Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 384 An Upset
This year's Golden Rooster Awards saw fierce competition in major categories such as Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress, as well as in the eight technical categories.

In the realm of art-house films, just considering the three major European film categories alone, there are works such as Cao Yang's "Black Swan," Jia Zhangke's "Still Life," and Wang Quan'an's "Tuya's Marriage."

Other notable works include Zhang Yimou's "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," Qi Jian's "The Dog," Yi Li's "The Ballad of Clouds and Water," and Zhuang Yuxin's "Love's Teeth."

In the realm of commercial films, there are Zhang Yimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower," Xiao Gangpao's "The Banquet," Chen Kaige's "The Promise," and Zhang Zhiliang's "A Battle of Wits," among others.

When the nomination list for the Golden Rooster Awards was first released a month ago, the media and audiences were full of expectations for this year's awards.

Both "Black Swan" and "Still Life" won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, while those commercial blockbusters that received technical award nominations, regardless of their plots, at least had top-notch audiovisual effects.

As usual, CCTV's movie channel broadcast the event live, and the host was still Sister Ni.

Because the Golden Rooster Awards have changed in terms of the awards themselves, the order of the awards presentation has also been adjusted.

Awards that the media and audiences expect less of and pay less attention to, such as Best Children's Film, Best Documentary, Best Science and Education Film, and Best Digital Film, were not presented at the beginning, but were instead given out among other awards.

When the Golden Rooster Awards were being restructured, Hou Hsiao-ch'ien asked Cao Yang whether to remove the less popular awards. After some consideration, Cao Yang decided to keep them.

It is not to say that the reformed Golden Rooster Awards pursues "high standards, large scale, and comprehensiveness".

These categories are also part of the domestic film industry, and it is very meaningful to preserve them. Even the Oscars have categories such as Best Animated Feature, Best Live Action Short Film, and Best Documentary.

The general order of the awards is to give the biggest award last, and then give the other awards in a mixed manner. Only by giving the awards in this way can we attract the audience in front of the TV series, which means the ratings.

Otherwise, they could award the less important prizes first and the grand prize last, which would likely make viewers switch channels and wait until the grand prize is revealed before watching.

However, there is no such concern with mixed-issue distribution.

Cao Yang's established order for awarding the Golden Rooster Awards is that the biggest award is presented last, and this remains unchanged, while the order of presentation for other awards varies each year.

Of course, the ultimate goal of doing this is to increase viewership ratings; higher ratings mean more revenue for the Golden Rooster Awards.

The first award presented was a fairly important one: Best Photography.

Five films were nominated: The Banquet, The Knot, Curse of the Golden Flower, Black Swan, and The Promise.

The reason why "Black Swan" was nominated for Best Cinematography is because it has many distinctive compositions and camera movements, such as the extensive use of mirrors and mirror surfaces, the use of various angles, and the use of handheld tracking shots to create anxiety.

Cao Yang thought the award would go to one of "Curse of the Golden Flower", "The Banquet" or "The Promise", but the result was a bit unexpected and went to "Black Swan".

Old Gu remained calm and composed, showing no particular excitement, as if he had expected this all along.

On the contrary, his wife Jiang Wenli seemed very excited and hugged Lao Gu directly, as if she was asserting her ownership and afraid that others would not know that she was Lao Gu's wife.

Cao Yang thought about it and realized that it wasn't a surprise that "Black Swan" won Best Cinematography; the film did have some unique aspects in its use of camera shots.

On the contrary, those three commercial blockbusters did have very exquisite costumes, props and sets, and the visual effects were very good by today's standards. However, these had nothing to do with the use of camera shots; those three films did not use any particularly special shots.

If "Black Swan" beats those three blockbusters in terms of costumes, props, and sets, it would indeed be a surprise, but in terms of best cinematography, it doesn't really count. No wonder Gu looked like he had expected it all along.

The second award presented was also an important one: Best Supporting Actress.

The competition for this award is also fierce, with contestants including Lü Yi from "Black Swan", Zhou Xun from "The Banquet", Song Xiaojia from "Curiosity Kills the Cat" and Shou Bing from "The Knot".

According to the plot, Slim Bing is the female lead in "The Knot," but the production team nominated her for Best Supporting Actress.

Of these four, Zhou Xun and Liu Yifei are two of the three leading actresses and are very famous. Lü Yi can barely be considered a "Cao Girl" and has seen a significant rise in popularity in the past two years. Only Song Xiaojia has the least fame.

