Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 744 "The Piano in Steel" - A Taste of Northeastern Literature!

"Our film is a comedy, as long as it makes people laugh, that's enough!"

"Many people online are saying that this movie has a hollow and boring plot."

"It's a comedy, why would it need to convey any philosophical insights about life?"

"But judging from the internet now, it seems that many netizens want to see something more in-depth."

"Who came up with this? Are people looking for depth in comedies instead of comedy?"

"Yeah, it seems like a lot of intellectuals used to say that."

"What?! Which cultured person?"

"Many of them are from Taiwan."

"Ah this..."

"The Laughing Swordsman" is currently being heavily criticized by netizens, and Zhu Yanping is finally unable to hold back her anger.

The last movie was a flop and was heavily criticized, so why is this one?
According to Zhu Yanping, his latest work is basically all about comedy, with a strong element of absurdity. And, from their own perspective, it's really hilarious.

To say that the movie "The Laughing Swordsman" isn't funny would be a complete lie!

With such a firm understanding, Zhu Yanping went to discuss matters with Jia Yueting. However, when he arrived at Leshi, how could Boss Jia possibly see him? He simply sent Zhang Zhao to deal with the situation.

When Zhu Yanping saw Zhang Zhao, he didn't stand on ceremony and said everything he wanted to say.

However, Zhang Zhao's skill in deflecting criticism is indeed impressive; he has consistently used online public opinion as a basis for his arguments.

You, Director Zhu, think your movie is great, but that's just your opinion. Look at what's being said online—it's all criticism.

Zhu Yanping had no other choice. His purpose in coming here was to hope that Leshi could increase its publicity efforts, and he also had one more thing to say.

If your marketing and promotion efforts are weak, then we won't pay the final payment!

Yes, their collaboration is only on publicity and distribution. If the results are not good, then we, "The Laughing Swordsman," are the client, and we won't pay!
Generally speaking, that's true, but Zhang Zhao's words, one by one, left Zhu Yanping speechless.

The subtext is all the same: you didn't make a good movie, so you can't blame others!
Interestingly, the two of them were originally arguing about the cost of publicity and promotion, but neither of them took the initiative to address the issue.

But now, it seems there's no need to say anything more; the word-of-mouth has already spoken for itself.

Look at the ratings on Douban, "The Laughing Hero" only has 4 points!
What are you being so tough about?
Zhu Yanping was furious, but there was nothing she could do.

"This is a comedy!"

Finally, he emphasized this sentence emphatically before leaving Le Shi.

Zhang Zhao naturally wouldn't give it to him; he was just cannon fodder anyway.

As for the final payment... This is the mainland, not a place where your Bamboo Gang can run rampant.

Dare not give it to me! Haha!

Zhang Zhao's sudden change of attitude left Zhu Yanping with a sense of despair, as if he had nowhere to turn. This top director in Taiwan has truly reached the lowest point in his life.

However, the best thing Zhu Yanping can do now is to continue to do on-the-ground promotional activities and interact with many fans in the hope of changing his reputation.

But to be honest, Zhu Yanping makes her judgments based on these activities.

The movie "The Laughing Swordsman" is not that bad!
Many moviegoers were laughing out loud while watching it, and some couldn't stop.

Isn't that what comedies are all about?
Do we really have to come up with some philosophical stuff? Go ahead and do something silly!

Zhu Yanping felt somewhat aggrieved, but he was also a seasoned director who had seen his share of flops. Therefore, he could tell that the public opinion this time was not simple.

So……

Director Zhu thought of someone.

……

Have you seen "The Piano in a Factory"?!

What is it about?

"I cried when I saw the news about being laid off."

"Oh? You cried while watching it? Then I won't watch it."

"No, you don't understand. This movie is actually quite funny, but it can also make you cry."

"real or fake?"

Released at the same time as "The Laughing Swordsman" was "The Piano in a Factory"!
That's right, they were released at the same time, and that was the arrangement.

We can't just release one movie at a time.

This is a disservice to the term "Lunar New Year film season," considering how prosperous the Chinese film market is right now.

In fact, it's not unreasonable for a single event to release several movies at the same time.

It's just one movie, "The Piano in a Factory," not many, and there's not much conflict.

Moreover, this film was released early in the Lunar New Year season, at the beginning of December, which clearly meant it was being used as cannon fodder.

but!

