Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 674 Chaotic Brazil

The group stayed on set for two more days. After filming wrapped up in Prague, the crew packed up and prepared to head to Rio.

The studio was bustling with activity as staff carefully packed various shooting tools into boxes, labeling each box with the name of the tool and its fragility.

Film crews that shoot in multiple countries usually only bring essential items when moving between locations, and many unimportant items can be rented locally.

Zhang Chen stood in the center of the studio, and the reluctance on the faces of many staff members was clearly visible.

What they're reluctant to part with is self-evident.

The chance to have such a legitimate voter base again is probably not many.

Zhang Chen was too lazy to listen to their pretentious talk, so he went to the film manager again to confirm, "Have all the original prints been sent out?"

'Original stock' usually refers to film that has already been shot. When film crews move between locations, they cannot carry a large amount of film that has already been shot. Instead, they will send the film to the post-production studio through a professional logistics company.

"It's been shipped out. It used DHL's film and television special service and was transported in a temperature-controlled box throughout the entire process, so don't worry."

These original film sets are arguably the most valuable assets of the entire film project. Entrusting them to internationally renowned logistics companies such as DHL and FedEx eliminates any concerns about their safety. They offer specialized film and television services and use temperature-controlled shipping containers throughout the entire process to avoid the risk of spoilage from long-term storage.

"What about the unused film?"

"Everything is arranged. There are 25 people in total, and each person will carry a plate with them."

Seeing that everything was arranged in an orderly manner, Zhang Chen nodded.

Film is a highly sensitive material and absolutely cannot pass through airport X-rays. Therefore, unused film can only be carried as personal carry-on baggage and can only be manually inspected.

Fortunately, there are international regulations. According to the terms of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), passengers have the right to request a manual inspection of high-sensitivity unexposed film.

Seeing that the most important film stock had been arranged, Zhang Chen nodded in satisfaction and turned to the assistant director beside him, saying, "Tell everyone to depart at the scheduled time and be careful on the road."

As for Lu Yang, Director Chen and his group left last night.

Director Chen was already eager to go back and discuss "The Hunt" with Zhang Yimou.

Before leaving, he made a special trip to talk to Zhang Chen again about his feelings about "The Hunt".

"I'll go back and talk to Zhang Yimou about the scheduling."

"Okay, I'll wait for your good news. Take care and rest on the way."

Zhang Chen admires Director Chen's dedication; he hasn't let go of the script in the past two days and has already started to study the character.

Zhang Chen had seen the small seal script he wrote for figures; it was densely packed.

On set, he could often be seen frowning, as if he was pondering the inner world of a character, and then his lips would curl into a smile, as if he had a new idea for a certain plot.

Lu Yang did help out on set for two days. He was trained by Zhang Chen and his style in terms of camera work is very similar to Zhang Chen's. If he were to shoot, the camera style wouldn't be too abrupt.

With Lu Yang taking the lead, Zhang Chen was able to relax for two days. Unfortunately, the crew had to move to another location, and Lu Yang also had to go back to work on the post-production of "The Equalizer".

……

In the sky, the airplane's announcement informed everyone that they had entered Brazilian airspace.

Then, not long after, I could feel the plane descending, which meant we were not far from Rio.

Sure enough, not long after the plane broke through the clouds, the entire panorama of Rio de Janeiro gradually came into view, and the most eye-catching thing was the Christ the Redeemer statue standing on Corcovado Mountain.

The Christ the Redeemer statue is 38 meters tall, with its outstretched arms seemingly embracing the entire city, giving people a solemn and sacred feeling.

The crew members all took out their phones to take pictures of the scenery outside the window, and everyone was amazed by the spectacular sight.

Zhang Chen also leaned against the window, quietly looking at the Christ the Redeemer statue, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, this is truly a charming city.

Christ the Redeemer is a landmark of Rio de Janeiro and even Brazil, appearing in numerous films, especially apocalyptic films. Zhang Chen's "2012" features a shot of the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Recalling the scene in "2012" where the Christ the Redeemer statue was submerged by floodwaters, Zhang Chen couldn't help but feel a little emotional. Although the disaster scenes in the movie were shocking, the real Christ the Redeemer statue still stands tall, witnessing the rise and fall of this city.

Tom Cruise, who was next to Zhang Chen, also saw the Christ the Redeemer statue. He excitedly said to Zhang Chen, "Zhang, this Christ the Redeemer statue is really magnificent. I've seen it in many movies before, but I never thought I would see it in person today."

Zhang Chen asked curiously, "You've never been to Rio? I seem to remember seeing scenes from Rio in one of your previous works."

