How do you evaluate Chen Kaige’s filming of "The Legend of the Demon Cat", which cost one billion to build Tangcheng?

Chen Kaige, one of the most famous directors in China, has developed the habit of making a movie to build a city since the mid-1990s.

In 1994, Chen Kaige created a street in old Shanghai when filming "The Wind and the Moon"; in 1997, when filming "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", the Qin Palace was built in Hengdian; in 2007, when filming "Mei Lanfang", it was built in Huairou, Beijing Scenery Farewell; In 2009, "The Orphan of Zhao" was filmed and the Zhao Orphan City was built in Xiangshan, Zhejiang.

This is not a big deal. In 2012, for the filming of "The Legend of the Demon Cat", the local government and enterprises in Xiangyang, Hubei Province spent billions. It took six years to create Tang Dynasty for Chen Kaige. City film and television base.

The budget is getting bigger and bigger, and the money is spending more and more, but what about the reputation and influence of Chen Kaige’s movies? Even if one cannot be said to be inferior to the other, at least these movies are very different from the 1993 "Farewell My Concubine" which did not spend much on setting.

A director’s creativity is not directly proportional to his location construction capabilities. Being greedy for more in terms of locations may limit creativity and imagination.

Before the Tangcheng Film and Television Base, Chen Kaige's two movies were shot in the famous Hengdian. At that time, he used the specially built Qin Palace.

In 1996, the still unknown Huayi Brothers made a small profit. The next year they entered the film and television industry and invested in Chen Kaige to shoot the costume blockbuster "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin".

Before choosing Hengdian, Chen Kaige originally wanted to choose a location in Yixian County, Hebei Province, which was the historical starting point for the assassin Jing Ke of the Yan State to assassinate the King of Qin, and build a Qin Palace on the bank of Yishui Lake for filming. However, there was a problem with funds later, and only one street was built in Yixian County, but the Qin Palace was not built.

Later, the new location was chosen in Hengdian. The Qin Palace covers an area of ??800 acres. The builders spent 8 months and blasted 8 hills. When the production started, Tu Juhua, the artist of the crew, faced the magnificent Qin Palace and burst into tears with excitement. Chen Kaige also felt high-spirited, as if he had seen the future of this movie.

However, "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" suffered a disastrous failure when it was released in 1999, with a box office of only 10 million yuan, a very serious loss, and a serious disproportion between input and output. The movie failed and the Qin Palace was preserved.

That was the era when domestic blockbusters were launched. Soon in 2001, Zhang Yimou also tried to make a blockbuster. He came to Hengdian to look at the scenes, and immediately fell in love with the Qin Palace built for Chen Kaige's movie, and immediately decided to shoot his new movie "Hero" here. Compared with "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", "Hero" achieved box office success, although its reputation at the time was average.

In 2004, Chen Kaige, not to be outdone, came to Hengdian again and started filming the new film "The Promise". He still chose the Qin Palace as the venue and built a magic palace in the square of the Qin Palace. If the audience at that time had some misunderstandings about "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", then this movie made people completely despair and did not believe that it was produced by the same director as "Farewell My Concubine".

Chen Kaige seemed unmoved and continued to make films slowly at his own pace, and later chose "The Legend of the Demon Cat" which was popular on the Internet.

This is a story about the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In Chen Kaige’s imagination, it should take place in an extremely grand scene. However, after searching film and television bases across the country, he could not find anything that matched his idea of ??the prosperous Tang Dynasty. place. As a result, the Tangcheng Film and Television Base, which cost billions, was built in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, where Chen Kaige filmed "The Legend of the Demon Cat" as he wished.

This movie is still not a success. It caused a certain response when it was released. Just a few years later, "The Legend of the Demon Cat" is still rarely mentioned.

The Tangcheng base was not wasted. Later it attracted many big production crews such as "Jiuzhou Piaomiaolu", "Tiansheng Changge", "Mulan", etc. Tangcheng also began to learn from the Hengdian model .

Great directors like Chen Kaige are often willful, willful about their former talents and their own influence in the film industry. However, when they want to spend a lot of money to build a palace whenever they think of making a new film, they also This may be the time when their creativity slows down or even dries up.

