This year's Christmas movies, "The True Story of A Fei" and "Truman's World" have attracted great attention. After the premieres of the two films, film critics spoke highly of them, believing them to be rare Hong Kong films in recent years.

The only difference is that "The True Story of A Fei" is not popular, although critics and peers unanimously agree that it is a good work, but most viewers who have seen it feel that it is a big bad movie.

In the first few days of its official release, due to the box office appeal of Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau and other leading actors, the vigorous praise of media critics, and the publicity offensive made by Deng Guangrong who spent money ruthlessly, the attendance rate of "The True Story of A Fei" was very high, and there were even several full shows on Christmas Day.

But after the audience who watched the movie scolded and spontaneously made negative publicity to their relatives and friends, the box office of "The True Story of A Fei" jumped off a building in the second week of release.

After only 11 days of release, Xinbao Cinema couldn't hold it up, and forced "The True Story of A Fei" to be released in advance, with a box office of more than 9 million.

The box office of more than 9 million is not too low, but the problem is that the investment in this film is more than 40 million, and the production cycle is more than a year, if you want to recover the box office from the overseas market, you have to wait for a year and a half.

Deng Guangrong invested all the money he earned in the past few years, part of which was a mortgage, but he had to wait nearly 3 years to recover the investment, what is the difference between this and losing all his money?

What's more, it is still unknown whether "The True Story of A Fei" can earn back the box office in the overseas market.

After the box office statistics of "The True Story of A Fei" came out, investor Deng Guangrong directly spurted out a mouthful of old blood. He was admitted to the hospital to recuperate.

Two years ago, the low-budget "Mong Kok Carmen" was a hit, and later it was nominated for several Academy Awards. made director Wong Kar-wai a celebrity, and many investors rushed to spend money to make films for him.

And now, when the news of Deng Guangrong's hospitalization in "The True Story of A Fei" came out, Wong Kar-wai seemed to have become a plague god, and everyone avoided him when he saw him.

"Dead in the Shadows?" Liu Zhenwei added wine to his good friend Wong Kar-wai.

Wong Kar-wai smiled bitterly: "Even if Boss Deng can tolerate me, I don't have the face to stay there." What's more, "The True Story of A Fei" hit the street so badly. I guess Shadow is about to close......"

"It's not enough to close the door, Mr. Deng can still afford tens of millions of dollars," Liu Zhenwei comforted. "Don't blame yourself too much, no one can guarantee 100% of the money you can make while filming. The money you and I earned for Mr. Deng in the past few years adds up to tens of millions, and we don't owe him anything. ”

Wong Kar-wai rubbed his messy hair. said distressedly: "Actually, "The True Story of A Fei" is my most satisfying work over the years. But why doesn't the audience like it? If you want to make those shitty blockbuster movies, I will too, but what's the point of making them? ”

Wong Kar-wai is really not bragging, many blockbuster movies over the years, the scripts are from him. He knows the routines of commercial films and knows how to make the audience happy, but when Wong Kar-wai holds the guide tube, he is unwilling to shoot according to such a routine.

There will be a guy named Jiang Wen on the mainland side in the future, and the same will be true. If you follow the good reputation of "Let the Bullets Fly" to make a sequel, it will be a box office hit. But this product is not biased. I have to come up with something "One Step Away" to express my own thoughts and artistic pursuits.

You said you really want to make an art film, so shoot it well. But Jiang Wen obviously finished writing the synopsis of the story before the start, and he had to learn from the king of sunglasses to shoot without a script, and said that having a script would affect the performance.

As a result, the screenwriting team of nearly ten people was able to get the script out on the same day, and several leading actors drew makeup every time before they knew their general lines today.

Not only that, Jiang Wen also encouraged the actors to tamper with their lines and bridges, as long as the changes were exciting, he would accept them. In the end, there was a chaotic rhythm and a fragmented main line of "One Step Away", and many ordinary audiences couldn't hold on to the first 30 minutes in the screening hall, either leaving the venue early, or falling asleep watching it directly.

