Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

At the 49th Cannes Film Festival, Kaizi had high hopes for his film "Feng Yue", but it turned out to be a failure, which made him very disappointed.

Brother Kaizi didn't know at this moment that "Farewell My Concubine" was the pinnacle of his life and he would depend on this movie to make a living for the rest of his life.

"Feng Yue" did not perform well at the box office after its release, with a box office of only 230 million Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong, which shattered Zhang Guorong's status as a superstar.

Zhang Guorong never starred in a box office hit movie afterwards. Except for "The Bund" with Liu Hua and "Story of Princesses 2" with Anita Yuen, which grossed over million, his other movies struggled to even make over million.

Yang Ye suspected that Zhang Guorong's later decision to commit suicide was due to career setbacks.

Zhang Guorong in this time and space suffered a greater blow than the one in the original time and space because of the "Feng Yue" incident.

Since Yang Ye knew that after filming "Farewell My Concubine", Brother Kaizi became so arrogant that he would not listen to anyone's opinions, he asked Xu Feng to terminate the cooperation with Brother Kaizi.

Yang Ye is the guiding light of the Chinese film industry. If he is unwilling to invest in a film, others will also be cautious.

"Pili Fire" is a lesson for us. Even with Chen Long's ability, he still made a loss, let alone others.

So, Kaizi was surprised to find that he, the newly crowned winner of the Palme d'Or, could not find investment.

Fortunately, after filming "Farewell My Concubine", Zhang Guorong's trust in Brother Kaizi reached an unprecedented level.

He is also very loyal. Seeing that Brother Kaizi couldn't get investment, he took the initiative to help him and got 2000 million investment from Wong Jing.

But halfway through the filming, they ran out of money, so they had to raise money from everywhere. In the end, Zhang Guorong paid a part of it as an investment, and the film was finally completed.

Why does an art film like "Feng Yue" cost so much money?

Because Brother Kaizi has a rather special habit when making movies.

Most directors shoot movies in a chaotic order.

The crew will first decide which scenes need to be filmed in each scene, which props to prepare, and which actors to use. Once everything is planned, they will shoot one scene at a time.

If some actors have tight schedules and fewer roles, the crew will group their scenes together and shoot them all in a few days.

The advantage of shooting in this way is that it can save a lot of time and money.

But Brother Kaizi always shoots his movies sequentially. He shoots one scene at a time according to the order in which the plot develops.

The advantage of shooting this way is that the actors can act out a story from beginning to end, gradually enter the plot, and better integrate into the role.

The disadvantages are obvious. The shooting time will be extended, the set up scenes need to be kept all the time, the actors also need to follow the crew all the time, and the shooting costs will increase exponentially.

Therefore, all of Kaizi Ge’s movies are big productions, and later he even came up with the idea of ​​building a city for every movie he made.

Ordinarily, he should have been out of work long ago with the way he was doing things.

But he caught up with the era of China's economic boom and turned the film business into a real estate business.

The little money the movie lost is nothing.

"Feng Yue" flopped at the box office and won no major awards, which meant that the overseas copyright could not be sold at a high price, and tens of millions of dollars of investment went down the drain.

In fact, "Feng Yue" is not a bad movie, it has many advantages.

It continues Kaizige's imaging style, with a perfect grasp of light and color, giving the audience an extremely beautiful, artistic and visual enjoyment.

The performances of Zhang Guorong, Gong Li, He Saifei and Zhou Xun are all remarkable; just a few moments of gaze are enough to make people intoxicated.

But Brother Kaizi pursued stylization too much. He deliberately reduced the lines and let the actors communicate through eye contact.

The audience is already confused, and if you don't say anything, it would be a miracle if the movie doesn't fail.

Brother Kaizi pursues a very high-level aesthetic, not only in visual style, but also in literature.

To give a simple example, which is the coolest poem under the tune of "Nian Nu Jiao"?
Most people would answer something like Su Dongpo's "The great river flows eastward, the waves wash away all the heroes of the ages..."

But those who have studied Song poetry would most likely say it is Zhang Xiaoxiang's "Green grass on Dongting Lake, near Mid-Autumn Festival, no wind at all..."

In other words, professional aesthetics and popular aesthetics are often at odds with each other.

Ordinary people read novels for the ups and downs of the plot and all kinds of exciting moments.

But the novels recommended by professionals are "Remembrance of Things Past" and "Ulysses".

The plot or something like that doesn't matter anymore.

The top novelists are all weakening the plots, and Kaizi Ge feels that as a top director, it is inevitable for him to weaken the plot.

But a novel can be created by a writer independently, with zero investment cost except for his own time.

If readers don’t like the book, they can just not read it, and it doesn’t cost anything.

Movies have industrial attributes and require huge investments. After the film is completed, it needs audiences to buy tickets to pay for it.

