Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 88 [Two-handed Sword Saint Yu Chenghui, Aerobics Champion Zhao Wenzhuo]

After returning from visiting the set of "The Legend of Drunken Master", Li Yishu gave herself two more days off to have a good rest before starting to devote herself to film editing.

Although the film will not be registered for Cannes until April next year, this movie is too important and Lee Yi-su doesn't want to lose the original Palme d'Or because of her butterfly.

Therefore, the enthusiasm and energy invested in the post-production of the film are no less than that of last year's "That Mountain".

After the crew finished filming in early April, Li Yishu lived in the dormitory provided for him by the Beijing Film Studio. He personally controlled almost every aspect, including editing, music composition, dubbing, etc.

Avoid even the slightest mistake.

This went on for more than a month, and Li Yishu was still immersed in post-production and unable to extricate herself.

It was on this day that Gong Li brought Xu Lu to talk to him about the script of "Sword Rain" and only then did she bring Li Yishu out of the editing room.

Gong Li looked at Li Yishu's messy hair and the beard on the corners of his mouth. He seemed to have aged several years compared to before. She also joked, "I said you went to Yanshan to be a savage? How come you look like this?"

Hearing this, Li Yishu stroked his beard and said with a smile, "I am thinking about not disappointing Sister Xu and devoting myself to the post-production of the film."

He indeed didn't shave this January, not because he didn't have time, but because he was simply too lazy to shave. He wasn't going out to see anyone, so there was no need to keep himself so clean.

Xu Suo didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Director Li, I am very touched by what you said, but there is really no need to be so anxious. We still have plenty of time. It's only May, and Cannes has just held this year's film festival. We still have a year to wait until next year's film festival."

"I'll have more confidence if I finish making it sooner."

Li Yishu smiled. He still took the film too seriously. But Xu Lu was right. There was still a full year left, so there was no need to be so anxious.

Xu Suo: "I just heard from the leader of Beijing Film Studio that the film has been edited. Do you want to screen it internally later?"

Li Yishu thought about it and nodded, "Let's wait a few days, until the soundtrack is ready, and then we can see the complete effect."

"Okay, I'll follow Director Li's arrangements, but can we talk about the matter of "Sword Rain"?"

Xu Lu took out the script that Li Yishu had given to Gong Li more than half a month ago.

When it was given to Gong Li, it was just a rough outline without many details written in. I thought I would ask her to give it to Xu Xu and find a few screenwriters to fill in the details.

In Li Yishu's opinion, martial arts films are different from drama films.

A feature film can have countless plots to promote the development of the plot.
But whether it's a blood feud, swordplay, or a fight for martial arts secrets... martial arts films ultimately require action scenes.

The only martial arts film with no action scenes is probably "Ashes of Time".

However, this movie cannot be viewed as a traditional martial arts film, nor can it be viewed as an art film. It can only be viewed as an experimental film in which a group of actors show off their performances.

The plot is empty and boring, and the lines are too much like Gu Long's, but they are not imitated properly. If it weren't for the acting skills of a group of talented actors, this movie would probably be worse than the later "The Ferryman".

But we have to admit that Du Kefeng's shots are still so beautiful.

Not only does it maximize the emotions of the actors and the beauty of the scenes, but it also captures the people, nature, and animals in the desolate northwest region in a picturesque way, with every frame filled with a strong sense of atmosphere.

So, after Li Yishu roughly looked through the script that had been filled in with details, she nodded and said, "The plot is similar. It won't be too late to change some details when the official filming starts. Has the crew made any preparations?"

"The crew is already preparing, but no actors have been selected yet..."

"Didn't you choose Sister Gong Li?"

Li Yishu looked at Gong Li beside her and said with a smile: "The heroine of Sword Rain can only be played by Sister Gong Li. I tailored this for you."

"There are so many fighting scenes, I don't see that you were tailor-made for me."

Gong Li was very happy that Li Yishu said that, but she also felt a headache about the large number of fighting scenes in the script. The most troublesome one was a fight scene in a bamboo forest.

According to the script, the fight was about flying on the top of a bamboo. When Gong Li thought about being suspended by a wire more than ten meters high, her legs and feet went numb.

"The fighting scenes are simple, just shoot them casually. Besides, you are not a professional Kung Fu actor, so just ask Sister Xu to find a better martial arts substitute."

Li Yishu shook her head. There are very few actresses who can act out fighting scenes for themselves without using martial arts, not to mention that Gong Li herself has no martial arts skills.

