Is Chen Kaige Zhang Yimou lonely?

Some people say that Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou are dying, but you don't know how lonely they are.

Chen Kaige has been on a variety show recently. We will be somewhat disappointed to see him give exquisite praise to every guest. Many people think that money corrupts genius, or conversely, "Chen Kaige" was overthrown by wealth or capital.

The fifth generation of directors, after entering the twentieth century, the quantity and quality of their works seem to have declined greatly. Chen Kaige's film works are mostly mixed. His masterpiece Farewell My Concubine is always mentioned when every movie is released. Zhang Yimou went to fiddle with the opening ceremony. The recent closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Eight Minutes in Beijing, is also his work. Even his latest work, The Great Wall, has to be made into a sports meeting.

Many people miss their 1990s. It was indeed the golden age of China films. In the early works of the fifth generation directors, such as Farewell My Concubine and Alive, we can see that kind of very powerful spiritual power. However, that golden age was too short.

Ling Zhijun described the atmosphere of 1992 in his book Change: At that time, Guangdong-Hong Kong Information Daily was exploring "no forbidden zone for reform" and China Economic Times suggested "letting thoughts break through the cage".

In September this year, Zhang Yimou won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and Gong Li won the Best Actress Award in the volpi Cup for her Story of Autumn Chrysanthemum. There is a folk saying: 1992 is the year of Zhang Yimou.

The Story of Autumn Chrysanthemum made Zhang Yimou and Gong Li famous internationally.

Zhang Yimou managed to hold the premiere of The Story of Autumn Chrysanthemum in the Great Hall of the People, and carefully described it as "a relaxed and warm movie", without tragic red sorghum, bleak chrysanthemums and tragic red lanterns.

The last two films have already been filmed, but they can't be released. Now, he uses Qiu Ju's award-winning story to take them to the Great Wall Hotel for the premiere. "I make movies. Even if the sky falls, I will make a movie. " He said this.

That golden age was too short.

Zhang Yimou, a cotton spinning worker, has long been a household name. His film The Story of Autumn Chrysanthemum won the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the 49th Venice International Film Festival.

The story of this film is that a farmer named Wang Qinglai had an argument over his contracted land and was kicked in the heart by the village head in a rage. Wang can't do anything in bed all day, and his wife Qiu Ju goes out to complain again and again with a big belly.

15 years ago, this story was hard to understand, but in this year, it caused a wide range of * * *.

In the commercial society where the traditional moral concept of right and wrong is becoming more and more blurred, people suddenly miss Qiu Ju's character of refusing to die, and' seeking explanation' has become a buzzword in contemporary society.

Gong Li's Qiu Ju is very stubborn.

"This is really a contradictory era. People are often trapped in front of them and full of expectations for the future. " Both Ling Zhijun and Wu Xiaobo believe that Zhang Yimou movies are a special social phenomenon, even an economic phenomenon, in the 1990s.

Chen Kaige's previous films king of the children (1987) and Walking and Singing (199 1) were even more economic phenomena-because there was no box office at all.

Until now, many people still think that money corrupts genius, or conversely, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige were overthrown by wealth or capital.

But capital is not that simple. Writer Acheng said simply in a conversation that commodities are good things because they meet people's needs. Fake and shoddy goods are not commodities.

Chen Kaige's king of the children (1987).

For the audience, money is never a problem, the question is whether the director will shoot it.

Zhou Chuanji, Zhang Yimou's teacher at the Beijing Film Academy, said in an interview with New Weekly many years ago:

Large-scale production is industrialized. China's film production system, who cares about light? Even this most basic and critical problem has not been solved.

The photographer doesn't care about the light, so what does he need to do? There are no qualified producers in China.

Do you understand economics? Do you know how to make a movie? Do you know anything about marketing? By blowing?

Make a big movie. Can a sound engineer do it? Nothing, but a serial producer wants to get rich. What kind of blockbusters can he make?

Although the box office is good, it is all by cheating. "

Mr Zhou Chuanji (1925-20 17).

It may be more effective to understand Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige from this dimension. Indeed, they made some terrible movies. But no one can deny that the 1990s was indeed the golden age of China's films, and films may even be the best part of the production of material and spiritual civilization in the whole country.

