be "blacklisted" by a film company, that is, prevented from attending screenings.

This would undoubtedly be the best reward for this film critic.

The manuscript that Zhong Acheng submitted was written by Paulina Kyle.

Zhao Zhenkai frowned immediately upon seeing the name.

Because this person is one of the "banned" film critics mentioned above.

Because of her picky tastes, she was "blacklisted" by Warner Bros. multiple times and offended countless directors.

However, she has also gained admirers like Quentin Tarantino.

Those who love her are head over heels in love, while those who hate her are filled with rage.

The main problem is that her tastes are really unpredictable. In the film critic world, Kyle's film reviews are always sharp and unforgiving.

The film "The Sound of Music," which once broke the record for the highest-grossing film in history (a record previously held by "Gone with the Wind"), was criticized as "the sound of money" in Kyle's film review.

Well, other movies she criticized include "A Clockwork Orange", "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "West Side Story".
In short, this film critic calls her famous, but she's also infamous.

Every day, countless fans write letters to scold her, and many even take pleasure in scolding her.

In the film industry, she was by no means a popular figure.

But her influence is also very large.

Zhao Zhenkai felt heavy-hearted for a moment.

The Last Emperor has only just been released and he's already attracted her attention?

This is not a good thing!

(End of this chapter)