Chapter 282: Emo

In China, the most exciting thing in the entertainment industry in December is the release of "Hero".

Ever since Zhang Weiping stood up and argued with "The Blade of the Assassin" to attract traffic, "Hero" has been in the public eye. In the past few months, news has been released to keep it exposed. For example, today the distribution rights in South Korea were sold for 2 million US dollars, tomorrow Japan sold it for 5 million US dollars, and a week later the distribution rights in Europe and the United States were sold for a sky-high price of 40 million US dollars. The news has been constantly used to attract the public's attention, which has whetted the appetite of many people.

Especially many people who have seen "The Blade of the Assassin" really want to know whether "Hero" is as good as "The Blade of the Assassin".

For investor Jiang Zhiqiang, it is also a big profit. He invested 30 million US dollars in "Hero", and now the movie has not been released yet, and he has made it back completely. Due to the good market response after the release of "The Blade of the Assassin" overseas a few months ago, the price of Chinese martial arts kung fu movies has also risen, so the copyright price of "Hero" has also risen.

However, unlike the last time he invested only 3 million US dollars in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", this time he invested 20 million US dollars, so he did not dare to gamble on the market box office, but chose a safe way to sell all the distribution rights before the release.

Although it is not as high as the return ratio of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", it is also a big profit. If the copyright of the disc is counted, he has at least doubled this time, and he can't stop smiling. Therefore, Huaxia is also willing to spend publicity fees to promote the movie.

To be honest, the lineup of director Lao Mouzi, Jet Li, Liang Chaowei, Maggie Cheung, Chen Daoming and other big names is still very appealing, and the market has been developed by "Assassins Spring Blade", so "Hero" has achieved better results than the previous life, and achieved a box office of more than 65 million in 3 days over the weekend.

Although this is not as good as the more than 80 million results of "Assassins Spring Blade", it is more than 10 million higher than the 50 million of "Hero" in the same period of the previous life.

Logically speaking, this result is already very good, and many people in the crew are also very happy, but Zhang Yimou, the director, is not happy. Because after the movie was released, it was met with an overwhelming criticism:

Look at the critical articles in the newspapers:

"A sword to say goodbye to "Hero"!"

"List the five sins of "Hero"!"

"Hero" is only one step away from being a bear!"

"Eyes are full, ears are vomited, and the heart is numb!"

"Why didn't "Hero" move the audience?"

"A letter to director Zhang Yimou: You think too simply of us!"

As for how to criticize him, it is really varied, from all angles.

Some said that he plagiarized the idea, borrowed the narrative structure of "Rashomon", and the shadows of "Ran" and "Ashes of Time", and deliberately imitated "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and the like;

Some scolded him for being too servile, deliberately whitewashing tyrants, flattering the ruling class, and advocating that power is truth;

Some were extremely disappointed with him, saying that "Hero" completely lost the humanistic thoughts of his previous films, the characters in the film were completely stereotyped and symbolic, and the whole film was neither artistic nor commercial, and was completely pretentious;

Some people angrily criticized the script and story of the film, saying that the plot of the whole film was too thin and could not support a movie at all, so that it had to rely on adding Liang Chaowei and Zhang Ziyi's passionate scenes to fill the time;

Some people scolded the whole film for being too weak in story logic, which was completely the one-sided fantasy of director Zhang Yimou, treating the audience as fools...

Even when Maggie Cheung answered reporters' questions at the premiere, the reporters interpreted it as dissatisfaction with the quality of the film. A few days ago, a reporter asked Zhang Manyu at the premiere at the Great Hall of the People:

"Everyone says that the movie "Hero" is a visual feast. What do you think?"

Zhang Manyu said with emotion: "I came to the Great Hall of the People today. It is so spectacular. I think the Great Hall of the People is a visual feast!"

Nowadays, some media directly use Zhang Manyu's answer to make a fuss, saying that she would rather watch the decoration and layout of the Great Hall of the People for 90 minutes than watch "Hero" she shot.

In short, in this wave of comments, a conclusion was finally drawn that "Hero" is a bad movie with a luxurious lineup!

Such a lot of output, but Lao Mouzi was scolded without any ability to fight back. He himself is not a good speaker, and some people scold him and he can't refute.

This made Yimou fall into an emo state!

