Chapter 137: A Perfect Ending, the Undisputed King of the Chinese New Year Film Season!
January 5, 2007.
CCTV’s Channel 6 played three movies to celebrate: 《Tunnel Warfare》, 《The Great Decisive Battle》, and 《Battle of Shangganling》.
And in the evening news broadcast, they spared no praise:
“The 2007 Chinese New Year Film Season is about to draw to a perfect close.”
“Among them, 《My People, My Country》, with its ingenious narrative structure and sincere emotional expression, has pioneered a new paradigm for Main Theme films.”
“The five story units are like five pearls, stringing together important historical moments of the Republic of China, allowing the audience to feel the pulse of the era amidst laughter and tears.”
“The film’s final box office exceeded 400 million, not only making it the absolute king of the Chinese New Year Film Season, but also confirming the market appeal of excellent domestic films – when creation returns to the people’s sentiment, the audience will naturally vote with their feet.”
“The spring of domestic films has arrived!”
“If Zhang Yimou’s 《Hero》 kicked off the era of domestic commercial blockbusters, then 《My People, My Country》 is the absolute driving force that accelerated this process, and the future of domestic films will change from this moment on!”
Things have come to this point, and other filmmakers have no choice but to accept this reality – Shen Qing, single-handedly, has expanded the pool of the film market.
Once the habit of going to the cinema to watch movies is formed, it is difficult to abandon.
For a long time in the future, every time a good movie is released, these potential audiences will be eager to try, and spend money to buy tickets.
Therefore, no one will undermine Shen Qing.
Even those big directors who privately dismiss Shen Qing’s films as worthless will praise him in front of the media: The younger generation is formidable.
…
Shanghai.
Wang Mojiing had just flown back to Shanghai from Cannes yesterday, preparing to shoot a three-minute short film for the Cannes Film Festival.
Hearing that 《My People, My Country》 was very popular, he went to the cinema with some friends to watch it.
During dinner that evening, a group of people pointed fingers at 《My People, My Country》, and their words were not kind.
Qin Wen, a screenwriter adept at reading people’s expressions, seeing that Wang Mojiing did not like this film, said indignantly:
“The films made by this person from Jiangbei are vulgar and have no artistic merit, yet they have such high box office revenue. The audience has no taste at all!”
Another male director chuckled: “The taste of that young man from Jiangbei is the same as these audiences; they can’t appreciate things with high artistic content.”
Wang Mojiing: “I was just about to say, the audience’s taste needs to be cultivated. It’s hard to imagine that such a film didn’t get 400 million, hard to imagine…”
Qin Wen: “Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, and Chen Kaige, this group of people from the north, I don’t think they have much appreciation for art either.”
Wang Mojiing: “The few people you mentioned are even more pretentious than Shen Qing, they are all top-notch, the cream of the crop.”
Qin Wen: “Haha, yes, very top-notch. Especially Zhang Yimou, his 《Curse of the Golden Flower》 was a piece of shit, what kind of taste is that? Except for the large breasts, everything else is dog shit.”
Wang Mojiing: “By the way, Qin Wen, if you had such large breasts, would your life change?”
Qin Wen: “I’d be so happy, definitely! If I had such large breasts, who would be a screenwriter?”
Wang Mojiing: “If you had such large breasts, I would definitely take you in.”
You’re quite something, Mojiing!
Zhang Yimou’s film has become part of your and Qin Wen’s play, hasn’t it?
…
Beijing.
Zhang Yimou felt his nose itch, sneezed, and muttered, “Who’s talking bad about me again?”
He glanced at the time; it was already eleven o’clock at night.
Time to get off work.
Lately, he had been using work to numb himself, and he had numbed himself enough. Now he just wanted to get off work, go home, have a cup of tea, watch some TV, and relax.
In this Chinese New Year Film Season, 《Curse of the Golden Flower》 ended in disappointment, barely managing to gross 220 million.
Damn it, this was a massive production that cost 360 million.
They lost so much they were left with nothing.
Now they could only hope for the North American and Japanese markets.
This was a result that Zhang Yimou had not anticipated even in the middle of last year.
