The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 424 Things are going well
But by the turn of the millennium, things had changed, and China's emergence as the world's factory was beginning to take shape.

Even if it is far inferior to what it will be in 20 years, or even 10 years, it is still the world's factory, and the image of mainland China will inevitably begin to change.

People can ignore an elephant in their room, provided that the elephant doesn't keep growing and eventually encroach on their space.

In short, with the continued influx of Chinese goods and the increasing ease of communication, Europeans can no longer label China as barbaric.

But that label didn't work, so there were other labels, right? So the Chinese went from being barbarians to bumpkins, which is truly something to celebrate.

To reiterate, although there is no specific international cultural exchange, they have been winning for three or four hundred years. How could they not spontaneously feel superior to other ethnic groups?

Therefore, after the millennium, Chinese mainland films that were able to be shortlisted for European film festivals and receive a few small treats were all those that focused their cameras on obscure and insignificant things.

The visuals are always drab and gray, the environment is always messy and dirty, and the characters are either naive and ignorant or confused and impulsive, rarely appearing normal.

Even when the story is set in a big city, the most frequent scenes are still alleyways and narrow lanes—this is the case with "Beijing Bicycle".

Among them, the best is naturally Director Jia. From "Xiao Wu" to "Platform" to "Still Life" to "A Touch of Sin", the small county town always appears on screen, and he even claims that someone has to film those neglected things.

That sounds nice, and without considering the context, it seems to make some sense. But the problem is, why isn't there even a single film that focuses on big cities? Is it because they can't or don't want to?
Returning to the topic of "Falling," although the film depicts the lives of wealthy people in China, they are portrayed as nouveau riche, which appeals to Europeans.

Especially later, after the truth about the fake rich kid was exposed, the part where the family members blamed each other was particularly satisfying for Europeans to watch. Isn't this what nouveau riche are like?

Especially when the economic crime was taken away by the police, the male supporting character's mother was still shouting that she was an aristocrat, and then she was scolded by the police: What era is this? Aristocrats? Look at your filthy appearance.

This really touched the hearts of French audiences.

Then, because it's a crime film, apart from a few scenes with warm colors, most of the time it's in cool colors. Although it's not the gray and dirty scenes of some people's movies, the somber tone won't affect some people's senses too much, and it should all be within the range that money can solve.

Furthermore, the male protagonist is the type who will stop at nothing to climb the social ladder, even going so far as to kill the female protagonist who is pregnant with his child, and by smashing her head with a sledgehammer. Such a person definitely deserves to die.

After all, the audience's acceptance level is different when someone is shot or killed with a hammer.

The way "Match Point" handled it was very clever. First, the female lead returned, then she got out of the elevator and opened the door. The male lead, who was hiding next to her, shouted and then raised his shotgun and fired.

Using montage, the female lead only appears when entering and exiting the elevator, the male lead fires a gun off-screen, and there is no depiction of the female lead's death.

Thus, the audience was not greatly agitated, and since the female lead had been portrayed as persistent and harassing, they were not particularly disgusted when the male lead unexpectedly escaped legal punishment.

However, in "Falling," although the female protagonist's death is not shown, there is still a montage transition where the male protagonist raises a sledgehammer and smashes it down, splattering blood all over the wall.

Then, a scene of autopsy was specially arranged. Although no body appeared on screen, the indifferent forensic doctor described the female lead's head being smashed while slurping cold noodles, which made many viewers quite disgusted.

With this setup, when the plot reaches the point where the male protagonist is arrested, viewers with sound values ​​will applaud rather than feel sorry that he escaped punishment.

Another point worth mentioning is that in the story of "Falling," the protagonist could have escaped. The sledgehammer he used to kill happened to belong to a wanted criminal, so the police's attention was focused on the wanted criminal.

However, although he was not suspected, his father-in-law's economic crimes were subsequently exposed, and his own affairs were eventually uncovered. Therefore, some film critics say that it is full of dark humor.

"Actually, it was all by accident. We initially made this family seem like nouveau riche just to annoy mites. Then, because of Zhao Yan's situation, we added the swindler element, and unexpectedly, European audiences liked it." Xu Jiuyang said to Fan Bingbing while flipping through a newspaper in a booth at the hotel coffee shop. Although the internet is developing rapidly, and traditional media is in its twilight years, it's not dead yet.

"Really? It wasn't something you planned carefully." Fan Bingbing looked up at the documents and raised an eyebrow as she asked.

“How could that be? Some things can’t be determined to have much effect before the results are in,” Xu Jiuyang shook his head. “It’s like Professor Feng’s cameo role as a forensic doctor, describing the female lead’s death in a cold tone. If someone else did it, it wouldn’t have the same effect.”

Later in the crime-solving part, out of a perverse sense of humor, he found some award-winning actors from his previous life to play the roles of the police, such as Wang Jingchun, Wang Qianyuan, Liao Fan, and so on.

Although Feng Yuanzheng is not a film emperor, he is feared by many people because of a certain perverted role, so it is very interesting for him to play this kind of cold and indifferent forensic doctor.

Additionally, it's worth mentioning that the female lead in "Don't Talk to Strangers" was Yin Tao.

Although foreign audiences were unaware of Feng Yuanzheng's background, they were still frightened by his superb acting skills, which made them even more disgusted with the male lead.

"What are you looking at?" Xu Jiuyang changed the subject.

Judging from the current situation, if Angela spends a little more money, winning a jury prize would be no problem at all.

Although it's meant to be comforting, it sounds more sophisticated than "Golden Camera," so the "Falling" crew has basically nothing to do right now and there's no need to talk about it anymore.

"I'm looking at Xu Ke's information." Fan Bingbing buried her head again.

"Oh?" Xu Jiuyang raised an eyebrow. "What did he say to you at the party last night?"

Xu Ke is one of the jury members at this year's Cannes Film Festival, so he was present even though he didn't have a film.

Although the "Falling" crew is currently free, it is still necessary to hold a party and invite some film critics, filmmakers, and even heads of film and television companies.

Selling copyrights is a matter for professionals, but it also requires a suitable venue.

“He said he was preparing a movie and asked if I was interested,” Fan Bingbing shrugged.

"What kind of movie?" Xu Jiuyang asked curiously.

"It seems they are planning to adapt it from Liang Yusheng's 'Seven Swordsmen of Mount Tian'," Fan Bingbing recalled. "He said that they have only completed the outline so far."

"He's quite honest," Xu Jiuyang commented casually.

"What, you don't think he's a good candidate?" Fan Bingbing asked with a grin, looking as if she had discovered a new continent.

Xu Jiuyang didn't answer, but instead asked, "What do you like about it?"

“It’s very simple. He’s very good at filming women. Whether it’s ‘Swordsman II’ or ‘Green Snake,’ the female leads are all exceptionally outstanding. If I want to create a classic role, then I can only start from this aspect.” Fan Bingbing spread her hands.

(End of this chapter)