《百鳥朝鳳》排片慘淡 方勵直播下跪求影院經理

A producer and promoter for Wu Tianming's posthumous film "Song of the Phoenix" has kneeled down in an online video, begging theater owners for more showtime for the film.

近日，導演吳天明的遺作《百鳥朝鳳》的電影製作人、出資人竟然在直播視頻中下跪，乞求各大影院的院線經理能爲這部電影增加排片量。

The incident reflects the harsh reality for Chinese art-house films.

這一事件反映出了當今中國藝術電影的殘酷現實。

Fang Li, a producer of the film, kneeled down in an online broadcast, crying and begging, "I hope everyone can help promote 'Song of the Phoenix' on your social networking accounts. And if you (theater managers) can arrange a primetime screening this weekend, I'm willing to kneel down for you. To all the friends who help us, I love you, I can do anything."

該電影的製作人方勵在這次網絡直播中下跪，並哭訴道：“我希望大家能夠在自己的社交平臺上幫助宣傳《百鳥朝鳳》這部電影。如果哪位院線經理能夠在這個週末給我們安排一次黃金場，我就給你下跪。只要各位能夠爲這部電影出一份力，我可以爲你們做任何事情。”

Wu Tianming, a leading man in the Chinese film industry's fourth generation of filmmakers, had finished his last film entitled "Song of the Phoenix" before his death but never had a chance to see it released. He died on March 4, 2014 from a heart attack at the age of 74, just one month after he finished the editing for "Song of the Phoenix," which tells the story of the friendship between two suona horn (a Chinese woodwind musical instrument) artists from two separate generations.

該部電影的導演吳天明是中國電影行業的第四代電影製作人。《百鳥朝鳳》是他去世之前的最後一部作品，不過他再也沒有機會親眼看到這部電影的發行。吳天明導演因心臟病突發於2014年3月4日去世，享年74歲。在他去世前一個月，他剛剛完成了對《百鳥朝鳳》這部電影的編輯工作。《百鳥朝鳳》講述的是新老兩代嗩吶（中國的一種傳統木管樂器）藝人爲了信念的堅守所產生的真摯的情誼。

According to Wu Yanyan, daughter of Wu Tianming, the lack of promotion funds led to the shelving of the film after her father died. In the past two years, "Song of the Phoenix" eventually secured financial support from various "selfless" filmmakers, she said in a meet-and-greet event after an advance screening.

吳天明的女兒吳妍妍表示，在父親死後，《百鳥朝鳳》這部電影因爲缺乏推廣資金而導致一再被擱置上映。兩年之後，在電影預演之後的一次見面會上，吳妍妍表示，在一些電影製作人慷慨無私的幫助之下，《百鳥朝鳳》終於得到了資金上的支持與保障。

"Song of the Phoenix" has not been a commercial blockbuster since its debut on May 6, securing only one percent of all films' screening arrangements throughout the country. It received great reviews from moviegoers and critics, and its score on China's movie rating site is 8.4/10. However, the rival Hollywood superhero flick "Captain America: Civil War" now dominates the market and "Song of the Phoenix" just grossed around 4 million yuan in a week.

自《百鳥朝鳳》於5月6日上映以來，這部電影就沒有成爲商業大片，首映當天各大影院的排片率僅在1%左右。儘管該影片得到了一些電影常客以及評論家的一致好評，在豆瓣的評分也達到了8.4分（10分滿分）的高分，但是與該電影同步上映的好萊塢大片《美國隊長3：內戰》卻已在該時段佔領了電影市場，導致《百鳥朝鳳》一星期的票房累計僅在四百萬左右。

"I don't expect big box office earnings for this film. I just hope more people can see Wu Tianming's last masterpiece," Fang said in his webcast. "You (theater managers) can earn big money fifty weekends out of the year -- so just for this weekend, please increase our screening time. For director Wu, for audience. This is our last chance. This is a Chinese film, this is Chinese culture. People don't just live for money."

方勵在網絡直播中表示：“我不求能帶來多麼豐厚的票房回報，我只希望有更多的人能夠真正去電影院觀看吳天明導演的這部遺作。各位電影院的經理們，一年將近五十個星期，你們每個星期都可以賺很多錢，我就懇求你們，在這一週的週末給我們增加排片量吧。爲吳導演也好，爲觀衆也好，這是我們最後的機會了。這部電影是我們中國出品的電影，代表的是我們中國的文化。要知道，人不應該只爲錢活着。”

Wu was respected for his successful films, which included the award-winning "Old Well" and "The King of Masks," as well as his teaching and nurturing of the fifth generation of Chinese filmmakers, such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, Huang Jianxin and more. Even Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese sent his heartfelt tribute to the master. "Wu Tianming was a true giant of cinema," said Scorsese in a promotional video.

吳天明導演曾經執導過許多非常成功的電影，其中包括獲得金雞獎最佳故事片獎的《老井》、華表獎最佳對外合拍片獎《變臉》等。此外，吳天明還培養了一批中國的第五代電影製作人，比如張藝謀，陳凱歌，黃建新等當今頗有名氣的導演。甚至連奧斯卡最佳導演獎的獲得者馬丁·斯科塞斯也對這位製作人給予了高度的評價。他曾在一個宣傳視頻中稱:“吳天明是電影行業真正的大師。”