The special effects for "Return to Youth" were officially completed in early November, including the narration from beginning to end of the movie, which was recorded by Chen Kun after editing.
Except for the completion of special effects and some shots that need color correction, all post-production has basically been completed.
The schedule has been announced, it will be released on Thursday, December 4th, and there is only one month left.
The film had to be submitted for review before it was released, and it involved many sensitive historical events. Li Qian also came to China Film and Television with a copy.
As the boss of a state-owned enterprise, the entire film industry is actually still under the jurisdiction of China Film. Many things are not visible on the surface, but China Film’s influence on the industry is far stronger than it seems.
Han Sanping resigned from his post at the beginning of the year, and the entire top management of China Film Group was changed. The new head was a deputy director of the Film Bureau.
If the movie "Return to Youth" is to be reviewed, it will definitely not only be a matter of the Optoelectronic Review Committee, but also various departments including the Propaganda, General Administration, United Front, Women's Federation, and Civil Affairs will have to send people to participate in the review.
After all, the movie touches on all aspects, even if the plot is not much, the influence of Li Qian's movie is there.
The influence of the director is different, and the intensity of review is also different, but there is also an advantage, that is, some things that are passable can be passed.
In Zhang Yimou's previous film "The Golden Armor", those revealing scenes were not edited at all because it was Zhang Yimou's film. Why don't you try it with Jia Zhangke?
In North America, this film is rated R, which means restricted.
Lu Xuechang, the sixth-generation director who passed away at the beginning of the year, failed to pass the review for his debut film "How the Steel Was Tempered". Optoelectronics had no specific opinions, but it just didn't work.
As a result, it took two years of deletions, revisions, and title changes before it finally passed the review.
This is the gap, and of course it can be said to be unfair, but it is not unfair that the great directors have exchanged successful films for their current status and the treatment they deserve.
It was not a big deal at this time. Li Qian also watched the entire movie several times. There should be no problems and no need for a knife.
However, in order to show respect for the boss of the state-owned enterprise, Li Qian still brought the copy to China Film and asked the newly appointed chairman of China Film, Lai Peikang, to take a look at it, provide guidance, and then submit it for review.
After all, he also hired a producer, and the producer later symbolically added China Film Group, so Lai Peikang was involved.
In the small screening room of China Film Corporation, Lai Peikang and several senior executives were present and watched the 150-minute feature film together.
"call."
Several people present suddenly felt a sense of loss. Lai Peikang sat upright, looked down at the watch on his hand, and said, "I haven't felt anything in the past two and a half hours. It seems to have passed in a flash."
"Director Li made this movie so well. I have watched many 90-minute movies and they all felt longer than this."
"I concentrated on watching the 150-minute movie without even looking at the watch. This is the first time I have been so serious."
"If my waist hadn't been a little sore, I wouldn't have thought it had been long."
Several bosses and vice presidents also spoke with emotion.
"This "Return to Youth" can definitely be called an epic movie. The domestic film industry has developed so fast in recent years. There is no shortage of entertainment movies, but there is a lack of a movie like this."
"It's a pity that some content is missing. Otherwise, it would be perfect if it could fully show all the important history of the founding of New China in the past sixty years." Some people also expressed regret.
"The bosses are so complimentary." Li Qian smiled, not being modest at all.
As for the things that unfortunately were not photographed, there was no way, it was difficult to photograph, and Li Qian did not want to photograph those things.
At the end of the 1960s, it was said that the little bastard who unified the northern and southern cities of the capital at the age of 20 and became the only underworld leader in the history of the capital was meaningless and difficult to film.
Several bosses and vice presidents then gave their own opinions on the film's review, and basically they didn't think there was anything sensitive about it.
After a short while, Li Qian came to Lai Peikang's office and said, "Dr. Lai, I will trouble you to submit the case for trial."
"Director Li is very polite. I will hand it over for you this afternoon and ask the superiors to contact the various ministries and commissions as soon as possible to organize the review."
After talking about the review, Lai Peikang talked about another thing, "Director Li, I didn't expect you to be good at war dramas. We are preparing "The Founding of an Army", which can also be regarded as a war film. I wonder if Director Li has any ideas?
