Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 448 The defense is broken

Among the fourth-generation directors, there will certainly be some who have different opinions about "Joker".

The fourth generation of directors is different from the fifth generation of directors.

The fifth generation of directors placed greater emphasis on historical reflection and humanistic concern. Their works often focused on historical trauma and contemporary issues, exploring themes such as cultural identity and social change through visual language, demonstrating profound humanistic thinking.

Simply put, it's about criticism, reflection, and humanistic concern.

According to the fifth-generation directors, Cao Yang's "Joker" clearly demonstrates profound criticism and reflection, as well as humanistic concern for the underprivileged, which is why they appreciate and agree with it.

Therefore, whether it's Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, or Tian Qiyun, they all believe that this is a film that ranks among the top three European films and has no controversial aspects in terms of content.

But some fourth-generation directors see it differently.

The fourth generation of directors emphasized documentary-style narrative, opposed dramatic structures, and stressed the use of documentary techniques to present the original appearance of life.

They often use simple cinematic language and open narrative structures to focus on uncovering social philosophy from the details of life.

"Cao Yang, your film is, overall, very good. The actors' performances are extremely nuanced, and it also sparks reflection and discussion on social issues. It can be said to have considerable artistic value."

Li Qiankuan said.

Old Situ glared and retorted, "Old Li, let me tell you, don't say 'but.' If you do, believe me, I'll tell you all the embarrassing things that happened to you when you were young."

"Ha ha……"

Several fourth-generation directors all laughed.

"What are you, an old guy who makes documentaries, doing getting involved in this? Do you even know anything about art films? Have you ever made an art film?"

Zheng Dongtian joked from the side.

"Hey, what era are we living in? There are still people questioning my understanding of art films?"

Old Situ scoffed dismissively before continuing:

"If I didn't understand art films, could I have taught Chen Kaige, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes?"

If Lao Tzu didn't understand art, could he have taught Tian Zhuangzhuang, who won the Golden Lion in Venice?

"If I didn't understand art, could I have taught Cao Yang, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the Golden Lion at Venice, the Academy Award for Best Picture, and became the world's first director to achieve a grand slam of the three major European awards... oh wait, I should also add the Academy Award for Best Director and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, a five-time grand slam?"

At this point, he chuckled again, full of pride.

He then boasted, "It's just that I'm low-key and unwilling to step into the field of art films. I wanted to give you old guys a chance, but who knew you guys would be so useless. Even if I gave you a chance, it was no use."

Then, he sighed dramatically.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I shouldn't have kept a low profile, I shouldn't have..."

"Come, come."

Xie Fei took a few newspapers from the side, handed them to Old Situ, and pulled the bewildered Old Situ to sit on the chair next to him.

"Sweetie, we won't cause trouble. If you're really bored, you can tear up the newspaper to play with."

"Ha ha……"

The old men all burst into laughter.

Old Situ was stunned for a moment before he realized that Xie Fei was just teasing him.

"You old bastard surnamed Xie, don't..."

Xie Fei interrupted Old Situ with a smile, "Yes, yes, you're right. I should thank you. If you hadn't been so modest, I definitely wouldn't have won the Berlin Golden Bear."

Everyone laughed again.

Xie Fei then smiled and looked at Li Qiankuan, saying, "I understand what you mean, Lao Li. Are you trying to say that 'Joker' glorifies violence? Are you worried that it might inspire unstable elements in reality to regard 'criminals' as heroes?"

Then, pointing at Li Qiankuan, he laughed and said to Cao Yang, "Old Li is a typical humanist with a strong sense of concern for the people. He also values ​​factual narrative. To put it bluntly, he's stubborn, soft-hearted, and inflexible."

Then he turned to Li Qiankuan, patted his arm, and said:
"You probably didn't understand 'Joker'. You only saw the surface. This movie profoundly depicts the despair, loneliness, and sense of being ignored of people at the bottom of society."

It reflects serious problems existing in real society, such as the gap between the rich and the poor, the lack of social services, and the mental health crisis. It is a profound allegory and powerful indictment of social division, class stratification, and the neglect of the vulnerable.

On the surface, Xie Fei was criticizing Li Qiankuan, but in reality, he was worried that Li Qiankuan would say something inappropriate and offend Cao Yang.

