FYN Chapter 88 The Price of Film Critics
Chapter 88 The Price of Film Critics
Chen Yansong opened his fist.
The fingernails left four crescent-shaped white marks on the palm.
He put his hands in the pockets of his black trench coat, turned around, and his boots crunched on the rubble of the Tianjin ruins.
"I've finished watching it."
Chen Yan said to Wu Gang.
Wu Gang stubbed out his cigarette and screwed the filter into the mound of earth behind him.
"Shall we go?"
Wu Gang asked.
"Let's go. Back to Beijing."
Chen Yan lifted his foot and stepped over a rusty steel bar exposed to the air.
Three hours later, at the BJ Kailai Hotel, in the top-floor suite.
Lu Haiming sat on a mahogany chair facing due north, with an untouched table of Huaiyang cuisine in front of him.
In the center of the table were six brown paper envelopes, each bulging with a noticeable thickness.
The door to the private room was pushed open.
Five middle-aged men walked in, each carrying a briefcase and wearing glasses of varying thickness on their noses.
Walking at the front was Zhou Man, who was wearing a professional suit and whose hair was neatly combed without a single stray hair.
"President Lu."
Zhou Man pulled out a chair and sat down.
The other four people took their seats in turn.
They are senior film critics for several mainstream film weekly magazines in China, whose pens can influence the film scheduling in half of Beijing.
Lu Haiming picked up his teacup and blew away a floating leaf from the water.
"Have you looked at everything?"
Lu Haiming asked.
The skinny guy sitting on the left pushed up his glasses.
"I've seen it. The film 'Thunder' that Chen Yan showed in Venice was indeed very advanced in its audiovisual language."
I'm not listening to any of that.
Lu Haiming put down his teacup.
The porcelain lid touched the rim of the cup, making a short, crisp sound.
He reached out and pointed to the six envelopes.
"All I need is for you to stick to one story in your pre-event comments the day after tomorrow."
Lu Haiming said.
The film critics exchanged glances, their gazes lingering on the envelope.
"Please go ahead, Mr. Lu."
Zhou Man said.
"First, this film is a product of foreign audiences, catering to the distorted aesthetics of European old men. It's not for Chinese audiences."
Lu Haiming held up one finger.
"Secondly, the visuals are bleak and full of a malicious distortion of social reality. This tone is not conducive to the peaceful atmosphere of the Lunar New Year film season."
Lu Haiming raised his second finger.
"Third, and most importantly, question the origin of his film negatives. Don't make a judgment, guide the audience. Make them feel that this young man who won the gold medal has a questionable past."
The private room fell silent.
The only sound is the faint friction noise from the rotating table as it turns.
The skinny film critic rubbed the zipper of his briefcase.
"Mr. Lu, Chen Yangang just brought back the copyright worth five million US dollars. This news has gone viral in the industry. If we try to suppress it, it might backfire."
Lu Haiming took a lighter out of his pocket.
The flames leaped out, reflecting in his eyes, which remained completely expressionless.
"Money is money, and fame is fame. He may have money to buy film, but he can't buy the eyes of the readers. Your pens are the eyes of the audience."
He tossed an envelope in front of the skinny man.
The envelope bumped against the edge of the bone plate, revealing the edge of a stack of pink banknotes.
"Can you write it?"
Lu Haiming asked.
The skinny film critic pressed down on the envelope, his palm sinking into it.
"Yes, I can write. Since it's an art discussion, let's have a hundred schools of thought contend."
The other three reached out and put the envelopes in front of them into their briefcases.
Zhou Man didn't touch the envelope.
She looked at Lu Haiming.
"Mr. Lu, I've already made arrangements with the publicity channels. There won't be any positive feature articles about 'Thunder' in the film and television sections of major newspapers for the next two weeks. Not a single frame of the trailer will be released."
"well done."
Lu Haiming stood up.
He didn't look at the table full of food and walked straight to the door.
"I want to let him starve to death under the halo of the Golden Lion Award."
Beijing Film Academy dormitory.
Su Wan pushed open the door, bringing in a gust of cold wind from outside.
She was holding a blue folder in her hand, the edges of which were already soaked with sweat.