Giant film and television bases such as Hengdian and Tangcheng are also like microcosms of the rise and fall of China's film and television industry. You know, good movies are not always shot in big scenes. Big productions may just be a fig leaf. By the time the big scene is set up, the director's creativity may have ended. Entertainment There are endless answers, I am Mr. Zheng. Welcome to pay attention. It is a waste of land resources and national assets. It will cost one billion to film some movies and build some venues. I will never support this kind of behavior. The country has not yet reached the conditions for such extravagant waste. National resources and assets still have to be used. In places where it is more needed and valuable, such as scientific and technological research and development, education and training of national talents, and improving the living standards of the poor, etc.

Although this is a commercial operation, the wool comes from the sheep, and such investment returns must still be obtained from the pockets of the people. I hope that the relevant government departments should supervise and review them, and we cannot allow these people to do it for their own selfish desires. Behaviors of amassing money and blindly investing huge sums of money with little positive gain occur frequently. The country should encourage the use of this huge sum of money to improve people's livelihood, educate and cultivate useful future generations of scientific and technological talents, improve the living standards of people in poor counties, and build various national benefits for the people, etc., instead of providing it to star-chasers who are blind and irrational and like low-level tastes. Opportunity, to make a movie that most people will not watch or pay attention to, and to casually invest astronomical billions of funds. Does China now have that much money to spend extravagantly? Many low-level workers are still struggling to get three meals a day and face the pressure of life. In rural areas where there is no poverty alleviation, school construction and children's education require financial investment. Situations like this can be seen everywhere, so I definitely don't agree with it. blind investment behavior. Of course, in order to enrich people's leisure entertainment and cultural life, develop cultural industries and cultivate talents for entertainment programs, and create employment for entertainment industry personnel, appropriate and reasonable investment is absolutely encouraged and supported, but the behavior of casually wasting huge sums of money and land resources is absolutely unacceptable. It is inappropriate and unwise. This is my personal opinion and suggestion, please forgive me if there is anything wrong. Thanks for the invitation!

The 30th Tokyo International Film Festival opened in October 2017. Chen Kaige's big-budget production "The Legend of the Demon Cat", which he has been honing for ten years, had a special screening at the film festival. The ten-minute feature film reappeared its momentum. The majestic and beautiful Chang'an City, many international filmmakers were deeply impressed by the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty created by Chen Kaige.

Chen Kaige has a reputation for building a city when making a movie. The large-scale ancient palaces, cities, pavilions and pavilions he planned and built were not only used for the filming of his own movies, but also as a future film and television base. , equivalent to a cultural tourist attraction.

This model is not uncommon. CCTV built the Three Kingdoms City when filming "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", built the Water Margin City when filming "Water Margin", and built the Eastern Zhou Column when filming "The Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Dynasties". Guozhi City. Chen Kaige previously built the Qin Palace in Hengdian for the filming of "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin". Therefore, it is not unusual for the Tang Dynasty to be built for the filming of "The Legend of the Demon Cat".

Tangcheng was invested by Xiangyang Zhigu Cultural Development Co., Ltd. and was built specifically for "The Legend of the Demon Cat" with a total cost of 1.6 billion. Chen Kaige spent six years building this Tang Dynasty. He said that after building Chang'an, he also had to plant trees and watch them grow before taking pictures.

Tangcheng connects the Han River to the east, overlooks Lumen to the south, borders Xian Mountain to the west, and borders the ancient city to the north. It is divided into five major areas: towers, palaces, markets, residences, and temples. Eight major buildings of the Tang Dynasty, including the Corridor, East Market, West Market, and Qinglong Temple.

Tangcheng provided good support for the successful filming of "The Legend of the Demon Cat", and also provided people who love the history of the Tang Dynasty with a nostalgic antique building complex to comfort China's lack of Tang Dynasty architecture. regret.

Speaking of the lack of Tang Dynasty architecture in China, I have to say that when director Hou Hsiao-hsien filmed Nie Yinniang, he even went to Nara, Japan for filming. But we should not be too arrogant and exaggerate that Japan has completely preserved the Tang Dynasty architecture. There are more than 30 Tang Dynasty buildings in Japan. People in Japan must recognize the fact that as the wave of modernization sweeps across, Japan is also Due to extensive demolition and construction, many ancient buildings have disappeared.

