The sunlight shone on the stone path of the campus as two young people hurriedly walked through the tree-lined road, their speed almost a run, as if something particularly important awaited them ahead.
One of them was complaining while running, "Jiang Qingfeng, it's all your fault! You actually forgot where the document is! I could kill you right now!"
"It's my fault, it's my fault!"
The person named Jiang Qingfeng tightly held onto a file folder, urging, "Zuo Qiang, stop talking, let's hurry up! Faster! Faster!"
They were heading towards the school's grand auditorium.
Though the speaker wasn't a political figure or a famous billionaire, the lecture by the world's best director still attracted their attention.
Both Zuo Qiang and Jiang Qingfeng were from the literature department and were especially interested in films. They had prepared questions for the director during the interactive session.
Entering the grand auditorium, they turned their heads to see the place was packed. Fortunately, this event wasn't open to the public, so those who could enter had all been screened and had their seats arranged. The scene gave an impression of being full yet not chaotic.
Zuo Qiang and Jiang Qingfeng's seats were near the front. After squeezing in, they quietly waited for the speech to begin.
There were members of the student council maintaining order, and though there were whispers, the atmosphere was not disorderly.
After about ten minutes, a group of people entered from the doors of the auditorium. Zuo Qiang and Jiang Qingfeng immediately spotted one figure.
The person was about 185 cm tall, slightly thin but gave off a sense of strength. He was dressed simply but appropriately, with sharp facial features and short dark brown hair standing on end, giving him a sharp and efficient appearance.
Without any special ceremony, he held a speech script and walked directly to the podium.
"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm glad to be here…"
Although Zuo Qiang and Jiang Qingfeng had seen the director's Chinese proficiency in interviews before, hearing him speak with perfect but slightly stiff Mandarin created an inexplicable sense of familiarity and recognition.
A foreigner could speak Chinese so fluently, clearly having spent a lot of time learning and practicing, which showed that he must have a strong affection for this country.
Unlike the seasoned veterans at film festivals, Duke knew that these young, inexperienced students were more likely to be influenced, and this was the perfect occasion to show off his Chinese skills.
In front of people like those at the film festivals, even if you spoke Chinese more fluently than a news anchor, it wouldn't have much impact. But in front of regular people, it could unknowingly close the gap between them.
"In North America, according to university lecture traditions, the speaker is supposed to say things like 'chase your dreams'..."
Standing at the podium, Duke surveyed the audience. With hundreds of people seated below, he prepared an unconventional speech, as his style was never full of lofty, vague concepts. "But I don't want to say those things because I don't believe in them. I believe you all have dreams, the determination to pursue them, and don't need me to say anything. What's more important is to grasp reality."
The auditorium was quiet, with only Duke's voice floating in the air. "I've often had this feeling—on some level, we've begun to view reality as a tragic cousin of our dreams. But I want to convey this idea to you: whether it's our dreams or the reality we face, all the abstract concepts we are passionate about are subsets of reality, and these subsets are what we can more easily grasp."
After glancing at the script one last time, Duke began to speak without it.
"Like my work in the film industry for over a decade—films are dream machines, but the process of creating dreams is very realistic. You can't afford any romantic imaginations. If you don't approach film with a practical attitude, the only thing waiting for you is failure."
"This is a personal view, a lesson I've learned. In the early stages of my career, I faced failure after failure. To shoot Speed, I went to every major film company in Hollywood, met with at least thirty producers, and tried to sell my dream. But dreams didn't outweigh reality—no company or individual was willing to invest in my movie—until my mother showed up."
A burst of laughter echoed from the audience, and Duke laughed as well before continuing, "I'm a lucky person, I don't hide that. My family's support helped me avoid many detours."
