The latest issue of "Popular Movies" published an interview with Chen Lin.

"Popular Movie" played a trick this time and directly posted Chen Lin's views on the magazine, and finally added the reporter's opinions.

"Everyone is saying that my movies abandon the essence of art and only pursue box office results. I don't quite understand what these people think. Perhaps in their opinion, any movie that sells big at the box office is a bad movie!"

"Whether we admit it or not, in the past quarter, the domestic film market lacked innovative fine products and was defeated by Hollywood blockbusters!"

"In fact, those of us who make movies should have been wary of this phenomenon. Since our film market-oriented reform in 2003, the rapid market expansion for 10 consecutive years has brought about a thriving film box office, from 1 billion in 2003 to 13 billion in 2011, and the total domestic box office in 2012 is expected to reach 16 billion yuan. However, an important change occurred in 2012, that is, the total box office of Chinese films is lower than that of foreign imported films mainly in Hollywood blockbusters for the first time.

"In previous years, Chinese films have been able to maintain a market share of at least 55% in steadily. In 2012, according to the data from the first four months, the box office of domestic films only accounted for 28% of the total market! This data is embarrassing!"

"The external reason for this important change is that the domestic policy of introducing Hollywood blockbusters has been adjusted, and the number of American films has been increased every year. At the same time, the share of Hollywood movies in China has been increased from 13% to 25%."

"This kind of open-door film policy changes have led to a direct impact on Chinese films in the market, making the market performance of most domestic blockbusters this year lower than expected."

"From the internal reasons, the various problems exposed by Chinese films at the artistic and production levels are the fundamental reasons why Chinese films are abandoned by audiences in the local market."

"After the collapse of the production model of state-owned large-scale films, Chinese films started again from workshop-style production. Through these ten years of market training, they are exploring the industrialization system with difficulty."

"In this process of continuous marketization, Chinese films have gained a lot and discarded a lot.

"What is a movie?", "What is a Chinese movie?" Such questions are ignored by too many filmmakers. Sensory stimulation is gradually replacing the touch of the soul. Observation and thinking of reality are also being intentionally or unintentionally abandoned by mainstream producers. Everyone seems to be satisfied with the extravagant sensory enjoyment. Films are becoming a conspicuous consumption that is extremely luxurious. Every practitioner in the film industry seems to be talking about box office and success, as if only these are the movies themselves."

"But shouldn't movies be just the movie itself? Movies are laughter and tears in the darkness, movies are roses blooming on the ruins, movies are the ignorant dreams of young people, movies are the memories of lovers in light and shadow, movies are the freeze-formation of the most beautiful moments in your and my life, and it should always be linked to our beautiful life and soul, not just a string of numbers."

"It seems a bit incredible to say this sentence from my mouth, but personally, the first factor to consider when doing movies is the market!"

"Cinema audiences are generally younger, not only in China, but also in the United States, mainstream audiences in the United States are lower than the average age of our audience. Going to the cinema to watch movies is one of the lifestyles of young people, so the movies I made are based on young people as their demands. Now there is a statistics saying that our movie audiences are an average age of twenty-four o'clock, which is the age group of colleges who have just become office workers. If you discuss human nature and suffering in movies, this kind of topic is inappropriate. So many older people don't like it and think it's superficial!"

"Of course, in order to achieve this, domestic films must not only continue to work hard to improve artistic and technical standards, but also need to solve an increasingly urgent problem: domestic films must be relaxed in terms of subject matter scope and review standards, and at least they must be one standard with imported films released, so that we can shoot whatever others can. Because even if we are not as skilled as others for the time being, we cannot tie our hands on ourselves, otherwise we will not even have the chance to fight."

"Some people are worried that domestic films will definitely produce more garbage after the standards are released. This is inevitable for an open, fair and free competition market. But this is the legal right of filmmakers, and no one has the right to require everyone to be consistent with your aesthetic taste. Please leave it to the market for good or bad, and don't judge artistic creation with a single interest."

"The prosperous and healthy film market is definitely available in all types, including explosions, fighting, car chases, romance, warmth, and of course, freshness and other fun. If viewers with all kinds of interesting things can find the type they want to consume in this market, then the market will naturally guide the creative types, and leave enough living space for other niche movies of various types."

"My new movie "Chinatown Veteran" involves collusion in the officialdom and workers asking for wages. I am worried about the reasons for censorship, so I put most of the scenes in Thailand."

"What is the new movie about? Simply put, it is a story about a policeman catching a criminal, with a very old-fashioned subject."

"No, I think there are no new genre films in the current film market. How to tell a new movie beautifully under the existing theme is what we who make movies should pursue!"

"The director group must be younger, and those directors who think that movies should be held will not be remembered by this era! You let those directors in their forties and fifties shoot "Those Years" and even if I give them a script, they will not shoot what the audience wants!"

"Of course there are also troubles. I am now a well-known director and my influence has increased. Therefore, when determining the film project, you must consider the correct viewpoint and cannot guide young people to crime. Therefore, my movies must not have villains, nor can I have extremely vicious luxury concepts!"

The above is related to the exchanges between Shen Lin and the author.

This young man is different from what I imagined. I always thought that his success was just because of his large number of fans.

After a conversation, I found that this writer-turned director is far more clear about the essence of movies and the current Chinese films than some of us filmmakers who have been immersed in the film industry for decades!

He understands the difficulties faced by domestic films and can better grasp the audience's requirements for movies.

After understanding these, it is no surprise that the movies he made were very high in the box office!
Chapter completed!