I'm not a drama freak, I can really see through the script

Chapter 365, Two-tiered reputation, "Nanjing Photo Studio" offers a stronger perspective!

The New World?
Where did the movie come from?

Wang Lei was stunned, and Wang Su was also slightly surprised as they looked at the box office data that had been generated.

"It seems to be a film from the Hong Kong film circle." Wang Shuo was somewhat surprised. He had long since stopped paying much attention to the increasingly declining Hong Kong film circle.

It can be said that his current status in the Chinese-language film and television industry is due to his taking over the mantle from the Hong Kong film and television industry.
The flowers are already withered and faded from yesterday.

The last two films, "Protégé" and "The Warlords," were the last things the Hong Kong film industry had to offer.

Even "Lust, Caution" is considered part of the American film circle; strictly speaking, it doesn't belong to the Hong Kong film circle at all.
The Hong Kong entertainment circle has been discontinued.
The same old guys are still active now.
There's absolutely no new generation of stars like Andy Lau.

Even the two main characters in "New World" are familiar names to Luo Jin and Zhu Yawen.

Oh right, it's someone from Li Xuan's group.

I'd heard before that Li Xuan didn't really control his subordinates, just randomly hiring planners from outside, and now they've even gone all the way to Hong Kong.
"This movie has a pretty big marketing push. Andy Lau is bringing in Law Chin and Zhu Yawen, and they're treating it like a major project in Hong Kong," Wang Shuo said. "It seems that crime films still have a certain market. Releasing it at a time like this, it's actually managed to achieve some box office success on its opening day."

Old themes can still shine with new light.
Next up was "Nanjing Photo Studio," which grossed seven million at the box office.

Slightly inferior to "Nanjing! Nanjing".

Not bad
After all, the Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Film Academy directly organizing students to go to the movies is a truly brilliant move.

The message spread that since both the Central Academy of Drama and the film "Back View" organized students to see it, we should also go see this excellent film; it's definitely worth it.

"The box office results are in, and as expected, the subsequent public opinion won't surprise us either."

Public opinion was practically a given; this time, "Nanjing! Nanjing!" had invited a large number of media outlets and representatives from exemplary organizations to attend the screenings.
Even public opinion and feedback have been completely recovered.
It's already in a sense that the answer was known beforehand—'opening the book'.

Right now, all we're doing is putting the answers on the exam paper.

Ratings from media outlets like Douban and Sina.
That would be great.
"This is no longer my stage," Wang Lei smiled. Ratings and word-of-mouth are no longer his concern. The Forbidden Kingdom's stage is not here.

Wang Shuo joked, "Haha."

"At least you have some self-awareness."

Wang Lei:
When the ratings came out, "The Forbidden Kingdom" was the first film to be released.

6.6 points.

At this moment, Wang Lei looked at the initial score.

"6.1 points, that's not bad."

"Isn't it 6.6?" Wang Su was slightly taken aback.

“Foreign films automatically get an extra 0.5 points.” Wang Lei smiled slightly at Wang Su. “That’s common knowledge in the entertainment industry, isn’t it? Those of us who are on the front lines all year round know this kind of information.”

Wang Su frowned slightly, but did not respond further.
Zheng Long acted as a peacemaker.

"Let's see how public opinion rates 'Nanjing! Nanjing' go next."

The rating for "Nanjing! Nanjing" on Douban has also been released.

8.1 points.
This score is quite high.
not bad.

If it weren't for the 8.4 score of the neighboring "Nanjing Photo Studio".

A collective gasp of astonishment filled the air.

Lu Chuan was also taken aback.
This is impossible!

8.1 points is a pretty good score.
But the higher score for the same subject matter is just a needle, a thorn!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Lu Chuan clenched his fists. When he saw his score, he couldn't believe that it was lower than Li Xuan's.

This was an outcome he never expected!

Something must be wrong!

Is it a bug?

He went to the computer, refreshed it again and again, and the results were always the same: the score.

8.1 versus 8.4.

The number of comments was 1500 compared to 700.
"Calm down, this might be a trick by the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy. Don't forget, we are recognized by all the social elites. Those who are cultured and have aspirations appreciate our work more, and our works also receive more comments."

