Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Yang Ye kicked the sword so handsomely that the whole audience was shocked.

And he was the boss, so everyone immediately started to flatter and praise Yang Ye to the utmost.

However, what Yang Ye enjoyed most was the admiration from his daughter.

The Great Wall is very important in the minds of Chinese people, and it somehow matches well with Chinese martial arts.

When many brands in later generations invite Kung Fu stars to be their spokespersons, they like to have them stand on the Great Wall and perform a set of Kung Fu.

Yang Ye followed this routine against time and space, becoming the first to do so, and also delivered the coolest kick. I wonder how many people will pay tribute to him in the future.

After the filming of the play and the commercial was completed, a group of people went down the Great Wall and returned to the city.

Yang Ye wanted to take Yang Xi to eat roast duck, and invited everyone along.

The extras also joined in the fun and were very happy.

In the private room, Yang Xi watched the duck chef performing juggling with great interest.

Zhou Xingchi said to Yang Ye: "Boss, I have a friend who wants to treat you to a meal."

Yang Ye asked: "Which friend?"

Zhou Xingchi said: "Luo Zhaohui from the Royal Group."

Yang Ye was stunned and said, "I actually came to you for help. Okay, when I return to Hong Kong, ask him to make an appointment with my secretary."

"Thank you, boss!" Zhou Xingchi was very happy.

Zhou Xingchi has a very good relationship with Luo Zhaohui, because after he became rich, he became keen on real estate speculation, and Luo Zhaohui is a genius in this area.

How powerful is Luo Zhaohui?

During its heyday, whenever he speculated on a building, Hong Kong citizens would follow suit, and then the price would rise rapidly. It was an unprecedented event.

Luo Zhaohui not only taught Zhou Xingchi how to speculate in real estate, he also spent money like water and often invited Zhou Xingchi to have a good time, and the two even had sex with the same woman.

This time Luo Zhaohui wanted to invite Yang Ye, but no one else could do it. However, Zhou Xingchi got it done with just one sentence.

This made Zhou Xingchi feel very proud. When he returned to Hong Kong, he could naturally show up in front of Luo Zhaohui.

However, Zhou Xingchi would never have thought that after falling into poverty, this mad dog Luo Zhaohui would crazily expose the privacy of celebrities, and even did not let him go. Several intimate photos of him and women were exposed.

……

Yang Ye stayed in Beijing, producing advertisements himself and taking Yang Xi on trips when he had time.

At this time, Director Xie Jin suddenly came to visit. Yang Ye respected the old man very much and went downstairs to greet him personally.

After a brief greeting, Xie Jin stated his purpose. It turned out that Shanghai's application to host the "Shanghai International Film Festival" had been approved by the state in June this year and was now in the preparation stage.

Director Xie Jin was appointed as the chairman of the jury of the first Shanghai Film Festival. Knowing that Yang Ye was in Beijing, he paid a visit to him, hoping that Yang Ye could bring his film to the exhibition.

The Shanghai International Film Festival has a film trading market, and Yang Ye is a darling of global film producers. Once he is able to participate in the exhibition with his film, it will surely make the Shanghai Film Festival gain popularity and become an instant hit.

Yang Ye would naturally not refuse such a mutually beneficial thing. He thought about it and asked, "When will the Shanghai Film Festival be held?"

Xie Jin said: "We plan to hold it in July next year."

Yang Ye shook his head and said, "July is too late. It's right in the summer season, which is not conducive to the promotion of the award-winning film. If it can be advanced to early June, it will be even better."

Later generations of the Shanghai Film Festival were generally held in June. For example, "The Burning Sun" won an award in June and was released in August, earning 300 million at the box office.

Xie Jin thought about it and said, "Okay, I'll go back and discuss it. It shouldn't be a big problem."

Yang Ye added: "In that case, I will bring "Kung Fu" to the exhibition next year!"

"Kung Fu" is a movie shot in Shanghai, so it is a perfect match for it to participate in the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Xie Jin was overjoyed and said, "I heard that this Kung Fu is your autobiographical film?"

Yang Ye shook his head: "It has something to do with my life experience, but it is not a documentary. Its content is actually quite exaggerated."

Xie Jin said happily: "Then I will wait and see."

