"You spent money, and you should also scold two sentences out of anger."
Four years ago, Feng Xiaogang's New Year film "Only Yun Knows" performed "very poorly" and caused controversy, and he said the above sentence in the face of the audience's anger.
Such an attitude has changed his previous image of being a "small steel cannon" and has been in a state of silence for the past four years.
In 2023, he returned with new works, but once again caused controversy.
Now 65 years old, he has embarked on the "other road" of a big director, which makes people can't help but look back at his coming time.
He was born in 1958 in an ordinary family in Beijing.
For as long as he can remember, he lived with his mother and sister, and his father reorganized the family after his divorce from his mother.
He loved literature from an early age and was good at literature and painting.
In 1978, after graduating from the college entrance examination, he entered the literary troupe and began his military career.
During his time in the literary troupe, he worked hard and talented, successfully promoted to a civilian officer, was responsible for the art of the literary troupe, planned and participated in the preparation of several evening parties in the army.
In 1984, the literary troupe bore the brunt of all disbandments, and he became one of the demobilized soldiers.
His first job after taking off his military uniform was the labor union of the Beijing Urban Construction Company, working for the Cultural Propaganda Department.
One day that year, he met and met Wang Xiaoping, a beautiful and sassy girl, in the hospital.
When he learned that Wang Xiaoping, who had just returned from the United States, already had a boyfriend, he was a little inexplicably disappointed.
But when he knew that Wang Xiaoping's boyfriend was Zheng Xiaolong, his eyes lit up.
It was under the introduction of Wang Xiaoping that he had the opportunity to meet Zheng Xiaolong, who took him into the film and television industry.
At that time, Zheng Xiaolong was the director of the Beijing Art Center, and anyone who wanted to enter the art center had to go through Zheng Xiaolong.
After he and Zheng Xiaolong met many times and exchanged work and ideals, Zheng Xiaolong gave him an opportunity to work as an intern in the art center.
In fact, even if it was just an intern, it was already a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, who was born ordinary and had ordinary talents at that time.
After becoming an intern, he began to supplement all kinds of literary knowledge, from Shakespeare to Cao Yu to Lu Xun, he swallowed a large amount of literary material every day.
It is also his hard work that allows him to show good strength when he has the opportunity to perform.
In 1984, he worked as an art assistant in "The Tree of Life and Death" directed by Zheng Xiaolong.
And this also means that he officially entered the entertainment industry, but as an art assistant.
His excellent performance was further appreciated by Zheng Xiaolong.
In 1985, he became an artist at the Art Center.
After becoming an artist, he not only worked as an artist, but also often stayed on the set because he chatted very well with Zheng Xiaolong, in addition to handling some logistical work, he would also have part of the shooting work, which laid the foundation for him to become a director in the future.
In 1987, he was already an art designer in the crew, and he was responsible for the art design of "Good Boy and Good Girl" and "Plainclothes Policeman".
In 1989, he met Ma Weidu on the recommendation of Wang Shuo.
At that time, Ma Weidu was not only the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Youth Literature", but also established the "Seahorse Film and Television Creation Studio" together with Liu Zhenyun and Wang Shuo.
Several "big writers" got together to set up a film and television company, and Wang Shuo's purpose of introducing him into the "Seahorse Film and Television Creation Studio" was very obvious.
In 1991, he and Zheng Xiaolong co-wrote "Encounter with Passion" won the "Golden Rooster Award".
This opportunity to win the award became the most important promoter of his directorial career.
Also in this year, he co-compiled "The Story of the Editorial Department" with Wang Shuo and Ma Weidu, which was directed by Zhao Baogang.
As soon as this drama was broadcast, it became a good work that everyone applauded.
The effect of this comedy and literature not only opened a precedent for domestic film and television themes, but also firmly captured the hearts of young people of that era.
It is worth mentioning that the theme song and episode of this show are all words filled in by him.
With a drama, he has become a "dark horse" in the film and television market.