Tom Cruise shook his head: "This is indeed my first time here. The place you mentioned wasn't actually filmed here; it was just an aerial shot of Rio."

Zhang Chen understood.

Tom Cruise said, "How about we add a shot of the Christ the Redeemer statue to the movie this time?"

"of course."

The bird's-eye view of the Christ the Redeemer statue has a certain magic; from the first glance, Zhang Chen decided to include it in the movie.

The plane slowly landed at Rio de Janeiro International Airport. When Zhang Chen and Tom Cruise stepped out of the cabin, the airport terminal was already packed with people, and the mayor was there with a group of officials waiting for them.

Upon seeing Zhang Chen and Tom Cruise, the mayor immediately walked up to them warmly and shook hands with them: "Welcome to Rio, Director Zhang Chen, Mr. Cruise, I am Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio."

Zhang Chen smiled and said, "Thank you for the mayor's warm hospitality. I am very happy to be here in Rio."

The mayor smiled and said, "Jackie Chan and I are very good friends. He has already told me that Mission: Impossible 4 will be filmed here. We are very welcome."

Also, I must emphasize that I'm a fan of director Zhang Yimou and Tom Cruise. I've watched the *Taken* series, the *Pacific Rim* series, and the *Mission: Impossible* series multiple times!

"Mayor Paes, you're too kind!"

Tom Cruise, standing nearby, chuckled and said, "Mr. Mayor, it seems you're quite the movie buff too."

The mayor shook hands with Zhang Chen and Tom Cruise in turn, and the surrounding media reporters immediately swarmed forward, flashing their cameras incessantly to record this lively scene.

The mayor told reporters, "It is an honor for Rio to have Director Zhang and Tom Cruise's crew filming in Rio, and it is also a support for my work. We will definitely give our full support to their work and provide them with the best filming conditions."

Reporters asked a series of questions, and the mayor patiently answered each one, creating a lively scene.

Zhang Chen and Tom Cruise stood to the side, cooperating with the mayor's interview, their faces always showing smiles.

Jackie Chan had previously reminded him that anything could happen while filming abroad, and that he should seek help from the local government as much as possible.

Don't be afraid to bother them; they're happy to help.

Foreign politicians are keen to enhance their personal influence, and we are celebrities. By helping us, they can also gain exposure. It's a mutually beneficial relationship.

We should make good use of our celebrity status. In public, a single kind word spoken by us can be more effective than a hundred or a thousand from ordinary people.

Zhang Chen kept Cheng Long's words in mind and tried his best to cooperate with the mayor's show just now.

Tom Cruise clearly understood this principle much earlier than he did.

In the hotel's conference room, Zhang Chen, representing the film crew, presented the filming requirements to the mayor: "Mr. Mayor, some scenes in our film need to be shot at the police station, and some street scenes require road closures for filming. I wonder if you could help us coordinate these?"

The mayor agreed without hesitation: "No problem, leave these matters to me. I will coordinate as soon as possible to ensure that your filming proceeds smoothly."

Sure enough, if you let others benefit from your help, they won't hesitate to offer assistance in return.

The mayor paused for a moment, then added, "In addition, considering the security situation in Rio, I will send a team of police officers to accompany your film crew to ensure your filming safety."

"That's great."

Zhang Chen and Tom were delighted to hear this and quickly expressed their gratitude to the mayor.

I'd heard before that Brazil was unsafe and rife with gangs, so having a group of police officers with me would probably help.

After leaving the mayor's office, Zhang Chen and Tom Cruise returned to their room and sat on the sofa, talking about what had just happened.

Tom Cruise said, "Director Zhang, I didn't expect the mayor to be so easy to talk to. He not only agreed to our filming request, but also sent police officers to protect us. That's really great."

Zhang Chen smiled and said, "Yes, that's certainly good news. But we can't let our guard down. I've heard that Brazil has a bad reputation for security, with gangs running rampant. Having police officers with us will make us safer, but we still need to be extra careful ourselves."

Tom Cruise nodded: "You're right, we must be careful and not make any mistakes."

The next morning, a group of police officers arrived at the hotel. They were dressed in neat uniforms and looked very professional. The lead officer introduced himself: "Hello, gentlemen. I am Francisco. I will be in charge of the crew's security for the next period of time."

"Thank you, Officer Francisco."

Zhang Chen and the members of the directing team packed their things, got into the crew's car, and drove through the streets and alleys of Rio de Janeiro, escorted by police cars.

