Huaping Girls' High School, founded by Ms. Zhang Guimei, has sown the seeds of knowledge in a remote mountain village, allowing many girls from poor families to change their fate, and they regard Ms. Zhang as their relatives.
Teacher Zhang has been nurturing these girls for decades and lighting up their lives with knowledge.
In order to commemorate Ms. Zhang's struggle, the producer decided to put her deeds on the screen and shoot a movie called "I Am a Mountain". Ms. Zhang was surprised that her story was made into a movie, and she did not expect that the efforts of an ordinary teacher could have such a big impact on society.
In order to make the movie more realistic, the filmmaker deliberately found the powerful actor Haiqing to play the role of Mr. Zhang. In order to prepare for this role, Haiqing came to Teacher Zhang's house and followed her to learn Xi mannerisms.
She also experienced rural life with her disciples, hoping to gain a deep understanding of the role. The students also cooperated with Haiqing and told the story of Teacher Zhang, so that she could feel the spirit of this venerable elder.
The film started filming soon, and everyone was full of enthusiasm, hoping that through this movie, more people can understand Mr. Zhang's selfless dedication and inspire more people to help those disadvantaged groups change their fate.
This movie is like a feast, and everyone is looking forward to it bringing positive energy to society. However, when the movie called "I Was a Mountain" was officially released, many people of insight unexpectedly found that there was a big discrepancy between the content of its adaptation and the facts.
For example, the film depicts a mother as abusing her daughter after often drinking heavily. But for rural women, who are struggling with the impoverishment that swept through them every day, it is simply impossible to have extra money to buy expensive alcoholic beverages.
How can a mother bear to abuse her own flesh and blood? This is obviously a plot that the film arbitrarily introduces in order to create dramatic conflict.
Not only that, but the movie also portrays some studious and motivated female students as philistine characters who love vanity and waste time. But Mr. Zhang's students regard reading as a rare opportunity to change their fate, and how can they have time to go shopping after studying day and night?
When Ms. Zhang's students and her colleagues learned about these false plots in the movie, they were very angry. They have spoken out on the Internet, strongly demanding that the film correct these depictions that are seriously inconsistent with the facts, so as not to mislead the audience.
Public opinion circles have also criticized the filmmaker's screenwriting technique, believing that it seriously distorts history and violates the bottom line of law and morality. A film adapted from real events should first respect historical facts, and should not arbitrarily distort the characters in order to create dramatic conflicts.
This film, which sacrificed the truth and made it up, finally ushered in the moment of judgment at the premiere.
When the film screening ended, the host warmly invited Ms. Zhang Guimei to speak on stage, hoping to hear her thoughts on her story being put on the screen. When the spotlight was pointed at Teacher Zhang, people were surprised to find that the venerable old man did not show the slightest excitement or pride, she just shook her head silently, her face was embarrassed, and she refused to make any comments.
The audience was shocked by Ms. Zhang's reaction, and wondered why she was not happy about her story being adapted into a movie. At this time, many of Mr. Zhang's students and colleagues suddenly stood up and told the truth one by one with emotion.
It turned out that many of the fabricated plots in the movie had seriously distorted and slandered these respectable female teachers! Especially the teacher who was scandalized in the film, she choked up on the spot and loudly denied that she was dissatisfied with Teacher Zhang.
She said that she regarded Mr. Zhang as her own, and the contradictions described in the film never existed at all.
The students also came forward to refute the portrayal of the movie, saying that they never skipped class and wasted time shopping as the film said, and they just wanted to study hard to repay their teachers.
They asked the film company to remove the false content and give justice to the teachers and students. As soon as this sacrificial film was released, as Andy Lau had predicted before, it was strongly criticized and boycotted on the Internet.
Andy Lau once foresaw that if an artist acted in a bad movie to attract attention only by virtue of popularity and fame, it would seriously deteriorate the film environment and deviate the audience's aesthetics and judgment.
Now, his worries have come true. On the video website, netizens left messages to "step" on this film to express strong protest. They denounced the film's efforts to distort the characters and fabricate false plots in order to create topic and dramatic conflicts, which completely deviated from the original intention of the film and was an insult to the audience's intelligence.
If film creators deviate from history and human nature and only blindly pursue fame and fortune, our film environment will become more and more degenerate. Those bad movies that only create gimmicks will spring up like mushrooms after a rain, and there will be nowhere to stand in works with real quality and connotation.
Netizens have appealed that as a literary and artistic work, the responsibility of the movie is to faithfully reflect history and human nature, and not to distort the facts at will in order to cater to the tastes of some people.
Only when filmmakers learn from this reflection can they be honest and innovative in future production, so that the environment for Chinese films will become more and more sophisticated.
The controversy of "I Am a Mountain" has forced us to deeply reflect on the relationship between film creation and historical facts, as well as the impact of film on society.
Movies can change the atmosphere of an era to a great extent and influence the values of the people. If filmmakers deviate from history and arbitrarily distort the truth just to cater to certain non-mainstream tastes, it will have a negative impact on society and lead to a deviation in the people's judgment of historical truth and justice.
Secondly, film, as an important form of cultural communication, requires filmmakers to have a humanistic spirit and historical responsibility. China has more than 8,000 years of historical accumulation, and the unique spiritual outlook of the Chinese nation needs to be fully expressed in the movie.
If the producer lacks an understanding of Chinese culture, one-sidedly renders negative content, and cannot show the spiritual outlook of the Chinese, it will also cause harm to the national culture.
Again, cinema cannot exist independently of the audience. If the film only considers the position of the producer, does not respect the audience's ability to understand, and caters to certain tastes through fictional plots, it will not only ruin the artistry of the film, but also lose the people's support.
For a film to be commercially successful, it ultimately needs the approval of the audience.
To sum up, filmmakers must keep in mind their social responsibilities when creating, examine the subject matter from the height of history and humanistic spirit, and spread positive energy through the charm of film.
Only in this way can Chinese films have a unique voice around the world and enhance their international influence.
The controversy over "I Am a Mountain" makes people deeply feel the importance of film creation. Movies can change the spiritual outlook of a nation, and filmmakers need to start from the perspective of customers, so as to get the desired effect.
Filmmakers should not make subjective assumptions when creating films, but should fully absorb the opinions of different sectors. Only by listening and understanding can we create works of high quality. At the same time, filmmakers should continue to deepen their understanding of Chinese history and culture, so as to avoid rigid formulations and make film works truly reflect the unique charm of the Chinese nation.
We call on the film industry to draw lessons from this reflection and cherish history, pay attention to humanity, and understand people's feelings in the future. The film should not only satisfy the producer, but also consider the feelings of the audience.
Only in this way can Chinese films achieve their due status in the world.
China has more than 8,000 years of historical accumulation, and the spiritual home of the Chinese nation needs to continue to be carried forward in the movie. We hope that Chinese filmmakers can tap the essence of national history and culture, and spread the spiritual characteristics of Chinese to every corner of the world through films.
Let Chinese films become a towering tree in the world film forest and occupy a place in the world influence.