Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 490 Getting Too Immersed in the Role, Closing the Net at Huayi

Since the beginning of November, the evil axis's online ticketing business has been in full swing, swallowing the obstacles that Boss Lu had set for them.

Meanwhile, with the strong support of two behind-the-scenes manipulators, Huayi, after being severely beaten in May, gradually showed the strength of the industry's second-largest player. Taking advantage of Wenjie's public announcement of a postponement of its listing, it made every effort to achieve its strategic goals.

The entire Beijing investment circle is like a tightly meshed machine, with underwriters and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) working together, from roadshow plans to approval processes, each displaying their unique abilities.

Boss Lu didn't care much about this and maintained his strategic focus, gradually mending and shrinking the large net that had been laid out for many years.

At the end of November, Lu Kuan and Liu Yifei completed their final scenes for "Under the Hawthorn Tree," which were also the most emotionally intense parts of the entire film.
The third son was on his deathbed when Jingqiu rushed into the ward wearing his favorite red dress, and a scene of life and death unfolded.

No one expected that the filming, which had been almost uninterrupted since the start of production, would turn into a fierce battle in the final scene.

What was supposed to be the simplest climax turned into a sudden and unexpected blow to everyone.

Liu Yifei's emotional breakdown came too early, too suddenly, and too without any sense of structure.

The process of this scene was very simple:
Jingqiu received a message from Lao San's younger brother, sent by Lao San's father, asking her to go to the hospital to see Lao San one last time as her lover lay dying.

After entering the ward, Bao Guoan, who plays the father of the third son, briefly explained the situation to her. Then, the crowd made way for Jingqiu to walk up to the third son.

A female soldier watching reminded her to call her name, because in a previous scene, the third brother had said:

Even if I have one foot in the grave, if I hear your name, I will pull my foot back to see you.

On the set of a 70s hospital, Zhang Yimou had already yelled "Cut!" five times.

The reasons were all pretty much the same. After seeing her husband lying on the bed in realistic makeup and costume, coupled with the strong emotional state caused by pregnancy hormones, Xiao Liu was unable to finish her lines properly for a while.

He was already sobbing uncontrollably on the way to the hospital with a camera in hand.

Liu Xiaoli was also very worried watching from the sidelines. She was afraid that if her daughter's filming of this scene was too difficult and too heartbreaking, it would affect the baby in her belly.

Zhang Yimou must have thought of this too.

After Xiao Liu confirmed her pregnancy in late September, all her filming commitments were concentrated in one go to make things easier for her. It's been exactly two months since then, and it was supposed to be a happy wrap-up...

Zhang Yimou called the actresses to the monitor again. Zhang Mo put her arm around Xiao Liu's shoulder, and the latter wiped away her tears with difficulty, her tone embarrassed:
"Director Zhang, I really can't control myself, I just can't control myself at all. Just thinking about it..."

Zhang Yimou, a man of considerable experience, smiled gently and said, "Consort Yi, your situation is special right now. It doesn't matter if this scene is filmed tomorrow or the day after."

"But you can't get too emotional, it's bad for your health."

So far, the parties involved have no intention of revealing the truth, and Zhang Yimou has only mentioned it briefly. In fact, everyone on set knew the truth.

From a physiological perspective, pregnant women's mood swings and difficulty in controlling them are mainly related to changes in hormone levels.

During pregnancy, the levels of estrogen and progesterone rise significantly, directly affecting the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, reducing the ability to regulate emotions, and amplifying the effects of emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

Zhang Yimou patiently explained the scene to her again: "Now that this movie has been filmed this far, I think you have a better understanding of the tone. In fact, the core of the final life-and-death separation is not crying, but endurance!"

"People in this era can't control birth, aging, sickness and death, but they have to suppress all their joys, sorrows and anger. It's an instinct, even in situations like this."

"So I need your emotional build-up. What is the highest level of tragic performance? It's 'anti-performance.' You've gotten too deeply involved in this part. The guy in bed is actually quite lively!"

Xiao Liu didn't answer, but just nodded silently.

The performance outlines that Zhang Yimou mentioned were ones that she herself had designed countless times when creating character biographies.

But today, for some reason, when she saw her husband lying on the bed like a dying man, Liu Yifei couldn't rationally distinguish between the real world and the movie world.

The actress's dedication, coupled with the effects of pregnancy hormones, caused her to become too immersed in the role.

Liu Xiaoli resisted the urge to approach and comfort her daughter, a habit she had developed since she brought Xiao Liu to her first film crew when she was fourteen or fifteen.

