Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Chapter 617: Imperfect Ending

The accident report of the plane crash cleared Yang Ye of any involvement, but things became even more mysterious.

Everything came from the words of the White Dragon King: Yang Ye was the reincarnation of the Purple Star, and had the fate of an emperor. If you were on good terms with him, you would be extremely rich and powerful. If you were to be his enemy, you would be entangled in disaster at best, or die at worst...

Recalling the time when Cai Ziming was shot to death by the police and Fei Li's plane crashed...

This is fucking scary.

This means that if you offend Yang Ye, he doesn't have to do anything and you will die.

This is a weapon of causality.

People in Hubei, Chaoshan, Hong Kong and Taiwan have great faith in these things. Taiwan even has the Ziwei Palace which is dedicated to the Emperor Ziwei.

All of a sudden, many people who believed in ghosts and gods became awed by Yang Ye and dared not speak ill of him easily.

How to say this?

For example, before Liu Tao starred in "Mazu", she went to the Mazu Temple to bet on a cup, and Mazu agreed.

Later, people in Hujian developed a Mazu filter for Liu Tao, and some people would hold Liu Tao's Mazu stills to worship.

Even if some people don't like Liu Tao, they dare not scold her.

Whenever Liu Tao is attacked online, some netizens will jump out and say, "I advise you to be gentle with her. She was able to play Mazu not only because of her acting skills, but she really asked for permission from the heavens."

This is the situation now. Some people firmly believe that Yang Ye is the incarnation of Ziwei Star, and even worship him as a god.

Even a few years later, the Renshou Temple in Taoyuan City rebuilt the golden statue of Ziwei Emperor, and that golden statue... was actually made in the image of Yang Ye.

They even had a crazy idea and invited Yang Ye to attend the consecration ceremony, but Yang Ye was too embarrassed to go.

Since Yang Ye is the reincarnation of Ziwei Star and is destined to be an emperor, it is normal for him to have three palaces and six courtyards.

As a result, the public discussion about him having many wives and children has subsided a lot.

Yang Ye didn't expect that he just asked the White Dragon King to brag for him, but it would have such a magical effect.

By the way, why can the White Dragon King make such accurate predictions?

That’s naturally because... this guy is Yang Ye’s agent.

Although Yang Ye did not tell the White Dragon King that he was a time traveler, for the White Dragon King, Yang Ye, as an entertainment tycoon and a top billionaire, naturally knew many unknown secrets.

Yang Ye told these secrets to the White Dragon King, and when they came out of the White Dragon King's mouth, they were naturally full of mystery.

Then why can the White Dragon King perform the great prophecy?

This is even simpler.

For example, the White Dragon King predicted that Liang Caowei would have a turning point in his career within two to three years.

With Yang Ye's power, as long as Liang Caowei is given some opportunities, it will be very easy for him to win the Best Actor award.

In this way, the White Dragon King's prediction came true, and Liang Caowei believed in the White Dragon King from then on.

Liang Caowei recognizes the White Dragon King as his father, and Yang Ye is Liang Caowei's grandfather.

The White Dragon King told Liang Caowei that if he never betrayed Yang Ye in his life, Liang Caowei would serve Yang Ye as a slave for the rest of his life.

On the surface, Yang Ye and the White Dragon King have absolutely no relationship, so Yang Ye never goes to see the White Dragon King.

……

While Hong Kong was buzzing with controversy over whether Yang Ye was the reincarnation of Ziweixing, Yang Ye was living a carefree life in Hollywood.

At the 64th Academy Awards, Yang Ye attended the ceremony in a gorgeous attire arm in arm with Akina Nakamori.

Akina Nakamori originally had no acting experience, but in her opinion, the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" was a secret fulfillment of her destiny.

So she unconsciously incorporated her true feelings into the performance, making the role real and believable.

Especially the kiss that reveals the truth at the end, with time and space intertwined and scenes blended together, it is very touching.

This earned her nominations for Best Actress at the Golden Globe and Academy Awards.

Although she lost the Golden Globe Award, she had a tough time winning the Academy Award.

But as an Asian, being nominated for Best Actress in the two major American awards is already a victory.

When the Japanese media heard that Akina Nakamori was nominated for Best Actress in Hollywood, they reported it extensively and the Japanese were also very happy.

Many Japanese media even went to Hollywood to report on the 64th Academy Awards ceremony, hoping to witness the moment when Akina Nakamori was crowned the Best Actress.

Seeing Yang Ye and Akina Nakamori walking on the red carpet, a Japanese media reporter immediately approached to interview: "Ms. Nakamori, are you confident in competing for the Best Actress award this time?"

