Huayu: Director started with art films

Boss Yang's words were very tactful, but Li Yishu still understood what he meant, which was that he was not optimistic about the market prospects of Wai Ka-Fai's script.

In fact, without Boss Yang's euphemism, Lee Yi-su herself knew that the box office performance of "The Birth of a Star" would not be high.

The real money-making for Milkyway Image's films probably started after "Gunfire", which set a benchmark and then audiences gradually began to accept films of this style.

If we look at it from a purely commercial perspective, there is no way that Li Yishu would invest in this movie, especially since he knows that the investment in this movie will definitely be a loss.

However, both Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai are leading Hong Kong film directors. Some of their later films were very good in both quality and box office.

What's more, after Li Yishu owned a media group, his mindset changed from simple investment to the right to speak.

Now, there are only four or five years left since Hong Kong filmmakers began to move north in large numbers in 03.

These filmmakers are all excellent in terms of their abilities.

Li Yishu naturally wouldn't let them run around.

He has already taken over a part of the Beijing circle, and he is now investing in the Shanghai circle, and he wants to take over the Hong Kong circle even more.

Thinking of this, Li Yishu glanced at Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, who were looking forward to it, thought for a while, and nodded, "The script is a good one, I can invest in it."

"Thank you Director Li." Upon hearing this, Wai Ka Fai said excitedly, "Don't worry Director Li, I will definitely shoot the movie seriously and will definitely not let you down."

"Don't rush yet."

Li Yishu smiled and waved her hands: "Investment is no problem, but I have to open a new company to operate this film."

Wai Ka Fai was a little confused about what Li Yishu meant, but Johnnie To understood what he wanted to say and said immediately, "Director Li, Ka Fai and I have thought about setting up a film company. If Director Li is willing, why not invest in our company and then we can work together?"

After hearing this, Wai Ka Fai suddenly realized what was going on and quickly said, "Yes, Director Li, you must invest in our company so that we can attract more investment to shoot this movie."

Good sense!

Li Yishu smiled and said, "I'll have someone contact you about this later."

Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai looked at each other and both breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, we got the investment.

They spent a lot of time writing this script, but no one was willing to invest.

On the one hand, the Hong Kong film market has been sluggish in recent years, and on the other hand, the market in Taiwan has begun to collapse, which has led to a decrease in hot money invested in the film and television industry.

A large number of small film companies went bankrupt.

Those big film companies have also begun to become increasingly cautious about their investments.

The most representative of these is Golden Harvest.

Since its listing, Golden Harvest Film Company has hardly invested in any films last year and the year before.

In 94, three films were produced, and in 95, only one film, "Love Debt", was made.

However, after a large number of film and television companies went bankrupt, Golden Harvest is ambitious this year and is producing several films and television series in one go.

"Come on, everyone, have a drink."

Li Yishu raised her glass and invited everyone to drink.

After finishing the serious business, everyone started to chat. At the same time, Boss Yang called a restaurant he often went to and booked a private room for everyone to have dinner there in the evening.

"Ding-dong-"

After more than ten minutes, the doorbell rang.

"Boss, maybe the videotape has been delivered. I need to go out for a while."

After Huo Wenxi finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the villa and went outside.

When she came back again, she had a videotape in her hand.

Seeing the videotape, Li Yishu's eyes flickered. He turned around and asked, "Boss Yang, Director Du, Director Wei, have you all seen Young and Dangerous?"

"I've seen it." Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai both nodded.

Only Boss Yang shook his head: "I haven't seen it yet, but I heard it's pretty good and has a high box office."

"Haha, then Mr. Yang can take a look today."

Li Yishu smiled and asked Huo Wenxi to play the videotape.

After a while, the movie started playing on TV.

After the movie had been on for more than ten minutes, Li Yishu suddenly asked Boss Yang, "Boss Yang, is Hong Kong society like this now?"

"I'm not sure about that." Boss Yang was a little hesitant. There were some things he couldn't say easily.

Li Yishu looked at the other two: "Director Du, Director Wei, what about you?"

"There is definitely an element of exaggeration in the film."

