China Entertainment: Been working as a director since 03

Chapter 740: Creating a Masterpiece

Liu Yifei nodded in understanding.

She started acting when she was a teenager and immigrated to the United States with her mother.

It's normal that she doesn't have a deep understanding of ancient Chinese history.

There is no requirement that actors must know these things.

The screenwriter has to understand this.

How can you write a profound story about the Tang Dynasty if you don’t understand its history?

The next plot of "Under the Prosperity" will dissect the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty to show everyone what the prosperity was like.

There were refugees everywhere in the country, officials were corrupt, nobles were squandering money, and the court had no money, so it had to find a way to make money.

To quote a classic line from a certain movie, there is no more oil to be extorted from the poor, and the only way to get money is from the nobles and wealthy families.

Then the prime minister who was responsible for getting money for the court was exiled.

This is very true.

The plot that unfolds next is even more realistic. Great poets such as Li Bai and Du Fu write poems every day and complain that their talents are not appreciated.

But outside Chang'an City, those truly poor scholars are the ones who are truly unappreciated for their talents.

After studying hard for more than ten years, he wanted to pass the imperial examination and serve the court, but the imperial examination was not open to the public. There was no one in the court, and it was as difficult as ascending to heaven to pass the examination.

The overall atmosphere of the movie gives people a very depressing feeling.

The film also tells the audience why An Lushan and those Jiedushi were able to gain local military power.

Because the imperial court had no money, it could only delegate power to the military governors and let them raise their own troops.

This has little to do with An Lushan's flattery and attempt to please Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Yuhuan; it is the general trend.

However, it does make sense that An Lushan gained control of the three most powerful towns by currying favor with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.

Finally, a large number of displaced refugees who lost their homes and lands ran to An Lushan and the major military governors to join the army, and truly talented but unappreciated literati also ran to An Lushan and the major military governors to serve.

"This is so ironic that people who really wanted to serve the court had no room for advancement and ended up joining the rebel An Lushan.

Those high-ranking officials who sucked the blood of the imperial court occupied all the important positions and prevented the lower-class people from rising."

Liu Yifei felt extremely terrified when he thought about it carefully.

It seems that from the First Emperor to the end of the Qing Dynasty, nothing has changed, and this cycle has been repeating itself.

That’s what the first half of the movie is about.

The movie clearly explains why the Anshi Rebellion was bound to break out.

This was determined by the social environment at that time. If there was no An Lushan, it would have been delayed for a few years at most, and there would have been Liu Lushan and Wang Lushan.

After that, the Anshi Rebellion broke out. When the rebels entered Luoyang and Chang'an, the rebels, who were composed of the children of poor families who were usually looked down upon, were extremely brave.

On the contrary, those families are well-off and do not need to go to the border to fight. There is no bloodiness at all in being soldiers in Luoyang and Chang'an.

When the rebels attacked the city, they were unarmed. Some of them couldn't even draw their bows, and some were so scared that they fell off the city wall.

These are not made up by Li Yu, they are all recorded in history books.

In ancient feudal dynasties, most of the time the frontier troops were the most powerful because they fought wars frequently.

An Lushan's base was on the northern border, and wars often broke out there, so it was very normal for the rebels to defeat the defenders of Luoyang and Chang'an.

Later, the main force to quell the Anshi Rebellion was transferred back from the northwest, and the Shuofang Army was also a border army.

The troops transferred back from the northwest to quell the rebellion also allowed Tubo to successfully invade the four Anxi towns, and the four Anxi towns were lost.

This is the chain reaction of the Anshi Rebellion.

The tragic story of the white-haired soldiers in the city and the Guiyi Army was also caused by the fact that the Tang army guarding the Western Regions was transferred back to quell the rebellion, and the court was unable to send troops back to the Western Regions.

There are many ironies in the movie. Many of the generals and soldiers who helped suppress the rebellion were Hu people.

On the contrary, An Lushan's main advisers and generals were Han Chinese, and Han Chinese soldiers were also the main force of the rebellion. For a time, it was difficult to tell who was the villain.

The so-called love between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Yuhuan was also ridiculed.

The reason for Yang Yuhuan's death was actually very simple, and there was no need to make a bloody incident involving a cat.

When the emperor fled from Chang'an City, he took his concubines, princes and grandchildren with him, but did not take the soldiers' families with him, which was tantamount to treating the soldiers' families as non-human beings.

The soldiers had nothing to eat or drink along the way, and they were already very resentful.

Yang Guozhong also did some stupid things that angered the soldiers, so a mutiny broke out and Yang Guozhong's entire family was killed.

The soldiers were afraid that Yang Yuhuan would avenge Yang Guozhong when they arrived in Shu, so they forced the emperor to kill Yang Guifei.

To put it bluntly, the angry soldiers needed an outlet to vent their anger, and Yang Guozhong just happened to run into it.

Of course, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Yuhuan were truly in love. Among so many beauties in the harem, he only favored Yang Yuhuan.

But for an emperor, no true love can compare to his own life.

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So he chose to execute Yang Guifei to appease the soldiers' resentment.

"Isn't it too cruel?" Liu Yifei said.

"This is the truth. For an emperor, he can kill his own father and brothers, so what does a beauty mean to him?

There are many people who are too full nowadays and fantasize about traveling back in time to be the emperor's woman, and some even fantasize about traveling back in time to be a concubine in the Qing Dynasty. This is somewhat ridiculous."

Li Yu complained.

After the movie ended, there was applause from the audience.

The movie is wonderful, but the overall atmosphere is a bit depressing.

And everyone had a strange feeling. The exciting part should have been that the imperial army defeated the rebels.

But when the anti-insurgency army defeated the rebels, no one was happy.

However, everyone felt happy when the rebels advanced into Luoyang and Chang'an with great momentum.

It turns out that it is easier to break into Chang'an City than to pass the entrance exam into Chang'an City.

Chen Kaige has been observing people's reactions since the movie started showing.

After hearing the intense applause, he knew it was a sure thing.

It’s hard to say how much the movie will do at the box office. After all, this movie is not exciting enough. It even has a bit of the flavor of an art film and contains a lot of satire.

However, the reputation of the movie must be very good, which can be seen from the reaction of the audience.

The success of this movie made Chen Kaige even more proud.

After making several good films in a row, he felt like he was back to his peak.

In an interview, he said with great enthusiasm: "My next movie will only be better."

The reporter followed up by asking, "Will you continue to work with Director Li on your next film? You have already worked with Director Li on several films."

“Director Li is a talented director whom I admire very much, and his talent is obvious to all.

However, whether I will continue to work with Director Li on the next movie depends on the opportunity.

Director Li has been very busy in Hollywood making movies in the past two years.

If there is time, I would certainly like to work with him again."

Chen Kaige praised Li Yu, but his words implied that he would most likely not work with Li Yu next time.

His desire to express himself had been suppressed for too long, and too many of his "genius" ideas could not be put on the screen.

How could he continue to work with Li Yu next time? Li Yu didn't let him change the script, so he wanted to do it himself next time, and he wanted to create a masterpiece.

(End of this chapter)