The buildings on both sides of the street have different styles, including modern high-rise buildings and low houses full of exotic charm.

Pedestrians come and go along the roadside, each with a different expression on their face; some are in a hurry, while others are strolling leisurely.

The group wasn't just wandering around aimlessly; many of the locations were suggested during the initial site scouting, and this trip was simply to confirm their usability.

Zhang Chen held a map in his hand, marking the various locations provided during the initial location scouting. He looked at the map while discussing with the directors around him. At each location, they would get out of the car to carefully examine the surrounding environment, measure the size of the site, and consider the shooting angles and lighting.

One location was a narrow road. The people who scouted the location said it was perfect for filming a chase scene, but after Zhang Chen checked it out, he found that the road was too narrow, making it difficult for the camera to maneuver, and there were also many residents around, which might cause interference during filming.

He shook his head and said, "This place won't work. Let's look at the next location."

Francisco led them to a police station, which the mayor had arranged as a filming location for them.

Out of respect for the mayor, the police chief personally received them and showed them around the various departments of the police station. Zhang Chen carefully examined every corner and felt that this place was perfect for filming police station scenes in movies, so he decided on this location.

Next, they arrived at an underground parking garage. The garage was large, and the load-bearing columns were relatively dispersed, making it a perfect location for filming the scene of the safe robbery. Zhang Chen was satisfied with this location.

In addition, they found several suitable streets. Zhang Chen asked his assistant to record the location and environment of these streets, planning to study them with the director team members when they returned to determine the final shooting plan.

When making movies, nothing is set in stone; often, modifications need to be made based on the actual situation.

During the location scouting process, Zhang Chen deeply realized this point. Many locations that he had initially chosen turned out to be unsuitable for filming after on-site inspection, and he had to find new locations.

After a busy day, Zhang Chen and the directors returned to the hotel. As soon as they entered the hotel lobby, they saw several crew members gathered together, all looking very unhappy.

Zhang Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

One of the staff members lowered his head and said, "Director Zhang, we were robbed when we went out just now."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's face immediately darkened: "What exactly happened? How did you get robbed?"

The robbed staff members stammered and couldn't speak. Zhang Chen became angrier the more he thought about it. Before setting off, he had specifically told everyone not to go out casually, especially at night, because the gangs in Brazil were very rampant and it was easy to get into danger.

"What did I tell you before? I told you not to go out unnecessarily, why didn't you listen?"

The directors were also very angry and criticized the staff for being too careless.

"We... we've heard that many supermodels are from Brazil, and we wanted to see if the girls here are really that beautiful..."

Zhang Chen was both angry and amused, and somewhat speechless.

They're probably the perfect example of someone who's incredibly audacious.

He said helplessly, "You guys are really outrageous. You put your own safety aside for something like this. If something serious happens, how will you explain it to your families?"

Those staff members knew they were wrong, so they lowered their heads and didn't dare to say a word.

When it comes to Brazil, besides football, what's most impressive is probably its supermodels.

Brazilian supermodels are world-renowned. They not only possess beautiful looks but also perfect figures, and many internationally renowned fashion brands prefer to have Brazilian supermodels as their spokespeople.

This is one of the countries with the most mixed ethnicities in the world. The combination of features such as the three-dimensional facial features of Europeans, the full-figured physique of Africans, and the bronze skin of South American Indians has created the unique appearance and perfect body proportions of Brazilian women, providing them with the natural conditions to become supermodels.

Besides their natural advantages, Brazilians' love of sports has also provided favorable conditions for the emergence of supermodels.

Football, volleyball, surfing and other sports are among their favorite activities. Regular exercise makes their bodies more toned and their figures more beautiful.

Therefore, Brazil produces a very high percentage of models; the world's number one supermodel, Gisele Bündchen, is from Brazil.

Tom Cruise laughed and said, "So, did you find it?"

The guys looked dejected: "Sigh, we did see a few beautiful women, but before we could even approach them, we were robbed!"

"Tell me more about it~"

One of them said, "We were walking on the main road when suddenly two motorcyclists rushed over and blocked our way."

We were all terrified and didn't know what to do.

The two motorcyclists looked very fierce; one of them was holding a gun and pointing it at us, telling us not to move.

The other person quickly ransacked our belongings, stealing our cell phones, wallets, watches, and other valuables.

The whole process was incredibly fast, taking less than a minute. The two motorcyclists sped away, leaving us standing there trembling with fear.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen's expression darkened further. He asked, "Are you alright? Are you injured?"

The staff members shook their heads and said, "We're fine, just a little frightened."

