Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 51: A Close-Up Ultimate Attack!
In the film, accompanied by the dialogue between Su Liuchang, Ito, and Wang Guanghai,
The fake photography studio apprentice gained temporary trust.
After the two left, Su Liuchang wanted to escape, but he saw Nanjing City with no way out under the Japanese army's massacre, saw the Japanese army arbitrarily executing civilians, and saw the Japanese army spraying flames to burn and hide living people in their inhumanity.

Su Liuchang could no longer contain his emotions, and he fled out of fear and cowardice.

Back at the photo studio,
With the help of Jin Chengzong, the photo studio owner played by Zu Feng

The characters played by Huang Xiaoming, Zu Feng, Hai Qing, Yang Zi, and an infant temporarily form a hidden alliance within the photo studio.

Photographing famous scenes in Nanjing, such as Confucius Temple, Qinhuai River, and Guanghua Gate, for Ito.

At this moment, the audience's sense of oppression was slightly relieved.

People saw the love between husband and wife, father and son, and teacher and student.

And the fear and helplessness of this group of people.

The audience also saw Ito learning Chinese and communicating with Su Liuchang when she first received the photos.

"Keep going, my friend!"

Ito's shy smile made him seem like a kind person.

Su Mu's gaze gradually softened. He saw the humanity in Ito, played by Lu Fangsheng, and that Wang Guanghai, despite his fall into poverty, still retained some of the humanity of a Chinese person.

Wang Guanghai, the translator, was actually deceiving Ito and helping Su Liuchang save his life with some of his words.

Su Mu really likes these two characters; they are both complex in nature, especially Ito.
This character loves photography but doesn't kill. He even saved Su Liuchang's life. In Su Mu's eyes, this is no different from Ozu Yasujiro, who was forced to go to the battlefield and Nanjing because of the operation of the state machinery.

What normal person wouldn't love peace?
He was forced into it.

Ito saved Su Liuchang's life by writing him a protective amulet. The amulet was marked with a number of days and a time limit, requiring the Japanese army not to conduct a sweep of the photo studio within two days.

"This is really a good person," Su Mu thought. "It's probably because of military orders that there was a time limit. Besides, this person even brought me food later."

Su Mu found Cao Zhong slightly more agreeable. Although his artistic level was so-so, he dared to explore humanity on the battlefield, which was anti-war, the kind of reflection that students of the Beijing Film Academy should have, and the kind of serious director Cao Zhong should be. This was Cao Zhong bowing down to some of his academic predecessors.

He decided to forgive Cao Zhong for his previous criticism of Ozu.

Young people, it's forgivable to take a few detours!

If Cao Zhong apologizes to himself, and I offer some encouragement, it's a win-win situation for everyone – that's what it means to blend in with the world.

Thinking of this, he was willing to give Cao Zhong's film a slightly higher rating in his mind.

The movie continues.

The cruelty of the Japanese army followed Ito's camera, and those familiar photographs from textbooks gradually appeared, making it impossible for anyone to think about artistic or technical aspects anymore.

"Men, put your hands up."
Women and children, line up.

The crowds of people were forced onto the road, forming long lines.

The monk who was shot because of the calluses on his hands
The people who fled in fear
The Japanese soldier's cry of "Those who run away are all soldiers!" created a sense of oppression.

The Japanese officer, who was shooting civilians, kept adjusting the angle of the camera while having Ito take a picture of the "great achievement" of the shooting.

That cruel yet mocking expression made everyone clench their fists involuntarily, feeling angry.

Mei Ting plays Lin Yuxiu, an actress who sings for the Japanese army in the theater. She cries and screams as hundreds of Japanese soldiers shout "Take off your clothes and sing!"

People even thought she was going to be raped.

But the next second, Wang Guanghai saved her. Only then did people realize that Wang Guanghai and Lin Yuxiu were actually a couple, and Lin Yuxiu was Wang Guanghai's mistress.

These montage techniques and ingenious ideas, along with the suspenseful twists, prevent the reader from feeling overly oppressed or suffocated.

Lin Yuxiu, who went to the photo studio to save her life because of Wang Guanghai, and Song Cunyi, a policeman who was protected by Lin Yuxiu.

The small photo studio was filled with all sorts of people. Ito worked as a photographer, capturing the crimes of the Japanese army and defining them as "great achievements," but because the Japanese army dared not disclose them for fear of causing international controversy, they were stamped with a seal prohibiting their publication.

The photo studio, a specific space that should have disappeared in the flames of war, was instead given an absurd yet heavy historical mission.

It was not only a photo lab where the invaders initially flaunted their "victories" and later created fake "friendly photos," but also a secret battlefield where a group of ordinary Chinese people finally awakened and protected the evidence of the massacre.

The brutal scenes were too gruesome to describe. Although everyone could see Cao Zhong's restraint during filming, no one present could help but feel heartbroken by what was being shown on screen.

The story also contains elements of suspense, with Ito about to discover the tension surrounding the Jin family.

This sparked the interest of Yu Dong, Wang Zhongjun, and others, even though they might not understand art or techniques.
But at least they knew how to be a viewer; by this point in the film, they all admitted that they were deeply immersed in the story.

"This is truly a commercial film that should not be underestimated."

The two exchanged a glance, and in that instant, their eyes, glowing in the darkness, met. They both knew they had truly stumbled upon a great movie.

Gradually, things started to go wrong in Su Mu's eyes.

The man who couldn't bring himself to kill, Ito, was so composed when taking photos to publicize the glorious achievements of the Japanese army.

Cold and distant.

He even joked that he would go make movies after the war ended.

He kindly fed the weak puppy on the corpse while simultaneously threatening the "friend" who developed his photos.

"Isn't this considered using a close-range ultimate attack?"

When Zhang Huijun saw Ito's line in the plot, "I'm going to make movies after the war ends," he couldn't help but turn around and look at Su Mu, and then at the directing department.

Cao Baoping also turned to look at Su Mu from the Literature Department. For a moment, he wanted to laugh, but when he thought of the movie, he suddenly calmed down, his mouth as if glued shut, and he dared not move again.

Tian Zhuangzhuang swallowed hard, his expression unchanged.

Cui Xinqin paid no attention, seemingly unaware of the meaning behind the line, and continued watching the movie with her eyes fixed ahead.

Only Su Mu's face turned green!
It's not that he's sensitive.

But it was what he thought about the most.
Generally, the more timid a person is, the more they feel that others are paying attention to them and reminding them.

Su Mu felt this way at that moment. He had no doubt that Cao Zhong's line was aimed at them, the group of people who liked Yasujiro Ozu!

His thoughts from just moments ago now felt like slaps to his face, making it hard for him to breathe.

Too stupid!
I was so stupid!

How could I possibly think that Cao Zhong could portray the photographer as a good person?

He truly hated the Japanese art masters!

Nanjing, photographer, making a film.

Cao Zhong's previous criticisms at the project initiation ceremony suddenly became concrete.

Su Mu almost choked.
"This Cao Zhong, he actually made a movie because he hated Yasujiro Ozu!"

Su Mu's expression was one of utter frustration, as if he were about to explode!
He suddenly realized that if this movie were to be released and become a hit, a group of people might be purged!
Including him.

Su Mu really wanted to criticize the movie after it ended, but he had to admit that he was completely immersed in the movie's narrative and moved along with the characters!

I couldn't take my eyes off it!

That's the most terrifying thing ever!

(End of this chapter)