A few minutes later, the staff brought Zhang Xinyi and them in. Zhang Xinyi and his party of three, in addition to Zhang Xinyi and his assistant, there is also a man in his thirties.

Zhang Xinyi was wearing a beige dress, and she looked like a mature woman from a distance, but her actions and behaviors were still the same. When she saw Zhang Ran, she ran over with a jump, stood in front of Zhang Ran and shouted with a smile: "Teacher Zhang!"

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "Yo, isn't this the second sister! What kind of wind brought you out?"

Zhang Xinyi heard Zhang Ran call her second sister, and said with a smile: "The southwest wind blew me here!" She beckoned, called the assistant over, took a small bag from the assistant's hand, handed it to Zhang Ran, and said, "Teacher Zhang, this is the tea I bought for you." He accepted a large bag from the man next to him and said, "These are some snacks I bought for the crew." ”

Zhang Ran said to the assistant director next to him: "Take down this bag of snacks and distribute it to everyone." He glanced at a large number of men beside Zhang Xinyi and asked, "Who is this?"

Zhang Xinyi hurriedly introduced: "This is Director Guo Ke." Guo Ke, this is Teacher Zhang!"

Guo Ke greeted Zhang Ran very respectfully: "Hello, Mr. Zhang! I am Guo Ke, a director, and your fan, it is really a special honor to meet you." ”

Zhang Ran nodded at Guo Ke with a smile and said, "Listen to your accent is from Sichuan?"

Guo Ke immediately said: "Yes, yes, I am from Rongcheng." ”

Zhang Ran laughed and said, "Then the three of us are fellow countrymen!"

After a few simple greetings, Zhang Xinyi said the purpose of her visit: "Mr. Zhang, I came here today because I want to trouble you, there is a movie I want to ask the peak of the century to be released, it is not a film I made, it was funded by me, a documentary "Twenty-two" that survived the living conditions of "comfort women", which was filmed by Director Guo. The film got the Dragon Mark in May last year, but because there was no distribution fee, and it was a documentary of this theme, no company was willing to release it. I just want to ask you to come forward and see if I can make the Summit of the Century release. ”

Zhang Ran was a little surprised, in his impression Zhang Xinyi was a silly girl with a big grin, but he didn't expect her to participate in a movie with this theme. Zhang Ran must be willing to help with this kind of movie, but he doesn't know the director, and he doesn't know what kind of mentality he has created it, so he said: "That's it, let's talk in detail in the evening." You can stay here, wander around, and come to me at night!"

Zhang Xinyi immediately said: "We're not going anywhere, just waiting for you in the crew, lest you run away by then!"

The rest of the crew laughed when they heard Zhang Xinyi say this, and Zhang Ran also laughed and said: "Our crew has a canteen over there, you can go over and eat some fruit, drink some cold drinks or something, eat together at night, and we will talk after eating." ”

After dinner, Zhang Ran called Zhang Xinyi and Guo Ke to the room and talked to them about the release of "Twenty-Two". Zhang Jingchu made tea for them and let them sit and chat slowly. Zhang Ran didn't like to talk nonsense, so he said directly: "Tell me what your movie is about!"

Zhang Xinyi turned her head to Guo Ke and said, "You made the movie, or you!"

Guo Ke immediately talked about it, and in 2012, he saw a news item and began to pay attention to the victims of the "comfort women" system. He made his first short documentary, when there were still 32 survivors of the "comfort women" in China, and the title of the film was "Thirty-two". In 2014, when he decided to bring the stories of all the survivors to the screen, due to the death of some elderly people, only twenty-two remained, and the title of the film was changed from "Thirty-Two" to "Twenty-Two". At that time, Australians, who were the post-producers of "Thirty-Two", were very interested in Guo Ke's idea and hoped to invest in "Twenty-Two". However, when it came time to shoot, the two sides had a difference in philosophy, and the other party felt that they should not shoot so many old people at once, first of all, the cost problem, and secondly, there were more than 20 protagonists in a movie, which is rare in world movies, so the other party quickly withdrew his investment.

When he was desperate, Guo Ke posted a self-deprecating message in the circle of friends, saying that his mother was willing to sell the house to support him to make this movie. Zhang Xinyi left a message below, asking him with concern what happened and if he needed help. In fact, Guo Ke and Zhang Xinyi are not very familiar with each other, but when filming "Sweet City", Zhang Xinyi was the heroine, and Guo Ke was the coordinator of the Chinese side. Once Zhang Xinyi heard Guo Ke talking on the phone, he asked him if he was from Sichuan, the two fellows exchanged a few words> after receiving Zhang Xinyi's message, Guo Ke spent a day editing a text message, including, what am I doing, what difficulties I have encountered, can you lend me 1 million. The text message was edited and deleted by him, deleted and re-edited, and clicked send at the last minute. It didn't take long for Zhang Xinyi to reply to him, no problem. After meeting and talking, Zhang Xinyi transferred the money to Guo Ke's account that night, and three days later, Guo Ke set off to shoot.