Zhang Chen immediately found Francisco, explained the situation to him, and asked if he could help recover the stolen property.

Francisco shook his head helplessly and said, "Zhang, I'm sorry, it's very difficult for us to help them recover their belongings."

Zhang Chen frowned and asked, "Why? Are we just going to let those robbers get away with it?"

Francisco sighed and said, "It's not that we don't want to help, but the situation here is too complicated. Don't forget, this is Brazil."

In Brazil, a quarter of the population lives in favelas. Rio alone has over 1000 favelas, and these favelas are in a state of anarchy; where they are located is not up to us, but up to the gangs.

"These slums are mostly built on the outskirts of cities or on hillsides. The environment is extremely harsh, and they are in a state of anarchy. The order inside is maintained by gangs."

In the slums, gangs are the bosses; they control everything, including illegal activities like drug trafficking and arms smuggling. The police have no way to get in.

Zhang Chen was shocked to hear this; he hadn't expected the favela problem in Rio to be so serious.

Francisco continued, "So, there's nothing we can do about what's happening in the favela."

He paused, then said, "Even if we knew the robbers were hiding in the slums, we wouldn't dare go in to arrest them, because that would cause a huge conflict and could even result in casualties."

Zhang Chen listened and fell silent. He knew that Francisco was telling the truth; that's how it was portrayed in "City of God."

In this situation, it is indeed difficult for the police to do anything.

Francisco added, "Actually, if you were robbed in a slum, you might be able to get your belongings back through negotiation."

Zhang Chen asked in confusion, "Why?"

Francisco said, "Because there is order in the slums, the gangs that control them don't allow robberies in the slums. They believe that robberies on their turf will affect the internal ecosystem."

If someone commits robbery in the slums, they will be severely punished if discovered by the gang. At best, they will have their hands cut off or be expelled; at worst, they will be shot.

Therefore, if you are robbed in a slum, you may still be able to get your belongings back if you find the gang that controls that slum and negotiate with them.

But they were robbed outside the slums, and the robbers were very likely members of a slum gang, so there was nothing that could be done.

Zhang Chen nodded. "I understand."

At this point, it's impossible to recover the stolen goods. All we can do is comfort the employees who were robbed and tell them not to go out unnecessarily in the future.

Zhang Chen relayed Francisco's words, and only then did everyone realize that the gangs were so rampant here that even the police were sometimes helpless.

Through this incident, the crew members truly realized the extent of the chaos in Rio's security. They never imagined that gangs could be so rampant here, leaving even the police helpless.

Previously, everyone felt reassured that the mayor had sent police officers to protect them, but now it seems that even with police protection, they cannot let their guard down.

One staff member said, "I had only heard that the Brazilian gangs were very powerful before, but I didn't expect them to be this scary. I will never dare to go out casually again."

Others echoed this sentiment, recognizing the importance of safety.

Standing on the hotel balcony, Zhang Chen looked at the slums in the distance and couldn't help but think of Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong in the 80s.

Kowloon Walled City was an anarchic place at the time, a melting pot of all sorts of people, with gangs running rampant and police finding it difficult to enter.

He felt that Rio's favelas and Kowloon Walled City were very similar, both being "lawless places" in the city, full of danger and the unknown.

However, with the development of the times, Kowloon Walled City has been demolished and replaced by a park. But it is unknown when Rio will change. It seems that even in 2025, those slums will still exist. In fact, during special periods, gangs in the slums have even issued stay-at-home orders on behalf of the government.

That evening, everyone returned to their rooms early and dared not go out again.

Zhang Chen lay in bed, but couldn't fall asleep. The events of the day kept replaying in his mind.

Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard gunshots outside, and the gunshots became more and more frequent.

Zhang Chen immediately got out of bed, went to the balcony, and looked in the direction from which the gunshots were coming. He saw flames shooting into the sky from the slums not far away, with gunshots ringing out one after another.

He knew that a fierce gunfight must have broken out there, most likely a shootout between gangs.

The other staff members in the hotel were also awakened by the gunshots, and everyone ran to the balcony, their faces filled with fear.

Zhang Chen immediately had someone contact Francisco to inquire what had happened. Francisco said that it was probably a turf war between two gangs, which led to the gunfight. However, since it was gang territory, the police would only be able to investigate the situation at dawn the next day.

Hearing this, Zhang Chen became even more worried. He told everyone to go back to their rooms and not to go out unnecessarily, and to wait for further news.

That night was a long and terrifying one for everyone in the crew, as they finally came to a profound understanding of the chaos in Brazil.

(End of this chapter)