Liu Zhenwei knew Wong Kar-wai's skills very well, and comforted: "I understand what you mean, and I also know that you are talented, but you don't have money to make any money, which boss is willing to invest?" You also went to see "Truman's World" yesterday, and Mr. Kang also made significant deletions to the script in order to compromise with the box office. Some originally good ideas and bridges were all invalidated during filming and editing because they might affect the audience's viewing experience. ”

"That's why he's the big boss, and I'm just a little director of art films." Wong Kar-wai laughed self-deprecatingly. He has a very ambivalent view of Kang Jianfei, not only understanding Kang Jianfei's practice of doing things for the box office, but also despising Kang Jianfei for not having artistic pursuits. Because "Truman's World" can obviously be filmed better, but in order to cater to the commercial market, many vulgar and funny plots are added, which basically reduces the artistic quality of the film.

Liu Zhenwei said: "I'm afraid you won't have a chance to direct in a short time, what are your plans in the future?" ”

"I'm a street rat now, I guess no one wants me to be a screenwriter, what do you think I can do?" Wong Kar-wai said helplessly, "I want to teach at the Academy of Performing Arts." ”

Liu Zhenwei said: "Aren't you teaching at the Academy of Performing Arts now?" ”

"I mean full-time lecturers." Wong Kar Wai said.

"It's just a one-time hit on the street, there's no need." Liu Zhenwei said.

Wong Kar-wai said with a smile: "The main thing is to adjust it, change your brain, maybe one day you will come out to make a movie again." ”

Liu Zhenwei thought for a while and said, "If you have a good idea, you can tell me about it, and I will help you attract investment from Mr. Kang at that time." ”

"Will he vote?" Wong Kar-wai asked with a smile.

Liu Zhenwei said with a smile: "He is sometimes very generous, and he has a strange eye. ”

Mr. Kang Jianfei, who has a strange vision, has been praised by film critics every day during this time.

"Truman's World" has an absurd plot and a style similar to Kafka's novel, and this kind of film is naturally easy to be favored by professional film critics. But what is rare is that most ordinary viewers can also understand and have a strong resonance with this film.

is not only Lu Xinsheng, who is at the bottom of the voice, but also rich businessmen, officials, traders, students, and housewives...... Who is not bound by life?

The same plot will have different changes in the eyes of different audiences, and everyone feels that the film is a metaphor for their own life. At the moment when the protagonist grabs the boat and sails to the other side, the audience unconsciously substitutes himself into the role, and infinite recognition and emotion are brewed in his heart, fantasizing that he can one day break through the shackles and regain freedom like the protagonist.

In addition to the audience with low cultural literacy, the vast majority of young people, especially intellectuals and white-collar workers, simply worship "Truman's World" as a classic.

The famous female writer Li Bihua wrote a prose-like reflection: ""Truman's World" uses a tone similar to a fairy tale, through the absurd and uninhibited plot, which is a metaphor for the depression and constraints of modern life......

How many people, like marionettes, live a monotonous and repetitive life day after day. How many people have tried to make changes and have the courage to break free from the predetermined track......

Maybe you and I have had a momentary impulse to sail a sailboat like the protagonist to try to break through this qiē.

At that moment, life was flashing.

And how many such moments in my life can have such glory, drifting in a small boat on the boundless blue shore......

After a hardship, I sailed to the end of the world, but I heard the sound of hitting a wall.

Fantasy shattered, back to reality! ”

"Film Fortnightly" is much more rational, from the creativity, script to lighting and lens, analyzing the entire film bit by bit, and praising "Truman's World" and its director and starring actors from head to toe.

And what surprised Kang Jianfei the most was that some people actually thought that "Truman's World" contained a profound political meaning.

That film connects Kang Jianfei's background and experience, and believes that Truman in the film is Kang Jianfei himself, a closed studio metaphor society. Huiism, the program director is the central independence. The incarnation of the cutter, the Taoyuan Island that locks up the protagonist alludes to the mainland, the reality TV show is satirizing the catastrophe of the decade, the hypocritical betrayal of the protagonist's wife and friends, referring to the ten-year movement in which people denounce and criticize each other, and even husband and wife turn against each other and kill each other, and in the end, the protagonist escapes by boat, which refers to Kang Jianfei smuggling into Hong Kong by sea, and the boundary of the studio symbolizes the border blockade......

After reading this movie review, Kang Jianfei only had one feeling in his heart: This Nima can really be nonsense!

It turns out that "Truman's World" is not only an inspirational film, but also a political satire. (To be continued......)