Before the filming of the film started, Meng Zhentapir, the original author of "The Legend of the Demon Cat", visited the set and walked into the spectacular Tangcheng for the first time. He said: "When I walked inside, I couldn't help but feel... I cried..."

Mengzhen Tapir deeply loves Chinese classical culture, and his favorite poems are the poems of Du Fu, Li Bai and Wang Wei. He said that reading their poems is a great enjoyment in life. When Mengzhen Tapir walked in Tang City, he seemed to have returned to the Tang Dynasty that he had always dreamed of. He must also be sighing from the bottom of his heart: The real successor of Tang culture is still in China.

Many people say that "The Legend of the Cat" is director Chen's best work after "Farewell My Concubine", although people will say this for every new work of his. In retrospect, everyone can only remember that the bohemian Li Bai composed a Qingping tune in the splendid Tang Palace: 1. A movie builds a city, this is not the first time Director Chen has done this

Xiangyang, Hubei Tangcheng

Whether the movie "Legend of the Cat" is good or not is another matter, but it is true that the investment was expensive. A Tangcheng was built in Xiangyang, Hubei for a movie. Covering an area of ??3.7 million square meters, it displays Tang culture based on the history of Xiangyang Ancient City, introduces water from the Han River, and is connected to 8 water systems in the city through 8 bridges, forming a pattern of eight rivers surrounding Chang'an. Antique buildings with the culture of the Tang Dynasty as the background group.

The Qin Palace in Dongyang, Zhejiang

The Qin Palace was built by Director Chen for the filming of "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin". It was designed by the designers of the film team with reference to the historical Xianyang Palace. . It covers an area of ??800 acres, with a construction area of ??110,000 square meters. It has 27 royal palaces, a 2,289-meter-long and 18-meter-high city wall, and a 120-meter-long "Qin-Han" gate with an area of ??20 acres and a construction area of ??6,000 square meters. street".

Director Chen is currently filming films such as "Farewell My Concubine", "The Orphan of Zhao", and "Feng Yue", and has also built real scenes in Beijing, Ningbo, Shanghai and other places. It will take time to tell us how long Tangcheng and Qin Palace will be popular, but Director Chen's heroic spirit will always exist, unprecedented. Concubine Yang Guifei of the Tang Dynasty and Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty never imagined that their palaces would be passed down by actors. 2. How much does a Tangcheng cost? Director Chen does not include it in the cost of the film

Excluding the construction of Tangcheng, the investment in this film is 250 million yuan.

According to the previous statement of 970 million yuan (15 billion yen), the cost of building a Tangcheng is about 720 million yuan. This figure is just a guess. The actual cost is unknown, but it is certainly a lot.

Obviously, many investors spent money to build Tangcheng. Doesn’t it feel like you are borrowing fame to get away with nothing? 3. Director Chen, who has high investment and low box office, has no shortage of investors

The unequal investment cost and box office of "The Legend of the Demon Cat" has caused a lot of heated discussions. In the current era of low-cost, fast-food consumption, Times, should the film be made into a magnificent art film based on the thinking of the older generation of directors, or should it be made into an easy-to-accept feature film based on the roughness of the new generation of directors?

Compared with Chen Kaige’s obscure costume blockbusters in recent years such as "The Legend of the Cat", "The Taoist Comes Down the Mountain", "Assassination of Qin", and "The Promise", the audience prefers to watch "Thailand", Movies like "The God of Medicine", "Wolf Warrior", and "The Eight Hundred" are simple and clear and in line with popular thinking.

The films directed by the older generation are losing their market and audiences. Their works are lackluster and controversial. Perhaps in a few decades, these movies will become as classic as "Westward Journey", but it will be a pain for the movie's investors.

Yes, "The Legend of the Cat" lost money, and director Chen's movies basically all lost money, ranging from 20 million to nearly 200 million. Not to mention that it won no authoritative awards, the movie reviews all gave it a 60 or 70% rating.

