The literary era since 1979

Chapter 176 Rebellion against Tiangang
May 5, Nanning Railway Station.

The green carriage was all dark green, with a yellow stripe above and below the windows, and many people were climbing in through the windows.

The door of the car was crowded with people and it would take some time to squeeze in.

Standing on the platform were Fang Yan, Li Cunbao, Gong Xing and others.

"I'll send you a thousand miles away, but I'll have to say goodbye in the end."

"I have already contacted the editorial department. Someone will pick you up at the Yanjing Railway Station."

Because Fang Yan had to go to Chang'an to attend an award ceremony, he had to change his plan temporarily and let Li Cunbao go to Beijing alone first.

Li Cunbao said: "Yanzi, thank you for your help."

Fang Yan said with some regret, "Plans cannot keep up with changes. I was not able to finish what I started and return to the editorial office of October with you."

"Don't say that!"

Li Cunbao said: "If it weren't for you, The Wreath under the Mountain would never have come out, let alone been published."

Fang Yan smiled and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, this novel will soon be on the front page of the third issue of October."

Li Cunbao shook hands with him vigorously.

"I will return to Beijing as soon as the award ceremony is over."

Fang Yan said, "See you in Yanjing then."

"See you in Yanjing!"

Li Cunbao said goodbye to everyone, picked up his luggage, and squeezed into the carriage with difficulty. After a while, he stuck his head out and waved.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

A rough whistle sounded in the station.

Watching the train slowly pull away, Gong Xing put down his hand.

"It's almost time for us to leave."

Guo Baochang looked at Fangyan on the left and Gong Xing on the right.

Gong Xing nodded and followed Fang Yan and the Guixi Factory delegation, thinking that he must meet Lu Yao if he had the chance.

Not long ago, the movie "Life" was released and immediately caused a sensation in Nanning, western Guangxi, and even in the whole country.

The single volume of "Life" published by Yenching Publishing House alone is becoming increasingly popular in the market and has become a hot commodity.

Like Gong Xing, Fang Yan came to Chang'an with great expectations.

When I walked out of the train station, I saw Mo Shen, Lin Da and others holding signs. Unexpectedly, Wu Tianming was also there.

What’s even more surprising is, where is my Admiral Lu Yao?
Lin Da said embarrassedly: "Yanzi, it's not that he doesn't want to come, but he can't come. He went to the Maowusu Desert recently."

“Going to the Maowusu Desert?”

Fangyan was very surprised.

"Yes, you know him well."

Lin replied helplessly: "I am stubborn and will not change my mind no matter how others persuade me once I have made up my mind."

"Maybe he's adjusting his form for his next book."

When Fang Yan thought about how Lu Yao had traveled all the way to Baiyun Temple to have fortune-telling done for the sake of "Life", he no longer found it strange.

"Sure enough, he is right. You are the one who understands him best."

Lin Da took out a letter from his bag. "He sent this back a few days ago. He said that if you read this letter, you will definitely forgive him."

"Sister-in-law, how are you and your niece doing?"

Fangyan put the letter away and said, "During the time he is in the Maowusu Desert, you will have to take care of the family by yourself."

Lin shook his head and said, "I'm fine. With the care of the factory leaders and colleagues, I feel much more relaxed now than before."

Gong Xing looked at her smile, and out of his actor's intuition, he could feel the reluctance, bitterness, and resentment mixed in her smile...

"This is Comrade Gong Xing from Shanghai Film Studio."

As Fang Yan walked, he said, "I thought he would come, so I wanted to introduce him to me so that we can talk about Life together."

"That's really unfortunate."

Lin Da glanced at him, then stared at Gong Xian. There was no longer a wry smile on his face, but a meaningful smile.

The vehicles responsible for picking up passengers at the station were all jeeps that Wu Tianming transferred from the factory, and one of them was even borrowed from another unit.

