Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 343 Proposal (34)

A little poetry prodigy…

Back then, when he was with Mr. Hong, a prominent figure in Beijing's film circle, he made films like "Yellow Earth" and "Farewell My Concubine." When he was with Ms. Ni, he made "Temptress Moon." But his subsequent films were rather unremarkable.

Many people are saying, 'Chen Hong ruined Xiaodaren!'

Han Han once said: "It seems that Xiao Daren has become silly after getting married."

If you look at it from the perspective of the artist's variables—for some directors, artistic talent is a fixed quantity. If they draw too much from it in the early stages, they will be in a state of overdraft for the rest of their lives.

From "Yellow Earth" to "Farewell My Concubine" and then to "The Emperor's Shadow," the creations of the past ten years, regardless of success or failure, have all been passionate and vivid. However, since "Together," through "The Promise," to "Sacrifice," and now to "Monk Comes Down the Mountain," it feels like the Hegemon-King of Chu emerged from Gaixia. No matter how hard he fights to reverse the decline, every step he takes is only getting closer to the Wujiang River.

Like a nouveau riche barging into a university classroom, rudely stuffing Hegel's "Absolute Spirit" and Lao Tzu's "The Tao that can be told" into a popcorn bucket amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, and letting the IMAX screen project his thoughts on a slideshow.

They lack the ability to articulate profound truths and have absolutely no concern for people's hearts or the world.

What he loves to do is, surrounded by dozens of cameras, rack his brains to come up with a couple of words to elevate his own taste, and finally utter a line like, "Arthur, please sit down."

He condensed the traits of a man—greasy, paternalistic, and fragile—into himself like an alchemist refining elixir.

They possess aesthetic sense, a romantic bourgeois sentiment, and some artistic pursuits. Having undergone edification and value shaping, they tend to gravitate towards becoming "artists."

However, they want to pursue art but can't bear to give up the market; they want to pursue the market but can't connect with the masses; and they want to connect with the masses but have to put on airs.

The result is a hodgepodge that looks awkward.

Returning to the topic of publicity, Shen Yan continued, "I recently learned about a term called 'information cocoon'..."

"Information cocoon?"

"It refers to the phenomenon that people are habitually guided by their own interests in the daily information field, thus confining their lives in a 'cocoon' like a silkworm... For example, many of our great directors are flattered, praised, and given high praise by those around them, making them really believe that their works are great, and then they ignore the evaluations from the outside world... Or, they think that the evaluations from the outside world are untrue, and that someone is stirring up trouble to smear them... If this continues, they will probably ask: 'Why don't they eat meat porridge?'"

Uh, every sentence seems to mention the little genius, yet every sentence is inseparable from the little genius…

Han Han interjected, "I have a classmate who studies directing, and he really dislikes Ning Hao. Every time he meets with investors, they ask him to write a 'Crazy Racer'... It wasn't until last year, with films like 'The Beauty Inside,' 'Our Times,' and 'Love is Not Blind,' that things started to improve..."

Ning Hao nodded in agreement: "That's right, now the bosses are all asking us to learn from 'Our Times'..."

Shen Yan laughed: "Investors are thinking about making money, which is understandable!"

"So what are you thinking?"

“Interesting…” Shen Yan confessed: “I think the most important thing for theatrical films is to be interesting… even if they’re bad, as long as they’re interesting, it’s fine!”

Do you know what I'm most jealous of about you?

"Working with Andy Lau?"

"Correct!"

Shen Yan laughed: "When I was writing the script for 'Our Times,' I deliberately added Andy Lau's elements... and then invited him to make a cameo appearance. I knew he would definitely come!"

Luo Yonghao asked curiously, "Why?"

"Mr. Andy Lau is known for helping emerging filmmakers..." Shen Yan paused, then added, "And our script is quite good..."

Ning Hao: "But you later cast him in another movie?"

Shen Yan stood up: "Sheep Without a Shepherd will be released on October 26th this year. Please give it your support!"

“I heard from them that the script is fantastic… Andy Lau was originally planning to take a vacation, but after seeing the script, he gave up his vacation plans?”

“…More or less,” Shen Yan nodded. “Actually, we could have coordinated with his vacation plans…Our director is a fan of his, but he insisted on making the film, so we had to! When are you going to work with Andy Lau?” “I write about street characters, while Andy Lau is a Hong Kong star with a strong urban vibe. But I believe that with my growth and his growth over the past few years, there are more possibilities for our collaboration.”

Shen Yan suggested, "We could write a story about a washed-up Hong Kong actor collaborating with a mainland director to make a rural-themed film, aiming for awards..."

Luo Yonghao interjected: "Why a rural theme?"

This time, without Shen Yan needing to answer, Ning Hao said himself, "If you want to win foreign awards, you have to wear a thick cotton-padded coat and shoot rural-themed films!"

"Yes, Hong Kong actors and rural-themed films—these two seemingly unrelated elements collide, which inherently creates dramatic conflict... Of course, how you actually do it is up to you; I'm just offering an idea..."

Ning Hao nodded: "That's a good idea. I'll think about it carefully when I get back..."

……

It's a real shame about "Mr. Red Carpet"!
Not bold enough.

Telling outrageous stories in a detached and aloof style could have been incredibly impressive.

But the absurdity wasn't absurd enough to create a sense of unbridgeable misunderstanding, which is a real shame.

Let's talk about the plot where Liu Weichi's failed attempt to arrange a runway date...

It's boring and so fake!
The film avoids the character's desires and instincts too much.

Which trending topics we usually see aren't more sensational than his?

Logically speaking, Ning Hao isn't exactly an honest man either—back then there was even entertainment news about 'Xu Zheng, Ning Hao, Huang Bo, and Liu Yiwei dating 12 girls in three days'!
The language used is all about "hunting for women," "spending the night with a mysterious and beautiful woman"...

I don't understand how he managed to make Liu Weichi's film so boring!
Could it be that Andy Lau himself didn't want to overact?

Afraid of ruining their image?

It feels like they're trying to shift the blame...

After all, his later work, "The Good Guy," proved that he could portray the 70-year-old Ge You in various greasy ways...

If Ning Hao were to direct this movie now, it probably wouldn't be bad—could it be any worse than the original "Mr. Red Carpet"?

……

After the promotional event ended, Shen Yan exchanged phone numbers with Han Han and then returned to the film set…

Ning Hao still needs to go to Guangzhou for promotions…

In order to attract the most media attention, "The Great Gold Robbery" spared no effort in its publicity campaign!

If you were to say that Ning Hao didn't value this film, he probably wouldn't believe it himself.

But the film's quality speaks for itself...

All I can do is wish him great box office success!
Oh, Shen Yan kept Han Han's phone number not to invite him to be a director...

Simply to be friends.

Compared to Guo Jingming, Shen Yan is more optimistic about Han Han…

— "Pegasus 2" proves that Han Han can make movies!
Moreover, this guy is quite interesting. There are 100 so-called limited edition copies of "1988: I Want to Talk to the World", which sell for 988 yuan each. Many people thought he was desperate for money and that his behavior was so ugly! Later, it was discovered that he had hidden 10 grams of gold in each book.

Yes, there is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom in books!
(End of this chapter)