Zhang Mo whispered, "Qianqian, are you alright? If not, we can shoot this afternoon."

Liu Yifei sniffed and forced a smile: "Come on, your tears are almost dry after crying so many times, so your threshold should have increased quite a bit."

She glanced at Lu Kuan on the bed. His makeup and makeup were too complicated, and he was covered in tubes and oxygen tanks, making it difficult for him to speak or move around. Otherwise, the set would have to be rearranged.

The makeup team came and slightly covered up Xiao Liu's red and swollen eyes, and five minutes later they started a new take.

Running in the same rain, pushing open the same door, the same...

Another failure.

"Cut!" Zhang Yimou decisively called a halt. He couldn't let Liu Yifei continue crying like this; even he was terrified watching it on the monitor.

"Everyone, rest where you are and remove Director Lu's makeup first."

He walked to the bedside and said with a wry smile, "Get up quickly and try to persuade your wife. Don't let her get stuck in a dead end."

Boss Lu had already sat up by herself, and held out her hands for the staff to remove her makeup: "Make sure to wipe off everything that can be wiped off, otherwise the effect will still be the same when she sees it."

To realistically portray a person dying of leukemia, the production team covered the entire face with specially mixed gray-blue greasepaint and used deep purplish-red to create subcutaneous bleeding points on prominent areas such as the cheekbones and nostrils.

Other artificial cleft lip effects include edema of the conjunctival mucosa, and the use of imitation indwelling needles on the collarbone and elastic bandages wrapped around the forearm to create the illusion of muscle atrophy.

These are all skills that Wenjie Films learned from the foreign crew of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" a few years ago. Makeup and costume are not only a basic category of film logistics, but can also serve special effects.

Mr. Lu "came back to life" and went outside wearing his hospital slippers. Liu Xiaoli was still comforting her daughter, who hugged her husband tightly as soon as she saw him. Before she could say a word, her eyes were already filled with tears.

Liu Xiaoli nodded to her son-in-law and walked away. The crew members nearby also dispersed to rest, as everyone understood the difficulty of this scene.

There's a kind of helplessness where you know how to act, but you just can't control your physiological reactions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.

Lu Kuan gently stroked her back, his knuckles sliding down the curve of her spine, soothing her gently: "It seems you broke the record for 'Whiplash' today. You didn't break the NG record, but you did break the record for crying."

Xiao Liu gently punched his shoulder, looked up with a pitiful expression, and said with a faint blush of grievance on the tip of her nose, "I should let you experience this feeling, you cold-blooded animal."

"And it's all your fault! If you hadn't gotten me pregnant, I wouldn't be unable to act out such a simple scene now!"

The washing machine smugly said, "This is clearly blaming me, so why does it sound so accomplished? Does it mean I'm a good shot?"

"Shameless! Get lost!" Liu Yifei looked up at his face, which had regained its health, and her mood eased a little after a few words of teasing.

It just goes to show how powerful hormones are.

The autumn wind swept across the film set, swirling a few withered leaves around their feet. The aching sensation that had just been tearing at their insides had somehow transformed into a pool of warm water in his palm.

Lu Kuan pulled her to sit down on a chair on the set: "Let's talk about the film."

“You are emotionally unstable, but is there a problem with your performance? I didn’t open my eyes to look at you just now, but I heard almost everything.”

"What is the core of the performance that Zhang Yimou needs you to provide? It can be summarized in one sentence: Calm despair can penetrate the screen more effectively than sentimentality."

"Think about Gong Li in 'To Live,' how did she interpret Youqing's death?"

Liu Yifei was stunned for a moment. Before participating in "Under the Hawthorn Tree", she had watched almost all of Zhang Yimou's works again, so she was naturally familiar with this classic scene.

In the novel "To Live", Youqing dies during the "Great Leap Forward" period, when he is crushed to death after the district head Chunsheng's car crashes into a wall.

This setting binds individual fate with the absurdity of the era. Chunsheng is both Fugui's comrade-in-arms and a "power symbol" who indirectly caused the death of his son, highlighting the powerlessness of individuals at the bottom in the torrent of history.

In this film, Jingqiu is only able to freely express her emotions at the very end, temporarily escaping the heavy burden of the era.

She couldn't have burst into tears so easily. In the original novel, it was only after the female soldiers watching urged her that she murmured things like, "I am Jingqiu, wake up."