"When the opportunity came, I seized it, but to turn that opportunity into success, a lot of knowledge was needed. I always felt I had accumulated as much knowledge as a block of Brie cheese!" he joked, "But when directing a film, I realized that the knowledge I'd accumulated for over ten years was far from enough. What I had was more like Swiss cheese—those gaps in my understanding were the real problem. Knowledge is important because even if you leave here, you'll still need to fill in the gaps in that cheese, gaps you may not even know you have. You'll use experience to fill them."
"During that time, your life and work will have both brilliant and miserable moments, but through it, you'll learn more."
"The achievements you get here will help you through difficult times. You didn't just learn a set of knowledge here; you learned how to learn. You learned the value of learning," Duke continued. "Most importantly, some of those gaps will be filled by the most important things—the new ideas, new concepts, and all the things that can change the world."
A round of applause erupted from the audience. Duke gestured for silence and said, "One can implant certain ideas and believe in them unconditionally."
"As someone who has been through it, I want to remind you that when you leave campus, you should remember to keep moving forward and never stop your steps, no matter what obstacles you face."
Duke spoke earnestly, giving great importance to this speech. "When I see you, I think back to when I graduated from college—society was unfair, income disparity, wars everywhere—you all probably know what the early 90s world was like, and you know this because, in fact, today's world is still that way."
Another round of laughter broke out. Duke shrugged, "What have we done in the past twenty years? The world is still a mess. It's not easy to succeed in this world. If you have knowledge and opportunities, you also need to remember one thing—never ignore teamwork!"
"Many people have asked me, why can you keep succeeding? Why do you have today's accomplishments? Why are you so successful?"
Duke paused slightly before answering, "I've won an Oscar for Best Director, and the combined box office of the films I've directed is astronomical. It seems like all these are my personal honors. But in reality? Behind me, there are countless people who have supported me, like Tina Fey, who is sitting among you, or the production team I've worked with for over ten years. If I didn't have these people, I'd have the confidence to shoot Speed and The Rock, but I couldn't have completed The Lord of the Rings trilogy in such a short time."
"Throughout the filmmaking journey, I've learned a lot. What I've learned isn't just scientific knowledge, but also leadership. Many people think that as a director, you must have strong leadership skills, but I've learned how to lead a team through the process of filmmaking."
He knew very well that even with his special experiences, without a cohesive team, he wouldn't have reached his current position. "During the production of a film, I sometimes ask myself, why am I here? Why continue making films? What have I gained from it?"
"To challenge myself—films are like oceans and mountains awaiting our exploration. To discover; also for a strange relationship— a tightly-knit team. My core production team has worked together for many years, often spending most of the year together. In this relationship, I found the most important thing is respect. I'm here for you, and you're here for me. The work each person does cannot be explained to others. We must build a relationship, a relationship based on respect."
"When I began shooting The Lord of the Rings trilogy, I tried applying this leadership principle of mutual respect to the film's production. Soon, things changed. My team was large, working in uncharted territories, creating new worlds. This was very interesting, very challenging. Over the years, we became a family, and this completely changed the way I made films before."
In the end, the speech followed a familiar pattern, always circling back to himself.
"Some articles say that Duke Rosenberg put some monsters on Earth, and that's why The Lord of the Rings succeeded. But for me, the basic principles of how I do things and the process itself led to today's results."
"Finally, let me share the key factors I think contributed to my career success."
Duke raised his first finger, "Curiosity. This is the most important thing you have."
Then he raised his second finger, "Appropriate imagination in line with reality. This is your most important power."
As he raised his third finger, he added, "Respect for the team. This is a law more important than any other in the world."
Moving closer to the podium, Duke said to the young faces in the front rows, "Many young filmmakers ask me for advice on how to succeed. I tell them—don't set limits for yourself. Others may draw boundaries for you, but you mustn't. You need to take risks. Failure is one option, but fear is not. No film has ever been made with complete safety. You must be willing to take on those risks."
"Thank you!"
The auditorium erupted in applause. Though the speech had ended, the event would continue, and the essential interaction session of a celebrity lecture would follow.
.....
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