Wang Su calmly analyzed the situation, noting that while "Nanjing Photo Studio" has a higher score than "Nanjing! Nanjing," the number of comments is inverted.

If I absolutely have to say something about this situation...

This has never happened before.
And then click into the comments.

"The redemptive literature in 'Nanjing! Nanjing' is truly excellent."

"This is the best film I've ever seen depicting the Nanjing Massacre."

"Evil cannot extinguish the light of humanity."

Many of the highly-rated comments are insightful and meaningful.

“Yes, this shows that we are recognized by the mainstream of the cultural world. When the mainstream also recognizes us, everything else is just noise, noise that we can ignore.” Wang Su pondered for a moment and said, “Actually, if you look at the number of comments, there are still some negative comments, but our ‘Nanjing! Nanjing’ doesn’t have many negative comments. Maybe it really is a mistake.”

At this point, the Douban score and reviews became inverted, a situation he had never heard of before.
He tried to appear calm.

Maybe it's just a bug.

Perhaps someone is using money as a fig leaf.

But the only thing that is certain.

Wang Shuo is definitely not as calm as he looks now.

The next day, I opened Douban and Sina websites.

"Nanjing Photo Studio" scores 8.6.

"Nanjing! Nanjing" scores 7.9.

No bugs were found.

Moreover, the score for "Nanjing Photo Studio" actually increased, while the score for "Nanjing! Nanjing" decreased.

This is impossible, absolutely impossible!

On the third day, after someone had watched both movies, the comment with the most likes finally became something that Wang Shuo and Lu Chuan had to take seriously.

"After watching 'Nanjing Photo Studio,' never watch 'Nanjing! Nanjing,' or you'll experience breast pain."

Lu Chuan remained silent at this moment.

silence
Including box office revenue. Wang Lei had no time to come to this small courtyard to drink champagne at this point.

In terms of box office, "New World" has already started to outperform "The Forbidden Kingdom," a film that is extremely 'clichéd'.

Lu Chuan, on the other hand, looked at the box office figures.

The box office for "Nanjing! Nanjing" reached 600 million yuan on its third day.

The box office for "Nanjing Photo Studio" was 750 million.

box office.

It's started hanging upside down.
"Publicity! Publicity, go all out on publicity!" Wang Su picked up the landline phone in the room and handed it to the person in charge of publicity.

The box office revenue is inverted.

Is this really true?!

Even now, Lu Chuan can no longer ignore it.

"Mr. Wang, Mr. Zheng, I'd like to go see this movie."

"Yes, we'll go with you."

After a moment of silence, Zheng Long said, "I just want to see what kind of magic he used to bewitch those people into contributing to his box office and popularity. In other words, even if he used the same perspective as you, how did he manage to do it when his publicity, storyboarding, and cinematography resources are inferior to yours?"

If it's not from the same perspective.

How do you get a high score?

Is it going to be like those anti-Japanese war dramas, where they use cameras to kill Japanese soldiers?

Otherwise, why would it be called "Nanjing Photo Studio"?

This absurd thought flashed through my mind, but one thing was true.

I need to go and take a look.

This movie.

Is he really that good?

Otherwise, it would really be unacceptable.

I really disagree
Really bad.

Why is it that this time, the Beijing film industry is shrinking in both box office performance and public opinion?
The Sino-US co-production "The Forbidden Kingdom" was aiming for box office success, but a film called "New World" suddenly appeared out of nowhere and surged ahead with an absolute force, seemingly even more powerful than "The Forbidden Kingdom".

It has a fierce momentum to challenge "The Forbidden Kingdom" for the top spot at the domestic box office.
Box office and public opinion battleground—everything was fine yesterday, so why is it like this today?
"Excuse me, I'm going to watch 'New World' too," Wang Lei said, wondering what magic this movie possessed.

This movie clearly has nothing to do with Li Xuan anymore; it's all about a new generation of television actors.

How come his subordinates also possess such strength and magic?
"What a coincidence?"

"Hmm, what a coincidence."

Lu Chuan bumped into Liu Meizhen when he went to the movie theater. Knowing that she was also going to see "Nanjing Photo Studio", he made plans to go together.
"Did you also see the scores in the comments and think they were unreasonable?"

