director of the millennium

Chapter 148 "Love" starts, "House of Flying Daggers" is coming

Zedong Film Company is a Hong Kong-funded film company jointly established by Sunglasses King and Liu Zhenwei.

This company not only produces films, but also contracts actors to broker work.

Under its banner, there are many Hong Kong celebrities such as Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, and Lau Jialin.

Gong Li, the number one actress in the mainland, also signed a contract with this company.

It is precisely because of signing with this company that Gong Li was able to enter the Hong Kong Island film circle after parting ways with Zhang Yimou, and starred in many films of King of Sunglasses.

"2046", which will be released this summer, is directed by King Sunglasses, starring Liang Chaowei and Gong Li.

In addition, there is a 104-minute erotic film "Love God" co-produced by Italy, Hong Kong Island of China, the United States, France, Luxembourg, and the United Kingdom.

Well, I can’t say much about this movie. In short, it is a movie that will never be released in mainland China.

But the cast of this movie is very sharp, and later Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. also appeared in this movie.

Gong Li, who had just finished filming the movie and returned to Beijing from Hong Kong Island, was reading a script in the capital office of Zedong Film Company.

"Ali, this is a script sent by your big mainland director, director Wu Yuan Wu who is working in Hollywood."

"Although it is the second female lead, this is an award-winning literary film, and it is going to be judged in the main competition unit of Cannes."

"I think you should like it, so I agreed to help you."

Gong Li's agent is an old-fashioned agent in Hong Kong Island, who has brought many Hong Kong kings and queens, and was specially invited by the King of Sunglasses to lead Gong Li.

It's just that her Mandarin is really not good enough, every time Gong Li listens to her speak, he has to be very serious to get a rough idea.

"Director Wu's new movie? Isn't it a commercial movie?" Gong Li was a little surprised.

Wu Yuan actually came back to make a literary film, which is really rare.

Her agent nodded excitedly: "Yes, the staff who sent the script asked me to convey that Director Wu has high expectations for this movie, and wants to achieve better results than "The Undertaker."

Although many Hong Kong Island filmmakers look down on mainland films, what they look down on is the entire film industry, and they dare not look down on certain directors in the field.

Such as Zhang Yimou, such as Wu Yuan, such as Chen Kaige.

Even if these three directors are placed in the Hong Kong Island film circle, they must be respected and sought after, because their films are either top three in Europe or box office hits.

Naturally, Gong Li's manager would not think that it would be a cheap thing to let Gong Li act as the second female lead in Wu Yuan's new movie.

She even hopes that Gong Li can play Wu Yuan's role.

There is no way, the big directors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait can be counted on two hands. For an actor like Gong Li, her choice range is very small.

If you can open up a new top director's network, you must seize it!

Not to mention that Wu Yuan still holds a direct ticket to Hollywood.

Gong Li was indeed very interested. She carefully looked at the script of "Love" sent by Wu Yuan and read the story carefully.

Wu Yuan thinks this movie is better than "The Undertaker"?
"The Undertaker" won the best director in Berlin. If it is better than this award, it must be the Jury Prize and the Palme d'Or for best film.

You know, currently only Chen Kaige has won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for "Farewell My Concubine", the only one in China.

Gong Li can see that "Love" is a good movie, but if she is asked to judge which one is better, this movie or "The Undertaker", it is definitely not possible to judge at this stage.

At least we have to wait until the whole film is finished, and then we can have a comparison in our hearts after seeing the finished film.

"Unfortunately, the heroine is an old man in her 70s, so it's not suitable for me." Gong Li sighed and said with some disappointment.

It would be great if she could play the heroine of Wu Yuan's new movie, but the second female lead is still a little bit less interesting.

"The role of the second female lead is also very important. There are only three important roles in the whole movie." The agent persuaded.

"I know." Gong Li glanced at the utilitarian manager, and said helplessly, "Director Wu's invitation, even if it's a cameo, has to be accepted."

Even Emperor Gong is unwilling to easily reject Wu Yuan's invitation to play the role.

"Then I will return to the era of light and shadow?" The agent said in agreement.

"Reply, act."

You Benchang, Wu Yanshu, Gong Li, this is Wu Yuan's cast for "Love".

Coupled with the guest appearance of Liu Yifei as the granddaughter, and the seven or eight character actors invited from Beijing Film Studio, the preparations for "Love" are complete.

As a literary film, "Love" naturally has no big scenes.

On July 2004, 7, "Love" was officially launched in an old staff building in Beijing.

