The latest issue of Popular Cinema published an interview with Shen Lin. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"Popular Film" played a trick this time, directly pasting Shen Lin's views on the magazine, and finally adding the reporter's views.

"Everyone is saying that my films abandon the essence of art and only pursue box office results, I don't quite understand what these people think, maybe in their opinion, as long as the box office is a big hit, it is a bad movie!"

"Whether we admit it or not, in the past quarter, there was a lack of innovative products in the domestic film market, and it was forced to collapse by Hollywood blockbusters!"

In fact, we should be wary of this phenomenon, starting from our film market-oriented reform in 2003, 10 consecutive years of rapid market expansion has brought about a soaring film box office, from 1 billion in 2003 to 13 billion in 2011, and the total domestic box office in 2012 is expected to reach 16 billion yuan. However, an important change occurred in 2012, when for the first time, the total box office share of Chinese films was lower than that of foreign imports, mainly Hollywood blockbusters.

"In previous years, Chinese films have been able to maintain a stable market share of at least 55%, but in 2012, according to the data of the first four months, the box office of domestic films accounted for only 28% of the total market!

"The external reason for this important change is that the domestic policy on the introduction of Hollywood blockbusters has been adjusted, and the number of American films has been increased by 14 every year. At the same time, the share of Hollywood films in China has been increased, from 13% to 25%. ”

"This kind of film policy change has led to a direct impact on Chinese films in the market by Hollywood blockbusters, making the market performance of most domestic blockbusters this year lower than expected. ”

From the perspective of internal reasons, the various problems exposed by Chinese films at the level of art and production are the fundamental reasons why Chinese films have been abandoned by audiences in the local market. ”

"After the collapse of the production model of large state-owned studios, Chinese films have started from workshop-style production, and through the market training of the past decade, they are struggling to explore the industrial system. ”

"In this process of continuous marketization, Chinese films have gained a lot and discarded a lot.

Questions such as "What is a movie?" and "What is a Chinese film?" are ignored by too many filmmakers, sensory stimulation is gradually replacing the moving of the soul, the observation and thinking of reality is also being abandoned by mainstream producers, consciously or unconsciously, everyone seems to be satisfied with the sensual pleasure of luxury, movies are becoming a kind of conspicuous consumption of extreme luxury, and every film industry practitioner seems to be talking about box office and success, as if these are the only films themselves. ”

"But shouldn't the movie just be the movie itself? The movie is the laughter and tears in the dark, the movie is the rose blooming above the ruins, the movie is the ignorant dream of a teenager, the movie is the memory of lovers in light and shadow, the movie is the freeze frame of the best moments in your life, it should always only be associated with our beautiful life and heart, not just a string of numbers. ”

"It seems a little strange that this sentence comes out of my mouth, but personally, the first factor to consider when making a movie is the market!"

"Today's movie audiences are generally younger, not only in China, but also in the United States, where the average age of mainstream audiences is lower than that of our audience, and going to the cinema to watch movies is one of the lifestyles of young people, so the movies I make are based on young people, and now there is a statistic, saying that the average age of our movie audiences is twenty-four or a few years old, that is, college is still at an age when you have just become an office worker, if you explore human nature and suffering in movies, this kind of topic is not appropriate. That's why many older people can't get used to watching my movies and think it's very superficial!"

Of course, in order to achieve this, in addition to continuing to strive to improve artistic and technical standards, domestic films must also solve an increasingly urgent problem: domestic films must be relaxed in terms of subject matter and censorship scale, at least to achieve the same standard as imported films, so that we can shoot whatever people can make. Because even if our skills are not as good as others for the time being, we can't tie our hands, otherwise we won't even have the opportunity to fight. ”

"Some people are worried that after the scale is liberalized, domestic films will definitely produce more garbage. This is inevitable for an open, fair, and freely competitive market. But this is the legal right of filmmakers, and no one has the right to demand that everyone agree with your aesthetic tastes. Leave the good and bad to the market, and stop judging artistic creation by a single taste. ”

"A thriving and healthy film market must have all kinds of genres, from explosions, fights, car chases, romances, romances, warmth, and of course, small freshness and other kinds of fun. If audiences of all kinds of interests can find the genre they want to consume in this market, then the market will naturally complete the guidance of the creative genre, and at the same time leave enough room for other niche films of various genres. ”

"My new film 'Chinatown Veterans' is because it involves the issue of officialdom collusion and workers' wages. Worried about censorship, most of the filming was in Thailand. ”

"What is the new movie about? Simply put, it is a story about a police officer catching a criminal, and the theme is very old-fashioned. ”

"No, I don't think there are new genre films in the current film market, how to tell a new movie beautifully under the existing theme is what those of us who make movies should chase!"

"The group of directors must be younger, and those directors who think that movies should be held will not be remembered by this era! My "Those Years" you let those forty or fifty-year-old directors shoot, even if I give them the script, they will not shoot what the audience wants!"

"Of course, there are troubles. I am also a well-known director now, and my influence has become greater, so when determining the film project, we must consider the correct three views, and we must not lead young people to crime, so my film must not have a villain victory, let alone a ferocious and extravagant concept!"

The above is the relevant content of the exchange between Shen Lin and the author.

This young man is not quite what I imagined, I had always thought that his success was only due to the large number of fans he had.

After some conversation, I found that this writer-turned-director is far more aware of the essence of film and the current Chinese film than some of us filmmakers who have been immersed in the film industry for decades!

He understands the dilemma faced by domestic films, and can more accurately grasp the audience's requirements for films.

Knowing this, it is not surprising that the movies he made were very high at the box office!

To quote a quote from "Time" about Shen Lin, 'Next stop, master!'