Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 80 [New Dragon Inn, the film is about to be completed] Please read
This afternoon.

The crew was filming as usual. While waiting for the set to be set, Li Yishu found Xu Lu and asked about inviting Gong Li to film "New Dragon Inn".

"Director Li also knows about this?" Xu Suo was a little surprised.

Li Yishu said: "It was Gong Li who told me. She asked me if I wanted to take on this role."

Gong Li was still a little unconfident. She had seen martial arts films, in which wielding swords and sticks was secondary; the most important thing was flying around on wires.

Especially for martial arts films produced by Xu Ke, wire hanging is even more necessary.

"Swordsman", released in 1990, was produced and supervised by Xu Ke himself.

The film breaks away from the past style of hard-core action and pays great attention to the performance of the actors' movements. It also makes extensive use of wire shots, and the masters' competitions are all flying in the air.

Although many shots were completed by stunt doubles, the actors themselves must have been suspended on wires for a long time.

Gong Li has no dance skills or martial arts background. She only studied physical performance for a few years at the Central Academy of Drama. It must have been very difficult for her to directly shoot such difficult martial arts scenes.

However, for the sake of transformation, Gong Li is willing to endure this hardship, but she doesn't know whether it is OK for her to shoot a martial arts film.

That's why I called Li Yishu in the evening to ask if she could do it.

When she heard that it was a remake of "Dragon Inn", the first thing Li Yishu thought of was "New Dragon Inn" starring Liang Jiahui.

This film is considered a classic among martial arts films, and more than 20 years later there was a sequel, "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate."

The only suitable female roles for the movie are Jin Xiangyu and Qiu Moyan. Although the most outstanding character is Jin Xiangyu played by Zhang Manyu, it is not impossible for Gong Li to play Qiu Moyan since it is her first time filming a martial arts movie.

"I didn't expect Gong Li had already told you."

Xu said: "I suggested Gong Li to try it. Her facial features are very three-dimensional, which fits the image of a female knight in a martial arts film. I also talked to Xu Ke this morning, and he was also very optimistic about Gong Li's performance. However, the crew is stuck now. I will take Gong Li to the interview in person after the communication is completed."

"Why did the production stop? Funding?"

"New Dragon Inn" is a very successful film. If there is not enough funds, Li Yishu doesn't mind investing.

"It's not about funding, it's about copyright."

Xu Lu showed a trace of helplessness on his face: "Originally, this project was initiated by Chairman Wu Siyuan. Last year, he spent money to obtain the copyright for the remake of Dragon Inn, and also reached a cooperation with Xiaoxiang Film Studio. He spent a lot of money to build a location in Dunhuang in advance. But who knew that Cai Zhiming came to the door last night and threatened to buy back the copyright."

"Cai Zhiming?" Li Yishu raised her eyebrows. Could it be the agent who was shot?
"Yes, that's Jet Li's agent."

Xu Suo said, "This guy has some underworld background. He went to see President Wu last night and said that he had already set up the outdoor scenes in Yinchuan and asked to transfer the copyright to him. He also said that it doesn't matter whether President Wu agrees or not, as Cai Zhiming has already made the film."

When talking about this person, Xu Suo's face showed obvious displeasure. Although Hong Kong is prone to following trends, at least they are relatively respectful when it comes to copyright.

On the one hand, the copyrights of many remakes are in the hands of big companies such as Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest.

On the other hand, Hong Kong Island is so small that many directors and producers know each other.

Just give some copyright fee as a token of your appreciation, as long as you can save face.

Generally, no one will worry too much about this.

However, Xu Lu, who works in the film industry, cannot stand Cai Zhiming's behavior, which is almost like robbery.

Ever since Xiang's family entered the film industry and started to make money, many gangsters have set their sights on this industry. They are used to being arrogant in the gangs, so naturally they brought their intimidation and blackmail tactics to the film and television industry.

Li Yishu shook her head slightly: "Hong Kong is really a mess."

"It's been a bit chaotic in the past few years. I just hope things will get better after the return."

As they are all insiders, Xu Suo naturally has no need to hide anything. "Since there are problems with the remake of Dragon Inn, it's better not to let Gong Li play the role."

Li Yishu shook her head and said, "We'll talk about it later when we have a chance."

He remembered that Cai Zhiming seemed to be shot to death later, but he was not sure when it happened. In any case, it was better to avoid getting involved with people with such underworld background.

Hearing this, Xu Suo didn't say anything, but just sighed: "It's a pity that this opportunity was wasted. Although I haven't read the script, the original Dragon Inn was very successful at the time. Now it's being remade with Xu Ke as the producer, the new version must be very good."

"That's right. I'll talk to Sister Gong Li later and ask her to find a martial arts teacher when she's free and practice a little. It won't be too late to play the role of a female knight again if she has the chance in the future."

Li Yishu is also looking forward to Gong Li playing the role of a female knight. In terms of appearance alone, she is like Qingxia, both of whom have masculine looks, so she is very suitable for playing the role of a female knight.

Speaking of which, Gong Li later collaborated with Qingxia in the film "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils Part Two: The Childlike Grandma of Tianshan", in which the two played Wu Xingyun and Li Canghai, they really had a perfect CP feeling.

In the blink of an eye, it was already early March.

Jiang Qinqin, her mother and Zhao Xue came to Yanjing. Jiang Qinqin was very happy to make a guest appearance as a young Peking Opera actor.

Originally, Jiang Qinqin wanted to stay in Yanjing for a while longer, but when her mother saw that Li Yishu was busy from morning to night, she followed the tour guide arranged by Li Yishu to visit several famous attractions in Yanjing. After staying there for three days, she suggested returning to the mountain city.

The main reason they came here, besides letting Jiang Qinqin make a guest appearance, was to see Li Yishu. Now that they had seen her, they also realized that the other party seemed to be very busy, so naturally they did not want to disturb her too much.

They were leaving in the morning, and Li Yishu wanted to see them off in person, but the weather was good today, which was perfect for filming the scene where Duan Xiaolou and Cheng Dieyi took to the streets for a parade, so she had to arrange for Huo Wenxi to go to the airport to see off his mother Zhao Xue and Qinqin and the others.

"Get ready!"

This scene is a group scene, involving hundreds of extras. For safety reasons, Li Yishu had people set up the scene early.

When everything was ready, Li Yishu called the director of photography Zhao Fei and explained the effect he wanted next.

After that, Li Yishu reminded, "Coach Zhao, try to pass it in one try."

"Understood, Director Li. I will hurry up."

Zhao Fei nodded, and then arranged for several photographers to guard the camera throughout the process.

"Art book!"

At this moment, Gong Li appeared out of nowhere. Her previous sallow and dark complexion had changed. Her skin had recovered very well. Except that it was still a little dark, she looked completely different from half a month ago.

Li Yishu was surprised and said, "Sister Gong Li, you have changed a lot from before. You have recovered too quickly."

"Haha, not bad."

Gong Li said with a smile: "It's been more than half a month. If you don't come, I'm afraid you will replace the role of Juxian with someone else."

Li Yishu nodded and said, "Then you can go change your clothes and shoot the scene of the soldiers causing trouble tonight."

"Okay! I'll go change now."

In addition to recovering, Gong Li has been reading the script in depth for the past half month.

Naturally, I know that the scene of soldiers causing trouble mentioned by Li Yishu is the scene of Juxian's miscarriage.

After Gong Li left, Li Yishu called the crew and checked the shooting progress. Now that Gong Li is here, the remaining scenes can be shot intensively, and it is estimated that it will be completely finished by the end of this month.

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(End of this chapter)