Chapter 196 Cartoon


    Just when the domestic literary and art circles are looking forward to the arrival of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers, the Cannes Film Festival, one of the three largest in Europe, has already opened.


    Isabelle Adjani won the Best Actress crown, with two works competing at the same time: "Quartet" and "Possessed"! I recommend "Possessed", which contains scenes of Adjani having **** with the devil...


    Taking the Berlin Film Festival at the beginning of the year as a starting point, this year officially kicked off the overseas release of domestic films. The Chinese film delegation also went to Cannes for the first time, showing "Road Angel" and "San Mao Wandering". Not a competition.


    The first participating film will have to wait until "The True Story of Ah Q" next year.


    Objectively speaking, although Westerners want to watch Chinese movies at this stage, they themselves don’t know exactly what they want to watch.


    Until the emergence of the fifth generation, they perfectly filled this need, represented by Chen Kaige''s "Yellow Earth" and Zhang Yimou''s "Red Sorghum". When those foreigners took a look, yo! Yes, yes, we love to see this, and you just shoot this!


    What to shoot?


    National, barbaric, backward societies with perverted feudal ethics, oppressed men and women, and the struggles of awakened and conservative people are even more popular in the West.


    The initial awards may be accidental, such as "Red Sorghum".


    The similarities after that are deliberately made up, such as "Ju Dou" and "Raise the Red Lantern".


    I’m not going to discuss whether the movie is good or bad. I just want to say that these directors and overseas investors all know that making this kind of movie will be popular at film festivals and have a high chance of winning awards. It is the West that defines Chinese movies, and at the same time, it is also the Chinese movie industry that is rushing to give way. People''s definition.


    By the late 1990s, Chinese society had developed, and it was too far away to film feudal ethics, so the sixth generation came into being.


    They were photographing marginalized groups in China during a period of social transformation. Hey, Westerners have found a new G-spot.


    The fifth generation at least tried to transform, but the sixth generation just jumped in and took on the shape of others, which continues to this day. For example, Lou Ye made a movie that "reflected" the domestic epidemic and went to Cannes to praise others.


    A bunch of foreigners saw through the defense and left the game midway, giving them 0 points.


    Lou Ye''s original intention was to criticize various inhumane hegemonic behaviors in the country, but in the eyes of foreigners, it is "Although you have dead parents and dead mothers and dead children, and the corpse trucks are like a long queue, we can''t order takeout for three months." Ah! I can’t go out for three months!”


    Foreigners will not feel that he is satirizing China, but instead he is satirizing themselves.


    To this day, the voice of Chinese films has never kept pace with the growth of national power. On the one hand, it is not living up to expectations, and on the other hand, tracing back to the roots, the roots can be traced back to the 1980s.


    …


    Speaking of which, Chen Qi was writing scripts and waiting for awards in Hangzhou, and occasionally invited He Qing to have a meal.


    In the blink of an eye, May 22nd arrived, the eve of the ceremony.


    It was as if famous literary and artistic workers from all over the country had gathered in Hangzhou at once.


    Beijing Film Studio has produced a team, namely "Romance in Lushan" led by Wang Haowei. Shanghai Film Studio is the most popular, with the two hit films "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" and "Bashan Night Rain" being produced by them, and the famous director Xie Jin is also here.


    To put it simply, this ceremony is about "Lushan Love" competing against those two movies.


    The rest is just running with me.


    There will be no bells and whistles, no press conferences, celebrity meetings, or red carpets. It will be more like a grand gathering of the literary and art circles. It is not easy for a group of people to meet each other, but it is not easy to get together. You come to my place to sit and I will go to your place to visit and visit each other.


    Chen Qi vacated the previous guest house and moved into a hotel arranged by the organizing committee.


    He also has people he wants to visit, not celebrity directors, but a group of people who are very, very unpopular in the literary and art circles.


