Bad monkey: not only 72 changes, but also to stir the future

Chinese films are undergoing dramatic changes.

This is not a matter of superficially speaking about the movie box office, but rather the creation behind the box office and the market. There are more and more newcomers directed and are entering the film market more and more strongly. Unlike the sixth-generation directors, these newcomers are no longer rebellious and clashing, and of course they are no longer living in the ground to fight. What they have to do is to strive to gain a place in the market with more types and more individualized but more compliant works based on the audience’s tastes.

This is what some media and film scholars have started to refer to as the "China's New Independent Film Movement." In this movie campaign, the most systematic and forward-looking, it was Ning Hao and his "Bad Monkey Film" under the "72 Film Project" - at the beginning of this plan in 2016, director Ning Hao hoped It is possible to gather a group of “bad monkeys” like him. These newcomers can think independently and have their own aesthetic tastes and principles. They not only pay attention to the problems of the current society, but also can use their own language and thinking to spare them. Incredibly wrapped in a movie.

Two years later, the plan began to show its name: The Brotherhood of Blades 2 directed by Yang Lu was released in 2017, continuing the high praise and good box office of the previous work; then Wen Mu Ye ’s “ Chinese medicine god ” and Have donated . Impermanence and Niu Han 's "Sweet Life" are also likely to be released this year; there are also works to prepare for the start of the year, such as Wen Shipei's "Tropical Past" and Ao-jun Shen 's "Beneficiaries" - with this result. Look, compared to the FIRST film festival, which is also the flag-bearer of the "China's New Independent Film Movement," the "72 Film Project" is clearly more viable from the time it is put on the agenda to show its power.

why? Or a bit more sharp: Why?

"Give more space to the director and possibly express it."

On February 19, 2018 in Berlin, under the supervision of Ning Hao, the “Bad Monkey 72 Film Project” signing director Wen Shipei directed the film project “Tropical Past” to win the 68th Berlin Film Festival Talents Market Unit “VFF Talent”. Highlight Award "Cash Award - This is the first Chinese movie project to win this award in 15 years since its establishment.

This is certainly not the first time the "72 Film Project" has been made.

Brotherhood of Blades 2 was released in 2017 and continued its predecessor's good reputation and high box office. He jumped out of the movie “The sequel was easy to defeat”; Have donated self-directed “Impermanence” and was nominated for the 47th Rotterdam International Film in 2018. The “ Bright future” section of the festival; “The Woman Down the Stairs” directed by Niu Han was nominated for the venture capital of the Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival...

Talking about these projects that will be released or turned on this year, the head of the "72 Film Project" was flashing in his eyes.

She told reporters that in addition to Wen Mu Ye's "Chinese medicine god" to be released this year, Have donated "Impermanence" and Niu Han's "Sweet Life", there are seven movies that "Bad Monkey" will start this year. There are only four “72 Film Projects”: “Beneficiaries” directed by Ao-jun Shen, “Tropical Past” by director Wen Shipei, “Out of Time” by director Liu Xiaoshi, and directed by Yang Lu in the second half of the year. Will start the "stab novelist." In addition, according to Tiger Jing, "Bad Monkey" and Costurica's "Panda" will be switched on this year, as well as Ning Hao as the producer and Qin Hailu as the debut artist 's "Imaginary".

"Actually, from the point of view of the composition of these works," Hu Jingxi said: "The works of 'Bad Monkeys' still have many dimensions: First, we have not only Ning Hao directors, but we will also cooperate with such masters as Kusturica. , And more people, to do projects together; Second, from the script, producer to the finished product at all levels to check, the purpose is to ensure that the project is foolproof; In addition, we will also do some promising IP development, but unreasonable For other Netizen and Net dramas, we will grasp the connotation of the works and give the director more space and possible expression."

“Giving the director more space and possibly expressing it” is a word that Tiger Jingyan emphasized more when facing reporters. This may be in response to the outside world's rumors about "'Bad Monkeys' signing a new director's death," and it is more likely to be the creative concept of the "72 Film Project."

In the directors of the "bad monkeys" signing, they may have a fantasizing movie talent, or some of them with rich and delicate emotional touch, or some people's understanding of the relationship between the world and the film, to maintain a read aesthetic insights ( For example, Yang Lu and his “ Brotherhood of Blades ” series have already let everyone see the distinctive style. In the opinion of the head of the Tigers, the secret of working with these new directors is to “give them enough freedom and respect. They are full of pride and confidence in their talents."

This is a group of proud, humble and sober people

In the filmmakers interviewed by the reporter, Hu Jinghao is the same and different from other producers. The same thing is: They are all quite certain about the projects they have in their hands. In conversation, besides words, eyes can also make You believe that this set of weight; the difference is: unlike other producers, Tiger Jing Hao has a strong sense of urgency for the fame and fortune attached to the film.

Perhaps from the very beginning, this plan was infused with self-confidence and self-confidence.

In this confidence, what they believe is the power of the work, not the propaganda and profit outside the film; in this contentment, they firmly believe in and practice the principle of "quality is king." This kind of emotion can infect each other so much that when you come into contact with a friend in this project, you can truly feel the affinity they have with self-confidence and humility.

Faced with a market that is growing at the box office, they are soberly aware of what the “bad monkeys” and the “72 Film Project” want. For example, in the current situation where many companies are madly snatching IP and traffic stars, “bad monkeys” think and do what they do, they are actually recruiting directors. When others have already earned profits, they have spent three years or so. Director and script.