With the arrival of the new century, the Internet has bridged the information gap, and some once noble and mysterious things have exposed the shallow nature. But the movie didn't.

There is a barrage version of "Alive" on the Internet, and a new generation of children cultivated by Japanese American dramas enthusiastically offered their knees to this film before birth. They can really understand and appreciate the charm and implication of all the details.

"Alive" ranked 33rd in the Douban film Top250.

How about Farewell My Concubine by Chen Kaige? They protested that the film didn't make the top 250 in IMDB (the two China films on the list were Infernal Affairs and Ip Man). Their parents' expectation for China movies may be to win prizes and box office, but their idea may be a bit overbearing: the whole world should like Farewell My Concubine.

However, that golden age was so short that memories were amazing.

Reed, a screenwriter who has worked with Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, once said in an interview with the media: "I was quite happy when filming Farewell My Concubine and Living, and I felt that we had finally started. Unexpectedly, that is our destination. "

Farewell My Concubine ranked second in the Douban film Top250.

Chen Kaige belongs to Qi School and Zhang Yimou belongs to Jian School.

Jia 20 15 talked about the inseparability of film with economy and industry when he was on the trilateral side. But what we have heard most for decades is to associate movies with "genius" and "conscience". The reason is that a series of films produced by Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou completely conquered the audience.

"One and Eight" and "Yellow Land" in the 1980s caused a sensation among film professionals: they had never seen such composition, consumption and modeling. Their rebellious spirit also aroused the curiosity of ordinary audiences.

"Red Sorghum" became an instant hit at 1988 Berlin International Film Festival, and the response was extremely strong. At that time, radio liberty in Berlin published a film review and said, "Bertolucci, who filmed the last emperor, also asked Zhang Yimou."

Red sorghum stills.

General comments in China (including the voices of some intellectuals) think that foreigners are happy to see the backward picture of China in China's films, so they gave the prize.

This statement seems absurd now, but there is a reason: at that time, readers could not see the power of foreign countries and could not understand the history of foreign film awards. In fact, they put forward the proposal according to the article "vicious and despicable means" published in People's Daily 1974.

The same Italian director and the same China theme cannot be separated.

Now, it seems that the 1990 s is still incredible. Reid guessed: "Maybe because we came from that era, we are psychologically stronger. Why are the early works of the fifth generation directors more powerful? For example, "Farewell My Concubine" and "Living", we can all see that very powerful spiritual power. "

"alive" stills.

Powerful Spiritual Power is especially suitable for Chen Kaige.

In his autobiography "Memoirs of My Youth", we can read many wonderful reflections and descriptions. His writing is magnificent and some sentences are similar to those of Lu Xun.

Some people say that Chen Kaige is full of "elite consciousness", but in fact it might as well be called "oriental sage consciousness" directly.

He conforms to Mencius' saying, "I know what I say, and I am good at nurturing my lofty spirit." What is this "spirit"? "Is gas, extremely, straight harmless, so the plug between heaven and earth. It is also qi, which is consistent with righteousness and Tao; Nothing, nothing. " The key point is that without benevolence and righteousness, qi will dissipate.

Chen Kaige's wife, Chen Hong, mentioned in her book The Promise of the Avenue that they searched for special effects companies all over the world and gave up French companies with world-class hardware, because: "The Promise is a movie with oriental magic themes, and Chen Kaige has such a profound oriental cultural heritage. Can the French understand it? "

There is a joke that in the close-up of king of the children, a machete was placed on the table, and Chen Kaige wrote a whole page in the director's lens book to explain the connotation. When filming Yellow Land, Chen Kaige said to Bai Xue, who plays Cui Qiao, "That's not the water on your shoulder, it's the culture of the Chinese nation for 5,000 years!"

Chen Kaige's "Yellow Land" stills.

Zhang Yimou is not. He is confident in his photography, but outside of photography, he is very careful: "I am studying whether I am making a movie or doing a live performance." In the eyes of many people, I am a layman, and I have done a lot of things that are not my major, and I still enjoy it. I'm not afraid of people saying that I didn't do my job well. My only worry is that I can't do it well. "

If we look at China movies in 1990s according to Jin Yong's novels, there is no doubt that Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou are the masters of Qizong and Jianzong respectively in the legendary swordsman. One is full of energy, like a mountain calling for a tsunami; One move after another, like flowers like rain. Other directors can fall into these two schools respectively. Of course, there are some who have feet on both sides-Jiang Wen is such a master.

