Liu Jie, director of the Golden Jubilee Award-winning film "Delan": No matter how much money it costs, I won't make a "not fun" movie

On June 19, at the Golden Jubilee Awards Ceremony of the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, Liu Jie took the stage to win the Best Picture Award on behalf of the creator of "Delan". At the receiving ceremony, he said,"This is a tribute to all serious filmmakers." "I won't make a movie that's not fun, no matter how much money you give me."

Original title Liu Jie: "Not funny" movies, no matter how much money you give me, I won't make them

in the dark. The cigarette butt in Liu Jie's hand is bright and dark. A week ago (June 13), after leading the participating film "Delan" to complete the media meeting for the Golden Jue Award at the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, Liu Jie did not have much attachment to the "Battle" Golden Jue Award and did not plan to wait until the award day. When the reporter ran into him, he was smoking a cigarette and talking on the phone with the logistics staff of the organizing committee to determine the delivery time for the plane back to Beijing.

For 24 years as a film and 16 years as a director, 48-year-old Liu Jie has won dozens of awards, large and small, at home and abroad for his previous three artistic films,"Court on Horseback","Dialysis" and "Biluo Snow Mountain". A few years ago, Liu Jie had dinner with director Hou Xiaoxian. While talking about awards, Hou Xiaoxian suddenly asked him: "How many awards have you won?" Liu Jie replied: "More than 30." Hou Xiaoxian said with a smile: "Then the awards you and I have won are almost the same." At that moment, Liu Jie suddenly felt that winning the award was a shameful and exhausting thing.

Perhaps influenced by Hou Xiaoxian, Liu Jie told reporters,"I have no expectations for winning the award. I am happy enough after making the movie I want to make." Although Liu Jie always said that he didn't care about market feedback or winning awards, he still showed a serious and serious expression when he heard his friends talk about their thoughts after watching "Delan". "Just wait for the organizing committee to invite you back on the 19th." said the friend. Liu Jie was very happy to hear this.

Sure enough, it was right. On the evening of June 19, at the Golden Jubilee Awards Ceremony of the 19th Shanghai International Film Festival, Liu Jie took the stage to win the Best Picture Award on behalf of the creator of "Delan". Best Picture is the most important award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Naturally, the honor is also the biggest. Unlike his previous "don't care" attitude, Liu Jie said strongly at the award ceremony: "This is a tribute to all serious filmmakers." In Liu Jie's view,"I won't make a movie that's not fun, no matter how much money you give me."

"Fun" movies are not fun

. Although Liu Jie has a place in the field of art films at home and abroad, Liu Jie is still a director who is at a certain distance from the public. His films rarely appear in theaters, and his face may not be recognized by ordinary audiences at a glance. Even when talking about the names of his award-winning works, many people look confused.

Looking at the themes of Liu Jie's movies, you can understand his alienation from the mainstream market. His directorial debut,"Court on Horseback", tells the story of county judges working around the mountains of Yunnan scattered by more than a dozen ethnic minorities;"Dialysis" depicts the "crime and punishment" of people at the bottom of a small northern city before and after the formal implementation of the revision of the Criminal Law in 1997;"Biluo Snow Mountain" is even expressed in the language of the minority Lisu;"Delan" focuses on Tibetan areas and writes the experience of a Han youth who was shocked by the cultural habits of his life at that time.

Although Liu Jie always uses the word "fun" when talking about the selection criteria, these of his masterpieces are obviously "not fun" in the popular sense. With people on the margins, stories from the bottom and themes that are not easy, Liu Jie's films are far from current commercial films that combine big-name stars with funny themes.

He himself admitted: "I am more interested in movies that reflect social issues." This is the movie in Liu Jie's values that can ignite his passion for creation, but he just mentioned it with the word "fun". Liu Jie doesn't even care whether his work will eventually make it to theaters. At the award ceremony of the Golden Jue Awards, Liu Jie also said: "I hope" Delan "can be made on the big screen, but it is very difficult."

"Of course, the best way to distribute art films is to go through specialized art theaters to avoid direct conflict with commercial blockbusters." Liu Jie told reporters,"But the current market is not yet sound. There are no distribution channels dedicated to art films. There are quotas for overseas films, so I don't want this for the time being."

In the past two years, under the heated speculation of capital in China's film market, directors who choose to embrace commercial blockbusters and artistic directors like Liu Jie who insist on self-expression have faced very different commercial treatment. Floating in Vanity Fair in the film and television industry, Liu Jie feels that the best way is to make a choice,"Don't be entangled, don't be resentful." Once you have resentment, it will affect you, so just be yourself. I ask no one, and I am not afraid of anything."

Making art films money is a problem.

