Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Due to the release of "Mojin: The Lost Tomb", the mainland is being turned upside down by Yang Ye.

First, a group of idiots really ran to the grassland to look for the goddess' tomb.

Of course there is no tomb of the goddess. These idiots were wandering around the grassland stealthily and were arrested by the police.

Then there's all this Qigong, guru and other weird stuff.

Ge You had a toothache and wanted to have it pulled out. He thought the hospital was unreliable, so he went to find a master to pull the tooth out.

But many people have also realized that something is wrong. This is too crazy.

After Yang Ye's "Mojin: The Lost Tomb" was released, the tomb-robbing plot in it caused some controversy, but the fact that it exposed the so-called "masters" as liars was very realistic.

A few years ago, after Yang Ye’s movie was released in mainland China, he became an instant hit and became a household name.

The news of his sweeping across Japanese martial arts was soon reported, and his title of national hero spread like wildfire.

I don’t know whether people of this generation are naive or stupid, but they easily believe in things.

Zhou Liqing played a county magistrate in a TV series, so countless people wrote to him, hoping that he could become the local county magistrate, and some even came to him to complain.

Chen Xiaoxu opened an advertising company, and many people came to her to do advertising because of her reputation, saying, "Lin Daiyu would not lie to me!"
Of course, it is not limited to that era, it exists at all times.

Decades later, aren’t there still many anchors working to benefit their “family members”?

People like Yang Ye, who openly exposed in the movie that all the so-called "masters" were fakes, instantly caused an uproar.

……

The Six Nations Hotel had been burned down, so Yang Ye stayed at the Jianguo Hotel this time.

In the room, Yang Ye hugged his Peacock Princess and watched TV with great interest.

On TV, Sima Jiatou is playing the role of a qigong master, revealing the inside story of his magical skills.

Yang Liping said with some resentment: "Is it really that beautiful?"

In the past few years, she has been visiting and performing all over the world, and has met Yang Ye very few times.

Now that they were finally together, Yang Ye was actually enjoying watching TV so much.

Yang Ye realized that he had neglected the beauty, and quickly apologized, saying, "I just think this guy is too quick to change his attitude!"

Yang Liping was puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?"

"He used to practice qigong, performing everywhere and swindling people out of their money. Now that he sees the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, he immediately goes on TV to expose the qigong scam and becomes a pioneer in fighting fraud. Isn't that funny?"

"So that's how it is. No wonder he is so familiar with it!" Yang Liping was also at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Yang Ye sighed and said, "This thing is really a disaster for the country and the people!"

But he couldn't do anything about it. It was enough to spark discussion in society through a movie.

With the beauty in his arms, he decided to enjoy it for a while first. He put his arms around the Peacock Princess' slender waist and kissed her red lips.

It is true: When life is happy, you should enjoy it to the fullest, and don't let the golden cup face the moon empty.

……

In Hong Kong, before a movie is released, there will definitely be plenty of pre-promotion.

The publicity costs for large-scale productions can easily reach millions of Hong Kong dollars and cover the entire city.

Even if it's a low-cost business, you have to get it published in the newspaper to make yourself known.

But this is very rare in mainland China. Once a movie is released, it is released without any publicity or selection of release dates.

At most, the cinema will hang a poster and that’s it.

Of course there are exceptions. Zhang Huaxun's "Wulin Zhi" had not yet been completed, but he used his connections to show a few minutes of footage on the Spring Festival Gala.

This was the first time that Yang Ye’s film was released in mainland China and it was reported on the “News Broadcast” with great fanfare.

However, these are all special cases. In short, the mainland film industry currently has no concept of advance marketing.

These state-owned factories have no motivation to market, and they still get paid regardless of whether sales are good or not.

In the early 1990s, Wu Siyuan came to the mainland to collaborate on the filming of "New Dragon Inn" and found that there was no advertising when the movie was released.

He said, "How can this work?" In the end, he spent his own money to place an advertisement in the Xinmin Evening News.

Yang Ye's purpose this time is to introduce the concept of movie premieres to the mainland.

He originally wanted to do it on CCTV and have it broadcast nationwide.

Unfortunately, CCTV didn't allow it, and there was no Six Princesses these days, so they had to settle for the next best thing and find a perverted channel.

Although the abnormal channel is allowed to operate, it is not received nationwide and its scale is much smaller.

But this is all we can do, let’s just make do with it!

……

Many leaders came to the premiere.

In the first half of the year, Yang Ye released a film called "Enemy at the Gates". Although it is a Soviet film, it is also a serious "red classic".

