Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 226 Sensitive Real-World Themes
People who drink alcohol tend to eat slowly, and they often prefer cold dishes when drinking.

The main problem is that hot dishes don't taste good when they get cold; they can only be reheated after drinking.

Cold dishes are different; they retain their flavor and can be eaten continuously without needing to be reheated.

Therefore, snacks to accompany alcohol generally refer to braised or cold dishes, which are good for drinking.

After finishing her meal, the teacher's wife took her three children upstairs. The eldest wanted to study, while the second and youngest wanted to watch cartoons. The two of them often fought over the TV.

Moreover, it's not enough to give each person one; they have to have the same one, which always leads to a fight.

“Jia went out to gather material last year and wrote a script. She wasn’t sure about it, so she showed it to me,” Han Sanping said while drinking.

"Script? What script? With you here, you still can't make up your mind?" Chen Shou smiled.

Zuo Shandiao was also a professional; he studied film and joined China Film Group from a local state-owned enterprise. He had been with China Film Group since its inception, but unfortunately, due to external pressures, he was unable to advance further, which led to the rise of La Dong.

When Zuo Shandiao was taken away, Chen Shou was depressed for a long time. For the film industry, losing Zuo Shandiao was like losing a section of the Great Wall.

This description is not an exaggeration at all.

Just look at the current film market. The number of foreign language films has increased from twenty to eighty, and they are available in every time slot. Every year, half of the box office revenue is taken by these eighty foreign language films. It is clear that without Zuo Shandiao, the comfortable domestic market is gone.

It wasn't just catfish that came in, it was practically a great white shark.

Even though Zuo Shandiao is gone, the connections he left behind are just as strong, and even his daughter is unsure about the script.

This reminded Chen Shouzhe of something that happened last year. Zuo Shandiao couldn't go up, but he should have been able to enter the review panel based on his qualifications.

But those old men who followed the hereditary system didn't give him a chance at all. Back then, Zuo Shandiao made things difficult for them and didn't give them any special support funds.

Chen Shouzhe offended those old guys back then because of this subsidy fund. As a newcomer, he received four million, which offended a group of old fogies. And Zuo Shandiao made things difficult for them a lot during his years in power.

So when he tried to join the review team, those old fogies teamed up to block him from entering.

The uncertainty surrounding the script suggests the presence of sensitive topics, and coupled with a poor relationship with the other side, it's likely that the person was being given a hard time.

Chen Shouzhe was a little puzzled as to why they had come to see him.

His relationship with those old fogies is even worse; if he were to get involved, those old fogies would probably be even more opposed.

"Jia Nu, did you bring the script?" Han Sanping asked his daughter.

"I brought it." Han Jianu turned to get her bag and took out the script.

"Director Chen, please take a look."

"No need to be so polite, we're classmates in the same year." Chen Shou waved his hand. Both of them were graduate students in the directing department, just with different teachers.

I took the script; it had two large characters written on it.

Miracle doctor.

Chen Shou didn't think much of it and opened the script to read. The more he read, the more familiar it seemed. The script was too similar. The characters might be different, but the plot was too similar to The Medicine God.

"It's a realistic subject matter."

Half an hour later, Chen Shouzhe closed the script and sighed.

"what do you think?"

"This script is absolutely brilliant; if it were ever made into a film, it would be a classic in film history," Chen Shouzhe sighed, putting down the script. Han Sanping's eyes, which had been slightly drunk, narrowed instantly, and Han Jianu was also full of surprise, not expecting Chen Shouzhe to say such a thing.

"It will definitely be great when it's made. It won't be inferior to Ning Hao's film 'No Man'. But you all know what happened to that film. You were the producer, Third Master."

Han Sanping nodded. He knew all too well. They had been stuck for two years and finally had to revise the ending. Some people said that if Ning Hao had taken the first version to the Berlin Film Festival, he might have won the Golden Bear.

However, this kind of subject matter is too difficult to handle; even if it passes censorship, it may be blocked again.

The most typical example is Director Jia's "Destiny," which clearly had already obtained the film license and was about to be released, but was ultimately blocked.

Chen Shouzhe thought the script was excellent, even more exciting than the finished film of "Dying to Survive," but it was too realistic and would not pass censorship.

After all, the power of the film industry is too great to be trifled with; it's something the film industry can't afford to mess with.

Don't be fooled by the fact that South Korea dares to film anything; it's because their country has virtually no sovereignty, and there's a master above them.

However, the forces that the script is about to confront are far beyond the reach of the film and television industry; even the internet industry has to be wary of them.

The healthcare system.

With the rise of social media and the increasing popularity of science, people now know that the US military-industrial complex is the one making money behind the scenes when it goes to war.

But there is an even more terrifying group in the United States: the medical complex.

Someone once said that some cancers are not incurable, but chemotherapy can generate hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue every year. If you were cured, how would you make money in the future?

And then there's the most typical HIV, which, under their immense influence, became known as an infection from a monkey in Africa, and the world-changing event that Chen Shou experienced in his previous life.

No matter which country it is, the power of this group is always the most terrifying. As long as you are human, it is impossible not to get sick. One illness can wipe out a family's life savings, or even leave them to pay off debts until they die.

The realistic themes are too realistic.

Lies don't hurt, truth is the knife.

Knowing too much about reality will only make you more disgusted with the world.

Chen Shouzhe had never touched a realistic subject before, and one wrong move could lead to utter ruin; the human heart is a fearsome thing.

"Yes, that's why I'm not sure. I've shown it to many people, and they're all unsure. The script won't pass censorship, let alone become a movie," Zuo Shandiao sighed.

They know it's an excellent script, but it can't pass censorship for filming. Are they supposed to take it abroad?

"Let time do its work. Maybe one day the conditions will be more relaxed, and then we can start filming," Chen Shou said, putting down the script. The script was so good that he was actually a little reluctant to part with it.

"Director Chen, if I give you the script, can you film it?" Han Jianu asked.

"I dare not film it. The movie is indeed very exciting, and the filming difficulty is not high. The main issue is the higher-ups—and I'm not talking about the Film Bureau, but the top leadership. I need their approval. Improper handling could cause some kind of social unrest..."

Chen Shouzhe didn't dare to continue. Don't underestimate the power of movies, and don't underestimate the ruthlessness of businessmen.

You should know that the ranking of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants was developed by our ancestors over thousands of years. If their interests are threatened, they will really go crazy and kill people.

Otherwise, whenever some bad news comes out in the US, the so-called whistleblowers either commit suicide or disappear.

Although things are relatively better domestically, it is still a huge and complex force. Unless the higher-ups give their approval, Chen Shouzhe really wouldn't dare to film it. No one knows what kind of social impact it would have, and it's not something a small director like Chen Shouzhe can control. He might even be destroyed.

(End of this chapter)