Johnnie To adjusted the frame of his glasses and said, "Most Hong Kong gang-themed films are exaggerated art. Just like the script you wrote for "New World" before, an undercover agent kills his superior and becomes the boss of a gang. This is simply impossible in Hong Kong."

"good."

Wai Ka Fai nodded seriously: "Movies about gangsters all over the world are actually based on reality, with a lot of heroic and romantic elements added. And my movie Young and Dangerous is adapted from a comic book of the same name, just like the martial arts novels, there is a certain degree of artistic processing."

Hearing this, Li Yishu nodded without comment.

He asked this just so he could have something to say after the movie was over.

The 102-minute movie ended quickly as everyone was chatting, drinking and smoking cigars.

After reading it, Li Yishu had a solemn and serious expression, which made Boss Yang and others sitting opposite him look at each other in bewilderment.

I don't know what's wrong with Director Li. He takes himself so seriously even when watching a movie.

Li Yishu asked, "Mr. Yang, do you think this movie is good?"

Boss Yang said, "It's OK. From a commercial perspective, this movie is very successful. I heard that Andrew Lau has already finished filming the second part, and it will be released at the end of this month."

“It can’t be shown!”

Everyone was shocked by Li Yishu's words.

Boss Yang asked in surprise: "Director Li, why can't it be released?"

"So true."

“Too real?”

Several people were a little confused, even Huo Wenxi felt that the boss was acting strange today.

Li Yishu looked at the others and asked seriously, "What do you think of this movie?"

Boss Yang didn't understand: "I don't feel anything, it's just that the commercial elements are very good." Johnnie To didn't quite understand what he meant, and didn't understand why he suddenly became serious. Only Wai Ka-Fai seemed to be thinking about something. He asked: "Director Li, do you mean that this movie can easily have a bad influence on teenagers?"

"That's right!" Li Yishu looked at Wei Jiahui with a higher opinion.

However, it was not surprising when he recalled that the other party's films "Peace Hotel", "Big Man" and "The Birth of a Star" were all more or less full of philosophical thinking.

"Bad influence on teenagers?" Boss Yang frowned and said, "That shouldn't be the case. There are many movies that are more violent and erotic than this one, and I haven't heard of anyone doing bad things because of watching the movie."

"It's different." Li Yishu shook her head and asked, "Boss Yang, how old are you this year?"

Boss Yang: "Fifty-three."

Seeing Li Yishu staring at him, Du Qifeng quickly said, "Director Li, I was born in the Year of the Goat, and I am 41 this year."

Wai Ka Fai said: "I am 34 years old, Director Li."

Li Yishu looked at Huo Wenxi again. She didn't expect that she still had something to do. She stuttered, "I, I'm 24."

"I was born in 1970 and I am 26 years old this year."

Lee Ye-su gave her age.

Boss Yang, Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai all expressed their envy. He shot to fame at the age of 21, achieved success in just 5 years, and at the age of 26, he achieved results that others could never achieve in their entire lives.

Huo Wenxi's eyes were full of admiration. She had always known that her boss was young and excellent, but she had never had a direct comparison.

Now with the comparison with the three men next to her, Li Yishu's youthful achievement is suddenly highlighted.

“You can’t read Water Margin when you are young, and you can’t read Romance of the Three Kingdoms when you are old.”

Li Yishu looked at the others and said solemnly, "I don't know if there is such a saying in Hong Kong, but there is such a saying in our mainland."

"To put it simply, young people should not read Water Margin, because the brotherhood in it can easily affect their values."

"It's almost the same if you don't read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

"Mr. Yang, Director Du, Director Wei, you all watched this movie and didn't think there was anything wrong with it. On the one hand, you are filmmakers and you look at it from the perspective of film technology and business. On the other hand, you are all over 30, and your thinking and reasoning are gradually maturing."

"But not young people!"

Li Yishu paused and said seriously, "This movie is so realistic. I've seen a lot of Hong Kong gangster movies, many of which are more bloody and violent than this one, but almost no movie can give people the same sense of reality as this one."

"I'm not sure whether Hong Kong teenagers will have some bad thoughts after watching this movie, but from the perspective of a 20-year-old mainland Chinese youth, if I were just an ordinary audience, I would have two perceptions."

"One perception is that Hong Kong gangs are like this."