Mr. Lu pointed out her performance flaws: "Putting aside emotional control, the reason you can't break free from the boundary between reality and drama for a while is that your understanding of this performance is not deep enough, isn't it?"

Liu Yifei was taken aback. This kind of reminder and criticism was like a teacher talking to a student: Don't always say that you are careless. Maybe you don't know how to do this problem at all.

In fact, it is indeed a combination of both.

Zhang Yimou only told her that the performance needed to have layers, but he didn't get to the point. As a girl from the late 80s to the late 90s, Liu Yifei's understanding of this period of history was too shallow.

This is not something you can fully understand just by reading a few books on trauma literature or having acted opposite a few veteran actors.

“Look, Gong Li’s performance in ‘To Live’ is characterized by three aspects: physiological reactions, body language, and explosive delivery of dialogue.”

"Upon hearing the news of her death, she designed a movement in which all her muscles froze instantly, her pupils dilated but unfocused, as if her soul had been ripped away."

"As she was being dragged away from the scene, she repeatedly rubbed the mud off her sleeves; the mechanical action revealed her subconscious rejection of reality."

"When Chunsheng knelt down to repent, Gong Li looked down at him with a gaze that was not one of hatred, but rather one of absurd mockery, as if questioning the injustice of fate."

Lu Kuan patiently summarized: "But she is grieving the loss of her child, while you are separated from your lover forever and regret that you have no chance to be together. You can turn the emotional ebb and flow of a pregnant woman into an advantage. For example, you can suddenly lose focus, avoid the tragic situation of your lover, and look at the light outside the window. This can actually show the sense of dissociation when Jingqiu's mind is on the verge of collapse."

"Think about the numbness of the people in 'Tangshan' when they suddenly hear the bad news, and give this expression more layers."

In the original version of "Under the Hawthorn Tree," the little yellow duck just cries, nothing else.

She kept biting her lower lip, which made her performance too obvious and artificial, and it was hard to stay immersed in the story.

Without taking on multiple roles simultaneously, a typical actress can only have a maximum of two roles a year – roles that she can study and experience in depth.

Liu Yifei's portrayal of Jingqiu, which relies solely on crying to express her character, is no longer up to her current level and is a waste of the acting opportunities available in films and roles of this era.

She can gain more acting experience from this and take another step closer to her career goals.

The couple sat side by side in a corner of the film set for a long time and talked for a long time.

The husband's hand remained on the girl's slightly trembling hand. When he turned to the side, the shoulder seams of his hospital gown costume gathered up, like a gentle barrier.

He didn't rush to comfort her; only the occasional sip of warm water, shimmering in the sunlight, formed a tranquil harmony with Xiao Liu's intermittent narration.

Zhang Yimou saw this peaceful scene from a short distance away and hoped that his words of comfort would be effective.

This interruption lasted until after lunch, and the first scene of the afternoon started filming promptly at 1:30.

Without much guidance, everyone took their places.

After finishing her makeup, Liu Yifei appeared on the monitor with a serene expression.

Zhang Yimou couldn't see anything amiss either. He simply picked up the walkie-talkie and said gently, "There's plenty of time this afternoon. Don't rush, Consort Yi. We'll get through this part of the story together."

"Understood, Director, thank you!"

"start!"

On the monitor, it was raining coldly. Jingqiu, with her hair in braids, stumbled into the hospital. The red cross on the white wall blurred into bloody spots in her vision. The smell of disinfectant in the ward was mixed with the rusty smell of blood.

Bao Guoan, who plays the father of the third son, has his back to Jingqiu as she pushes open the door. The straight shoulder line of his military uniform is stretched into a sharp angle under the pale light of the ward.

The central composition of the shot shifts from Jingqiu to an over-the-shoulder close-up, and a close-up of veteran actor Bao Guoan appears on the monitor.

"You must be Jingqiu. I am Sun Jianxin's father. I know my son is waiting for you. You should say goodbye to him quickly!"

His hoarse voice was kept extremely low, and the two loose muscles under his eyelids twitched uncontrollably, tearing a crack in the commander's iron-blooded mask.

Zhang Yimou stared intently at Liu Yifei's expression; her wet hair clung to her pale cheekbones, and rain stains left dark gray lines on her coarse cloth trousers.

The crowd parted to make way, but she hesitated, as if her ankles were bound by invisible ropes. This contrast between movement and stillness highlighted the inner torment of the character.

This is what Lu Kuan refers to as a "suspended outburst," where muscle freezing replaces emotional catharsis.