Speaking of this, Zhang Xinyi couldn't help but say: "I heard that he was going to sell his house for filming, and I thought it was too serious, if I could help myself, I would help." When we met, he was very nervous, his face was flushed, and he told me that he wanted to make a documentary about "comfort women" and to truly record the living conditions of the last 22 old people. After hearing this, my first feeling was that you are okay? How do you know that there are 22 left, and how do you know what their living conditions are? Guo Ke hurriedly took out all kinds of historical documents, the materials of the interviewees, the list of staff members, and so on from his bag. When I listened to what he told about these old people and the preparation for the movie "Twenty-Two", I was deeply moved, and I felt that I must help him in this matter. ”

Guo Ke added: "I really thank Zhang Xinyi for this, without her funding, this film may not be filmed." After the filming of "Twenty-Two", I wanted to add the producer Zhang Xinyi to the title, but she refused, she said that she did not invest in this work, nor did she want to make money, it was completely a help, saying that it was not suitable for her to be the producer. ”

Hearing this, Zhang Ran had a general understanding of the whole thing, and was quite moved in his heart, looking at Zhang Xinyi and smiling: "Xinyi, this kid is babbling, giving people a stupid feeling, but in fact, his heart is very soft, and he is very righteous!"

Zhang Xinyi said: "Teacher Zhang, are you praising me or scolding me?"

Zhang Ran smiled and said: "Of course I praise you! You can fund such a movie, and being able to run around for this matter is really a special thing." As a teacher, I'm so proud of you!"

Zhang Xinyi didn't expect Zhang Ran to say this, and was slightly stunned, and then smiled: "Teacher Zhang, then are you willing to help us?"

Zhang Ran smiled and nodded: "You can pay millions to fund this movie without hesitation, can I, as a teacher, not help?" He looked at Guo Ke with a happy face and said, "Let's talk about this movie, how did you make it, and what do you think?"

Guo Ke knew that Zhang Ran wanted to hear his own creative concept, so he talked about it briefly. Before going to the interview, Guo Ke felt that it was like an ordinary documentary. But when they started filming the first old man, they threw away all the scripts, and felt that there was no need to use this thing, and it should truly reflect the old man's current life. In the movie, the old people did not expose their "scars", or cry to the camera about their deep inner pain, and there were no dramatic scenes and conflicts in the movie, only the most restrained and gentle daily life of the elderly.

Hearing Guo Ke's statement, Zhang Ran knew what kind of movie this was: "In fact, there will be moral dilemmas when making works with this theme, and many people will think that it is a secondary injury, or even selling pain." Spielberg's Schindler's List has been criticized by critics in the United States for allowing the public to go into the cinema with peace of mind to consume Holocaust themes. The film sparked more controversy in Europe. "The Holocaust" director Lownzman criticized Spielberg for introducing the theme of the Holocaust into commercial consumption, using dramatization and Hollywood realist violence to recreate the unreproducible fact of the Holocaust. Godard was of a similar opinion, scolding Schindler's List many times.

But I don't agree with their point of view, history needs to be remembered, how can you keep history if you don't record it? If people forget this history, that is the greatest blasphemy against the victims. I don't even dare to go to Godard now, because the movie I'm making now has a Holocaust, and Godard may scold me, and I will scold him, and I'm afraid that this old man will be angry, so I won't see him at all!"

Zhang Xinyi and the others laughed when they heard Zhang Ran say this.

After they laughed, Zhang Ran looked at Guo Ke and said solemnly: "In the history of film, there is a movie that has caused a huge controversy because of one shot. The famous Italian director Gillot Pentecovo made the film "Zero Point" in 1959, which caused the wrath of Jacques Rivet, a film critic of the "Film Manual", after its release in France. The film tells the story of an Italian girl who tries to escape from a concentration camp, but in the end she chooses to commit suicide. When Rivett criticizes the protagonist's suicide, the director's panning camera is morally despicable, because after presenting the piles of corpses in the concentration camp, the camera is pushed high and falls on a sculpture of an angel with outstretched arms, which Rivett considers to be a blasphemy against the dead.

The effect of this criticism was long-lasting, and the subsequent criticism of "Schindler's List" and "Life is Beautiful" by European critics is a continuation of this turmoil. I agree with Rivett's point of view, that in the face of a serious subject like the Holocaust, no small camera action is innocent, and the artist's intention must be clear. In the face of such serious subjects, the artist must abandon neutrality and give way to a moral position, and in the face of humanitarian catastrophe, the artist has no moral room for maneuver.

Lu Chuan's "Nanjing Nanjing" is this problem, he thinks it is more artistic to use Dongying Bing as the protagonist, but in the eyes of the audience, his position is problematic, so he scolds him very much. For any director, filming this kind of subject matter must be carefully considered, what is your shooting angle, what is your position, the use of film audio-visual language, etc., must be carefully considered, and every point must be done as well as possible. ”

When Guo Ke heard Zhang Ran say this, he couldn't help asking: "Director, are you having something wrong with our movie?"

Zhang Ran shook his head and said, "After listening to your description, I think the angle chosen is very good." However, this movie is not suitable for the Spring Festival and New Year, and the audience is generally reluctant to watch particularly heavy movies during holidays, so it is better to put it in the summer file. There is still one year between now and next summer. I think you can settle down a little bit more and see if you can do better. As you just said, there were twenty-two old people when it was filmed, and now there are only about ten left. This film may be the last documentary to interview them directly, so I think it's your responsibility to make the film as good as it can be. If financial and technical support is needed, we can provide it. ”

Zhang Jingchu, who has been listening to the side, added: "Zhang Ran decided to make this movie in November 04, after Zhang Chunru committed suicide, but he prepared for ten years before he dared to do it, because he felt that he had the responsibility to shoot such a theme well." ”

Guo Ke completely understood: "Teacher Zhang, you are right, I will think seriously when I go back and see if I can cut it better." ”