In 1992, he and Zheng Xiaolong wrote the movie "Da Sajiao", which made the two win the "Golden Rooster Award" Best Screenplay Award again.
In 1993, he co-directed "Beijinger in New York" with Zheng Xiaolong, which was his first appearance as a director.
This work has successively won the "Golden Eagle Award", "Feitian Award" and "Five One Project Award", which can be called a classic case of successful transformation.
And his pioneering work "Beijinger in New York" is a family ethics drama, and it is not difficult to see from his subsequent works that family ethics drama is one of his main strengths.
In 1994, he directed "Forever Lost My Love" alone and became a solo director.
Since 1995, almost every film he has directed has been loved and affirmed by the audience, and almost every drama can win awards at home and even internationally, and he has undoubtedly become one of the most popular domestic directors of the fifth generation of directors.
In 1997, he directed "Party A and Party B", which can be described as a big kill, and in the era of two dollars a ticket, the box office of this work exceeded 36 million.
Not only became the annual box office champion, but also won the "Hundred Flowers Award", which can be described as a double gain of fame and fortune.
This work is the first domestic New Year film and created the first commercial film model in the mainland, so it is well deserved to call him the "pioneer" of domestic New Year films and commercial films.
And through this work, it is enough to prove that he from an ordinary background has successfully squeezed into the "top of the Beijing circle".
Wang Shuo and Ye Jing are from the compound of the Training Directorate, Ma Wei is from the 75th Cadre School of the Air Force, and Zheng Xiaolong is from the General Logistics Compound.
At that time, they only had a fund of 3.4 million yuan, which can be called "beggar-level", and the box office of 3,600 yuan can be called an epic work, but it can achieve such an effect because this work is "the top stream in the Beijing circle" from screenwriter to director to actor.
Wang Ye is a well-known "prince of the Beijing circle", who has long felt indifferent to glory and wealth, and is very interested in experiencing folk suffering, so he played the role of "eating chicken money" in the play under the persuasion of Feng Xiaogang.
And Wang Ye even relied on his connections and influence to borrow a battalion of tanks from the army for free, and only then did he have the impeccable General Patton review army scene in the work.
Tank teams and military personnel with real troops to take pictures, amazing networking is indeed a good thing.
And Ye Jing, the "big guy in the Beijing circle", evaluates him because he knows how to borrow and use people who are smarter than him, and the "big guy" he uses is usually very happy in his "Feng's praise".
Both ambitious, clear and clear self-positioning, and a strong sense of purpose, this is the core of his transformation from a low-level artist to a big director.
And this is also the biggest difference between him and Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Jiang Wen, who are also in the first echelon.
Zhang Yimou graduated from Beijing Film Academy majoring in photography and is a typical class.
Chen Kaige is not only from a science class, but also a child of a film family.
Jiang Wen is from the compound, acting and directing, belonging to the precipitation of thick and thin.
Feng Xiaogang is a successful counterattack from outsiders, not only in the circle of contacts, but also in his career.
And this is a big difference between him and the other first-tier players, who consider connections and market reactions when thinking about the meaning of film and breaking through traditional shooting.
At this point, the times gave him the biggest dividend, under the rapid development of the economy, the big directors who think about the proposition of the times also have to be influenced by capital, and then move closer to commercial films.
In the era of many commercial films and New Year films, he sat at the high box office with his "Feng's humor".
And with a number of high-grossing movies, he has become the object that capital needs to curry favor, not only allowing Huayi Brothers to sign him with an annual dividend of 4 million, but also hugging him and smiling in almost any public place.
Since then, his works have no longer just wanted to please capital and the market, but also the ideas and feelings of his home and country.
In 2001, his "Big Shot" became a clear stream in commercial films with advertising streams, using black humor to needle the impetuosity of capital and the brainlessness of market consumption.
His work has become another benchmark in the domestic film and television industry and has been imitated by countless later generations.