But this does not prevent actors from cooperating with him because of his reputation. There is no shortage of investors in every work. It seems that Lao Jiang still has something to chew on. 4. Building Tangcheng is not Director Chen’s business, he is only responsible for making blockbusters

Director Chen’s wife once said that Tangcheng does not belong to the crew:

Chen Kaige previously explained why When building a city for "The Legend of the Demon Cat", he once said:

"If you really build a scene seriously, in addition to developing the local economy and improving people's livelihood, it will also The important thing is that you also benefit the entire Chinese film industry."

The Qin Palace was not built in vain. It has not only become a tourist attraction, but also filmed here "Looking for Qin", "The Promise", "Beauty's Scheming", "The Legend of Mi Yue", "Qin Shi Mingyue", "Legend of Sword and Fairy 3" and more than 500 film and television works. Similarly, Tangcheng is mainly positioned as a film and television shooting service, with functions such as sightseeing, culture, entertainment, and leisure vacations.

Director Chen Kaige has his own unique style in filming. He thinks about each character's presence in the story. His thinking earned him the title "Philosopher of Film." He once said in an interview, "Making a movie is, to a certain extent, projecting my inner activities." He has consistently sincerely analyzed himself and expressed his worldview in movies.

During the Tang Dynasty, there were many people from foreign lands in Chang'an, poetry was popular, and there were many literati and refined scholars. Madness and strange things were formed in director Chen Kaige's thoughts.

Kukai was a sacred monk from Japan who studied Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. He is a magical character, and the story further unfolds with him as a clue.

In the play, there are beauties, immortals and demons, and illusions and witchcraft that make people see it as real and illusory, making people intoxicated.

The poem about Li Bai is also fascinating. There is the graceful Yang Guifei and the dissolute Li Bai. The poem fairy shows his evil charm and makes Gao Lishi take off his boots and write Yun Xiang. The clothes are full of flowers, and the spring breeze blows on the threshold and the dew is thick. If we hadn't seen him at the top of Qunyu Mountain, he would have met at Yaotai under the moon.

There is also a poignant story between Bai Long and Yang Guifei. Bai Yu firmly believes that Yang Guifei will wake up. After investigation, Bai Juyi wrote a real song of everlasting regret. It will last forever, but this hatred will slowly end. This 1 billion was not built with funds from Chen Kai's opera group. The real sponsor is Xiangyang Zhigu Cultural Development Co., Ltd., a real estate developer, and he is very rich!

Chen Kaige's original intention when filming "Legend of the Demon Cat" was to make a big hit before he retired, and to draw a perfect end to his director career with a big-investment and bold movie. By the way, It would also be great to have a shot at the Oscars.

So which subject matter is bold enough? Of course it is a historical drama! Which dynasty was the most prosperous in Chinese history? Of course it was the Tang Dynasty. Ever since, the story about the peerless love between Yang Guifei and Li Longji has been unfolded, and the protagonist of the story is Bai Juyi, one of the most famous poets in the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, the story of prosperity and love alone is not enough to support a good movie story. Weird illusions and legends of demon cats are interspersed with it, so it was adapted from the Japanese novel "Kukai Samana: The Ghost Banquet of the Tang Dynasty" The script is there!

With the script in hand, it’s time to start looking for filming locations. According to Director Chen's shooting style, Director Chen would not like ordinary city walls and palaces. If he wants to restore the extremely luxurious Tang Dynasty, it is very necessary to build an exquisite, magnificent and beautiful Datang City.

But the cost of building a Tangcheng is not a small amount. It is far more than the amount of film investment. Director Chen will not do such a loss-making business. At this time, Xiangyang Zhigu Cultural Development Co., Ltd., who wanted to transform into a "film and television cultural industry", came to the door. One was rich and the other famous. The two hit it off, and the plan to build "Tangcheng" in Xiangyang was finalized. .

Why would a real estate company spend 1 billion to build a film and television city for a movie? This actually has a lot to do with the local real estate pattern in Xiangyang at that time. Around 2010, the real estate industry in Xiangyang City was in a downturn, with severe homogeneous competition in the industry and increasing land costs. Faced with this predicament, transforming into a "film and television cultural real estate" supported by the government was the most advantageous way to get out of the predicament. way out. Director Chen is famous enough that the Qin Palace built in Hengdian during the filming of "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin" more than ten years ago has become an extremely profitable real estate project. With such a successful precedent, 1 billion was spent to support Director Chen's film. It seems like a good investment too.

