"The world of light and shadow, the first decade of Chinese-language films in the new century."
Just after "I Am Legend" exceeded 800 million, that night, the movie channel produced a summary column about Chinese movies in the first decade of the 21st century.
On the TV screen, domestic movies from the past ten years flashed continuously, accompanied by a calm female voice.
"This is the best era for Chinese-language films. In the grand process of commercialization of Chinese-language films, countless characters have come to the stage hilariously.
The turbulent debates and doubts, the ups and downs of fame and power, are all hidden in the great waves of historical progress. Chinese-language films in the past 10 years have been full of noise and commotion. Who knows where we will go in the end?
I think back to the year 2000 when Li Bian was so heroic. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" swept the international film industry and led the Chinese people to be proud at the Oscars.
Looking back at Zhang Yimou in 2002, he was full of ambition. A "Hero" commanded the world, gathered superstars, and the streets were empty. Chinese movies took this as a watershed and officially entered the blockbuster era.
Brother Cheng Kai who shot "The Promise", Ma Xiaogang who created "The Night Banquet", and the fifth generation of successful directors, who are not high-spirited and stand at the forefront of Chinese-language films? The golden generation that once created the brilliant achievements of Hong Kong films are also at this time.
Heading north, gearing up.
"Kung Fu" by Zhou Xingchi, "Seven Swords" by Xu Ke, "Tou Ming Zhuan" by Chen Kexin, and "Red Cliff" by Wu Yusen, all of them are fierce and grand.
The Chinese-language blockbusters of the early 20th century often assembled top all-star casts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and three regions, and sometimes even invited internationally renowned actors and technical teams to join them."
As the female voice on the TV began to introduce important Chinese-language films in the first decade of the 21st century.
Each blockbuster movie is summarized in three minutes.
Immediately afterwards, the tone became a little passionate.
"After all, the future belongs to the younger generation. New directors have quickly changed the appearance of Chinese-language films with their own works. Now, the faces of the leading film industry have also ushered in a new generation.
On December 30, 2007, "Frequency of Life and Death" was released. Li Qian came out of nowhere and won 100 million yuan in box office at the age of 24, officially kicking off the rise of the younger generation of directors.
After that, Ning Hao entered the 100-million-yuan box office club with "Crazy Racing", and Su Lun successively made two sci-fi romance films, "Cohabitation in Time and Space" and "Warm and Bright", which sold 500 million in box office, making romance films a popular genre.
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Wu Jing's highly creative "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" opened up a new genre of action films, and Xu Zheng's "The Journey" was a breath of fresh air among the vulgar comedy films.
As a leader of the new generation of directors, Li Qian has become the audience's favorite director by producing one high-efficiency and highly acclaimed wonderful film a year.
It is about the relationship between father and son, children's education, human ethics, entertainment and depth, and the coexistence of commerce and art. It is very popular with the audience, has achieved great success at the box office, and has also triggered social thinking.
In the first decade of the 21st century, Chinese-language films achieved complete success, and in the second decade, Chinese-language films will also usher in a new chapter with new generation directors like Li Qian."
...
The movie channel does not say what a master is or is not a master like the media, but the content is very straightforward.
The first decade of the 21st century is the era of fifth-generation directors and directors who have gone north to Hong Kong. The second decade that has already begun will be the era of young directors.
And Li Qian is the leader of the new generation of directors. It goes without saying that Li Qian will be the number one figure in Chinese-language films in the second decade.
After the show was aired, it once again added fuel to Li Qian's popularity.
Although there are many different voices among commercial film masters, at least most of the media and audiences have accepted it.
In terms of popularity, no one can surpass him, probably only Zhang Yimou after "Hero", Cheng Kaige after "Farewell My Concubine", and Li Jianlao after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
However, for the older generation of famous directors, even if they recognize Li Qian's achievements, they will not admit that Li Qian led the new decade.
It's just that Zhang Yimou has a typical mediocre character, Cheng Kai is just like a veteran cadre, and Jiang Wen is arrogant, but he's not someone who likes to talk big in front of the media.
And Ma Xiaogang, who should have stood up and spoken out loudly, now has no time.
On January 28, as the Spring Festival was approaching, the competition within the industry for Ma Xiaogang finally came to an end.
Huayang Media and Wanda Pictures invested 200 million to acquire 70% of the shares of a newly established film and television company established by Ma Xiaogang, and Ma Xiaogang signed another director contract for five films.
