Screenwriter's question: Life is so exciting, why are China films so boring?

On October 29, the 5th Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan Film Writers Seminar, jointly organized by the China Film Literature Society, the Hong Kong Film Writers Association, Contemporary Film Magazine and the Shanghai Academy of Drama, was held at the Shanghai Academy of Drama. A large number of screenwriters, directors and scholars from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan gathered to conduct in-depth discussions and dialogues on the issue of core lack under the rapid development of China films, focusing on the theme of "Where have all our screen heroes gone?"

October is about to pass. Except for the box office of "Operation Mekong", the only hit movie during the National Day holiday, which exceeded 1 billion yuan, most of this month's films have still failed to stir up waves, and the goal of 60 billion yuan in the box office for the whole year is becoming increasingly distant as the end of the year approaches. Although several Hollywood blockbusters will come to the market before November, this year's "low fever" seems even more disturbing despite the rapid growth of box office in China's movie films last year.

In addition to market means such as ticket subsidies, the lack of merit in the film content itself and the decline in the quality of the film caused by excessive pursuit of IP and popular themes, which cannot keep up with the audience's aesthetics are recognized by the industry as the biggest problems facing China films.

On October 29, 2016, the 5th Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan Film Writers Seminar jointly organized by China Film Literature Society, Hong Kong Film Writers Association, Contemporary Film Magazine and Shanghai Academy of Drama was held at Shanghai Theater Academy.

A large number of screenwriters, directors and scholars from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan regions gathered at the fifth Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan Film Writers Seminar

to discuss the current issue of China's film development around the theme of "Where have all our screen heroes gone?" In-depth discussion and dialogue are launched on the issue of core lack under the rapid development of Chinese films.

Commercial pursuits have left the characters in movies without their souls.

"China films have now been carried away by the interests of commercialization and lost their souls. Many films not only lack deep insight into life, but are also submerged in subjective assumptions and imitation of others." Wang Xingdong, vice chairman of the China Film Association, pointed out the problems faced by films in creation during the discussion.

As a humanistic art, film's attention to human nature has always been an important proposition. There have also been many classic characters in the history of China's film that are touching and share their sorrows and joys. But today, when China's film industry and box office are advancing by leaps and bounds, with production reaching hundreds of films per year, there are few "characters" among them that we can remember.

Zhang Wenyan, deputy editor-in-chief of Contemporary Film magazine of China Academy of Film Arts, said: "Although our movie box office is growing at a very high rate, many people say that our film industry has reached an inflection point. Although at present, this node may not have yet been reached, it is also a warning to us. How to remain sober in the face of high-box office prosperity, develop film creativity, create wonderful characters and improve the quality of films are major issues we are currently facing."

Wang Xingdong believes,"Looking back at Hollywood, the core project of their films is to create a variety of rich characters. Hollywood's achievements have also proved that creating good characters and good stories is the key to the enduring success of the film industry. When Ang Lee won the Academy Award for "The Fantasy Drifting of Pi", the first person he thanked after taking office was the author of the book, Yang Mattel. This shows how much he valued the importance of stories and characters. The same is true for our older generation of filmmakers. Director Xie Jin attached great importance to scripts and character creation back then. In contrast, current China films are simply ischemic, oxygen-deficient, soul-deficient, and even immoral."

Mao Shi 'an, vice chairman of the China Literature and Art Critics Association, also analyzed from the perspective of the film industry,"Film is not like opera or dance. It is a young art and the art with the shortest time lag between us and other countries. Moreover, movies are originally an art that focuses on people and expresses concern for ordinary people. They should have more flowers blooming. However, we have seen that nowadays, China movies are no longer an art, but are dominated by entertainism and artistry. They do not treat people as people. How can they make good movies in this way?"

Hong Kong film producer Kwong Wenwei agreed with this view,"Since" Hero ", China films have entered the era of commercial films, which is the only way for the development of the industry. We always think why there are so many good movies in the United States. In fact, they also have a lot of bad movies, but because of the large output, there are also many good movies. In fact, popcorn movies are not a mistake, but we must at least be ourselves and provide nutritious popcorn to the audience."

Actor-centered systems are endless, and China films are difficult to implement.

Actor-centered systems are popular nowadays, and film producers have become accustomed to diverting large amounts of funds to star actors. In fact, this environment is not a cold day. At present, the entire China film market is full of a strong commercial atmosphere.

Gao Xiaoli, editor of the Literary News, pointed out,"With the economic prosperity of the film industry, there are many forums, large and small, every year. However, these industry forums are mainly for directors and investors. There are few creative forums and there are not enough attention to fundamentals such as creation."