Akina Nakamori smiled and said, "I am very honored to be nominated and I hope I can win the prize!"

After finally getting rid of the reporters, the two arrived at the venue. Akina Nakamori couldn't help but pat her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

Yang Ye comforted him: "Don't be nervous, just keep calm."

Akina Nakamori smiled and said, "I'm actually fine, but their expectant eyes make me feel a little stressed."

After sitting down, Yang Ye jokingly said to Spielberg: "Steven, how many awards do you think we can win?"

"Memoirs of a Geisha" received eight nominations in total, including Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Score.

Another film from United Artists, "The Silence of the Lambs," received eight nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Editing.

Although both were nominated for eight awards, Lamb was nominated mostly for major awards, while Geisha was nominated mostly for smaller awards.

In addition, Gong Li also participated in this Oscar. The movie "Raise the Red Lantern" starring her was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards.

At last year's Venice Film Festival, Zhang Yimou won a Silver Lion for this film.

Zhang Yimou's current rhythm is to alternate between commercial films and art films.

"The Yellow Skin Grave", which was released in the first half of last year, grossed 70 million US dollars worldwide.

Although compared with Yang Ye's version of "Mojin: The Lost Tomb", the film's size was reduced by two-thirds, it can be said to be a disastrous failure.

But the cost of this movie was only more than 30 million Hong Kong dollars, less than one-tenth of "Mojin: The Last Dragon", but it actually made a huge profit.

The largest box office of "The Yellow Skin Grave" was in Japan, thanks to the appreciation of the Japanese yen. Yuen Biao was very popular in Japan, and the film grossed more than 30 million US dollars.

The film has achieved good box office and word of mouth in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.

The horror atmosphere that Zhang Yimou created in the movie is very accurate and very scary.

This movie was a failure mainly in the European and American box office. Although it was billed as the sequel to "Mojin: The Last Dragon", it did not make much at the box office.

There is no way around it. Yuen Biao is not Yang Ye. He is just an unknown person in Europe and the United States.

Yang Ye once considered transferring the IP of "Ghost Blowing the Light" to Chen Long, but finally gave up because Chen Long could make his own cake, but Yuen Biao could not, so he finally chose Yuen Biao.

Zhang Yimou's "The Yellow Skin Grave" was only half-filmed at the beginning. Since it made money, Baiyang Pictures immediately planned to shoot "The Yellow Skin Grave Sequel".

This time they will not do small-scale productions, but go for a big one, raising Zhang Yimou's budget to 100 million Hong Kong dollars.

Zhang Yimou was extremely busy and did not attend this year's Oscars. Only Gong Li came as a representative.

At this moment, Gong Li was sitting not far away, watching Yang Ye and Akina Nakamori talking and laughing, and couldn't help feeling a little resentful.

She was misunderstood by her boyfriend Yang Jianxun and was slapped in the face on the spot. The two broke up, but Yang Ye took advantage of the situation and she became Yang Ye's woman.

Being Yang Ye's woman is good in every way: you can have fun, make money, gain both fame and fortune, and feel happy both physically and mentally.

There is just one thing, this guy has too many women.

At first, Gong Li thought that she could influence Yang Ye with her sincerity.

It was only after Fei Li exposed the secrets that I realized that this guy already had a large number of children.

Don’t even think about asking Yang Ye to give up Deng Lijun, Zhao Yazhi and other women and stay with her alone.

Gong Li took the opportunity of "Raise the Red Lantern" being nominated for an Oscar to come to the United States, but in fact she wanted to talk to Yang Ye.

However, as soon as Yang Ye arrived in Los Angeles, he went to see his daughter.

Afterwards, he discussed the filming of "Terminator 3" with the team led by John Woo, and discussed "Jurassic Park" with Spielberg. He was very busy.

Gong Li came to the United States for a week and only met Yang Ye once.

……

This was the first Oscars ceremony for United Artists after it went public.

Two films produced and released by United Artists, "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Memoirs of a Geisha", were nominated for Oscars, so United Artists naturally spared no effort in public relations.

The Oscars are divided into small groups, and the public relations team led by Shay and Adjani visited almost all of these groups.

As long as it can win a big award at the Oscars this time, investors' confidence in United Artists will further increase, and its stock price will reach a new high.

I have to say that these two films are very excellent. As soon as the award ceremony began, they won the awards in a competitive manner.

Soon, "Memoirs of a Geisha" won three major awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design, and "The Silence of the Lambs" also won the Best Adapted Screenplay.