However, for martial arts films, the most important thing is the atmosphere. Take Qingxia’s role as Dongfang Bubai for example. The stand-in was so obvious, but it did not affect her wonderful performance at all.

As a senior in the industry and the leading female lead in martial arts films in the 1960s and 1970s, Xu Suo naturally had a say. She nodded in approval of Li Yishu's words and said:
"Yes, Ali, I will arrange a stunt double for you. You can find a teacher to learn the basic sword dance and just practice. When I was filming the female swordsman, I also asked stunt doubles to shoot many difficult shots."

Gong Li said awkwardly: "I thought I had to find someone to learn martial arts from now on."

"Haha, by the time you finish learning martial arts and come out, it will probably be after the millennium."

Li Yishu laughed and joked that some people really didn't have the talent to learn martial arts.

For decades, the most powerful national martial arts champion is still Li Lianjie, and his martial arts scenes are so graceful and agile.

Gong Li glared at him, but didn't continue to dwell on the topic. Instead, she asked, "Do you have any recommendations for actors?"

Li Yishu thought for a moment and said, "I would like to invite Yu Chenghui to play the role of the Chakravartin."

"Yu Chenghui?" Xu Su frowned, feeling that the name sounded familiar.

Gong Li next to her obviously knew this martial arts master: "Sister Xu, Yu Chenghui is a martial arts master. He played the villain in "Yellow River Hero" and Li Lianjie's "Shaolin Temple."

"It's him!"

Xu Lu suddenly realized: "I've seen his film 'Yellow River Hero', his acting was really good, and I heard that the martial arts scenes were all shot with real swords and guns?"

“Whether the crew really fought or not, I don’t know.”

Li Yishu shook his head and said, "But Master Yu is a true martial arts master, and a two-handed sword master. I think it is very suitable for him to play the role of the Chakravartin. This movie is mainly about swords, so naturally we can't miss this modern swordsman."

"The Yellow River Hero" was filmed very excitingly, but Yu Chenghui was obsessed with swordsmanship. He has been studying the sword manual of two-handed sword in recent years and has not gone out to film. This also led to the fact that the old man is not very famous.

It was not until after the millennium that, perhaps because he felt that his swordsmanship had reached perfection but he could not easily fight with weapons, the old man had to film martial arts dramas to satisfy his desire to be a hero.

"Since he is a master of swordsmanship, we must invite him here. It just so happens that he can also serve as our swordsmanship instructor."

Although Xu Lu didn't know much about this person, he must be a real talent since Li Yishu praised him so highly.

Moreover, the Chakravartin is only the number one villain, so it doesn't matter who plays the role. She is most concerned about who will play the number one male role: "What about the role of Jiang Asheng? How about I go find Li Lianjie?" Li Lianjie can be said to be a box office guarantee for martial arts films nowadays, and he has been the national martial arts champion for several consecutive years. I think he is quite suitable for the role of a swordsman.

"Li Lianjie? Didn't he hide abroad?"

Li Yishu looked at Xu Lu in surprise.

Last month, Li Lianjie's agent, Cai Zhiming, was shot dead on the street. Li Lianjie was so scared that he fled abroad to seek refuge.

In fact, Li Yishu felt that Li Lianjie underestimated the mainland. He was scared by just a few gangsters and ran away from the country.

As long as you contact the Silver Metropolis Film Office, the mainland's film office in Hong Kong, who would dare to cause trouble for Li Lianjie?
Of course, this does not rule out other reasons for Li Lianjie.

"I'm back, but... never mind, let's not look for him."

Xu Suo hesitated and finally said nothing.

Gong Li was very curious and wanted to ask, but at Li Yishu's signal, she kept her mouth shut.

Xu Suo thought about it, but still couldn't think of any suitable ones. Speaking of martial arts actors, there are many in Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as Jiang Dawei, Ti Lung...

But these people are either older or their appearance has changed.

After thinking about it, Xu Suo thought of a person and suggested, "How about Yuan Piao?"

"Yuan Piao is quite good, but I want him to play the role of Lei Bin."

"Then Director Li, who do you want to play Jiang Asheng?"

"Zhao Wenzhuo!"

"Zhao Wenzhuo? X2"

Gong Li and Xu Lu both looked confused, and were obviously unfamiliar with this name.

