Chapter 1217 Premiere
As for the promotion of the movie "Li Xianglan", the commotion is much more lively than the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions".
Because the current operating mechanism in the Republic is too slow.
Although Huo Yanping is helping to take care of this matter in China, the process of submitting the film for review has still not been completed.
What content needs to be deleted?
When will the Japanese-edited "Li Xianglan" be released in mainland China?
It is always difficult to have an accurate answer to these key questions.
But Japan can’t wait any longer.
In recent years, Songzhu Pictures has not seen improvement in its business operations, and its film output has been declining year by year. There is now a trend of sluggish production.
So after several requests from President Shochiku Omoto, he even said that he would not hesitate to modify the contract and was willing to give up an additional 2% of the box office share.
Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko had no choice but to abandon the original plan of simultaneous release in both countries, and had to advance the release date of "Li Xianglan" in Japan to March 8.
But speaking of it, although this day is a bit hasty, it is quite appropriate because of its special nature.
Don’t forget, this day is not only Sunday, but also International Women’s Day.
Although the Japanese also have their own local "Women's Day", which is on April 10th.
And they have never paid much attention to this internationally recognized Women's Day.
But after all, legally speaking, March 8th is an internationally recognized holiday for women all over the world.
This is a perfect time to reflect on the suffering that war brings to women.
Even in Ning Weimin’s view, Japan’s damage to families and women during the war, as well as the fact that the current phenomenon of male superiority and female inferiority is still deeply rooted, can actually be used to make a fuss and turn it into a propaganda gimmick.
So in fact, without much effort at all, Ning Weimin's smart mind came up like a fountain, and a series of publicity plans based on this emerged.
As for his clever ideas, Matsumoto Keiko was not only deeply moved and admired, but also successfully obtained the approval of Shochiku Pictures, and President Ogimoto readily agreed to fully cooperate.
Just like that, Ning Weimin did what he said.
Next, he and Matsumoto Keiko first contacted the Federation of Women’s Groups, Japan’s largest women’s rights protection organization.
On the grounds of supporting Japanese women's social activities and promoting Japanese society to pay attention to women's rights and status, they want to cooperate with the "Women's League" and use them to promote the release of the movie "Li Xianglan".
We also take the opportunity to reflect on the harm done to women by old wars and launch a publicity campaign for International Women's Day to the public with the specific goal of fighting for equal social rights for men and women today.
Let’s see if we can get more women to empathize and enter the cinema.
At the same time, it can also make more Japanese people pay attention to International Women's Day, which has always been ignored in this country.
In return, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko promised to sell every movie ticket Finally, 100 yen from the box office revenue will be used as an exclusive donation, which will be handed over to the "Women's League" after settlement as a financial support for this group.
You know, the current average ticket price for Japanese movies released in the country is 1,800 yen.
"Li Xianglan" has a running time of nearly two and a half hours, 150 minutes, and the ticket price is set at 2,500 yen.
Moreover, the investment for this movie alone was one billion yen, and it even used heavy weapons such as tanks and regular troops to assist in filming war scenes in the mainland. This is a first of its kind in the Asian film industry. .
So in theory, if it is fully released in Shochiku's existing theaters, as long as the shooting quality is not too bad and the audience doesn't collectively curse after watching it, the box office should reach at least one billion yen.
This means that the "Women's League" can earn at least 40 to 50 million yen, and of course it will be more if the film sells well.
Since there are real benefits, why doesn’t the Women’s League join forces?
They Japanese ladies must work hard to promote "Li Xianglan".
So the two sides naturally hit it off and reached a cooperative alliance,
Not only that, but also because of the participation of such a public social group.
Li Xianglan herself, the current Congresswoman Yoshiko Yamaguchi, is even more excited, and is more willing to cooperate with the film's publicity and promotion work.
If nothing else, since she has already joined politics, she will naturally realize that this is a good opportunity to win over supporters and increase her political connections.
In addition, the advertising concept can also be more humanistic and caring. This movie can be equated with caring for women and branded as International Women's Day.
Don’t Westerners always say that the Japanese are not civilized enough? Don’t you always say that Japanese people don’t respect women? Isn’t it said that the Japanese still retain a decadent side of their thinking?
Then watch this movie. No matter what you say, the ability to make such a movie represents a reflection on the old era and sympathy for women who have been harmed and oppressed by war.
