Director Chen Kaige: Film progress depends on whether a rebellious young audience can emerge

Chen Kaige, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and famous director, said in an exclusive interview with reporters that if the film industry becomes a money playground, it will be more difficult to produce sophisticated films. As a creator, he believes that we must insist on creating as an individual and not blindly cater to, please and please the market.

Original title: Chen Kaige talks about "little fresh meat" Senior artists must have the

ability to ask themselves. Chen Kaige, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a famous director, said in an exclusive interview with reporters that if the film industry becomes a money playground, it will be difficult to produce sophisticated films. As a creator, he believes that we must insist on creating as an individual and not blindly cater to, please and please the market.

According to data from the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the total box office of movies nationwide in 2016 was 45.712 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.73%, and the number of people watching movies in urban theaters was 1.372 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.89%. In 2001, the total box office of movies nationwide grew from less than 1 billion yuan to 45.7 billion yuan. After a lapse of 14 years, the box office of movies in China increased 47 times, ranking second in the global film market.

At the same time, last year, 1612 new cinemas and 9552 new screens were added across the country, bringing the total number of screens to 41179, making it the country with the largest number of movie screens in the world.

Experts predict that by the end of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", the annual box office of China films will reach 100 billion yuan. With the trillion-level gap in cultural consumption bringing huge opportunities, the film and television industry is becoming a new outlet for capital pursuit.

When making sound films, you should concentrate on creating, sink to the water, and don't show up all the time. After suffering, and confusion, the only works that are finally produced are worth pursuing. I can only make quality films and always believe that content is king. This is the greatest respect for the audience.

Talking about the film industry's superb hardware, the content is still shortcomings

. Reporter: The box office of movies has continued to grow in the past two years. What do you think is the reason for this?

Chen Kaige: The reason is obvious. More than 30 years of reform and opening up have ushered in a new market era. This market era includes figures such as 40,000 screens built across the country, how many movie studios have been built, and the number of visitors. To be honest, this doesn't really mean anything. Movies don't put people and things in the same frame. This is what happens. Movies require thought, art and skill. I have been engaged in this industry for many years, and I am still learning today.

If an industry is turned into a money playground, it will be more difficult to produce superb films created for personal enjoyment. When filmmakers become part of the industry, it is not far from the circus. The question all creators have to ask themselves is whether they can persist in creating as individuals, but it does not mean that individual creation does not take into account the audience. There is a gap in the middle.

Reporter: Some people say that the development of China's films until now is "industrial." Relying solely on "light films" such as "urban love" and "campus youth" cannot compete with Hollywood, and it is seriously inconsistent with its status as a major film country. What do you think?

Chen Kaige: To make a country's films strong, they really have to pass the "industrial barrier", but don't put the cart before the horse."Industrial barrier" is not the soul of the film, but the quality is. The 40,000 yuan screen that we are particularly proud of now is like making 40,000 iron pots, but this is what we should ask ourselves what to fry. We don't make pots, we make stir-frying. There is a serious imbalance now, with superb hardware, such as imax and panoramic stereo, but the content is still shortcomings.

Reporter: How to make up for the shortcomings in content?

Chen Kaige: You are just a filmmaker, so you should concentrate on creating, sink to the water, and don't show up all the time. It's useless. What is useful is that after going through hardships, suffering, entanglement and hesitation, the few works that are finally produced are worth pursuing. I can only make quality films and always believe that content is king. This is the greatest respect for the audience.

Talking about movie audiences, movie progress depends on whether there can be rebellious young audience

reporters: Nowadays, a large number of actors and writers are directors, and the box office is very high. Among the audience, the proportion of young audiences is very high. Producer Jiang Zhiqiang once mentioned: "Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Feng Xiaogang are all super capable, but they didn't film it for people aged 18 to 20." In an interview, you also said that in the past, the power of the times was greater than the power of the individual to produce works like "Farewell My Concubine". It's not that it can't be photographed now, it's that "the times are the trends." Can it be understood that you feel a little inappropriate in the present?

Chen Kaige: I started in a film era that paid great attention to art. Later, it was like the expansion and expansion of the stars. As the distance between stars became farther and farther, the cultural atmosphere gradually became thinner. Our audience is not limited to promising young people in big cities, but has spread to third-and fourth-tier cities and even wider, reaching audiences who have little understanding of film art. But social development is regular. Why did the United States produce a Salinger who wrote "The Catcher in the Rye" and became the bible of rebellion among young Americans in the 1960s and 1970s? The real progress of the film and the emergence of diverse conditions depend on whether a rebellious young audience can emerge. I look forward to their appearance. For example, when you watch an entertainment movie, you will say who to coax? You have to look at the work with personality. Before this time comes, someone has to do something against the trend, because the audience will not change automatically. I will not compete with others in terms of box office. To shoot a work that caters, pleats, and pleases, for me, is to force a good person to become a prostitute. When a brothel is as deep as the sea, when can I quit? Never again.

Reporter: Can it be said that because capital values young people more, many people make movies for young people. The more movies you make for young people, the more young audiences there will be, forming a vicious cycle?

Chen Kaige: Capital is one-way and has no warmth to speak of. The highest profits are hidden among young people, so the needs of others can be ignored. But this also shows to a certain extent that our films are not balanced and healthy enough in terms of the overall development level. In Europe, America and Japan, there are many movies for middle-aged people. This should normally be the case.

The average age of viewers in the United States is 40 years old, and the average age of viewers in China is 21.5 years old. I particularly regret where everyone over the age of 25 has gone. Especially when people are around 40 years old, when they should have the most experience in life and should watch movies, I don't even know where they have gone. I also appeal that they should also return to the cinema, so that their creations can be more diverse, rather than just shooting for very young audiences.

In fact, the audience also has to go through many films. Gradually, both in terms of artistic taste and perception of the film itself, there will be changes. I am looking forward to this. By then, everyone will know what is good and what is not good enough, and the standard will be set. When they were hungry at first, the audience would eat whatever they caught, and gradually they would pursue refinement.

Talking about "little fresh meat" Senior artists must have the ability to ask themselves.

Reporter: Recently, group discussions in the literary and art circles have repeatedly talked about "little fresh meat", saying that they play big names and are not dedicated to their work. As far as I know, your upcoming new film "The Legend of the Demon Cat" uses a lot of "little fresh meat"?

Chen Kaige: I think what they said is basically right. It's no use just complaining. In fact, Song Dandan said that it is very important to tell them what is good and what is not good. From my own experience, none of the situations that everyone talked about have happened in my group.

We (older artists) need to have a little ability to ask ourselves. Whether our attitude towards creation can benefit young actors, and at the same time let them feel that art is such a thing, so that they yearn for it instead of blindly blaming young actors? Because times are different, it turns out that when we join a unit, people will come to teach and educate us proactively. Nowadays, young actors do not have this condition. As senior artists, we express our views on something and hope that these young actors will truly improve and understand what acting is and why. It is written on the wall of the People's Art Department: "Drama is bigger than the sky", which means that acting is a great pleasure. We are not engaged in this profession to solve our livelihood problems, otherwise we would not do this profession. While making well-intentioned and moderate suggestions, we should also know what responsibilities we have.

Editor: yvette