The award turned out to be a surprise; Song Xiaojia won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Curiosity Kills the Cat".

When the results came out, it was obvious from the four people on the big screen that Slim Bing's smile was somewhat forced and bitter, unable to hide her disappointment.

Cao Yang understood after a little thought.

In this year's Golden Rooster Awards, the least suspenseful awards were not Best Director and Best Film, but rather the fact that two films that won the Venice Golden Lion were among the winners, leaving the Best Director and Best Film awards in suspense.

The least surprising result is probably the Best Actress award.

In the competition for Best Actress, Dong Xuan won the Venice Film Festival's Best Actress award for her role in "Black Swan." Anyone who has seen the film would have no doubt about her acting skills.

The production company probably knew this, so they planned to take a shortcut and nominate Slim Bing for Best Supporting Actress.

However, it makes sense, since the lead actress in "The Knot" is ostensibly Vivian Hsu from Taiwan.

Unfortunately, even with her clever tactics, Shoubing couldn't compete with Song Xiaojia, who was much less famous than her. No wonder she was so disappointed.

The first two awards were not small prizes; this was to attract viewers.

Little Cannon had a serious expression on his face. Well, rather than serious, it would be more accurate to say his face was tense.

He had originally thought that with the reform of the Golden Rooster Awards and the addition of so many technical awards, this would be the day for him to reconcile with the Golden Rooster Awards—he had been trying to win over the Golden Rooster Awards even before the nomination list was released.

Xiao Gangpao said that his previous comments about the Golden Rooster Awards were not directed at the awards themselves, but rather that the media misinterpreted his meaning and that some people were deliberately trying to stir up trouble and maliciously slander him.

He also said that he has always respected the Golden Rooster Awards, which is one of the most important awards in China and an award that every filmmaker aspires to…

When the nominations were announced, "The Banquet" received five nominations, not all of which were technical awards, but also a nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a prestigious award for Best Cinematography.

This made Xiao Gangpao overjoyed, and he immediately called Cao Yang to express his gratitude.

As one of the top directors in China, he knew the role Cao Yang played in the Golden Rooster Awards reform.

When the first Best Cinematography award was given to "Black Swan," I was a little disappointed, but he really didn't have all the tricks up his sleeve, so it was okay that he didn't win.

But when he didn't win the second Best Supporting Actress award, Little Cannon couldn't hold back anymore.

Despite the controversies surrounding Zhou Xun in other aspects, her acting skills are exceptionally gifted. I even think that, at least in "The Banquet," Zhou Xun's performance was on par with the lead actress, Li Xiaoran.

Xiao Gangpao has high expectations for Xun Ge'er.

Who would have thought that they would lose to Song Xiaojia, who was not well-known at all.

Finally, when the Best Costume Design award was presented and "The Banquet" lost to "Curse of the Golden Flower," Xiao Gangpao could no longer hold back his emotions; he felt utterly disappointed.

Furthermore, he began to curse the judges in his mind for being blind, for the Golden Rooster Awards still refusing to let him go, and for that damned Cao Yang not helping him at all... In short, his once serious expression turned into a sour face. Especially when Cao Yang, as the presenter, began to award the Best Art Direction, Xiao Gangpao's face darkened even more as he looked at the nomination list.

Nominees for Best Art Direction include "Curse of the Golden Flower", "The Promise", "A Battle of Wits" and "The Banquet".

When Xiao Gangpao saw that Cao Yang was the presenter of the award, he immediately assumed that the winner was either "Curse of the Golden Flower" or "The Promise".

Because the directors of this movie are Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.

The Best Art Direction award is quite special; it can be categorized as a technical award or as a major award.

It's a very prestigious award.

Since the Golden Rooster Awards are held every two years, these four films include those released last year and the year before.

This resulted in Yip Kam Tin receiving two nominations for "The Promise" and "The Banquet," as he was the art director for both.

Little Cannon has given up hope; he feels the Golden Rooster Awards are still targeting him.

Reconciliation? He feels he'll never reconcile with the Golden Rooster Awards in his lifetime. He'll go and criticize them as soon as the awards ceremony is over...

Little Cannon's mouth was slightly open. What did he just hear?
It seems that Cao Yang's grandson...

Little Cannon blinked and saw that on the big screen, of the four nominated films, the other three had disappeared, leaving only "The Banquet" occupying the big screen.

"yeah!"

Little Cannon could no longer contain himself. He stood up excitedly, waved his hand, and then hugged Ye Jintian, who was sitting one seat away from him.

