independent filmmaker

From 1992 to 1994, Xie Lansheng's film shooting also experienced ups and downs.

In 1992, after the "Southern Tour" in the spring, Bill of Renaissance International sold a copy of "Rooting".A company in Paris, France bought it for 10 pounds, and Renaissance charged a 20% agency fee according to the contract.Xie Lansheng thought that even without Xin Ye's "guaranteed sales agreement", Bill would probably be able to sell, and felt that he owed that man a little less.In this year of foreign exchange control, the "official price" and "market price" are different. There are two tracks. Xie Lansheng gave part of the British pound to several immigrant families, and the other parents transferred the equivalent amount of RMB to Lansheng's account.

After payment from Japan and France, Xie Lansheng had 21 US dollars. At that time, the exchange rate between the British pound and the US dollar was still at one to two.Xie Lansheng repaid the investor's 20 principal first, and then called the other party half of the "earnings" as promised, which is 45, and took the other half to shoot the next movie.After finishing these accounts, Xie Lansheng credited the debts to Xin Ye directly into the visa card, and asked Qi Yong to say something again.Qi Yong was shocked for a while, and asked, "Have you two broken up?" Xie Lansheng was very confused, and he hesitated.

In the same year, Xie Lansheng made another "Beautiful Sea" in spite of the ban.The sound engineer was that Cen Chen—he had resigned from Xiying early on, and the film bureau could not control him. The photographer was a commercial shooter, and the leading actor was a Taiwanese who was seeking development in Hong Kong. After "Growing Roots" won the award in Turin, Xie Lansheng had a wide range of resources, and got many Hong Kong journalists' phone numbers there.Xiaohong and Xiaolu are still assistants, and they don't care about the film bureau.

"The Beautiful Sea" was shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival in 1993, which shocked Xie Lansheng.It didn't win the prize, but Xie Lansheng, who had already spent all his money, sold the copyright, and sold it in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan at the same time, earning about 45 US dollars, of which the US copyright was 20 US dollars, and the British copyright was 10 US dollars. It is 10 pounds, and the Japanese copyright is 45 US dollars.At that time, the renminbi also began to depreciate sharply, and the US$400 was equivalent to about [-] million RMB. Xie Lansheng's waist was bulging, although the funds were still difficult to return to China.

Xie Lansheng did not attend the award ceremony because he did not have a passport, and because he was misbehaving again, Xie Lansheng's 8-year ban was extended again until the end of 2001, but he didn't care.

From June 1993 to June 6, Xie Lansheng, who felt that he was "very rich", made two films at once, one called "Shankan" and the other called "Black and White".

He himself prefers "The Mountain Pass", and felt that he was in good condition in all aspects when filming "The Mountain Pass", but he showed some fatigue in the film "Black and White".

The heroine of this movie is dumb and very beautiful, but her husband is mentally ill.The hero "I" in the film loves the mute, but doesn't understand why his "fairy" married her husband.It was only later that he heard that the mute was originally from another province, and was "abducted" to this place. She was not born dumb, but was made dumb by her parents-in-law.She can't write, and if she can't speak, she will be locked here for the rest of her life, and other people in the village support her parents-in-law. The hero "I" is very hesitant.Once, when the husband "fell sick" again, "I" was so impulsive that I pushed him away, only to find out that the husband had fallen to his death the next day.After the death of her husband, the hostess continued to stay in the local area and raise her children. "I" wanted to help her escape, but dared not, because the dumb in-laws saw that they pushed someone to death that day, so they chose to solve it privately in order not to call the police .At the end, "I" liked the dumb girl so much that I ran to the city to call the police and surrendered myself. A row of police cars drove into the village and took away the "dumb girl". The way the hero "I" loves is not to possess but to let her free.In the end, faced with all this, the mute girl "told" the police that her husband was not actually dead at the time, but she picked up his head and slammed it on the corner of the table, and then he died.The mute girl calmly walked into the most unfree cell, but for her, it was also the freest place.

The reason why it is named "Shankan" is because this story happened in a small village on a certain mountain ridge.At the end of the film, before being taken away by the police, the mute girl looked at those villagers who had long been numb, ran up the mountain, stared at the same Zhuangzi, but could not wake it up.

Out of his preference for it, Xie Lansheng used it to compete.

But he never expected that the organizing committee of the film festival that had just changed the director of the film selection thought that the clip of the "police" rescuing the mute in the end seemed to be promoting the government. Appeared, it can even be directly replaced by "Black and White" to participate in the main competition unit.

Xie Lansheng was really stunned.

He tried to explain to the other party that this was a true story. In the story, the dumb girl was really brought out by the local police.

However, if the other party refuses to accept the soft and hard, it feels that there is political propaganda.

Xie Lansheng was also very disappointed, and the two sides quarreled in the end. Xie Lansheng asked: "If an American movie ends with an American policeman, do you think it's not OK? If an American movie ends with an American judge, isn't it okay? China Where is it different? Are you prejudiced?"

