Chapter 951: Proprietary Platform

"Of course there are barriers between TV dramas and movies; I have always acknowledged and agreed with this. However, for creators with creative ability, different forms of artistic presentation are just different tools."

At the special screening of *Corpse Phase 2*, Lu Yan He, who was attending the promotion, was asked by an audience member about the performance of the movie *The Boat* in the North American awards season this year. Lu Yan He took the opportunity to bring up the issue of directors.

"Everyone has their own suitable and proficient fields; this is a matter of course. But this suitability and proficiency are definitely not because of the field itself, but because they resonate with the traits required by a field," Lu Yan He said. "From the first moment I finished reading the script for the movie *The Boat*, I never thought there was a second director more suitable to direct this story."

"I am very familiar with Director Luo Yuzhong. To be honest, in my career, I have dealt with all kinds of directors and seen many talented directors—wizards, eccentrics... all kinds of talent. However, for a movie like *The Boat*, neither wizards nor eccentrics are suitable. This is a script that must be filmed by a very traditional director who understands classic dramatic structure to bring out its authentic color."

Lu Yan He did not forget that this was the special screening for *Corpse Phase 2*, and the conversation shifted, with the topic returning to *Corpse Phase 2*.

"So letting Director Luo film *Corpse Phase 2*, in my imagination, it would also be very difficult to film the step-by-step pressure and the thriller and tension of being on the edge at every moment that *Corpse Phase 2* has," Lu Yan He said. "To put it bluntly, this is just like everyone having their own habitual tone and speed of speaking. It is just as difficult to make a slow speaker talk quickly as it is to make a fast speaker talk slowly."

The matter of *Light of the Tiles* being filmed as a movie had not yet spread to the public domain.

It was only being discussed within the industry.

However, these words of Lu Yan He would definitely also be discussed by people in the industry.

Lu Yan He actually hoped they would really discuss it, rather than stopping at some superficial barriers between film and television.

Everyone knew that barriers existed.

How to cross the barriers was what should be discussed at the moment.

Many classic movies did not necessarily have higher production standards than today's boutique dramas.

Two years ago, the Cannes award-winning work *Anatomy of a Fall*—in terms of audiovisual language alone, many series could achieve it.

The British drama *Slow Horses*, as well as Xin Shuang's *The Long Season*, could all be completely regarded as movie-level audiovisual productions.

The positioning of *Light of the Tiles* was not a big-budget costume movie.

Linghe and Director Chen Lingling had reached a consensus that the production of *Light of the Tiles* would be produced as three ordinary movies.

It would not further increase the production budget just because it was changed to a movie production.

It would be filmed as a low-budget art film.

"Do you think I can act in it?"

Jiang Yuqian took the initiative to call and ask Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He said, "I don't participate in casting, but from the perspective of the script, I think you are suitable."

Lu Yan He believed that any actress with pursuits in acting would be moved by the movie *Light of the Tiles*.

Chen Bige was not suitable because of her age; otherwise, she might also be interested and want to appear in it.

"However, do you still take on this kind of production budget and movies that are not aimed at the global market now?"

The *Light of the Tiles* trilogy was also not a traditional genre that could win awards.

Jiang Yuqian said, "I have read its script. At that time, it was still a five-episode series. This script had found me before, but later, because of investment problems, it had no follow-up. However, I have always remembered it."

"So that's how it is."

"I didn't expect this script to go around and end up with you, and for you to produce it," Jiang Yuqian said. "And it even became a movie trilogy."

"Because a five-episode series couldn't find a profit point," Lu Yan He said. "There was really no other way."

Jiang Yuqian: "Then should I directly take the initiative to contact Director Chen Lingling?"

"Hmm," Lu Yan He said. "I think you can. However, Director Chen Lingling seems to have a very personal emotion for this story. What her preference for choice is, I don't know either. Don't think about this matter with conventional thinking. Good luck."

Jiang Yuqian said okay.

She said, "I believe she still favors me; otherwise, the script wouldn't have been sent to me before."

That was also true.

Lu Yan He felt that what Jiang Yuqian said made sense.

