The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1502 Return
"The Chronicles of Linxian County, adapted and directed by Comrade Wang Yan and starring Tang Guoqiang and Zhu Lin, tells the story of Linxian's reform achievements from the perspective of the people of Linxian, and praises the spirit of the people of northern Shaanxi in their struggle against nature..."

During the Spring Festival of 1982, the film "Chronicles of Linxian County," which took more than a year to film and post-production, was finally released.

The film features multiple main characters: the villagers of Baidian Brigade, Secretary Zhang of the commune, and a minor official from the county.

These are all very representative examples. The people of Baidian Brigade were firsthand witnesses from beginning to end. They followed them throughout the entire process of carpentry, well digging, tree planting, animal husbandry, factory construction, foreign trade, and so on.

Secretary Zhang of Hechuan Commune fully demonstrated his leadership role during this process, showing trust, assistance, and bold delegation of authority. He was also responsible and capable of handling tasks. Furthermore, he became a key leader in the subsequent development of Linxian County.

Wang Yan later went to work in the county. After the industry was restructured, Secretary Zhang came up and became the second-in-command and then the head of the county before leaving.

He was just a low-ranking official in the county back then; now he's the top official in the county...

Besides these people, there were all sorts of other people, including farmers, experts, and some leaders from the provincial and municipal levels. However, they were all just background figures, explaining that the leaders' decisions were not made on a whim, and there were reasons why Linxian was given the opportunity.

Wang Yan, the absolute protagonist, doesn't have much screen time in this film. The story mainly focuses on his actions, decisions, and their impact on the other main characters.

In the film, he is not so much a character as a symbol, an idea, a representative. The old farmers, experts, foreigners, and other characters in the story also represent something deeper.

If you watch the movie without thinking too much, it's a perfectly normal story about the people of Linxian County developing and becoming prosperous, fulfilling the expectations of the masses. It has elements of growth, setbacks, and satisfying moments. But if you watch it with your brain engaged, it becomes a chronicle of the founding of the People's Republic of China…

"These photos are really well taken."

During the screening, one leader remarked in this way.

"I didn't expect this kid to not only be good at filming action movies, but also at filming grand narratives."

"This kid is a writer himself, and he has a deep understanding of our traditional culture, so his films are bound to be good."

……

Wang Yan politely responded to the leaders' praise, showing neither joy nor sorrow.

This wasn't unexpected at all. If he had made a complete mess of it, he wouldn't have been able to release the film, let alone show it off at a screening event of this caliber.

Correspondingly, the movie theaters outside were packed to capacity, with huge crowds everywhere.

Thanks to Wang Yan's popularity, the events in Linxian County garnered significant attention, and the book "Chronicles of Linxian" sold very well. In the years prior, Wang Yan had directed films such as "Big Swordsman Wang Wu" and "Swallow Li San," which were very popular, leading various film studios to produce similar films. In this sense, the nationwide sensation and the packed streets of Shaolin Temple were simply following the trend…

All these factors combined led to an explosion in the popularity of "Chronicles of Linxian County," something that people who follow these matters have been eagerly anticipating. Even those who don't follow these topics have heard about it from colleagues and friends, and those who have the opportunity inevitably want to check it out.

Its influence domestically far surpasses that of the Shaolin Temple. Internationally, however, it is significantly less influential.

After all, this movie is not a martial arts film or a romance film, but a grand narrative of change, and it contains a lot of traditional Chinese culture and ideas. People who don't understand it won't be able to comprehend it.

Of course, even if foreigners can understand it, this movie won't actually have a good reputation or good box office.

After all, they don't want to see how good China is, they only want to see how bad it is.

The entire chronicle of Linxian County focuses on the correctness of its ideological line, the excellence of its spiritual culture, the hard work and resilience of the people, and the dedication of its leaders. It makes no mention of anything related to the ten-year period, how the destruction occurred, or the persecution that ensued.

Can this be right?

Although Wang Yan's previous martial arts films have been sold all over the world and earned millions of dollars, and although martial arts films actually contain a lot of ideological output, they are ultimately just for fun. If you don't think about it, you won't notice much of it; they are pure action films.