As a long-time friend, he knows Li Qiankuan very well.

Despite his seemingly cheerful personality, Li Qiankuan is actually a very straightforward person.

To put it more politely, it's about "being courageous in revealing social contradictions and daring to expose ugly phenomena."

Xie Fei knew very well that Old Situ had just used that playful approach to try and stop Li Qiankuan from saying anything unpleasant.

In addition, this is a premiere, with many people and distractions; if word gets out, it won't be good for anyone.

If Li Qiankuan says something that will backfire and completely offend Cao Yang, given Cao Yang's current status, he has plenty of ways to deal with him.

To reiterate, if you rely on your status as a fourth-generation director to "give pointers" to fifth-generation or even sixth-generation directors, it might not be a big problem.

But you can't act like a senior and bossy person, pointing fingers at Cao Yang because of your different status.

Cao Yang is a world-class director, a true world-class director, the kind who has an extremely high influence anywhere in the world, whether in the field of commercial films or art films.

Needless to say, the "identities" bestowed upon him have been layered upon layer, even directly influencing the direction of the domestic film and television industry.

Li Qiankuan glanced at Old Situ, then at Xie Fei, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Although Old Li speaks frankly, he's not stupid.

How could I possibly say anything inappropriate in this situation?
Oh dear, Old Situ is a simpleton, so it's normal for him to misunderstand. But Old Xie, you're a smart man, how could you misunderstand me, Old Li?
"cough……"

Li Qiankuan coughed, ignoring Old Situ and Old Xie, and looked at Cao Yang, saying in a serious tone:

"Cao Yang, we can all see that your film is a profound allegory and powerful indictment of social division, class solidification, and neglect of the weak."

But I worry that others won't understand these things. They might only see the film's surface as glorifying violence and portraying 'criminals' as heroes.

So, I'd like to give you a suggestion: find a globally influential director to write a profound article about the meaning behind "Joker" and publish it as soon as possible, to prevent it from being used by malicious individuals to claim it glorifies violence, which would be counterproductive.

Xie Fei was startled and couldn't help but glance at Li Qiankuan, muttering to himself.

Well, Old Li, you old codger with thick eyebrows and big eyes, I was afraid you'd say something inappropriate and offend Cao Yang, so I racked my brains for you, but I never expected you to be this kind of person!
I knew earlier...

Li Qiankuan probably sensed Xie Fei's "resentment," so he turned to Xie Fei with a smile and said, "Old Xie, you agree, right?"

"Ah, yes, yes, you're right."

Xie Fei said weakly.

"Yes, Teacher Li's suggestion is excellent, thank you Teacher Li."

Cao Yang said with a smile.

He wasn't just being perfunctory; he genuinely thought Li Qiankuan's suggestion was excellent.

He couldn't quite remember because "Joker" wasn't released in mainland China back then, so he hadn't paid much attention to that kind of news.

It seems that some media outlets have reported that this film has been labeled as "glorifying violence" in many countries, and has therefore been banned from release.

I'll talk to Warner Bros. later and ask them to find some well-known directors or film critics to give a proper analysis of "Joker".

Nolan is actually a good choice. The global box office of "The Dark Knight" exceeded $10 billion, which greatly increased his fame and made him a hot director in Hollywood.

Having the director of "Batman" interpret "Joker" was indeed a good idea. After the premiere of "Joker," Cao Yang didn't call Jing Wei. He wasn't short of women, so why would he bother with a woman who clearly wanted to "borrow" him to get out of trouble?

Besides, Fat Ice has been following him ever since the premiere.

That evening, Cao Yang had a conversation with Pang Bing.

Fat Bing suddenly turned around, panting, and asked, "Why didn't you call Jing Wei? If you had, she might have become the person in this position!"

"Snapped!"

Cao Yang then slapped her on the bottom.

"What are you saying, am I that kind of person?"

"Hehe...hehe..."

Fat Bing laughed, a chuckle.

Eyes as charming as silk.

"You still say, you still say you're not that kind of person."

"That's what Fatty Bing is saying."

He lay face down on the bed.

"I...I can feel it. Don't try to deny it. You're that kind of person. Otherwise, you wouldn't react like that the moment I mention Jingwei..."

Cao Yang didn't rush to defend himself.

