> SAM FILM NEWS NEWS
Date: 8th, Dec. 2013
Venue: VIP Room, Cultural & Art Troupe, Beijing Military Region
Remarks and Comments:
Li Zhun (Former Deputy Director, Bureau of Literature and Art, CPC Publicity Department)
I feel very confident of Sam Film Limited the moment I see all the celebrated guests at this seminar.
I am already familiar wit the core of the story from the synopsis you provided. But after reading the actual lines in the play, I have to admit that Meng Bing has the unparalleled ability to explore the much deeper value underneath a story.
He is accurate and precise in capturing the crucial facts of corruption cases: the misconduct of government officials during their evaluation of projects and their inappropriate involvement in the finance sector.
The story revealed a burning problem of our social reality, offered a humanistic review of party leaders and pointed out the fact that, faith, important as it is to everyone of us, will change according to one’s life attitude as well as the external context.
May party leaders, like the secretary Qin Zhong and Deputy Mayor Zhao Yan, are originally honest and clean, but unfortunately, they have changed and corrupted before the charm of their mistresses. After reading the story, we all are left to wonder—— what prompted them to use the right endowed by our people to seek personal gains? The answer is their inability to restrain the desire for power, money and lust.
Here comes another question: since power and social position may cloud one’s judgment, then who shall be responsible for overseeing the top leader and supervising their judgment?
Meng Bing’s script features factual and truthful depiction of characters and vigorous lines that directly reaches out to our hearts. Here are some of my advice: first, a certain level of attention could be given to the conscientious aspect of the corrupted leader, particularly before they are corrupted; second, the image of mistresses should be uniquely charming, since it takes more than just an ordinary woman to lure an upright party leader into corruption; third, the most difficult of all, the spiritual richness of the inspectors should be accentuated.
Zhang Mingzhi (Head of China Television Production Committee)
Sam Film Limited is a member of our committee. When president Li Qiong informed me of their intention to launch such a TV show with an anti-corruption theme, my first thought was whether we should seek cooperation from CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. If not, it would be difficult for its publicity.
Admittedly, anti-corruption theme has been a particular favor of the audience.
The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television also stressed that products of such kind are preferred, but certain standards for public broadcast shall be met first.
It goes without saying that Meng Bing has done a wonderful job in terms of his unique perspective, authorial orientation, plot and lines, but I have been wondering if we could connect the story to the present political climate? Why not use the story to exhibit the accomplishment we have achieved since the 18th CPC National Congress? Perhaps our scriptwriter and director could consider juxtaposing the story with the new managerial philosophy of our government.
Zhong Chengxiang (Researcher at Central Research Institute of Culture and History, Former Deputy Editor in Chief at The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television)
Most of Meng Bing’s work are what was called “the art of dancing on ropes” and he is renowned for his sharp, touching lines as well as for his professional characterization of figures. In comparison, most of the contemporary films and TV shows are intellectually poverty-stricken and aesthetically barren. Fortunately, Meng Bing is advantageous in all of the said aspects. His plays mostly feature a perfect combination of intellect and arts, and a skillful balance between the story and reality.
Since I have placed enough hope on this play, I hereby offer some of my humble advice:
1. Uniqueness: let it be one of the kind among works with similar themes; be instructive and educational;
2. Positivity: let it be an artistic work that both serves and guides people; such themes as faith and the bottom line could be brought out in the story, with an emphasis on the former; also should be emphasized is the moral of the story——stick to the faith and never cross the line;
3. Artistic value: the best artist dares to bring out a problem and to solve it in a wise and creative manner;
4. Transcendence: the story should rise above the cliche of corruption cases, and begin to think on a much higher cultural, intellectual level: in a new historical climate, who shall be responsible for overseeing the top leader at local level?
5. New Perspective: supervision of top leaders is a new topic, and we should be cautious to avoid addressing the sensitive and taboo subject, making the theme accurate and appropriate;
6. The narratives of the story should be in accordance with the narratology of similar works with the same subject, namely, the top-down narrative model——the support offered by the higher level for eliminating corruption at local level.
Apart from the above-mentioned experts and representatives from Discipline Inspection Department, many prestigious scriptwriters and producers offered their opinions during the seminar. Based on their valuable suggestions, we revised and modified the script draft once again.
As is known to all, the anti-corruption-themed play is too sensitive and difficult to produce, but we shall stick it out to the end despite the challenges.
We are looking forward to more constructive suggestions at the second seminar.