(I am confused when writing this. The timeline is still 2004, but the Golden Melody Awards have already been presented. The 16th session was in 2005, so the Golden Melody Awards ceremony was deleted.)
In the Workers’ Stadium in Yanjing, the atmosphere was extremely warm.

“(English) Are you Shen Lang?” A somewhat cold voice sounded.

“Who are you?” Shen Lang responded with some confusion.

It turned out that he was invited by Zhang Yimou to attend the global premiere celebration of “House of Flying Daggers” as a guest.

Today’s scene was star-studded. In addition to the main actors and creative staff of the film, popular artists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong, such as Li Zongsheng, Zhang Xinzhe, Tong An’ge, Chen Huilin, A-du, 87 Girls Group, Han Hong, Pu Shu, Dao Lang and heavyweight singers such as the Twelve Girls Band were all present. However, the moment he appeared, the whole audience’s attention was instantly focused on him, and he unsurprisingly became the only focus.

The person who spoke to him with a cold face was the opera queen, American soprano Katherine Battle, who would sing the Olympic anthem at the Athens Olympics. She was also the singer of the theme song of “House of Flying Daggers”.

This movie is undoubtedly the most anticipated martial arts blockbuster this year. It has also created countless mysteries. Just like its title, it contains too many suspense. Previously, the media paid the most attention to its theme song.

At the beginning, there were rumors that Zhang Ziyi and Liu Dehua would be the lead singers, which instantly sparked heated discussions. But then, a statement to refute the rumors came out, saying that the theme song only had the melody, but no singer. Later, it was revealed that the film crew had found Shen Lang to tailor-make and sing the theme song for the movie. However, in the face of these rumors, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping remained tight-lipped and refused to reveal a single word, which made people speculate and unable to reach a consensus.

Zhang Yimou has been taking the international route since “Hero”. This time when preparing for “House of Flying Daggers”, he naturally wants to use the influence of international superstars to further enhance the global attention of the film. In his mind, the most ideal candidate is undoubtedly Shen Lang.

I did go to Shen Lang to discuss cooperation, and at that time I talked about playing the leading male role in the movie. But unfortunately he had a world tour this year and really couldn’t spare the time, so he had to politely decline the invitation.

Therefore, Zhang Yimou quickly adjusted his strategy and set his sights on Catherine. Firstly, as an internationally renowned opera queen, her influence should not be underestimated. Secondly, the movie was scheduled to be released at the end of July, and the Olympic Games would open in mid-August, which was a clever connection in timing. He could use the popularity of her singing at the Olympics to add fuel to the movie, thus killing two birds with one stone.

However, this Catherine is quite difficult to serve. Perhaps it is because she has won the Grammy Award five times in a row, is a world-renowned star, has been active in the world’s top song and dance theaters, and was the singer of the theme song of the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympic Games. Therefore, when she performs in various places, her style of doing things is full of “big-name” style and reveals a kind of arrogance.

Take yesterday’s incident for example. She flew to Yanjing in the morning, and it took more than six hours just to pick her up at the airport.

Why does it take so long?
She just complained that Zhang Yimou’s reception was not thoughtful enough. In the past, when she went abroad for performances, she was welcomed at the airport with at least five luxury cars, and she did not get in every car. Instead, she would get in whichever car she liked, and the rest were all empty. Three luxury cars were arranged for her welcome yesterday, but she didn’t like any of the three cars. She also complained that the air in Yanjing was not good and refused to get in one. The reception staff explained and lobbied her repeatedly for more than six hours, and finally she reluctantly got in the car. All these twists and turns show how “difficult to deal with” she is.

It is not difficult to imagine that with Catherine’s personality, when she saw Shen Lang, a Chinese singer who beat a group of American singers and swept multiple awards at the Grammy Awards, the competitive spirit in her heart arose spontaneously, and she naturally wanted to give Shen Lang a warning and suppress his arrogance.

Shen Lang has always adhered to the principle of “If you respect him one foot, he will return you ten feet; if you push for an inch, he will not give in at all”. How could he buy it when Catherine came up with such an unfriendly tone? Naturally, he would not give her a good face. To him, it doesn’t matter what the other person’s status is.

So the result is – there is no point in talking if you don’t agree.

Catherine felt that she had not gained any advantage, so she remained alone and proud, with a look of disdain on her face.

On Shen Lang’s side, the situation was completely different. He was instantly surrounded by old acquaintances, enthusiastic fans and loyal fans. Everyone was talking to each other, expressing their love for him or sharing bits and pieces related to his music. The atmosphere was extremely warm, which formed a sharp contrast with Catherine’s side.

“Shen Lang!”

“Director Zhang.”

