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

Chapter 981 The Final Scene (23)

Jiang Wen's movies...

To be honest, with Jiang Wen's movies, once you've watched them, that's it; don't argue with anyone about it.

His approach is a closed loop, a self-contained system. If you try to apply standards to it, emphasizing objectivity, theory, and underlying layers, everyone has their own perspective, and no one can convince anyone else.

Jiang Wen photographs things he likes, including the elements and expressions within them, and the romanticism he uses.

Ah, all of these are things he thinks are good, so he takes them out and puts them together for you, making them particularly strong. Therefore, his work—the visuals, music, rhythm, and dialogue—is impeccable, and it's all in his style.

Just like durian...

If you ask someone who doesn't eat durian to say it's delicious, they won't be able to say it, but they know it's definitely not a bad fruit...

Some films, supposedly experimental, are full of metaphors, pretentiously striking a few poses, with a dry story, lifeless characters, and an unexciting plot. You can't say they have no ideas, but they are clearly immature and childish in their creation.

Jiang Wen's films certainly don't belong to this category, but his overly dense use of metaphors falls into the trap of being too adept at his own style, indulging too much in personal narrative and ignoring the audience's feelings and understanding.

Objectively speaking, the story is still enjoyable, but it inevitably has a sense of obscurity.

This reminds me of a story: Bai Juyi's poems are known to everyone, from women to children!

Here's a translation: Bai Juyi would always read his poems aloud to an old lady after he finished writing them.

Continue revising until the old lady understands.

Someone asked why? You're a master! Wouldn't that be beneath you?

Bai Juyi said: Even masters have to speak like human beings; those who pretend to be cool will surely be struck by lightning!

Taking "Gone with the Bullets" as an example, the film opens with Jiang Wen spending a full 30 minutes creating a lavish dance scene...

A full thirty minutes!

No matter how profound the scene is, or how sexy the elegantly dressed women are, such a lengthy scene will turn away the audience!

Including Xu Qing in "Hidden Man," who constantly sells his seductive charm...

These shots, aside from being close to the plot, don't seem to have much to do with the story, and deleting them wouldn't affect the plot's development.

And it's not necessarily that attractive!
Feng Xiaogang once said, "A movie should be like wine; even if you only take a sip, it has to be wine."

What you photographed were grapes, very fresh grapes, even with frost on them, but you didn't turn them into wine. They started as grapes, and they remain grapes.

Other directors understand this principle; they know a film should be like wine, but without the brewing process. It starts with a sip of wine and ends with another sip. Even worse, this wine isn't made from grapes or grains; it's chemically diluted.

This means that movies also have visual language, narrative style, shooting techniques, and performance expression.

Jiang Wen shows almost no respect for the mature techniques and narrative methods that have been established over many years of film development…

Of course, you could also say that his films don't belong to the category of commercial films!

Then it doesn't matter...

Take pictures of whatever you want. After all, it doesn't bother you since there's no one else around. Just entertain yourself.

But if you want to sell tickets with it, then I'm sorry, you really have to respect the rules of business, otherwise you'd be acting like a scoundrel.
……

The crew of "Zaijiutang" is filming their final scene...

Before Jiang Tangzuo went to Guangzhou to take the imperial examination, Su Shi inscribed two lines of poetry on his fan: "The sea has never severed the earth's veins, and Zhuyai has broken new ground since then." He also encouraged him, saying, "When you pass the imperial examination in the future, I will write this poem for you."

The final scene shows Jiang Tangzuo, played by Shen Yan, passing the imperial examination in Guangzhou and preparing to continue his studies in the north. He also visits Su Zhe, who has been relieved of his demotion and is going to Ruzhou to take up his post.

Su Zhe was deeply moved. He picked up the fan his brother had carried and added the last two lines for Jiang Tangzuo: "In his brocade robes, people will soon flock to see him. Only then will I believe in Su Dongpo's discerning eye."

Liu Yijun plays Su Zhe… Meanwhile, Su Zhe tells Jiang Tangzuo that Su Shi’s demotion order has been lifted, but Su Shi has already passed away on his way back north.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Tangzuo felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

At the same time, he told Su Zhe that he would no longer participate in any exams, but would return to his hometown to open a school and continue to spread the seeds of Central Plains culture sown by his teacher Su Shi.

Su Zhe set down the teacup lid: Tang Zuo, today you have the air of a mountain between your brows. Have you decided on your future?
Jiang Tangzuo took out a yellowed scroll from his sleeve: "Mr. Ziyou, this is a fragment of Su Shi's annotated commentary on the *Yijing*. Last night, when he annotated this page, the ink had seeped through the paper three inches..."

At the same time, he lightly stroked the coupon page with his fingertips: "The student suddenly realized that the real examination hall was not in Bianliang, but on the coast of Hainan!"