"It's normal that you don't know him. He's not an actor. Zhao Wenzhuo was the national martial arts champion last year and was also elected a national martial arts athlete."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "I also saw his photo in the newspaper last year. I felt that he had a good image and temperament, and maybe he could come to shoot a martial arts film. I thought of him and then asked around. I heard that Zhao Wenzhuo was practicing aerobics recently and won the national championship in aerobics."

"Aerobics?"

Gong Li laughed: "He is a martial arts champion, why is he doing aerobics?"

"I don't know about that. Sister Xu, go ask someone about it. He is quite famous, so it should be easy to contact him."

Li Yishu also found it very funny and said to Xu Suo, "I personally feel that he is no worse than Li Lianjie, whether in terms of appearance or martial arts skills. If he is trained well, he may become the second Li Lianjie."

If we have to say who could compete with Li Lianjie in the 1990s, apart from Jackie Chan's kung fu comedies, the only one left would probably be Zhao Wenzhuo.

Compared with the elegant action scenes of Li Lianjie and the humorous action scenes of Cheng Long, Zhao Wenzhuo is the type with bold and open actions.

From the ruthless Nine Gates Admiral in "Fang Shiyu", to the awe-inspiring Fahai in "Green Snake", and even the heroic "Huang Feihong", including the "Broken Blade" in which he almost became possessed by a demon in order to learn swordsmanship.

Zhao Wenzhuo is definitely one of the top kung fu actors in the 1990s.

It’s a pity that Zhao Wenzhuo did not catch up with the peak moment of Hong Kong films. He made his debut in 1993, and a few years later, Hong Kong films were in complete decline.

Kung Fu films and martial arts films had such dismal box office performance that almost no one cared to watch them.

Li Lianjie ran off to Hollywood early on, and Cheng Long also made a name for himself there. Only Zhao Wenzhuo stayed in Hong Kong Island and made a few movies that had little influence. It was not until he returned to the mainland to film the TV series "Feng Yun Xiong Ba Tian Xia" that he became a little more popular.

Thinking about it this way, Li Yishu really feels that it is the right choice for her to make a martial arts film now!
Because in a few years, there will be no market for martial arts films. Even though "House of Flying Daggers" seemed to have good box office performance later, its box office results were still far behind those of the martial arts films of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" only grossed 1500 million in mainland China. If it hadn't broken the 1.2 million U.S. dollars mark overseas, it would have flopped long ago.

"Since Director Li said he is no worse than Li Lianjie, then I will send someone to find him." Xu Lu still believed in Li Yishu's vision, and then asked a few other actors.

"These are the three main characters. You can arrange the others yourself, Sister Xu."

Li Yishu wanted to reserve the role of "Xiyu" for Yu Feihong, but the girl was busy staying in school recently. It was a critical time recently. Compared with filming, she still felt that staying in school was more important.

This idea is normal. After all, nothing is more important than staying in the system. After all, the school itself has many holidays, especially an art school like Beijing Film Academy. If you really want to make a movie, there are plenty of opportunities during the winter and summer vacations.

Moreover, Li Yishu also decided that Yu Feihong must stay in Beijing Film Academy and become a star teacher in the future!

"Okay, I'll take care of the rest."

Xu Su didn't think much about it. She wrote down what Li Yishu mentioned about Yu Chenghui and Zhao Wenzhuo. Then she asked with a sidelong glance, "Ali, are you leaving or not?"

Gong Li shook her head: "Sister Xu, you go first, Yishu and I have something to talk about."

"Okay, I'll leave first."

Xu Lu left in a hurry. "Sword Rain" is not an art film and does not need to be polished slowly. It is better to let Li Yishu finish filming and release it as soon as possible.

Seeing Gong Li seemed to be worried, Li Yishu couldn't help but ask, "Sister Gong Li, do you have something to talk to me about?"

"It's about the house you mentioned before. I asked someone and found out that there is a nice yard recently. I made an appointment with him to go and see it tomorrow. Do you have time to accompany me to take a look?"

"Okay, what time tomorrow?"

"tomorrow morning."

"Okay, tomorrow morning then."

Gong Li glanced at Li Yishu's current look and said with a smile, "If you're not busy today, I'll take you to get a haircut. If you go out like this, people who don't know you will think you just escaped."

"Is it so exaggerated?"

Li Yishu touched the stubble on his chin, which seemed to be a bit prickly. "Okay, I'll go shave."

"You don't have to shave yourself. I know a master who can cut hair and shave at the same time. His skills are first-rate."

(End of this chapter)