Yang Ye was in a good mood and was chatting happily with the people around him. Suddenly, the Best Foreign Language Film award was presented on the stage, and the winner was... "Raise the Red Lantern".

This period was when Zhang Yimou had the most creative energy, and every film he produced was a masterpiece.

The movie "Raise the Red Lantern" takes Chinese symmetrical aesthetics to the extreme, and no domestic films in later generations can surpass it in terms of aesthetics.

As early as during the filming of "The Last Emperor", Bertolucci invited Zhang Yimou and others to have a discussion.

When talking about film photography, Zhang Yimou gave his own unique insights.

Photographer Vittorio Storaro thought it made sense and applied it in the filming of "The Last Emperor", winning the Oscar for Best Cinematography that year.

In "Raise the Red Lantern", Zhang Yimou applied this Chinese symmetrical aesthetic in filming, making a small courtyard look like a palace with many doors and peaks, which further demonstrated his strength.

"Raise the Red Lantern" was only nominated for an Oscar in its original time and space, but did not win the award.

It’s not that the film wasn’t as good as the other films that were shortlisted at the time, but…it didn’t do PR.

No award ceremony in the world can be absolutely fair, and the same goes for the Oscars, unless the level of the films varies greatly.

When the quality is similar, the film that has good public relations has the greatest chance of winning.

Zhang Yimou in the original time and space had no money for public relations, but this time it was different, so... he won the award.

Zhang Yimou spent his whole life in the original time and space, but in the end he failed.

But now, he never thought about winning the award at all, and he didn't even show up at the scene, but he got the award.

"Raise the Red Lantern" was originally produced by Taiwan Era Film Company, but now it has been replaced by Baiyang Pictures.

As a producer, Yang Ye stepped onto the podium for the first time tonight.

He took the trophy from the presenter Sylvester Stallone, shook it casually, and said, "I haven't been on the podium for a long time. I miss it very much."

The guests and audience laughed softly, and Yang Ye continued, "Because Director Zhang Yimou is preparing another movie and cannot come to receive the award, I will accept the award on his behalf.

Raise the Red Lantern is unique in terms of art. I hope this Chinese symmetrical aesthetic can bring something new to the world film industry. Thank you!"

Yang Ye muttered a few words casually and then walked off the stage. When he passed by Gong Li, he threw the little golden man to her.

"Take it and play with it!"

Next up is the big prize.

"The Silence of the Lambs" began to take off.

"The winner for Best Actress is... Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs!"

Judy won her second Best Actress Oscar. She jumped up with excitement and hugged the people around her to celebrate.

Yang Ye looked at Judy, who was excited, and then at Ming Cai, who was unable to hide her disappointment. He held her hand and comforted her, "As an Asian, being nominated is already a recognition. After all, this is an American film award."

Nakamori Akina smiled at Yang Ye and said solemnly: "Although it is a bit regrettable, this is a perfect farewell for me! Mr. Ye, please give me your guidance for the rest of my life!"

She didn't call him Oni-chan as usual, but solemnly called him Ye Jun. Yang Ye suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders become heavier. This woman had entrusted the rest of her life to him!
On the stage, Jodie Foster was giving her acceptance speech: "I want to thank Nick, when I returned to the film industry, many people thought I was not pretty, so I lost a lot of roles.

But Nick told me, Judy, you are very talented, this role belongs to you, come on, let the world see your strength. Now, you see, the trophy is in my hands. "

Jodie Foster held the trophy high and there was a loud cheer from the audience.

Shay's hands were sore from clapping. He had a great time tonight and kept winning prizes.

After Jodie Foster walked off the stage with the trophy, it was announced that Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor award.

The camp of United Artists was in an uproar. The Best Actor and Best Actress were both awarded for the same movie. This was a very rare thing.

Moreover, Anthony Hopkins only appeared in the film for 16 minutes, making it the briefest performance ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.

"The winner for Best Director is...Jonathan Demme for The Silence of the Lambs!"

Well, I got the Best Director award, a triple win.

The ultimate grand prize is here, and the organizing committee has invited Elizabeth Taylor, the “Queen of Jewelry”, to announce the winner.

Taylor came on stage in her best attire, made a few jokes, and then opened the list of winners: "The winner of the 64th Academy Awards for Best Picture is... The Silence of the Lambs!"

Four consecutive hits!
"The Silence of the Lambs" won five out of eight nominations, plus "Memoirs of a Geisha" won three awards, and "Raise the Red Lantern" won the Best Foreign Language Film, making Yang Ye the biggest winner tonight.

(End of this chapter)