Huayu started by playing Lao Ai

Chapter 222 Cultural Influence

Seeing the movie end like this, there was an uproar in the theater and the audience was anxious.

Did Huang Huitu shoot his daughter in the end?
Why is there only a gunshot at the critical moment and no other images?

When Norika Fujiwara saw the reactions of the audience around her, she thought that this movie was amazing. It was able to control the audience's emotions and make everyone's mood rise and fall with the plot.

This is no longer a low-level and crude horror film like "Midnight Shock", but a good movie worth savoring over and over again.

Taoist songs began to sound in the theater, including the Golden Light Mantra, one of the eight great mantras.

"Xuanzong of heaven and earth, the root of Wan Qi.

I have cultivated extensively for hundreds of millions of kalpas to prove my magical powers.

Within and outside the Three Realms, only the Tao is supreme.

There is golden light on my body, covering my body..."

Along with this song, a series of credits appeared on the big screen and the movie entered its curtain call.

The lights in the theater did not come on.

After the curtain call, the easter egg appeared.

Huang Huitu, played by Zheng Jing, shaved his head close to his scalp, wore a prison uniform, and walked into the prison.

Even in prisoner costume, Zheng Jing still looked extremely handsome. He walked with his head held high, attracting everyone's attention.

Thump, thump, thump, thump…

There are no lines here, only the sound of Zheng Jing's footsteps.

The camera moves as Zheng Jing walks, and cells appear one after another, containing many criminals.

They had different expressions and no one spoke, just following Zheng Jing with their eyes.

Soon, Zheng Jing walked into a cell and sat down.

The camera moves forward to show Zheng Jing's face.

A strange smile appeared on Zheng Jing's face.

This smile is exactly the same as the baby's smile and Huang Meimei's smile at the end.

And Zheng Jing’s eyes also have two pupils!

"Huang Huo Tu also has double pupils?"

Looking at Huang Huotu with double pupils, Fujiwara Norika felt goose bumps on her arms.

Is there a twist in this ending?
She was thinking about the message of the Easter egg when the big screen went completely black and the theater lights came on.

This time, the whole movie ends completely.

Zheng Jing and a group of the film's main creators went on stage to express their gratitude.

The audience stood up spontaneously and thunderous applause broke out.

The applause was very enthusiastic and lasted for about a minute, which was the greatest recognition of the movie "Double Vision".

After the applause ended, Kitano Takeshi began the interview: “Congratulations on completing an extremely excellent film.

After watching the movie, I just felt that I wanted to watch it again.

I believe many viewers have the same idea as me.

I would like to ask Director Chen Guofu first, what motivated you to make a movie like this? "

Chen Guofu said: "I have always been interested in Taoist culture. When I have nothing to do, I would think about making a movie about it, but I always felt that the script I wrote was not good enough.

Until I read "The Da Vinci Code" written by Zheng Jing, I realized that this book has a profound understanding of religion and the suspense and mystery are so exciting that I couldn't stop reading it.

So I made a special trip to find Zheng Jing and ask him for advice.

Zheng Jing helped me, and under his guidance, I re-adapted the script.

So in the category of film screenwriter, Zheng Jing ranks first.”

After hearing the translation, Kitano Takeshi continued, “I watched the movie Twin Eyes and it was very strange.

It is both like an art film because it is very profound, and like a commercial film. The atmosphere of horror and suspense is well done, and the rhythm is also very brisk.

Is this something you planned on purpose?"

Chen Guofu smiled and said truthfully: "My answer may disappoint you. I personally want to make the double pupils look more artistic.

But Zheng Jing believes that the positioning of "Double Vision" is a commercial film.

He is the boss of the crew, and I have to listen to him."

The last sentence was a joke, and everyone laughed after the translation was finished.

Kitano Takeshi took the opportunity to ask Zheng Jing: "Is that so?"

Zheng Jing smiled and said, "We didn't really bother about the distinction between commercial and art films. We just deliberately accelerated the pace of the film to make it more exciting and to be liked by more audiences.

Our goal is to make the double pupils look beautiful and profound, worthy of repeated appreciation by the audience.

Just like The Sixth Sense, it is a horror film, but it also has plot twists and a certain humanistic concern.”

Hearing Zheng Jing say this, Takeshi Kitano nodded.

It is obvious that Zheng Jing's rhetoric is more mature.

Although Chen Guofu's answer praised Zheng Jing, he directly said that "Double Vision" was a commercial film, which was not conducive to the film's chances of winning awards at film festivals.

Kitano Takeshi thought for a moment and said, “After watching the movie, I have a lot of questions.