When is an arrow most threatening to the enemy?
The bow is fully drawn, but not yet released.

The same applies to actors; they need to create dramatic tension through precise physical control, rather than directly releasing emotions.

However, for most actors, even if they know they have to act this way, they don't have enough physical and muscle control.

Clearly, Liu Yifei, who has spent a year honing her skills at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, has become more mature and adept at acting. This progress is particularly evident to Zhang Yimou, who is watching on the monitor, as he is able to capture more details:

The feet, firmly planted in place, revealed the fear in their hearts, while the slightly forward-leaning neck betrayed the instinct to rush forward.

Unlike the petite little yellow duck, Liu Yifei, who is 1.7 meters tall, presents a dramatic contrast in front of the camera.

Her slender figure, which should have given the character a sense of resilience and strength, instead transformed into a more heartbreaking vulnerability in the character of Jingqiu:

His slightly hunched shoulders and back made his height appear as a protective curve, like a birch tree bent by wind and snow.
Those long legs, which could have strided confidently, were now rooted to the spot, their stiff lines showing beneath the rough cloth trousers.

Her height was originally a disadvantage for her in this scene, but this hesitant movement and other details became an emotional amplifier.

The other actors on set stood on the periphery according to their positions. Although they couldn't see the actress's intention in this scene, they were also deeply immersed in this unspoken sorrow.

This kind of forbearance is indeed more effective at evoking emotions than crying.

As Bao Guoan watched Liu Yifei's retreating figure, he sighed with admiration at the promising young generation.

She finally moved, slowly approaching Lu Kuan on the hospital bed, whose pale face was sunken in the pillow, like a handful of snow that might melt at any moment.

Liu Yifei wore a navy red corduroy collared coat over a white polyester shirt with the collar turned up, and there was slight pilling and wear at the elbows.

The stark contrast between red and white gave Zhang Yimou a sudden new idea while he was outdoors.

He instinctively picked up the walkie-talkie: "Two backup camera positions, use a 35mm lens for close-up shots of Jingqiu, to capture the silhouette of her saffron coat against the backlight."

"Xiao Ding, you take the 85mm telephoto lens yourself, compress the depth of field, and emphasize the white sheet on the hospital bed, the pale face, and the outline of Lao San with shadows."

With the main camera stationed in place, the other photographers quickly responded, realizing that this was a last-minute decision by the director.

What is Zhang Yimou doing?
He's doing "human photo editing".

In other words, during the initial filming, different camera angles were used to create layers to separate the two couples, Jingqiu and Lao San, who had a strong color contrast.

The entire scene is filled with white and Jingqiu's red.

This layered treatment is essentially Zhang Yimou's embodiment of the "temporal and spatial misalignment between the living and the dying." When Liu Yifei is facing away from the camera, this visual oppression of color creates psychological pressure for the audience.

This is exactly the same as the contrast between light and dark in front of Li Ming and his father Li Xuejian's hospital room in the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".

He used color, while the road width was achieved through light.

Liu Yifei walked to the center of the main console, where he saw the dying third brother, but he was inevitably reminded of Lu Kuan.

Fortunately, at this point in the scene, it's time to release the fully drawn bow.

Xiao Liu looked at her "husband" on the bed:
His face was almost transparently pale, with bluish-gray shadows drawn on his cheekbones with oil paint, as if life was slowly fading away beneath his skin.

The lips were dry, cracked, and peeling. The makeup artist deliberately added dark red bloodstains to the corners of the mouth, a common symptom of oral bleeding in late-stage leukemia patients.

With his eyelids half-open and pupils slightly rolled upward, revealing only a small portion of the whites of his eyes, this "death stare" performance was designed by Lu Kuan after studying real cases.

Liu Yifei's gaze fell on his wrist with the IV tube inserted, and she suddenly felt a sense of disorientation.

The faint outline of the veins reminded her of the blue veins that Lu Kuan showed under the desk lamp when he worked late into the night in real life. This detail made her instantly unable to distinguish between the play and reality, as if the person lying in front of her was both the fictional third brother and her husband who might leave her at any moment.

Zhang Yimou, watching the close-up of Xiao Liu on the monitor, had a bad feeling and told the extras to interrupt her by saying their lines ahead of time.

A nurse who was watching spoke up: "Jingqiu, quickly say your name, he can hear you."

"I am Jingqiu." Xiao Liu had already entered a dreamlike state, her vision blurred with tears, and she called out several times:

"I am Jingqiu, I am Jingqiu."

