Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

The reaction to the release of "Diary of a Good Man" was very interesting.

On the one hand, action movie fans were very dissatisfied with Yang Ye's decision to take a break from his main job and make comedy films.

This is different from the last time we filmed "The Lover". "The Lover" played the national card, so many people still supported it.

Although there is a Japanese wife in "Diary of a Good Man", her impact is still weaker than that of the French wife.

On the other hand, film critics were disappointed with the quality of "Diary of a Good Man". Although "Diary of a Good Man" is a qualified comedy, it is not a classic.

Especially after learning that the film only took one month to produce, they criticized Yang Ye for falling into depravity just to make money.

However, the question of whether Yang Ye's filming of this movie was a hint that he had two wives has become a hot topic in Hong Kong society.

It is well known that Yamaguchi Baihui gave up everything and came to Hong Kong for Yang Ye.

When Deng Lijun appeared to receive the "Golden Needle Award" not long ago, Yang Ye generously expressed his love and swore in public, "I will love you forever!"

This is clearly a triangular relationship.

What’s even more outrageous is that when the relationship between the three was becoming a hot topic, this guy suddenly stepped down and made a movie about one man and two wives.

The two heroines in the movie are one Chinese and one Japanese.

This is highly consistent with the rumors that he married both Teresa Teresa and Yamaguchi Momoe at the same time.

This is obviously telling the audience...I have two wives.

Some people with a tinge of optimism linked this movie with the stories of Yang Ye, Deng Lijun and Yamaguchi Baihui back then, compiled them into a story, and serialized them in newspapers.

Unexpectedly, it became so popular that many people read it, causing the sales of the newspaper to soar.

Of course, the names in the article are all pseudonyms, using homophones, and the things described are true and false, with a mixture of real and fake.

But readers can't help but take it seriously and become more convinced that Yang Ye has two wives.

I also believe that all the embarrassing things in the movie are what Yang Ye experienced personally.

Otherwise, how could he act so naturally? It doesn't look like he's acting at all!

As for Yang Ye, his attitude towards this matter was also very ambiguous.

The tabloid was blatantly making insinuations, but he didn't say anything and just let it go.

You know, this guy once smashed a newspaper office.

……

Among Xiang Huasheng's "Eight Keys to Success in Film", "Film Quality" ranks last and is the least important.

Many people may not agree with this, but it actually makes a lot of sense.

For example, the two films "Ga Yaozi Blockbuster" and "Weight Loss Blockbuster" in later generations were unremarkable in themselves, but relying on their strong topicality, they were able to bring in more than 3 billion in box office revenue.

When a movie is released, if it can create a big topic in society, or be connected to a big topic, then it is already 80% successful, and the producers can just wait to count the money.

"Diary of a Real Man" was soon pushed to the forefront of public opinion because the plot secretly touched on the scandal between Yang Ye and two Chinese and Japanese singing queens.

Although it was released in June, a relatively unpopular time period, many viewers couldn't help but take a look, causing the movie, which originally grossed 1940 million at the box office, to soar to more than 2800 million.

It surpassed "The Rich" which was released during the Spring Festival and is currently ranked second in the year, only behind Chen Long's "Dragon Brothers".

While such box office results have made industry insiders convinced, they also noticed a problem, that is... Even though Yang Ye was not shooting his signature Kung Fu theme.

He also always finds ways to get audiences into theaters to watch his films.

……

The fact that Yang Ye has two wives has affected his popularity to some extent in Hong Kong society, but it has not reached the point where he has been criticized and condemned, or even socially ruined.

Because in Hong Kong at this time, having a mistress is not a privilege of the rich, but a lifestyle that is popular throughout society and people have long been accustomed to it.

The powerful and wealthy openly keep mistresses, and ordinary citizens run to Shenzhen to keep mistresses.

James Wong even openly filmed movies like "Take You to Japan and Korea" to teach the audience how to have fun in Japan and Korea. It is full of details, like a textbook, you can take all the useful information and get on board once you've learned it.

Of course, Yang Ye still did not officially admit that he had two wives, because he had more than two wives.

Instead, he announced that he would personally create an urban romance drama, which again confused the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

This is totally unconventional!
You have to know that the entertainment industry is hierarchical, movies are above everything else, and TV dramas are for the benefit of servants.

Yang Ye, as a super director, you actually want to make a TV series. How decadent!

Plus the comedy film "The Diary of a Good Man" that is currently showing...

Is this letting yourself go?

Are we still going to shoot action movies?

……

Hong Kong reporters were looking for Yang Ye everywhere, but Yang Ye never showed up.

Although "Hong Kong Love" is currently being filmed, he is the producer, not the director, and does not need to be on the set.

Yang Ye divided the crew into Group A and Group B. Group A was mainly responsible for shooting scenes with Maruko and Rika, while Group B shot scenes with other people, as well as multi-person scenes.

He appointed two assistant directors to assist him in communicating with groups A and B.