Not long after, Zhang Yimou found Shen Lang in the crowd. He first thanked him for coming, then changed the subject and said solemnly, “At the closing ceremony of every Olympic Games, there is a convention that the city that will host the next Olympic Games will be given 8 minutes to showcase the culture of the city and the country’s understanding of the Olympics. Are you aware of this?”

Shen Lang raised his lips slightly, smiled and nodded, and replied: “Of course I know, you are also the director of the ‘Yanjing 8 Minutes’ performance at the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympics.”

Zhang Yimou sighed softly and said with a worried look on his face: “Alas, this matter really worries me to death.”

Shen Lang remembered that in the original time and space, these 8 minutes became the darkest moment in his directorial career.

At that time, criticisms came from all sides: the performance content was old-fashioned, the form was obsolete, it was forced, it was a hodgepodge, and it did not showcase Chinese culture… Although the performance was only 8 minutes long, the doubts about him continued until the opening ceremony of the Yenching Olympics, a full four years.

The performance that day consisted of four parts:
The first part was a performance of 14 “Olympic girls” wearing traditional costumes and holding Chinese traditional musical instruments. They performed a dance of Yanjing, with “Jasmine Flower” playing in the background. However, because the Olympic girls were wearing cool and traditional red costumes, they were criticized for being out of place and showing a vulgar culture. The red lanterns were even criticized as props taken directly from the original “Red Sorghum” directed by Zhang.
The Chinese Kung Fu and Peking Opera performances in the second and third segments were said to be a bit exaggerated and not authentic, and were far from the level of those in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

In the last segment, a little girl sang “Jasmine Flower” in the form of a nursery rhyme. Many people criticized that since “Jasmine Flower” had already been played in the first segment, why was it used here again? Can “Jasmine Flower” alone represent Chinese culture?

Just like that, when Zhang Yimou returned from Athens, his reputation in the circle plummeted. From direct instructions from leaders to letters from the general public, he received a lot of bad reviews. Many people even made harsh remarks – Zhang Yimou must not be allowed to be the director of the opening ceremony of the Yanjing Olympics again.

Later, Zhang Yimou said in an interview: “During these eight minutes, the level of cursing, the occasions of cursing, the number of times of cursing and the people being cursed were all quite a lot, quite high.”

However, the feedback from the venue may be different from the criticisms mentioned above. People who attended the closing ceremony had already entered the venue two or three hours in advance. Most of them were exhausted and their attitude towards the performance was very average.

However, when Yanjing 8 Minutes began, the whole audience changed their previous tiredness and became very excited from the first link. The atmosphere reached a climax at one point. Many foreigners were extremely excited. They even specifically found Zhang Yimou and said that the director had successfully aroused their desire to go to China.

Why are there such big differences in opinions about the same performance in China and abroad?
First, foreigners view Chinese culture differently from Chinese people. Most of us are used to listening to Peking Opera, wearing cheongsam, and watching Chinese Kung Fu, and naturally we are not very interested in them. Foreigners are different. Peking Opera, cheongsam, Chinese Kung Fu, and even Chinese chopsticks are all symbols of this mysterious ancient oriental country in their eyes, which makes them yearn for it.

Secondly, the 8-minute performance stage at Yanjing was very small, only 7 meters by 7 meters, and many difficult performances had to be cancelled. Most people in China watched the show on TV and computers. The small screen of the computer, coupled with the small performance stage, naturally looked unimpressive and the effect was very poor. On the day of the show, the atmosphere in the venue was much better than in front of the computer, and there was an ultra-large high-definition projection screen on site, so the performance was naturally very good.

In fact, the version on the day of the performance had been revised many times, because Athens was not very cooperative and had many regulations. This could not be performed and that could not be performed. Therefore, the most important creative ideas alone were revised three times. Chinese culture is magnificent and more suitable to be presented on a big stage, but Athens only provided a small raised stage, which limited the performance of the show.

It was precisely because of this bad review that Zhang Yimou gave up his bid when the creative proposal solicitation for the opening ceremony of the Yanjing Olympic Games began on March 2005, 3. Later, a leader kept looking for him, saying that he should contribute to the country, so he convened a team and began preparing for the bidding for the opening ceremony plan. Finally, at the bidding meeting, his team beat out the teams of Li An, Chen Kaige and others and was successfully elected as the chief director of the opening ceremony of the Yanjing Olympic Games.

Shen Lang seemed to have guessed Zhang Yimou’s intention in coming to him, so he said readily: “Director Zhang, if there is anything you need my help with, please feel free to ask.” Hearing this, Zhang Yimou finally showed a relieved smile on his face, and said: “It’s like this, for this 8-minute performance, I originally prepared three programs…”

When Shen Lang heard it, he found that the content was exactly the same as the final version in his memory.