"
"The great cause of building an army"?
Li Qian is really not interested in this kind of gift film. It is a dilemma. It is too difficult to satisfy both the boss and the audience.
"Director Lai, I can only make commercial films. I'm afraid I can't grasp the scale of gift films." Li Qianwan refused.
"What does Director Li think of Wu Jing? There are not many directors in China who can make war films, and we have never had the right people." Lai Peikang asked again. In fact, the older generation of directors can make a lot of war films, but he doesn't want to do it.
It has become the kind of main theme movie that no one watches. With the commercialization of the market, gift movies also have certain market requirements. At least the box office cannot be lower than the previous two movies, otherwise it will not be good to watch.
Li Qian shook his head, "Dr. Lai, such a tribute film involves historical events, has too many characters, a grand background, and many narrative lines, so it is difficult to control. And now he is also preparing to create the sequel to "Wolf Warrior". You
You should find a mature and experienced director."
"That's right." Lai Peikang nodded, not seeking merit, but seeking no faults. It would be tragic if Wu Jing made Mr. Zhu and others into super-soldier kings.
He didn't like "Wolf Warrior" either. After staying in Paris for many years, he was influenced to a certain extent and still preferred the artistry of movies.
Lai Peikang also talked a lot with Li Qian, including the current development of the film industry and plans for the future of the industry.
Han Sanping's achievements during his tenure are obvious to all, but it is not easy for him to do better.
Lai Peikang mentioned that there are currently almost no hard science fiction movies in China, "Yoozu's "The Three-Body Problem" will start filming in the next year. This is also the first hard science fiction blockbuster in China. Director Li has tried so many themes, but I don't know if he has any experience with hard science fiction.
not interested?"
"The Three-Body Problem" is definitely a classic science fiction film in China. The film, television and game adaptation rights were bought by the game company Youzuo in 2009. We started preparing for the movie a few years ago. It seems that the preparations are almost complete and the characters have been confirmed.
.
For an outsider company and an unknown director to make such a big production, it's obvious that they just want to make a bunch of money from it.
However, Li Qian doesn't seem to have a "Three-Body" movie in his memory, and he doesn't know whether it was filmed or not.
Speaking of which, Li Qian happened to tell Lai Peikang about Guo Fan, who was about to return to China.
"Actually, Guo Fan wanted to make hard science fiction six or seven years ago. He went to Hollywood to study there in the past two years. He will come back before the year and start preparing for Liu's other film "The Wandering Earth."
""The Wandering Earth"? I have read this book. Is it going to be made into a hard science fiction film?" Lai Peikang asked. China is still a science fiction desert. He wants to promote the development of domestic science fiction films. After all, Han Sanping's promotion of costume blockbusters ushered in the era of blockbusters.
, judging from the current situation, only hard science fiction blockbusters can push the industry further.
...
After leaving China Film and Television, Li Qian was a little amused when he thought of Lai Peikang's idea of financing his great ambition before leaving.
Han Sanping was making blockbusters, and Lai Peikang, who took over, wanted to make super blockbusters, and even said he would lead domestic films into the era of super blockbusters.
Why is science fiction so easy to shoot? It’s not just a few spaceships and mechas. Science fiction is a concept. Domestic directors’ concepts for science fiction movies are still based on zero.
As for "Fortress", from a conceptual point of view, it is not a science fiction film. The alien invasion is replaced by aliens and zombie invasion. The whole story does not change much, it is just a science fiction film.
The matter of submission will be left to Lai Peikang. If there are no accidents, it should be passed in about half a month, which is mid-November, half a month before the movie is released.
However, even if it didn't get the Dragon Award, Future Pictures started to promote it.
Even if there is no need for publicity, there will be no lack of exposure, but since this is the boss's film and the company's most important project, Future Pictures still mobilized all available resources and began an overwhelming publicity.
Major portals, mainstream forums, Tieba, Weibo, Zhipay, Jingdong and other APPs with many users have invested a lot of money.
Offline, in downtown office buildings in major cities, the content of billboards has also changed to the poster of "Return to Youth" with Chen Kun and Tong Liya showing half of their faces.