Su Zhe stared at the dried ink marks in the inkstone: "My elder brother often said that Danzhou, a place plagued by miasma, is actually a place where literature and culture flourish."

Jiang Tangzuo suddenly knelt down and kowtowed three times: "Please allow me to relinquish my status as a candidate for the imperial examination! I want the children of the Li family to also know 'When will the bright moon appear?' and to use banana leaves as paper and coconut juice as ink. The spark sown by Su Dongpo must not be extinguished on the road."

When Su Zhe helped him up, he touched the thick calluses on his palms and sighed, "These hands of yours should be holding a ceremonial tablet!"

Jiang Tangzu unfolded a banana leaf covered with Li ethnic nursery rhymes:
"Look! The students have already transcribed the rhythm of 'Ode to the Red Cliff' in their local dialect. The Han dynasty's writing, paired with the tune of the Li folk song, has even made the mountain sparrows stop and sing in harmony!"

Su Zhe's tears splattered onto the ink-written words on the banana leaf: Good!

Jiang Tangzu clasped his hands in a fist and said: "If one day you see nursery rhymes and Han poems engraved on the same stele, it will be my answer to Mr. Dongpo's policy essay."

As dusk fell, a Li hunter passed by. Jiang Tangzuo walked along the seashore, reciting "The Great River Flows East." The sea breeze carried the sound of his reading, startling a flock of egrets that flew towards the Central Plains...

Voiceover: From then on, through the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Hainan produced a total of 767 Juren (successful candidates in the provincial examinations) and 97 Jinshi (successful candidates in the imperial examinations). The "Chronicle of Qiongzhou" records: "When Su Wenzhong of the Song Dynasty was exiled to Danzhou, he lectured and enlightened the people, and education flourished day by day. The prosperity of culture in Qiongzhou was truly initiated by him."

"Crack!"

"Should we add another section?"

"Add what?"

When Su Shi returned north, he passed through Lingnan. Zhang Dun, the prime minister who had framed and attacked him, was exiled to Lingnan for opposing Emperor Huizong's ascension to the throne.

Zhang Dun's son, Zhang Yuan, fearing that Su Shi would retaliate against his father, wrote a letter to Su Shi asking him to show leniency.

Su Shi immediately wrote back to comfort them, and told Zhang Yuan about his experiences living in Lingnan. He also instructed Zhang Yuan that Lingnan lacked medical care and medicine, and that he should bring more medicine for his father in case of emergency.

Upon receiving the letter, Zhang Yuan was deeply moved by Su Shi's magnanimity and warmheartedness.

Screenwriter Zhu Yong nodded: "OK!"

Zhu Yong is the editor of the documentary "Su Dongpo"...

He wrote almost all the dialogue in the entire "Zaijiutang"!
"Nephew Zhang Yuan, it is as if we meet in person. I heard that your father is to be exiled to Lingnan. This is not a misfortune, but rather a divine gift of the mountains and rivers. I once chewed betel nuts at the foot of Mount Luofu, finding them more delicious than dragon meat, and ate lychees as if they were elixirs… However, you must remember: you should have three baskets of Huoxiang Zhengqi pills on hand; betel nuts can relieve miasma but damage teeth, so you should rub them with coarse salt. I have also attached nine Li ethnic medicine prescriptions: if you have boils and fever, take the juice of banana root…"

Months later, in the study of the Zhang family mansion in Bianjing. Zhang Yuan, his fingertips white, clutched the letter and choked out to the old servant, "Father nearly killed Su Gong back then, and now this record of survival in Lingnan is even more detailed than the Imperial Medical Bureau's medical manual."

Suddenly, a warning appeared at the end of the letter: "This prescription was obtained from a centenarian woman in Limu Mountain, Dan'er. Do not transmit it to the Imperial Pharmacy."

"Quickly! Replace all the Purple Snow Pills with the honeysuckle vine that Master Su mentioned! Father is afraid of dampness, so we need to add some mugwort floss and sew it into his pillow."

—Zhang Dun was actually a good politician.

Emperor Zhezong passed away, leaving the throne vacant. In the court, everyone held their breath. When the Empress Dowager suggested that Prince Duan, Zhao Ji, be made emperor, Chancellor Zhang Dun abruptly stood up, his voice like a hammer striking the ground: "Prince Duan is frivolous and unfit to rule the world!"

Prince Duan...that is, Emperor Huizong of Song!

Twenty-five years after Zhang Dun's death, the Northern Song Dynasty, which he had vehemently opposed, suffered the "Jingkang Incident"—the Jin army captured Bianjing (Kaifeng), took Emperors Huizong and Qinzong captive, and the Northern Song Dynasty perished.

Therefore, at least in "Zaijiutang", Zhang Dun is not the villain...

(End of this chapter)