Then people who come to watch the movie are naturally the most enlightened, civilized and social elites who can keep pace with the times among the Japanese.
When advertising, using such words to praise the audience of this movie, doesn’t it immediately enhance the style?
Even the movie's promotional posters, the brochures to be sent out at the movie premiere, and the cover of the movie's soundtrack album to be released, Ning Weimin had people re-make and reprocess them.
His idea was to have these promotional materials featuring Matsumoto Keiko’s character wrapped with bandages that “overflowed with blood”.
Not only can traumatic visual cues be used to gain the audience's empathy, but it can also be used to show Li Xianglan's essence as a war victim.
To put it bluntly, Ning Weimin is trying to build momentum, and then use morality to kidnap the Japanese people.
Whether it is in terms of form or spirit, we must force these Japanese people, regardless of age, middle-aged or young, into the cinema, in order to break through the audience limitations of historical biopics.
As for Kaga Shinichiro, he also gave Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko spare no effort in this matter.
With the 50 million yen in movie promotion fees paid by Ning Weimin, Shinichiro Kaga not only helped arrange a suitable time period to broadcast movie advertisements edited from movie clips, but also arranged for the prototype character Yamaguchi Yoshiko and Actors such as Keiko Matsumoto, Ryoko Ishida, and Yasuko Sawaguchi did an interview show.
He also helped introduce Ning Weimin to the president of "Daily News" behind TBS, and successfully facilitated a deal between the two parties - Ning Weimin bought an entire page on March 8 to promote the movie "Li Xianglan" " and the arrival of International Women's Day.
For this reason, even if time is a little tight, Shochiku Pictures and Matsumoto Keiko's agency only have a dozen days to expand the scope of the film, but the warm-up effect of this film is really satisfactory. Not bad.
At least as the release day approaches, most people in Tokyo will chat a few words about the release of the movie "Li Xianglan" after dinner.
Or do those songs that Li Xianglan once sang still sound good to you now?
Or it involves the current situation of women’s rights in Japan and discusses whether Japanese men will make changes and become a good man who truly knows how to respect his wife.
When will Japanese society be able to treat female white-collar workers fairly and receive equal treatment for men and women?
Coupled with the fact that the value of Japanese girls has skyrocketed, Ning Weimin bought a few soft articles in newspapers that could stimulate young men and women, and asked the gunmen to write like this, "Then in the process of looking for your natal man, Why not use this movie to test your boyfriend? If a man has no interest in such a movie, doesn't it show how cold and cruel his nature is? He is definitely not a wife who can be trusted for life? People."
This movie has become a touchstone for Japanese women to choose a spouse. This forced many Japanese young men to buy tickets in advance to show their loyalty.
To be honest, I don’t know whether more couples will be made or broken up in the end.
Anyway, Ning Weimin is not afraid of big things, he just wants to be more lively.
…………
In fact, it did not live up to his expectations.
Just for this movie, I arrived at eight o'clock in the morning on the premiere day.
Shochiku Pictures not only emptied out the entire theater owned by Shochiku near Waseda University.
Yoshiko Yamaguchi, director Yoshitaro Nomura, and several leading actors headed by Keiko Matsumoto also came to the premiere.
A meeting was held with the audience who were lucky enough to attend the premiere.
Teresa Teng was also invited to join in as one of the singers.
And although I did not receive any protest calls during the preparation period, there was no intimidation from the right wing.
But just in case, Shochiku had made detailed preparations in advance to deal with the right wing's troubles.
They invited police and lawyers to wait at the scene, and also filed a report with the nearby police station.
There were even officials from the "Women's League" who came to the scene and held up slogans to publicly support the film and promote the spirit of protecting women's rights and interests.
Thinking about it, with these Japanese women acting as bodyguards, the right-wing forces will not fall into a trap and bring humiliation to themselves.
Anyway, the scene was really lively.
As these stars entered from the red carpet, a large group of reporters gathered around to take photos.
In particular, the promotional materials designed by Ning Weimin for the movie, with the "oozing" bandages wrapped around them, became a highlight before the movie was released.
Take the brochure, for example, you cannot read it without taking off the bandage.
Everyone, including reporters, felt that this design was creative and appropriate.
