[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr":3,"chapter-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-51":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Academic Director: Reborn in the Film Industry",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2297051,4493,"Chapter 51: A Qualified Director","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-51",51,"\u003Cp>Quite a few people came to the small screening room at the Beijing Film Academy today.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Situ, Xie Fei, and Old Tian from the Directing Department, along with the Department Head Xie Xiaojing, were all there; besides Hou Keming, two high-ranking school leaders also attended, and they were actually chatting and laughing with someone from Sony Pictures Classics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Keming secretly whispered to Cao Yang, \"We didn't know at first, but there's actually an acquaintance among those from Sony Pictures Classics and mk2—that big-nosed Russian, see him?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cao Yang looked at the three foreigners; two were from Sony Pictures Classics, and one was from mk2. Among those from Sony Pictures Classics, there was indeed a big-nosed man with obvious Slavic features.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He nodded; when he had been in contact with the Sony Pictures Classics people, they had introduced him as Mr. Mikhalkov, but he hadn't paid much attention at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Keming had mixed feelings as he looked at Cao Yang, but overall, he was still happy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He isn't a Sony Pictures Classics employee; he's a professional invited by them from among their long-term partners. He's likely here to evaluate your film so that Sony Pictures Classics can use his opinion as a reference. I didn't expect them to actually invite him; it seems they value you very highly now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who is he?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boss, you've been sighing here for ages without mentioning his identity—hurry up and say it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"His *Burnt by the Sun* won the Grand Prix at Cannes in '94 and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in '95.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"*Burnt by the Sun*? Oh, let me think—Nikita Mikhalkov, that's the name, right? So he's Director Mikhalkov. The Sony Pictures Classics people introduced him as Mr. Mikhalkov, and I didn't react or think it was him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mentioning *Burnt by the Sun*, Cao Yang finally realized who this was; due to translation issues earlier, he hadn't realized the foreigner from Sony Pictures Classics was the famous Mikhalkov.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder Sony Pictures Classics invited him; Mikhalkov also had a film that won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in '91.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The film is called *Urga*, sometimes translated as *Close to Eden*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many people might not know this film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In '91, the Northern Giant Bear was in a state of internal chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A Slav, seeking to escape the turmoil in his own country, came to the Hulunbuir Grasslands in China to shoot a film with Chinese leads, and it went on to win the Golden Lion, the highest award at the 48th Venice International Film Festival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that same Venice Film Festival, the Grand Prix went to the National Master's *Raise the Red Lantern*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No wonder Sony Pictures Classics invited him; he is a winner of the Venice Golden Lion, and Cao Yang had just told Sony Pictures Classics that he wanted to go to Venice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a way for Sony Pictures Classics to show off their own strength: \"Look, you want Venice? I'll find a Venice Golden Lion-winning director to watch your film.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this wasn't just a director with a Venice Golden Lion; under the company's promotion, he had also won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How about that? Is that enough sincerity for you?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was naked showing off and temptation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Oscars—that sacred place yearned for by filmmakers all over the world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to Cao Yang, the Oscars were just that—sacred my foot. Just like the big three in Europe, it was a place to build one's reputation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only difference was that once you built your reputation at the Oscars, you could conveniently make money in Hollywood; that was where it was better than the European big three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the pleasantries, the film began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beginning of *3-Iron* was very plain; before the interaction with the female lead, one couldn't even tell the male lead's acting ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, from the very start, the film used constant cinematic language—various metaphors, contrasts, and foils—making the eyes of everyone from the Directing Department light up. They stared intently at the images on screen, afraid of missing anything. These cinematic techniques hit the mark for them; this was exactly what a genius director from the Directing Department should be doing, and this was the only way filming had meaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the people from the Directing Department, Hou Keming and Mikhalkov were also paying close attention to the visuals. Hou Keming had also risen through the Directing Department; although he hadn't directed many films, he knew enough to understand this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Mikhalkov, it went without saying that he would definitely understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't until the male lead met the female lead and the two began to trade acting blows that everyone's attention shifted; even Xie Fei, who had been the most focused on the lens expression, let out a soft \"Oh.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Keming couldn't help but glance at Cao Yang several times. Last time, one could say he had just happened upon the god-tier acting of Li Xiaoran and they had achieved each other, but what about this time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't know who that man was, nor did he know what his acting had been like before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the female lead was Yu Feihong—how could Hou Keming not know Yu Feihong?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether it was an actor or a director who became famous after graduation, there wasn't a single school leader who didn't know the ins and outs of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How was Yu Feihong's acting?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, she was a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, and that was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what was Hou Keming seeing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was the person who played the female lead so vividly and realistically a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy? Was this the Yu Feihong who only knew how to play cold, aloof roles?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hou Keming took a deep breath; he felt he had misunderstood Cao Yang. This wasn't just \"achieving each other\" with Li Xiaoran—this was a master at molding talent!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the screening reached the part where the male lead was in prison, walking with that strange gait and playing hide-and-seek with the prison guards, Hou Keming only felt a sense of creepiness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After being beaten twice, the male lead wandered around with a hand-drawn eye on his palm, and then the camera stopped following the male lead's line of sight, instead shifting direction to a third-person perspective. A thought couldn't help but surface in Hou Keming's mind: \"He's done it; he's really done it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, the male lead had become invisible; no one could see him anymore. No matter how the camera angle moved or who he passed by, no one could discover him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was both thrilling and eerie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the final plot returned to the villa and Yu Feihong began her brilliant yet chilling performance, Hou Keming couldn't help but wonder if he had remembered wrong—was Yu Feihong actually a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could the Beijing Film Academy produce an actor with this kind of acting skill?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as the screening ended, Xie Fei couldn't help but give Cao Yang a thumbs-up, sighing, \"Compared to your last film, the technique in this one is simply... simply...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had originally wanted to praise one and criticize the other, but thought better of it. Although the last film hadn't used such filming techniques, if it were classified as New Wave cinema, there was nothing to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did New Wave cinema emphasize?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Low budgets, fast production cycles, long takes, location shooting, natural light, irrational and free improvisational narrative, and auteur cinema with strong personal color.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even as a leading figure among the Fourth Generation directors, Xie Fei couldn't easily deny New Wave cinema; this involved more than just a simple personal evaluation of a film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If word got out and the label of \"Xie Fei doesn't recognize New Wave cinema\" was slapped on him, it would be endless trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Good, good, this film is ingenious!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Situ also patted Cao Yang's arm with satisfaction, \"Not bad, a huge improvement over the last film.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Fei couldn't help but nod, sighing, \"A director must speak through cinematic language; that is what a director should do. Of course, one shouldn't go too far—too much is as bad as too little.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A truly qualified director, on the basis of having sufficiently rich cinematic language, must also tell the story clearly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then asked Xie Xiaojing, \"There was a part I didn't quite grasp just now; shall we watch it again?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Exactly, I have quite a few questions too; let's screen it again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1431,"2026-06-20T05:36:32.009Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","f9e82f30c766b5e18ac887338f6efdd48564dca195360d34c2b10d7c368e6ab3","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-52","the-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-chapter-50",411,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-academic-director-reborn-in-the-film-industr-cover.jpg"]