That year, Haiqing appeared at an award ceremony as an award guest. The biggest highlight of the night was supposed to be the actress Zhou Dongyu, but it was suddenly rewritten.
Just when Zhou Dongyu was about to take the stage to accept the award, the host announced that a number of "middle-aged actresses" needed to be invited for the next link. When everyone was still confused, they saw Haiqing walking quickly onto the stage with an eager expression, followed by the ignorant Yao Chen, Song Jia and others.
Before they could react, Haiqing had already snatched the host's microphone and talked heartily about the situation of middle-aged actresses struggling to survive in the circle. The audience was silent, the protagonist Zhou Dongyu stood awkwardly awkwardly, and Yao Chen and Song Jia also forced a smile.
Haiqing's words are tantamount to telling the truth in public. She chose to speak out on such an occasion, presumably out of anxiety about her future and resentment at ageism.
However, her actions disrupted the order of the ceremony and embarrassed the protagonist Zhou Dongyu. Song Jia had to come forward to play a round and denied that this only represented Haiqing's personal views.
The ceremony ended in embarrassment, and Haiqing's goal was achieved, but his peers saw it.
Four years after the farce of that awards ceremony, Haiqing seems to have found a good opportunity for a commercial comeback - a mountain village-themed movie. She came to the vast fields and villages, created herself as a middle-aged woman with a yellow face and thin muscles, and starred in the movie "Hidden in the Dust", which tells the story of rural teacher Liu Xiulian.
No one expected that this non-mainstream work produced at a small budget not only achieved an astonishing success of 100 million yuan at the box office, but Haiqing also won the Golden Horse Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress in one fell swoop.
What's even more eye-popping is that the film was also nominated for the main competition unit of the German Film Festival, becoming a new record for Chinese mainland films to enter the three major film festivals.
However, just when the success of "Hidden in the Dust" reached the top, a sudden change occurred - the movie was suddenly removed from the shelves of major video websites in China.
The reason for the removal is still unknown, and Haiqing's mental journey of falling into the trough again after reaching the peak can be imagined. This episode shows the outside world that in the film and television industry, no one can always stay smooth.
After "Hidden in the Dust" was suddenly taken off the shelves, Haiqing quickly found a new opportunity - based on the true deeds of Zhang Guimin who founded the "Love School" to shoot the movie "I Am a Mountain".
In order to meet this challenge, she came to Gansu and lived with Principal Zhang for a period of time, imitating and learning from her words and deeds.
However, when the highly anticipated film premiered, the huge controversy over the plot adaptation immediately caused an uproar on the Internet. Many of the archetypal characters of President Zhang's students and colleagues have pointed out that many of the key plots in the movie are apocryphal, which is very different from the actual situation.
For example, the initial defense of President Zhang's founding was attributed to personal grievances, which ruined her selfless dedication; Another example is the depiction of the family background and personality characteristics of female students, which is detached from reality, and seriously maintains the image of women; Some insiders even broke the news that the producer of the film and Haiqing himself were suspected of transferring interests.
With so much controversy over authenticity, the audience can't help but wonder if a story that was originally singable and crying has been ruined by commercial operations. And all these doubts are reminiscent of Andy Lau's worries about "shooting bad themes" back then.
Unlike Haiqing's imitation of Zhang Guimin in "I Am a Mountain", which only stays in the external image, Gong Li's interpretation of the women's ranking Su Langping in "My Hometown and Me" can be described as both internal and external, showing the spirit of this legendary women's volleyball team to the fullest.
In the movie, Gong Li not only perfectly restored Lang Ping's signature short golden hair, women's volleyball training uniform and whistle from the appearance, but also appropriately portrayed her frank, tenacious, and passionate inner world through multiple means such as eyes, tone, and movements.
When the plot entered the climax, and the girls of the women's volleyball team were injured one after another in training and faced the fate of disbandment, Gong Li's inner passion and unyielding were fully revealed. The kind of positive energy that penetrates the screen is enough to make every audience cheer up and cry.
At the premiere of "I Am a Mountain", when the film screening ended, the archetypal characters present did not have the excitement or tears in their eyes as the director expected.
Zhang Guimin herself was even more expressionless and rejected the host's proposal to invite her to speak on stage.
On the contrary, the archetype of the colleague who opposed her in the film is impatient to explain, emphasizing that the various contradictions and conflicts depicted in the film do not exist in reality. Other parents of students also said that many of the plots in the movie are seriously out of touch with the facts and full of a sense of disobedience.
These "clarifications" and "corrections" undoubtedly add to the situation, pushing the question of the authenticity of the film adaptation to a more acute situation. At the same time, some netizens broke the news that the film investor and Haiqing are inextricably linked, which caused public anger.
Under such a double blow, the reputation of "I Am a High Mountain" completely fell to the freezing point, the score plummeted, and netizens criticized it one-sidedly.
When the adaptation turmoil of "I Am a Mountain" continues to escalate, many people in the industry can't help but remember that Andy Lau publicly expressed a concern many years ago - filming movies cannot be arbitrarily adapted and seriously misrepresented just for commercial interests, which can easily ruin the life of a certain theme on the screen.
For example, he once said that if a theme is interpreted by a big-name star first, the consequence is usually that it is difficult for small people to have the opportunity to play similar roles again; Similarly, if a big director makes a version that is too outrageously adapted, it will also shrink the space of this theme in the film sharply, and there will be no opportunity for more vivid and real display.
After the advent of "I Am a Mountain", a commercial film based on real people and real events, can there be better films related to rural education? This makes people worry that Andy Lau's worries are becoming a reality -- a theme that was originally remarkable has been ruined by a rigid adaptation.
Fortunately, the road to film creation is already full of thorns. We have reason to believe that as long as someone perseveres with a pure heart, the subject matter will eventually regain vitality and bloom with a more moving light.
The controversy over the adaptation of "I Am a Mountain" and Haiqing's various behaviors have undoubtedly made the public have higher expectations for the social responsibility of film creators.
As the main creators of film and television dramas, they shoulder the mission of spreading positive energy and promoting mainstream values. When adapting a true story, it is necessary to be more cautious and avoid changing the truth and ruining the image of the characters for commercial benefits.
At the same time, in the face of doubts from the public and the media, it is also necessary to maintain an open, tolerant and confident attitude. Only by taking the initiative to accept criticism can we continuously improve our works and repay the love of the audience and society with higher standards.
Let's wait and see, I believe that Jin Shi will eventually recognize heroes. These warnings will eventually enable more filmmakers to self-discipline and self-examination, and jointly protect the truth, goodness and beauty of this cultural stage.