On the basis of their original age, You Benchang and Wu Yanshu, who also wore old-age makeup, started filming tremblingly.

Most of the content of this movie will be filmed in this small two-bedroom faculty dormitory.

To be precise, this is the home of the elderly couple in the movie.

They are a couple who have been engaged in music education for more than 40 years and have just retired a few years ago.

The house was allocated by the school, and it has the characteristics of that era. It is not very big, and it is only big enough for the couple and one child.

However, their daughter has already established her own family and moved outside with her husband and daughter.

The staff dormitory is not big, but it is just right for the couple to live in, and it is also very warm.

The filming of "Love" started from the daily life of the couple.

In order to ensure that the emotional expression of the actors can be coherent, this time Wu Yuan chose to shoot sequentially instead of disrupting the order of scenes.

This is also one of the reasons why many actors in literary films are more emotional and seem to have "better acting skills".

Because literary films often focus on one or two scenes, the director can calmly shoot according to the order of the script.

For example, a love movie can be filmed in such a way that the hero and heroine meet, know each other, get acquainted, and fall in love. The emotions of the actors follow the story completely.

Unlike some TV dramas and commercial films, which require a lot of transitions and a scene has to be filmed in a few days, the actors may not know each other in one scene, kiss in the next scene, and break up in the next scene. .

No matter how good an actor's acting skills are, there is no way to change his emotions so quickly and express his true feelings.

This is not the case when filming "Love". You Benchang and Wu Yanshu really entered the roles and regarded themselves as this elderly couple.

Go out to exercise together, go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables together, take the bus together, take a walk after dinner together, and tidy up the room together.

These plots are very flat, without any explosive points.

But it is precisely this ordinary daily life that truly presents the life of a pair of elderly people living alone to the audience.

The details also show the love that has been converted into family affection between them.

When taking a walk, the old man still protected his wife on the inside and walked on the outside near the road as he did when he was young.

When taking the bus, he will also carefully protect his wife inside.

Although during the filming, there was no nasty "I love you" in the lines of the two, and there were no love words, just ordinary daily life.

But the finished film, after Wu Yuan edited and put it together every night, what he sees is full of "love".

This made him very satisfied.

An old actor who has acted in dramas for decades, his acting skills are really nothing to say.

This kind of plain truth can't be performed by young actors.

There was no need for Wu Yuan to explain too many things on the set, just relying on the script to understand, the two veteran actors performed very well the feeling Wu Yuan wanted.

It also put him under a lot of pressure.

The actor's acting skills are okay, but whether the final film is good or not depends on whether he can grasp the language of the camera and the art of the camera.

Fortunately, he still chose to use his strengths to avoid weaknesses in his film selection this time.

Most of the episodes of "Love" were filmed in a small house with two bedrooms and one living room, and the focus was still a script story, not picture art.

The shooting progress is very smooth, there are few NGs, and most of them pass or keep one.

The materials produced are also very good, Wu Yuan sometimes starts editing while filming at night.

Because it is shot in a straight line, there is no need to worry about the chaos after cutting it now.

It even gave him the illusion that literary films are better than commercial films.

In this way, the crew continued filming step by step, and the days gradually came to July 7th.

On this day, Wu Yuan gave the whole crew a break, and then invited everyone to watch a movie at the cinema.

"House of Flying Daggers" directed by Zhang Yimou was reserved to watch.

Wu Yuan didn't go to the premiere, mainly because director Yimou invited a bunch of singers and turned the premiere into a party. Han Hong, Dao Lang and others came on stage to sing. The excitement was very lively, but Wu Yuan I just didn't like the atmosphere, so I didn't go.

When a movie premieres, it premieres. Finding a group of singers to sing is nothing.
But support still needs to be supported.

On the day "House of Flying Daggers" was released, all members of the crew of "Love" watched this new work directed by Yimou at Xinghui Cinema in Beijing.

After watching it, Wu Yuan can only say that this movie well demonstrates the consistent style of Zhang Yimou's movies: exquisite scenes.

The Peony Square in the movie is really beautiful. It should be the first time in a Chinese movie that such a beautiful Tang Dynasty-style building appears.

In addition, the bamboo forest shrouded in mist, the brilliant sea of ​​flowers, the silvery birch forest and the picturesque distant mountains are all rare beauty.

It can only be said that this group of fifth-generation directors are really picturesque in making movies.

But that's all I can boast about.

The plot of the movie is too simple and full of loopholes.