"Didn't you promise me you'd come back as soon as you heard my name? Didn't you say I look good in red?"

“I came wearing it, I came to see you wearing it, I came to see you wearing it…” All the emotional build-up from the previous figures, expressions, and actions suddenly released like a fully drawn bowstring. Liu Yifei’s long-accumulated emotions transformed into an arrow released from the bow, striking straight into people’s hearts with the force of piercing the sky.

The three "I am Jingqiu" gradually collapsed into breathy sounds, the words breaking apart in the sobs, like the muffled sound of an arrow hitting the bullseye.

The extras playing nurses and parents around him were all unconsciously shedding tears, and Bao Guoan also turned around quietly, unable to bear to watch this scene.

At that moment, they didn't realize that Liu Yifei was acting; it seemed as if she was truly seeing her dying husband.

Only in Xiao Liu's eyes did that unforgettable memory still linger:
After the car accident in Shuimo Town in 2004, he lay in a bed at West China Hospital in the same way, his fate unknown.

At that time, she was unaware that the soul that had left a deep imprint on her heart had already traveled back to its previous life and returned to this world's body. (Chapter 263)
Liu Yifei finally knelt down in front of the hospital bed, her fingers trembling above Lu Kuan's withered cheek, a struggle between desire and fear, before finally touching his cheek.

Lu Kuan on the bed seemed to have received the "signal," and a tear seeped from the corner of his dry eye, winding its way down the purple spot on his temple and disappearing into his sideburn, yet it seemed to be struggling to look up at the sky.

Liu Yifei looked up at him and gazed at the ceiling, where a photo of the two of them was pasted!

Even as he lay dying in bed, he stubbornly stared at the girl with braided pigtails with the only eye he had left.

With his murky pupils, he used the last of his life force to complete this upward-looking posture, as if to superimpose this image, frozen in the summer of 1974, onto the quiet autumn in red before him, making it eternal.

"Third brother! Waaaaah..."

Accompanied by this extremely tear-jerking visual language, Liu Yifei fully traversed three progressive emotional levels, from restraint to sobbing, and finally to her breakdown and crying.

Her throat bobbed, as if she were swallowing a spring that would never come true.

In spring, there are hawthorn blossoms, and there is their love buried beneath the trees.

Filming had already wrapped up, but assistant director Zhang Mo, with tears welling in her eyes, did not order the cameras to stop rolling.

Everyone stayed with Liu Yifei, who was still crying, and for a moment they couldn't tell whether she was Jingqiu or themselves.

All that could be heard was a line from the third brother, played by Lu Kuan:
As long as you live, I live;

If you die, I will truly die.

. . .

After a long while, Xiao Liu's crying gradually subsided, and she simply lay down on Lu Kuan without moving.

Zhang Mo waited for his father to speak. Zhang Yimou didn't pick up the walkie-talkie; he simply got up, walked to the set, and grinned, saying:
"Filming for 'Under the Hawthorn Tree' has wrapped!"

"It's over! It's alive! It's alive!"

Cheers and applause erupted instantly. The final scene was so oppressive. From the entire day's performance to the perfect finale, I felt it all too well.

Now is the time to let loose.

The two "I'm alive!" cries are a rule of the production crew, meant to ward off bad luck for the actors playing the deceased and prevent them from being tainted by the karma of the characters.

Mr. Lu, who had been lying on the bed with his eyes closed, quickly sat up straight, causing the IV tube inserted into his arm to sway.

He patted the girl in red's pretty face: "You're off work! Still crying?"

"How much money are we getting paid to work so hard?"

Seeing her zombie-like husband grinning and joking at her, Liu Yifei instantly burst into laughter through her tears, a glistening snot bubble popping out of her nose.

She frantically grabbed the front of Lu Kuan's hospital gown, trying to dab it on her nose, but the man pressed down on her shoulder.

"Hey everyone, come look! Little Liu is blowing snot bubbles from his nose!"

"Zhang Mo, hurry up and take a picture of her, I want to post it on Weibo!"

"Lu Kuan, you heartless bastard! All my tears were shed for nothing!"

Liu Yifei raised her hand and punched the washing machine, causing the entire crew to burst into laughter. Zhang Mo walked over with a smile and took a tissue to wipe Liu Yifei's face clean.

Zhang Yimou took off his baseball cap, walked over, and handed over a red envelope: "The usual."