At this time, Zhang Weiping came over with a smile on his face. He was very satisfied with the performance of "Hero". Why did Zhang Weiping spend a lot of effort to bind himself with his "good brother" Zhang Yimou over the years? Isn't it just to make money?

In the past, Zhang Yimou only made art films, so he could only go the route of winning awards and selling copyrights internationally. But now that "Hero" has been released, the box office has reached 65 million in 3 days. According to this trend, even if it is not as good as "Blade of the Assassin", the final box office must be more than 300 million, right?

Moreover, he saw how much the copyright of "Hero" in various regions could earn. The tens of millions of US dollars earned by investor Jiang Zhiqiang made him very jealous!

Although his new picture could not earn much this time, he had his good brother Lao Mouzi, the old hen that laid golden eggs, and he also knew how to lay golden eggs. Would he still worry about not being able to make money in the future? This made Zhang Weiping determined that he must let Lao Mouzi make martial arts commercial movies in the future!

Zhang Weiping saw Lao Mouzi looking at a pile of newspapers, so he guessed his thoughts and came over to comfort him: "Mouzi, don't worry about these comments. What's the use of their scolding? Isn't our box office still rising?"

But Lao Mouzi didn't think so. He was the director of "Hero" and the movie was like his child. Now a group of people outside were criticizing his child. How could he feel good?

Zhang Weiping rolled his eyes at this and said, "Mouzi, let me hold a press conference with you tomorrow, and we will scold them one by one!"

Zhang Yimou felt better when he heard what Zhang Weiping said, thinking that his good brother still cared about him, but he said, "Weiping, forget it, let them scold, I don't want to argue with them."

Zhang Weiping hurriedly said, "Don't, Mouzi, how can they scold you alone? You must fight back! After you scold them back, you can attract more people's attention, and then the popularity of our "Hero" will definitely rise, and maybe the box office will exceed "Embroidered Spring Blade"!"

Zhang Yimou was stunned when he heard this. It turned out that his good brother was not doing justice for him, but for the box office!

Instantly, a feeling of disappointment surged in Lao Mouzi's heart, and then he showed a tired expression and waved his hand at Zhang Weiping: "I'm tired and want to have a good rest for a while."

Zhang Weiping was also angry at his lack of fighting spirit when he heard this, thinking that you are useless even if I give you a chance! Forget it, I still have to go on stage. If you don't curse, I, Zhang Weiping, will!

Zhang Weiping went back to find someone to prepare counterattacks and curses, leaving Zhang Yimou alone in the room, feeling sad. Is his "Hero" so bad?

Just then, Zhang Yimou's cell phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID, then pressed the answer button, and heard a kind and hearty laugh from inside:

"Brother Zhang, I went to see the preview of "Hero" in North America. It was very good! The composition and color are amazing. You are really worthy of being Brother Zhang. I still have a lot to learn!"

This time, "Hero" was not sold to Miramax, but to Sony Classics. Therefore, Sony Classics still adopted the same method of expanding publicity while rushing for an Oscar as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" at that time, and has already previewed "Hero" in North America.

Lao Mouzi waved his hands and sighed: "Don't say that, I'm being scolded like a rat crossing the street, everyone is shouting and beating me!"

Wu Yuchen understood what was going on as soon as he heard it. It seems that Lao Mouzi still couldn't escape the same experience as in his previous life. But he still pretended not to know and asked: "What's going on?"

Lao Mouzi took the opportunity to confide in Wu Yuchen. After all, he and Wu Yuchen are both directors, and sometimes only directors can understand directors.

After listening, Wu Yuchen did not come up to comfort Lao Mouzi, but asked: "Brother Zhang, do you know why everyone reacted so strongly this time?"

"Why?" Lao Mouzi was also a little confused. In fact, it's not that no one scolded him before, but it was beyond Lao Mouzi's expectations that "Hero" was so fierce this time.

"Because of expectations!"

"Expectations? What you mean is... my transformation to shoot "Hero" this time is inconsistent with my previous style?" Lao Mouzi asked.

"That's one point. But the more important point is that your movie didn't meet the expectations of these writers!"

Wu Yuchen continued to smile and said, "Brother Zhang, a few months ago someone said that my "Embroidered Spring Blade" was an anti-type martial arts movie, but in fact, your "Hero" is actually more anti-martial arts in its core!"

Nowadays is the period when Western universal values ​​are most popular in China. What democracy, freedom, resistance, etc., the media people of this era are most supportive of these. And it happens that these can be perfectly reflected in the knights in martial arts movies.