The martial arts scenes are not as "more professional" as director Yimou said. On the contrary, they are even worse than those in "Hero". The action scenes are all quickly edited with close-ups and close-ups. There are no long shots that are done in one go, and the performance is not good. Here’s what’s really exciting about martial arts movies.

I don't know if it's because the international chapter doesn't know how to play, or if director Yimou doesn't know how to shoot
Anyway, in "House of Flying Daggers", the martial arts scenes used a lot of montage-style editing methods, which didn't look realistic at all, let alone the thrill of punching to the flesh and the collision of swords and swords.

But the rest of the crew watched it with gusto.

There are really not many martial arts blockbusters like this these days. Compared with those martial arts movies made on Hong Kong Island, the scenes shot by director Yi Mou are indeed grand and magnificent, revealing the grandeur of a big country.

At this stage, there is only Yimou director in China who can make such a magnificent martial arts movie. It is no wonder that "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers" can both sell tens of millions at the box office in North America.

Wu Yuan also sent a congratulatory text message to director Yimou.

If there is no accident, "Your Name" has maintained the top box office in the mainland this year for less than half a year, and it will be taken away by "House of Daggers".

No way, director Yimou has really become the most powerful director in the hearts of mainland movie fans of all ages with "Hero".

When his new movie is released, it is true that all three generations, old, middle-aged and young, will be interested in going to the cinema to watch it.

Unlike Wu Yuan, "Your Name" mainly attracts young people, and the box office of 1.4 million has almost squeezed out the market for young people in the mainland.

The fact is exactly as Wu Yuan thought.

The box office of "House of Flying Daggers" reached 5500 million yuan in the first weekend of its three-day release, surpassing the 5240 million yuan of "Hero" at the time, breaking the mainland record again, and it is about to break the record of "Hero"!
However, public opinion soon poured cold water on "House of Flying Daggers".

It didn't deserve its name at the box office in its opening weekend.

Although photography, sound effects, and colors are still Zhang Yimou's forte.

The huge promotional activities in the early stage and the box office appeal of director Yimou and many stars also made the film arouse the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies at the beginning of its release.

But the plot is not tense enough, the confrontation between the government and the people, the ambiguity of the spirit of martial arts and chivalry, etc. are written with a suspicion of love, and the fatal flaws such as not being full enough cannot be covered up.

After watching the movie, many movie fans feel that this movie is not well made, and it cannot be compared with "Hero".

Or the public's expectations for Zhang Yimou are too high, and the "House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero" he produced are simply incomparable.

In Wu Yuan's eyes, "Hero" is an immature commercial blockbuster, and "House of Flying Daggers" is even worse.

Although the follow-up box office results still occupy the daily championship, the momentum has widened the gap with "Hero", and market expectations continue to decline.

It took less than half a month for Zhang Weiping's slogan to change from "3 million at the box office" to "beyond "Your Name", at least 1.5 million at the box office".
It's okay, the number one box office in the mainland can still be kept.

Although the grand occasion of "Hero" has not been reproduced, and the audience's evaluation of "House of Flying Daggers" is somewhat mixed, the box office has continued to rise after a few days, which makes people full of confidence in the box office market of domestic films.

Wu Yuan also felt a little regretful about this.

Let Hong Kong and Taiwan stars pretend to be this forceful.

Handsome Jin + Andy Lau, the current box office dominance in the mainland is indeed nothing to say.

Now the group of actors and directors on Hong Kong Island who want to go north to make money, I am afraid they will be moved by the wind.

Fortunately, Wu Yuan counted with his fingers. If "Painted Skin" was faster, it should be released in the summer of 2005!
After many adjustments, he personally took over the film. All the resources of the company and China Film were tilted towards "Painted Skin", which could speed up the production of the film.

In this way, if "Painted Skin" can achieve a good box office result, then the first batch of directors and actors from Hong Kong Island who went north to make money will not be able to face a smooth situation.

If he remembered correctly, it seems that few of the Hong Kong-Taiwan co-productions made in 2005 did well at the box office.

The box office results of "Initial D", "The Great Sage" and "Hancheng Raiders" are only 6000-[-] million.

"The Promise" did well at the box office, but it will undoubtedly be nailed down as a bad movie in the history of Chinese cinema.

Under such circumstances, as long as "Painted Skin" can win the annual championship, the group of gold-seekers may have nothing to say, and they dare not shout the slogan "the mainland does not know how to make movies".

The success or failure of all this depends on the movie "Painted Skin"!

(End of this chapter)