"The second understanding is that if you are involved in the underworld, you can not only pick up girls, but also become a big brother."

Hearing this, Boss Yang asked in confusion: "Boss Li, why do you have such an idea? This is just a movie. Although it is realistic, I don't think young people will imitate it."

"That's because there are indeed gangs in Hong Kong." Li Yishu could understand Boss Yang's confusion and turned to look at Wei Jiahui: "Director Wei, if you were a student again and watched this movie, would you ever think of becoming a gangster boss?"

"Well..." Wei Jiahui hesitated for a moment, put himself into the perspective of the teenagers, and nodded: "Maybe?"

“That’s the problem!”

Lee Yi-su said solemnly, "In my opinion, this movie is too real, and the protagonist lives too well."

"I remember Andy Lau in As Tears Go By. He played a gangster character who died tragically on the street. There are also many Hong Kong gangster movies where the male protagonist either died himself, or his lover died, or his family had an accident."

"But in this Young and Dangerous, not only did none of the core characters die, but at the end, Chen Haonan even became the boss of Causeway Bay."

"I don't know about Hong Kong teenagers, but many mainland teenagers haven't watched too many gangster-themed films."

"Once you watch this movie and put yourself in the shoes of the protagonist Chen Haonan, you will think that if you go out into society, you can become successful and famous, pick up girls and become a big shot. That will be very harmful."

Boss Yang picked up the wine glass on the table, took a sip, and thought: "Boss Li, there may be people who imitate, but it should be a very small number, it shouldn't be a big problem. And I heard that there are people abroad who kill people according to crime movies. You can't just say that you won't make such movies, right?"

"Mr. Yang is right. Imitation may be a minority, and we cannot eliminate certain types of film themes because of this..."

Li Yishu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "But you have to consider that the movie will flow into the mainland through videotapes and VCDs, and there are hundreds of millions of young people in the mainland now. Even if only one percent or one thousandth of them are influenced by this movie and embark on a path of breaking the law, the harm it brings will be immeasurable!"

There was a thud.

Boss Yang's heart skipped a beat.

Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai's faces changed.

After Li Yishu's long speech, the three of them looked back at the movie "Young and Dangerous" and indeed found that this movie did indeed bring a certain degree of temptation to young audiences.

The temptation may not be great, but if it is placed in the mainland with an extremely large base, it will not be an isolated phenomenon.

Li Yishu asked, "Is there a second part to this movie?"

Johnnie To said, "Yes, there is a second part."

“Which company invested in it?”

"It seems to be Jiahe."

Jiahe!
Once I heard it was Jiahe, it became easy.

In front of everyone, Li Yishu took out her cell phone and called Zou Wenhuai.

"Mr. Zou, it's me, Li Yishu."

"Mr. Li?"

Zou Wenhuai was surprised and asked, "Mr. Li, how come you have time to call me?"

Ever since they collaborated on the movie "Rumble in the Bronx", Li Yishu got some shares of Golden Harvest and became a member of its listed board of directors, and she has hardly contacted me since then.

Although Zou Wenhuai really wanted to work with Li Yishu on the new movie "Rush Hour", he talked about it with Jacky Cheung privately, and when he learned that Boss Yang had joined, he gave up the idea of ​​getting involved.

"Haha, I just came to Hong Kong today. I have something I want to talk to Mr. Zou about. I wonder if he is free tonight? Mr. Yang and I will treat Mr. Zou to a simple meal."

"no problem!"

Zou Wenhuai agreed very readily.

Li Yishu asked Boss Yang for the name of a restaurant. When she told Zou Wenhuai "Yung Kee Restaurant", the other party immediately said he knew it.

It was almost evening.

After Li Yishu agreed to go over now, he stood up and walked over, took out the videotape from the VCR, and said to Boss Yang and others, "Boss Yang, Director Du, Director Wei, let's go. It's a good opportunity to have a good chat with Mr. Zou."

Boss Yang was sincerely impressed by Li Yishu's decisiveness. It was really impressive.

Many people took the approach of not caring about the issue, but Lee Yi-su saw the negative social impact of the film and decisively chose to ban the film from being released.

No wonder so many excellent art films with humanistic elements can be made. (End of this chapter)