In this era, everything is natural except dazzling genius: there are good movies and good box office. Try, fail, and then turn around. Both Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou have made so-called urban films-romantic and swaying to Waipoqiao, but they all gave up. But Zhang Yimou's strategy seems to be to run in small steps and correct mistakes; Chen Kaige's pace is bigger, and it's hard to turn around.

Zhang Yimou's "Hero" stills.

No one "saved the play" with them?

In 1980s, the best filmmakers in China gathered in the cast of One and Eight and Yellow Land.

Their shooting methods are different from those of their predecessors. The way to "save the drama" is to get together and talk about it. In fact, it is brainstorming and brainstorming for a long time.

We may not be able to imagine how a genius works, but we can imagine a group of geniuses, including Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, Reed, Gu Changwei, Wu and Tian Zhuangzhuang, flying with passion and pointing out the chaos.

Actor Jiang Wen learned how to be a director in Red Sorghum.

It is said that Zhang Yimou's "long talk" can last for eight hours until everyone falls asleep. Reid recalled their 1990s: "In the past, when filming" Alive ",we talked day and night, and Gong Li was lying on the bench next to him. At that time they were still a loving couple. "

Gong Li, Mo Yan, Jiang Wen and Zhang Yimou are on the set of Red Sorghum.

Joseph Richmond Levenson, a sinologist, put forward an interesting point in his masterpiece Confucian China and its Modern Destiny: the rulers and literati in China are basically "amateurs", and the so-called literati painting is not professional, nor is it professional to govern a place. He believes that this unprofessional may come from what Confucius said: "A gentleman is not a tool."

Too professional, too concerned about specific affairs, a bit "awkward." Yu Yingshi refuted this point, arguing that local governors are often assisted by professionals (such as touts).

Chen Kaige, who has the wind of an oriental sage, is certainly a real gentleman. He doesn't think about how to do it, but his "qi" is very strong, such as Farewell My Concubine, which has a grand structure and layers of metaphors. We ordinary audiences are holding a heart and watching this cruel, confusing and charming drama with trepidation.

However, we have to watch it several times, and after the guidance of scholar Dai Jinhua, we realize that he was castrated three times by scholars: his fingers were cut off by his mother, his mouth was covered with blood and his father-in-law Zhang raped him. After that, she was convinced and even ecstatic that she was "Nv Jiao Niang".

This hidden structure is full of powerful hints. There is a memory in Chen Kaige's autobiography: "I once saw a girl who was only fifteen or sixteen years old, put her finger into the mouth of an' exploiting class' woman and tore it hard. Because the other party refused to groan, she was in hysterical rage and her hands were covered with the blood of the victim. " The inspiration for Farewell My Concubine may come from here.

Farewell My Concubine stills.

From 65438 to 0998, Chen Kaige's "Jing Ke Stabbed the King of Qin" was also full of "qi" and "tension" that he was deeply intoxicated with, but the fiasco at the box office may have made him lose his last trust in the audience.

Throughout the 1990s, Zhang Yimou's masterpieces and inspiration continued to be amazing. His "Raise the Red Lantern" has won unanimous praise from the world's top film critics: Roger Albert said in his book "Wake up in the dark" that the film is charming enough in plot; He also praised Zhang Yimou for boldly using Hollywood's "three-color shooting technology with special artistic color" and condescending to use the main lens.

After that, the fascinating "rescue drama" may continue. In The Destiny of Zhou Xiaofeng: Lonely Zhang Yimou published last year, we can read that Zhang Yimou, who is over 60, is still looking for someone to chat with, but his opponent is getting more and more sleepy than his partner. At this point, Zhang Yimou is really lonely. Although he is a very professional generalist, he is a late bloomer-he can even direct Italian operas and plan the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Although Chen Kaige still has a strong culture, it also lacks a professional partner who can "save the drama". How can he control the drama with Qi as he did then? He has the best works and a good box office. Besides, what can we say? We can't be rude to the director of Farewell My Concubine.