Just like the earlier shout of "He's alive!", this was also used to ward off bad luck for the actor playing the deceased. Zhang Mo had prepared 688 yuan in advance, symbolizing "money to buy life," to dispel the death scene from before.

That wasn't all; Liu Xiaoli came over with a pair of scissors.

"Xiao Lu, get up quickly, the bed sheets are going to be cut up and burned." The mother-in-law hurriedly pulled her up and ordered her daughter, "Change his clothes quickly too, they'll be burned later."

"okay!"

Xiao Liu also played a trick, tearing off the hospital gown from the washing machine without saying a word, and shouting in front of everyone: "Come and see, the richest man in mainland China is shirtless, take pictures and post them on Weibo."

"I'll stand up for you and won't hold anyone responsible!"

"Hahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter again. Zhang Yimou, who had just handed over the red envelope, was the first to cheer and took out his phone to take pictures.

These two were never arrogant on set, and with the director setting an example, many more dared to agree this time.

"Make way! The professional equipment is here!" The photographer strode over, carrying a Steadicam, the lens almost touching Lu Kuan's chest.

Liu Yifei had already retired successfully, leaving only a shirtless, burly man standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed.

Zhang Mo laughed so hard her hands were shaking as she stood next to him: "Qianqian, help me take a picture with Director Lu, it's time to wrap up filming!"

"Sure!" Xiao Liu took out his phone and called to the other crew members, "Anyone who wants to take a picture, come on over. It'll cost one yuan for each group photo. We can't let Lu Kuan sell his meat for free."

The crew instantly transformed into a sea of ​​joy, with a relaxed and humorous atmosphere filling the air as filming wrapped up.

The impromptu party lasted for more than twenty minutes, until the crew reminded them that they needed to shoot a sunset scene.

Finally, everyone took a group photo.

Standing next to Zhang Yimou, the washing machine in the photo is still shirtless, his figure lean and well-proportioned with tight lines after two months of starvation.

Liu Yifei wrapped her arms around his neck, still wearing makeup as the Jingqiu version of Xiao Liu, and chuckled as she clung to him.

Warm and affectionate, filled with joy and harmony.

On the evening of the 30th, this photo and the joyful moments on set that afternoon were posted extensively by the cast and crew:
Zhang Mo posted a nine-grid photo with the caption "The behind-the-scenes treasures of 'Under the Hawthorn Tree'";
Zhao Benshan forwarded a photo of Lu Kuan shirtless and jokingly commented on "the self-cultivation of a movie star";
Tong Liya uploaded a video of Liu Yifei charging a viewing fee, captioning it "The most cost-effective photo ever taken."

Veteran actors such as Bao Guoan and Xi Meijuan also opened Weibo accounts to celebrate this enjoyable trip in their own way.

Netizens either enjoyed the gossip or made jokes, and these behind-the-scenes photos and videos became classic promotional clips for the "Under the Hawthorn Tree" film crew, being remixed countless times online and widely circulated.

The marketing for movies released on Valentine's Day, February 214th, has already begun.

For film fans of this era, isn't this the most precious footnote to the golden age of Chinese cinema led by Lu Kuan?

When the light and shadow captured on film overlap with the real joy off-screen, it creates the most perfect intertextuality between art and life.

After a lively wrap-up, the crew temporarily parted ways and went their separate ways.

Goodbye, roadshow.

From late September to the end of November, Zhang Yimou's film, which was previously hailed as "the purest love story in history" and broke box office records for art films, came to a close.

Even without any comparison in mind, all the cast and crew members could see that this would undoubtedly be a masterpiece.

Everyone is looking forward to seeing Lu and Liu's first on-screen couple appearance on Valentine's Day.
-
"Fairy Sister's new film has wrapped up filming, and she's returning to Beijing immediately!"

"The first collaboration between Berlin Golden Bear-winning director Zhang Yimou and award-winning actors and actresses is scheduled for Valentine's Day!"

"The set of 'Under the Hawthorn Tree' is deserted; the owner of Yuanshan Hotel recounts interesting behind-the-scenes stories."

"With the completion of filming for 'Under the Hawthorn Tree,' places like Bailihuang have become popular tourist destinations."

The film "Under the Hawthorn Tree" began intensive promotional articles from the day it was completed, and post-production work on some scenes had already begun in the middle of filming.

Since the film has almost no special effects except for the changing seasons of the hawthorn tree, the only tasks to be done are editing and dubbing under the director's guidance. Screenings at various theaters are expected to be organized in mid-January.

