After returning to China, Lu Yanhe went back to school reported to my counselor Chen Shiqiu and had a meal with my roommates and classmates.
My roommate Xiao Jing has gone to the UK.
Mao Jiayang and Zhou Mukai both successfully obtained the qualifications for continued study in graduate school. They do not have to face future pressure for the time being, and this is the most relaxing time for them.
"I don't know how Xiao Jing is doing in England, but he must be having a good time." Mao Jiayang clicked his tongue twice, "I don't know if I'll have the chance to stay abroad for a while in the future."
"Do you want to immigrate?" Zhou Mukai asked Mao Jiayang in surprise.
He was surprised because he didn't think Mao Jiayang had the idea that "foreign countries are better".
"Forget about immigration. I am still only used to eating Chinese food." Mao Jiayang laughed, "but I really want to go to different places to experience life."
Lu Yanhe said: "I had the same idea before."
"is it?"
"Yes." Lu Yanhe said, "When I first had the opportunity to go abroad, I was quite excited. Wherever I went, I would try to squeeze out some time to visit the local area. But as I went to more places, I gradually lost this excitement. I also think that I still have a Chinese stomach and can only eat Chinese food. It's okay to go to other places for two or three days to experience different customs and history and culture, but if you stay for too long, you will always feel uncomfortable. This time in Venice, I really missed the food of our country, so after I come back, I will make a dinner appointment with you as soon as I come back."
Zhou Mukai: "I really want to go to Japan."
"I've been to Japan, the food there is better than that in Korea." Lu Yanhe said with a smile, "Korean food is really not delicious at all."
Zhou Mukai: "I'm not interested in food, I just want to see the scenes from the cartoons I watched when I was a kid."
"Japanese animation is really amazing." Mao Jiayang also said, "I don't know why, the animations I watched when I was a child were basically from Japan and the United States, and there were very few domestic animation works."
Lu Yanhe: "Well, the main reason is that there aren't many good ones, they're all cartoons for young children."
"We have made some progress now." Zhou Mukai said immediately, "I have seen a lot of them in the past few years, and they are getting better and better."
"Really?" Lu Yanhe was surprised. Because he doesn't watch animation very often now, and occasionally seeing an animated film like "The Angry Crow" is something he finds strange.
Zhou Mukai: "Nowadays, there are many animation works adapted from online novels."
Mao Jiayang suddenly remembered something, nodded, and said, "Yes, I also watched a movie some time ago, called "Dragon Master". I didn't know it was adapted from an online novel until I finished watching the first season of episode 12. It was filmed so well, I didn't expect that such an animation could be made in our country."
“Our domestic animation industry started quite early, but I don’t know why it suddenly went dormant for a long time.”
"Those people from science and engineering colleges often say that liberal arts are useless. I feel speechless every time I hear such words," Zhou Mukai complained.
Mao Jiayang, who studies computer science, immediately raised his hand: "Zhou Mukai, please don't generalize. I don't think so. I envy those of you who study literature. Well, to be honest, because the knowledge of science and engineering is explicit, objective, and visible to people, while the knowledge of liberal arts is implicit, subjective, and has different effects on different people, there is such a view that liberal arts are useless."
"If the humanities are really useless, then the history of human civilization is useless. No one with a brain would say that. Just like your desire to travel to Japan is influenced by their anime."
"I always think Yan He is doing a great thing, because he is creating our own culture. Temporary popularity or box office success are temporary. The work will be preserved. Maybe ten or twenty years later, Friends will become a window for others to understand the young people of our time. Movies like Three Mountains and Late Spring will attract some foreigners to China, just like Japanese animation attracts you."
"Which opening ceremony of the Olympic Games does the host country not showcase its own history, culture and development process? Which opening ceremony does not use literature and art, which represent the achievements of spiritual civilization, as a window to the world?"
Mao Jiayang looked at Lu Yanhe with envy on his face. He said, "I also hope that one day I can create something valuable that can be written into the history of our country and the history of human civilization."
Lu Yanhe and Zhou Mukai looked at Mao Jiayang in surprise. After a long while, he sighed: "Mao Jiayang, your ideals are so grand."
Mao Jiayang showed a bit of embarrassment on his face.
"That's a bit exaggerated. I feel inexplicably ashamed now."
