Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 73: If You Can't Afford to Offend, Then Delay It
For the new script, Cao Yang specifically checked a large number of laws, regulations and religious policies, consulted Lao Tian who had rich experience in religious prohibitions, and also went to consult Hou Keming and Mr. Han.

According to Hou Keming and Mr. Han, whether a film involving religion can pass review depends mainly on the content of the film.

Well, before leaders speak, they are used to speaking in official language or using some formal jargon.

Films must not display religious extremism, extreme ideas, cult organizations and their activities, and must not make fun of or ridicule religious content, so as to avoid hurting national and religious feelings.

When it comes to religious content, we must respect religious culture, not exaggerate unique ethnic customs and religious beliefs, and avoid causing ethnic conflicts.

If it involves special themes such as religion, public security, etc., the relevant competent authorities shall be asked to review the entire script and issue a review opinion...

Both of them talked a lot of nonsense and didn't come to a definite conclusion in the end.

Hou Keming was silent for a long time, and finally said, "If you really want to shoot, I'll think of a way."

Lao Tian was quite direct. He said, "Your identity is different now. Take the photo first. As long as it's not extreme, they probably won't dare to target you."

What do you mean by high probability? I don't believe you, you old man. High probability is that you are using me to test the upper level, right?

Usually at times like this, you have to use your ultimate move.

Cao Yang went straight to find Lao Situ, told him everything Hou Keming and Lao Tian had said, and asked Lao Situ what he thought.

Old Situ pondered for a while, and this time he didn't dare to jump to conclusions.

If other directors wanted to shoot a religious theme, Lao Situ would definitely reject it immediately. This kind of script needs to be reviewed by the Religious Affairs Bureau, which is time-consuming and troublesome, and it is difficult to pass the review.

But Cao Yang’s identity is different now.

It's not just because he's the Golden Lion Award-winning director. The news broadcast a few days ago spent more than 20 seconds reporting that young director Cao Yang won the Golden Lion Award.

Although it was only mentioned in one sentence, the meaning is different.

“Does your new film involve a lot of religion?”

"Not much. Only Christianity is involved."

Old Situ breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it didn't involve anything fatal, it was good. It was just a small content, so it wasn't a big problem.

He waved his hand and said, "That's fine. Don't worry. It will pass the review without any problem."

"What the movie expresses is that in the eyes of God, all beings are equal, even murderers," Cao Yang reminded.

"No problem, there is definitely no problem." Old Situ said firmly.

Seeing that Old Situ didn't understand what he meant, Cao Yang had to make it clear, "Because all beings are equal in the eyes of God, the protagonist wants to do something blasphemous to vent his grief and protest, and to prove his belief in God. This is ridiculous and pathetic, deceiving oneself and others."

"Uh……"

Old Situ was obviously stunned, then pretended to be calm and asked: "What did I say just now?"

"You said it's okay, absolutely okay."

"Oh, huh? Well, the content of this movie is very good, very good..."

Old Situ took a sip of water, put down the cup, and picked it up again to take a sip.

"Cao Yang, you know I always speak directly, so I'll be frank. Have you ever considered setting the background in Hong Kong?" Then, Old Situ laughed, took a sip of water, and said, "It's not easy for those film review committees. If you submit this script, they will definitely be in a mess, asking for instructions all the time. It's troublesome and time-consuming, and they will also curse you in secret, right?"

Otherwise it would have to be old Situ. Now even Hou Keming and President Han would not easily deny Cao Yang.

They may think that after winning the Golden Lion Award, Cao Yang has become a top director in the country, and they have to give him face and save his face, so they are no longer straightforward in their words.

This is probably the situation faced by the great poet Chen Kaige?
In order to show respect for him, others would not easily deny his opinions and ideas, so is this what leads Brother Kai to become more and more self-indulgent?
"Can't pass the domestic review?"

Cao Yang explained: "The background of the movie is that the heroine's husband died and she had to move from a big place to a small place to live in Hong Kong... It's okay, she can only move from a prosperous area to a remote poor area."

Old Situ was silent for a while, then he smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that it can't pass the review. You have a lot of influence now, so they don't dare to directly reject your script. They will only report it to higher authorities, and no one dares to take responsibility.

Precisely because of your great influence, your film will be interpreted or over-interpreted, which will cause too great a social impact and can easily be misinterpreted into various meanings.

Do you think that if, after the movie is released, some people take advantage of it and say that the authorities are intentionally banning the spread of Christianity and that believing in their God is useless, would it cause a big uproar?
So, I think they may drag their feet and never approve your application. Even if you slam the table, their leader will hide when they see you, and only a few ordinary staff will be left. What can you do?
Until you get tired of it and change the script."

Old Situ sighed, and finally said, "If you really want to set the background in China and not change the content of the movie, then just shoot it directly, and then go to the three major European cinemas, and don't show it in China."

Cao Yang was really stunned this time, and couldn't help asking, "Participating in a foreign film festival without permission? Won't he be banned from directing?"

Old Situ's eyes widened. "You are a director in his twenties who won the Golden Lion Award. Who would dare to ban you just because of such a small matter?
You're already giving them face by not going to the Film Bureau to slam the table. How dare they ban you? Can he withstand the impact caused?"

Then, Old Situ slowed down his tone and said softly, "If your movie doesn't blaspheme or satirize God, it will be easy to pass the review even if it involves religion."

Cao Yang wanted to say, "Aren't we advocating atheism?" But after thinking about it, he realized that freedom of religious belief is also a basic right of citizens. Since it is a basic right, we should respect it.

How could Cao Yang not know that some content was indeed difficult to pass domestic review? He mainly wanted to test how tolerant the higher-ups would be towards him.

From talking to a few people, I got a rough idea.

The treatment is indeed different. At least everyone will "respect" you on the surface.

"Okay, teacher, I understand. Then let's not cause trouble for the country. Let's set the background in Hong Kong." Cao Yang joked to Old Situ.

"I'm glad you think this way. What I fear most is that you get stuck in a dead end and then criticize the censorship system in front of the media without knowing the seriousness of the matter. That would have a huge impact and would be a huge problem for everyone."

After saying goodbye to Old Situ, Cao Yang went directly to another office to find Old Tian, ​​ready to tell him that he was going to start a new project and to reserve time for it.

Now Lao Tian is a teacher at Beijing Film Academy. Although he has not officially started teaching yet, he already has an office. He sits in the office in a formal manner every day. I don’t know what he is busy with all day long.

Cao Yang knocked on the door and entered Lao Tian's office, and found that Lao Tian was actually reading a script.

He flipped it open and took a look. "Spring in a Small Town? Why are you looking at this?"

Lao Tian chuckled, "It's about to be lifted, I'm itching to try it."

"You want to remake it?"

"I just want to give it a try, to practice, and mainly to try out your method."

Cao Yang was speechless. His regular photographer was going to be the director. It seemed that he had to change a photographer this time.

(End of this chapter)