These old guys had a lot of dealings with Soviet people when they were young. Many of them can speak Russian and sing Soviet songs, so they all like this movie very much.

Yang Ye politely shook hands with Wu Lengxi: "Hello, Minister Wu!"

"Xiao Yang, long time no see. The movie 'Enemy at the Gates' you filmed in the Soviet Union last time was really good."

"You flatter me!"

“I heard it’s selling well overseas?”

"It's not bad, I didn't lose money!"

"Your film company is world-renowned. Can you tell us about your advanced experience?"

"Some domestic films are also well made, and there is no problem for us to learn from each other and communicate with each other."

Yang Ye exchanged pleasantries with the old guys, and then came the leaders of Beijing Film Studio, Changchun Film Studio, and Bayi Film Studio.

There are also some well-known domestic directors and actors, such as Jiang Wen and Brother Kaizi.

Yang Ye was very curious why Brother Kaizi was also here. Logically, he should be studying film in the United States during this period.

Of course, there are also Qu Bo and his wife and their four children, Qu Miaomiao, Qu Jingjing, Qu Leilei, and Qu Cuicui, of which Qu Jingjing is a boy.

Soon, the movie began.

The original film begins in New York, with the overseas student Han Gen introducing the story of Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.

Yang Ye's version directly deleted the root part and started with a large aerial shot, showing the vast and endless forest and snowy plains.

Accompanied by the music of "Fighting the Tiger on the Mountain", the narration begins:
In 1946, less than a year after the Japanese surrender, China once again fell into a full-scale civil war.

In the Northeast, bandits took advantage of the war to fish in troubled waters, burning, killing, looting, and expanding their power. The people lived in dire straits.

That winter, the head of the army, code-named 203, led a bandit-suppression team to Mudanjiang, waiting for the next order.

In the twelfth lunar month, the north wind was howling and traffic was blocked. The team went through many hardships and returned to the place where they were born and raised...the forest and snow!
……

Soon, the first battle began.

This scene used a lot of bullet time, which dazzled the audience.

All kinds of bullets rotated 360 degrees, the character suddenly froze, and then died instantly.

Although it was not shot in 3D like the original, it pursued the effect of bullets popping out of the screen.

But when shooting in 2D, the shots are freer, the viewing angle is wider, and the scenes are actually more intense.

Before this, domestic movies about gunfights would show both sides shooting at each other from their own positions, followed by close-up shots of people getting shot. Or else, there would be a heroic sacrifice, or some sensational stuff. Where have you seen this before?

So everyone was stunned. They didn’t know a gun fight could be filmed like this?

Fortunately, these people all have some status and will not lose their composure.

If it was released normally, ordinary audiences would probably shout "Wow" when they entered the theater.

Still, there were whispers.

Because they really want to know how this kind of shot was taken.

……

After that, Yang Zirong went to the Tiger Mountain.

This segment used a real tiger plus model shooting method.

The tiger that appears is a real tiger, and the shot of it running is also a real tiger.

The real fight later is the model.

The model is a one-to-one replica of a real tiger and was shot using stop-motion techniques to make it look so lifelike.

Of course, if viewers in later generations watch this, due to the limitations of their technical level, this part actually looks a bit fake.

But for audiences of this era, this is enough.

Seeing the tiger leaping onto the tree branch with its claws always on Yang Zirong's side, many people felt sweaty in their palms and were extremely nervous.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief only after Yang Zirong made the final sliding tackle and killed the tiger.

This time, the whispering became louder.

Everyone is fully aware that Yang Ye's film is technologically advanced.

Of course, there are also people who disagree, such as Brother Kaizi.

Brother Kaizi has a point of view. He believes that scientific spirit is dominant in Western films and lacks artistic spirit. On the contrary, Asian culture is long and profound.

This idea is not wrong, but it is extremely arrogant, it is a substitution of concepts, and it does not get the point across.

Asia’s culture is certainly long and profound, but that doesn’t mean Asian films are the same.

After all, movies were invented by someone else.

Moreover, film is not just an art form, it is also a product of technology.

Without the Industrial Revolution, there would be no movies.

Technological advancement has also been driving the development of film and is a crucial factor.

Hollywood eventually relied on technology to dominate the world and defeated films from other countries.

Brother Kaizi is not just talking big, he really believes it.

In fact, before he filmed "Farewell My Concubine", he had already become famous in the world film scene with "Yellow Earth" and "The King of Children".