Zhang Yimou then said slowly, “The second program is a performance of Kung Fu and Peking Opera. For the Kung Fu part, I designed a Tai Chi performance. However, the feedback from above said that this arrangement is too traditional and lacks special highlights. So, I was thinking about whether I could ask you to sing a song to match the Kung Fu performance and add some different colors and vitality.”

Shen Lang guessed Zhang Yimou’s thoughts again and asked directly, “Which song do you want me to sing?”

Zhang Yimou said without hesitation, “Can you write a new song? Although time is a bit tight, the overall effect will definitely be better if it’s a new song.”

After hearing this, Shen Lang fell into a brief silence and slowly said, “Time is indeed very tight, and the key is that it is really difficult to create a song related to Tai Chi.”

When Zhang Yimou heard this, he hurriedly said, “It doesn’t have to be Tai Chi, other martial arts themes are also fine.”

Shen Lang raised his lips slightly and said, “It just so happens that I have two songs that I wrote a while ago. See if they can meet the needs of this performance.”

Zhang Yimou’s eyes lit up immediately and he said excitedly, “That’s great!”

Shen Lang continued, “Okay, I’ll arrange for someone to send you the tape of the song later.”

He didn’t have to attend the closing ceremony.

However, since Zhang Yimou asked for help, he felt he could help.

Because he was going to attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Yanjing Olympic Games.

After chatting for a while, all the staff were ready. The enthusiastic fans and moviegoers sat in the stands, holding glow sticks, waiting for the premiere of “House of Flying Daggers” to begin.

Why is this said to be the most expensive movie premiere in the country? Where did the 2000 million RMB go?

Because there is not only the main venue in Yanjing, but also six branch venues in Xiamen, Yangcheng, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Wenzhou and Yongchuan.

So, how can it not be expensive?

At this moment, the big screen at the scene suddenly lit up, and beams of laser were projected onto it accurately, outlining lifelike portraits and introducing the story outline of “House of Flying Daggers” in detail.

When the figures of Andy Lau, Jin Chengwu and Zhang Ziyi appeared on the screen, the scene instantly erupted into thunderous cheers.

Then, under the expectant gazes of the crowd, three people slowly walked onto the stage.

Liu Dehua spoke first with a friendly smile, his voice clearly carried throughout the audience through the microphone: “I know that many friends have come here today to support our “House of Flying Daggers”, not only friends from Yanjing, but also friends from other places. I see friends from Shanghai and Wenzhou. Hello everyone!”

Zhang Ziyi took over the conversation, her sweet voice full of appeal: “And friends in Xiamen, good evening!”

Jin Chengwu also smiled and greeted the audience: “Hello, friends from Guangzhou and Shenzhen!”

Then there was a half-hour long movie recommendation session.

The actors and directors shared interesting stories from the filming process, their understanding of the characters, and the ideas that the film wanted to convey, trying to give the audience a deeper understanding of “House of Flying Daggers” and further stimulate everyone’s expectations for the film.

After they finished sharing, the lights dimmed and highlights from the movie began to play on the big screen.

Those carefully edited scenes, with flashes of swords, shadows of blood, love and hate, grip the audience’s hearts.

When the clip ended, the audience burst into warm applause.

Then, the lights on the stage came back on and the 87 Girls Group took the stage full of energy.

Liu Yifei and Shu Chang sang “Chinese Language” and “Persian Cat” with their sweet voices. The brisk melody and dynamic rhythm ignited the atmosphere of the scene. The audience couldn’t help but sway with the music, and many people even hummed along.

After the song was over, the two actors gracefully left the stage. To the sound of melodious music, several ropes were suddenly lowered from the top of the stage. Four actors appeared in the center of the stage in an instant like knights descending from the sky. They imitated the classic scene from “House of Flying Daggers”, confronted each other in pairs, and then started a fierce fight.

At this moment, a green bamboo forest slowly appeared on the screen at the back, swaying in the wind, as if bringing the audience into the martial arts bamboo forest full of poetry and murderous intent. Then, Liu Dehua, dressed in a long gown, appeared handsomely on the stage. He sang “Chinese” and “Practice” affectionately. His mellow and infectious voice heated up the atmosphere again. The audience was immersed in this moving melody, and many people had excitement in their eyes.

After that, the main creative staff and singers took turns on stage. The main creative staff introduced the story and creative concept behind the movie in detail, while the singers added more artistic atmosphere to the premiere celebration with their wonderful singing.

As time passed, the only guests left tonight were Shen Lang and Catherine. (End of this chapter)