Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 47 Finishing

Cao Zhong rarely responded to the media and seemed somewhat reserved, but the media viewed this action as extremely sarcastic.

Because it seems like something that requires careful consideration.

Cao Zhong understood it with just two movements.

On the same day that Cao Zhong responded, Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao was the first to initiate the discussion.

The headline, "Cao Zhong Asks Golden Lion Award-Winning Director: Is His Butt Crooked or Sitting Straight?", accompanied by a photo of Cao Zhong turning around and revealing his back, became a news story on the second page of Lianhe Zaobao.
It instantly swept through Chinese media and was subsequently reprinted by some domestic media outlets.
At this point, Cao Zhong's supporters completely erupted and could no longer be suppressed.

Cao Zhong had previously disappeared for twenty days to film a movie.

Our pillar of support has disappeared.

Cao Zhong's back view and his back to the media instantly excited many of his supporters.

Wang Renjun became Cao Zhong's dedicated online public opinion leader, leading a group of art students who had previously secretly organized a united front at the Beijing Film Academy to continue their relentless pursuit of a central issue.

They began their charge towards Jia Zhangke.

In particular, they seized on a sore spot from the other party's previous interviews, specifically the fact that the other party's financing center was Takeshi Kitano's company.

Wang Renjun further elaborated on this point.

This quickly led to a fierce critique of Jia Zhangke personally.

The label of "If you're being kept, don't talk about having an independent personality" was quickly attached to Jia Zhangke.

Previously, Jia Zhangke's distributors had clashed with Zhang Weiping, the producer of "Curse of the Golden Flower," because they wanted to capitalize on the release of the film.
During the interview, Jia Zhangke also criticized films that promoted patriotism.
Many media outlets interpreted this as a direct attack on "Curse of the Golden Flower".

Following this, the Southern Metropolis Daily, which had interviewed Jia Zhangke, immediately published a news article about the earlier controversy surrounding the "Golden Lion" and "Golden Armor" awards.

Jia Zhangke's remarks have sparked controversy again.

"Today's rampant commercial films and their worship of money have caused Chinese cinema to lose its intellectual depth. Therefore, we must insist on expressing this viewpoint, expressing our opinions, and focusing on the true situation of Chinese cinema during the Lunar New Year film season."

"In this day and age, filled with 'gold' and extreme patriotic rhetoric, who is bowing their head to care about good people?"

Gu Xiaoming, a professor in the History Department of Fudan University, also presented Jia Zhangke with a copy of the film review "Nameless Hero" in support.

Zhang Weiping and Zhang Yimou were both involved in this major debate.

New Pictures was overjoyed upon seeing this and directly used Cao Zhong's remarks, such as "If you're being kept, don't talk about independent personality" and "If your stance is crooked, don't claim to be upright," in their response.
Zhang Yimou said that young directors are too arrogant, and Zhang Weiping went even further and revealed that Jia Zhangke and the president of the Venice Film Festival, Marco Müller, were playing dirty tricks, and that "Three Gorges" itself was invested in by Marco Müller.

In an instant, chaos erupted, complete chaos ensued.

Northwest Shanxi was in complete chaos.

However, the Southern Metropolis Daily, which had previously interviewed Jia Zhangke, continued to publish rebuttals based on details from Jia Zhangke's previous interview.

After all, you can never earn all the money from advertising.

Jia Zhangke was caught off guard and unexpectedly beaten in a mixed doubles match by Cao Zhong and Zhang Yimou, leaving him completely numb.

In particular, Zhang Weiping is well-versed in the ways of the entertainment industry. His statement that Mark Müller invested in the film "Still Life" forced Jia Zhangke to prove his innocence.

But where the hell do I prove this?

Jia Zhangke produced financial proof, which proved that he was being kept and lacked independent personality.

If they can't provide proof of funds, then there's something fishy about the Golden Lion Award.

This is a double whammy.

Jia Zhangke broke down.

During a news interview, Jia Zhangke broke down in tears.

"I want to sue! I want to sue!"

Some art students, audience members, and even the director who supported Jia Zhangke calmed down for a moment.

This has blown up.

The Beijing Film Academy, the Central Academy of Drama, and the Shanghai Film Academy all relied on their advisors to issue private notices to their students, telling them not to speak out online recently. This was evident from Cao Zhong's previous criticism of the chaos, to Jia Zhangke being dragged into the fray, and then to New Pictures' involvement in the competition for the Lunar New Year films.

The internet is in complete chaos.

When Tian Zhuangzhuang, as the head of the directing department at Beijing Film Academy, met with directors from other schools at the academy, she also temporarily abandoned Jia Zhangke.

"Don't get involved, don't respond, don't give interviews, stay calm."

With literature majors taking the blame for them, at least things were a little easier for them.

We still need to deal with the Ozu issue as soon as possible.

……

Cao Zhong was overjoyed upon seeing this.

Taking advantage of the backlash from Zhang Weiping and Jia Zhangke, the previous pressure eased, and the media began to focus their attention on New Picture and Jia Zhangke.
This gave Cao Zhong time to quickly extricate himself and continue filming the movie.

However, when the crew asked him if he supported Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping, Cao Zhong smiled but remained silent.