*The Boat*'s small-scale screening in North America had achieved quite good results.

In the last few days, the per-theater box office had exceeded 8,000 USD.

At this time, many of the big films of the awards season had not yet started large-scale promotion.

*The Boat* belonged to those that started very early.

It had a posture of being determined to win.

Green Valley seemed to have no expectation of making money from the theatrical box office at all. From the direction of publicity and public relations to the focus, everything was aimed at winning awards, almost without considering whether this movie could attract audiences to walk into the cinema.

However, this movie itself had no commerciality anyway.

Although the "Rashomon" of this story gave it a lot of discussion value in the public opinion field—

However, these discussion values could not be converted into movie tickets.

"Although *Storm Calmer No. 1* ultimately did not receive an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film, it did enter the shortlist of nine. Coupled with the previous *Raise the Red Lantern*, as well as Lu Yan He's glory in the North American awards season over the past few years, to be honest, *The Boat* will likely be selected as the film to impact the Oscar for Best International Feature Film this year."

In the discussions of Chinese media, *The Boat* was also a seed player for this year's North American awards season.

Wen Shengming and Yu Mengling, under the arrangement of Green Valley, had already attended several talk shows and interviews to promote *The Boat*.

This was both promotion for the movie's release and public relations promotion for the awards season.

Especially Wen Shengming, who had already received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor last year. Everyone thought that was his highlight moment in the North American awards season, but no one expected that in the second year, he would come again.

Yu Mengling received attention because her presence in the movie was too impressive.

To some extent, her image in the movie was the typical image of an Eastern woman in the eyes of many Westerners.

For the critics, she had previously relied on *Hesitant Life View* to win the Best Actress award at the main competition unit of the Locarno International Film Festival, so she was not a nobody. Therefore, even though Yu Mengling did not have much room to display her acting skills in this role in the movie, the limited few shots that could clearly capture her performance were all eye-catching.

Sometimes, for a supporting role to stand out, it doesn't require as high a standard as the lead—because their screen time is limited, everyone often doesn't judge from the richness and complexity of a character, but judges from the brilliance of one or two scenes.

This point is especially obvious and prominent in the Best Supporting Actress award.

Far away, there is Judi Dench in *Shakespeare in Love*, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress with only 8 minutes of screen time; there is Jiang Wenli, who became an indelible glory in *Farewell My Concubine* with just one shot; recently, there is Da'Vine Joy Randolph in *The Holdovers*, who became a legend in one battle, giving a performance that was delicate, moving, and had lingering charm.

This was a judgment made by Green Valley based on media evaluation and mention rate—originally, Yu Mengling was not the focus of public relations for this awards season.

Schmidt Lowry said, "To be honest, if I were your agent, I would absolutely not allow the movie *The Boat* to be edited like this, almost not giving you any shots to present your performance."

Lu Yan He: "In this movie, my role shouldn't be a character that gets noticed. I just didn't present a performance that could be seen in the awards season. This doesn't mean my performance isn't good enough. I believe that as time passes, more and more audiences will feel it."

Schmidt Lowry said, "With the current momentum of the movie *The Boat*, your performance shouldn't have been ignored."

Regarding this point, actually, it wasn't just Schmidt Lowry who said this.

When Lu Yan He was interviewed by *Variety*, he was also asked: "Why did you choose to let this movie be presented in its current form? Your role is almost in a position of being ignored. In fact, many people say that your performance in this movie is very difficult, just because of the camera space, so it cannot be seen."

"A director must make a trade-off," Lu Yan He said. "If we keep the shots that highlight my performance, the form and core expression of the movie will be affected, turning into a wrestling match of the actors' performances. Hmm, in that case, perhaps each of our acting abilities could be greatly highlighted, but *The Boat* would no longer be the *The Boat* that flows deep like still water as it is now. The excellence of *The Boat*, to me, lies in its calmness, and in the fact that under its appearance, everyone can have an interpretation."

The *Variety* reporter asked: "Do you feel it's a pity? Missing the competition for acting awards once again?"