The ending of the movie is open-ended, and it is not clearly explained whether Huang Huitu killed his daughter or not.

In the easter egg at the end, Huang Huitu even grew double pupils in prison.

After watching it for the first time, I think there are two possible endings for the movie.

One is that Huang Huo Tu killed his daughter or wife and saved another person, but was thrown into prison because he could not explain the supernatural events, but he had double pupils and could not explain it.

Another possibility is that all the stories are false. Huang Huitu used religion to brainwash people in order to create the mystery of the double pupils, and thus made up a story of ascending to heaven from the Five Hells.

I personally prefer the latter.

Because the posture and pace of Huang Huotu's walking in the prison at the end were exactly the same as when he walked in the police station at the beginning.

This echoes the ending and the beginning, suggesting to the audience that Huang Huitu has actually been in prison all along.

Moreover, the jailers and prisoners in the prison had abnormal expressions when they looked at Huang Huitu, as if they admired him very much.

These are all evidences I have observed.

What is the truth? Can you give me an explanation? "

Kitano Takeshi is indeed a great director. He watched the movie very carefully. He noticed a lot of details after only watching it once.

After hearing his explanation, the audience had a higher opinion of the movie "Double Vision".

Everyone looked at Zheng Jing, waiting for his answer.

Zheng Jing shook his head and said, "In order to speed up the pace of the film, we omitted a lot of Taoist culture and hid it in various details.

If you are interested, you can watch the movie several times and you will discover more.

As for the ending, I can only say that everyone can have their own understanding.

When I was adapting the script of Double Vision, I told director Chen Guofu that this film was multifaceted and open.

Those who believe in these customs can see the difficulties and contradictions of becoming an immortal;

Non-believers can see the horror of ordinary people being brainwashed by religion.

Is it true that there are five hells in the world where one can become an immortal?

Everyone has their own answer.”

Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, Zheng Jing made a joke and said a line from a movie: "But if you ask me whether I believe in aliens or Taoism, I will never choose aliens."

As soon as this sentence came out, it was like a joke, and the theater burst into laughter of understanding. The atmosphere at the scene finally became relaxed.

Kitano Takeshi seized the opportunity and asked, “As everyone knows, you have many beautiful women around you.

Can you share with us your experience in picking up girls?"

Zheng Jing said: "I don't have any experience. To be honest, it's always women who chase me, and I rarely take the initiative."

Kitano Takeshi: “…”

Kitano Takeshi said self-deprecatingly: "How can a man with my looks attract girls?"

Zheng Jing thought for a moment and said, "Let me tell you a joke.

One day I became ugly, fat and ugly. I confessed my love to my goddess, but she rejected me.

She said mockingly: "Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself? You are so ugly, are you worthy of me?"

I was very obedient and took off my pants to pee.

Seeing this, the goddess swallowed and said: Maybe we can give it a try.

After the joke was told, there was silence for three seconds, and then everyone burst into laughter.

Kitano Takeshi laughed so hard that he fell forward and backward.

He said: "If someone else tells this joke, it will lack some flavor. Only if you, Lao Ai, tell it, can people be convinced."

Zheng Jing shrugged and said, “The above is just a joke.

If a boy wants to pursue a girl, he can make good use of the suspension bridge effect.

Ask girls to play some exciting activities, which can easily speed up their heartbeats and increase their favorability.

For example, watching horror movies is a good way.

You can ask girls to see the double pupils. If girls are scared, that’s when you can show your boyfriend power.”

Kitano Takeshi agreed: "This is a good suggestion."

Afterwards, Kitano Takeshi interviewed Shu Chang and others, and the premiere of Double Vision officially ended.

After the audience left the theater, reporters interviewed everyone and asked them about their viewing experience.

"Zheng Jing's work is excellent as always. This is the best horror movie I have ever seen."

"I have already bought the tickets and plan to watch it again. This movie is worth watching over and over again."

"I strongly recommend that everyone watch this movie with someone they like. It can really help to enhance the relationship."

"After watching the movie, I want to go to the Taoist temple to pray. Maybe it will be helpful?"

“This is a very high-level horror movie, not just for the sake of being scary, and I like it very much.

"Zheng Jing is amazing, he is handsome and has great acting skills, I give him full marks!"

……

The audience who attended the premiere gave particularly high praise to "Double Eyes".

This high reputation soon spread along with the coverage of the film festival opening ceremony and the premiere of "Double Eyes".

"Jung Kyung shines at Tokyo Film Festival, audiences abandon opening ceremony to follow him."