Furthermore, during the filming of the interior scenes of "The Photo Studio" with Cao Zhong, many people had already developed a strong appreciation for Cao Zhong's screenwriting and directing skills. Many also genuinely understood why Cao Zhong wanted to make this film and why he criticized Yasujiro Ozu.

Everyone was giving it their all.

Needless to say, the two leading ladies from Nanjing, Huang Xiaoming and Zu Feng, as Cao Zhong's direct senior brothers, also went all out for Cao Zhong's filming.

Later, Cao Zhong learned that Cui Xinqin had called and talked about how difficult things were for their junior brother.

Xu Zheng felt that the character of Wang Guanghai could indeed be explored in depth, and Xu Zheng, who was in a transitional period, devoted himself wholeheartedly to the role.

A large number of extras were recruited. When they learned that the content they were to portray was the cruelty of the script and the Nanjing people who were killed in the war, the elderly villagers from the surrounding villages spontaneously came to maintain order, brought water and food to the crew, and some even offered to perform for free. Some people also helped the crew block the media, which moved many of the main creators of the crew.

There's a saying: How many Nanjing residents are still living in Nanjing?
But for many people, they truly possess the simplest enthusiasm and the most basic sense of identity.

Why are anti-Japanese war dramas so popular?

Cao Zhong's grandparents and their generation watched these kinds of TV shows and movies at home.

Because this kind of TV series had a market, they probably genuinely hoped for the kind of extraordinary stories they saw in those shows, like heroes falling from the sky, dual-wielding warriors, and soldiers tearing apart Japanese soldiers with their bare hands...

In conclusion, after the news of recruiting extras spread, the filming progress was indeed faster than Cao Zhong had imagined.

Each of those extras received only the most basic pay, yet they diligently sought out the camera, portraying the most basic imaginings and emotions in each person's heart, whether it be cruelty, sadness, or fear.

Correspondingly, the entire crew began to fall increasingly silent.

The gruesome corpses outside the base, the cruel smiles of extras leaning on knives in black-and-white photos, holding severed heads in their hands, the killing contest, the throwing of infants to their deaths, the photos of Sino-Japanese friendship...

Although they were still discussing the play and the plot, everyone remained silent when filming many brutal scenes.

Mei Ting had also discussed with Cao Zhong that, in order to show the cruelty, the scenes of her being forced should be shown appropriately.

After all, that's what everyone used to do.

Cao Zhong shook his head. "If we don't make it, don't people understand? Our movies aren't meant to be this kind of content."

Mei Ting was deeply moved.

The crew didn't take a New Year's Day holiday, of course. Cao Zhong just had a simple good meal with everyone, and then everyone went back into the intense filming period.

During filming, Hai Qing's feelings towards her junior from the acting department of her school also changed. From initial doubts, to integration into the indoor shooting scenes, to her shock at the outdoor shooting scenes, until the final scene with Yang Zi was filmed.

Hai Qing was actually somewhat numb with shock.

She had some doubts; Cao Zhong was definitely not that old.

Because he truly possessed an extraordinary calmness, extraordinary restraint, and extraordinary seriousness, Hai Qing even doubted whether he could be a performance major when filming the movie.
Then I thought about it again and realized that it was from the Beijing Film Academy, which made sense.

On January 2nd, Qi Jiuzhou finished filming and continued his online battles with Wang Renjun.

On January 3, Hai Qing and Yang Zi finished filming.

Huang Xiaoming finished filming on January 11.

Filming for Mei Ting wrapped up on January 17th.

On January 20th, Lu Fangsheng finished filming.

On January 21, Xu Zheng was about to shoot the last shot of the entire film, but when it was time to shoot, Xu Zheng was stunned.

"This huge thing?"

Xu Zheng was stunned when he saw the helicopter.

Originally, when Cao Zhong wrote this shot in the script, he considered using a robotic arm for aerial photography to create an overhead view.

However, during his contact with Cao Zhong, Jing Tian informed Cao Zhong that in early 2007, NJ City, JS Province, provided artistic support funding to support the construction of the Shiqiu Film and Television Base.

This is an unexpected surprise!

Cao Zhong was deeply moved, saying, "Tian Tian is truly my great benefactor!"
With the other party's assistance, Cao Zhong quickly contacted the relevant personnel. Despite receiving one million yuan in technical support, Cao Zhong did not request the additional financial support he was entitled to.

Instead, he hopes that the city of NJ will provide a helicopter permit and helicopter support so that he can capture a panoramic aerial shot of the blood-stained Qinhuai River.

After half a month of consideration, the other party finally issued the official approval.

Cao Zhong showed Xu Zheng what terror truly meant.

This is footage that Cao Zhong really spent a lot of money to shoot.

Amidst a vast and expansive vista, helicopters roared into the distance.

Below, hundreds of extras were shot by machine guns, their blood staining the river. The clear river, under the influence of the red dye, quickly turned a fiery red.

The camera, modified and equipped with a special camera gimbal, took to the air and, during the two-hour shoot, provided Cao Zhong with ample footage.

shore,

Cao Zhong and Xu Zheng announced that all filming for the drama series has wrapped up.

Xu Zheng, who played Wang Guanghai, stood on the bank of the Qinhuai River after filming the scene of blood staining the river. He could no longer hold back his emotions, and tears flowed freely with the cold wind.

(End of this chapter)