The so-called knights break the law with martial arts, and many things that people dare not do in normal times can be satisfied through the fantasy of "knights". So in terms of "knights", there has always been a spirit of rebellion and resistance. Even Wu Yuchen's "Embroidered Spring Blade" actually reflects this point.

And what about "Hero"? The most representative story of "Jing Ke's Assassination of Qin" in history, the most touching sense of tragedy in the ages, lies in "knowing that it is impossible to do it but doing it". In the ending of "Hero", the knight sacrificed himself and gave up the spirit of resistance and rebellion. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, this violated the "knight" and lost the core of the "knight" spirit.

After listening to it, Lao Mouzi also understood what Wu Yuchen meant and smiled bitterly: "In fact, I have considered this point, but don't they say that the greatest knights serve the country and the people? In my heart, a real great knight should have this kind of big pattern of caring for the world. But I didn't expect that even Jin Yong would stand up and scold me after reading it, alas..."

When Hero premiered in Hong Kong, the famous martial arts writer Jin Yong was invited. As a result, he expressed his opinion in an interview two days ago:

"Hero" portrayed the famous tyrant Qin Shihuang in history like this, which is completely opposite to his historical image, deceiving the audience, and it also has the intention of clearing his name and reversing his verdict, dividing people's values ​​into several levels, and not respecting life. This is a ridiculous movie, so I don't like it."

Wu Yuchen said directly on the phone: "Brother Zhang, don't take Jin Yong's opinion to heart, he has his own stance."

As the saying goes, the butt determines the head, in fact, many creators have their own stance. For example, Zhang Yimou is from Jin, and he must prefer Qin Shihuang in his heart; and Jin Yong's ancestors were bannermen, so he secretly blackened Zhu Yuanzhang at the end of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", and also whitewashed Kangxi in "The Deer and the Cauldron". It is not surprising that he doesn't like Hero's glorification of Qin Shihuang this time.

Then Wu Yuchen said at this time: "Brother Zhang, actually you don't have to be sad. I believe that many people still like your movie, but many people have no way to speak out. I see that the response to "Hero" overseas is good.

And no one stipulates that knights must fight against the court. This kind of knight who cares about the world is also a kind of knight. Those who die for the people of the world are heroes!

Brother Zhang, your movie is a bit ahead of its time. Now everyone advocates Western universal values. When our country is strong, everyone will be more confident in their Eastern collectivism and patriotism. Ten years later, I can guarantee that the reputation of "Hero" will be very different from now!"

Hearing Wu Yuchen say this, Lao Mouzi felt a lot more comfortable, and then he said: "Hey, when I was shooting "Hero", I actually designed another ending."

"Oh? What?" Wu Yuchen asked curiously.

"After the ministers shouted 'My king, kill! My king, kill!', they laughed together and added 'Congratulations, my king, you have escaped a disaster!' Then Chen Daoming, the Qin Shi Huang, showed a meaningful smile."

After listening to this, Wu Yuchen immediately understood that the meaning of this sentence was to turn the entire assassination into a satirical mystery, that is, the King of Qin was also deceiving, and the words "I didn't expect that the one who knows me best is the assassin I want" were false. He used his acting skills to win the trust of several assassins to take their lives.

Zhang Yimou sneered and said, "If I had used this ending, the whole thing would have been reversed again, and I probably wouldn't have been criticized for glorifying a tyrant by these people."

Wu Yuchen said directly, "Brother Zhang, it's a good thing you didn't shoot it this way! If you had shot it this way, the movie would probably have been criticized even more miserably. Not only would Wuming's death have lost its sense of tragedy, but he would have become a clown-like existence, and Qin Shihuang would have become a treacherous person. This movie would have completely lost a hero, and would have become a bear! By then, not only would these intellectuals dislike you, but even many viewers would have followed suit and criticized you!"

Zhang Yimou also smiled and said, "Hahaha, so I thought about it for a long time and didn't use this ending."

Wu Yuchen nodded, "Well, don't take these criticisms too seriously, just shoot what you think is right."

Afterwards, Wu Yuchen and Zhang Yimou talked a lot about the shooting techniques and various aspects of "Hero", and the two ended the transatlantic call.

Zhang Yimou suddenly felt much more relaxed, and was grateful that Wu Yuchen, also a director, understood him!