The only sun in Huayu

Chapter 75 Coincidence, All Coincidences (24)

"real!"

Shen Shandeng was heartbroken. Was he not trustworthy?
At this point, the flight attendants began serving dinner.

Shen Shandeng ordered a full set meal, as he was indeed hungry after a long day of travel.

Zhou Qifeng had little appetite and was still somewhat immersed in the emotions from "The Creation of Sin." He only ordered a glass of red wine and ate a simple fruit salad.

Zhou Qifeng pressed further, "Senior brother, are you scared?"

"You boy."

Shen Shandeng just smiled. Trying to provoke him was like provoking a cotton ball.

"There's a saying that goes, 'Haste makes waste.' It's not that I won't fight, but that I'll fight steadily, methodically, and rhythmically."

Where is it?
If Shen Shandeng weren't his senior and the one who paid him, Zhou Qifeng would have shown Shen Shandeng just how tough his fists were.

In reality, Zhou Qifeng is like dough; you can mold him, and you really can mold him.

Shen Shandeng took a bite of the not-so-tasty rice and said, "When we do things, we must be reasonable, advantageous, and disciplined. Being reasonable means having the right to speak, being advantageous means having benefits, and being disciplined means having a rhythm."

"Emotions are useless. If someone stirs up your emotions, you've already lost. In reality, the one who remains calm is the winner."

Not delving deeper into this is still somewhat dangerous.

Shen Shandeng said, "I really mean it when I say I'm studying 'The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger.' When 'The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger' was first released, didn't it get a lot of bad reviews? The garbage Western philosophy, plus the slow-motion fighting, how many people cursed it?"

"Now what? It's become a classic. With the recognition of the Oscars, this movie has become a classic."

"Let me test you. What are the steps in the shift in public opinion surrounding 'The Hidden Dragon and the Concealed Tiger'?"

Shen Shandeng was not changing the subject, nor was he asking the question casually.

His research focuses on the film industry.

As someone in this industry, with the perspective of an ordinary person with common sense, and combined with the information explosion of later generations, Shen Shandeng had indeed studied "The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger".

Interestingly, the Pingyao Film Festival was named "Dragon Hidden, Tiger Hidden," with special authorization from Paperclip. It was founded by Jia Zhangke, with Marco Müller, the former artistic director of Venice, serving as chief advisor.

Moreover, "The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger" has a Douban score of 8.4, which is higher than IMDb's score of 7.8 at the time and 7.9 later on.

Foreign reviews from China actually surpassed those from the United States.

Many people in China are accustomed to "other-centric" narratives and like to subconsciously think from other people's perspectives.

The cabin lights were dimmed.

Most travelers began to rest or watch movies.

Zhou Qifeng fell into thought. He was only in high school when "The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger" was released.

However, when talking about commercial blockbusters, the first thing that comes to mind is "Hero," which ushered in the era of blockbusters, and when talking about "Hero," one cannot ignore "The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger."

Zhou Qifeng's understanding of "The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger" is based more on the film industry; he only knows the general outline of other aspects.

"The film 'The Hidden Dragon' did receive a lot of negative reviews when it was first released, but it was eventually widely regarded as a classic. The Oscars played a key turning point in its success."

"I remember everyone thought they were going to see Jackie Chan's kung fu comedy, but the movie turned out to be a literary martial arts film full of Western ideas."

"At the time, the media reported that some viewers at the BJ Cinema shouted halfway through the movie, 'Hit him! Why isn't he hitting him yet?' Also, Chinese audiences saw Yu Jiaolong's jumping off the cliff as martyrdom, while Western audiences interpreted it as a symbol of freedom."

Shen Shandeng added details: "Actually, the American media were not optimistic about it before the awards ceremony that year because Gladiator was more in line with the standards of traditional epic films."

"In the end, the Academy judges awarded the prize to 'The Hidden Dragon,' and they seemed genuinely amazed by its novel aesthetics, which seemed to perfectly demonstrate the winning logic of the 'defamiliarization experience.'"

Of course, it also happens that this place is about to join the WTO.

Ironically, the film industry, which has a relatively small market, is negotiating alongside industries such as finance and banking.