Both assistants are girls, one is named Mei Xiaoqing and the other is named Li Huizhu.

Mei Xiaoqing was later known as "Sister Xiaoqing". She was TVB's gold medal producer and produced popular TV series such as "No Regrets in This Life", "Forensic Heroes", "Shen of Lady of Luo River", and "Gold Medal Iceman".

However, she switched to TVB because she couldn't make it in ATV.

Yang Ye would certainly promote such a talent. Why would he let her go to TVB?

Mei Xiaoqing is very good at producing idol dramas. "No Regrets in This Life" starring Leon Lai and Kathy Chow was the ratings champion in Hong Kong in 1991. It was actually an idol drama.

In fact, Leon Lai is the "King of Idol Dramas". He hasn't filmed many TV dramas for TVB, but each of them was a hit and had skyrocketing ratings.

Unfortunately, TV dramas were like servants in that era, and TVB’s treatment was poor, so as soon as Leon Lai became popular, he was eager to make movies.

Leon Lai’s acting skills are not that good in the film industry. If he had continued to focus on TV dramas, he might have become the “King of Hong Kong Dramas”.

In fact, TV dramas are not inferior to movies. Takuya Kimura is the "King of Japanese Dramas". Is he worse than those movie actors in the Japanese entertainment industry?
Li Huizhu is a newcomer who just joined ATV. This woman's later career has been spent in Hong Kong ATV, Taiwan CTS, and mainland China Huanyu, and she has produced good works in every stage.

ATV's "My Date with Spring", "Goodbye Sunny Days", "Young Hero Fang Shiyu" and so on are all very popular.

The TV version of "A Chinese Ghost Story" co-starred by Cheng Xiaodong, Big S, Jessica Hsuan, Wu Jing, Yuen Wah, Nie Yuan... from China Television and the three places across Taiwan Strait was also very popular.

After coming to the mainland, she mainly collaborated with Yu Ma. The drama "Palace" made Yang Mi a first-line star, and "Legend of Lu Zhen" made Zhao Liying famous.

However, since then, it has become synonymous with bad costume movies.

It doesn’t matter, she was very good in the early days and is worth training.

……

Jin Yong's TV series may be popular in the Chinese world, but it is a bit difficult to become popular in Asia or even enter the European and American markets due to cultural barriers.

If you want to dominate Asia, the idol dramas that have been popular since the early 1990s are the only choice.

Yang Ye promoted Mei Xiaoqing and Li Huizhu to cultivate talents for idol dramas.

During the production of Hong Kong Love, Yang Ye began to personally teach the two women some tips on filming idol dramas.

Traditional Hong Kong dramas are rushed to make, so they don’t pay much attention to filming techniques and skills. This method won’t work when shooting idol dramas.

Film is the art of light and shadow. To make a good film, it is not enough to just have a good script.

Because for the same script, some people can make it into a feast of the highest quality, while others can make it into a defense.

For example, the Korean movie "Sunny" is a very excellent film. Bao Beier bought the copyright and remade it into a film based on his thesis.

For a movie, a lot of times the story isn't that important.

When making an action movie, as long as the fighting is exciting enough to get the audience's adrenaline rushing, it will most likely be a success. For example, the plots of many of Chen Long's movies are very scattered.

When making art films, as long as you can create a certain atmosphere and immerse the audience in it, it will most likely be successful. For example, Wong Kar-wai's films are all fragments and have no plot.

Due to its length, TV series rely much more on scripts than movies, but the requirements for light and shadow cannot be ignored.

A good script is at best a good ingredient, and the probability of being made into delicious food is very high, but without cooking skills, there is a high possibility that these ingredients will be wasted.

If Yang Ye doesn't direct the script himself, he will definitely find the right person to help prepare the preliminary work.

For example, when filming "Unforgettable Lovers", Yang Ye not only had to look for a director and leading actor, but also a photographer, a composer, and personally arrange the filming scenes for the movie.

This is equivalent to him having already processed the ingredients and prepared the seasonings, and chef Johnnie To only needs to stir-fry them.

Johnnie To is a good chef himself, so in this case, there is little possibility that he would waste the ingredients.

Of course, having everything ready for everyone might stifle Johnnie To's creativity.

But it doesn’t matter, Yang Ye doesn’t have to manage every play.

You can show your creativity in your next play!
……

When it comes to the filming of idol dramas, it is completely different from traditional TV dramas. It is not enough to just tell the story clearly.

There are many tricks involved in scene transitions and control of details.

You have to make it very beautiful, romantic, dreamy and touching, then the audience will buy it.

Otherwise, the plots of those idol dramas would be nothing but a mere cliché!

Yang Ye taught Mei Xiaoqing and Li Huizhu a lot, such as when they received a phone call and were in a bad mood.

At this time, the light and shadow in the room should also change accordingly to set off the mood of the protagonist.

If the protagonist receives the news outdoors, the sky will be overcast.