They quarreled and quarreled, and the other party finally came to a conclusion: "If you can't switch to "Black and White", then don't come this year."

Xie Lansheng also got angry and said, "If you don't go, you won't go!"

After a pause, he said again: "You are biased. I won't think about going after you have been elected as the chairman of the film for the past few years! Bye!!"

snort!

Xie Lansheng knew that although the selection team for the Cannes Film Festival consisted of 10 people, and 5 of them watched foreign films, in the end the chairman of the film festival, the chairman of the film selection, a director, a reporter, and a film lover jointly decided the shortlist. In fact, the chairman or director of film selection often decides everything by himself, and he finishes watching it at home alone.They really don't like "Shankan", forget it.

After putting down the phone, Xie Lansheng also felt very tired.

He was afraid that if he compromised too much, the edges and corners would disappear.

He had heard that film festivals were politically inclined, and The Hills proved that to be true.Think about it carefully, the Cannes Film Festival is funded by the French National Film and Television Center, the Provence Regional Government and the Cannes City Government, the Venice Film Festival is funded by the Italian Ministry of Culture, and the Berlin Film Festival is funded by the Federal Government’s Ministry of Culture. , although, this year's new director of film selection seems to be especially... What's worse, the chairman of these movie machines changes every year, but the director of film selection has been doing it for several years.

Why is it so difficult to tell a good story without letting the director say good things and bad things at the same time?There are always "good" and "bad" in a movie from beginning to end. Is the focus of "Shankan" on the police?No, it's the dumb, it's "I".

He felt that such a good thing as a movie should be a tool for the benefit of mankind, not a weapon for national war. He might be too naive.Human beings and countries sometimes conflict, and only time can tell where the balance is.They need to move forward bit by bit, pay attention to the results, and test the boundaries.

Xie Lansheng also understands the complexity of politics, but he still can't help thinking: Are you too sensitive?How many people can watch a Chinese literary film?Do you really like China and hate China because of a story?The police are "good" so you like them, and the police are "bad" so you hate them?So what if you like it and hate it?Also, if someone loves or hates a movie, is he himself at fault?Or a film director?

The movie became like this. In the end, a group of directors flattered one side, and another group of directors flattered that side, and many things changed.

Xie Lansheng really couldn't figure it out.

On the night of "arguing" with the chairman, Xie Lansheng saw a xx summit on TV, and the people on it were like actors watching carefully for the audience. Suddenly, a sentence emerged in his mind: movies are smart politics; politics, It's a brilliant movie.

…………

After such an incident, Xie Lansheng didn't bother to take "Shankan" to participate in film festivals, including all film festivals. He didn't want to go through those quarrels before Cannes again.

Maybe he won't be bothered to go in the future.

Anyway, he still has money, and a lot of it, so he can make several more movies. Bill of "Renaissance International" sold "Rooting" for another 10 pounds, which is 15 US dollars after the devaluation of the pound.

Xie Lansheng, who decided not to go to the film festival, began to travel around China with "Shankan".

In 1994, "cafés" in large and medium-sized cities in China sprung up like mushrooms.

Xie Lansheng thought that most of the customers in the "coffee shop" were more "artistic", and might like movies, so he took "Shankan" to talk with each coffee shop, saying that he could help the other party create characteristics, attract customers, win competition, and increase profits. .He said that he can show movies, so that young literary and artistic people can watch three or four literary and artistic movies in their cafes that cannot be seen in cinemas and cannot be bought on the market. Among them, "Rooting" was once held in Turin. It won the best picture, and "The Beautiful Sea" entered the competition unit in Cannes, and these are all Chinese films.Xie Lansheng also said that if someone wants to watch a movie, he will definitely order something more after sitting for 90 minutes, and then consume it.

He said that he moved a lot of bosses.

These bosses agreed that Lan Sheng sent a white cloth to show the film to attract literary and artistic youth.Customers who come to the cafe can watch movies if they want to watch movies, and chat by themselves if they want to chat without delay-Xie Lansheng is not short of funds, so he subtitled the movie.

The screening turned out to be very good.

Many customers like it very much, especially young girls.They were fascinated by it, and some even sobbed softly.

Xie Lansheng felt that, sure enough, movies should be watched by people.

He just wanted to shoot at the very beginning, and everything stemmed from creative impulse.But after these few years, Xie Lansheng is not satisfied anymore.

How charming the movie is.He doesn't want his films to be seen only by Europeans and Americans, he also hopes that his films can be seen by Chinese as well, the latter being more meaningful.

At a young level, Xie Lansheng wants to be affirmed and praised, but at a high level, it is also for the people in the film and those outside the film.The people in the film get attention and gradually get out of the predicament, and the people outside the film get thinking, change, and growth.Xie Lansheng has always believed that the most important thing in a person's life is neither power nor money, but the continuous growth of the heart.

