Jiang Wen, even though he lost tens of millions and refused to bow his head, he just gave in.

Text/Wen Dao 2

In 1992, Wang Shuo entered Jiang Wen's world with "Animals are Ferocious". < /p>

On May 1, 1992, Jiang Wen began writing the movie script "Sunny Days" in a small room in Beijing.

In this small room with only 6 square meters, a table and a bed.

Jiang Wen adapted the 60,000-word "Animals are Ferocious" into a 90,000-word "Sunny Day".

At that time, Jiang Wen said confidently:

"Which one of the many directors in China is the best? There are none now, but there will be in the future! Who is it? Me!"

In 1994, a rough cut of the film was exhibited at the Venice Film Festival.

For this film, Xia Yu won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Since then, "Sunny Day" has become the starting point of dreams for the Chinese film industry.

And Ma Xiaojun in the film is a metaphor for Jiang Wen today: desperately trying to fit in with the times, yet appearing so out of place.

Jiang Wen once only wanted to stand around and earn money, take pictures of what he liked, and read what he liked. He did not expect others to understand him.

But now Jiang Wen wants to "please people".

What exactly has Jiang Wen experienced in this tough life?

In 1963, a boy named Jiang Xiaojun was born in the army compound in Tangshan.

His father, Jiang Hongqi, is a soldier, and his mother, Gao Yang, is a primary school music teacher. The couple are often busy with work.

Therefore, Jiang Xiaojun has lived with his grandma and grandpa since he was a child.

While no one knew Jiang Xiaojun’s name, the name Jiang Wen was decided.

From then on, the word movie began to appear in Jiang Wen’s world.

At that time, outdoor movies were often played in rural areas, and Jiang Wen often lay on the back of his uncle or aunt.

He described the scene at that time:

Far away, he saw a white dot, shining brightly, getting closer and closer, and then he saw a figure shaking above it.

After he was 6 years old, Jiang Wen left Tangshan and began to live in Guiyang with his father's army.

But he still hasn’t gotten rid of his habit of watching movies. From "The Story of the Red Lantern" to "The Story of Treasure Island", Jiang Wen almost fell into movies.

Seeing that it was time to receive education, 10-year-old Jiang Wen went to Beijing again and was admitted to Beijing No. 27 Middle School within two years.

He was the youngest in the class, and he was surrounded by brothers and sisters who were several years older than him.

And there is a young man named Yingda who is friends with Jiang Wen.

In 1979, Yingda was admitted to the Department of Psychology of Peking University, but Jiang Wen was rejected by the Beijing Film Academy.

Brother Yingda was so loyal that he found his father Ying Ruocheng, who was still a pillar of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and personally tutored Jiang Wen.

The next year, Jiang Wen sat in the back seat of Yingda and wandered to the examination room of the Central Academy of Drama.

But after three exams, Jiang Wen was dismissed again, but he happened to meet the exam teacher Zhang Renli.

To talk about why Zhang Renli glanced at Jiang Wengao, we should also talk about the passage from Chekhov's "Chameleon" that he recited in the examination room.

Seeing that Jiang Wen was not a creature of the pond, Zhang Renli rescued him from defeat.

Later, Zhang Renli commented on Jiang Wen: He is meticulous in his pursuit of art.

And this sentence was later confirmed: Jiang Wen was really crazy about art.

As early as when he was in school, in order to create an image of an old worker, Jiang Wen squatted in the alley in front of the school and observed the people coming and going.

After rehearsals one after another, Jiang Wen began to direct his own short script.

Some people say that the plays he directed are better than those in the directing department, and they praise him for his good scheduling. At that time, Jiang Wen didn't understand what scheduling meant.

He only knows who should be where.

Over the past four years, Jiang Wen, who is three years younger than others, flamboyant and lucky, has directed many plays.

After graduation, Jiang Wen was assigned to the China Youth Art Theater and began to perform and rehearse dramas.

After a year of acting in dramas, director Chen Jialin took a fancy to Jiang Wen and decided to invite her to play Puyi in "The Last Queen".

He found Pu Yi’s documentary and the original book "The First Half of My Life", watched them repeatedly and remembered them in his heart.

Then he went to visit Puyi's younger brother Pujie.

According to Pu Jie’s dictation, he restored the details of Pu Yi’s living habits in his mind, and even told his brother Jiang Wu about Pu Yi when he went home and lay in bed.

It was this true character that made Jiang Wen's Puyi an instant hit.

Since then, Jiang Wen'ai has been pondering the "problems" with opera that have followed him to this day.

Especially when he starred in "Furong Town" directed by Xie Jin, Jiang Wen always changed his lyrics.

But Xie Jin was not angry. With Jiang Wen's temper, there was no way he could change it. Okay, Xie Jin will also give a few words of praise.

This made Jiang Wen even more assertive.

When it came to cooperating with Zhang Yimou in "Red Sorghum", Jiang Wen's temper was even more exposed.

When filming, Jiang Wen would always rehearse in the dormitory first, and then go to Zhang Yimou when it became exciting.