Gong Xian sat in the passenger seat, while Fang Yan was pulled to the back seat by Wu Tianming and Mo Shen, sandwiched between them, surrounded by men on both sides.

"Lu Yao actually has his own difficulties."

Mo Shen saw that Lin Da was not in the car and spoke in a low voice.

As the movie "Life" became popular, Lu Yao, as the author of the original novel, naturally became also very famous, but also attracted a lot of criticism.

There is gradually a public opinion in the literary world that "Life" is an insurmountable literary height for Lu Yao, perhaps the pinnacle of his entire literary career, and that it is time to go downhill from here.

It just so happened that several works of "In Difficult Days" failed to continue the success of "Life" and received mediocre responses. The judgment that "Lu Yaojiang has run out of talent" spread more and more fiercely within the Shaanxi Army.

“No wonder we went to the desert.”

Fangyan suddenly realized and sighed.

Gong Xing listened quietly, and heard Mo Shen sigh:

“A writer’s creative inspiration is not endless, and having inspiration does not necessarily mean that what he writes will be a masterpiece.”

"Except you, of course!"

"Why did you exclude me?"

When Fangyan heard this, he felt a sense of déjà vu.

Just as Su Bingtian said, no one dares to take it easy in the 100m high-level competition, except Bolt.

Have you become the "Bolt" of the literary world?

"You can't be viewed with common sense."

Mo Shen smiled and said that he was really jealous of your talent.

"I also envy your talent for film scripts."

The two of them had a wave of business praise for each other.

Wu Tianming saw this and interrupted:

"Teacher Fang, I may be sorry for something."

"It's the Zhang Yimou you recommended to me." Mo Shen took over and said that Xi'an Film Studio could not accept him.

Fang Yan understood the whole story and waved his hand, "He was not chosen. It's just fate. Don't take it to heart."

Wu Tianming said that no major film studio in the country could accept Zhang Yimou, but fortunately he still had a place to stay and was assigned to the Guangxi Film Studio.

This is such a coincidence!

Fangyan was very surprised. He had been thinking about which novel in his hand was suitable for being adapted into a movie by the Guixi Factory, and now the answer was obvious.

"That Mountain, That Man, That Dog".

After all, you can laugh at Zhang Yimou for not knowing how to tell a story, and for shooting the entire film in one shot, but you cannot laugh at him for not understanding the picture and camera movement.

…………

The ride was bumpy and people sitting in the jeep felt like they were dancing.

However, Gong Xing felt nothing. He pricked up his ears and listened to the three people talking about the adaptation of "The Qin Empire", and felt a little strange in his heart.

It’s not that I haven’t seen the original author serving as the screenwriter, and it’s also that I haven’t seen the screenwriter discussing movies with the director of a film studio, but I have never seen a screenwriter like Fangyan, who has such an influential voice.

Fang Yan said seriously, "I don't have the script with me. I'll send it to you when I get back to Yanjing."

Wu Tianming was overjoyed. The first work he made after taking office, Life, helped him secure his position as factory director. If the second work, Da Qin, could be successful, he would be able to better convince the public.

By then, if we want to ignite the third fire of reform in the entire Xi'an Film Studio, the resistance will probably not be as great as it is now.

"But I still say the same thing, don't be impatient, at least wait until the premiere of Shang Yang at the People's Art Theatre, what do you think?"

Dialects look left, look right.

"I think so too."

Wu Tianming changed the subject and said that the cast had to be changed. Not only is there a big difference between drama actors and movie actors, but the movie he wanted to make also had to have characteristics that drama did not have.

Mo Shen took out a pen and paper and started taking notes.

The actors playing Duke Xiao of Qin and the Queen Mother remain the same, Bao Guoan and Lü Chen. However, the actor for Duke Xian of Qin is different from the one in the National Theatre of China.

Wu Tianming chose Xu Huanshan, an actor from Xi'an Film Studio.

