Exciting 1979!

Chapter 503 Let the Hong Kong audience have something good to eat

As soon as Wei Honggang got out of bed, the first thing she did was touch the person next to her.

Where's Amin?!

"Oh no, she must be sleepwalking. She's probably in her brother's room right now. I hope she hasn't been taken advantage of."

She tiptoed around, both worried and curious, and then saw Amin in the kitchen, cooking porridge.

"Where's my brother? He's not up yet?" Wei Hong asked.

While busy, Vivian Chow answered, "When I got up, he had just received a phone call and then went out, telling us to play by ourselves first and that he would watch a movie with us in the evening."

"Whose call was that? Was it Lizhi's?"

“No, it seems to be from the Xinhua News Agency branch. They said a high-ranking leader has arrived,” Amin said.

It was Mr. Ji, who had just succeeded Mr. Liao as the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, who came to Hong Kong for inspection. This old gentleman wanted to meet with people in Hong Kong who could be united, mostly Hong Kong tycoons and celebrities, such as Mr. Huo, Mr. Qiu Degen, Mr. Jin Yong, and Mr. Xia Meng.

However, the Xinhua News Agency staff mentioned that Wei Ming was also in Hong Kong at the time, so they invited him along as well, to pool their wisdom and efforts.

Wei Ming was the youngest among these people, so he initially just wanted to listen and didn't intend to speak.

However, he was internationally renowned. Although young and inexperienced, his achievements were remarkable, and no one could ignore him. Ji Lao personally asked Wei Ming to talk about what they could do for the peaceful return of Hong Kong.

Having no choice but to speak, Wei Ming organized his thoughts: "Ms. Xia Meng, Mr. Fu Qi, and I are all from the arts and culture front. We've been busy in Hong Kong recently with our new film, so I'll start by talking about that."

Taiwan established a Freedom Association in Hong Kong and set up some clauses to cut off the connection between the Hong Kong film industry and the mainland. Even big directors like Li Hanxiang, who made films in the mainland, were often blacklisted.

Hong Kong filmmakers deeply resent this, but are helpless because Taiwan has a market that is even larger than Hong Kong's. So, except for a few tough guys, they all have to bow to the rules of the Freedom Association.

Of course, these people can be criticized as opportunists, but opportunists are not entirely useless; we cannot allow them to completely side with the other side…

The leaders nodded slightly, finding Wei Ming's words interesting.

"So, I was thinking, could we appropriately open up part of the mainland market and allow some high-quality, morally sound Hong Kong films to enter the mainland market, as an incentive, while also enriching the spiritual and cultural life of the mainland people? Of course, these are just some of my immature suggestions." After saying this, Wei Ming scratched his head shyly, his acting skills quite impressive.

One of the leaders working in mainland China said, "It's not that Hong Kong films don't enter the mainland. Wasn't 'The Three Smiles' very popular a few years ago?"

"The Three Smiles" is a film produced by Great Wall Film Company in the 1960s. It was approved to enter the mainland in 1979, causing quite a sensation and making Chen Sisi, the third princess of Great Wall Film Company, a household name in the mainland.

Wei Ming shook his head: "Whether it was Changfeng New in the past or Silver City in the present, I actually regard them as our own film studios in mainland China. Their film production is basically made according to mainland standards. They are all our own people, so it is perfectly reasonable for them to enter the mainland. The films I am talking about are those outside of Silver City, such as Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and Cinema City."

Another benefit of doing this is that it can catalyze the reform of domestic film studios. If those captivating Hong Kong films come in and you stick to the old formula, you are destined to be abandoned by the audience.

Of course, although Wei Ming made a suggestion, he did not expect it to be adopted. After all, the mainland's view of film has never been entertainment, or even art, but propaganda tools. Since it is a tool, it is naturally not allowed to be controlled by outsiders.

What they need to consider is whether Hong Kong films entering the mainland will affect the thinking of Chinese people; that's the real issue.

Even a high-quality film like "Shaolin Temple," which is flawless in every aspect, was considered to have a negative influence on male audiences because of its immense popularity, not to mention earlier films like "The Dirty Dozen."

After listening, Mr. Ji nodded in agreement and asked Liao Yiyuan, the CEO of Yindu, for his opinion.

Wei Ming and Liao Yiyuan have a decent relationship. Liao Yiyuan didn't embarrass Wei Ming, but he said that the review process must be strict and rigorous, and that mainland audiences must be given the best and most harmless film experience.