Of course, Director Chen is also very concerned about this matter. His art team has been stationed in Xiangyang for 6 years, responsible for the art and construction details of "Tangcheng". With the professional and technical support of Director Chen's team, the construction of "Tangcheng" began to be carried out regardless of cost. Every link strived to use the best materials. The construction cost also increased steadily, from the initial 500 million to 1.6 billion. many.

Due to the agreement with Director Chen, other film and television dramas shot in "Tangcheng" were not allowed to be released before "The Legend of the Demon Cat" was released. Therefore, for a long time, this project was very costly. The "Tangcheng" in China has always been "still holding the pipa, half-hiding its face", making it impossible to find out its true appearance.

It was not until the release of "The Legend of the Demon Cat" that many viewers got a glimpse of the true face of "Tangcheng" on the movie screen. It was majestic and extremely luxurious, as if they were in the grand scene more than 1,300 years ago.

Although the movie "Legend of the Demon Cat" did not achieve the expected results, did not become a box office hit, and did not allow Director Chen to catch the Oscar flight, the film and television base "Tangcheng" has been engraved in many film and television In the minds of workers and audiences, the crews of "Jiuzhou Piao Miao Lu" and "Feng Quan Yi Tian Xia" have successively stationed in "Tangcheng". The number of visitors to "Tangcheng" reached a peak of 22,000 on New Year's Day in 2018. . It can be seen that this "Tangcheng", which cost more than 1 billion, is a win-win situation for Chen Kaige, who filmed "The Legend of the Demon Cat", and the real estate company that invested huge sums of money.

I don’t know if you are familiar with this film about the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty. It tells the story of Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei (Yang Yuhuan) in Chang'an City, where demon cats are prevalent. In addition to the fantasy color, it also runs through the love story of the two people. Behind the poignant love story passed down by the world, there is actually It hides the darkness played by the powerful.

Yang Yuhuan was willing to sacrifice himself for love, but Tang betrayed his promise for the sake of the country and his own safety, leading to Yang Yuhuan's tragic death. It is precisely because of such an unknown tragedy that the demon cat was born, and it has harmed the world for decades. It was not until the grudges were completely resolved that several innocent souls were finally freed.

This fantasy costume film directed by Chen Kaige - "The Legend of the Demon Cat" is adapted from the Japanese fantasy series "Kukai Kukai: The Ghost Banquet of the Tang Dynasty". It can be said that it is a Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty. The legacy of Japanese officials. In the film, Chao Heng, played by Hiroshi Abe, is presented in a form somewhat similar to a biography or a memoir.

The way the film is presented is not surprising, and the content of the story is not too novel. Overall, it is quite satisfactory. The Douban score is only 6.9, which is neither high nor low. This is mainly due to the magnificent special effects scenes, the beautiful and rich Chang'an City, and the picturesque illusion special effects. It can be said to be a rare super visual feast after "The Promise"!

So how is such luxurious film production and investment achieved?

In the early years, "The Promise", also directed by Chen Kaige, created China's first film with the most special effects. It was also the first to try magic lens special effects in domestic films. Under the trend of "perfectionism" , the only eleven-minute promotional special effects film for "The Promise" amazed the whole world!

The combination of static background, dynamic characters and beautiful and appropriate soundtrack presents us with an indescribable artistic conception, which is also accompanied by a strong visual impact. In "Legend of the Demon Cat", the scene of the feast between the sea and the sky once again allowed me to experience the shocking feeling of being there and unable to extricate myself.

Coupled with more advanced special effects and scene layout technology, it is even better than "The Promise" back then! On the surface, it looks like everything is running smoothly, but in fact, it is difficult to move even an inch.

Perhaps in our opinion, it is just the production of some special effects, and there is nothing too complicated about it, but in fact, during the filming process, the crew Everyone in it has suffered a lot. Because director Chen Kaige is a well-known "perfectionist".