It is exactly the TV version of Duke Xian of Qin in the previous life.

Fangyan recommended a person, Jiao Huang, who played the role of "Kangxi" in "The Yongzheng Dynasty".

Mo Shen wrote it down, "I've heard of this person. He's quite famous in the drama world in Shanghai. I think you can give it a try."

Wu Tianming asked: "Teacher Fang, what do you think of Sun Feihu playing Gan Longxuan?"

Fangyan was stunned. This person was one of Chiang Kai-shek's special actors. In his mind, a sentence involuntarily echoed: Damn it, De Lin is incompetent. It seems that I must come out of retirement!

Wu Tianming said: "This guy has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Rooster Awards. We can take this opportunity to meet him in person."

The candidates for the important villain roles in Qin were initially decided, and then the candidates for the Wei Kingdom, King Hui of Wei, Pang Juan, Gong Shuzhuo...

"First, decide on King Hui of Wei."

Wu Tianming frowned, "This is a villain who is more important than Gan Long, Pang Juan, Gong Shuzao, etc. If we don't choose the right one, the whole play might be ruined."

"How about Liu Jiang who plays Hu Hansan?"

"Where's Fang Hua?"

Mo Shen listed the typical "professional villains" of that era one by one, such as Chen Peisi's father, Chen Qiong.

"Teacher Fang, what do you think of Ge Cunzhuang?"

Wu Tianming cast an inquiring look.

Isn’t this Ge Yu’s father?
Fangyan raised the corners of his mouth and suggested that it would be better not to limit the auditions to the previous professional villains, but to expand the scope of the auditions to the whole country.

Wu Tianming readily agreed that for characters like Shang Yang and King Hui of Wei, the most suitable ones must be chosen.

Fortunately, there is no need to rush. It will not be too late to start the project after the premiere of "Shang Yang" led by Wan Jiabao is over.

After all, this is the ultimate masterpiece of Xi'an Film Studio!

...............

The meeting of the three ended only when the car stopped at the entrance of the guesthouse.

After Fang Yan got off the car, he looked at Gong Xing and said, "Unfortunately, Lu Yao is away on a long trip, so you may not see him this time."

Gong Xing shook his head and said, "It's okay, there will always be a chance."

Fangyan carried his luggage to the front desk, showed his letter of introduction and other documents, and then got the key.

Gong Xing's room was one floor lower than his, so the two of them went up the stairs and started chatting.

"Teacher Fang, is Director Wu the director of Da Qin?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"what?!"

Gong Xing blinked in surprise. It was the first time he saw the screenwriter choosing the roles without going through the director.

"That's because the director hasn't been decided yet."

Fangyan explained that once the director is confirmed, a creative seminar will be held to further discuss the audition list.

Gong Xing was surprised and asked, "Is Director Wu not suitable?"

Fang Yan said bluntly: "I can only say that his artistic style does not match the kind of costume film effect I want."

Gong Xing asked, "Who do you think is suitable?"

"If I loan Director Xie to the Shanghai Film Studio, will Mr. Wu and the others agree?" Fang Yan asked half-jokingly.

"I-I don't know."

Gong Xing's eyes widened. He had never expected him to answer like that.

Fang Yan saw her surprised expression and knew very well that this touched upon her blind spot in knowledge.

After all, the status and voice of screenwriters these days, although greater than those in the entertainment industry in later generations, are not much greater.

In the 80s, film studios practiced the "director-centered system," where directors always selected screenwriters.

But when it came to my turn, I was the screenwriter choosing the director.

It's simply the opposite of what Tian Gang does, and it's beyond common sense!
In fact, although what Fang Xiaojiang did seemed to be the work of a screenwriter, it was actually the work of a producer.

It’s just that there is no concept of “producer” in the domestic film industry nowadays.

The power of a screenwriter does have its limits, but Mr. Fang’s power as a producer may not be unlimited.

(End of this chapter)