Chapter 24: A Bit Tricky

The big shots had left, and only Hou Ke, who also served as the head of the Youth Film Studio, remained.

"Cao Yang, what are your thoughts? Do you want the Youth Film Studio to distribute it independently, or should we distribute it jointly with China Film Group?"

As the vice president of the academy, Hou Ke spoke to Cao Yang in a consultative tone, without the slightest air of authority.

"We're all on the same side, so I'll be blunt. The Youth Film Studio has limited funds, and our channels are just so-so. If we distribute it alone, it's impossible to invest too much in prints at once, unlike the deep-pocketed China Film Group. With piracy as rampant as it is now, even if the occupancy rate is good, the market will be flooded with pirated copies before we can even release a second batch of prints."

Cao Yang thought for a moment and made the final decision, "Then let's distribute it jointly with China Film Group."

In the current domestic market, it doesn't matter how good a film's word-of-mouth is; there is too much piracy, making it unsuitable for long-term screenings. The bulk of the box office is concentrated in the first ten days or so.

Big directors and big stars bring their own reputation and buzz, attracting audiences to theaters in the first few days, so the box office usually isn't too bad.

That is why today's directors all tend to hire big stars—as long as the box office for the first few days is decent, who cares about the word-of-mouth?

This phenomenon will persist for a long time.

After leaving the office, Cao Yang saw a banner on his way back to the Directing Department.

"Congratulations to our school's Director Cao Yang for achieving great success at the Berlin International Film Festival and returning with honors."

The school was making quite a fuss; he had seen a big red banner at the school gate, but he hadn't expected to see one inside as well. It wasn't even a Golden Bear, so there was no need to make such a big deal out of it.

Next time he had the chance to stand on the podium at one of the three major European film festivals, he would have to promote the school more. It wasn't for any other reason; it was just a sense of duty as a student of the Beijing Film Academy.

Arriving at Old Situ's office, he saw him still reading the script he had given him that morning. Cao Yang didn't disturb him; he first filled Old Situ's thermos with water, then sat on the sofa to wait.

Inadvertently, he saw over a dozen bound documents on the desk. He flipped through them and was surprised to find they were all scripts.

Old Situ put down the script in his hand, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said with a smile, "I don't know where those kids heard the news. They knew you handed me a script first, and they thought it was me recommending you to the school, which is why the Youth Film Studio invested in you."

He took another puff and continued, "So, a dozen or so students wrote scripts and handed them to me. At first, I was a bit interested and picked one... the best of the lot, I suppose. I called the person over and asked, and hey! They haven't even learned to walk yet, and they're all having these wild fantasies."

What could Cao Yang say? He could only smile and remain silent.

Old Situ stubbed out his cigarette, patted the script on the table, and said, "The concept is very clever, and it's another script that speaks for women, which is naturally favored by film festivals over in Europe. Looking at this, I'm reminded of a film from Taiwan called 'Vive L'Amour'; the entry point is a bit similar, but the core is completely different."

After taking a sip of water, Old Situ continued, "The male and female leads have almost no lines, which puts high demands on the actors' performances. As for the artistic side of the film, I'm not very skilled at that—certainly not as good as Old Xie—so I can't give you any useful advice."

"However, regarding censorship, this script is likely to be troublesome."

Cao Yang had already thought of this, and he knew where the problem lay. "Are you talking about the scenes in the script involving bribing the police officer?"

"Exactly. It's not just the bribery issue; there's also the torture, and the beating in prison. The key is that none of these people are punished by the law. Legal retribution is the point—just having the protagonist beat them up, that certainly won't do."

"I've thought of all that, which is why I hinted that these are all the female lead's imagination. Even the male lead himself is something the female lead imagined because she has been abused by her husband for years and is on the verge of a mental breakdown."

"The bribery, the torture, the beatings—they all happen to the male lead, so they don't exist; they're all fake. Even that won't work?" Old Situ lit another cigarette, took a puff, and said, "In my experience, it's very difficult. You can't assume the audience's comprehension is too high. Things that require careful scrutiny of a film's details to understand might not be grasped by the audience, and they might not necessarily scrutinize a film carefully."

"So their first impression is, 'Wow, the police officer was bribed, there was torture, the prison guard was beating people...' That is the problem."

Cao Yang thought about it; Old Situ was right. You can't expect everyone to dig deep into the details of a film, nor can you expect everyone to understand your ideas. Sometimes the gap between people is quite large.

He just wanted to try and see if it was possible to pass censorship by making the male lead a figment of imagination. It seems he had thought about it too simply.

This film is translated as "Empty Room," which is actually not accurate.

I don't know what happened, but the earliest translated title was even more outrageous: "Empty Room Seduction." People who didn't know better would think it was a pornographic film.

The original name is "3-Iron." A 3-iron is a type of golf club, a kind of iron that is used by fewer people. It is longer than a standard club and has a lower loft, making it difficult to aim and get the ball into the hole.

But even so, many people still buy this club and let it gather dust in their golf bags.

This name fits the plot perfectly, whether in appearance or metaphor; it is incredibly fitting.

On the surface, the male lead sneaks into those temporarily vacant rooms countless times, and he uses a golf club to hit people several times—it's this very club.

!

The metaphor is that the golf club symbolizes violence in the film.

Cao Yang wanted to add a few vague details to let the audience who dig deep into the film infer that the female lead is unable to resist domestic violence, so she imagines someone who can redeem her.

The female lead is often abused by her husband and is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Her predicament and repression make her crave freedom and dignity, so the seemingly "unbound" male lead appears.

It was precisely because passing censorship might be difficult that Cao Yang tried to change it by virtualizing the male lead. He didn't expect Teacher Situ to think it would still be very hard to pass.

Actually, it's quite simple to pass censorship: just change the location where the events take place. Either abroad or in Xiangjiang, and it would be very easy to pass.

But filming in Xiangjiang at this stage is still very troublesome. All staff and actors must apply for work visas, even the filming equipment must apply for an "import permit," and one must also apply to the law enforcement departments for a permit or approval for filming in public places.

These all take time, and Cao Yang wants to go to the Venice Film Festival in September; he can't afford the time.

Seeing that Cao Yang wasn't speaking, Old Situ was afraid he would become discouraged and harbor resentment toward the censorship system like the Fifth Generation directors, so he began to console him.

"Although the censorship system is sometimes biased and criticized, it cannot be denied that, putting aside grand principles, it is a decent barrier for preventing cultural infiltration and establishing values for young people. You are still young, so you might not feel it deeply or might disagree, but you will understand as time goes on."

Cao Yang nodded and said with a smile, "It's okay, Teacher. You don't need to worry; I understand. Actually, I already have a solution. I'll think about it again and see which plan is better."

Leaving Old Situ's office, Cao Yang looked up at the bright sun in the sky and whispered to himself, "I'll go ask Old Tian. He has experience with banned films; let's see if he has any good advice."

(End of chapter)