Then he said, "This is a physiological reaction. Isn't there a saying that you should judge by actions, not intentions? I didn't take any action, so I'm a good person."

"Cuckoo..."

Fat Bing laughed.

At that moment, she struggled to lift her head, looked at Cao Yang with her big, watery eyes, and said in a sweet voice, "Alright, alright, let's not talk about intentions, but about actions!"

Okay, let's go by the evidence then.

On November 27, "Joker" was released on a large scale in the country.

Because the film's pre-release publicity was so "outrageous," and because it was directed by Cao Yang, China Film Group, as the distributor, directly invested 2200 film and digital copies nationwide.

Such a large-scale investment is rare in China. It's only in the last two years that various types of capital have entered the cinema industry, leading to a wave of expansion. Otherwise, how could they invest in 2200 copies? Wouldn't that be a waste?

Meanwhile, cinemas across the country are making every effort to schedule screenings of "Joker" in theaters and prime time slots.

This time it wasn't entirely because of Cao Yang's influence; the main reason was that the "experience" of "Joker" was too intriguing.

Regardless of the quality of this film, even if it's a "soft" art film, it will certainly draw a large number of curious viewers to the theaters in the first few days.

The same is true.

The 27th was a Thursday, which is a workday.

At least on Friday night, there will be a large number of moviegoers who are "on holiday". Will anyone go to the movies on Thursday?

I have to go to work tomorrow.

However, when the box office figures came out on Thursday, both General Manager Han and Cao Yang of China Film Group were rendered speechless.

3690 million!
It set a new domestic box office record for a weekday.

And that record has been raised by more than 1500 million!

Not to mention weekdays, even including weekends, this single-day box office is still in the top five.

Everyone knew that "Joker" would do well at the box office, but no one expected it to achieve this level of success on a weekday.

"Perhaps everyone is interested in this so-called 'prophecy' and 'curse' movie, maybe the box office will drop tomorrow."

Cao Yang paused for a moment, then spoke to President Han.

President Han shook his head without hesitation.

"How could that be? Tomorrow is Friday, it's the weekend, there will only be more audience members."

He patted Cao Yang on the shoulder and exclaimed, "Just wait and see, you'll set another series of records. I had someone survey the audience leaving the theater, and it was all rave reviews. Many people were deeply moved..."

Deeply moved?

Cao Yang pursed his lips. Perhaps weekdays are not much different from weekends now?
Although the overall impact of the economic crisis on China was not significant, it still affected the country nonetheless.
Those export-oriented foreign trade enterprises will definitely be the most affected.

Since they have been affected, it is inevitable that some people will lose their jobs.

How are the box office results in North America?

President Han asked another question.

"The time difference over there is more than 12 hours behind ours, so the release date is later and the box office figures haven't been tallied yet."

Cao Yang said.

What is Warner's estimate?

Mr. Han asked curiously, "Even if you take the time difference into account, a day's screening in North America is almost over."

The exact box office figures may not be available yet, but a general number should be available.

“Warner Bros. didn’t say anything, but their president called me and urged me to go to North America to do promotions. He said that the weekday box office of ‘Joker’ might give me a big surprise.”

"A big surprise?"

Mr. Han said with a smile, "Congratulations, junior brother. I estimate it will be similar to the domestic record, breaking the North American weekday single-day box office record."

……

"How many?"

Old Chen held the phone in his hand and unconsciously raised his voice.

Sister Hong couldn't help but put her ear close to the phone.

A voice came from the phone: "3690 million! 'Joker' has broken the domestic single-day box office record for a weekday. I'm afraid no one will be able to break this record for a long time."

"Snapped!"

Old Chen threw his phone onto the coffee table, sat down on the sofa, rubbed his face, and sighed deeply.

"Joker grossed 3690 million at the box office on a weekday?"

Even though she heard it, Sister Hong still couldn't help but ask.

It was less a question to Old Chen and more an expression of astonishment.

The domestic box office is doing well now, with almost every year producing a film that grosses over 100 million yuan, sometimes even two or three. But what does 36.9 million yuan mean?

According to Sister Hong, the 3690 million yuan box office revenue for "Joker" in one day was enough to put it in the top ten of the domestic box office rankings in 08.

At least for now.

Old Chen didn't say anything, he just kept rubbing his face with his hands.

(End of this chapter)