As early as 2005, Zhong Zhixing, who was responsible for the film and television special effects production of "The Promise", had a deep understanding of it, and for a long period of time after that, he had a deep understanding of what he experienced in "The Promise" All kinds of 'tribulations' have always been fresh in my memory and deeply touched. In an interview, Zhong Zhixing said: Director Chen Kaige has strict requirements, which are not just as simple as one or two shot effects.

What he is pursuing is a kind of artistic conception. Maybe a freeze-frame picture is already very perfect, but if it lacks the artistic conception that Director Chen Kaige understands, then this 'perfect' freeze-frame picture is still unqualified. This shows how high Chen Kaige's requirements are for special effects and lens details.

I think everyone must have seen the paintings of the famous painter Van Gogh in textbooks. As an impressionist painter, if we cannot understand the artistic conception hidden in his works, then it is really difficult for ordinary people to understand it. Appreciate his masterpiece. The expression and application of artistic conception are the foundation for everyone, and the experience and understanding of artistic conception are the basic abilities that an appreciator should possess.

This is why there are so many works of art that are both high-minded and mediocre. Chen Kaige has obviously incorporated an artistic requirement into film and television production. He regards film production not only as a commercial activity, but also as an artistic creation. For artists, this may be acceptable, but for ordinary film and television workers who do not have enough artistic knowledge, this is undoubtedly a bit difficult.

Even the vast majority of artists may not be able to confidently say that they can do the job easily. One can imagine how difficult it is to shoot and produce a film that doesn't look very good to us ordinary people. Spending a lot of money just for perfection

An artist’s pursuit of art is endless, especially a persistent and paranoid artist! In "Legend of the Demon Cat", the prosperous Chang'an City we see is not made by special effects, but a real 'ancient city'. Although it has not experienced the baptism of time and is a modern imitation, it actually exists.

In 2012, in order to support the filming of Chen Kaige's "The Legend of the Demon Cat", the local government and enterprises in Xiangyang, Hubei Province spent billions, and it took six years to create the movie for Chen Kaige. That Chang'an City is actually called Tangcheng Film and Television Base. It can't be said to be a super generous move.

Compared with the international film and television industry, where the "Mission: Impossible" series spends money to build highways for realistic effects, Chen Kaige's investment in this aspect is really not expected at all. !

Of course, operations similar to this are not unprecedented in domestic film and television production. As early as 1999, in "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", the magnificent Qin King's Palace was also built for the purpose of film and television. A specially crafted building base. But unfortunately, this film did not have a good response. The box office was only more than 10 million, which was a serious loss.

So is such a huge investment worthwhile?

In fact, I think Cameron has more say on this issue. "Titanic" and "Avatar" can be said to have occupied the top of the world box office for a long time. The proportion of investment in film and television production is also among the highest. But it seems that Cameron has never worried about whether the investment is worth it.

He seems to have invested a lot in every movie he directed. In many cases, he spent ten years sharpening his sword just to pursue perfection! At this point, Chen Kaige may not yet have the same influence as Cameron, but they coincide in their pursuit. Investment in film and television production is not actually a limitation.

The positioning of a film roughly determines the proportion of its investment. In order to pursue the ultimate box office, the investment must not be small. That kind of small investment and big return is actually more of an opportunity that can only be encountered but not sought. It is the norm that input and output are directly proportional. Film and television income is not as single as we imagined

Perhaps many people will think that the income of a film is only the box office, then you are totally wrong. The investment in film and television production is not small, but its output Also very high. In addition to box office revenue, there is also copyright revenue, advertising revenue, other derivative industry revenue, etc.

Demolished? Abandoned? Obviously impossible. They will very naturally become an attraction, or a long-term base for film and television incubation, which will serve for many, many years, and even become the second Hengdian. Movies will also have a certain publicity effect and promote local tourism development.

With this in mind, do you still think that building a film and television city for one movie is a 'wasteful move'? This is the same as building super large sports venues for the Olympic Games!

Text: Yu spanks my butt itches

Maybe Chen Kaige has too many shortcomings that you don’t like, but when it comes to movies, Chen Kaige is a step above many directors. Class, that's the difference.