    "I don''t know what the leaders thought, but they brought "Street Angel" and "Sanmao Wandering" to the exhibition. Those were works from decades ago. When the French saw them, they thought we were still in the old society!"


    In the room, Xu Jingda was holding an industry magazine and talking about the Cannes Film Festival. Mark laughed and said: "At least it''s safe. Who knows if something will happen if we bring other movies? Hey, Lao Xu, look at this, the country is interested in going overseas, should we apply?"


    "Application to participate in the exhibition?"


    "No, enter the competition! We don''t dare to speak when making live-action movies, but when we make cartoons, haha, Chinese cartoons are not afraid of anyone!"


    These two are directors from Shanghai Art Film Studio. They have participated in or directed works including: "Havoc in Heaven", "Mu Flute" and "Nezha Hao Hai". The work brought this time is "Three Monks".


    "Is it possible to let "Three Monks" go overseas?"


    "Absolutely, we don''t know the standard of this film yet..."


    "Dong dong dong!"


    The two of them were chatting when there was a knock on the door. Xu Jingda went to open the door and saw a strange young man. He introduced himself: "Hello, seniors, my name is Chen Qi, and I am here to visit!"


    Chen Qi? !


    Xu Jingda and Mark Xuan had naturally heard of his name, and they were both confused. Why did he come to us to make cartoons?


    "Oh, come in quickly! Come in quickly!"


    "Your visit surprised us!"


    "I''m sorry, I''ve read your work no less than ten times, and I really like it. I knew you were staying here so I came here to disturb you. I apologize for my inconvenience."


    Chen Qi was very polite, and the two of them didn''t want to chase anyone away. He smiled and said, "Just sit down and sit down when you come. The award ceremony is a great reunion for the literary and art circles. I just didn''t expect that you would like cartoons even if you make live-action movies?"


    "Hey, cartoons are seriously underestimated. I have always felt that cartoons are suitable for all ages and are of great value. In a sense, they are more worthy of dissemination than live-action movies."


    Chen Qi boasted a lot, and the relationship quickly became closer. The three of them talked about a lot of content in the animation industry at home and abroad.


    Chinese cartoons started from "Havoc in Heaven" in 1961, to "Nezha Hao Hai", "Three Monks", "Afanti", "Snow Child", "Nine-Colored Deer", "Ma Liang", and then to the full-length "Ma Liang" "Calabash Baby", "Shuke Beta", "Rubik''s Cube Mansion", "The Sloppy King", etc., we have really produced a series of excellent works.


    Animated movies are even more popular overseas and have won many awards.


    It''s a pity that it declined in the late 1990s, and the last swan song was "Lotus Lantern". It took nearly 20 years for it to rise again...


    Chen Qi came here to get close to him, and cartoons were a very important part of his plan. After chatting about all kinds of things, he asked about the real thing before leaving: "Can I ask you if I want to make a movie called "Nezha Haohai"? How long would it take for a movie of that length and difficulty to be even more difficult?”


    "We prepared in May 1978 and completed it in August 1979, which took one year and three months." Xu Jingda said.


    "So soon? Oh, I mean, I thought it would take a few years!"


    "It depends on the specific drawing difficulty. The characters, clothes, backgrounds, and utensils of "Nezha Haohai" are actually quite simplified. "Havoc in Heaven" is more complicated. It took two years to draw the upper and lower parts alone. "


    "How much does it cost?"


    “…”


    Xu Jingda and Mark Xuan looked at each other, and there was a faint movement in their hearts. Without giving any details, they gave an imaginary number: "More than a million!"


    "Oh, that''s it...well, I''ll bother you two today, I should go!"


    Chen Qi had an idea of ??how long it would take to make a cartoon and how much it would cost, so he stood up and left.


    Of course, he is not doing it now. He will do it after the company saves some money. While the elite painters like Shangmei Film are here, he can do a few more films before he can afford to take the trip.


    (End of chapter)