I spent money and bought the ticket, and you show me this? Who else should I scold? If you don’t fail, who will?

……

Zhang Guorong felt complicated when he saw Yang Ye.

Zhang Guorong believed that he had a good relationship with Yang Ye. When Yang Ye refused to invest in Kaizi Ge's new film, he volunteered to act as peacemaker.

But Yang Ye did not give him face, because friendship is friendship and business is business.

Zhang Guorong asked Yang Ye: "Why did you refuse to invest in Director Kai's new film?"

Yang Ye replied: "He has already drifted away. If he can't calm down, he will never be able to make a movie that people will praise in this life. I can't waste my money."

Zhang Guorong didn't believe it. He had interacted with Brother Kaizi and thought that Brother Kaizi was so talented. How could he never make another commendable movie?
Zhang Guorong's personality makes him prone to extremes, so he immediately turned around to help Kaizige raise investment, and in the end he even paid several million out of his own pocket to do the work.

But now, everything is just as Yang Ye expected.

Even though Brother Kaizi was determined to make a classic and slap Yang Ye's face to pieces, he only ended up making a mediocre film.

Not only did it flop at the box office and win no awards, but reviews from critics were also very mediocre.

Zhang Guorong couldn't help but ask Yang Ye: "Are you really the reincarnation of Ziweixing?"

Yang Ye shook his head: "Stop it, I don't believe this."

"Then how did you calculate so accurately?"

"First look at the script, then look at the people, then analyze them together, and the result will be pretty close."

"Well, you really are worthy of being the Invincible East!"

"Don't be so naughty, Dongfang Bubai, I have a big penis and I am good at sex. It's no problem for me to have sex with ten women in one night."

"What you said is true. Qingxia didn't have any chirps in the first place."

“Uh…” Yang Ye was speechless for a moment.

Zhang Guorong laughed when he saw Yang Ye being humiliated.

Yang Ye asked casually: "What will you do after returning to Hong Kong?"

Zhang Guorong said with a sad face: "Help promote "New Shanghai Bund" and then go to Buenos Aires, Argentina to film."

"New Shanghai Bund" is a movie starring Zhang Guorong, Liu Hua and Ning Jing.

Zhang Guorong played Xu Wenqiang, Liu Hua played Ding Li, and Ning Jing played Feng Chengcheng. The movie did well at the box office, grossing over 20 million locally.

Yang Ye didn't take it seriously. He was more interested in his trip to Buenos Aires and asked, "What kind of movie is it that takes you so far?"

"Wong Kar-wai told me it was a police and gangster shootout movie, and I would play a killer who went to Argentina to look for his father."

Yang Ye frowned because Wong Kar-wai deceived Zhang Guorong and Liang Caowei.

He told Zhang Guorong that he wanted to make a gun battle movie, in which Zhang Guorong would play a killer.

He also told Liang Caowei that he wanted to make a detective film in which Liang Caowei would play a detective.

When the two arrived in Argentina and checked their accounts, they found that it was not the case at all. What Wong Kar-wai wanted to shoot was "Happy Together", a gay movie.

Wong Kar-wai also said that there were no excessive shots, so the two of them went ahead and shot it.

After filming for a few days, they were asked to do a kissing scene.

After a few more days of filming, they were asked to film a sex scene, and they had to take off all their clothes...

Step by step, he tricked the two of them.

Happy Together is a classic Chinese film, but it almost cost Zhang Guorong his life. Zhang Guorong was infected with a virus in Argentina, suffered from diarrhea every day, and was almost dead. He even called Hong Kong to arrange his funeral.

When Happy Together was released, Wong Kar-wai used Zhang Guorong's sexual orientation to promote the film in order to gain more box office revenue.

After Zhang Guorong was nominated for the Best Actor at the Golden Horse Awards, he went to Taiwan to attend the award ceremony. He was pointed at behind the back by the staff, which made him very unhappy.

A series of events led to a falling out between Zhang Guorong and Wong Kar-wai, and the two never worked together again.

Seeing Yang Ye frowning and not speaking, Zhang Guorong asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Ye is considering whether to stop Zhang Guorong from making this movie.

Yang Ye traveled to this time and space and met many people whom he could only see in movies in his previous life.

Chen Long, Zhang Guorong, Zhang Manyu, Liu Hua...are all very good friends.

Brigitte Lin, Rosamund Kwan, Joey Wong, Vivian Chow...are all his beloved women.

They surrounded Yang Ye, and they were all a group of flesh-and-blood, lovely people.

Yang Ye changed a lot of things and prevented some tragedies from happening.

He saved Gu Long and Huang Jiaju, but he didn't know how to change Zhang Guorong's fate.

Although he did some things quietly to make Zhang Guorong's life smoother.

