Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 336 Dilemma
The day before the Berlin Film Festival began, Cao Yang made a point of watching Li Yu's "Apple".

Bingbing was once Li Yu's go-to leading lady, and many of her films featured Bingbing as the female lead.

In her previous life, Fat Bing was very hardworking and made many art films.

Of course, actresses of that generation, despite their shortcomings, still held a deep respect for awards and art films.

No matter how famous they are, they all want to prove themselves in art and are willing to sacrifice for art films.

This sacrifice includes not only ruining one's image, but also daring to be naked and exposed.

However, Li Yu and Pang Bing can no longer be a "golden combination" now.

With her role in "Inception," Fan Bingbing gained international fame comparable to Zhang Ziyi, making her one of the few Chinese actresses with immense popularity and influence in Hollywood and among ordinary American audiences.

It must be said that, in this respect, especially in North America and Hollywood, Bingbing and Zhang Ziyi are more recognized by the market and audiences than Li Xiaoran and the other two actresses who have won European Best Actress awards.

Furthermore, with Cao Yang as her support, Bingbing will definitely not accept Li Yu's art films anymore.

When taking on film roles now, like Li Xiaoran and the others, Fat Bing always requests a body double for any scene with even a hint of passion.

To Cao Yang's surprise, the actress he cast for the lead role in "Apple" wasn't very famous at the time, and she had even worked with him before.

She is Jiang Yiyan.

Jiang Yiyan made a brief appearance in Cao Yang's "Nine-Tailed Fox" as a female guest. Her role was very small, but it can be considered that they had worked together.

The actors playing the other roles in "Apple" remained the same.

The couple played by Jiang Yiyan and Tong Dawei reminded Cao Yang of a TV series they had worked on together, called "Our Youth Has Nowhere to Go," in which they also played a couple.

Filming for this TV series began in September 2005, but it has not yet been released.

Cao Yang knew about this TV series not only because the director, Shen Yan, was a graduate of the 87 class of the Directing Department at Beijing Film Academy, but also because "Our Youth Has Nowhere to Go" was the first domestic TV series shot on film.

Shen Yan is quite well-known in the TV drama industry and has starred in many well-known TV dramas, such as "Chinese-style Divorce" and "Our Youth Has Nowhere to Go".

Later works included "Hot Mom!", "Chinese Style Relationship", and "The First Half of My Life".

Shen Yan's benefactor was Chen Daoming.

After graduating, he joined an advertising company and met Chen Daoming while shooting commercials.

Chen Daoming really liked the commercial that Shen Yan filmed for him.

The lighting and filming by Shen Yan perfectly captured Chen Daoming's good looks, handsomeness, and uprightness, which Chen Daoming greatly appreciated and began to regard him with new respect.

When filming the TV series, he strongly recommended Shen Yan to the producer, which is how Shen Yan made his debut and became famous overnight.

Perhaps Li Yu knew that this TV series was filmed on film, which is why she invited Jiang Yiyan and Tong Dawei to play lovers again.

That said, Cao Yang believes that Jiang Yiyan is very suitable for acting in art films.

Some people are born with a certain kind of face that's perfect for their job; there's nothing you can do about it, it's just a gift from God.

For example, Jiang Yiyan looks like a girl next door, or an innocent college student, very pure, but strangely she can also give people a very "desirable" feeling.

It is this sense of contradiction that makes her stand out and captivating in certain art films, especially for young, middle-aged, and elderly men.

What man doesn't like a woman who is both innocent and manipulative?
After watching "Apple," Cao Yang was in a daze for a moment—yes, in a daze.

Li Yu's film was submitted to the Berlin Film Festival under the English title "Lost in Beijing," a very eye-catching name that is sure to easily capture the hearts of the film festival and the Western judges.

Damn it, why did you have to choose this name?

Cao Yang stared at the movie's title for a long time, which was also a point of confusion for him.

It is February 7, 2007 now. Next year will be 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics.