In terms of narrative complexity, color composition, and the depth of the subject matter from a particular era, this film only scratches the surface and is more like a romantic sketch.

This can be seen from the filming schedule, which lasted only a little over two months, even longer than in the previous life.

After discussions among several investors, they decided not to apply for awards at the three major European film festivals, and instead focused all their efforts on box office performance.

After all, this time they have Liu Yifei, a top star in the Chinese entertainment industry, plus the hype of their husband's first film appearance together, and the fact that Liu Yifei's pregnancy rumors have been almost implicitly acknowledged by the parties involved—

The absence of denial equates to tacit agreement, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, the domestic Lunar New Year film season has already begun in November, which is much earlier than usual.

The historical progress of the domestic film market in this era has been brought forward, resulting in a cluster of films released during the Lunar New Year season.

The prime time slot from December to January is usually busy with traffic and intense competition, causing some film companies to either release films earlier or later.

Starting in mid-November, "Painted Skin 2," directed by Wu Ershan and co-produced by Huayi Brothers, Fiber Optics, and Bona Film Group, was released and grossed 40 million yuan in its first week, showing promising growth.

The media exclaimed that another new generation of directors has emerged.

Because of Wu Ershan's early debut, and because these three second-tier companies in the industry were squeezed out by the space of the aircraft carrier, the sequel to this life was also released ahead of schedule.

Thanks to the existing audience, the distributor Berna had enough confidence to ignite the competition in November, and it clearly achieved good results.

Zhou Xun plays Xiao Wei, while Yang Mi, a rising star cultivated by Huayi Brothers, replaces Yan Zi in the role of Princess Jing after the script was revised to be more reasonable. She gets involved in a love triangle with Zhou Xun and Chen Kun.

In mid-November, another sequel co-produced by Huayi Brothers, "Love Transfer 2: Love Left and Right," was released with great fanfare. It was also directed by Xu Zheng and received excellent reviews and box office success.

Considering Huayi Brothers' flagship film "If You Are the One" released on December 18th, domestic film journalists and audiences exclaimed that the industry's second-place position is indeed unshakeable.

Even though they still lag far behind the leading companies in terms of overall synergy and industry chain integrity, they are still among the companies that have benefited from the growth of the domestic film market.

Moreover, now that Ali, a shareholder of Huayi, has invested in Damai.cn, the online ticketing service, an internet product that has made a stunning debut for the world, may become Huayi's biggest asset in maintaining its second-place ranking and aiming for first.

However, the two kings have become quite low-key at this point. After several attempts last year were met with fierce retaliation, and even Wang Xiaolei's leg was broken by someone else's bodyguard, they have turned their attention to internal development.

In fact, Huayi, having been beaten into submission and terrified, has now embarked on the right path.

You can just be the second-in-command, follow the leader and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Isn't it good to sit back and reap the rewards?

Another piece of news that has drawn even more attention from industry professionals is an analysis report written by a reporter from Caijing Magazine, which analyzes the current situation of Wenjie and Huayi:
In May, following its "eighth anniversary celebration," Wenjie, whose cash flow was still manageable, announced through various channels that it would not rush into an IPO before the financial crisis truly ended, due to the impact of the sudden financial crisis.

This decision reflects optimism about the company's future development and also stems from the inability to immediately address the competition from Damai.cn, in which giants like Ali, Baidu, and Wanda have invested.

Meanwhile, Huayi, which had been dormant for more than half a year due to various reasons, has recently been frequently mentioned by the Securities Times, which affirmed the company's listing guidance and compliance work, and even suggested that it may be able to skip the queue for listing.

Objectively speaking, Wenjie's strategic abandonment of its IPO plans is tantamount to throwing the problem to Huayi.

For Huayi, if it follows the lead of the industry leader Wenjie and misses out on the first pot of gold from the listing of a cultural media company, then poor valuation in the future is to be expected.

But they lacked the foresight of time travelers. The global financial crisis didn't bottom out until March 2009. Would they dare to gamble again now?

Judging from the reports from several media outlets such as the Securities Times, Orient Securities, and Caijing, Huayi is indeed preparing to take a gamble.

Of course, no one can see the logic beneath the surface; it all stems from the manipulation of a pair of behind-the-scenes forces.

Within Huayi, he encouraged several shareholders to propose accelerating the listing process in the event that Wenjie had given up.
According to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Wenjie voluntarily suspended its IPO counseling work and withdrew its IPO application.

In the face of industry competition, Wenjie's entire industry chain no longer engages in targeted suppression as it did with films like "The Banquet" in order to achieve its strategic goals. Instead, it remains calm and impartial.