"I thought that last part was pretty good, let's make it a trending topic."

"Yes, boss! I'll take care of it right away!"

On the top floor of Enlight Media, Ma Xun was making arrangements for Wang Changtian.

The online discussion just now is a genuine comment from netizens about this movie.

"The Piano in a Factory" is indeed a very good movie; its quality is quite high.

Moreover, this is not a film that plays on people's sympathy.

No, it's not. In fact, the whole movie has a very authentic Northeastern literary flavor.

Ma Xun believes that most people may not be able to understand the characteristics of Northeastern literature.

This even includes most people from Northeast China.

Fortunately, Ma Xun knew about this so-called 'characteristic'.

Northeast Literature: It's like a middle-aged man who has experienced many hardships, sitting on a heated brick bed in the dead of winter, telling everyone about his experiences over the years.

Most of what he talked about was suffering, but he was all smiles from beginning to end. In fact, the more difficult the story was, the more he could make everyone laugh.

After everyone has finished laughing, tears will inevitably fall. Ma Xun doesn't know if his description is correct, because there is no standard answer.

However, he seems to be different from many writers who tell stories of suffering.

Take Yu Hua, for example. His style is completely different.

Of course, Ma Xun also really likes Yu Hua's works.

But Ma Xun himself had this feeling about the characteristics of Northeast literature, because he had heard his elder brother describe it in this way before. Perhaps he didn't use many fancy words, but he could make people laugh from time to time.

That's why Northeast China is particularly good at producing comedy stars; even hardships can be turned into jokes to make everyone laugh.

The film "The Piano in a Factory" gave Ma Xun this feeling: Chen Guilin is actually a very difficult person, but he is always looking for a way.

It's like at the beginning, when their band was doing a funeral performance, the family thought the music they played was too sad and needed to be more cheerful so the old man could pass away sooner.

Good heavens, this host family... just listens to what others say.

And so, a cheerful tune followed.

That's hilarious!
In Ma Xun's view, comedy films should be judged by the standards of comedy films.

If a comedy can make people laugh, then at least it can be said that it's passable.

I watch comedies just to laugh and have a good time. If you can't even do that, then you shouldn't be making comedies at all!

But this is only a passing grade.

If we can add some value to a comedy, it can definitely improve the quality of the comedy.

To put it bluntly, that means the rating will be higher.

However, Ma Xun still firmly believes that what's truly important is that a comedy can make people laugh.

Just like taking a college entrance exam, making people laugh is the basic requirement, while providing valuable information is a bonus. Don't get the priorities mixed up.

However, "The Piano in a Factory" cannot be simply defined as a comedy, because it also contains a lot of magical realism.

You can see Qin Hailu and the others' dance as the protagonists' imagination.

But it can also be seen as true.

Maybe they danced or played music, even during that difficult period of mass layoffs.

They also adopted this attitude.

So you can watch this movie however you like, as long as you watch it carefully.

Ma Xun believes that a good movie is successful as long as people discover its merits.

Conversely, the reason why "The Piano in a Factory" didn't do well at the box office in the original timeline was because these guys didn't know how to market it!

Now, I'll take care of it.

First, get this trending topic going, and then...

"Bingbing, it's up to you from now on."

"Brother Ma, don't worry."

"Don't let me down, Best Actor and Best Actress winners at the Tokyo International Film Festival!"

"Do not worry!"

This phone call from Ma Xun was his second step.

That's right, delete the Korean actress's scenes and replace her with Bingbing.

This resulted in the Best Actor and Best Actress winners from the Tokyo International Film Festival starring in the same movie!
This is absolutely a decisive benefit for marketing!

Actually, in the original timeline, it was Bingbing and Wang Qianyuan who won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards together.

Ma Xun was merely adding fuel to the fire, along with a few tricks.

Hmm, it reminds me of a Tokyo Film Festival later, where Guan Gu won Best Actor, which made a certain actress very unhappy.

That series of public feuds was truly fascinating, and even an acquaintance joined in, and she...

At that moment, the assistant called the internal line.

"Mr. Ma, Miss Hao Lei wishes to see you."

"Let her come up."

Hao Lei, yes, that's her!

Ma Xun smiled; whoever he thought of, that's who it was...

So, when Hao Lei came up in the elevator and was about to say something, Ma Xun simply pushed her down!

"You... um~"

It's been very popular lately.