At this time, the atmosphere at the scene was particularly ideal. The only thing that worried Ning Weimin was the real quality of the film and the audience's reaction after watching the film.
When he actually sat in the cinema and saw the movie starting to play, his hanging heart gradually dropped. Ning Weimin originally thought that "Li Xianglan" produced by Yoshitaro Nomura, an old-school director, had a habitual narrative style. As a literary film, it must have a slow pace.
As a historical biopic, I'm afraid there are many parts that are inevitably boring.
But he never expected that the quality of the movie would be unexpectedly good.
The faint sense of sadness is natural, and the overall atmosphere is very stable. These are the strengths of Nomura Yoshitaro.
The play is permeated with anti-war sentiment from beginning to end, focusing on expressing Li Xianglan’s confusion caused by the deviation of her national identity.
She can only serve as a vane of the current situation, but cannot change the current situation. After all, she is just an artist. What can a businesswoman do if she hates the country's subjugation?
On this basis, I wonder if it’s because half of Li Xianglan’s life is condensed into this one hundred and fifty-minute movie.
Director Yoshitaro Nomura can't do anything even if he just wants to delay.
Anyway, Yoshitaro Nomura is like a robot cat possessing this time, and the pace of telling the story is quite ideal.
The war scenes were also shot in a majestic way, with a bit of realism in "Saving Private Ryan".
The actors are equally impressive, with the exception of Ryoko Ishida, who plays Li Xianglan’s Russian best friend, who is very touching.
Yasuko Sawaguchi, whose image is closest to Li Xianglan when she was young, also performed well in the film.
As the young Li Xianglan, she is cute, smart and endearing, becoming a bright spot in the early gray tones of the film.
However, Keiko Matsumoto is able to resemble Li Xianglan.
Maybe it’s because of her great acting skills, or maybe it’s because Keiko Matsumoto’s situation is very close to that of Li Xianglan.
Or maybe Li Xianglan's song is too sensational, which plays a good role in boosting and setting off the atmosphere of the film.
Matsumoto Keiko's performance, even Yamaguchi Shuko herself, and Ning Weimin, who originally only paid attention to the audience's reaction, were forced into this movie-watching atmosphere.
Especially when she was in the labor force, she sang the song "Farewell Blues" that was banned for being "decadent and demoralizing enemy music". Not only did she move the characters in the movie with her emotions and singing Japanese soldiers and junior Japanese army officers.
Although some die-hards among them pretended to have something to do and left the venue, they also shed tears and hid aside to enjoy quietly.
The scene successfully gained the audience's empathy, and appropriately demonstrated Li Xianglan's unique charm that was different from modern female stars back then, as if she was Li Xianglan herself in another time and space.
This makes people admire. She is indeed one of those talents with real acting talent. She has always been a leader in the Japanese film industry, and she can crush younger backers at will. Perhaps she is the one who has such talent. A destiny destined for life.
All in all, the whole film is not too boring, and it doesn't have the awkwardness of a Sino-Japanese co-production. The theme song performed by Teresa Teng at the end is also a classic and enough to touch people's hearts.
So when the film of more than 150 minutes was screened, the lights in the screening room came on, and the film's creative staff and actors sitting in the first row turned around and bowed to the audience to thank them.
The audience who had watched the whole movie spontaneously gave warm applause, and many people stood up for a long time.
And at this time, everyone noticed that Yamaguchi Yoshiko herself had red eyes. After watching the show, she was so moved that she clapped her hands and wiped away her tears.
Even many of the leading actors, not knowing whether they were happy or excited, wiped away tears with them.
Ning Weimin also applauded gently. He believed that this was undoubtedly an excellent literary film, and the quality far exceeded his expectations.
If before, his expectation was to be satisfied if he could score 70 points on the 100-point scale, then now he can score 85 points without any regrets.
He is absolutely certain that as long as the Japanese audience is not blind and has basic appreciation ability.
The box office of this movie will be guaranteed, and its reputation will definitely be good.
And his judgment was quickly verified by President Okumoto of Shochiku Pictures.
Because he was sitting in the second row and clearly heard President Okumoto in the front row whispering to Matsumoto Keiko before he stood up, "You acted so well. I almost forgot that you were acting. I thought you This is the real Li Xianglan. Don’t worry, Shochik Pictures will fully support you in winning the Best Actress again at next year’s Academy Awards.”