A piece of paper, a signature, and 200 million in cash came in. Ma Xiaogang was busy collecting the money, so he had no time to take care of Li Qian.
Earning 200 million yuan at once also triggered intense discussion among netizens.
200 million, how many movies can be made to earn back, and how many listed companies can't even make half of this profit in a year.
...
"I worked so hard to make four movies and invested in so many movies, and I only made a few hundred million. Now I can make 200 million by selling a shell company. It's a very good profit."
Li Qian was speechless when he saw the news.
Didn't Huayang and Wanda just give money to Ma Xiaogang to bind him?
This operation is also awesome, why no one gives me money?
It's just that Ma Xiaogang not only sold one company, but Wanda also got involved. Huang Zhongjun must have been heartbroken because his treasure became shared by the two companies.
Song Ge has been working at Wanda for more than a month and has done something big without making any noise.
However, it has nothing to do with Li Qian. I just received a notification from Han Sanping that the literary script of "I'm Not the God of Medicine" has been reviewed. Multiple departments have been coordinated and the filming has been agreed in principle.
I just took the photo, and why did I agree in principle? I really spoke well.
Just like government documents, there is principled agreement, basic agreement, etc.
But as long as it was filmed, Li Qian started to prepare the crew and think about the actors.
There are only a few days left before the Chinese New Year, and Li Qian still wants to finalize the lead role before the Chinese New Year and start filming as soon as possible.
If possible, Li Qian doesn't want to release it again during the Lunar New Year period this time. The Lunar New Year period is more suitable for a lighter film.
Moreover, film it as early as possible and release it as soon as possible without delaying it.
If "No Man's Land" had been filmed half a year earlier and released before July 2009, it wouldn't have been banned.
Not long after we finished filming, we encountered the 7.5 incident. It was such a coincidence.
The filming will be completed early and it will be released early. Even if you agree to film it now, if the higher-ups really know the content of the movie, they will 100% not be allowed to film it.
A group of laymen, relying on literary scripts, could not imagine what was being filmed and could only take a rough look at it.
...
To prepare the crew, first find all the actors, and then wait until the location is ready for the New Year. The actors also need enough time to study the script and characters.
Actors must first fit the style of the movie. If the style does not match, no matter how good their acting skills are, it will be useless.
There are many actors with very distinctive characteristics in China. Although their acting skills are very good, they are not suitable for all types.
"I'm Not the God of Medicine" is first of all a realistic-themed movie. It must be realistic and down-to-earth, so that ordinary viewers can feel as if things are happening around them.
Dialect is a common way.
Most of the dialects used in domestic movies are Xichuan dialect, Northeast dialect, and Jingcheng dialect.
It is also familiar to most viewers. After all, if it is a minority dialect, it is hard to understand, and it is not much different from foreign dialects.
The background of the story must not be in a small city.
Topics that reflect the nature of society are also equivalent to the dark side of society.
Only darkness exposed to the sun, darkness visible to all, is society's broadest fundamental problem.
Not afraid of the sun, it doesn't matter if you are exposed. Everyone knows that is the most difficult thing to solve. It is darker than the darkness at the bottom of society in a small county town.
What could be darker than the darkness of being able to face the sun directly?
And in modern big cities, that kind of dramatic conflict is even more intense.
Just like when you look down from a few hundred meters high building in the center of the city, you will see the densely packed dilapidated bungalows around you. The shock is stronger than seeing this kind of house in a small county town.
The story is set in a big city, and some dialects are occasionally used.
That’s the capital city, the magic city.
As for Yangcheng, the Cantonese they speak is a bit incompatible.
The capital has also been excluded, as it is not very convenient.
Still the same as the original version, the background of the story is set in the Magic City.
Li Qian listed several candidates for the leading role.
In addition to Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, who is also good at playing small characters, and even Wang Baoqiang and Guo Tao can also play them.
However, excluding Wang Baoqiang first, Guo Tao seems too upright.
As for Huang Bo.
Cheng Yong in the movie has a slightly decadent, greasy, and philistine vibe. Later on, he has to be upright and have a bit of a lone hero spirit.
Everything else is easy to talk about, but when it comes to a middle-aged greasy man, Huang Bo feels a little off.
Speaking of which, Huang Bo looks ordinary, but he doesn't have the greasiness of a middle-aged man at all.