Bus stations, shopping malls, squares, cinemas...
Under the huge money offensive, all parts of the country are unable to move, and billboards are being replaced and pretended.
On Friday the 7th, the first trailer of "Return to Youth" was also released online.
Countless viewers who are paying attention to the movie have seen this long-awaited trailer on computers, TVs, mobile phones, cinemas, and shopping malls.
In a house with a somewhat retro style, Liu Yunlong, a man from the Republic of China, ran out of the door with a child in his arms.
As soon as the scene turned, he came to the door of a nursing home. He gently placed the baby in his arms at the door. After knocking on the door a few times, he ran away and hid aside to watch.
Not long after, a somewhat kind Liu Mingtao dressed as a housewife opened the door and looked at the baby on the ground in astonishment.
"This is a nursing home, not an orphanage."
He was complaining like this, but in this cold weather, he still hugged the baby with some distress.
The camera followed Liu Mingtao's gaze and gave a close-up of the infant baby.
"hiss!"
At the same time, in different places, a blast of cold air on a cold day entered their throats, and countless people coughed violently.
The sound of coughing was not enough to express the fluctuations in their hearts. At this time, no matter where they were, everyone was staring at the close-up of the baby on the screen.
Many people who had just had breakfast even felt a little nauseous when looking at the newborn baby, which was not cute at all and had an extremely ugly face full of wrinkles.
However, no one took their eyes off the screen.
"I think I have a family."
Along with Chen Kun's narration, the scene continues.
The old people in the nursing home were having dinner together. Old people who were over sixty years old and babies who had grown up a little were also at the dining table. They looked about the same as old people in their seventies or eighties.
It’s still Chen Kun’s narration. “I thought I was just like the people here, a twilight old man.”
However, the little old man was playing with the chopsticks and spoons on the table like a child.
However, like other old people, he sat in the yard quietly basking in the sun at dusk.
At night, he held Liu Mingtao's hand and said, "Mom, sometimes I feel like I am changing day by day."
For a moment or two, the daily life of a baby with reverse growth in a nursing home is sometimes normal and sometimes incompatible with the place.
More than ten seconds later, the camera turned and came to the church.
"Stand up! Stand up like Lazarus!"
The white priest shouted, and the little old man lying on the ground stood up and was able to take two steps forward.
The whole church exclaimed, and the white priest also looked up to the sky excitedly and shouted, "Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he fell straight down.
At this point, the trailer ends and starts playing again and again.
Countless viewers watched this bizarre trailer in front of countless screens across the country. They were so surprised that they stopped and watched it over and over again.
In the office building, there were only a few minutes left before work started, and some office workers were still staring at the monitor in the lobby.
"Old Wang, I have five minutes left to clock in. Do you want to stop attending?" Someone urged at the same time.
In the cinema, some people ran to the front desk after watching the preview.
"Hello, when will "The Return of Youth" be released? Can I pre-sale tickets?"
On the bus, someone stared at the screen several times and almost stopped.
"Shit, Master, stop the car! Stop the car!"
...
Under the powerful all-round publicity offensive, in just one morning, all the trailers for "Rejuvenation" have been seen.
The bizarre scene of an extremely ugly old baby man and the priest in the church shouting "Praise the Lord" but then dying on the spot, coupled with the fact that it was Li Qian's movie, immediately set off a wave of discussion.
"Has anyone seen the trailer? Is that ugly baby really the male protagonist? It's too ugly!"
"This makeup is absolutely amazing. I have always imagined what a baby like an old man would look like, but I didn't expect it to be so ugly."
"I saw it while having breakfast on the bus. The meat buns were so greasy that I almost couldn't eat them."
"This setting is really amazing. How can we act in front of such a young old man?"
"Who played this child? I feel like his eyes look a bit like Chen Kun."
"What happened to the priest? He asked the hero to stand up, but why did he suddenly die?"
"It's a bit weird. Does it mean that the priest begged the Lord to let the male protagonist stand up, and then the price is his life?"
"Why is it that instead of Buddhism and Taoism, we have to talk about Jesus? It looks awkward."