"Why are you ashamed? It's good." Zhou Mukai changed his previous expression and said to him, "To be honest, thanks to being roommates with you and Xiao Jing for the past four years, I have changed my view of science students. When I was in high school, from teachers to classmates, almost everyone believed that only people who are not good at science would study liberal arts. I really hate them."
Mao Jiayang laughed.
"It's okay. Look how good things are now. Most people around you won't think that way anymore." Lu Yanhe said, "Prejudiced people are everywhere, but as long as you get better and better, you can get further and further away from those prejudiced people."
"These are my true words." Mao Jiayang laughed. "Look at what Lu Yanhe said to Yongshan Hesan at the media conference in Venice. Even though Old Lu is like this, there are still idiots like Yongshan Hesan talking nonsense."
Zhou Mukai complained: "That's just a moron."
Lu Yanhe looked at them in surprise.
"You all know Yongshan Hesan?"
"There are people scolding him every day on our school forum," Mao Jiayang said. "You don't know how many people in our school are helping you to criticize him, right? Many students even went abroad to criticize him."
Lu Yanhe was surprised.
"No way? Everyone... there's no need to do this."
"I can't help it. You may not have played much on the school forums. Besides, there are not many active forums now. But in Zhenhua, our school forums still have a lot of active users every day. Many seniors who graduated ten or twenty years ago are still used to spamming in the forums. Everyone likes to chat in the forums. You are the most famous person in Zhenhua now, so it is inevitable that everyone will talk about you. If you are bullied, how can everyone just sit back and watch?" Mao Jiayang said, "Our alumni are still very close-knit."
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized.
"Besides, it's just a few words to scold Yongshan Hesan. Everyone wants to have some entertainment at ordinary times." Mao Jiayang said, "Sometimes when I get tired of writing code, I will climb over the firewall to scold him. Anyway, there is no psychological pressure to scold him."
Lu Yanhe clasped his hands together and said, "Respect!"
-
Lu Yanhe actually admires his roommates very much.
In a university like Zhenhua, which is full of outstanding students, basically everyone was a gifted student in their respective high schools before coming here.
After coming to Zhenhua, almost everyone needs a process of adjusting their inner mentality.
How to adapt from being “far ahead” to an environment where you may fall behind at any time.
Lu Yanhe also knew that a celebrity like him would inevitably affect his roommates to some extent no matter how hard he tried to minimize the impact.
But not only did his roommates never complain about it, they were never affected by it either.
Whether it is academic or other aspects outside of academics, each of them has been serious and hardworking.
Lu Yanhe's state is not that of an ordinary student. If there is such a person around you, it will actually affect your state. But they not only maintain their excellent academic performance every year, but also work hard to expand and improve themselves in other aspects.
Just like Zhou Mukai, who is usually a college nerd and spends almost every day in the library. Later, he took the initiative to ask Lu Yanhe if there is a chance for him to be a part-time editor of "Jump Up". Now he has become the mainstay of "Jump Up" magazine.
Compared to himself, Lu Yanhe always felt that they were the representative examples of people who relied on personal efforts and struggles.
Actors and the entertainment industry are not the kind of fields that are universally representative.
Lu Yanhe did not dare to arrogantly think that he could earn tens of millions every year at such a young age and become a nationally renowned figure solely through his own efforts and so-called talent.
He knows how much of the dividends of the industry and the times he has taken.
-
At the film seminar of "Road to Glory", Lu Yanhe mentioned this point again.
In the eyes of outsiders, activities such as film seminars are mostly just a formal and standard action.
But Chen Ziyan gave Lu Yanhe some special instructions.
"This time you can talk more about your understanding of the film and the industry," Chen Ziyan said. "Since you are no longer just an actor, you should let them hear more of your thoughts."
So, when it was Lu Yanhe's turn to speak, he said, "In fact, I am a very lucky young actor. Because I have worked with many very reliable and talented producers, directors, editors and crews, I have gained a lot of fame through one film after another. In fact, this is all the halo bestowed on me by the achievements of film and television dramas."
This is also Lu Yanhe's heartfelt words.
After he said this, many of the senior colleagues present looked at him with much gentler eyes.
Which senior doesn’t like a humble junior?
Especially a younger generation who is very famous and whom they feel they cannot control.
Lu Yanhe first got into position before continuing.
"Our domestic film and television drama market is one of the best in the world, which gives our film and television dramas a very solid industrial foundation to further promote the development of our film and television production. In the past two years, we have also seen an increase in the number of Chinese-language films at international film festivals. While commercial films are booming, art films are also gaining new vitality. This is a particularly lucky time for me as an actor. No matter what kind of movie I want to act in, I can find a suitable project."