What the hell was wrong with you to have that name?!
Is this the personality of the female superstar who is banned from directing in China?
Okay, let's put aside the title for now. It's clear from this movie that the female director wanted to express a lot. On a grander scale, she wanted to show humanity, class, and the tragedy of ordinary people.

However, under this broad theme, what she truly wanted to express as a female director was the helplessness and sorrow of three different women in the context of that era.

Looking at the entire plot, all the female characters are passive; their life trajectories are altered by a series of actions by men, and in the end, they all end in tragedy.

The protagonist, Apple, is essentially a victim, from being assaulted at the beginning to being deceived by her husband later. She is alone from beginning to end, and no one can understand her.

Wang Mei is in the same situation. It is evident that her inability to have children due to physiological defects is, to some extent, the reason for the breakdown in her marital relationship.

However, she is a smart woman who knows how to achieve peaceful coexistence in her marital relationship by compromising and understanding her husband. She is an independent woman.

The younger sister is also the most tragic character in the series. The story begins with her. She is controlled by various uncontrollable forces, rising and falling, and even in the end, her life is taken away by others. She is also the most tragic character.

Cao Yang could tell that the director wanted to express the idea that women should have more courage to stand up and take control of their own destiny, and not be influenced or controlled by men.

However, because the director wanted to "have" everything and wanted to show all of this in the film, the film lost its focus and felt disjointed.

More than that.

Li Yu comes from the group of writers of "Oriental Horizon" and the New Documentary Movement, and is now one of the directors classified as the "Sixth Generation".

The style and themes of her work are closer to the early works of the Sixth Generation, and the cinematography is clearly reminiscent of Lou Ye's "Suzhou River," while the story is closer to Wang Chao's "Anyang Baby."

The plot arrangement also seems to have some similarities to "Children," which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2005.

As for the audiovisual style, apart from "Suzhou River", it also adopts Dardenne's handheld shooting style more often, and the long follow shot of the back view at the beginning has a bit of the flavor of "Elephant".

Among these indications, director Li Yu's intentions are quite clear: this is a sixth-generation film aimed at European art film festivals, with a documentary style and a "moral anxiety" cinematic style.

In other words, this film was originally intended to win awards.

To reiterate, she tried to express too much, which resulted in her neglecting some aspects.

In addition, there's the issue of the actors.

Liang Jiahui's acting skills are still very impressive. He managed to bring out a touch of "charm" in a character that should have been disliked.

This is probably the actor's ability to empathize. When an actor's acting is so good, the other actor can "steal the show" without you even realizing it.

It's important to understand that what the director wanted was definitely not the "charm" of the character played by Liang Jiahui. Even Tong Dawei's character, in terms of personality and drama, was more complete and had more tension than Liang Jiahui's character.

However, Tong Dawei's acting skills clearly failed to support this dramatic and intense character. He turned this character, who was originally meant to evoke sympathy, into a complete scoundrel, and the transition between the two roles was very abrupt.

Okay, let's just assume that reality doesn't need logic.

However, movies need to express reality, but they are not reality, so they still need a certain logic to make sense.

The movie's plot is also a significant factor contributing to Cao Yang's dazed state.

Cao Yang has so many things he wants to complain about.

Especially for the female lead, Apple, since she is the female lead, you should give her enough screen time to make her character and story clearer and more layered.

If filmed well, this role could have been a contender for the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Cao Yang was speechless. You can't cram so much stuff into a movie that's only a little over an hour long, can you?
Headache.

In this respect, Li Yu was not as clever as Wang Quan'an.

Tuya's Marriage, at least in the film's story, doesn't have much to express; it revolves around the main theme of "marriage" from beginning to end.

Everything else, things that would make him more likely to win an award, was packed into the background of the story, as well as into his "deliberate" interview.

Cao Yang was still lost in thought about "Apple" when his phone suddenly rang, making him breathe a sigh of relief and snap out of his dazed state.

I took out my phone and saw that it was Jia Zhangke calling.

