Chapter 49: Tian Zhuangzhuang and the Youth Film Studio

By 2002, Beijing was already showing signs of the morning rush hour; Lu Kuan got up early, yet still arrived late, not reaching the Beijing Film Academy until after 9:00 AM.

Today was the day the results for the fourth round of auditions were posted.

The Beijing Film Academy was a very small campus, so small that the surrounding area couldn't even support the standard amenities found at other universities, such as commercial streets, low-rent housing, or snack streets.

On the day the results were posted, the north side of Jimen Bridge was, as usual, "hard to travel."

Lu Kuan followed behind the crowd, listening to a female field reporter from the media broadcasting into her microphone.

"Hello everyone, today is the day the Beijing Film Academy posts the results for the fourth round of auditions, and we are currently standing at the entrance of the Beijing Film Academy."

The female reporter signaled for the camera to zoom out: "As you can see, it is already a sea of people."

"We previously obtained the relevant data for this year from the Beijing Film Academy admissions office; the most popular department, the Acting Department, has as many as 4,000 candidates this year, and the admission ratio has reached 1:130, which is staggering!"

Lu Kuan drifted expressionlessly with the tide of people; with 4,000 people just from the Acting Department here to check the results today, there was no way to squeeze into that line anytime soon.

If he were to be crushed and lose an arm or a leg today, Xu Jinglei and Zhao Wei would have to take full responsibility.

It is no exaggeration to say that the two of them, especially Zhao Wei’s rise to fame after *My Fair Princess*, completely ignited the popularity of applying to the two art schools in the capital.

"This student, may I ask if you are a candidate this year?"

Caught off guard by the cue, Lu Kuan froze for a moment, then immediately smiled with a sense of camera awareness and answered, "Yes."

"May I ask if you applied for the Acting Department?"

"The Directing Department."

The female reporter realized she wouldn't be able to squeeze to the front for a while, so she simply latched onto Lu Kuan to milk him for more interview material to edit later.

"Your physical appearance is quite good; may I ask why you chose the Directing Department instead of the Acting Department?"

Lu Kuan took a look and realized it was Jin Wei from the *Movie Channel*, who would officially host *China Film Report* in 2003; it seemed she was still stuck doing field reporting for now.

Since he had nothing better to do, Boss Lu decided to chat with her for a while.

"Why apply for the Directing Department? Because I could have relied on my looks to make a living, but in the end, I chose to rely on my talent."

Jin Wei and the cameraman were stunned; they had never seen a student speak like this—it was too unconventional.

She bit the bullet and continued the interview: "You probably haven't seen the results yet, right? May I ask what you would choose if you failed to get in?"

"Go home and inherit a billion-dollar family fortune."

"Pfft, hahaha!" The onlookers burst into laughter; even with his deadpan expression, everyone could tell he was joking.

Jin Wei, however, felt this would make for good program effects and gave a very positive response: "They say gold will always shine; I don't think you should be discouraged if you don't get in, as there are still many opportunities in life."

Boss Lu couldn't stomach her brand of chicken soup: "Only gold shines; I’m just a shard of glass, I can only reflect light!"

Liu Yifei and her mother were also in the crowded throng, not far from the small circle of the interview, and the young girl was frequently amused by his classic quotes.

"Xixi, this little Lu is quite humorous."

The scene from the stairwell that day still lingered in Liu Yifei's mind, and she blurted out: "Yeah, he just doesn't like to wash his hands."

"Huh?"

Jin Wei was so amused by his remark that she was left breathless, determined to dig deeper into this joker today.

"Everyone knows that the four rounds of interviews for the Beijing Film Academy's Directing Department are extremely difficult. Do you have any insights, or perhaps any experience that could make the judges' eyes light up?"

"None. If you want to make the judges' eyes light up, you should go learn welding, not directing."

"Hahahaha!" "Is he from the crosstalk department?"

Since the line wasn't moving anyway, the surrounding students and parents simply stopped to watch the live broadcast, finding this young man's words more interesting than the Spring Festival Gala.

