Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 542: Sense of Picture

After Zhang Yimou left, Fang Minghua returned to his study and did not rush to type. Instead, he drank tea and thought about what Zhang Yimou had just said.

Fang Minghua has not seen "Ju Dou".

As a banned film, it was not shown in mainland China, and even before this era, Fang Minghua had never seen it online.

But I've read the reviews for this movie.

There is a very interesting passage.

In Zhang Yimou's films, women are always sexually repressed.

In "Red Sorghum", "Raise the Red Lantern", "Curse of the Golden Flower" and even "Qiu Ju Goes to Court", the women either explode or perish due to sexual repression.

"Ju Dou" is a relatively late film in Zhang Yimou's film series. Because although it also talks about sex, it does not have the passionate and inspiring power of "Red Sorghum" and was once listed as a banned film.

Compared with "Raise the Red Lantern", its critical strength is superficial and lacks the profoundness that can penetrate the paper, like a half-finished product.

However, it has a milestone significance in the history of Chinese film.

It is the first Chinese film to be nominated for an Oscar, representing the fifth generation of directors represented by Zhang Yimou's official bid for an Oscar. From it we can see Zhang Yimou's courage in exploration, as well as his eagerness for quick success.

Zhang Yimou tried to cater to the tastes of the audience and went too far, causing "Ju Dou" to go astray. It lacked criticism and was too much of a curiosity, becoming an erotic film in the minds of many people. It was not until the next film "Raise the Red Lantern" that the film got the steering wheel right again.

Okay, let's put it right again.

Fang Minghua put down the teacup and turned on the computer again.

In the evening, when Song Tangtang came back from work, Fang Minghua brought out two bowls of oil-splashed noodles, and the two ate and chatted.

When Song Tangtang heard that Zhang Yimou was preparing to make a new film but had not yet found an investor, she immediately clapped her hands in joy.

"Okay, I'll go find Zhang Yimou tomorrow and discuss the investment with him!"

"The script hasn't been written yet."

"My husband, you write the script, so why should I worry about it?" Song Tangtang giggled.

"Look, the novel was written by Su Tong, you adapted it, and Zhang Yimou filmed it. It's a perfect combination!"

"And our beautiful Song has invested." Fang Minghua joked.

"Yes!" Song Tangtang laughed, "But, my husband will have to trouble you again. You can rest after eating, and I will wash the dishes."

A week later, Fang Minghua completed the writing of "Twilight", which was about 28 words, enough to be a novel.

Fang Minghua copied the contents onto a three-inch floppy disk and sent it to Li Li in the United States.

It has become much more convenient since the use of floppy disks. There is no need to print out piles of manuscripts. It is simply a big package.

Then he made an international long-distance call to Li Li and told her some things. He stopped worrying about it and believed that Li Li would be able to translate it well.

The next step is to start writing the script for Zhang Yimou.

"Raise the Red Lantern" is adapted from Su Tong's "Wives and Concubines", but compared with the original work, the changes are quite significant.

In the original novel, although there are lanterns, there are not so many scenes with big red lanterns hanging high, but this idea is quite good.

In the original novel, a well under the wisteria trellis was described many times, and someone had died there. The servant told Songlian that a woman from the previous generation had committed adultery and was thrown into the well.

There is water in the well, and water is yin, so the well also has a gloomy color. There is a "Zhenfei Well" in the Forbidden City in Beijing. When the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, the Empress Dowager Cixi asked the eunuchs to push Zhenfei, who supported the Reform Movement of 1898, into the well and drown her before she fled.

Therefore, the well is also a symbol of the oppression and humiliation of women in feudal society.

The well in the original novel symbolizes death, and the ghost in the well appears in Songlian's trance, which also shrouds the novel in a gloomy atmosphere. But in the movie, there is no well under the wisteria trellis, but instead a remote small dark room.

Fang Minghua felt that the word "well" was better, so the script followed the original novel and changed it to "well".

As for wisteria, its flower language is endless love and willingness to give everything for love.

But the movie was filmed in Qiao's Compound in Shanxi Province, and there are no wisteria flowers in Shanxi Province!

Also, Su Tong's "Wives and Concubines" is clearly about a Jiangnan story, but Zhang Yimou chose to film it as a northern courtyard.

Come to think of it, this is easy to understand.

Zhang Yimou is from the north himself, and he is more familiar with the north than the south.

In addition, as a photographer by profession, Zhang Yimou prefers northern architecture from an aesthetic point of view, because the architecture is square, straight, unobstructed and symmetrical, while the architecture in the south is curved and thin.

It is obvious that Zhang Yimou is interested in big and straight things, and has no interest in curved, thin and messy things. If he were asked to shoot a city like Suzhou, he would not feel like shooting it and probably would not shoot it well.

that is it.

Writing a movie script is much easier than writing a TV script, especially for a talented director like Zhang Yimou.

The script doesn't need to be too long, giving the director room to play.

Maybe this time, it will be filmed better than in history.

Therefore, Fang Minghua completed the script in just two days, which was only about 30,000 words.

The first reader is of course Song Tangtang.

In the evening, Song Tangtang looked at the script and was a little surprised.

"Minghua, what you wrote is not the same as the original. Suddenly there are so many lanterns, and the name has been changed to "Raise the Red Lantern"

"Don't you think this name is more vivid than 'Wives and Concubines'?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Well, Zhang Yimou is a photographer, he will definitely like it! Okay, I will give him the script tomorrow." Song Tangtang said.

"Tangtang, how was your talk with the China Film Co-Production Company going?" Fang Minghua thought of another question.

"The other party is very interested, but he still wants to see the script first."

It turned out that although Song Tangtang was planning to invest in Zhang Yimou's new film, Shengshi Film and Television did not have the qualifications and had to find a film studio to cooperate with.

There was no way to find the Xi'an Film Studio. Director Liu was as timid as a mouse and was afraid that Zhang Yimou's film would cause him trouble again.

Zhang Yimou came up with an idea.

When we were shooting our last movie, Ju Dou, in addition to the investment from Xi'an Film Studio, there was another company: China Film Co-production Company, and we could approach them for cooperation.

In this era, in addition to the eight major film studios in the mainland such as Bayi and Xiying, there is another less familiar film studio - China Film Co-production Corporation.

It was established not long ago - it was only established in 1979, and is referred to as the Co-production Company. Unlike the eight major film studios, the company is entrusted by the national film regulatory department to be responsible for the management, coordination and service of Sino-foreign co-production films (Sino-foreign co-productions).

In other words, this company is not responsible for making films, but for reviewing co-production films!

No matter which film studio you are from, all Sino-foreign co-production film scripts must be reviewed and approved by the company before they can be filmed!
Awesome.

When Fang Minghua heard his wife say that the other party was willing to cooperate, he felt relieved, and of course he didn't have to worry about the specific process.

Now he is going to write the script for "A Native of Yenching in New York".

In addition to the script, there is another crucial thing: which director will shoot the film?
(End of this chapter)