Chapter 128: with translation of chapter title

Zhang Yimou and Thus output: Chen Kaige were classmates at Beijing Film Academy, both part of the 1978 intake.

Zhang Yimou, due to his unfavorable family background, after graduating middle school first went to the countryside and then worked at a cotton textile factory.

In his spare time he bought a Seagull brand camera and became a professional photographer.

After the resumption of the college entrance exam, he compiled his photographic works into a portfolio and showed it to the admissions officers of Beijing Film Academy, hoping to get a chance to apply for the photography department.

But he was already 26 that year, over the 22‑year‑old admission limit, and was repeatedly turned away. Even applying to the photography program at Beijing Broadcasting Institute met the same rejection.

After several twists and turns, he asked friends and relatives to find the vice president of Beijing Film Academy, submitting his portfolio and a letter of request to a high official, and only then was he admitted.

So in Thus output: Chen Kaige's view, Zhang Yimou had barely managed to get into school, and could not be compared with him.

During his time at school, Zhang Yimou was cautious and reticent, because he was an overage enrollee, and initially he said he only needed to study for two years.

When the two‑year period ended, the school called him in for a talk, and Zhang Yimou thought, "As long as they give me a diploma I'll leave."

When he competed for the director of the 2008 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies in 2008, he did not immediately present his own plan, but instead recited Du Fu's poem "Hearing That the Imperial Army Has Recovered Henan and Hebei" with passionate fervor.

Some people call him a poet‑director, because he possesses an overly strong, unrestrained desire to express himself. He also focuses solely on what he wants to express, rarely considering whether the audience can understand.

Such an off‑topic move was immediately eliminated by the organizing committee, not even passing the first round.

Thus output: Chen Kaige was full of confidence, high‑spirited in college, and developed an arrogant personality.

And from Thus output: Chen Kaige's later remarks, he never felt that anything he did was wrong.

The success of Farewell My Concubine as a classic owes much to the screenwriter Lu Yi.

It is also precisely because of the existence of Chen's father that many people have long rumored that Farewell My Concubine was not directed by Thus output: Chen Kaige.

Even a farmer who works the land may have lower grain yields because his father died early and no one taught or helped him.

He enjoys participating in various activities, especially poetry recitation.

However, although the Chen family background is good, it still cannot compare with that of his childhood friend and classmate Tian Zhuangzhuang.

By contrast, Thus output: Chen Kaige had it much easier, because his father was Chen Huakai, a director at the Beijing Film Studio.

After reading the original work, Lu Yi said this was a second‑rate novel.

Because Thus output: Chen Kaige originally had no intention of filming this, but only after losing big money on Walking and Singing did he have to accept the producer's suggestion.

That calm and unhurried demeanor is something ordinary families' children cannot match.

In this world, wealth, vision, resources, and connections can all be inherited.

He also complained to Tian Zhuangzhuang and others, "Brother, I'm afraid I won't be able to come back after this departure."

During the written exam, the well‑educated Tian Zhuangzhuang finished in half an hour, turned in his paper and left to wait for Thus output: Chen Kaige.

Thus output: Chen Kaige said, "You rate it higher than I do; I think it's a third‑rate novel."

But the final result was that he was allowed to study in the photography department for four full years like other undergraduates.

The latter's father was the first director of the Beijing Film Studio, and his mother later became the first director of the Children's Film Studio.

When the college entrance exam was first restored, Thus output: Chen Kaige wanted to apply to the Chinese Department of Peking University, but upon arriving at the exam hall he discovered that even the Chinese Department required math and science, so he reluctantly chose Beijing Film Academy instead.

Perhaps he simply didn't think much of this story; when screenwriter Lu Yi presented his script, saying not a single character could be changed, Thus output: Chen Kaige readily agreed.

Their collaboration worked like this: Lu Yi wrote the script, and Thus output: Chen Kaige graded each scene into top, middle, and bottom tiers, shooting the top‑tier scenes directly and revising the bottom‑tier ones.

Lu Yi wrote a total of ninety‑nine scenes, and Thus output: Chen Kaige cut only two of them.

After filming wrapped, the film won the Palme d'Or at the 46th Cannes Film Festival.

Thus output: Chen Kaige also became the country's most renowned "film master"; using a line from Farewell My Concubine, he became a "noble figure in the public eye."

His manner of conduct and speech everywhere exude the aura of a master.

In artistic creation, he also indulges his expressive desire freely, and his works have begun to attract controversy.

However, before The Promise, although The Emperor and the Assassin suffered a box‑office flop and lost a lot of money, its good reputation still allowed it to stay afloat.

Thus output: Chen Kaige's title of "master" still carries weight; facing someone like Jiang Heng, a commercial director who only has box‑office numbers and no awards, he still holds a strong psychological edge.

On Saturday night, September 22, 2002, the crew of The Mountain‑Saving Mother held a grand celebration banquet in the banquet hall of the Jingcheng Shangri‑La Hotel.

At the event site a huge poster of the film was hung, showing the final Neidi box‑office figure of 7.21 billion.

In front of the poster stood a row of numbers made of ice blocks, spaced out to read 700000000, symbolizing the seven‑hundred‑million‑yuan box‑office milestone of the Chinese film market.

A few years ago, the total annual box‑office of all films in the Neidi market except Jiang Heng's works was about 1 billion.

Nowadays, a single work by Jiang Heng breaks the 7‑billion mark in Neidi box‑office, truly exciting many officials.

Today's banquet drew a sizable crowd.

Han Sanping, such a figurehead of the Neidi film market, also had to rise to propose a toast, mouth full of flattery.

But the few leaders who came kept praising Jiang Heng, making Thus output: Chen Kaige very unhappy.

"The times have changed; awards are less useful than box office. We who 'strive for national glory' are no match for a commercial director!"

Thus output: Chen Kaige muttered under his breath, his expression full of disdain.

Zhang Yimou, however, was not his usual silent self; gazing at Jiang Heng chatting and laughing with the leaders, his eyes held a hint of envy.

He said, "The times are changing, the country is changing, we too should seek change. I think there's nothing wrong with commercial films; if they can sell tickets and then win awards, that would be even better!"

Thus output: Chen Kaige scoffed, "What awards? The Oscars?"

Back when they had just finished Farewell My Concubine, screenwriter Lu Yi summoned Zhang Yimou to ask his opinion.

Zhang Yimou said this was the film that most closely emulated Hollywood.

In that era when art was supreme, praising Hollywood as commercial was a pejorative; this remark truly angered Thus output: Chen Kaige and Lu Yi, and Old Chen has never forgotten it.

Zhang Yimou, however, did not feel that Old Chen was mocking him; perhaps he had grown accustomed to such talk during his school years.

"The Oscar is after all a major Hollywood prize; if one could win it, that would indeed be a good thing. Speaking of which, The Matrix didn't win one, which is a real shame."

Thus output: Chen Kaige jeered, "If he got it, your film Hero would only be able to aim for being the second Chinese film to win an Oscar!"

Zhang Yimou looked at Thus output: Chen Kaige in surprise, knowing that this man was feeling ill‑at‑ease and remained silent.

Not long after, it was time for the ice‑block number‑smashing segment.

Leaders, Han Sanping, Jiang Heng, Yu Dong, plus senior executives from China Film and iQiyi, total nine people stood in a row, taking small hammers to smash the numeric ice blocks in front of them.

It symbolizes that the box office performance of a single film in the domestic film market has already surpassed the seven-hundred-million mark.

As the hammer fell, at the moment the ice blocks shattered, cameras and camcorders were all aimed, recording this historic moment.

(End of chapter)