But after all, the coffee shop is not specially used to show movies, Xie Lansheng is also working very hard while being seen by others.

Xie Lansheng had to make adjustments according to the actual situation, so in the end some curtains were high and some were low, some were large and some were small.The windows of some cooperative coffee shops are too big and too bright, and Xie Lansheng had to cover them.

What makes Xie Lansheng most helpless is that the cafe has skylights.

At this time, he had to climb up the ladder and use big cardboard to cover the skylight.

To cover the skylight with big cardboard, you must use two hands, one hand to cover and the other hand to stick. Xie Lansheng trembled every time he was on the ladder.

Once, because the large glass windows of the cafe were so high, he could only cover them by standing on the top rung of the ladder.

Xie Lansheng's ankles trembled, but he persisted, pressing the cardboard to block the light, just to show his movie to four or five people in the coffee shop.

He has no logo.Since China does not allow public screenings, it is also good to show a few people in a coffee shop.

However, when Xie Lansheng put on the last piece of transparent glue, a child raised his leg and kicked the ladder violently!Want to see him fall!

Just as the child wished, Xie Lansheng really fell when he was about to finish his work.

Afraid of hurting his internal organs, he used his right leg to support the floor tiles when he landed, but even though he immediately supported the ground with his hands, Xie Lansheng still heard a "click" from his leg!At the same time, my calf hurts!

He fell to the ground at that time, hugged his right leg, and took a deep breath.He covered his deformed leg, feeling like a dog, crawling and rolling on the ground, and heard the child giggling.

The child's parents sent Xie Lansheng to the hospital. After taking an X-ray, the doctor's diagnosis was that all the big and small bones were broken.

Xie Lansheng underwent an operation at that hospital and had steel nails inserted. The doctor said that his leg could recover but he had to stay in bed for three months.

When the anesthetic wore off, Xie Lansheng was in so much pain that he couldn't sleep.

He didn't understand, he just wanted to show four or five people the movies he made, why did he have a broken bone?

Why is it so difficult to get everyone to watch his films?

He didn't dare to let his parents know, for fear that Li Jingrou would say that he deserved it, and he couldn't tell his friends——Zhang Shijie, Wang Zhongmin, and the others wouldn't understand him either. Moreover, after all, friends were just friends, and there was always a layer of separation between them. A way to make one of your many friends as important as yourself.

At that time, Xie Lansheng received a message from his former comrade-in-arms Sun Fengmao.

The two of them responded differently to Universal's request to change the ending in Turin (Chapter 28), and their relationship faded a bit after that, but the connection remained.

Xie Lansheng turned on Motorola's BP player, and saw Sun Fengmao send several messages in succession.

One is: [I regret it. 】

The other one is: ["Play" was smashed. 】

Xie Lansheng: "..."

Before Sun Fengmao sent the news, he had already heard what Bill said. "Playing" re-shot an ending for the American version, changing it from "the protagonist child ran out on a rainy day but was involved in a car accident" to "the parents of the child repented and the family was happy again". However, what Sun Fengmao did not expect was that the American version was changing After the ending, it was designated as a children's film. Universal Pictures took "Play" to participate in the Boston Film Festival, but the organizing committee made "Play" shortlisted for the "Children's Film Unit". The box office was dismal, and European sales companies lost interest after seeing it, and instead of continuing to promote "Play", they chose to promote other things, and "Play" was thrown into the warehouse.

"Play" suffered a global defeat because of changing the ending.

Xie Lansheng's "Rooting" was well received in literary theaters.

"..." Xie Lansheng put down the BP player, not wanting to go back to Sun Fengmao for the time being, thinking about that man again.

He remembered that Xin Ye once said to him, "I will regret it, so what?" "In order to cater to the market, he will change his biggest characteristics and turn his products into mediocre things. He will regret it one day." .”

Xinye hit the mark again, just like before.

In the dark night, the severe pain in Xie Lansheng's calf struck again.

He couldn't tell his parents about the pain, nor could he tell his friends that it was the first time he felt so lonely on a hospital bed.

Because Xie Lansheng was hospitalized alone, he recklessly recalled Xinye. He lay on his back on the pillow, thinking of the only person who had said "love" and "distressed" to him. He didn't know whether it was because of the pain or something. Tears slid down the corner of his eyes, and he called: "Xinye, I hurt..."

There was no answer in the empty ward.

Xie Lansheng thought, anyway, Xinye didn't know, he could do whatever he wanted, so he grabbed the bed sheet with both hands, looked at the ceiling, and called over and over again: "Xinye, I hurt..."

The author has something to say:

When Zhang Yimou participated in Cannes in 1999, he was asked to replace "No One Less" with "My Father and Mother" because he believed that the latter promoted politics. Zhang Yimou broke up with Cannes and did not send a single film. However, some people questioned The truth of the matter...

I really don't like to mention zz, but independent films in the 90s can't get around it at all. The attitude of the film bureau and the attitude of the film festival, fortunately, there is nothing behind it!