Film production has also become a simple addition. As long as there is "handsome meat" and "popular IP", they dare to stew it on the table. However, the screenwriters who are the core of film production do not receive the respect and status they deserve, and are even marginalized. It has become the norm for China films to surrender to the box office, the fan economy, and the actor-centered system. However, is this really in line with the rules of movies?

Liu Yi, the screenwriter of the movie "Wolf Warrior", used a very vivid counterexample to illustrate,"Nowadays, movie authors find it difficult to persist in themselves. Movies seem to be sold to fans, but will fans really watch it? Some time ago, Sina Weibo conducted a survey, asking users to like a star they like. As long as they click for three consecutive days, they can become a diehard fan of the star. Logically speaking, this should be very simple for fans, but after three days, the results came out, and the highest Lu Han only had 25,000 clicks, so is this kind of pan-stardom really necessary now?"

As Hong Kong director Wen Jun, who once promoted the young students in "Young and Dangerous" to fame, the environment of China films today is familiar."There were no 'little fresh meat' back then, but there were also words like 'creamy young students' like Andy Lau and Zheng Yijian. But why were Hong Kong films good at that time? Because we use good characters and good stories to create good actors. But the situation in China is different now. Thirty million yuan is still needed to hire a popular 'little fresh meat', but one million yuan is too much for the screenwriter. How can there be a good story?"

The screenwriter Wang Hailin said a more thought-provoking situation: "The sold well of Operation Mekong has made people see the hope of the main theme film and has also achieved a good balance between business and art. There is a last detail in the film that there are only tombstones for police dogs, but no tombstones for drug fighters. Many viewers discovered this problem, and the producer also explained it. Because of the special nature of drug enforcement, it cannot be exposed. That's good, it shows that the movie was done with heart, but why wasn't this said by the creator and screenwriter of the movie?"

As an art that requires audiences to survive, movies have always needed to find a delicate balance between commercialization and artistry, but mainland screenwriter Song Fangjin believes that the current balance no longer exists."Currently, the development of China films has entered a direction that is divorced from art, and the director of the film is no longer the director, but a 'product manager.' The main purpose of film production has completely shifted to profit, movies have become 'financial products', and the content of the movie has instead become' product peripherals'. As an industry that expresses values, movies should not be like this. We should still pay more attention to the creative core of movies."

In this forum, the organizers of China Film and Literature Society and Shanghai Theater Academy also presented Song Fangjin's new book "Letter to Young Screenwriters" to screenwriters from Taiwan, Taiwan and three places. This book discusses the chaos and current situation of China's film and television industry, and also echoes the theme of the forum.

The only way out is to make multiple moves and produce good stories

. Not only guests from mainland China and Hong Kong attended this forum, but also Taiwanese filmmakers were invited as guests. In the past ten years, Taiwanese films have used "Little Fresh" films to establish their own iconic style. They also have a lot of experience to share on how to find a balance between handsome actors and films.

Lin Yuxian, director of "Roll, Ashin", provided a possible direction for China films by sharing the experience of making films back then."Ten years ago, Taiwanese films hit the bottom. Many filmmakers had to mortgage their houses in order to make films. Many people went bankrupt as a result. But it was in this environment that a group of filmmakers finally found a way out for Taiwanese films, that is, making films requires a lot of time and energy. At that time, when filming "Roll, Ashin", not only did the actors need to persist in six months of high-intensity training, but we also had to spend six months polishing the script. In the end, everyone persisted, and this was our final success."

In fact, not only does the success of Taiwanese films inspire us, but Korean films are also brilliant in the new century.

Professor Ishikawa from the Shanghai Academy of Drama cited "Monster on the Han River" that exploded in South Korea ten years ago and this year's popular zombie film "Journey to Busan" as examples."Although they are ten years apart, the two films have similarities. Why is it all successful? Because they have found their own path. Although monster films were learned from Hollywood, they only use Hollywood's typology production, and the key content is still localized expression. So although what you see in the movie is a zombie, the heroes inside are still oriental heroes, which makes it easy to resonate more."

Countless successful cases at home and abroad convey to China films the iron law of film creation that "content is king." In fact, when we turn around and look back, we will find that our own market has also given the same feedback.

The TV series "Little Farewell" has been well received from all walks of life since it was broadcast. The reason is actually very simple, because it tells stories of flesh and blood that happen to ordinary people.

He Qing, the screenwriter of the show, also attended the forum. She believed,"A good work must have good characters. Only through the characters can a good story be constructed, so that good works that the audience likes can be created."

Regarding the current consumerism film creation environment, Professor Li Jianqiang from Shanghai Jiao Tong University also used "Dimension Theory" to summarize: "Only by adhering to the artistic nature of the film as the image dimension and the spiritual storage of the film artist as the emotional dimension can we declare the spiritual yardstick of film art."

Editor: yvette