"Chen Yan, something's happened."
Su Wan walked to the table and slammed the folder onto it.
Chen Yan was sitting in front of the computer.
The monitor emitted a faint glow, which reflected on his face.
"explain."
Chen Yan uttered a single word.
"Both Popular Cinema and Film Art called just now, saying that due to page adjustments, the previous interview has been postponed indefinitely."
Su Wan bit her lip.
"I went to three distribution companies, and they all said that Lu Haiming had made arrangements that anyone who took on the publicity and distribution of 'Thunder' would be going against him. Right now, all the mainstream media in Beijing are playing dead."
Chen Yan closed the webpage.
"As expected. Lu Haiming has been operating in the missionary field for ten years, and he can mobilize more resources than we thought."
"What can we do? Without any publicity, the premiere is just an empty shell. The audience has no idea where to watch this movie."
Su Wan walked around to Chen Yan's side.
Chen Yan stood up and walked to the window.
Downstairs, several students were gathered around the bulletin board looking at the posters.
"Since the main door is locked, we'll climb through the window."
Chen Yan turned his face away.
"Old Wu, did you bring the thing I asked you to find?"
Wu Gang emerged from the shadows, carrying several thick envelopes in his arms.
The envelope didn't contain money, but rather a printed list of BBS forums.
"I've already contacted the moderators of Tsinghua University's online forum, Peking University's Little Swan forum, and several other art-related university forums."
Wu Gang said.
Chen Yan took the papers and traced the words "Director's Screening" with his fingertips.
"In this day and age, newspapers are not the only voice. The people we are looking for are college students who have not yet been co-opted by capital."
Chen Yan said to Su Wan.
"Su Wan, go print five thousand flyers. No color, black and white. Print only one sentence on each: 'Have you ever seen a movie where someone dared to bury Lu Haiming in foreign exchange?'"
Su Wan was stunned for a moment.
"Just this one sentence?"
"Just this one sentence. The location is Peking University's Centennial Hall. The time is 8 PM the day after tomorrow. We don't want a premiere; we want a preview screening."
Chen Yan picked up a fountain pen from the table.
The pen tip drew a huge red question mark on the flyer template.
"Lu Haiming thinks he can shut the media up, but he can't shut up tens of thousands of computers connected to the Internet."
The next morning.
At the newsstands in Beijing.
Four or five film and television weekly magazines were published almost simultaneously.
Without exception, the headlines all questioned the artistic direction of "Thunder".
"A Cultural Comprador's Venice Performance" and "Chen Yan: Who Pays for Fake Technology?"
The harsh words are piled up on the paper.
Lu Haiming sat in his office, holding a newspaper in his hand, his lips curled into a straight line.
Did he make a move?
Lu Haiming asked without turning his head.
Wang, the comprador standing behind, bent down.
"He was organizing underground screenings. Right in colleges and universities, handing out flyers and posting on some BBS. I heard the students were pretty crazy about it, and all the tickets were sold out."
Lu Haiming crumpled the newspaper into a ball and accurately threw it into the wastepaper basket.
"Illegal screening. Holding a large-scale commercial screening in a non-profit venue without a public screening license is illegal."
He grabbed the landline on the table and dialed a number.
"Old Liu, there's a director named Chen Yan organizing an illegal gathering over at the Peking University lecture hall, right? Isn't your publicity department going to do anything about it?"
Two hours later.
Outside the Peking University lecture hall.
Three white law enforcement vehicles were parked at the bottom of the steps.
Chen Yan stood at the side door of the lecture hall, holding a roll of film in his hand.
Su Wan rushed over.
"Chen Yan, they're here. They say they received a report that our screening event didn't have administrative approval, and they're going to confiscate the equipment and copies."
Several men wearing peaked caps got out of the car, holding seals of impoundment.
The man leading the group walked up to Chen Yan and showed him his identification.
"Are you Chen Yan? We received a report from the public that you are conducting illegal screenings here. Please cooperate with the investigation."
Chen Yan didn't look at the document.
He looked behind the man.
Hundreds of students holding flyers had already gathered at the main entrance of the lecture hall.
