Sure– there would always be people assigned to complete these duties, but the director was still the boss and the overseer. If something went wrong, it would only reflect badly upon his/her film. In other words, directing wasn't simply about sitting in front of a screen showing camera shots and shouting 'shoot' and 'cut'.
In a pinch, this was a profession based on an accumulation of experiences and connections as well as precise control of multiple aspects.
As a result, there were fewer and fewer directors who succeeded in their careers, much less those who had actually received ratings. And getting rated when you were young was even more rare. So, imagine if there was a director who was relatively young, was successful and had a good rating to boot.
That director would be Mr Gong: 35 years of age -which was quite young for a successful director- and possessing a rating of bronze - 3 stars, which was even rarer.