"And then there's the question of how the profits should be distributed. These Hong Kong film companies are very profit-driven." The implication was that they weren't like domestic film studios or Sil-Metropole; they couldn't be satisfied with just a pittance.

In mainland China, films like "Shaolin Temple" and "Mom, Love Me Again" are exemplary in terms of box office revenue exceeding 100 million yuan. Moreover, these films sold over 100 million yuan in regular cinemas, but the production studio only received a fixed acquisition fee.

Film studios, on the other hand, are guaranteed by China Film Group regardless of the quality of the finished product, so they won't lose money, but they also won't make too much money, so their enthusiasm for production is naturally not very high.

Old Ji nodded, pretending to be deep in thought. After a moment, he changed the subject: "Is Xiao Wei's film 'The Shepherd's Spring' going to be released in Hong Kong?"

Liao Yiyuan hurriedly said, "Yes, it is today. Hong Kong audiences have been eagerly anticipating this. This is the first time that Chinese films have won the highest honor internationally."

Mr. Ji: "There should still be people here who haven't seen it yet. I recommend everyone to watch it. I've seen it, and I've watched it twice. It's really well made. It has both laughter and tears, and it's thought-provoking."

Wei Ming quickly expressed his gratitude, and that concluded the discussion about the film; they would move on to the next topic.

Wei Ming also ate lunch with everyone. Fortunately, the meeting finally ended in the afternoon, and Wei Ming was finally able to go on a date with his girlfriend.

But he never expected that Xiao Hong would be a third wheel on their date.

"Xiao Hong, don't you have anything else important to do tonight?"

Wei Hong, holding Zhou Huimin's hand, said, "No."

"But haven't you already seen this movie?"

“How can watching such a classic movie once be enough?” Wei Hong said. “Besides, it’s been more than a month since I last watched it, and I’ve been wanting to rewatch it for a long time.”

Alright, it'll be good to bring her along to keep things under wraps. Amin is still young, and Wei Ming doesn't want their relationship to be public knowledge.

Moreover, if they find out that their goddess already has a boyfriend, her sensitive fans will probably be in for a rough time.

In Hong Kong, there are about six film magazines, such as Shaw Brothers' "Southern Cinema" and Golden Harvest's "Golden Harvest Film". These magazines are basically backed by large companies.

In addition, "Film Biweekly" was invested by Ms. Tang Shuxuan and was reorganized from "Big Close-up" magazine. It has gained popularity due to its professionalism and the Hong Kong Film Awards.

"Chinese and Foreign Films" has achieved good market performance by providing information on Chinese and foreign films and combining text and images. Its influence has even penetrated into Guangdong, making it an important publication for people in Guangdong to understand the Hong Kong and even international entertainment industry.

One of the founders was Lie Fu, a sent-down youth who traveled from Shenzhen to Hong Kong in the 70s. He had a deep memory of that special era and had also read Wei Ming's original novel, "The Shepherd's Class".

He brought his wife to see the film on its opening day. The two had swum across the sea together and got married a year after arriving in Hong Kong. They had watched all the films about that era that were shown in Hong Kong before, such as "The Herdsman" and "Legend of Tianyun Mountain," but they had the highest expectations for "The Shepherd's Class."

It shouldn't have been this high. After all, the quality of a film is the responsibility of the director. Wei Ming is indeed a great writer and his music composition is also superb, but he is just a newcomer to directing. It's hard to imagine that he could do better than Xie Jin in the art of filmmaking.

As a result, they won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and now they can't afford to take it lightly.

However, after watching it today, Lie Fu said he must do a special feature on "The Shepherd's Class", and he also wanted to interview Wei Ming in person.

Even though I had set my expectations so high, this movie still lived up to them, and even exceeded them in some ways.

"This movie was so smooth, yes, smooth. Whether it was the music, the visuals, the plot, or the actors' performances, it was so smooth that you didn't even realize two hours had passed!" After leaving the movie theater, he immediately found a place to write.

Lie Fu started his career as a film critic and founded the magazine "Chinese and Foreign Films".

Meanwhile, Shu Qi, the editor-in-chief of "Film Biweekly," and another colleague, Liu Zhihua, arrived at the cinema with trepidation. He had already prepared his reply to Lizhi.

"Although 'The Shepherd's Spring' had Hong Kong investment, the director, actors, cinematographer, art director, lighting technicians, and other staff were all from mainland China, and the story was also set in mainland China, so it did not meet the criteria for the Hong Kong Film Awards."

However, after watching the movie, he felt regretful. He thought it would be an honor for the Hong Kong Film Awards if the film could have won the Best Picture award.