There are also times when to use slow motion and when to spin in circles. These very bloody things also require a lot of attention.

How should we transition from memories to reality?

For example, blurring the lens with a drop of rain on the window brings us back to reality.

How should we transition from reality to memories?
For example, letting the raindrops float upwards indicates that time is flowing backwards and memories begin to flow.

Yang Ye finally said: "If there is a chance, I will shoot a movie specifically to show you how to transition."

Both girls expressed their anticipation.

Yang Ye not only had theoretical knowledge, but he could also cite practical cases, which enlightened the two girls. They were so impressed by Yang Ye that they simply took him as their teacher.

These two disciples are different from Yang Ye’s other disciples. They don’t learn kung fu, but are from another system.

During the production of Hong Kong Love, Yang Ye constantly made requests, and then the two girls were responsible for communicating with the crew and implementing them.

It is equivalent to practice, and you will naturally benefit a lot from it.

……

By July, more than half of the filming of "Hong Kong Love" had been completed, and the summer movie season had begun.

First up was Yongsheng's "The Romance of the Condor Heroes", a spoof of "A Better Tomorrow", directed by Wang Jing and starring Zhou Runfa and others. But the heroine was not Zhang Manyu in the original version, but Xia Wenxi.

Then came "A Fortune of 30 Million" released by Cinema City. This was a film produced independently by Mai Jia after the breakup of the Cinema City trio. Compared with the previous collectively created films, it was in a state of decline.

Golden Harvest released Hong Jingbao's war blockbuster "Eastern Condors".

Due to the popularity of Hollywood Vietnam War movies such as "First Blood" and "Platoon", Hong Jingbao also turned his attention to the Vietnam battlefield and launched his own war blockbuster "Eastern Condors".

The scenes in this movie are very exciting, but for Hong Kong audiences, there is no sense of immersion. In short... what does it have to do with us?

So despite the huge cost, the box office was disappointing. After "Eastern Condors", Hong Jingbao's decline was obvious, and he lost money on every film he made.

By 1993, Hong Jingbao had no more films to shoot and almost said goodbye to the showbiz industry, turning to the equestrian industry.

The most confusing thing is D&B's summer movie, "Modern Family" directed by Gao Zhisen. Yang Ye has never heard of this movie, and it does not even exist in the original time and space.

But it's not surprising. Due to the changes brought about by Yang Ye, this time and space has many more movies that did not exist in the original time and space, but there are almost no box office successes.

These movies were all released in late June and July, but were overtaken by "Project A: The Sequel" from Topol Company, and all of them were defeated.

Chen Long still has some presence!

In the original time and space, these movies were released in late June and July just to avoid Chen Long.

As a result, Baiyang Company has now directly moved the release of "Project A: The Sequel", which was originally scheduled for August, to the end of June.

None of them escaped, they were all tortured to death, not a single one of them broke 20 million, and D&B and Cinema City didn't even make 10 million.

Yang Ye almost laughed out loud when he saw the battle report.

……

By mid-July, the filming of "Hong Kong Love" had been almost completed. After attending the premiere of "A Chinese Ghost Story", Yang Ye took the crew to Foshan to film the finale of "Hong Kong Love".

After filming of "Hong Kong Love" was completed, he left the team and went directly to Beijing to assist Zhang Yimou in the casting of "Red Sorghum".

There is another big thing...negotiating with CITIC Corporation to establish Asia Satellite Corporation.

AsiaSat is the first regional commercial satellite operating organization in Asia and is headquartered in Hong Kong.

In 1990, the company took the lead in launching Asia's first commercial communications satellite, Asia Satellite , opening a new chapter in the history of satellite communications in Asia.

It is only with the establishment of Asia Satellite Corporation that various satellite TV stations have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

The shareholders of AsiaSat include China CITIC Corporation, Japan's Daito, the United States' General Motors, and Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa.

After the satellite company was established, Huanggua persuaded the Hong Kong government to relax relevant television regulations, thus creating Hong Kong’s first satellite TV station... "TV Chinese Channel".

The Chinese Channel of Satellite TV is operated by Huanggua’s second son, Xiao Huanggua. It has been on the air for 30 months and covers 5000 countries and regions, with million household users.

Advertising revenue was $3.6 million, while operating costs were only $0.8 million, making it a huge profit.

However, Xiaogua subsequently sold the Chinese Channel of TVBS to Murdoch of News Corporation, making a quick buck and running away.

Murdoch changed its name to Star TV. Many people born in the 80s and 90s spent their childhood with Star TV.

Star TV has so many wonderful programs, it really beats those crappy TV stations in the mainland.

When it comes to close relations with the mainland, cucumbers and poplar leaves are nothing compared to them.

Huanggua couldn't compete with Yang Ye in this matter, so he could only go aside.

Yang Ye had already taken the initiative and sent Lin Baocheng to make preliminary contacts. Yang Ye was the only shareholder of the satellite company in Hong Kong. (End of this chapter)