Jia Zhangke was invited by the Berlin Film Festival to become the principal of this year's talent training camp.

The Berlin Film Festival's "Genius Training Camp" is now in its fifth year, selecting participants from different countries around the world.

The training camp is designed for learning film techniques and exchanging ideas, with experienced and renowned filmmakers serving as instructors. This year, 350 students participated.

Old Jia was invited to become the principal of the training camp because he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival last year for "Still Life".

"Director Cao, I've already contacted everyone. I'll send you the address later. Once things start here, just come over at a suitable time."

Today is the last day before the opening of the Berlin Film Festival, and both the crews of "Apple" and "Tuya's Marriage" have arrived early.

This film festival will offer tremendous opportunities for Chinese-language films that have made it into the main competition, especially since Cao Yang is the jury president, which is why they all arrived early.

Since everyone's here, it's customary for us to get together.

However, since Cao Yang was the chairman of the judging panel, it was not appropriate for him to personally extend the invitation, so the task was assigned to Jia Zhangke.

Old Jia had just won the Golden Lion and was invited to become the training camp principal. He was riding high, so he actively and happily participated in and organized this gathering.

If this were in China, Cao Yang becoming the chairman of the judging panel would not only be unable to personally invite guests, but attending gatherings would also be inappropriate, given the prevailing taboos. However, this is Berlin, where such formality is unnecessary.

It's still necessary to avoid the topic, but it's okay to go over and say hello and chat after the gathering starts.

The person they most want to see right now is definitely Cao Yang.

The party started at eight o'clock, and Cao Yang waited until half an hour after they started before going over.

"You guys keep eating, I'm going out for a bit."

The gathering was arranged around a large round table. Jia Zhangke sat to the right of the main seat facing the door. After answering a phone call, he smiled and spoke to everyone present.

After he left, everyone glanced at the empty seat in the main seat and could roughly guess who it was that Jia Zhangke had personally gone to greet and insisted on leaving the seat vacant.

After waiting for about five minutes, the door to the private room was pushed open.

Everyone stood up at the same time.

"Haha, what a coincidence! Director Cao was also here for dinner. I went out for a bit and ran into him, so I invited him over."

After Jia Zhangke led Cao Yang in, he first gave this explanation.

Even though everyone knew what was going on, they all pretended not to know, and their acting skills were excellent.

"Hello Director Cao, we were just having a casual get-together and we originally wanted to invite you, but since you are the chairman of the judging panel, your status is different, so we didn't dare to call you. We hope you won't mind."

Wang Quan smiled and shook hands with Cao Yang, explaining.

Although this explanation was somewhat like blatant lying, he still said it in a serious tone.

He didn't sit in the secondary guest of honor seat, but gave that seat to Li Yu. He sat near the door, so he was closest to Cao Yang when Cao Yang came in.

"Hello, Director Wang."

Cao Yang smiled and shook hands with Wang Quan'an, without saying much.

"Hello Director Cao, we meet again."

Li Yu got up from her seat, shook hands with Cao Yang, and said...

"It's been a long time, Director Li."

Cao Yang responded with a smile.

"This is Yu Nan, who also graduated from Beijing Film Academy."

Jia Zhangke explained from the side.

"Hello Director Cao, I am from the Acting Department, Class of '95. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Yu Nan said somewhat reservedly.

She seems to be a person who is not very good at speaking, and such actors are generally not good at self-promotion.

"Hello, nice to meet you."

Cao Yang shook hands with her and said politely.

"This is Jiang Yiyan, who also graduated from Beijing Film Academy."

Jia Zhangke then introduced another girl.

"Hello Director Cao, it's been a long time."

Jiang Yiyan had a big smile on her face, as if she had met an acquaintance.

"It's been a long time, Yi Yan."

Cao Yang shook hands with Jiang Yiyan and said to Jia Zhangke with a smile, "She once played a role in one of my movies."

Tong Dawei was embarrassed. Apart from him and Li Yu, everyone else present was from the Beijing Film Academy.