The cameraman gave Jin Wei a look, and she nodded to signal she understood, beginning to wrap up the interview: "Alright, thank you for your pearls of wisdom, student. I wish you success in seeing your name on the list!"

Lu Kuan checked his watch and prepared to turn and leave; as for checking the results, he could just ask Zhang Songwen to have someone take a look for him.

After finally squeezing out of the crowd, he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder; he looked up to see an elderly man with a face full of deep wrinkles.

"Stop looking, you're first in the fourth round; get ready for the cultural exams."

"Hello, Master Tian!"

Lu Kuan thought to himself that just as he was getting sleepy, someone handed him a pillow; this was the perfect chance to get on the good side of this highly respected director and gain access to the Youth Film Studio.

Young people in the post-entertainment era seemed to know very little about this director, who was of the same generation as Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, because his works were too few and too obscure. The biggest label for his work was: "Incomprehensible."

His "incomprehensible" debut film, *September*, held a screening at the Beijing Film Studio; after it ended, the audience was as quiet and polite as they had been during the film, simply because they couldn't understand it at all and had nothing to discuss.

His film *The Horse Thief* was so obscure and difficult to understand that it angered the leadership, and it only passed censorship after Joris Ivens, a Dutch documentary director and then-artistic consultant to the Ministry of Culture, spoke up for him. As a result, he immediately shot *The Horse Thief*, and this time even his die-hard fan Ivens couldn't take it, quietly asking Tian Zhuangzhuang that night: "Can you show it to me one more time?"

However, this film was later requested by Bertolucci, who was filming *The Last Emperor* in the Forbidden City, to be sent to Venice; he was the chairman of the film festival that year.

Setting aside his artistic attainments, he was a man of virtue—this was recognized throughout the industry. For colleagues and juniors in the film industry, he would spare no effort if they had any needs.

It was just a pity that among his students, there was a "Golden Scissors" who stirred up trouble in the secondary market.

"Master Tian, I have a script I'd like you to take a look at."

Tian Zhuangzhuang looked at him in surprise, having assumed he was just an ordinary high school student. Remembering his evaluation of Zhang Yimou's script on stage that day, he led him toward the neighboring Beijing Film Studio.

With his seniority and family background, this man could get anything done just by showing his face at the Beijing Film Studio or the Beijing Film Academy. Finding an office, Tian Zhuangzhuang took his time to read Lu Kuan's *Whiplash*.

After reading it through, the standard Hollywood-paradigm structure made him nod inwardly.

Several camera techniques were also quite clever, such as the three close-ups of the clock before the teacher solemnly entered the rehearsal room, and the opening of the film moving from a distance to close-up, then from a long shot approaching the protagonist.

"The script is good. The lighting and cinematography both show your own ideas. You have a foundation in directing, don't you?"

Lu Kuan smiled modestly: "Just tinkering around on my own, hehe."

"What about the production team? Is there anyone investing?" Tian Zhuangzhuang was well aware of the shackles facing young directors, and he unscrewed his cup lid to blow on the scalding tea.

"I've scraped together enough to barely set up a stall. I want to register the production unit under the school's Youth Film Studio; Master Tian, do you think you could write a note for me?" Seeing that Tian Zhuangzhuang was willing to help, he took the opportunity to make his request.

"What kind of note should I write! I'm not the department head, nor am I a school leader." Tian Zhuangzhuang waved his hand.

Lu Kuan thought to himself, *Keep pretending; who doesn't know what kind of background you have, old man.*

Tian Zhuangzhuang pondered for a moment; in any case, he was a freshman in the Beijing Film Academy's Directing Department, and for a young director to find his own investment and dare to try, it was reasonable and appropriate to support him.

"You go ahead and prepare to organize the location scouting and draw the storyboards, and get the main creative staff together. I'll go say a word to the Youth Film Studio."

"Thank you, Master Tian!"

Lu Kuan clenched his fists tightly; the final link was in place, and the start of filming was just around the corner.

(End of chapter)