Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 163 What Sin Have I Done
After accepting the script assignment from Li Hanxiang, Lin Chaoyang had to put the novel he was currently writing on hold, after all, the client offered him a lot of money.

Yesterday he talked with Li Hanxiang about the script for most of the day. He understood Li Hanxiang's ideas and confirmed his previous experiences with "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor", which made him feel very confident.

However, he did not know much about Qing history, and if he wanted to truly present an outstanding script, he had to pay attention to the details.

The next day after returning from the Yanjing Hotel, Lin Chaoyang took advantage of his time off at work to search the library and found a lot of information about the late Qing Dynasty, including not only historical materials but also some literary works about the late Qing Dynasty and Cixi.

Xu Xiaotian's "Thirteen Dynasties of the Qing Dynasty", Hu An's "The Empress Dowager Cixi", Cai Dongfan's "The Historical Romance of the Qing Palace", De Ling's "The Ethereal Record of Imperial Fragrance", Li Ciming's "Notes from Yueman Thatched Cottage" and "History of the Qing Dynasty"...

There are dozens of books in front of him, and just piling them up there makes people feel a headache. Fortunately, Lin Chaoyang is not going to read all these works, but to find useful clues and details in them to supplement his own script.

For several days, Lin Chaoyang buried himself in a pile of old papers and finally compiled an outline of the script, which he handed to Li Hanxiang.

After reading the script outline sent by Lin Chaoyang, Li Hanxiang remained silent.

After a long while, he asked, "You laid out so many scenes for the burning of the Old Summer Palace. If you were to write about it in detail, I'm afraid it would be top-heavy, right?"

Later, Li Hanxiang filmed Cixi into two movies, "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor". In fact, his earliest idea was to film "The Last Emperor", but he couldn't control it when writing the script because the content was too large, so he had to divide it into two movies.

"From the perspective of a script, such a structure is definitely inappropriate," said Lin Chaoyang.

Li Hanxiang sensed the unspoken meaning in his words, and his eyes revealed doubt.

Lin Chaoyang didn't keep anyone waiting and said directly: "I want to write the script in two parts."

"Upper and lower parts?"

Li Hanxiang was surprised. He never expected that Lin Chaoyang would come up with such an idea.

He looked at Lin Chaoyang in astonishment, and was a little dazed for a moment, as if Lin Chaoyang was the director holding the director's baton on the set and having the final say.

"You are the director, and I am the director?" Li Hanxiang couldn't help but ask what was in his mind.

Lin Chaoyang was not at all flustered by his questioning. He said, "I only said that my script was written in two parts, but I didn't say that you must shoot it this way. Besides, the plot is coherent, and the scenery, actors, makeup, props, etc. will not add much extra cost. It's just that the shooting volume has increased a bit, which has increased some labor costs."

Li Hanxiang thought about it and it seemed to make some sense.

"Let me write it first. If you think it's not good enough, you can just remove the part about the burning of the Old Summer Palace." Lin Chaoyang continued to persuade him step by step.

Li Hanxiang flipped through the script outline again, and he had to admit that the story with "the burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "ruling from behind the curtain" as the dual core did seem more complete.

"Whatever. Anyway, it takes time to make a good match. Just write according to your current ideas."

According to Lin Chaoyang's idea, one script is equivalent to the content of two films. His own workload has increased, and he may not be able to finish the script before he goes to Haojiang.

Li Hanxiang was already prepared in his heart. At worst, he would take half of the cost and show it to Mr. He. The script is the foundation of a play. The quality of the script is related to the success or failure of the film, so it cannot be sloppy.

But he never expected that less than twenty days later, Lin Chaoyang appeared in the Yanjing Hotel again, bringing with him a movie script of nearly 70,000 words.

"Director Li, I have accomplished my mission and finished writing the script!"

Li Hanxiang took the script from Lin Chaoyang and said in surprise, "You finished it so quickly?"

Listening to Li Hanxiang's tone, Lin Chaoyang said, "Didn't you say you were anxious? For more than half a month, I didn't dare to delay for a single day. I worked day and night and kept writing."

Of course, what Lin Chaoyang said was an exaggeration. In fact, he had been focusing more on looking up information these days, and had not spent much time writing the script.