Otherwise, how could he be invited to serve as a judge at the Berlin Film Festival?

Since 1990, the eight major Hollywood studios have taken turns inviting Kaizi Ge to make films in the United States.

Even Hollywood action star Mel Gibson once went to Beijing to negotiate with him for several months, asking him to film Dickens' famous work "A Tale of Two Cities".

However, Brother Kaizi was obsessed with art and refused them all.

This is also why Xu Feng went to great lengths to invite Kaizi Ge to direct "Farewell My Concubine" and visited him three times.

He doesn't even look down on Hollywood, let alone Xu Feng.

However, "Farewell My Concubine" was also really amazing. Not only did it win numerous awards, it also earned 3300 million US dollars worldwide.

What does this mean? It ranks ninth among the top ten Chinese-language films of the 1990s.

As for the other nine... they are all Chen Long movies.

After Kaizi Ge pretended to be cool for ten years, Li An swept the Oscars with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", earning 2.13 million US dollars worldwide.

Brother Kaizi became jealous and suddenly gave in, accepting MGM's invitation. He went to Hollywood like a god descending from earth.

This time the momentum is very big. He shares an agent with Madonna and there is also a company that specializes in selecting scripts for him.

In the end, he chose the British best-selling novel "Killing Me Softly" and invited two popular British actors to star in it.

MGM prepared a budget of 3000 million US dollars for Kai Zi Ge. The entire filming was kept secret in the UK and the media was not allowed to approach. This shows how much Kai Zi Ge planned to film.

Brother Kaizi probably went crazy in China, so he directly shot this movie into a pornographic film, with the two protagonists doing it from beginning to end, exposing themselves in various ways.

When it was released in 2002, it grossed over million U.S. dollars, making MGM lose a lot of money.

That year, Bai Ge also helped MGM shoot a movie called "Windtalkers", which cost 1.2 million yuan and earned more than million yuan at the box office.

MGM was already poor, so how could it afford this? It had no choice but to go bankrupt.

Everyone knows that Bai Ge ruined MGM, but few people know that Kaizi also contributed to this.

You keep pretending to be cool, why do you want to break it?
……

Although Brother Kaizi was a little disapproving of Yang Ye's random use of technology in filming his movies.

But when it came to the Battle of Jiapiqiao, he was really shocked.

Yang Ye's arrangement of this war scene has completely surpassed Xu Ke's original version.

The falling snow, the trenches filled with smoke, the woods with rich layers of light and shadow, and the faint fog in the forest appear one after another.

From the beginning of the war, a wide-angle lens was used to clearly depict the situation between the enemy and us in Jiapiqiao.

A fierce battle ensued, with Yang Ye skillfully using overhead, follow-up and cross-shooting methods.

The war scenes are tense, fierce and bloody, making people's hormones rush and their hearts tense.

During the fierce battle, the mentality and game between the army, bandits and villagers were all explained.

Many small scenes are interspersed among the big war, interweaving the ruthlessness, cruelty and glory of humanity.

While watching this scene, Brother Kaizi felt in a trance that Shao Jianbo in the movie seemed to have become the incarnation of Yang Ye.

It was Yang Ye who was directing this war through Shao Jianbo.

Brother Kaizi couldn't help but glance forward at Yang Ye's position, and suddenly thought: "I've never seen anyone film a war so clearly and excitingly. If this person was in the war years, he must have been a general!"

Yang Ye had no idea that Brother Kaizi admired him so much.

He was sitting in the dark movie theater, comfortably holding the soft and boneless little hand of "Little White Dove" He Qing.

As for He Qing, she looked at the big screen with a nervous look on her face, her palms sweating.

Although Yang Zirong did not participate in this battle, Yang Ye was everywhere in the hearts of the audience.

After the war, Luan Ping took advantage of the chaos to escape. Then Yang Zirong remained calm in the face of danger and killed Luan Ping with his mouth.

This segment was thrilling and hilarious, and many people laughed out loud.

In the final decisive battle, Yang Zirong's identity was exposed and he was surrounded.

Then our army arrived and a bloody battle broke out between the two sides. Yang Zirong chased Zuoshandiao alone and shot down a plane in the underground passage, which made everyone stunned and frightened.

It is exaggerated, it is really awesome, and it is really exciting.

The blades of the plane were spinning whirringly, as if they could kill Yang Zirong at any time.

Brother Kaizi suddenly understood, this is not Yang Zirong at all, this is simply the Chinese Linglingqi! (End of this chapter)