He seemed even more excited than Ye Jintian.

At this moment, Little Cannon only had three words in his mind: Icebreaker!
Even if this award is only considered a technical award, Xiao Gangpao is very happy and satisfied.

This "ice-breaking" is of great significance, as it indicates that the Golden Rooster Awards have accepted him.

He believes that major awards like Best Director are just around the corner, and his next film, "Assembly," might just win a big prize.

If "Assembly" doesn't work, he will continue to make other art films. His ultimate goal is to win Best Director and Best Picture!

This proves that he, Xiao Gangpao, is not a "peasant" or an uncultured person; he can also be an artist!

Little Cannon couldn't help but grin as he watched Cao Yang hand the award to Ye Jintian. He thought that Cao Yang was really a good friend, actually getting the Golden Rooster Award to accept him. This was his own brother!

It seems that following Brother Cao is a very promising career path.

At that moment, Little Cannon seemed to see the Golden Rooster Award and the three major European awards beckoning to him.

Huang Xiaoming won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Cao Yang's "Black Swan," beating out Jiang Wu from "Five Bullets," Qiu Lin from "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles," and Liu Zifeng from "The Dog."

In "Black Swan," Huang Xiaoming plays a stage director with a large role, almost like the male lead. With his immersive experience in the role, it's no surprise that he won Best Supporting Actor.

The Best Actress award, or Golden Rooster Award, was indeed a foregone conclusion. Even though Yan Bingyan gave an outstanding performance in "Love's Teeth" and Yu Nan acted very well in "Tuya's Marriage," neither of them could match the naturalness of Dong Xuan's performance.

Fu Dalong won Best Actor for his role in "The Dog".

Watching this young man go on stage to accept the award, many people couldn't help but think that since his film "Pieta" won the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival, he might actually win the Golden Rooster Award again next year.

However, those in the know who know that Cao Yang is filming a new movie are wondering if Jackie Chan might compete with Fidelity in the next competition?

It's still very possible.

When it comes to training actors, if Cao Yang claims to be second, probably no one in the world would dare to claim to be first.

In the categories of Best Director and Best Film, many people believe that only "Still Life," which also won the Venice Golden Lion, can compete with Cao Yang's "Black Swan."

However, "Still Life" can be categorized as a realist or surrealist film. While it does excel in some details, it falls short of "Black Swan" in terms of cinematic language and camera techniques.

Therefore, in the Best Director category, "Still Life" lost to "Black Swan".

Everyone thought "Still Life" and "Black Swan" would be the best films, but surprisingly, the award went to Wang Quan'an's "Tuya's Marriage".

This was an outcome that no one had anticipated.

Wang Quan'an clearly didn't expect "Tuya's Marriage" to win Best Film, especially considering it broke through two Venice Golden Lion films.

His face flushed with excitement, and when he went on stage to give his speech, he stammered at first, rambling on and on for two minutes before finally calming down a bit.

"How did he manage to win Best Picture?"

Dong Xuan quietly grasped Cao Yang's hand and said softly, somewhat unconvinced.

"What are you thinking? We can't give all the awards to 'Black Swan,' can we? We're already the biggest winners tonight. It's not a big deal if 'Tuya's Marriage' wins Best Picture. It's not a surprise that this movie won this award."

Cao Yang smiled and gently comforted him.

At the subsequent press conference, in response to numerous questions from reporters, the judging panel explained:

Compared to the condescending compassion of "Still Life" and the in-depth exploration of human nature in "Black Swan," "Tuya's Marriage" is more of a peer-to-peer portrayal of everyday family life, a down-to-earth and realistic story told from the perspective of marginalized communities...

Cao Yang did not interfere with the judging panel's evaluation of the awards.

Everyone says that "Tuya's Marriage" winning Best Picture was a surprise, but Cao Yang believes that the jury's true opinion was that the film won Best Picture.

why?
Compared to Black Swan's direct confrontation with human nature and Strange Life's broad and expansive perspective, Tuya's Marriage is actually the film that best resonates with marginalized characters.

The judges on the jury are almost all from the fifth generation, that is, actors or directors from the same era as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. Their education and values ​​make them more empathetic to "Tuya's Marriage".

This can be seen in the art films made by the Fifth Generation. Their films intertwine individual destinies with the historical process of the nation, analyze the constraints of feudal culture on human nature, and form profound allegories of national culture.

Therefore, it was only natural for the judges to choose "Tuya's Marriage" as the best film.

(End of this chapter)