Chapter 549: Sino-Korean co-production, reaching the pinnacle of “The Handmaiden”

It was not until 92 when China and South Korea formally established diplomatic relations that more exchanges and interactions began to emerge in the film industries of the two countries.

After entering 2000, China-South Korea film cooperation entered a new track. Initially, the cooperation between the two countries was mainly based on China providing location shooting, such as “Flying Dance” and “Seven Swords”.

Starting from 03, a cooperation mode based on investment and human resources cooperation emerged, which enriched the content of cooperation and opened a new stage. This cooperation model has been used ever since.

From the new century to 2008, it was the embryonic stage of cooperation between the two sides.

After 09, it was a period of exploration for cooperation.

In 2009, a number of films jointly invested and produced by China and South Korea appeared, broadening the depth of China-South Korea film cooperation, such as “Perfect Match”, “Dating My Ex-Wife”, “A Dog’s Tale 2”, “Late Autumn”, etc.

Recently, both China and South Korea are willing to deepen cooperation, increase the quality and quantity of co-productions, promote the film industries of the two countries, and achieve win-win results.

In another two years, in 2014, the two countries will sign the “China-South Korea Film Co-production Agreement”, and the number of co-production films between the two countries will increase further. “The Third Way of Love” and “The Bounty Hunter” were both produced on this basis, and the film industry exchanges between the two countries entered a new era.

This stage is a period of prosperity.

To be honest…Korean Wave is really scary.

If it weren’t for the sudden ban on Korean culture.

The domestic entertainment industry is about to be crippled by Korean actors and idols.

I can’t beat him. I can’t beat him at all…

Korean actors and idols are simply the secret code to traffic.

There are many cases of China-Korea co-productions, which look good, but the actual situation is very bad!

Ideology, social system, and cultural differences are just minor issues.

The big problem is that the differences in production systems lead to uneven profit distribution.

Everyone wants to have the biggest piece of cake.

Although Dongda has a vast entertainment market, it has always been at a disadvantage in negotiations with the Koreans.

This has something to do with the tributes from all nations coming to Dongda.

We have always been generous to our younger brothers who surrender.

I am not afraid of the people around me making trouble, I am just afraid of the people around me kneeling down and crying poor…

Based on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, this year the two sides opened a huge gap in the entertainment, cultural and economic sectors, even bigger than that of Hollywood.

As a latecomer, Li Mingyang feels that this is a grand cultural strategy from above.

Form alliances and make alliances to form an Asian cultural circle between China and South Korea to counter the powerful ships and guns of Hollywood!
If a country can’t even protect its own cinemas, what culture can it talk about?
The above policy is that the big brother leads the younger brothers.

This is the case from the perspective of national strength.

But Chinese entertainment is not the big brother of Korean entertainment at all…

A very cruel fact is that although the three major domestic companies have won a lot, Korea has won nothing.

But the Korean film industry is much stronger than that of China!
The reason why this happened is a very complicated historical issue.

Domestic academic cliques advocated literature and art, and commercial films developed very late.

South Korea is a country that has both art and commerce.

It is a rare combination of commercial and art films in the world, where the boundary between art films and commercial films is very blurred.

Even art films can get crazy box office in South Korea.

Korea, which relies on the screenwriter-centered system, has a content creation system comparable to that of Hollywood. Screenwriters have enormous power, and the ability to write scripts is a must-have skill for a big director.

Most domestic directors come from a photography background.

This has led to a disagreement, that is, domestic films are very good at shooting large scenes, storyboards, and layouts.

But there are very, very few directors who can tell a good story.

Korean movies as a whole lack control over large scenes, have a strong rustic flavor, and use a lot of close-ups and face shots.

But Korean directors are really good at telling stories!
Due to various reasons, such as too many people in charge, cultural differences, communication barriers, etc., Sino-Korean co-productions have experienced many failures and have begun to take the path of remakes.

Mainly they are remakes of excellent Korean movies from the mainland.