Lu Yanhe's words in such an occasion, in front of the film department's leaders and other influential relevant personnel, undoubtedly made them feel comfortable.
Lu Yanhe was not interested in being a cannon and firing at them.
He himself is a beneficiary of this industry, what nonsense is he talking about.
"It's quite a surprise that Glory Road won the Best Film Award in the Horizons section of the Venice International Film Festival. This also shows that it's not only the films that reflect the dark and ugly side of our country that can win international awards, right?"
Lu Yanhe smiled.
There is a lot of discussion in the country right now saying that only films that reflect the ugly and dark side of the country can win international awards.
Lu Yanhe didn't dare to say that there were none at all, but from the many movies he had seen, especially the award-winning movies at film festivals, basically all the award-winning movies, regardless of which country they were from, were based on satire and criticism.
Satire and criticism itself is one of the most important themes of artistic creation.
Of course, Lu Yanhe didn't dare to say much in such an occasion. He just mentioned it briefly and then went on to talk about what he really wanted to say.
"Two days ago, I had dinner with my classmate, and he said that he wanted to go to Japan. We asked him why he wanted to go to Japan, and he said that he saw a lot of Japanese animation when he was a child, so he wanted to go and see it. I was thinking that movies and TV series are actually the same. Although we strongly encourage foreign friends to visit China, we also know that there are very few foreign friends who can actually come to China and set foot on our land in person. Movies and TV series have almost become an important window for other people in the world to understand our country, and it can even be said to be the most three-dimensional window."
"Why do I say that? Because each of us will have some attitudes and opinions about different countries due to the influence of history, politics, culture and other factors. This will lead to some derivative ideas about everything related to the country. But movies and TV series are about characters, stories and emotions. We cannot personally go to that country to experience the local customs and people, so we often feel it through movies and TV series and other literary and artistic works."
"The rest of the world feels the same way about China," Lu Yanhe said. "How can we help people eliminate their prejudices against China and the Chinese people, and let them see the development of the times and the country, and see the bravery, diligence, justice and enthusiasm of the Chinese people? These beautiful things cannot be forced into people's minds by rote."
"Film and television dramas are a business card that has been proven around the world to introduce the image and culture of a country to people in other countries."
"Good works, no matter what the subject matter is, are shaping a positive image of the country, whether it is a commercial film, an art film, or a genre film. It is not just mainstream films that can do that. None of the films I shot, such as Friends, Late Spring, Three Mountains, and this time, Road to Glory, are mainstream works. However, they have all been liked by many people abroad, and many foreign friends have become interested in China and Chinese culture because of these works."
What Lu Yanhe said here today is actually to express one meaning.
In the past, when the domestic film market was not big enough, the entire film and television industry had a force to seek recognition and a sense of existence abroad. Even if they were not confident at that time and thought that what was available abroad was more attractive and good, no matter what, it created many creators who worked hard to make the Chinese voice heard internationally.
But now, they are too confident, which has led to another extreme. They think they don't need recognition from others, and that their domestic market is big enough. Even if Chinese-language film and television dramas have no influence in the world, it will not affect their ability to make money. This has become another form of "closed-door development". Behind this phenomenon is another kind of "arrogance", and those who try to continue to "go out" are specifically labeled as "worshiping foreigners and fawning on foreign countries".
Twenty years ago, Chinese-language films frequently appeared on the international film scene and have never disappeared.
Ten years ago, Chinese-language films suddenly became less and less common. It was not until the past two or three years that one or two works slowly appeared again, returning to the international film scene.
"I think we should encourage Chinese-language films to participate in more international film festivals. This doesn't mean we have to win awards, or that only international awards are superior to domestic awards." Lu Yanhe smiled and said in a student-like tone without any aggression, "It's that domestic awards, no matter what, will be won by people every year, but what about foreign awards? If we don't actively participate in the competition and don't encourage everyone to make films suitable for participating in film festivals, then we may disappear from the international film scene for another seven or eight years."
"These are just my feelings. There must be many things that I didn't consider carefully because I was young. If there is anything wrong, please criticize and correct me."
-
Encourage Chinese-language films to participate in more film festivals.
It's not for the sake of gilding the lily, nor because the awards abroad are more advanced and awesome than domestic awards.
