Xu Haofeng: It is abnormal to pay general attention to the box office. A group of film critics needs to be cultivated

Xu Haofeng believes that martial arts films are no longer popular because there have been few updates in the past 20 years. And he himself is practicing this "new" with his works. Everyone is basically talking about box office, which is actually not in line with the rules of mass movies, because these topics should not be watched by movie audiences, but by investors and theater owners.

Interview with Xu Haofeng with the original title: There is no market for martial arts films because there are few updates.

Many people know Xu Haofeng because of Wang Kar-wai's "The Master of the Generation", Chen Kaige's "The Taoist Down the Mountain", and his own "Master". In these three martial arts films, his identities are screenwriter, writer and director. Long before he became familiar with the public, Xu Haofeng was still a mentor of the directing department of the Film Academy, a film critic (published the film review collection "Sword and Stars"), and a niche director. The first work,"Trails of the Japanese Bandits", was filmed in early 2011 and released in 2012, with poor results. The second film,"Arrow Arrow Liu Baiyuan", was produced at the end of 2011. It was not until this year that it was released by the producer and will be released on March 11.

Xu Haofeng

is like "Master","Arrow Man Liu Baiyuan" is also about the Republic of China. The protagonist is a martial arts dispute arbitrator who has replaced his position as a teacher. In that "era when etiquette and music were ruined", an unknown young archer suddenly appeared, which naturally made all forces uneasy. Xu Haofeng said that the inspiration for making this movie came from "The Lord of the Rings". "A lot of archery is used in 'The Lord of the Rings', which is a British archery method. At that time, I saw the information on archery by the top scholar in the Qing Dynasty in martial arts examination. My initial interest was to shoot a China style bow and arrow to see how it was different from the British style."

This movie is still Xu Haofeng's usual style-tough temperament, concise lines, and clean scenes. People who like it will find it innovative and unique. People who don't like it will think it's a fake tone.

As we all know, the once-famous martial arts films have been sentenced to death by the market in recent years. The only few films with good reputation and awareness, such as "The Master of the Generation","Embroidery Spring Knife","Nie Yinang","Master", are far less popular than the popular genres such as "Mermaid","Monster Hunt", and "Lost in Hong Kong". Xu Haofeng believes that martial arts films are no longer popular because there have been few updates in the past 20 years. And he himself is practicing this "new" with his works.

As a film critic, he also emphasized that it is abnormal in this era when audiences generally pay attention to the box office. That should be a matter for investors and theater owners. Returning to the film itself, it requires the existence of film critics to influence public opinion. However, China's film critics are far from the status of film critics in the United States, France and Japan. "If you want to harvest in the fall, you must cultivate early in the spring. If we want the film market to develop and make more money, you must first cultivate the group of film critics through investment and publicity."

Reporter: When it comes to martial arts films, most people think they are commercial films, but your films are a little different. Do you think "Arrow Arrow Willow White Ape" can be classified as a commercial movie?

Xu Haofeng: My movies are different. The main reason is that some of the original business models and business elements have been revised and updated by me. This is normal for popular movies. Look at the Hollywood system, it is also the same as the normal property market. It will drop slightly in a few years, but it will not keep rising sharply. Normal popular movies must change every five or six years, otherwise this genre will die. Previous martial arts films have been running for 20 years, but now there is no market for martial arts films. It is almost a consensus among theater managers that only a few people can succeed. Making a martial arts film requires investment risks, because there will be fewer updates in 20 years.

Reporter: You said before that the mentality of clients in domestic commercial films is too serious. Do you still hold this view?

Xu Haofeng: Because a few years ago, it was a very serious stage when people watched movies and didn't know what to watch, and in the end, it was easy to turn the behavior of watching movies into watching fun, which was not in line with the rules of popular movies. Because popular movies around the world are the so-called commercial films in our country, and their rule is to provide a reference for life. A Hollywood star will not become a star if he cannot become a spokesperson for fashion or ideological movements, or a certain trend of thought among young people. However, our film system and star system do not seem to follow this rule.

Reporter: You are both a director and a teacher at the Film Academy. Will the pressure of filming be less or greater?

Xu Haofeng: With my dual identity, I am under pressure. One is that you are a teacher. If you want to teach students, you don't dare to make a movie badly. Because the students have requirements for you, how come what you tell us is different from what you take?

I hope to have a long-term relationship with the management. People support me, and then I hope they're right. My own research on popular movies, I feel that I am doing something regular, so I hope to confirm that each other's choices are correct.

Reporter: Nowadays, when everyone talks about popular movies, they basically talk about box office. For example, it will cost 60 billion yuan this year. As a director and a teacher, what do you think of the current popularity?

Xu Haofeng: This is actually not in line with the rules of mass movies, because these topics should not be read by movie audiences, but by investors and theater owners. The reason is that our public opinion on mass films and the participation of film critics in mass films is not as strong as Hollywood. I hope that China's film critics will achieve the status of Hollywood film critics. Film critics in the Hollywood system are like American lawyers. They play a very decisive role in the judiciary. And this group of film critics, the normal film public opinion environment, is a major part of the film market.

Reporter: But now it seems that the status of film critics is not as good as before.

Xu Haofeng: Right. If you want to harvest in autumn, you must cultivate it early in the spring. Therefore, if we want the film market to develop and make more money, you must first invest and build momentum to cultivate the film critics. The group is cultivated, because this is a big rule in the film market. Now it seems that we are in a state of ignoring the film critics group and feel that they can be ignored, but in fact it is a very key link in this industry and belongs to the seed category. The aspirations of Hollywood films, French films, and Japanese films all play a key role in the strong existence of their film critics.

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Editor: kong