The upper limit of remakes is not high, but the lower limit is very stable.

Because the mainland remakes are mainly the comedies and romances that South Korea is best at.

The cost is very low.

It was not until Return to Twenty that the film became a small hit in the country, and Sino-Korean co-productions really found the right way to cooperate.

One drama, two versions, Chinese and Korean!
While socializing, Li Mingyang was thinking about various aspects of Sino-Korean co-productions.

Finished the meal.

Everyone moved to the rest area behind the screen and started talking about business.

Li Mingyang thought that the senior executives of China Film Group and CJ were having dinner together and called him over to discuss the Sino-Korean co-production.

He could accept the cooperation between China Film and CJ.

Lotte! He would never accept it even if he was beaten to death.

Who knew that what everyone was talking about was not the Sino-Korean co-production, but Cannes!

Not just the Cannes Film Festival, but also the Venice Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival.

Zuoshan Diao started talking about the inextricable relationship between the University of Tokyo and the three major European universities.

The person we talked about the most was Master Zhang.

The reason why Zhang Guoshi became the number one director in mainland China was that he made a great success in the three major European films and won many international awards.

The number of awards won by Zhang Yimou at the three major European film festivals is truly unmatched, making him the first person in Asia to do so.

The only regret is that it did not collect all three European awards, missing the Cannes Palme d’Or.

As for the Cannes Palme d’Or, only one person from China has won it, and that’s Brother Kaizi.

Zuoshandiao was bragging, and the others echoed him and provided additional explanations.

After listening for more than an hour, Zuo Shandiao picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea, looked at Li Mingyang, and said, “Do you understand the situation of the three major European countries?”

“Ah.”

“Whether it’s domestic or foreign, winning any award requires public relations.” Zuoshandiao said in a deep voice: “You want to win the top three in Europe, which is very ambitious. I support you very much.”

What’s going on?

I won’t go to Hollywood again…

The easiest way to get the three major European countries is to go through Hollywood.

Art also needs to make a living. The three major European artists don’t want to be locked in Europe and can only lick Hollywood’s boots.

As long as you do well in Hollywood, it is very easy to get one of the top three in Europe.

Of course, if you are doing well in Hollywood, who would care about the three major European…

But it’s incredibly difficult to make it in Hollywood!
The timing for Zhang Yimou, Li Lianjie and Jackie Chan to enter Hollywood was perfect.

This situation changed after 05. After Hollywood established its global dominance, it began to engage in militarism, bribery, infiltration, and suppression of other cultures.

This is not capital-intensive.

This is very detrimental to the development of Hollywood.

But zzzq is the most important thing.

The backstage of Hollywood is the donkey party.

How difficult is it to survive in Hollywood nowadays?

Li Mingyang even felt that his road to fame in the mainland could be said to be smooth sailing.

It offended most of the entertainment industry, including the booming Huayi and the Hong Kong leader Yinghuang.

Still no one can do anything to me.

Even people in the Beijing and Hong Kong circles get a headache when they see him and don’t want to see him.

But it’s different in Hollywood. The producer-centered system alone is enough to make things difficult for him, plus there are all kinds of unspoken rules, political correctness, human relationships, and ulterior motives in Hollywood.

In addition, there are various deconstructive films that are well-known in China.

Filming a movie? What the hell!

I’m exhausted.

Hollywood is a political conspiracy!

P. Diddy and Loli D are just the tip of the iceberg.

Domestic entertainment is the same as the Chinese national football team, it just can’t be helped.

But Hollywood is so rotten and dark!

My mother was forced to stay in China at first, and now she doesn’t want to go back to the United States…

“Thank you, Mr. Han, I won’t go to Hollywood.” Li Mingyang said with a clear attitude.

“Of course we will go, but there is no rush right now. Let’s talk about the big three in Europe.” Zuoshandiao waved his hand and said with a smile, “I have discussed with President Li several times. It will be no problem for you to go to the big three in Europe in Korea… Don’t think that we can’t control you just because you are in Korea. As a big director in China, you will always be in shackles!”