Adhere to art films, where does the money come from? This is one of the problems faced by all art film creators, even Hou Xiaoxian, the director who Liu Jie has the greatest influence on him, is confused by this. At last year's 68th Cannes Film Festival in France, Hou Xiaoxian won the Best Director Award for "Nie Yinnian". When Director Hou accepted the award, he lamented that making a movie is not easy, especially when you need to find a lot of money to make a movie with a relatively large investment.

Liu Jie served as the executive producer and producer of "Nie Yinnian" in mainland China. He does not think that the difficulty in finding money for "Nie Yinnian" is due to "declining world"."The films that others make have grossed hundreds of millions of yuan at the box office, so it is easy to understand the high investment and it is purely a commercial act. But although it was very difficult for people like Hou and me, they could still find the money to continue filming, which means that the 'world style' is not dead yet."

When he first led the movie "Court on horseback", Liu Jie also found it difficult: "It is very difficult to make a movie according to your own intentions, because there is no credibility. At this time, all the people who invest in money are judging you with their own goals. In the end, I sold the house I didn't live in before I finished filming this film."

"Fortunately, my films are very stable." Liu Jie now seems to have gotten out of the dilemma of not being able to find money. Even art films can allow investors to recover their capital through overseas distribution and copyright sales. Liu Jie's investment in art films is relatively small. "Maybe for some investors who are willing to make art films, I am a highly trustworthy person, so there haven't been too many difficulties." Liu Jie said.

Although Liu Jie, who lives and works in this way, does not live in the spotlight, he enjoys the simplicity and calmness of free creation. "Even when Ang Lee is making a big investment movie, there is pressure. But I don't have this pressure, and I can continue to do this. This is a very happy thing."

Conversation with Liu Jie,

"My attitude towards publishing is, after my business is done, do you like to watch it or not?"

Just a week ago (June 13), the reporter met Liu Jie and accepted a two-hour in-depth interview with the reporter. He analyzed in detail his philosophy of making films and expressed his views on the current bubble in the film market.

Reporter: If there is a film company who is rich enough to let you make a commercial film, but it is not a subject you like, would you do it?

Liu Jie: I refuse this kind of thing too often. I don't want to make an invitation that I think is "not fun" no matter how much money you give me.

Before April 2013, very few people asked me to film. After I filmed the small-budget commercial movie "Youth School" in 2013, many people saw my potential to make money by filming commercial themes. At that time, there were many films with investments of more than 25 million yuan. When I came to me, I refused them all.

Reporter: In this case, will others think you are too arrogant?

Liu Jie: No,(laughs) I refused very politely. I would say that I am not good at this thing.

Reporter: Nowadays, the film industry is eager for quick success and instant benefits, and there are so many temptations. How can you remain naive and natural, and concentrate on doing your own thing?

Liu Jie: (Laughter) Maybe it's because I used to be relatively rich. I invested in the first two films myself. I used to be a photographer and shoot advertisements and was quite rich. Therefore, I have a better mentality and have enough money to spend. I think it's best to earn almost the same amount of money, maintain an ideal lifestyle, and then focus on doing what I love. I don't think there is any difference between living in a house of 200 square meters and a house of 600 square meters.

Reporter: You said you don't care whether the movie will be seen or not, but communication is also an important part of the movie. What do you think?

Liu Jie: My movie rights are sold to TV stations and websites. People who want to watch them can always see them. My attitude towards issuing is, I have finished this matter, do you like to watch it or not?

Reporter: During this Shanghai International Film Festival, whether it was the great director Ang Lee or ordinary film practitioners, all talked about the current bubble concerns in China's film industry. What do you think?

Liu Jie: In the past two years, a large amount of capital has poured into the film market, which has given rise to a series of phenomena that are detrimental to the industry. There have also been too many unserious things in the China film industry. Everyone's mentality has changed and they are all eager for quick success. Now, a company that has only been in business for two years can hold a press conference and make a plan for a dozen films. I think this is complete nonsense.

In the past ten years, the total annual box office of China's film market has soared, but how much has the talent pool increased? I feel that our creativity, personnel reserves, industry norms, etc. are completely incompatible with the leapfrog box office market.

The profits brought by such a barbaric market excite capital. Any bad movie last year had a high box office, so everyone came. But this kind of thing cannot last. More and more people will discover the high risks of film investment. If they suffer losses, they will not dare to mess around, and the market bubble will slowly be squeezed out.

Reporter: When do you think China films will mature?

Liu Jie: I think there are two possibilities. One is that the quality of movies is getting worse and worse, and they will be squeezed out and gradually become a consumer country rather than a producer country. By that day, Hollywood's film placement ratio in the China film market may reach 85%; the other possibility is that the big waves will wash away the sand and the fittest will survive, and gradually the China film industry will have certain advantages.

Editor: yvette