They watched the actions unfold and began to murmur amongst themselves.
"illegal?"
Chen Yan handed the negative to Wu Gang beside him.
"I'm a student at the Beijing Film Academy, and this is my graduation project report. Peking University and the Beijing Film Academy are sister institutions; when did academic exchange become an illegal assembly?"
"Academic exchanges do not need to display such inflammatory slogans at the entrance of the lecture hall."
Law enforcement officers pointed to the huge black and white banner.
"Stop immediately, or we will confiscate your projection equipment."
Chen Yan took a step forward.
He was half a head taller than the law enforcement officer.
"The machine is inside. If you can snatch the film in front of these five hundred students, I, Chen Yan, will admit defeat today."
The surrounding students began to push forward.
"Why can't we watch? We've been waiting all afternoon!"
"This honor was earned through foreign exchange; what right do you have to seize it?"
Shouts came from the crowd.
The law enforcement officers' expressions changed slightly.
He turned his head and looked at the growing number of students who had gathered around.
"Chen Yan, you are inciting trouble."
"I'm just showing a movie."
Chen Yan's voice was very calm.
He turned around and gestured to Su Wan.
"Open the door. Let them in."
"You dare!"
The law enforcement officer stepped forward and reached out to grab Chen Yan's shoulder.
Wu Gang dodged to the side.
He leaned his shoulder gently.
The man staggered back three steps, slipped, and fell on the edge of the steps.
"Violent resistance! Call someone over!"
The man sat on the ground, yelling into the walkie-talkie.
The area is closed.
The students broke through the cordon.
Su Wan opened the lecture hall door.
A tidal wave of people surged in.
Chen Yan stood at the door, looking at the law enforcement vehicles, his eyes reflecting the intense midday sun.
Ten minutes later.
The humming sound of film reel sliding across the spool could be heard from inside the lecture hall.
Chen Yan stood in the shadows of the last row.
He pulled his Nokia phone out of his pocket.
There is a missed call on the screen.
It is Yan Huaizhong.
Chen Yan called back.
"teacher."
"Chen Yan, you're being too impulsive."
Yan Huaizhong's voice was filled with a heavy sigh.
"Lu Haiming has already submitted a complaint to the bureau. They are currently holding a meeting to discuss how to punish you. Some have even suggested revoking your graduation certificate."
"Let him study it."
Chen Yan looked at the big screen.
On the screen, Lin Qingqiu's broken face filled the entire field of vision.
"As long as this movie can finish playing here, Lu Haiming will have lost."
Chen Yan hung up the phone.
He felt his phone vibrate again in his pocket.
The sender was Lin Shufen.
It only contained a few words: "Lu Haiming is waiting in the station to see you kneel down."
Chen Yan turned off her phone and tossed it into Su Wan's handbag.
He took a dark gold tie clip from the inside pocket of his suit.
That was a souvenir from when he won the Best Photography Award in his previous life.
He carefully clipped the tie clip onto his tie, his movements steady.
"Chen Yan, the bureau called again. Director Ma personally called your name and wants you to report for duty immediately. He's waiting for you in his office."
Su Wan stood at the boundary between light and shadow, her voice trembling.
Chen Yan straightened his collar.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
The coldness deep in his eyes was like a sharpened scalpel.
"Don't be afraid. They want to see me kneel down, but this time I want to earn money standing up."
Chen Yan pushed open the side door of the lecture hall.
Outside, the rain started falling without warning.
The raindrops pounded heavily on the ground, raising a layer of hazy mist.
He walked down the steps into the rain.
A black Santana was parked on the side of the road, and the window slowly rolled down.
Wang, the comprador, sat in the passenger seat, staring at Chen Yan in the rain.
"Director Chen, please. Director Ma is getting impatient."
Chen Yan opened the car door.
His trouser legs were instantly soaked through by the rain and stuck to his calves.
He got into the back seat.
The moment the car door closed, the metallic clanging cut off the background music coming from the lecture hall.
Chen Yan leaned back in his chair, his fingertips tracing the fabric on his knees.
The wheels rolled over the puddles.
White water splashed out to both sides, covering the grime on the ground.