Martial arts films are truly exhilarating. Wang Yan personally designed the action sequences, incorporating various wire stunts to showcase a strong sense of impact and power. Combined with cinematographers like Zhang Yimou and Gu Changwei, the resulting films are absolutely beautiful, both visually appealing and thrilling, which is why foreigners love them too. Martial arts and kung fu films originated in China; foreigners don't have that kind of culture…

Ultimately, however, Wang Yan never intended to win foreign awards. Decades later, people would no longer care about these awards; they would all be so tainted.

He doesn't want to go to the trouble of making targeted films to prove himself; he just wants to do justice to the audience and give them some good movies. Even if some people might use these awards to question him, they'll eventually know whether he's good or bad.

He would even write articles analyzing various works that had won foreign awards, explaining why they were awarded, what kind of correctness they represented, and what ideology they represented. He wrote these analyses clearly and published them.

Anyone bold enough to challenge him about creative freedom, saying things like art has no borders and beauty is universal, will be met with his scathing criticism, and he'll try to make things difficult for those who crave freedom. If art has no borders, then go try your luck abroad.

Wang Yan was certainly capable of doing this. He was a participant in the literary and artistic reform, actively offering suggestions while also undertaking certain tasks. Otherwise, why would he go to Hong Kong to find those hooligans?

At the same time, he also brought a large group of people with him when making movies, conducting team training. Props, makeup, costumes, action choreography, special effects, cinematography, screenwriting, and a whole host of other tasks all involved a large number of people. Apart from some veterans, most of the participants were young people. There were students like Zhang Yimou, as well as apprentices from the production studio who were still struggling to get started.

Besides these, he also built a film studio in Beijing, initially focusing on sets from the Republican era, where he filmed his martial arts movies. Construction and expansion have been ongoing, with numerous sets added.

What Wang Yan needs to do is to develop the film production process and gradually systematize and industrialize the film industry.

At the same time, he has already begun to reform the film industry, such as how film studios should exist, how cinemas should develop, and how box office revenue should be shared.

Others dared not touch the million-strong workforce, but he was incredibly stubborn and could withstand the pressure. Anyone from other places who dared to challenge him was like a whack-a-mole, smashing them all down one by one. He was a master at destroying people's livelihoods.

The reason why many things are difficult to succeed or fail is that we keep compromising. We just make do with what we can for now, and even when things get too bad, it's not the worst-case scenario yet. We keep dealing with things and putting things off until we have no choice but to harden our hearts and solve the problem.

Wang Yan was ruthless from the beginning, like a bulldozer, solving whatever problems arose and dealing with whoever had a problem. He withstood the initial uproar, but then they backed down on their own. It was their turn to compromise, and they comforted themselves with excuses... "Teacher Wang, your movie is really well made, and the response is very good. They've written a lot of letters praising you."

Zhang Yi, like an old farmer, huffed and puffed as he carried a sack to the vice principal's office where Wang Yan was located...

Over the past few years, I have organized and summarized the thoughts and theories of literary and artistic workers, made some suggestions, led some work, and at the same time, produced several critically acclaimed and commercially successful films and written several best-selling books.

In terms of film-related professional skills, he is proficient in both directing and screenwriting, possessing both literary and martial arts skills, and is well-versed in all aspects involved. Wang Yan was naturally promoted at the academy to become the vice principal in charge of teaching, thus succeeding Professor Zhong.

“It’s all thanks to the people’s approval.” Wang Yan waved his hand. “Just put it in the corner, I’ll check back a few when I have time.”

"It's you again, always keeping up with the masses." Gu Changwei chimed in, playing the straight man.

The other students who came along nodded in agreement, their faces beaming with smiles.

"That's bullshit. People even get replies to letters sent to Haizi. Who do you think I am?"

Wang Yan took out a cigarette, lit one for himself, and tossed it to everyone around.

He chuckled and said, "What are you all doing here?"

"Teacher Wang, isn't graduation coming soon..." a student chuckled.

Wang Yan glanced at everyone and said, "You've all worked with me on films over the past four years, and you've also worked on quite a few films for the directing department. Your resumes are quite good. As for your work assignments, in principle, it's based on your personal wishes. However, the situation varies from studio to studio. Some are short-staffed, while others are overstaffed, so we'll have to analyze each case individually."

You all came here hoping to stay in Beijing? That's impossible! Besides, you know what happened when we collaborated with Beijing Film Studio a lot before. There are so many people waiting for their chance, but there are only so many films to make. Who gets to be in and who doesn't? The older generation has solid skills, the younger generation is ambitious, and there's all sorts of messy stuff going on.