Lu Yan He: "A little bit, perhaps. However, this is something I had already anticipated when I took on this movie. I hope more that the value of this movie can be seen."

"Also, you have already won an Oscar statuette."

"Two," Lu Yan He smiled. "I also won the Best Original Screenplay award for *Get Out*."

"Oh, right!"

"However, I still want to win the statuette," Lu Yan He said with a smile. "I haven't lost my ambition for it because of this."

"Everyone also really wants to see you standing on the podium again."

"I will," Lu Yan He said with great confidence and decisiveness. "For *The Boat* in this awards season, I believe there will be an opportunity for me to stand on the podium."

Lu Yan He was not just the lead actor of *The Boat*; he was also the producer of *The Boat*.

If *The Boat* won Best International Feature Film, he would also be qualified to go on stage to receive the award.

And soon, the Film Bureau also announced that it would select *The Boat* to participate in the competition for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.

Last year's *Storm Calmer No. 1*, this year's *The Boat*, plus *Raise the Red Lantern* from a few years ago, this was already the third work among the movies produced by Lu Yan He to represent China in applying for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.

And in Malaysia, there was another Chinese-language movie, *Tropical Rain*, which had already represented Malaysia to win the first Oscar for Best International Feature Film in history.

Unknowingly, Lu Yan He had become the iconic figure who could best represent Chinese movies at the moment.

Becoming an iconic figure was not a very enjoyable thing.

Or rather, Lu Yan He did not enjoy becoming an iconic figure.

Because this meant that on him, he would have to shoulder many responsibilities.

These responsibilities were "to seek things in one's position."

Lu Yan He didn't like this.

He wanted to live according to his own heart.

However, in this world, clearly, unless you live in the deep mountains and old forests, you have no way to get rid of the things brought to you by the surrounding environment.

Especially, in the eyes of many people, this was not a bad thing; it was even a good thing.

Others wanted to be this iconic figure but couldn't.

"Chen Pinhe went to the United States to film."

"Filming what?"

"A romantic comedy movie with the background of cultural conflict between China and the West. The female lead is Jessica Brand."

"The male lead?"

"Of course, the male lead. When has he ever gone to play a supporting role? In this regard, he has never been willing to compromise."

"Could it be that in the current situation, he still wants to continue to take the international route? Lu Yan He's projects, he can't get a single one; he has been completely excluded to the edge."

"That can't be said either. His development overseas in the past few years has been quite good. The results of *Death Stranding* and *Seventeen Layers: Reboot* were both quite good."

"Then you also have to look at who helped him operate overseas. That was all Zhang Yuezhen. The problem is that now Zhang Yuezhen doesn't care about his affairs at all. Chen Pinhe's business is no longer Zhang Yuezhen's responsibility."

"Ah? Why is this? Did the two of them have a fight?"

"Don't know. Some people say the two of them did have a fight, but others say no. It's true and false, don't know. But the fact is that Chen Pinhe's work has been cut off from Zhang Yuezhen. This movie of his with Jessica Brand was originally obtained for him by Zhang Yuezhen. Now without Zhang Yuezhen, can he still get a lead project in Hollywood? Not necessarily."

"Mainly because now there are more and more Asian actors with a certain market appeal in Hollywood. Lu Yan He is sending them over by the basketful."

"Yeah, those who didn't catch Lu Yan He's express train, even their status domestically is a bit shaken."

"Isn't the entertainment industry always like this? Flowers bloom outside the wall and are fragrant inside. Hollywood itself is like this. Actors who have achieved honors in Europe can also be looked at with higher regard in their own place."

"Yes, now the only one who has truly stood firm overseas is Lu Yan He. This has almost made him form a monopoly."

"Your description is correct; it is a monopoly. Now, if you want to get a role in Linghe's projects, how difficult it is. Even bringing capital into the crew is useless."

"Yes, however, when did Zhou Ping'an make up with Lu Yan He again? From Meng Li to Cheng Hai, and some other actors under him, they have all recently gotten roles at Linghe." ===== CHAPTER 952 =====