"No, I originally wanted to see his movie anyway."

Lu Chuan: "."

Liu Meizhen made no attempt to hide her interest in Li Xuan himself.
This made Lu Chuan even more depressed, especially judging from his expression. This representative from Lionsgate China seemed genuinely interested in Li Xuan. Really interested.

What is it about this country bumpkin that makes him so appealing?
He really couldn't figure it out.

When they entered the cinema and the movie started, Wang Shuo and Zheng Long were both taken aback by the almost direct and straightforward way of expression.

Unlike Lu Chuan's showy techniques, his expression is simple and direct.

Blood, flesh, shattered city walls, smoke, defeated defending soldiers, people rushing into Nanjing, and a noble photographer, someone who seems to be similar to Hideo Ito in "Nanjing! Nanjing!"

A character used to 'highlight humanity'.

From what I've seen so far, Wang Su also feels that it shares structural similarities with "Nanjing! Nanjing!"

But why, why is there such a difference in scores?

But it seems that the direction changes from the very end of the first act.

His perspective is very narrow; it really is just a photo studio, without many righteous and awe-inspiring people, but rather a collection of 'little people'.

They are greedy for life and afraid of death, clinging to life in a cowardly manner.

Wang Shuo agrees with this point – aren't ordinary people just like that? What do they know about serving the country?
But when they see the photos, when they make choices and take a turn...
Everything was so reasonable.

And Hideo Ito, who looked like a 'friend,' was not a friend at all, but a person with militaristic ideology.

At this moment, Wang Suo and Zheng Long were not without discernment; they looked at Lu Chuan, whose forehead was also covered in fine beads of sweat.
Sweat streamed down his face.
Here.

The movie raises a question.

This is a damn fundamental problem that completely undermines the core logic of "Nanjing! Nanjing!"
If you are a soldier with humanity.

Why enter another country's territory? Why join a group whose purpose is invasion and war?
When you choose to join militarism, you have already chosen to cast aside your 'humanity'.
There are no innocent victims among the invaders.

After the movie ended, the entire theater was silent; there was no discussion whatsoever. All the Chinese people there remained silent.
No, everyone who wasn't Japanese remained silent, including Liu Meizhen, an American.
I was completely immersed in it, with all my emotions and feelings.

She had the same feeling while watching "Nanjing! Nanjing!", but Lu Chuan used superb skills and a profound character portrayal in "Nanjing! Nanjing!".

Use some.

She can feel what excellent directors show off their skills and what they use to produce.

It can be said that this comes from the movie Nanjing Nanjing.

I saw many things Lu Chuan used to show off his skills, which shows that his technical skills as a director are very high and very strong.
He originally thought that in the film "Nanjing Photo Studio," which had a similar theme and a similar synopsis, it would be a "battle of skills," and that Lu Chuan would even have an advantage in terms of vision.

The vision, skill, age—these elements combined to create a picture that conveyed 80% of the feeling to her heart and soul.
But "Nanjing Photo Studio" is different. Simple shots and individual photographs are enough to move people. There are no frills or embellishments.
The most direct and raw footage.
The lowest perspective, the perspective of an ordinary person struggling to survive.

Despite the dangers and the hardships they faced, the common people ultimately made their own choice.

From the perspective of the Chinese people.
The same history, different perspectives.
Some prominent figures from Beijing's elite circles were still saying that "Nanjing Photo Studio" was too extreme, visually unappealing, and would have negative consequences, such as one-dimensional character portrayals.
But Liu Meizhen didn't speak, and Lu Chuan beside her was also silent. From the perspective of a front-line creator, they knew what level Li Xuan's "Nanjing! Nanjing" was at.
"If those peasants don't know how to appreciate humanity, I believe the award two years from now will be fair to you."

"Yes, the film festival awards will give you the recognition you deserve. Our films are not for the common people. If they don't know how to appreciate them, that's their problem. Their loss is their failure."

At this moment, Lu Chuan heard comforting voices coming from the side. The comforting voices of two 'elders' from the Beijing circle.

Take a deep breath.

"Whether it's well-received or not, we'll have to wait for the awards to judge. Ordinary people can't really define my work."

That's all I can tell myself.
(End of this chapter)