Chapter 00161: This is Chinese Cinema, Part 2
# This is Chinese Cinema, Part 2
Chapter 161
Novel: 1979 Golden Age
Chapter 161: This is Chinese Cinema, Part 2
"Is this what China is like?"
"Their clothes are so strange. It seems like everyone is wearing the same style."
"China has tall buildings too!"
For the Westerners who had just set foot on the newly opened mainland, everything was filled with curiosity and a sense of superiority.
They didn’t understand much, but they were certain that China must be backward.
Sure enough, the audience saw the gray, blue, green, and white clothing, the low-rise houses, the occasional buildings, the streets filled with bicycles, and the dusty, unkempt faces of the people due to poor lighting and makeup techniques...
All of this seemed like labels stuck onto their imagination of China.
It fit perfectly!
"..."
Fu Jingong noticed the commotion in the audience but couldn’t understand what was being said.
He turned and asked, "Xiao Yu, what are they saying?"
"I can’t hear clearly either. It’s too far away."
Fang Yurong comforted him with a smile, "Your film is excellent. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have chosen it to compete."
The story of *Swallows Return* was simple: a couple had a daughter, but the wife, the female lead, was labeled a "rightist," and the family was torn apart.
The wife was sent to the frontier, and the husband remarried.
Years later, the daughter grew up and fell in love, only to discover that her lover’s father was the very man who had labeled her mother a "rightist."
The daughter, a dancer, was so heartbroken that she broke her leg.
The doctor who performed her surgery turned out to be her long-lost father, the male lead.
By this time, the female lead had been rehabilitated but refused to return to the big city, choosing instead to stay in the frontier to support medical work.
She even forgave the man who had labeled her a "rightist": "The scars of our generation shouldn’t be paid for by our children..."
*Swallows Return* was a standard product of its time, filled with criticism, repentance, redemption, and sacrifice.
Domestic audiences were used to such themes, but the foreigners couldn’t understand it.
After the initial novelty wore off, as the plot progressed, the audience’s brows furrowed tighter, their expressions growing more and more confused.
Fu Jingong, however, was deeply engrossed, especially during the scene where the male and female leads reunited after years apart.
It was a scene he was particularly proud of—the two strolled by a lake, reminiscing about the past, filled with endless sighs...
But the next moment, his expression froze.
He quickly tapped Fang Yurong and pointed below, "Xiao Yu! Xiao Yu! Why are they leaving?"
"Huh?"
Fang Yurong looked and saw that several audience members had stood up and were preparing to leave.
"This... this... I’ll go ask!"
She hurried over, stopping them with the utmost politeness, "Excuse me, I’m one of the producers of the film. Is there something wrong? Why are you leaving?"
"It’s just not good!" Philip blurted out.
"We paid to watch a movie, not to sit through a lecture!" Matteo was even more blunt.
"Yeah, we paid for this? And you’re showing us this?"
"..."
Fang Yurong was deeply embarrassed, forcing a smile as she awkwardly watched them leave.
She returned to her seat and said, "They... they had something urgent come up. They apologized for leaving midway."
"Oh, that’s fine, that’s fine!" Fu Jingong sighed in relief.
Finally, the 107-minute *Swallows Return*, which the journalists already found unbearably long, came to an end.
Immediately after, there was a press conference.
At the conference, no one seemed interested in *Swallows Return*.
The questions were mostly about "How does it feel to be here for the first time?" "What do you think of this city?" "What do you think of the Cultural Revolution?" "What do you think of Chairman Mao?"...
Fu Jingong, being an honest man, answered earnestly, "I’m a country boy who went to film school and became a director. I have to thank the Party, thank..."
"Ha ha!"
The audience suddenly burst into laughter.
Fu Jingong was baffled and looked at Fang Yurong.
Fang Yurong, equally inexperienced, looked at Hadler.
Hadler, though extremely awkward, had no choice but to persist since he had chosen mainland China as his new breakthrough.
He tried to smooth things over, "Let’s ask some questions related to the film. These other questions aren’t necessary."
"Anyone else have a question?"
"Alright, that concludes today’s press conference!"
The journalists shrugged, unimpressed, and filed out of the screening room, all deeply disappointed.
"My God! Is this Chinese cinema?"
"I skipped a big director’s premiere to come watch a Chinese film, and it turned out to be completely worthless!"
"I couldn’t even understand the film. I couldn’t comprehend the characters’ actions, and every character seemed to be lecturing me. It felt like a movie from decades ago. I didn’t see any trace of modern civilization!"
"Well, at least it showed us a raw, unpolished China, pretty much what we imagined."
Two journalists chatted as they walked, planning to head to their next event.
But as they passed another theater, they faintly heard applause and couldn’t help but stop.
"What’s playing in there?"
"Let me see... oh, it’s another Chinese film..."
As they spoke, the applause started again.
The two exchanged glances, and then two guys came running out.
Philip’s eyes were shining as he exclaimed, "Dude! You have to listen to me. This movie is freaking awesome!"
"Ha ha ha, we came out just to tell you!" Matteo laughed.
After saying that, the two lunatics ran back inside.
One of the journalists, puzzled, walked up to the poster and studied it, crossing his arms.
"Do you know what this title means?"
"I think it’s something supreme. I’ve studied this word before!"
The two stared at the poster for *Tai Chi* and began discussing.
*Tai Chi*, the English name for Taiji, was said to have first entered the Western world in 1736, during the reign of Emperor Qianlong.
To Westerners, it roughly meant "the supreme ultimate."
Many English words had come from China, such as *kylin* (qilin), *tuchun* (warlord), *Confucianism* (Ruism), and the famous *ka le* (stuck).
This last one came from the days of playing Dota 2, when Chinese players would often type "kale" when the network was unstable.
Over time, it became a linguistic habit.
"Tickets, please, sir!"
"We’re journalists!"
"Oh, come on in!"
The two were now extremely curious and walked inside.
The theater was about 60% full, not packed, but the atmosphere was electric, with people shouting and whistling.
On the screen, it was the scene where Yang Yuqian sneaked into Prince Duan’s mansion at night, was discovered, and a chase ensued through the streets of Beijing.
Jet Li, dressed in black, sprinted down an empty street, suddenly ran toward a wall, leaped up, and took a few steps horizontally across the wall.
He grabbed the top of the wall and flipped over in mid-air.
With the help of hidden wires, he looked like a falcon showing off its flying skills, flipping onto the roof of a restaurant.
His movements were so agile and fluid that the audience burst into applause again.
"Wow!"
The foreigners in the audience were mesmerized.
Tired of the clumsy, punch-and-kick fights of Hollywood, they were suddenly treated to the refined delicacy of Chinese martial arts.
It was like opening the door to a new world.
"Chinese kung fu! Cool!!!"
"How the hell did they do that?"
"My God, this is sci-fi! It has to be sci-fi!"
The atmosphere in a commercial film screening was much more relaxed.
Matteo and Philip, the two clowns, were shouting and cheering.
They had slipped out of the *Swallows Return* screening and ended up here.
They couldn’t believe that these two films came from the same place!
The journalists who had just entered had already taken their seats, eyes glued to the screen.
Action films had this advantage—every fight scene was a highlight.
You just had to watch!
They caught the second half of the film, where Yang Yuqian stormed the tower.
A seven-story tower!
Seven fights!
Almost every time he cleared a floor, the audience erupted in cheers.
When Yang Yuqian finally faced off against Prince Duan, the final boss, and the film ended, the applause was thunderous and long-lasting.
"I swear on my Jewish heritage, this is the most thrilling movie I’ve seen in the past two years!!"
(End of Chapter)