Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 626 Helping a Brother Fulfill His Dream

A trophy? That's impossible.

However, Xu Ke did receive a unique souvenir—a plastic-sealed branch containing not real cherry blossoms, but hand-painted ukiyo-e prints.

"It's great," Xu Ke said, still feeling impressed as he returned to his seat.

Putting aside the significance of the award, winning one on my first visit makes the trip worthwhile!
Masaaki Sakai has started awarding new prizes again.

The Best Director award was given to Hungarian director Bitter Gauvan. The Jury Prize, decided by vote, was awarded to the Brazilian-American co-production, *Kiss of the Spider Woman*.

The highly anticipated Sakura Award at the inaugural Tokyo International Film Festival was awarded to a Japanese film, Typhoon Club.

Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" ultimately only received a few minor awards, including for costume design.

Gu Ming was not surprised.

Ran is actually quite good, but like his previous works, it wasn't filmed in Japan.

Akira Kurosawa was not present, but a member of the Kurosawa team accepted the award on his behalf.

"Takeshi Kitano didn't win any awards, but he sold a lot of the copyrights. On the other hand, Tsui Hark won an award but didn't sell the copyrights. Only Haruki Kadokawa decided to make it into a feature film. It seems there are differences between people!"

Gu Ming sighed slightly.

After the closing ceremony, the first Tokyo International Film Festival officially came to an end, and Gu Ming was quite satisfied.

It wasn't a wasted trip; we sold some copyrights, enriched our videotape library, and even won a small prize.

Afterwards, Xu Ke will be hired to come here to finish filming that movie. As for the extremely evil policeman that Kitano Takeshi envisioned, it's a bit troublesome, so we'll have to wait a bit longer.

At the banquet, the lights were on, and Gu Ming walked among the crowd with remarkable ease.

Xu Ke followed along, holding a wine glass, looking rather pleased with himself.

Never mind the prestige of the Tokyo International Film Festival. The point is, he won an award! Winning an award makes it all worthwhile!

"The fact that it was later remade into a film makes the trip truly worthwhile!"

"That's good." Gu Ming glanced at Zhou Wenhuai, who was simply entertaining guests, and said, "Should we go and say hello to Boss Zhou?"

"I might not be able to do it." Xu Ke shrugged.

He works for Cinema City, so if he were to go and meet with the boss of Golden Harvest, there's something rather off about it.

Gu Ming didn't press the matter, since he had a partner but Xu Ke didn't, so he walked towards Zhou Wenhuai alone.

In this situation, the old gentleman was quite considerate and did not leave early, but he didn't socialize much.

Seeing Gu Ming approach, Zhou Wenhuai raised his hand, signaling his subordinates to step aside.

“Sir,” Gu Ming said succinctly, “Can’t we really reconsider? Since it’s a short film shot by the original cast and crew, turning it into a feature film would be just right. Even if Hong Kong has bought the overseas rights, why not try using them to continue filming?”

"What are you saying?" Zhou Wenhuai leaned on his cane, looking up slightly at Gu Ming, not appearing to be at a disadvantage.

"Didn't we already say before that Golden Harvest would hire your martial arts choreographer again if they wanted to remake the film overseas?"

Gu Ming said, "But since it's a film they've worked so hard on for over half a month, I still hope they can personally participate in the filming process."

Zhou Wenhuai then leaned on his cane and remained silent, looking lost in thought.

Gu Ming was very patient, so he sat opposite him and ate his food in small bites to fill his stomach.

Several minutes later, Zhou Wenhuai finally spoke: "Impossible. Jiahe is not a fool with too much money to burn."

"Don't you want to reconsider?" Gu Ming said, "I heard that Golden Harvest has always wanted to go overseas and make Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung famous overseas, but so far it hasn't been very successful? But coincidentally, I previously invested in a film that was a huge success at the overseas box office, grossing $120 million in North America."

Zhou Wenhuai fell silent for a moment. This was indeed something he had always wanted to do. Golden Harvest was different from Shaw Brothers. Shaw Brothers had long since shifted its focus to television rather than film, but Golden Harvest had maintained its vitality and always wanted to expand overseas. It even had an office in the United States.

However, this wish could not be realized for a long time. For a long time, it was all about spending money without gaining a good reputation, or spending money without even breaking even at the box office.

This trend didn't begin to reverse until films like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Rumble in the Bronx" were released.

But that's a few years from now.

Gu Ming's words at that moment truly touched upon Zhou Wenhuai's deepest pain.

But Zhou Wenhuai still needs to consider what Gu Ming said.

He always felt that spending Hong Kong's money to promote Japanese actors and directors didn't quite make sense.

Gu Ming wasn't in a hurry to urge him on. He sat comfortably opposite him and casually began to describe a story.

"Actually, going to sea is very simple. The key is to know what foreigners like to watch. Brother Long is skilled and has different habits than others. Choosing the right theme is very important."

Zhou Wenhuai laughed: "Anyone can say that."

"Indeed," Gu Ming said. "Have you considered second-generation immigrants?"

Zhou Wenhuai suddenly stopped smiling, still holding his cane with both hands, but his eyes were looking directly at Gu Ming's face.

"There are a large number of second- and third-generation Chinese immigrants in the United States, and this group has already integrated into American society. The identities of the protagonists we set up before are not quite suitable. We can try to set up a protagonist who is a second-generation American immigrant, while maintaining Brother Long's original characteristics, humorous fighting, utilizing the scene, and a righteous protagonist... If the story takes place in the United States and fits the background, there is a high chance of success."

Gu Ming was referring to "Rumble in the Bronx," a movie that was both critically and commercially successful. If action actors want to go to Hollywood, they can definitely choose "Rumble in the Bronx."

Gu Ming didn't choose it, which can be considered as leaving it for Cheng Long.

Their styles are different; Japanese immigrants in the United States are different from the Chinese community.

Zhou Wenhuai was still thinking, but his resolve was beginning to waver.

It's not that we can't afford a low-budget gunfight movie, after all, Japanese actors' salaries have never been high.

If this leads to Cheng Long's successful overseas expansion, the subsequent benefits will be far more than just a few words!

"In this case……"

Zhou Wenhuai pondered, his mind wavering, and prepared to speak.

Just as Gu Ming was about to respond, his nostrils twitched.

Just now, Gu Ming thought it might just be the smell of some ingredients from the dinner party, but now he could clearly smell a burnt smell.

"Where is the fire?"

Gu Ming squinted and scanned the entire scene, but he couldn't see anything that looked like it was on fire. However, there was definitely a burnt smell in his nostrils.

If it tastes like barbecue, then given the usual Japanese barbecue practices, it shouldn't taste like this.

Gu Ming suddenly stood up, becoming even more determined.

"on fire."

Zhou Wenhuai was slightly taken aback, but Gu Ming interrupted him directly.

"Fire! We don't know where it is, but we have to get out of here quickly!"

There was no thick smoke at the scene, but the smell was gradually spreading. Gu Ming saw that many people at the scene were looking around, but they did not see any smoke or fire. Many people had doubts in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)