Why should Huayi's listing process be promoted from multiple levels and perspectives?

After careful consideration, Boss Lu decided to officially close the net.

In the foreseeable future, Wenjie will face attacks from Alibaba, Baidu, Wanda, and Lianxiang, and the online ticketing war is about to break out.

It's unclear how long this trend will continue, but the shift from online ticketing to "mobile e-ticketing" in the context of the mobile internet will likely take only one or two years, with the latter being a much fiercer battleground.

The issuance of 3G licenses and the construction of base stations in early 09 created the network foundation for mobile internet.

The launch of Apple's App Store and Lenovo's "LePhone" and "Meizu M8" in 09 signified the imminent arrival of the smartphone era.

With the basic hardware and software infrastructure in place, even if online ticketing doesn't reach the peak of the mobile internet era, the initial competition will not cease.

Major corporations and hot money both inside and outside the industry are not foolish enough to wait until they clearly see certainty before entering the market. A trend with the right conditions is enough to tempt black money and internet funds to rampage through the market.

He couldn't watch Huayi, which had caught its breath, join this camp, nor could he allow Huayi's 4.5% share of the national cinema market to become a competitor's distribution channel.

In addition, there is another very important reason:
It will take time for the US to launder its money back; it needs a large amount of funds to replenish its arsenal and engage in large-scale spending sprees.

According to legal provisions, when a domestic company goes public, the controlling shareholder has a 36-month lock-up period, while non-controlling shareholders have a 12-month lock-up period.

However, restricted shares are essentially "restricted from circulation" rather than "prohibited from circulation." According to the current General Principles of Civil Law, they can be pledged without the need for exchange review.

Aside from replenishing ammunition, Huayi's strategic value to him has basically reached its limit.

Huayi has achieved its strategic goal of containing Ali, which has invested a lot of money in recent years but has become increasingly entangled in the cultural and media field, allowing Wenjie Mall to continuously narrow the gap, and Zhifutong has already taken the lead.

But Lao Ma, having realized his mistake, even stopped involving Huayi in Damai.cn, and could no longer control more people.

Huayi also successfully "helped itself" by developing cinema resources with a market share of 4.5%, including many valuable assets left by Warner when it withdrew from the Chinese market in the heart of Guangdong Province. With these cinema resources, Wenjie Jiahe can immediately surpass Wanda in market share.

On the surface, Huayi Brothers has indeed fully played its role as the second-largest player in the industry, contributing to the prosperity of Chinese cinema. However, a considerable portion of this contribution has been "stolen" by the film industry.

Special effects, cinemas, distribution, online advertising, Focus Media.

In the words of Nanfang Media, Wenjie has been "leeching off Chinese cinema".

11月30号，华艺的《画皮2》和《爱情呼叫转移2》票房数字喜人，分别报收2亿和7000万，再一次刷新了行业和场外热钱对国内影坛的认知。

It seems that the golden age of Chinese cinema is truly about to arrive.

Meanwhile, after recouping its costs through advertising in advance, "If You Are the One" also achieved nearly 3000 million yuan in box office revenue through online pre-sales on Damai.cn, astonishing the world.

This new ticketing model looks set to cause quite a stir.

On the same day, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released the "Approval for Huayi Brothers' Initial Public Offering of Shares" on its official website, which included key information such as the issuance amount and share type.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

Huayi is actually going public!

For a time, both online and offline networks were experiencing a surge in demand, with servers and paper becoming increasingly scarce and popular.

In November, when the entertainment industry remained relatively quiet, Huayi Brothers ignited the Chinese entertainment scene with the phenomenal box office success of two of its films and a shocking piece of news.

Meanwhile, this news has also pushed the popularity of the upcoming film "If You Are the One" to a new climax.

No one expected that at the end of 2008, a year of great upheaval and dramatic change, such a surprising turn of events would spread like wildfire, and Huayi, which had been suppressed for so many years, would actually be able to find a glimmer of hope to catch up.

People from various industries who were unaware of the true situation, while lamenting Wenjie's bad luck and the financial crisis, were also amazed by Huayi's courage to prevail in a close contest.

Amidst the peaceful atmosphere of the approaching 2009 Spring Festival, only a very few people sensed the stench of gunpowder in the air.

There is an invisible hand pushing the revelry toward its predetermined end.

This grand drama of capital will eventually reveal who the true mastermind is.

(End of this chapter)