After being surprised, Li Hanxiang did not dwell on how much time Lin Chaoyang spent to write a script equivalent to the content of two movies in such a short time. He couldn't help but doubt the quality of the script and decided to take a look at it first.

The script written by Lin Chaoyang referred to the structure of the original "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Last Emperor". The character settings and plots of the original movies are very brilliant, the level of camera language is also very high, and the scenes are grand, which fully reflects the director's ability to arrange scenes.

But it is a pity that many of the plots in the movie are quite different from real history. If it were shot according to Hong Kong's usual method of historical films, this would certainly not be a big problem.

But if one wants to make a truly rigorous historical blockbuster with an epic style, such a shortcoming is undoubtedly fatal.

In Lin Chaoyang's version of the script, the thing he spent most of his time thinking about was how to better integrate historical facts and drama.

The script written by Lin Chaoyang has a total of 70,000 words and is divided into two parts: "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "The Behind-the-Curtain Ruling".

It would take at least a few days to read such a thick script carefully. Li Hanxiang specially booked a room for Lin Chaoyang and let him stay in the Yanjing Hotel for the next two days to facilitate communication between him and Lin Chaoyang.

Communicating the script with the director is the screenwriter's job. Although Lin Chaoyang does not agree to make major changes to the script, necessary communication is indispensable.

He asked the co-production company to help him take a leave, went back home to say hello to Tao Yushu, and then moved into the Yanjing Hotel peacefully.

The Yanjing Hotel is the hotel with the best hardware level in China today, and it is definitely more comfortable to stay in than the Yanying Studio Guesthouse.

Li Hanxiang read the script for more than a day but never looked for Lin Chaoyang. He thought he had met a director with a normal schedule.

Unexpectedly, the next night, Lin Chaoyang was awakened by banging on the door while he was sleeping soundly.

He opened the door and saw Li Hanxiang's face full of excitement and excitement. "Mr. Lin, let's talk about the script."

"Director Li, it's already two o'clock in the morning." Lin Chaoyang said with a yawn.

"It's already two o'clock? Let's talk quickly so we can get some sleep during the day."

Lin Chaoyang: ???

Is this what I'm telling you?

Li Hanxiang ignored Lin Chaoyang's opinion, barged into the room, and started chatting while flipping through the script.

"The script is well-written. The two core plots of 'The Burning of the Old Summer Palace' and 'The Behind-the-Curtain Ruling' are well-established. I think it can be cut into two films." Li Hanxiang first affirmed Lin Chaoyang's script, and then began to study the details in the script.

“I think these first few folk scenes can be deleted without affecting the direction of the plot,” said Li Hanxiang.

“Can’t delete.”

"why?"

"The plot of our previous part is 'The Burning of the Old Summer Palace'. I wrote in the beginning about how well the skilled craftsmen built the Old Summer Palace, how much money the people spent, and how many ordinary people suffered because of it, all in order to set off this climax.

If these scenes were deleted, the shocking feeling of the final "burning of the Old Summer Palace" would be greatly reduced."

"You can show the beauty and historical significance of the Old Summer Palace in the palace scenes."

"It's wrong to change the perspective like this. You have to know that the burning of the Old Summer Palace was a heavy blow to the Qing Dynasty, but the Old Summer Palace was built with the blood and sweat of the people, and the ruling class of the Qing Dynasty was unaware of the meaning behind this incident.

Only when we look at it from the broad perspective of the people and history can we realize the impact of this incident on the entire Chinese nation.

The audience in the cinema stands at this angle.”

Lin Chaoyang's attitude was firm. He did not follow Li Hanxiang's ideas just because Li Hanxiang was the director. His remarks left Li Hanxiang speechless.

Li Hanxiang thought about it and decided that it was just a few more scenes, and it didn’t matter anyway since they were planning to cut it into two films.

He then went on to say: "Isn't the emotional drama between Yulan (Cixi) and Xianfeng in the 'Burning of the Old Summer Palace' a little too weak?"

"Do you want to strengthen their love story? Like Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan?"

Lin Chaoyang's words hit the mark on Li Hanxiang's needs, and he said excitedly, "That's right."