“At the very least, even if it loses money, it should be number one!”
“I’m still the best!”
“Anyway, the investors just want to clean their money, so a small loss is fine. In the end, I, Zhang Yimou, will gain both fame and fortune!”
“…”
Recalling his thoughts at the time, Old Zhang only felt it was like a lifetime ago.
Damn it, where did this unexpected challenger come from?
Shen Qing, Shen Qing, I really regret hiring you as the music consultant for the Olympic opening ceremony. This is truly like lifting a rock only to drop it on my own feet.
Trying to calm himself down, Old Zhang suddenly smiled, “Fortunately, he’s not a director, otherwise I’d have even less face, and that Feng Xiaogang guy would have gotten too smug.”
…
Beijing.
West Third Ring Road, Cuiyun Pavilion.
Feng Xiaogang gathered Ning Hao, Jiang Wen, Li Yang, and Lou Ye, four directors, as well as actors like Huang Bo, Huang Xiaoming, Wang Qianyuan, Fan Bingbing, Gao Yuanyuan, Jing Tian, and Ge You.
A grand banquet was held to celebrate the film’s success.
Director Feng raised his glass, standing at the front, his smile reaching his ears: “Everyone, raise your glasses. This glass of wine is for President Shen Qing. Without him, we wouldn’t be gathered here tonight.”
Jiang Wen laughed heartily: “It’s a shame President Shen couldn’t make it tonight. He and Liangying went to the Spring Festival Gala. However, President Shen said there will be a celebration party before the New Year!”
“Oh, oh, oh~!”
“Cheers!”
“To celebrating our shared historical achievement!”
“400 million box office, who else?”
“…”
After a few rounds of drinks, a phone call suddenly came in. Feng Xiaogang immediately answered, “Hello, President Shen, are you done over there? We’re all waiting for you!”
Shen Qing: “I’ll be there soon. I have an announcement to make.”
Feng Xiaogang: “OK, I’ll go to the entrance and wait for you right away.”
Everyone: “President Shen is coming?”
Feng Xiaogang looked at the mess on the table, “He said he wasn’t coming at first. No, this won’t do. Waiter, clear all the dishes and bring a new table.”
Half an hour later, Shen Qing, Zhang Liangying, and Chen Liang arrived at Cuiyun Pavilion. Feng Xiaogang was already waiting at the entrance with a group of people.
“President Shen, you honor us, haha, come in quickly, it’s cold outside!”
“Sorry to interrupt your drinks.”
“Not at all, it’s only when you come that we can drink more.”
“…”
Shen Qing was ushered into the private room.
Fan Xiaopang, Gao Yuanyuan, Jing Tian, and a few other girls were walking with Zhang Liangying, chatting enthusiastically.
However, Zhang Liangying, seeing the radiant Fan Xiaopang, felt a pang of jealousy and remembered the scene of being called ‘Bingbing’ while sitting on Shen Qing’s lap that day.
At this moment, Liangying muttered, “I hope they’re not involved! Hmph, otherwise, Fan Xiaopang and I are done!”
…
Private room.
Shen Qing gestured for everyone to sit down, then said, “I just came from CCTV Studio 1. I’ve confirmed with Director Jin that our crew will have 6 people on stage this time!”
Everyone: “???”
Six people for what?
Zhang Liangying: “Our crew has received an invitation from CCTV to sing 《My People, My Country》 on the Spring Festival Gala.”
Instantly, loud cheers erupted in the private room.
Shen Qing raised his hand to quiet them, smiling, “I know everyone is very happy, after all, it’s the Spring Festival Gala, but we can only have 6 people. The spots are limited, so some people might not be able to go. I hope everyone is mentally prepared.”
After hearing Shen Qing’s words, the eyes of nearly 20 people in the room instantly changed, filled with longing, anticipation, and also trepidation.
Who would get to be on the Spring Festival Gala?
And who wouldn’t want to be on the Spring Festival Gala?
Huang Bo, Gao Yuanyuan, Fan Xiaopang, Huang Xiaoming, and others all looked over expectantly, wishing they could hug Shen Qing and shout, “My God, pick me!”