Our college can't accommodate that many people. Let me tell you, the only ones who can stay are Zhang Yimou and Gu Changwei. You know they're both very skilled; they were the main directors of my films. The rest of you, you just need to think carefully about where you want to go. You're all university students with good resumes, so you can basically go wherever you want.”

"Teacher Wang, can't we work at the college's film and television company instead of taking a position at the college?" a student asked.

Wang Yan looked over; the student's name was Lü Le, and he was also a very capable contestant. (The following phrases appear to be unrelated and possibly from different sources: "Living," "Let's Talk It Out," "If You Are the One," etc.)

The company he mentioned was an affiliate of the film academy, established at Wang Yan's suggestion, and was responsible for the production and distribution of films.

The goal is to adapt to reforms, effectively utilize resources, and commercialize the college's projects. Some educational films, student assignments, and the college's research projects are all handled by this company.

Losses are covered by funds, and profits are used to cover funds.

The academy company currently has ample funds, all earned by Wang Yan from filming movies, specifically the foreign exchange earned from his previous martial arts films.

Of course, if that were all, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. Wang Yan is using this company for reforms and is currently studying the merger of equipment companies. Furthermore, due to previous discussions with Hong Kong's arts and culture circles, they are exploring opening the market to Hong Kong films and have organized several co-production projects with Hong Kong.

If we're talking about benchmarking, Wang Yan wants to take advantage of the opportunity of early reform to establish a China Film Group Corporation under his control, to uniformly manage film-related businesses, including co-productions and the import of foreign films.

Wang Yan looked at them and nodded with a smile: "I didn't tell you all this because the company operates in the market and doesn't have a formal staff position, so it's not as secure as a film studio. You are all talented people, and of course I welcome you to join the company. But this is a big decision, so don't rush into it. You still have more than a month to think it over. Alright, you can go now."

After seeing off the students who were worried about their future, Wang Yan processed a few documents and then drove to the Workers' Stadium in the east.

Right next to the Workers' Stadium, there's a piece of land where construction is underway.

"Brother Yan, you're here." Li Kuiyong waved with a smile.

"Look at you! I told you to just find a place to sit in an office, but you insisted on coming to the site to supervise the construction. Do you even understand construction? Can you really supervise it properly?"

“Then I’ll show my attitude here. If I’m serious and polite to the workers, they won’t try to fool me.”

Li Kuiyong chuckled, then scratched his head and said, "But Brother Yan, you still need to reconsider. This job is really not suitable for me."

"Who's suitable? Where can you find a suitable person? You have to start doing it first, and once you get started, things will get better. You have to read the books I gave you. If you don't study, you'll be fooled. So, to avoid being fooled, you have to study hard. I don't think this job is too difficult. We're the first big shopping mall. Once we've agreed on what to sell, the opening will definitely be packed with people. We definitely won't lose money."

"Then we'll build shopping malls all over the country. Once those malls are up, we'll become wealthy. Besides, every mall will have a movie theater, which will solve my theater chain problem, and the theaters will be upgraded. It will attract people to watch movies, and it will also encourage them to shop in the mall. People can shop and then catch a movie—it's a win-win situation, a great thing!"

"Brother Yan, you're making it sound like it's already a done deal, but I'm really not sure about it." Li Kuiyong sighed deeply. "I never imagined it would turn out this big."

"Didn't you used to be thinking of becoming a reseller?"

"That was just a small-scale operation. Who would have thought that you would make such a big deal out of a simple conversation with that Mr. Peng?"

"They're begging you to make a fortune," Wang Yan laughed. "They're not stupid; they know this land will definitely make money in the future, and they want to get more land. They're going crazy with the New Territories development boom. Just be down-to-earth. If they cause trouble, you can scold them or even fight them if necessary. If anyone dares to cause trouble, just tell me, and I'll stand up for you."

"Dayong, you really need to make this business work. The movie theater is one thing, but our school is also planning to build staff dormitories, and there's going to be some more construction on campus. Once your construction team is skilled enough, you can go directly to the colleges to do the work. In the future, you'll make countless amounts of money."

Li Kuiyong grinned and laughed heartily...

Wang Yan had lunch with Li Kuiyong, then went home to enjoy some quality time with his wife and children...

I want to express my sincere gratitude to all the kind readers who have given me generous support through tips, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and those who have been reading quietly!