Unexpectedly, Lin Chaoyang shook his head again, "Director Li, you have to think carefully, do you want a love story between a man and a woman, or do you want the weight of a historical blockbuster. Writing about the secret affairs of Emperor Xianfeng and Empress Dowager Cixi will certainly attract the audience's attention, but it will undoubtedly greatly reduce the style and weight of the film."

Li Hanxiang's status in the history of Chinese cinema is beyond description. Since he started shooting Huangmei Opera films in Hong Kong in the 50s, he has been famous in Southeast Asia and became the backbone of the Hong Kong film industry at that time.
In the 60s, he went to Taiwan and founded the National Alliance Company, pioneering the film industry in Taiwan and stirring up the film industry in Taiwan at that time;
In the 70s, he returned to Hong Kong and shot many hoax films and erotic films, becoming the originator of many Chinese-language film genres. His ingenious ideas and artistic creativity in filmmaking are admirable.

But even the most talented directors have their own limitations. Lin Chaoyang has seen many of Li Hanxiang's works and knows that Li Hanxiang's directing style is actually more suitable for shooting literary and artistic films with a strong humanistic atmosphere and luxurious scenes.

This time he wanted to shoot a historical blockbuster with rich background, so the first thing he had to abandon was some of his previous conventional thinking in shooting erotic films and palace films.

“…So, the love scenes between Xianfeng and Cixi can be there, but they must not be shot in an overly aesthetic way, nor can too many subjective shots be used.

If it is shot like this, it will be no different from the erotic films you shot before.

You told me that you wanted to make a breakthrough, that you wanted to reflect the political corruption of the Qing Dynasty and the stupidity of those in power, and that you wanted to film that tragic period of history. Now this idea is wrong. "

Lin Chaoyang bluntly pointed out Li Hanxiang's self-contradiction in his shooting ideas, and because he was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, his tone was even more impolite.

As the saying goes, the truth hurts, and Li Hanxiang naturally felt uncomfortable after hearing what Lin Chaoyang said, but he had to admit that what Lin Chaoyang said made sense.

But he couldn't help but argue: "But if it's written like this, the movie will lose an attraction."

"Isn't 'burning the Old Summer Palace' interesting enough? These five words are the key to the first half of the script. Too much emotional drama will distract the audience."

After a debate, neither could convince the other.

Before, Li Hanxiang only wanted to find a good screenwriter for the movie, and felt that Lin Chaoyang was capable of writing the movie.

Now it seems that he is indeed capable of being a screenwriter, but his presence is so strong that even the director himself cannot persuade him.

"After all this talk, I can't change even a single word of your script?" Li Hanxiang said dissatisfiedly.

"I'm not forbidding you to change it, but you have to change the place, you can't change it randomly!"

Lin Chaoyang's words almost made Li Hanxiang vomit blood.

I have been a director for more than 30 years. Would I change the script at random?

"This is my movie!" Li Hanxiang said angrily.

“But I wrote the script!”

Lin Chaoyang's tone was calm, without any sign of anger, but the more he spoke like this, the angrier Li Hanxiang became.

Li Hanxiang was so angry that he couldn't sit still. He turned around and around, with no place to vent his anger.

"Director Li, how about you sit down for a while and let's discuss this slowly?"

Li Hanxiang had just undergone heart surgery, and Lin Chaoyang was afraid that he might get hurt by anger, which could lead to a serious accident.

"Sit there!" Li Hanxiang pointed at Lin Chaoyang angrily, "I'm going to fire you! Fire you!"

Lin Chaoyang looked calm, "You can fire me, but I have to pay you for the manuscript first."

His words were like a knife stabbing into Li Hanxiang's heart. Li Hanxiang covered his chest with his hands, his face showing pain.

Lin Chaoyang was startled. The more he worried, the more it happened. He quickly stood up and supported Li Hanxiang.

Seeing Li Hanxiang pointing at the coffee table, he hurried over, took the medicine bottle from the coffee table, and fed him the medicine.

After a few dozen seconds, the painful expression on Li Hanxiang's face finally calmed down. He looked at Lin Chaoyang and said weakly, "What sin did I commit to hire a screenwriter like you?"

(End of this chapter)