"The West's high praise contrasts sharply with our reaction." "The West forced the East to reflect, and we reflected. Reflecting on what we missed, film critics' opinions and academic viewpoints have changed significantly."

"From criticism to praise, from rejection to acceptance to admiration. It's a bit like the path taken by 'A Chinese Odyssey'."

Speaking of this, Shen Shandeng couldn't help but think of "The Sun," what a pity.

In this day and age, it's possible to make money if you do a good job of marketing and promotion. All you have to do is get the audience into the theater, since you can't get refunds anyway.

The process of shaping the concept of "The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger" was a process of forcibly distorting cognition.

first time.

Chinese-speaking audiences, especially fans of martial arts films, are accustomed to the hard-hitting, fast-paced combat style of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, or the imaginative and visually striking martial arts world of Tsui Hark.

The "lightness skill" design in "The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger" relied on the ethereal and lingering effect of wire work, and the pursuit of artistic conception and restrained fighting, such as sword fighting in the bamboo forest. It was criticized by many people for being soft, like dancing, unrealistic, and too slow.

Excrement, later transformed into poetry, became a source of visual beauty and poetic action design.

It uses the East as a facade, waving the banner of Taoism and Confucianism, but its core is Western. It's all about Western-style freedom and responsibility, desire and repression, and the rules of the underworld and personal pursuits. It's really boring.

Viewers found it "boring," "incomprehensible," and "not exciting enough," a far cry from the fast-paced, plot-driven action and vengeance of mainstream martial arts films at the time.

Later, the disadvantages turned into advantages, and into profound philosophical propositions.

The director has long been working in the West, and his perspective and way of expression feel awkward to domestic audiences, such as Li Mubai's feelings for Yu Jiaolong.

The unfamiliarity with a culture later became an advantage, and "unfamiliarity" became a magic bullet for winning awards.

The reason all this was achieved was the huge success of the Oscars.

In 2001, "The Hidden Dragon" received 10 Oscar nominations and ultimately won four awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Score.

This is an unprecedented achievement for Chinese-language films, and even Asian films, at the Oscars.

The immense prestige of the Oscars instantly placed the film in the spotlight of global media and audiences.

Commentators and media figures in Chinese-speaking regions should reflect on this immediately!
Criticism was neutralized and transformed by the national pride of winning the award.

Then it's a re-evaluation, and the disadvantages become advantages.

The soft, gentle fighting style became a way to express the spirit of martial arts and to use movement to symbolize stillness.

The graceful and agile sword fighting in the bamboo forest represents the harmony between humanity and nature, and has become the pinnacle of Eastern aesthetics.

The "slow" pace is precisely to showcase the spirit and rhythm, and also incorporates the philosophical thinking of combining movement and stillness, and the mutual generation of yin and yang.

The theme is no longer boring.

Yu Jiaolong's yearning for freedom and her ultimate disillusionment, Li Mubai's suppression of desires and his dying confession, and Yu Xiulian's adherence to traditional ethics and her emotional restraint have become profound philosophical explorations.

"The director has become a master of both Eastern and Western aesthetics, and a classic example of cross-cultural communication."

"If I showed you a pile of poop and told you it was chocolate, you probably wouldn't believe me, but that's exactly what happened in 'The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger'."

"Moreover, the longer it sits, the richer the flavor of this pile of shit becomes, and the more ways there are to appreciate it."

“By taking a detail and analyzing it in depth, the unique style is no longer seen as strange or flawed, but as artistic individuality and innovative value.”

"Photography, art, music, and fashion are also worth appreciating in detail."

"In academic research, it has even spawned a school of thought, with film scholars and critics continuing to conduct in-depth research on 'The Hidden Dragon and the Hidden Tiger,' placing it in an important position in multiple fields such as the history of martial arts films, the history of Chinese-language films, cross-cultural film studies, and auteur director studies."

Zhou Qifeng's eyes lit up with an alarming light; he had figured it out!

He got it!

"Senior brother, I understand what you mean. 'Creating Sins' truly wasted the talent of a 'master'."

(End of this chapter)