Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 852: Execution of two major directors’ scripts

"You watch it first. I'll go see how my son's room is cleaned." After saying that, Song Tangtang left the room.

Fang Minghua made a cup of tea and looked at it carefully.

The story takes place in an ancient fantasy world, and mainly tells the love, betrayal and revenge between characters such as Kunlun Nu, Princess Qingcheng and Duke Wuhuan of the North. Kunlun Nu is a slave with magical powers, Princess Qingcheng is a beautiful and free woman, and Duke Wuhuan of the North is an ambitious nobleman. Thus unfolds a story of fate and curse.

The story framework is large enough, and it is intended to be made into an epic.

The text can be fictional, but the statement must be true. But in this script there are no characters, no motives, no ideas, only preaching.

The whole play is just a bunch of Shakespearean dialogues that have obviously been carefully polished. Every sentence seems to be full of philosophy, but at the same time dry and tasteless. One word: stupid! Four words: pretentious! We might as well call it "Shakespearean dialogue".

No climax, no touching moment.

Why.
Fang Minghua put down the script and shook his head.

Song Tangtang walked in and asked, "Have you finished watching it? What do you think?"

"What do you think?" Fang Minghua asked back.

"I, Lu Wei and several other screenwriters read it and we all agreed that the script was poorly written. I really don't know what Chen Kaige learned in the past two years in Hollywood."

Fang Minghua laughed after hearing this.

"He went to Hollywood to learn how to make commercial blockbusters, not to learn how to write scripts. Since you all think it's terrible, just reject it directly."

"But he is Chen Kaige, we have to be cautious, right? So I'd like to think about it and listen to your opinion." Song Tangtang replied.

"I agree with you. Tell him that if he really wants Shengshi to invest in his movie, he should not write the script himself but go find Lu Wei!"

"Okay, I'll give him a reply when I get to work tomorrow."

Fang Minghua no longer cared about this matter and his mind was on the novel.

This afternoon, Fang Minghua was typing on the computer in the study when the cell phone on the desk rang. It was Chen Kaige calling.

After thinking about it, he answered the call.

"Minghua, this is Kaige. Are you back in China?" Chen Kaige said on the other end of the phone.

"I've only been back for two days, and I haven't adjusted to this time difference yet."

After a few pleasantries, Chen Kaige got straight to the point: "Minghua, I heard from Mr. Song that you also read the script I wrote. Why do you also think it's not good?"

Fang Minghua hesitated for a moment, and instead of answering directly, he asked, "Director Chen, what exactly do you want to express in this script?"

“It shows a lot, thoughts on freedom, love, fate and choice.”

"Director Chen, you want to make a commercial blockbuster instead of an art film! Don't you think you have too much to present?!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, let me explain the structure of your script to you." Fang Minghua continued, "There are many script structures on the market now: the six-step method, the Hollywood twelve-act play, the Golden Fleece drama structure, and the most typical three-act play, etc. You know all of these, so I don't need to repeat them. But the question is, what is the structure of your "The Promise"? A three-act play?"

"Yes, a play in three acts."

“Well, according to your three-act play, the male protagonist of the first act should be Kunlun.

How come the hero of the second act became Guangming? And the hero of the third act seems to be Wuhuan again. "

"Director Chen, who is this? What is this? What is the purpose of this? Not to mention the audience, I feel confused just by watching it."

"Director Chen, the three-act play was not decided by anyone. It was explored by generations of playwrights, theater companies, and filmmakers. A play that can be explained by a main plot, no, divide it into two plots. Two plots are not enough, divide it into three plots, and then end it in the form of a drama to achieve artistic sublimation.
"Even if you want to break through or subvert something, you can't write like this."

There was silence on the other end of the phone at first, then the call was suddenly hung up, leaving only a beeping sound.

A month later, Chen Kaige suddenly held a press conference in Yanjing, announcing to everyone that he would shoot the epic blockbuster "The Promise", which would be invested and produced by film and television companies such as Xiudong Pictures and China Film Group Corporation. Mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan stars such as Jang Dong-gun, Liu Ye, Nicholas Tse, and Cecilia Cheung joined the cast, and all media rushed to report on it, with great fanfare.

A year later, “The Promise” was released in mainland China and North America, but it was a box office failure and was widely criticized in China, with netizens mocking it as “A Murder Caused by a Bun.”

Fang Minghua's life remains dull.

My daughter Fang Rui has already been enrolled in San Francisco High School for the Arts, and my son Fang Le has also been enrolled in the Affiliated High School of Northwestern Polytechnical University. They usually live on campus and only come back on weekends.

Apart from attending Writers Association meetings, he basically spent his time concentrating on writing novels.

It was late September. Song Tangtang came home from work. When they were having dinner together, Fang said, "Minghua, Zhang Yimou wants to make a new movie."

"What script?"

"He wanted to strike while the iron was hot and make another martial arts film called House of Flying Daggers."

This one?

bad movie!

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

This isn't the way to strike while the iron is hot, right?
However, Fang Minghua remained calm on the surface and wiped his mouth: "Have you read the script?"

"Well, most people think it's OK."

"Most of the time, that means there are still people who oppose it?"

"Yes, Lu Wei objected, saying that the script alone was worse than Hero."

Yes, it is indeed a reed.

He is known as the country's top gold medal screenwriter and his vision is indeed unique.

"Then what do you mean?"

"I feel a little conflicted. I think what Lu Wei said makes sense, but Zhang Yimou is full of confidence. How about you take a look and give some suggestions?"

"Ok."

"I'll give it to you after dinner."

After dinner, the weather outside turned cooler, so he started walking again. He strolled for a long time before going home to his study to read the script.

"House of Flying Daggers" tells the love story of two police chiefs Liu and Jin and a singing girl in the late Tang Dynasty. The singing girl originally liked Liu, but after some twists and turns, she found that she loved Jin the most. Liu turned his love into hatred and had the idea of ​​killing the singing girl. In the end, the singing girl died together with Liu to save Jin's life.

This time, Zhang Yimou abandoned the "political" and "historical" views expressed in "Hero" and returned to the human perspective he is good at, telling the love tragedy of a woman entangled between two men.

The script has a special design: the three protagonists all have false identities, and all three are deceiving each other, but after peeling off the cloak of falsehood and deception, it will be discovered that the feelings of the three people in the process of truly loving each other are real.

Isn't this another tribute to Kurosawa's "Rashomon"?

It is no exaggeration to say that Kurosawa Akira is Zhang Yimou's spiritual mentor.

However, Rashomon reveals the complexity of human nature and the elusiveness of the truth, and explores the deception and hypocrisy of human nature.

And "House of Flying Daggers" is just love!

The quality of the game dropped a lot at once.

In the script, love is not clearly explained. The love between Xiaomei and Jin Jutou, which is so brilliant that it can rival the sun and the moon, has no basis. This kind of muddled love can either be explained by the idiom of love at first sight plus "abandonment after having sex", or it can only remind people of the Cantonese phrase "nonsense".
Captain Liu's deep affection for Xiaomei seems even more trifling. Apart from claiming that he was deeply in love with Xiaomei during their conversation, the previous plot did not give any hints.

Don't shoot it, it will ruin your reputation.

(End of this chapter)