This is certainly not crazy, and it is not Ning Hao who has no judgment on the market. On the contrary, this is what "bad monkeys" respects for the movie and respects the audience. "After all, the big IP will eventually be filmed and tested by the audience," said Hu Jingxi.

"We often say '100 directors have 100 Hamlets' - this sentence is that the director's different views on the works and the changes of the times will give the work different, so the value of IP is only in literature. But in the movie, it is entirely a creation of another dimension. Those who really possess this dimension of creation (ability) are lacking, not only lacking in screenwriters, but also lacking in the director... In our opinion, the core of a work is the director. ."

In "Bad Monkeys" and "72 Film Projects," the new director will always be in a decisive position!

This is a consensus that has been implemented since Ning Hao started. For "bad monkeys", it has a strong "director gene" since its inception. They understand what a director means to a movie.

Therefore, in the "72 Film Project", even Ning Hao, who is the initiator and the project supervisor, will not have a strong interference with the director's creation - even more so for the producer. In the words of Jin Wang , producer of “Tropical Rebellion”, “What we do is not to say which specific job we want to perform in the project. What we need to do is to find the right theme with the director. People, to ensure that everyone can complete the project together."

"In fact, this problem has always been there." When it comes to this issue, sitting next to the Tiger Hu Jingli added: "The crew will also have the so-called 'democracy' and 'concentration' - 'democracy' is to allow the director to imagine, everyone You can also straighten your chest; but 'centralization' is the purpose. The last decision made under the clapping board must be the director himself."

Flagman in the new movie era

Whether consciously or unconsciously, the “72 Film Project” has become one of the most systematic and forward-looking movie projects in the current Chinese market (“FIRST Youth Film Festival” should be regarded as another one).

Of course this is not deliberately touted. From the very beginning of Ning Hao's "72 Film Project", this project has brought the genes of the new director and new film after the sixth generation. The film has entertainment and commercial value, but it doesn't just cater to commercial taste. Instead, it is At the same time as artistic thinking, there is a strong sense of independence and judgment.

In addition to the "72 Film Project," this trend can also be seen. Different from previous directors and films, these films voluntarily abandoned official funds and support. The perspective of telling stories was also more personal. The judgment on emotions and society also became more humanistic. At the same time, they were type and interesting. It is also more eye-catching. Such as Yukun Xin's 2014 The Coffininthe Mountain and this year's Breaking silence , such as Gan Bi 's Roadside Picnic and Zhang Dalei 's August, such as Zhang Yang's PathsoftheSoul and Hinson Chou 's Old Beast ... ...

The projects in the “72 Film Project” also fit this trend and characteristics. For example, Yang Lu’s “Brotherhood of Blades” series: It removes the traditional high-level alternatives of martial arts and replaces it with the bitter struggle of the bottom civil servants. This subversiveness of realism makes its characters no longer part of the traditional martial arts drama. The hero, on the contrary, is a group of soft eggs and hard-nosed ghosts covered with gray stains.

The trend of the entire new movie is the famous film critic saying, “As the witness and participant of the independent Chinese film, a new generation of independent film creators has learned to choose another reasonable observation of Chinese society. Perspectives, the search for emotions and social depth shifts to grasping and coping with the experience of privatization, seeking balance between the self, the market, and the system”—and the “72 Film Project”, as mentioned above, does Congruent with this trend, but these people who are currently in it, have not yet realized that they are in the limelight of rewriting the history of Chinese film.

Like Ning Hao, the reason why the “72 Film Project” was proposed is to allow more people with common values ​​to build a value system together. “Our values” are awareness and innovation capabilities that require independent thinking, and then have Certain locality and modernity are summed up as five keywords: 'contemporary, interesting, local, critical, and innovative'. According to Tiger Jinghao, the five keywords “contemporary, interesting, local, critical, and innovative” are not only the criteria for the selection of the director of the “72 Film Project”, but also the benchmark for the project.

This statement is reminiscent of Ning Hao's commentary on "Brotherhood of Blades": "It does not distinguish from the form or dynasty of a thing, but rather what you are talking about is involved in the situation of an individual in the overall environment. The theme is "Brotherhood of Blades". It is a grassroots civil servant who, in the context of the overall era, has adopted what attitude to face the world. The proposition is a modern perspective."

The 14 new directors supported by the “72 Film Project” strongly support the Yang Lu, whose style has been seen by the audience. Other new directors also have their own distinctive labels. For example, Have donated is good at capturing the delicate aspects of women; The director desert has absolutely no film baggage and is full of liveliness. Wu Chenlu is quite rare in the visual expression system. Xia Peng movie contains a kind of bad humor; Wen Shipei has a strong feeling for the visual and auditory of the movie... “Each of them has a system of independent thinking and the ability to judge independently, which we highly recommend.” When Hu Jingwei said this, his mouth smiled.

It is not difficult to see that the “72 Film Project” was able to become the standard bearer of the new Chinese film movement in just a few years, not simply because of the appeal of Ning Hao and “Bad Monkey”, but also because they were born naturally. The existing director gene, which coincides with current movie development trends, respects and gives the director more room and may express it. The sentence: "respect the director, respect the audience, respect for the film."

Hu Jingye: Producer, graduated from the director department of the Central Academy of Drama.

In 2014, he joined Bad Monkey Films, the person in charge of the 72 Film Project. As the producer of the film “ Crazy Alien ”, he participated in the development and production work of “72 Brothers of Blades 2”, “Chinese medicine god”, “Imperimanence” and “Sweet Life”.