Many ingenious designs were figured out by the two of them together.

Sometimes the two people would quarrel over the script. This quarrel lasted until the filming was completed and the 38th Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear Award was held.

At that time, Jiang Wen, shirtless and standing on the plateau, was still thinking: One day I will also make a movie.

After finishing filming "Red Sorghum", Jiang Wen rushed to the crew of "Ben Ming Nian" without stopping.

Director Xie Fei looked at him and said, "Sooner or later, you will be a director."

When Tian Zhuangzhuang was filming "The Great Eunuch Li Lianying", Tian Zhuangzhuang encouraged him: "You director , I will act for you."

Even Wang Shuo said: China needs such a person.

But even with the highest praise from these people, Jiang Wen was still asking himself: Can it be done?

It was Wang Shuo who pushed him to take the step of director.

At that time, Wang Shuo entered the door of China's fifth generation director with several "books".

At that time, Jiang Wen was still an actor, but when he saw Wang Shuo's "The Ferocious Animals", the desire for filming that had accumulated in his body began to flourish.

Finally, Jiang Wen entered the Chinese film industry with "Sunny Days".

On the day of the release, Jiang Wen hung a banner above the crew.

There are twelve big characters on it: The sun will always shine, and Mr. Shuo will always be awesome.

But finally, Wang Shuo could not shine in this night sky forever. Instead, he appeared in a hurry and left for the United States in a hurry.

But Jiang Wen, who was infected by Wang Shuo, ran wildly on this road of "artistic expression".

Can you turn back?

No.

When filming "Sunny Days", Jiang Wen was already 35 years old.

Five years later, Jiang Wen directed and made another movie called "The Japanese Are Coming".

He said that this movie is just a summary of himself at the age of 35.

A book called "Survival" happened to be placed in front of him.

So Jiang Wen nodded and the movie was put on the agenda.

Like "It's Sunny", this movie doesn't follow routines and often shoots wherever it comes to mind, but the effect is surprisingly good.

In 2000, "The Devil Is Coming" won the Jury Prize at the 53rd Cannes International Film Festival, but Jiang Wen was not happy yet.

The film was banned from being released due to violations, and Jiang Wen himself was banned from directing films for five years.

Tens of millions of investments were made in vain.

Fortunately, the movie had a good reputation and built up Jiang Wen's reputation, so that he could still make a living.

During the five years when he did not direct a film, Jiang Wen was not idle and worked intensively on filming.

From "Looking for the Gun", "Heroes of Heaven and Earth", "Green Tea", "One" "Letter from a Strange Woman" to "Jasmine Blossoms" and "Huang Tai Chi".

Having made 6 films in six years, Jiang Wen is very satisfied and considers himself to be highly productive.

When time passed, Jiang Wen started again and began to tell the next story "The Sun Also Rises".

At that time, "Rise" was not only a movie, but also a relationship that was crucial to Jiang Wen's future.

In 2005, 32-year-old Ma Ke already had many years of experience in TV drama production and had some success.

But he was not satisfied and always wanted to find the next challenge target.

And he admires Jiang Wen very much. He feels that the person who can produce "Sunny Day" and "The Japanese Are Coming" must be the most talented director in China.

On the recommendation of a friend, Ma Ke found Jiang Wen in Taimiao Studio.

The two talked for more than two hours, and Ma Ke did most of the talking.

He said: "Lao Jiang, you are a good director and I am a good producer. You need a good team to promote it."

But at that time Jiang Wen was still Immersed in my own paradise, I didn't take Ma Ke's words to heart at all.

But Jiang Wen remembered the young man who looked like an "old ginger".

In fact, Jiang Wen knew that the movie would not make money before the filming started, because he had already expected that the audience might not understand it.

Such a movie is also a challenge for investors.

Emperor's Yang Shoucheng is willing to vote for this movie.

So Jiang Wen told him in advance that the movie might not make money.

But Yang Shoucheng, who cares about face and doesn’t care about money, boldly said: It’s okay, you can shoot whatever you want.

Although the funding issue was over, a bigger problem arose after the movie was released.

Just as Jiang Wen expected: the audience did not understand. Not only did they not understand, they were unwilling to pretend to understand.

In 2007, "When the Sun Also Rises" suffered a heavy loss, which made Jiang Wen feel very uncomfortable and began to think about the root of the problem.

At this moment, the word "Old Jiang" evoked his past memories.

So Jiang Wen picked up the phone and sent a text message to Ma Ke: "How are you, brother?"

At this point, the two rough guys who were 10 years apart but loved movies were arm in arm. *** built "Jiangshan", thus starting the era of "trusting horses to Jiang".

In 2009, Shi Hang recommended "The Thief of Officials" to Jiang Wen. After reading it, he and Ma Ke went to Chengdu to visit the author Ma Shitu.

Mr. Ma asked: Who will shoot the movie? Jiang Wen replied: I'll take the photo.

Then Mr. Ma smiled heartily and said, "I've seen some."

