The Nightingale

2021年1月25日发(作者：校正)
The Nightingale





FRENCH director Philippe Muyl was recently surprised
to learn that his film The Nightingale
（
Le promeneur d
’
oiseau
）
，

jointly produced by China and France
，

would
compete for Best Foreign Language Film Prize at the 87th
Academy Awards. The director says
this is a sign that China’s
film industry is opening up.




In 1991
，

Ju Dou
，

directed by Zhang Yimou
，

was the
first Chinese-language film to win an Oscar nomination. Over
the next 12 years
，

Chinese- language films were nominated
seven times for Oscars
，

and Ang Lee
’
s Crouching Tiger
，

Hidden Dragon won on behalf of Taiwan. But for the past 11
years
，

no Chinese film has been short-listed for an Oscar.



The Nightingale was screened at more than 30 international
film festivals before its Chinese debut on October 31
，

2014. It
won Audience Award at the 16th RiverRun Film Festival in the
U.S. and the Golden Slipper award at the 54th Zl
í
n Film
Festival in the Czech Republic. At the Shanghai International
Film Festival
，

the film was nominated for five awards and its
lead actor Li Baotian won a Media Award.



These successes have raised hopes for an Oscar in 2015.




Tribute to a Country Amid Reform



“
Selecting The Nightingale shows that a co-production
may represent Chinese films on the global stage
，
”

Philippe
Muyl said.
“
It shows a bright
，

heartwarming and optimistic
China which is striving to solve existing problems. That makes
us stand out.
”




Before coming to China to direct The Nightingale
，

Philippe Muyl thought it would be
“
an adventure.
”

Yet after
arriving
，

he realized that China is not the same country as that
portrayed in the news. He felt that he had a responsibility to
record China
’
s realities so as to
“
present the real China to the
world.
”




“
To some extent
，

China currently remains unknown to
many Westerners. Sometimes it is misinterpreted
，
”

Philippe
Muyl said.
“
The French talk about China almost every day
，

but few have ever actually been to the country. They have no
idea what China looks like and simply believe what they have
seen on television
，

often focusing on negative aspects like
environmental pollution.
”

Therefore
，

he says
，

people should
visit China for themselves or go to see The Nightingale.
“
You
will find many attractive things in China besides smog ?C
beautiful scenery
，

kind people
，

ancient culture and modern
vitality.”



“
The film tells an original Chinese story with Chinese
actors. But I adopted a narrative form familiar to Western
audiences to make it easier to understand
，
”

Muyl said.





In early May 2014
，

The Nightingale was released in
French cinemas and was a box office hit. Its receipts exceeded
Hollywood blockbusters and several French films shown at the
same time. Running for over half a year
，

it has become the first
noncommercial Chinese film to run so long in French cinemas.
One in 500 French people have seen this film.



According to a French film magazine survey
，

100 percent
of viewers were
“
satisfied
”

with this film while 69 percent of
them were
“
very satisfied.
”
Another French magazine called it
an awesome film that enabled audiences to dive into a modern
China. Le Figaro said that this lively and emotional Chinese
fable leads people on a spiritual path. The warm story
，

filmed
by a French director in China
，

can be deemed as a tribute to a
country in the process of reform. Les Echos wrote that in recent
years
，

Westerners have received too many negative images of
China. The Nightingale shows the bright and happy China that
Westerners have long ignored.




Back to Family



Philippe Muyl now sees China as his second home
，

and
cannot remember how many times he has visited the country.
The director spent a year and half learning Chinese for the
filming of The Nightingale. Every day he wrote his diary using
Chinese pinyin and handed in to his Chinese teacher the next
day for corrections.



Having lived in China for quite a while
，

Philippe Muyl is
familiar with the country
’
s conditions. As an observer
，

he
often reflects on China
’
s breakneck speed of life. People are
under increasing pressure from social development and an
accelerating pace of life. Many individuals and families are
losing their sense of balance. “Many people are so busy that
they are living in cars or on airplanes. Families become
estranged and exist in name only.”



In the movie
，

an old man
，

played by veteran actor Li
Baotian
，

wants to keep a promise to his dead wife by returning
to their hometown with his only friend
，

an 18-year-old
nightingale. But he has to bring his 8-year-old granddaughter
with him as his son and daughter-in-law are taking business trips
at the same time. The granddaughter
，

however
，

has no desire
to travel to a strange town with her grandfather who she rarely