Even the movie "Crazy Alien", judging from the looks of Huang Bo and Shen Teng, is definitely not a work made in recent years.
Huang Bo was probably 45 at that time. Although his appearance in the film was not good and he had gained weight, in terms of greasiness, he was not as good as Shen Teng.
Shen Teng is still somewhat famous in the drama circle. Li Qian has gone to see a drama. It seems to be in 1979. He was almost born in the 1980s. He was greasier than Huang Bo in 1974.
Greasiness is a common appearance among ordinary middle-aged men in the market, and it is a very important label.
Jumping around, there is really no actor in his 40s who is a perfect fit.
There seems to be a gap among actors of this age in China.
Veteran actors generally play roles in their 50s and 60s, even though they are 70 or 40 years old, they all play roles in their thirties.
However, there are indeed few male characters around forty years old who are still protagonists.
There was no other way, so Li Qian made a phone call and called Xu Zheng, who was writing the script for the sequel to "On the Road" in Shanghai.
According to predictions, this film should be released after 18 years, which is eight years early. I really don’t know if Xu Zheng can perfectly interpret that state, even though he is 39 now.
You know, Xu Zheng was a little boy in the past.
After hearing the news about the leading actor in Li Qian's new film, Xu Zheng, who was far away in Shanghai, didn't waste a moment, put down the phone and took the latest flight to the capital.
In the afternoon, Xu Zheng, who was tired of traveling, appeared in Li Qian's office and asked a little eagerly, "Director Li, what type is the new film?"
The leading actor in Li Qian's new film, no one else would be more calm. He had previously boasted in front of the media that Haikou would break the record.
Although "Immortal on the Road" became a hit and he himself became famous again, and he is confident that the sequel can continue the popularity of "Immortal on the Road", but there are never too many good movies, let alone Li Qian's new film.
Looking at Li Qian's previous four films, all of them have both box office and connotation.
Although he is almost 40, Xu Zheng still has a heart for becoming famous.
"Brother Zheng, take a break first and take a breath."
Li Qian smiled, asked someone to pour him a glass of water, and handed him the script.
"This time it's a realistic film, let's take a look at the script first."
"Then let me take a look first. Director Li will wait for me."
Xu Zheng took a sip of water, took the script and started reading it.
"I'm not the God of Medicine"?
The title of the film is a bit strange, but there is so much to think about, so keep reading.
It doesn’t take long to read a 30,000-word literary script. Even if you ponder it word for word, Xu Zheng finished reading it completely after half an hour.
The story is very simple. Cheng Yong, the owner of the Yindu Shenyou oil store, is living a miserable life. There is no business in the store. His father is critically ill and he cannot raise the money for the operation. His ex-wife is pregnant with a rich man and has to give him custody of his son.
Take it away.
Such a miserable male protagonist, Xu Zheng once thought that Li Qian was going to make some art film.
But then, his face became a little heavy.
One day, a leukemia patient came to the store and begged him to bring back a batch of imitation special drugs from Indu so that patients who could not afford the sky-high price of genuine drugs could keep a glimmer of hope.
Cheng Yong, who was unwilling in every possible way but had no other choice, finally agreed. As a result, he unexpectedly turned around and saved countless lives with affordable and effective medicine.
However, after making money and no longer having the pressure of life, Cheng Yong was afraid that things would fail and chose to quit.
Because of my conscience, after some ideological struggle, I returned to Yindu and brought back special-priced medicines for the patients, and sold them even cheaper. I didn't make any money at all.
In the end, the incident happened. He was caught by the police while transporting the medicines and was sentenced by the court.
But looking at this story, it’s not that amazing.
Even the deaths of Lu Yiyi and Huang Mao were not too tragic in terms of literary scripts compared to many film and television dramas.
However, when coupled with the leukemia specific drugs involved, it is different.
He is a character who has saved countless lives and made thousands of families become Buddhas. Just like at the end of the script, when Cheng Yong was sent from the court to prison, the patients stood densely in two rows on both sides of the street, watching the bailiff's vehicle slowly move forward.
With this feeling, Xu Zheng reread the script twice. Li Qian was not in a hurry and just waited for him to finish it.
More than an hour later, Xu Zheng put down the script and said with a wry smile, "Director Li, there is a huge contrast between such a heroic character and the image of the character himself."
Li Qian smiled and said, "Let's not talk about it for now. What do you think, brother Zheng? Are you sure you can perform well?"