After the copyright was finalized, Jiang Wen began to prepare the script. After revising 30 drafts, he finalized the script and started filming.

This time, with Ma Ke here, Jiang Wen was not worried about funding issues, and Ma Ke never interfered with Jiang Wen’s understanding of creation and allowed him to develop.

One just sells, the other just shoots.

After the movie was released, Ma Ke said eight words for the publicity: It is a household name, known to women and children.

In "Let the Bullets Fly", Jiang Wen said: Translate, translate, what is a surprise?

This surprise also made Ma Ke so surprised that he almost cried.

The reason is that he missed 30 million, but he forced Jiang Wen to get it back for him.

In the "Hongmen Banquet" scene, liquor was a crucial prop.

"Several hundred-year-old liquor brands want to be implanted, and the quoted price is as high as tens of millions. Three of them are willing to join together, which means that just one scene can earn 30 million."

But Jiang Wen rejected this implanted investment. The reason is: as soon as the liquor brand is released, the audience will be shocked. How to watch the movie?

Ma Ke was so anxious that he almost cried, but Jiang Wen said, "I'll get it back for you."

In the end, there were only three unlabeled liquor bottles left.

Jiang Wen wanted to "make money while standing", and finally he achieved it.

As soon as "Let the Bullets Fly" was released, it ranked third at the box office in 2010.

It also triggered a craze among people across the country to find metaphors, but the upright Jiang Wen said: "It's all true, there are no metaphors."

Some people like it, but some people still can't understand it. Jiang Wen seemed to have lost his temper and decided to make another one that he could understand.

So "One Step Away" appeared.

This time Ma Ke’s requirements were also higher. He said to art director Liu Qing:

“The colors should be highly saturated, the rhythm should be fast, strong, vivid, and infectious. People."

But even though Jiang Wen risked his life to create this movie, the audience still said they couldn't understand it, and the box office was not satisfactory.

Jiang Wen was puzzled and said that this was a very simple story, an "embarrassing heroic story."

But the fate of "One Step Away" is like "When the Sun Also Rises", no one is willing to buy it.

Since 2014, Jiang Wen has been waiting for the opportunity to make a move and has been dormant for 4 years.

Finally, Jiang Wen read a novel called "Xia Addiction" on Shi Hang's recommendation.

When Jiang Wen saw it, he still thought: Isn’t this what happened at our house?

He decided to make it into a movie, and this impulse came entirely from the excitement of reading the novel for the first time.

Jiang Wen found screenwriter Li Fei. As soon as the two met, Li Fei was led into a small dark room by Jiang Wen.

After saying the words "You write it", Jiang Wen left.

Li Fei wrote that it took more than 400 days, during which he lost more than 40 kilograms.

Sun Yue, another screenwriter, also said: "Writing a script for Jiang Wen is a "hard job."

Fortunately, the movie "The Evil Cannot Suppress the Right" turned out well.

This time, what Jiang Wen wants to create is to make the audience "comfortable to watch."

After 90% of the film was completed, Gao Xiaosong became the first audience member.

After watching it, he said: "The screen is filled with hormones and love and hate."

Even such a high evaluation can't help but make Jiang Wen a little nervous.

In order to promote the movie, Jiang Wen and the crew of "The Righteous One" appeared at the finals of the talent show "Produce 101".

Jiang Wen walked onto the stage, a little stiff and embarrassed. Before he could figure out the process, he asked Huang Bo next to him:

"Do I want to read it? There are many words on it. I will never read it." Where to start?"

Jiang Wen seems to have gone to the wrong set. Even netizens said: "Jiang Wen really worked hard this time."

Starting from the Shanghai Film Festival. , Jiang Wen has always appeared in hot searches on the Internet with his works.

This time, he wanted to try his best to "please people", which seemed more difficult than "standing and making money from him".

But Jiang Wen didn’t leave any room for himself this time.

However, despite such extreme publicity, "The Righteous" did not make any big waves. 25 days after its release, the combined box office was 583 million.

But Jiang Wen said: "I made this dumpling just because of this jealousy."

Whether the result of the movie is good or not does not affect Jiang Wen's enthusiasm, but it is inappropriate. After all, he wants to follow the trend today.

Is "making money while standing" reliable?

Jiang Wen is absolutely reliable. In his words:

"If you vote for me, I have to choose to see if you are reliable."

In "The Round Table" Dou Wentao translated: "You are not worthy of losing money to me."

Since 2018, Jiang Wen has not directed a movie.

But his movies are always considered romantic. He said: This is how life is.

He also said: "I'm not here to make movies, I'm here to live. Movies are just a chance to make."

As for Jiang Wenlai, who uses movies to supplement his life. It is said that expressing through art is destiny.

This "educated man" who seemed to the audience to be a rough and tumble man, lived like this for most of his life.

As for how to "please people" next, it seems that Jiang Wen himself doesn't quite understand.

Or maybe Jiang Wen still doesn’t want to bend down and wants to make money happily.

Whether he can achieve his wish is still a wonderful unknown.

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