Liu Zhihua, who was standing to the side, said, "Old Shu, I want to watch it again."

Shu Qi: "Okay, let's buy the tickets quickly, there are quite a lot of people outside."

During prime time in the evening, the audience grows larger and larger. Left-wing cinemas are at a disadvantage in terms of location and seating, and if you arrive late, you may not get a seat.

When Xu Anhua arrived, there were only some secluded spots left.

After filming "Boat People", she began preparing for "Love in a Fallen City", adapted from Eileen Chang's novel of the same name, which was invested by Shaw Brothers.

If art films had different levels, then "The Shepherd's Spring" would be at the pinnacle of all Chinese-language films at this point, so she definitely couldn't miss it.

After watching the movie, her first thought was: What a beautiful movie!

After watching it, I felt my soul was purified. Although there were some cruel things in it, you only realize their value after watching it, making it even more difficult to let go. Brilliant!
And these child actors all performed wonderfully! Isn't that stone the same guy from "Heroes Have Always Been Born Young"?

Among the child actors, Pipi gave the best performance, capturing the nuances perfectly. A slightly over-the-top performance by a naughty child can really make someone annoying.

Xu Anhua suddenly realized that he was over thirty years old and there was such a big gap between him and the young director Wei Ming. Did he actually not have any talent for directing?

How frustrating!

Another filmmaker named Chen Xunqi was also frustrated.

I heard that Wei Ming composed half of the music for this movie himself. He thought it was amazing after just hearing the first few tracks.

Chen Xunqi is an actor, director, and producer, but he actually started out as a composer. His teacher was Mr. Wang Fuling, the composer of "My Chinese Heart".

Recently, Chen Xunqi just finished writing, directing and starring in "The Hollow Prince". He was accompanied by his henchman, co-writer Wang Jiawei.

After watching the movie, Chen Xunqi wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and then asked Wang Jiawei, who hadn't yet put on his sunglasses, "Xiao Wang, what do you think?"

Wong Kar-wai crossed his arms: "Yeah, the movie was great, but I'm actually more curious about whether the rumors about him and Vivian Chow are true. If they are, have they already slept together?"

Chen Xunqi was speechless for a moment: "Can't you, a grown man, stop being so gossipy?"

“Okay, back to the movie, I like the visual presentation of this film. It’s very powerful. The visuals can tell a story, and even without those extra lines, it doesn’t affect the understanding of the plot,” Wang Jiawei said.

Chen Xunqi: "I really love this movie, especially the soundtrack, it's amazing! I wonder when I'll be able to hear the original soundtrack album, I'll definitely buy it to collect."

Besides these filmmakers who love art films, even Huang Baiming, who treats films as commodities, came to a nearby cinema after finishing his scenes for "Home Alone" today.

Moreover, it was a group of people, including not only him and his apprentice Gao Zhisen, but also some staff members and Zhen Zidan, who made a cameo appearance in the film.

This was also the first time they had ever seen a nearly full theater for a purely mainland Chinese film, and with so many young people in it.

Wei Ming estimated that the box office might break ten million, which would be a huge bargain for the company.

When they came out after watching the movie, Amin's eyes were still wet with tears, it seemed she was really into it.

Wei Ming quickly hugged his girlfriend and patted her, while Wei Hong nervously shielded them behind her to prevent them from being recognized.

Vivian Chow gave the film the highest praise: "If you only make this one film in your life, it would be a loss to the film industry."

"Don't give me that. You spend months of your time on the set making a movie and don't even have time for your girlfriend. I'm not going to do that," Wei Ming said.

Amin thought he meant he didn't have time to spend with her, so she laughed through her tears, feeling as sweet as honey.

Wei Hong also remarked, "I think the audience really liked it. Have they never seen such a good art film before? They've finally had something nice to eat today."

Wei Ming rubbed her head. Even a younger sister shouldn't brag like that.

The three of them went to a restaurant to eat. He sent the two girls home that night and stayed alone in his empty room.

Later, Wei Mingzhen received interview invitations from "China and Foreign Cinema" and "Film Biweekly". Although they did not intend to include the film in the competition, they felt that it was due to the rules and their admiration for the film was not diminished at all.

Wei Ming refused all of them because he wanted to give the exclusive interview to YES!

YES! is not a dedicated film and entertainment magazine, but it targets teenagers. If it can engage these viewers, it will definitely benefit the film's box office.

(Today's guaranteed minimum)
(End of this chapter)