Chapter 51: A qualified director

Quite a few people came to the small screening room of the Beijing Film Academy today.

Old Situ from the Directing Department, Xie Fei, Old Tian, and Department Head Xie Xiaojing were there. Besides Hou Ke Ming, two big leaders from the school also came, actually accompanying a person from Sony Classics and chatting and laughing.

Hou Ke Ming secretly told Cao Yang, "We didn't know at first either, but there's actually an acquaintance among those who came from Sony Classics and MK2. That big-nosed Russian, see him?"

Cao Yang looked at the three foreigners. Two were from Sony Classics, and one was from MK2. Among the people from Sony Classics, there was a big-nosed man with obvious Slavic blood.

So he nodded. When he was in contact with the people from Sony Classics, the other party had introduced him as Mr. Mikhalkov, but he didn't pay attention at the time.

Hou Ke Ming had complicated emotions and looked at Cao Yang, but overall he was still happy.

"He is not a person from Sony Classics company; he is a professional invited by Sony Classics from their long-term partners. He should be here to evaluate your film so that Sony Classics can use it as a reference. I didn't expect Sony Classics to actually invite him. It seems they value you very much now."

"Who is he?"

Boss, you've been sighing here for a long time without mentioning his identity. Hurry up and say it.

"His 'Burnt by the Sun' won the Cannes Jury Grand Prix in 1994 and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1995."

"'Burnt by the Sun'? Oh, let me think, Nikita Mikhalkov, is that his name? So he is Director Mikhalkov. The people from Sony Classics introduced him as Mr. Mikhalkov, and I didn't react, nor did I expect it to be him."

Speaking of "Burnt by the Sun," Cao Yang remembered who this was. Because of the translation problem, he didn't think that the foreigner who came from Sony Classics was the famous Mikhalkov.

No wonder Sony Classics invited him. Mikhalkov also had another film that won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1991.

The name of this film was "Urga," also translated as "Close to Eden."

Many people might not know this film.

In 1991, the interior of the Northern Giant Bear was in chaos.

A Slav who came to escape the domestic turmoil in their country went to the Hulunbuir Grassland in China to shoot a film. The male and female leads were both Chinese, and it won the highest award, the Golden Lion, at the 48th Venice International Film Festival.

At this Venice Film Festival, the film that won the Jury Grand Prix was the National Master's "Raise the Red Lantern."

No wonder Sony Classics invited him. He was a winner of the Venice Golden Lion, and Cao Yang just happened to tell Sony Classics that he wanted to go to Venice.

This was a way for Sony Classics to express its own strength. Look, isn't it just Venice? I'll find a Venice Golden Lion-winning director to watch your film.

This was not just a director who won the Venice Golden Lion; under the company's operation, he also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

How about that? Is this sincerity enough?

Naked showing off and temptation.

The Oscars, that sacred place that so many filmmakers around the world yearn for.

But for Cao Yang, the Oscars were just like that. Sacred my ass. Just like the European Big Three, it was a place used to build fame.

The only difference was that after building fame at the Oscars, one could incidentally make money in Hollywood. This was the point where it was better than the European Big Three.

After the pleasantries were over, they started watching the film.

The beginning of "Empty Room" was very plain. Before interacting with the female lead, the male lead's acting couldn't be seen.

However, from the very beginning, the film kept using lens language—various metaphors, contrasts, and foils—which made the few people from the Directing Department's eyes light up, staring fixedly at the images in the film so as not to miss them. These lens languages happened to hit the points of these few people. This was what a genius director from the Directing Department should do; shooting like this had meaning.

Besides the few people from the Directing Department, Hou Ke Ming and Mikhalkov also paid serious attention to the film's images. Hou Ke Ming also rose from the Directing Department. Although he hadn't directed many films, he knew enough to understand these.

Needless to say, Mikhalkov would definitely be able to understand.

It wasn't until the male lead met the female lead and the two started to show off their acting that everyone's attention shifted. Even Xie Fei, who was most serious about watching the lens expression, let out a light "eh."

Hou Ke Ming couldn't help but look at Cao Yang several times. Last time, it could be said that he met Li Xiaoran, who had god-like acting skills, and they achieved each other. But what about this time?

He didn't know who that man was, and he didn't know how his acting was before.

But the female lead was Yu Feihong. How could Hou Ke Ming not know Yu Feihong?

After graduating from school, whether it was an actor or a director, which school leader didn't know about them?

How was Yu Feihong's acting?

Um, she graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. That was enough.

But what did Hou Ke Ming see?

Was the person who played the female lead so vivid and so lively a student who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy? Was it Yu Feihong, who only knew how to play cold roles?

Hou Ke Ming took a deep breath. He felt he had misunderstood Cao Yang. This was not achieving each other with Li Xiaoran; this was a big shot who could promote people!

!

When the film screened to the male lead in prison, walking with a strange pace and playing hide-and-seek with the prison guard, Hou Ke Ming only felt that this—how could there be a feeling of hair-raising?

After being beaten twice, the male lead used his hand, which had an eye drawn on it, to sway around, and then the camera stopped following the male lead's line of sight, but instead turned its direction, using a third-person perspective. Hou Ke Ming couldn't help but have a sentence pop up in his mind: "It's done, he's done."

Sure enough, the male lead became invisible, and no one could see him anymore. No matter how the camera perspective moved, no matter who he passed by, no one could discover him.

It was both thrilling and strange.

When the final plot returned to the villa, Yu Feihong also began a performance that was both wonderful and thrilling. Hou Ke Ming couldn't help but think, did he remember wrong? Was Yu Feihong actually a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama?

Could the Beijing Film Academy cultivate actors with this kind of acting?

As soon as the screening ended, Xie Fei couldn't help but give Cao Yang a thumbs up, sighing, "Compared to your last film, this film, in terms of technique, is simply... simply..."

He originally wanted to praise one and disparage the other, but thought better of it. Although the last film didn't use filming techniques, if it were classified as a New Wave film, there was nothing to say.

What does New Wave film emphasize?

Low cost, fast production cycle, long takes, location shooting, natural light, irrational free improvisational narrative, and auteur film with strong personal color.

Even as a leading figure of the Fourth Generation directors, Xie Fei couldn't easily deny New Wave film. This didn't involve a simple personal evaluation of the film.

If it spread out, a big hat of Xie Fei not recognizing New Wave film would be put on him, which would be endless trouble.

"Good, good, this film is clever!"

Old Situ was also very gratified, patting Cao Yang's arm, "Not bad, a big improvement over the last film."

Xie Fei couldn't help but nod, sighing, "A director must speak with lens language. This is what a director should do. Of course, it can't be too much; too much is as bad as too little.

A truly qualified director, on the basis of sufficiently rich lens language, must also tell the story clearly."

Then he asked Xie Xiaojing, "I didn't think clearly about a place just now. Watch it again?"

"Exactly, I also have many doubts. Then let's play it again."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 52 =====