It is simply because international film festivals still hold the artistic discourse power over film, a globally accepted art form.
Only when the day comes that China has its own Hollywood and Oscars, and starts from scratch, and no longer needs to rely on others' communication channels, you can then wait for others to invite you to participate, just like Hollywood movies.
The Chinese market is so big now, and as a young and fledgling actor, he is warmly received by officials of major film festivals once he is shortlisted because he comes from the Chinese film market - is it because of him?
Lu Yanhe is not that shameless.
-
Lu Yanhe's remarks did not cause much discussion at the scene, but after the event, someone sent a message saying that his speech was very good, and asked him, as a Chinese filmmaker, to continue to work hard and bring Chinese-language films to the international arena to showcase the artistic charm of Chinese-language films.
"That's enough." Chen Ziyan nodded and said to Lu Yanhe, "With these words, you are now a person with the imperial sword."
Lu Yanhe was still at a loss. He was vaguely aware of something, but hadn't figured it out completely.
It was not until he heard that a comedy blockbuster "The Left Foot Immortal" released by Chenguang Film Company wanted to be scheduled for the Mid-Autumn Festival and released together with "Rouge" to compete for the box office, but was blocked and forced to withdraw from the Mid-Autumn Festival, that Lu Yanhe realized what Chen Ziyan meant.
Chen Ziyan said: "There are many ways for the government to protect art films. Setting up a fund to support creation is one thing, and setting aside a few small time slots for art films to be screened is another. The reason why a movie like "Left Foot Immortal" suddenly wants to be released during the Mid-Autumn Festival is that it found that there were no other big movies during the three-day holiday, so it felt that it could take advantage of the opportunity. Of course, it cannot take advantage of this opportunity."
Release schedule is a science, not to mention its impact on movies.
"Lost on Journey", which was released in the summer, lost at least 300 million yuan because it was not released during the Spring Festival. It is estimated by the industry that it lost 300 million yuan.
Lu Yanhe was still a little embarrassed and asked, "Then... isn't this also unfair to The Left Foot Immortal?"
"Fair?" Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes. "Lu Yanhe, please don't be so chaste at this time, okay? Movies can be art, but movies are competitors. Do you believe that a movie like "Left Foot Immortal" can directly eat up at least 5% of the screening schedule that originally belonged to "Rouge Button"? "
Lu Yanhe: "Uh, I'll put away my saintly heart and not get angry anymore."
Chen Ziyan said: "We should prove what a movie like Rouge can bring to Chinese films and let the industry see what a good movie can bring to the world besides box office."
Lu Yanhe hissed, "Sister Zi Yan, you've suddenly put a lot of pressure on me."
Shortly after "Road to Glory" announced that it would start small-scale previews on September 10, "Happy Time" also announced that it would be released during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
For a time, the Mid-Autumn Festival period was occupied by three films: "Rouge", "Happy Time" and "Path of Glory", which won major awards at international film festivals.
When the media saw this list, they were all stunned.
How come the Mid-Autumn Festival suddenly became the season for art films?
What about those commercial films?
Don't you want to come during this period? Don't you like this small period and want to rush to the National Day period?
Lu Yanhe still felt vaguely that this was not right. Films released in the same period were of course in competition, but was this the way to compete?
As he thought about it, he reminded himself not to be so naive.
He felt that he really had this problem.
I didn’t feel it before, but now it’s real.
But he also thought, is this what we call a saintly heart?
He just wanted to compete fairly.
But no matter what Lu Yanhe thought, this was not a situation he could change.
"The Left Foot Immortal" withdrew from the Mid-Autumn Festival schedule, which must have been done by consensus with others.
Lu Yanhe finally didn't allow himself to think any more, and only told himself that he had never asked for "art films to protect the release date", he just called for more support and encouragement for art films. How to do it was not something he could control.
-
After attending the seminar on "Road to Glory", Lu Yanhe went to Jiangzhi to see the crew of "Wulin Waijia" which was currently filming, and then went to Jiangguang to meet Chen Siqi and had a meal with the "Jump Up" team members in Jiangguang.
While he was busy with his own affairs, the domestic film and television industry was also in turmoil.
The TV series "Deviation" starring Zeng Qiao was suspended halfway through because one of the actors in the series was caught soliciting prostitution.
Zeng Qiao sent a message to Lu Yanhe, cursing his bad luck.