Looking at other people's introductions, "This is our Beijing Film Academy..."

He somewhat regretted going to the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

"This is Tong Dawei."

Jia Zhangke's introduction is very simple.

"Hello Director Cao, I am Tong Dawei. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Tong Dawei bent down slightly and grasped Cao Yang's hands with both of his, saying...

"Hello."

Cao Yang shook hands with him, and then Jia Zhangke pulled him to sit in the main seat.

Everyone here today is from mainland China. The other two main actors in "Apple," Leung Ka-fai from Hong Kong and Jin Yanling from Taiwan, haven't come to Berlin yet. In "Tuya's Marriage," only Yu Nan is a professional actress, so she's the only one who's here.

After everyone ate for a while, Jia Zhangke winked at Li Yu and said to Tong Dawei, "Dawei, weren't you going to the restroom? Let's go together."

Tong Dawei was somewhat bewildered as Jia Zhangke pulled him away.

Li Yu also stood up and said to Jiang Yiyan, "Yiyan, come with me to the restroom."

After saying that, he pulled Jiang Yiyan, who was somewhat confused, out of the room, leaving only Cao Yang, Wang Quan'an, and his girlfriend Yu Nan.

"Director Cao, do you think 'Tuya's Marriage' has a chance of winning a major award?"

Wang Quan asked the question first.

Jia Zhangke created this opportunity specifically for this matter.

Cao Yang thought for a moment, then laughed and asked in return, "What do you consider a major award? The Golden Bear? Or the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award? The Golden Bear is extremely difficult to obtain; it requires a lot of luck."

Wang Quanan remained silent, but Yu Nan, who was next to him, was breathing noticeably more rapidly.

She understood what Cao Yang meant: it would be difficult for "Tuya's Marriage" to win the Golden Bear; it would require a lot of luck. Conversely, if it were the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress winner, it might be easier.

"Can you..."

Wang Quan asked tentatively.

He wanted it all—the Golden Bear and the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award.

Cao Yang shook his head and said directly, "I can't make the decision about that big prize you're thinking of, so there's a lot of uncertainty. If you gamble on it, you might end up empty-handed."

Yu Nan understood even better now.

If the Golden Bear can't be decided, does that mean the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award can?
It looks like this.

But now is the time to test people's will. If you bet on the Golden Bear, you may end up empty-handed, but if you give up the Golden Bear, you will likely win the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award!
She's a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress winner!
Yu Nan glanced at Wang Quan'an again.

I've been following you since my junior year of college in 98, which is eight years now. Would you give up the uncertain Golden Bear and give me a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award instead?

Cao Yang also glanced at Wang Quan'an. This could be considered a test for Wang Quan'an. It was unknown how this shrewd director would choose.

To be honest, Yu Nan's acting skills are quite good, and she doesn't have any messy affairs. If Wang Quan'an had chosen his girlfriend, Cao Yang would have given Yu Nan a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award.

The Golden Bear and Best Actress are two different concepts.

The Golden Bear Award represents the best film, signifying recognition of the film itself, as well as the broader context of the film.

Unlike Best Actress, which is an acknowledgment of an individual's acting skills and the actor's portrayal of the character.

Therefore, if Wang Quan chooses to stay with his girlfriend of eight years, Cao Yang wouldn't feel too burdened by giving Yu Nan a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award.

"Director Cao, could you give me some time to think about it?"

Wang Quan hesitated for a long time, still unwilling to give up his desire for the Golden Bear, but also unwilling to give up the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award, which he was certain to win.

One is hopeful, the other is certain.

This is really a difficult situation.

"Alright, go back and think about it, and give me an answer as soon as possible. The film festival opens tomorrow, and I can't wait too long," Cao Yang said.

"I understand, thank you anyway, Director Cao," Wang Quan'an said.

"Thank you, Director Cao." Yu Nan's emotions were a little unstable, and his voice trembled.

(End of this chapter)