Li Mingyang rolled his eyes.

I can shoot however I want, I understand it better than you.

Zuoshan Diao took out a red panda from his pocket, threw one to Li Mingyang, lit one for himself, and then puffed out smoke and said, “When will your soul mate who will see you again be together? Is she a lesbian?”

“Goodbye I’m going to release it in the country, it’s just a simple friendship between girls.”

“Would you film lesbians?”

The room suddenly fell silent, as no one expected Zuoshandiao to ask that question.

“Yes! That’s a very simple thing.” Li Mingyang shrugged indifferently.

“What are you going to shoot next? The script of Wushuang is still stuck there. If you want to shoot it, you can do a Sino-Korean co-production.”

“Not ready yet.”

“Not interested in Wushuang anymore?”

“Commercial films can be made at any time.”

“I know what you are thinking, but I can tell you that if you want to skip China Film and shoot The Greatest Show in Korea, no matter how you shoot it, it will never be released in China. The power to import films is in my hands.” Zuoshandiao said in a deep voice.

Li Mingyang nodded honestly, but thought to himself: “You haven’t lived for many years… why are you jumping around?”

Seeing that Li Mingyang’s attitude was okay, Zuo Shandiao nodded and said, “Wushuang is just a script for a commercial film. The three major European filmmakers won’t buy into it. If you want to win the three major European film awards, you must first know what they want. Social reality, humanistic care, creativity, and openness are all essential. Lesbianism is a good theme.”

“After all, it’s just 18+.”

“It’s easier said than done… You can think the awards are unfair, but you can’t think all the judges are idiots.” “They’re not idiots, but they can pretend to be deaf and dumb! Let’s not talk about the distant past. Let’s just say that Jiang Wenshisan nominated zero hits. Those people must have known about it, but they just didn’t say it.”

Li Mingyang brings up everything.

The senior executives at China Film Corporation were so scared that they lowered their heads.

Jiang Wen has become a clown, and isn’t Zuoshandiao also a clown?

Unexpectedly, Zuo Shandiao laughed instead of getting angry: “So you get tens of millions of subsidies a year. There are only so many subsidies in total. If you get more, others will get less.”

When talking about the promotion funding for Huabu Culture’s overseas expansion, Li Mingyang immediately became interested. He was curious as to whether there was an upper limit and what the upper limit was.

Although the General Administration said it was one million per film.

But there are countermeasures from above and policies from below. We can set up more projects, or divide a drama into five seasons and get the money for five seasons.

When I inquired about this top, I found out that it was as much as 50 million. If you do a good job and make achievements, there will be other good policies.

These are all government subsidies that do not require tax!
The big cake that so many people fought for was given to him just like that.

Sure enough, everyone loves the policy…

This is the biggest trend in the country!

Since Zuoshandiao has mentioned the top, it means he is encouraged to take it. If he doesn’t take it, he will be letting down the country!
“Let’s get back to the European Big Three. If you want to win an award, you can’t just be a lesbian. You also need a profound theme and the complexity of human nature…”

Zuo Shandiao took a puff of his cigarette and continued, “Humanity in history, the minority in humanity… focusing on the little people and marginalized people, and bringing out thought-provoking social issues, this is the trick for art films to win awards. If you add some ideologies that cater to them, it will be an award-winning work.”

Zuoshandiao is talking about the public’s perception, media reports, and artists’ pursuits, but movies are no longer pure.

The biggest difference between commercial films and art films is actually the purpose!

Commercial films pursue box office, while art films pursue awards.

Commercial films have a mature set of industrial standards for profitability.

Special effects action blockbuster!

Art films actually have a set of mature templates and routines for winning awards.

The preferences and likes of the three major European countries are well known.

The Venice Film Festival focuses more on the film’s exploration of human nature and the artistry of the film itself, and encourages film innovation.