Yang Ye asked again: "Has the International Association of Film Producers been invited to attend?"

"Yes, our China Film Association has officially joined the International Federation of Film Producers Associations this year. Their current secretary general Richard Drew has clearly stated that he will attend the event and inspect the Shanghai Film Festival in accordance with international standards."

Yang Ye said, "Is the Shanghai Film Festival planning to become an international A-level film festival?"

"That's right!"

"That's right. China doesn't even have an A-level film festival."

There are thousands of film festivals around the world, but only about fifty are recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.

These international film festivals are divided into four types: A, B, C, and D according to their functions.

ABCD are not divided into levels. It does not mean that Class A is higher than Class B. They are just different types.

Category A is a competitive comprehensive film festival, while Category B is a competitive specialized film festival.

For example, the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea is an international B-type film festival that focuses on directors’ debut and second films.

Category C is non-competitive, and Category D reviews only documentaries and short films.

……

After Yang Ye and Xie Jin confirmed that they would take "Kung Fu" to the Shanghai Exhibition next year, they found Shirley Lansing who was visiting Beijing and asked her to help take Yang Xi back to Los Angeles, while they went to Italy to attend the Venice Film Festival.

Of the three major European film festivals, the Berlin Film Festival has the deepest connection with Chinese films. The Cannes Film Festival is the most famous and has the largest scale. But when it comes to the best for Chinese films, the Venice Film Festival is the best.

Apart from the Yang Ye bug, Chinese films from the original time and space won a total of six Golden Lion Awards, not counting the two English films by Li An and Zhao Ting.

The organizers of the Venice Film Festival attach great importance to the participation of Chinese films and often invite Chinese films to participate in the exhibition.

But I don’t know if it’s because Venice is too generous with its awards, but the big Chinese directors don’t like to go to Venice. They are all focused on going to Cannes, but Cannes just doesn’t give awards to these big directors.

Venice likes to give the cold shoulder to Chinese films, while Chinese films like to give the cold shoulder to Cannes. This is really... being favored makes them feel fearless.

Among the international filmmakers coming to Venice this year, Yang Ye and Coppola are the most famous.

But Coppola was here to receive an award, Venice was going to give him a lifetime achievement award, so the old guy was very relaxed, just taking it as a vacation. Yang Ye was here to serve as the chairman of the jury, and as soon as he arrived in Venice, he held a press conference, and then began to participate in a series of activities, including reviewing films and judging awards, so he was very busy.

When the film festival officially opened, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li also arrived in Venice.

On the side of Baiyang Pictures, the general manager of the distribution company, Shi Nansheng, also came to Venice with films such as "Once Upon a Time in China 2" and "Police Story 3: Super Cop".

Since Yang Ye is the chairman of the jury, he must show his status as a movie tycoon.

Not only Baiyang Pictures, but also United Artists Pictures and some partners have brought their blockbuster films to Venice to participate in transactions in the film market.

Heavyweight kung fu movies like "Once Upon a Time in China" and "Police Stories" are sought after by film producers from all over the world. The film producers are also happy to give face to Yang Ye and come to Venice to buy films.

Coupled with the fans who came to Venice specifically because of Yang Ye’s appearance, the small water city suddenly became very lively and the hotels were packed.

The economic benefits brought about by this made the local government very happy, and they wished that Yang Ye would be the chairman of the jury next year.

After work, Yang Ye took some time out to have dinner with Gong Li and stroll around the water city.

After Gong Li and Yang Ye hooked up, Zhang Yimou had nothing to do anymore and the two could only be colleagues.

Italian food and Chinese food are somehow similar, and the two of them enjoyed the meal very much.

After dinner, the two rented a gondola, sat on it, and leisurely went to the Phoenix Opera House to watch an opera.

Gondola is a local means of transportation with its bow and stern tilted upward like a crescent moon hanging in the sky.

The boatman rowing the boat was a good operator and he sailed very fast, turning left and right in the city, passing various stone bridges from time to time.

Gong Li sat on the soft leather cushion and looked at the boat with interest. She said, "I think this boat is a bit like the boats on Suzhou River."

Yang Ye smiled and said, "Just think of this as a Jiangnan water town."