Lu Yanhe also felt depressed for Zeng Qiao and the "Deviation" crew - it would be depressing for anyone to be in such a situation where everyone's efforts were suddenly wasted because of a single bad apple.
Two days later, Zeng Qiao came to ask him again: Yan He, do you know anyone from HP and Maxine? Can you help us get in touch with them and see if they are interested in "Bias"?
If a drama disappears like this, it would be a huge loss.
Zeng Qiao actually starred in "River of Silence" which was invested and produced by Maxine, but he had little contact with Zhong Benshuo.
He felt that if he contacted people through Lu Yanhe, they might pay more attention to him.
Lu Yanhe did not refuse and helped to make the contact.
Both Chung Ben-seok and Tom White said they would seriously evaluate the matter.
Lu Yanhe can only help up to this point.
He also couldn't say that just one phone call from him could make people willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to purchase the broadcasting rights to a Chinese drama.
Unrealistic.
-
"Road to Glory" began small-scale screenings on September 10th.
For example, in Yuming, there are only three cinemas showing one show each day.
As a result, as soon as the pre-sale started, the tickets for these three shows were sold out within ten minutes, and even the seats in the corners were snapped up.
Some people even complained online: It's amazing, the first time I bought movie tickets, it felt like I was buying concert tickets.
On the first day of the small-scale film, the national box office was , with an attendance rate of 83%. On the box office statistics platform, this number was once thought to be a system failure. Then, everyone took another look and found that there were only 10 screenings nationwide that day.
"..."
This is a "small-scale preview" that no domestic film company has ever done.
The scale of the event was so small that it shocked the industry.
However, the cinema was very satisfied.
You can make so much money from one screening, what a high rate of return.
From this day on, the daily box office of "Road to Glory" was around 3.
Many cinemas wanted to increase the number of movie screenings, but they disagreed.
Anyway, "Glory Road" is not a movie that is afraid of being spoiled.
The focus is not on the plot.
Then, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived.
Until this day, "Road to Glory" has slightly expanded its screening times.
The role of stars is highlighted in the box office of these movies.
"Road to Glory" was deliberately screened at a reduced number of screenings and was still only a preview. In the end, it only had a 7% screening rate, but it still earned about 1700 million at the box office.
"Rouge" earned around 32 million at the box office thanks to a 4300% screening rate and the appeal of Wang Zhong, Chen Bige and Huang Kairen, especially the support of Huang Kairen's group of die-hard fans.
"Happy Time" also took advantage of the popularity of the Venice International Film Festival and Ning Xiulian's gimmick as the Venice Film Festival Queen, attracting a box office of about 1400 million.
In addition to these three movies, several old films also saw a surge in box office revenue thanks to the holiday season.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the box office exceeded 100 million yuan.
This is the holiday with the lowest daily box office in recent years.
However, the advantages of art films were highlighted at this moment.
On the day of their release, the discussion about the three films on social media was so exaggerated that it exceeded the imagination of the industry.
Especially "Rouge".
"Rouge" is the film with the highest ratings and the highest popularity among the three films.
Although it is a romance film, it has a plot and a sad ending that makes people cry.
"Rouge" makes girls, especially young girls, feel extremely involved in the drama, as if they have become Ruhua, who has waited for many years, and are saying goodbye to a man who has betrayed them in his delusion.
I don’t know how many self-media outlets published soft articles on this day similar to "Women, even if you become a ghost, you must be a ghost that loves yourself", which triggered empathy among women on social media.
"Road to Glory" has become a vehicle for young artists to express themselves, their lives and their feelings. It has also become a work that many older generations in the film industry publicly praised. Of course, because the screening rate is too low, the discussion it has generated is far less than that of the other two works.
The most discussed one is "Happy Hour".
The biggest controversy is that as many people praise the film for reflecting female consciousness and self-strength, as many people criticize the heroine in the film for not loving herself in the end.
All in all, in such a small schedule led by three art films, after creating the lowest first-day box office in the holiday schedule in recent years, another small miracle was created - the box office on the second day actually increased instead of decreasing.
"What is the greatest commercial value of art films? In almost every film, there is a natural theme that allows many people to express their views and attitudes."
This is what Chen Siqi said. The "Jump Up" team led by her was responsible for the marketing of the two films "Rouge" and "Road to Glory".
“Whether you like it or hate it, you have to let the audience see it. Only when they see it and start discussing it, can there be more to come.” (End of this chapter)