In the next fifteen years or so, he undoubtedly became a director who could not only control capital and the market, but also take into account personal ideals and home and country feelings, and indeed always caught the audience's attention.
His films are also roughly divided into two main lines, one is that commercial films make a lot of money, and the other is that the feelings of home and country hardly make money.
Among commercial films, "No Thief in the World" and "Do Not Disturb" are perfect.
The box office of this work was 126 million, setting a precedent for domestic film commercial films to exceed 100 million, and the play was implanted with many advertisements.
Compared with the shooting cost of 30 million, the cost of implanted advertising can almost be satisfied.
"Do Not Disturb" broke the mainland box office record with 325 million box office, once again proving that his commercial works are well received and recognized by the market and audiences.
Commercial films not only make him count money softly, but also make him soft when he wins awards.
And his "Rally", "1942", "Tangshan Earthquake", "Fanghua" and other national feelings, the production and shooting costs are almost all ceiling-level, but the box office is average.
But his works that do not make money, but have to admit that they have gained a good reputation and become literary and artistic works with a strong nature of the times, which is enough to become a benchmark for future generations to learn.
But under the aura for a long time, it is inevitable to have conceit, even if his works are "divided" and not recognized, he feels that the audience cannot understand it, not his own work has a problem.
In 2013, after his "Private Customization" was released, his reputation collapsed.
He sent six Weibo messages in a row to bombard film critics, not only calling them "big-tailed wolves" and "shameful", but even directly bursting foul language.
Looking at a rating of only 5.7, he insists that he is at odds with film critics.
In 2015, he joined hands with Wu Moufan and Li Moufeng, two small fresh meats, to return to the market with "Old Cannon", with a bumper harvest at the box office and word of mouth, and also let him win the "Golden Horse Award" actor in one fell swoop, and he was in the limelight for a while.
At that time, fans also used the ridicule of "your grandpa or uncle" to affirm his excellence.
But in the blink of an eye, he was angry at Xiao Xianrou and the audience.
In 2017, at the Sina Forum of the Shanghai Film Festival, in addition to criticizing capital, small fresh meat, and traffic, he even directly said that "there are so many garbage audiences to have so many garbage movies".
The title of "Little Steel Cannon" is not a waste, but the market appeal of his works seems to be gone.
In 2019, the box office and word of mouth of "Only Yun Knows" directed by him plunged, which can be said to be an unprecedented phenomenon in his directing career.
Released on the first day, the box office was less than a quarter of "Ip Man IV".
In order to be able to increase the box office, the great director who has been famous for twenty or thirty years has to commit his works to Wei Ya's live broadcast room to do publicity.
Within a week of release, the box office could exceed 100 million.
He posted a small essay in the dead of night, which has a sense of sadness of feeling "heroic old", which is a sharp contrast with the former self-proclaimed "lying down and earning money".
And the sentence "You spent money, scolding two sentences should also be out of anger", and there is no "small steel cannon" posture in the past.
In 2023, at the age of 65, he once again dedicated his work "Echo" to the market, but he did not expect to cause controversy again.
The reason why it is controversial, in the words of the audience, is a family ethics drama dressed in the garb of a suspense drama.
And his fans said that his "Echo" is similar to "Back of the Moon", which he could not officially broadcast many years ago, about a couple of lovers who love each other while calculating each other, revealing family ethics and personal greed.
So far, this work has naturally not become a powerful work to prove that his "sword is not old".
Now, he is obviously on another path of a great director, that is, when he proves that his "knife is not old", he cannot correctly capture the market and the audience's attention.
Looking back on his achievements, from 1997 to the present, in the past 26 years, he has directed more than 30 works and won the box office eight times.
And he has already gained both fame and fortune, in fact, he does not have to run on the road to prove that "the sword is not old", he may wish to shoot more works like "Rally" and "Tangshan Earthquake", which can not only become works for future generations to learn, but also make himself older more elegantly.