But the smoother your life is, the more extreme the difficulties you encounter.

He didn't know whether that leap would actually happen.

Finally, Yang Ye asked, "Didn't Wong Kar-wai tell you that he was going to make a gay movie?"

"Ah?" Zhang Guorong was stunned: "How did you know?"

"The Hong Kong entertainment industry is so huge that it's not uncommon for me to hear about any little thing going on."

"All right!"

Zhang Guorong didn't mind making a gay movie, but he minded Wong Kar-wai lying to him.

"I'll confront him when I get back. Um... I won't tell him. It was you who revealed it."

Yang Ye didn't care: "Just tell me, I don't care, he can't do anything to me."

"That's true. Who can afford to offend you?"

"You want to make a police film, how about we work together on one?"

Zhang Guorong was happy: "Are you finally going to ask me to film a movie?"

Yang Ye sighed and thought, I'm really worried about you guys.

He originally planned to stop appearing in movies after filming "The Matrix Trilogy".

After filming for so many years, although he loves it, he is also a little tired of it, and he doesn't want to keep fighting on the big screen.

Next he plans to compete for the directorship of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

With the plan in his mind, I believe no one can compete with him.

After that, he retired gloriously, enjoying life with his beautiful wife, concubines, and children.

But in order to promote Liu Yifei, they decided to make a movie "The Perfect Match" for her.

There is also "Happy Journey", a magical adaptation of "Harry Potter", and the role of the original Hermione is naturally played by Liu Yifei.

Now, in order to help Zhang Guorong, another one has to be added.

Damn, this is really as productive as a sow.

When will it end?

Well, this is the last one, there will be no more.

Yang Ye said: "You are handsome and have good acting skills. I have wanted to work with you for a long time, but there is no suitable script. After all, I only shoot action movies."

Zhang Guorong asked excitedly: "Is it available now?"

"Well, a movie about a counterfeit money gang."

"Is 'A Better Tomorrow' also a counterfeit money gang?"

Yang Ye nodded: "Yes, I died too quickly that time, it was not satisfying, this time I want to put on armor and fight again, killing everyone."

Zhang Guorong's eyes lit up: "I'm really looking forward to it. What role will I play?"

"The male lead, two leads. Oh, and let's get Ah Yu to play the female lead."

It's a pity that after traveling through time and space, I have never had the opportunity to work properly with top actresses such as Zhang Guorong and Zhang Manyu.

Yang Ye originally planned to work with Zhang Manyu again next year, but now that there is an opportunity, he might as well just call her over.

After a while, Zhang Manyu was called over.

"Ayu, Arong and I are planning to make a movie. You can play the leading female role."

Zhang Manyu happily said, "No problem. When will the filming start?"

"The second half of the year!"

"You don't mean next year?"

“Next year is another movie.”

"Wow, why are you so nice to me all of a sudden?"

"I have always loved you, don't you know?"

Zhang Manyu blushed: "Stop teasing me, what movie is this?"

"This movie is called 'Wushuang'. The story is quite complicated and hard to explain. I'll show you the script after the premiere of 'Men in Black'!"

……

"Men in Black" was the closing film of this year's Cannes Film Festival and also held its world premiere, attracting film moguls, media and film producers from all over the world.

After various interviews, the film officially began to be screened.

The plot of "Men in Black" is relatively simple. The story of the film takes place in the future. Due to constant wars in the universe, a large number of aliens come to Earth for refuge.

These aliens often hide among humans and cannot be detected by normal people.

As special police officers specializing in dealing with aliens, the Men in Black are committed to stopping the evil aliens' secret invasion and destruction plans against the Earth.

No one knows the identity of the man in black except within the organization.

The first part of Yang Ye's version of "Men in Black" is quite similar to the original version.

The difference is that the original version had one main lead and one supporting lead, but this version slightly increased Chen Long's role, making it a double lead.

The plot didn't change until the character played by Yuen Biao removed his fingerprints, erased all his past, put on a professional black suit, got his own code name, and started dealing with the first alien incident.

In the original version, after they arrived at the scene, they found that the alien was a pregnant woman and was about to give birth, so they helped the alien deliver the baby, which was full of jokes.

But in Yang Ye's version, he directly restored and adjusted the shots of Yuen Biao and Chen Long appearing in "ET the Extraterrestrial" and edited them in.

Since the scene was taken at night, the two people wore sunglasses and there were only a few long and medium shots.

So even though they were much younger at that time, they were still able to get by.

"ET the Extraterrestrial" is Yang Ye's famous work, and many people have seen it, so when this scene appeared, people were stunned.

It turns out that the shots in the original "Alien" are actually the shots in the current "Men in Black".

It turns out that a scene in that movie was actually an Easter egg.

This segment is so interesting.

Many people were immediately reminded of their past. (End of this chapter)