Gong Li looked at both sides of the river. Various types of houses stood on the river bank, ancient bridges spanned the water, and boats of all sizes were moored at the pier.

After thinking about it carefully, I found that they were inexplicably similar, and I couldn't help but smile and said, "They really look alike!"

Yang Ye said seriously, "We are now in Lu Town, sitting in Xun Ge'er's black-sailed boat to watch the community opera."

Gong Li couldn't help laughing when she saw Yang Ye referring to going to the opera as going to see a community play: "Going to see a community play, hahahaha!"

When she raised her head and saw the yellow-haired "Xun Ge'er" rowing the boat, she wanted to laugh even more. She lay on Yang Ye's body and laughed so hard that her body shook.

"Xun brother, hahaha!"

"Alright, alright! It's just a joke. Brother Xun is the young master, he doesn't know how to row a boat."

"Who is the one rowing the boat?"

"It must be Runtu!"

"Hahaha!"

The two of them were joking along the way and soon arrived at the opera house. "Turandot" was being performed today, and it told the story of a Chinese princess.

They actually had no interest in watching the opera, they just came to Venice to join in the fun.

Just like when Xun Ge'er returned to his grandmother's house, he would go to watch the community opera.

I don’t know what I watched, but when I think back on it, it was great!

It was already late after the opera, and a large group of audiences walked out of the theater and took gondolas away, just like taking a taxi in a city on land.

The small boats that were clustered together soon dispersed and disappeared in the winding river. In the distance, there were sounds of laughter and farewell. The water surface gradually became quiet, and only the shadow of the moon was seen swaying in the water.

Yang Ye looked at Gong Li's beautiful figure in the moonlight, and thought of something, and said, "Oh, by the way, I have prepared some gifts for you. You and Mouzi take the gifts and visit the judges and give them gifts."

Gong Li was stunned: "Gift?"

Yang Ye said as a matter of course: "Of course. If you want to win a prize, you have to give gifts."

"This... foreigners are also into this?" Gong Li found it unbelievable. Nowadays, people in China have a deep filter for Europe and the United States.

"We are all human beings, how big of a difference can there be? Especially Italy, which is actually quite similar to China.

For example, both are ancient civilizations with long histories and have created splendid cultures. The Han Dynasty and Rome complement each other.

They are all good at cooking, and are very proud of their own cuisine. Their cooking methods are also very similar. And where they live, look at this place, it's like a Jiangnan water village.

Italians, like Chinese people, value tradition, family and etiquette, and they also give gifts and use connections to get things done..."

This was the first time Gong Li heard this statement and she felt very curious: "So that's how it is?"

Yang Ye nodded: "Your movie is very good, but if you want to win an award, it's better to do some social skills, which is safer."

"This... isn't very good!" Gong Li still felt a little embarrassed.

"Don't feel ashamed. If you don't send it, someone else will. Then you won't have anything to do."

Yang Ye is not talking nonsense. In 1994, Wen Jun and Jiang Wen brought "Sunny Days" to the Venice Film Festival and witnessed Tsai Ming-liang and Wong Kar-wai taking gifts to establish a relationship with the chairman of the film festival.

Wen Jun and Jiang Wen were still newbies and didn't know anything. Upon seeing this, they quickly asked the two seniors for advice and immediately understood.

That year, Chinese films won great success in Venice, with Tsai Mingliang's "Viva Love" winning the Golden Lion.

Xia Yu became the youngest Venice Film Festival Best Actor in history with "Sunny Days".

However, Wong Kar-wai's Ashes of Time, which foreigners simply couldn't understand, also won an Oscar.

Gong Li was fine with Yang Ye saying so, and said, "Okay, let's go tomorrow."

Yang Ye said earnestly: "It's enough for the judges to just give their opinions. The most important thing is the chairman of the jury. He has the final say."

Gong Li stared with wide eyes and asked, "Aren't you the chairman of the jury?"

Yang Ye said as a matter of course: "So, you have to bribe me well!"

"Okay!" Gong Li was amused by Yang Ye's serious look and asked seriously, "Then how do we bribe him?"

Yang Ye leaned close to Gong Li's ear and whispered, "Sexual bribery!" (End of this chapter)