"The Four Heavenly Kings were met with coldness, and Japanese reporters directly called Zheng Jing the super king!"

"NHK TV broadcast the premiere of Twin Eyes live, and the ratings reached 43.1% when Zheng Jing performed!"

"Double Eyes" has received extremely high praise and is rated as the best horror film in history.

"Kitano Takeshi: Double Eyes should be watched at least three times. The first time is awesome, the second time is even better, and the third time is incomparably awesome!"

"Norika Fujiwara: My idol is Zheng Jing. I am willing to do anything for him. I am not familiar with Aaron Kwok."

"The ratings for the films screened are out, and Double Vision ranks first with a super high score of 4.7."

The early publicity and promotion, coupled with the explosion of the Tokyo International Film Festival, gave the box office of Double Eyes a dream start.

In its first week of release, Twin Eyes grossed 17.8 billion in Japan, which is equivalent to about 1500 million US dollars.
The movie "Slimming Men and Women" released in the same period only grossed a few million Japanese yen, which was very miserable.

On the one hand, it is because Liu Dehua does not have box office appeal in Japan, and on the other hand, it is also a theme about weight loss, which is not popular in Japan where the obesity rate is very low.

In addition to its rapid success in Japan, "Double Vision" is also a box office champion in other regions.

In the first week, the film attracted 123 million viewers in Korea, with a total box office of approximately 600 million US dollars, and earned 4300 million New Taiwan dollars (approximately 120 million US dollars) in Taiwan. In Southeast Asian markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, it earned a total of 1100 million US dollars.

Even in Hong Kong Island, which was attacked by Zheng Jinggang, the box office in the first week was 1470 million Hong Kong dollars, crushing "The Best Bra in the World".

Taking into account the entire Pan-Asian market, the box office of Twin Eyes reached 3740 million RMB in its first week of release.

It was a huge success.

The reason for this is that, on the one hand, Zheng Jing is very popular, which led to the initial topic, and on the other hand, the film "Double Vision" is of excellent quality, which subsequently formed a word-of-mouth effect;

On the other hand, we still have to thank our ancestors.

Taoist culture seems to have a low presence, but in fact it has a wide influence throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia.

There are many Taoist temples in Japan and Goryeo.

Wong Tai Sin mentioned in Double Pupils has many followers and great influence in Southeast Asia.

The Zejiang Provincial government has also organized Wong Tai Sin-related activities many times to promote cultural exchanges among the people.

Plus, the subject matter of horror films has always been popular in the Pan-Asian region.

The combination of multiple factors made the box office of "Double Vision" far exceed expectations.

Seeing such strong box office results, Toho Co., Ltd. and Columbia Pictures saw the huge potential of "Double Eyes" and increased investment in publicity and public relations.

After all, the biggest profit of horror movies is not only the box office. The subsequent DVD distribution revenue may be more profitable than the box office.

On November 11, the 4th Tokyo International Film Festival closed and an awards ceremony was held.

Shuangtong became the biggest winner of the night.

It won four major awards in one go: Best Picture (Golden Kylin), Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Zheng Jing became an international film actor, while Shu Chang was crowned the best actress.

After the award results were announced, coupled with media publicity, Shuangtong ushered in another wave of popularity.

Coupled with the continued spread of good word of mouth, the film's box office performance was very strong.

In the second week, the box office reversed the decline and reached 4080 million yuan.

Along with the popularity of "Double Eyes", various analyses of this movie have also emerged one after another.

For a movie to become a classic, audience analysis is essential.

Just like A Chinese Odyssey, which was deconstructed in various ways on mainland forums this year, it was suddenly transformed from a money-losing bad movie into a postmodern classic film.

Zhou Xingchi's reputation soared as a result, and he even gave a speech at Yenching University this year.

Of course, the quality of the film itself must be solid enough to withstand the interpretation of the audience.

As Zheng Jing said, the movie Double Vision contains many details and foreshadowings, but does not give direct answers.

Coupled with the Taoist culture that has been passed down for thousands of years, the audience can deconstruct and analyze it from various angles and still make sense.

In order to better analyze the movie, a small number of viewers will take the initiative to learn about Taoist culture.

More viewers came to understand Taoist culture through these analyses after watching the film.

No matter what, after the popularity of Twinkle in the Sky, a Taoist cultural craze gradually formed in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

The topic of Taoist ascension to heaven is frequently discussed by everyone.

This kind of cultural discussion, in turn, increased the popularity of Double Eyes.

This film has a broad and lasting cultural influence.

(End of this chapter)