Today’s fast-food film and television production has no new features. Green cloth and indoor scenes have become commonplace and have become a common method. People like Chen Kaige, who spend huge sums of money for his works, just In order to make the scenes more relevant to the times and the background of the film, there are very few directors like this.

Therefore, from this point of view, I personally very much support Chen Kaige.

From the current point of view, Chen Kaige has built too many places for the movie. Maybe these places have not brought much benefit to the movie, but this kind of approach of excellence, compared with Directors who always prefer to stand in front of a green screen have gone a step above.

There are very few directors who still adhere to this approach, including Jiang Wen, Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, etc. This time, Chen Kaige built a Tang Dynasty for the filming of "The Legend of the Cat Demon" The city is just to be able to add all the elements you need in this city. During the filming, this city will also make the entire movie closer to reality.

Although green screen can save a lot of money, if you watch it too much, it will give people a false feeling. Maybe it is suitable for science fiction movies, but for ordinary movies, too much green screen shooting always feels a little bit It's petty, feels the same, and the scenes lack any emotional color.

You must know how many places were visited during the filming of "Journey to the West", just to create the difficult-to-experience scenes of 1981. The works shot in this way are classics. Only by carefully considering each scene Only one detail can show the excellence of the work.

Fast-food shooting and the rise of green screens ultimately lead to the emergence of shoddy actors who cut out pictures and read randomly according to scripts, which is of no benefit to the entire Chinese film market.

Therefore, I personally very much support Chen Kaige’s approach. What do you think of this? Comments welcome!

Regardless of the original intention or the purpose. The first thing that comes to mind is the perception and box office. The subsequent extension of the industrial chain is unknown. Don’t trace the source. It’s useless. Instead of living in other people’s unknown world, why not exist in your own perceptual world? No matter how bad or good it is, live mentality and state of mind.

It is not a big secret that the film company built the city for filming. "Legend of the Demon Cat" spent 6 years polishing the script. Investing 1 billion to build Tangcheng is considered a big deal, for the height It is well-intentioned to restore the style of the Tang Dynasty and give the audience a real feeling.

Since 2010, we have cooperated with Japan's Kadokawa Pictures to build Chang'an City in Xiangyang. Everything from the city walls to the antique vases are carefully designed, transforming more than 550 acres of Xiangyang's garden from lotus swamps into A magnificent Tang city was built with huge investment based on the regulations of the real Chang'an city.

Many viewers feel that investing huge sums of money in building a filming base is too wasteful? This is a matter of opinion. The investment in "Avatar" was 230 million U.S. dollars, equivalent to 1.5 billion yuan, and it finally earned about 19 billion yuan at the box office, establishing its throne in the history of the film, and the subsequent benefits are even more continuous. .

Among them, the construction of the film and television city is not to be demolished after the filming is completed. The film and television company cooperates with the local government to build the film and television city after the filming is completed, and it is regarded as a filming film and television city or a tourist project open to the public. . Some costume crews filming TV series of the Tang Dynasty, or movies of the Tang Dynasty, can stay in the hotel for filming. The related operating income is very considerable, and it can also be treated as an investment project. An investment project of 1 billion may be too much for a movie. There are many, but as a company project, it is not necessarily a waste, but an investment behavior.

This work is one of Chen Kaige’s favorite works, and Huang Xuan and Zhang Yuqi’s interpretation is even more impressive. The story is based on the plot of the original work about the “demon cat” who can speak human language. , the main protagonists are Bai Juyi, Japanese eminent monks, Chen Yunqiao and his wife, etc. A fantastic atmosphere surrounds this group of people, the graceful relationships between people, the unclear entanglements between things, and even more people and " The numerous connections between the "demon cat" and "white crane" form an unprecedented fantasy masterpiece. It can be seen that Chen Kaige's strength has always been online. "Farewell My Concubine" has been a classic for so many years, which is also a testimony of his strength.

Finally, there is the box office. The domestic box office of "The Legend of the Demon Cat" is 520 million, and the Japanese box office is 1 billion yen. There are also other countries. According to incomplete statistics, it is indeed profitable, making a full profit. It is a photography city, so investment and income are extremely risky, especially for movies. But for the audience, it is a good movie, the pictures are so beautiful, and the Tang Dynasty really lives up to its name.