For example, Joker not only has a very high artistic value, but its exploration of human nature is more in line with the tone of the Venice Film Festival.

Cannes prefers films with realistic themes and artistic value.

For example, “Parasite”, which won the Palme d’Or, explores the social class contradictions in South Korea throughout the film. In today’s society where polarization is becoming increasingly serious, it is very worthy of discussion.

When selecting excellent films, the Berlin Film Festival prefers films that are more politically correct after balancing business and art.

For example, Chinese films that have won the Golden Bear Award include “Black Coal, Thin Ice”, “Red Sorghum”, “Scented Soul”, and “The Wedding Banquet”.

Because the entries to these three European film festivals are exclusive, if you enter one you cannot enter the other two.

So no matter how great the work is, the best it can do is win an award at one of Berlin/Cannes/Venice as well as an Oscar.

The European Big Three have some well-known features and rules.

There are also some regional unspoken rules.

For example, the three major European universities are very hypocritical towards Tokyo University.

Films that depict poverty and backwardness in the East, that expose the dark side of society, and films that depict rural suffering are the ticket to the three major film festivals.

Truth, goodness, and beauty? Prosperity and wealth? Go cool off.

Then the Koreans will make award-winning movies according to the standards of the three major European countries against the University of Tokyo.

He madly dug deep into the dark side of domestic society, but won few awards.

From a certain perspective, the three major European organizations are really “tolerant” towards domestic films. As long as a film sells out its country, it will be shortlisted. The more tragic the film, the more likely it is to win an award.

“Your next movie will be invested by China Film and CJ together. We will help you win awards together, but you can only use Korean history and social status to shoot the movie. You cannot mention a single word about China. Do you understand?” Zuoshandiao said in a deep voice.

Li Mingyang was stunned. Isn’t this operation exactly what he had dreamed of?
“no problem!”

Li Mingyang wanted to hesitate.

But he hesitated. Zuoshandiao thought he was corrupted and what to do if he changed his mind.

His original intention has never changed!

……

“Goodbye, put that aside for now. Take a few days to write me a story outline and I’ll find a script for you.” Zuoshandiao said without allowing any room for rebuttal.

“Are you going to steal the script…” Li Mingyang complained directly.

The room suddenly became quiet again. Everyone in the room knew that Zuoshandiao wanted to give Li Mingyang’s script to Feng Kuazi to film.

It’s just that Li Mingyang was too stubborn and ignored all threats and temptations.

I have to take the photo myself.

The reason why Li Mingyang was not integrated into the domestic film circle and took a completely different path from all other Dongda film directors was because of the bouquet.

“You have to achieve results this year.” Zuoshandiao seemed very anxious and his tone became very domineering.

Li Mingyang lit the cigarette in his hand, took a puff, and said confidently: “I don’t need other people’s scripts, I have my own.”

Zuoshandiao frowned and said, “Lingya’s Journey? The special effects movie is dead.”

Li Mingyang shook his head: “It’s not Lingya’s Journey, I want to buy the film adaptation rights of a British novel.”

“Which novel?” Zuo Shandiao suddenly became interested and slapped his thigh. “That’s a good idea. Use the shell of a European novel to reconstruct the narrative!”

“City of Thorns.”

……

“In a large manor on the outskirts of London, there lived Mr. Leary and his niece Maud. Mr. Leary had a perverse personality and forced Maud to sort and read books in the library all day long.

The poor girl had never stepped out of the manor since she was a child, and lived a life in darkness.

One day, the intrusion of a stranger brought life to Maud’s long-dried soul. He was Rainford, who came to teach Maud to paint. But God knows, Rainford’s real identity was actually a thief. He heard that Maud had a dowry of 4 pounds, so he came up with the idea of ​​making money by defrauding her in marriage.

In order to ensure success, Rivers recruited Suda from the theft gang to help. After arrangements, Sue became Maud’s personal maid.

With careful planning step by step, things developed as Rivers expected. What he didn’t know was that Maude and Sue had developed a true love. Sue felt more and more guilty and self-blamed. Seeing that Maude was about to be sent to a mental hospital, Sue was heartbroken.

But things quickly took a turn for the worse. It turned out that everything was not as simple as Su had imagined. A big conspiracy that had been carefully brewing for more than a decade was waiting for everyone. A truth that was like a bolt from the blue was about to be revealed. “

……

History, conspiracy, love, the lady and the maid…

Lee Myung-yang’s next movie will be Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden.

I’m just an old guy who likes a dirty story.

This is Park Chan-wook’s evaluation of himself. How fitting! How modest.

This little old guy is awesome… He’s one of the top directors in the Korean film industry.

A master who turns erotic films into true art films!

Li Mingyang was still not able to react when Zuoshandiao talked about lesbians, until he heard about history and human nature.

This movie immediately came to my mind!

There are novels and there are concepts.

After Li Mingyang expressed his thoughts about the movie Miss, Zuo Shandiao and Li Meijin both liked the movie very much.

As a result, both parties quickly signed the contract that had been prepared long ago around Li Mingyang.

After signing the contract and exchanging pleasantries for a while, Li Meijin and her group saw Zuoshandiao off downstairs.

Li Mingyang went to the room upstairs to write the script for Miss. He slept too much today and was not sleepy at all at night.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but Li Mingyang had figured out the young lady’s three-act narrative technique when there was a knock on the door.

Li Mingyang put down his pen, walked to the door, and through the peephole, saw Li Meijin standing outside the door.

“President Li, is there anything I can do for you so late?” Li Mingyang said as he opened the door.

Li Meijin smiled kindly and walked into the room.

Li Mingyang closed the door, not knowing what Li Meijin was up to.

Li Meijin entered the room without saying a word. She rummaged through the drawers and cabinets, looking for all the places where people could hide, and then sat down on the chair.

“Director Li, let’s sit down and talk.”

“Ah.”

“Zhongying Han’s plan is very beneficial to CJ and you.” Li Meijin paused, the smile on her face faded, and she shook her head, “But I don’t recommend you accept his arrangement.”

“Since both are beneficial, why not continue?” Li Mingyang didn’t understand.

Li Meijin did not answer directly, but changed the subject and asked, “Director Li, why did you choose Korea as the second stop of your career?”

“It’s very simple. The Koreans can film anything. It’s not like the headache of having to review someone in shackles in China…” said Li Mingyang.

“But I think you are more like a businessman,” said Li Meijin.

“All the directors at the University of Tokyo are like businessmen, aren’t they?”

Li Meijin was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, “Director Li’s thinking is really clear. In this case, I will just say it directly… You were excluded. Do you understand this?”

“This is a very speechless thing.” Li Mingyang sighed.

“It’s a bit sad, but it’s inevitable… If the film industry is anchored in finance and the Internet, there will be no outliers, and of course… there will be no leading figures.”

Zuoshandiao must step down. If he doesn’t, many people will not be able to sleep.

“He can’t stay in that position for too long, but as long as he stays for one day, he will still be a mountain eagle. From a business perspective, he is giving us a big gift, so there is no reason for us not to accept it.”

“Don’t you suspect he has other purposes?”

“As a Chinese saying goes, ‘go with the flow and push the boat forward.’ I think this plan is very suitable for me, as if it was tailor-made for me. No matter what other purposes he has, as long as I can achieve my own goals, it will be a win-win situation.” Li Mingyang directly expressed his attitude.

Li Meijin smiled bitterly and said nothing.

Li Mingyang’s dedication to the award has turned into an obsession.

The reason for this obsession is the award itself.

The director who won three awards at the Tokyo University and never received any awards for his work as a commercial director is actually a genius in art films.

Bouquet should be given an award, at least for best screenplay.

However, it does not.

(End of this chapter)