Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 217: The Chinese version of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

On December 2003, 12, the 13th Golden Horse Awards ceremony was held at the Tainan City Art Center.

The hosts were still Cai Kangyong and Cheng Yuling, but Boss Lu did not show up in the end, which made Hou Xiaoxian sigh.

As the organizer, in order to show the sincerity of the reconciliation between the two parties, we will also make an impartial judgment based on the actual quality of the film.

The Best Feature Film award was ultimately won by "Shoplifters," which was filmed on the island.

It beat Media Asia's "Infernal Affairs", American Asia's "PTU" and Lu Kuan's own investment "Blind Well".

However, in the selection of Best Director and Best Actor and Actress, Lu Kuan, Zhou Xun, Feng Yuanzheng and others missed the awards.

Instead, with the help of Huayi's public relations, Bingbing defeated Candy Lo and others to win the Best Supporting Actress award.

Another little-known actor, Wang Baoqiang, was awarded the Best New Actor award.

Last year, this award was won by Liu Yifei from "The Drummer", but she voluntarily gave it up for some reasons.

During the award ceremony, Cai Kangyong and Li An made inappropriate jokes about Hong Kong actor Andy Lau, which caused the latter's displeasure and attacks from many fans.

There are many Andy Lau fans on the blogosphere who have dug up the commentary post of "The Road is Wide Today" from last year and used it as a weapon to severely disparage the value of the Golden Horse Awards.

There are also some discerning viewers who pointed out that the Golden Horse Awards jury is acting like a whore and putting up a virtuous image.

He wanted to reconcile with Director Lu from the mainland, but because he didn't show up, he hesitated and only gave him an important award to maintain his pitiful self-esteem.

The rumor about the dead horse award suddenly became a hot topic again, which gave Hou Xiaoxian a headache. He called Lu Kuan and complained to him for ten minutes.

Boss Lu is preparing the script for his next movie in the study of the Ice House Palace.

Since his rebirth, he has basically maintained a creative progress of one film per year.

The plagiarized "The Drummer" and "The Thief" were both commercial adaptations based on art films.

Make its lens language, narrative structure and film style more suitable for the mainland market and audiences.

This time, in the filming of the original script "Alien Land", Lu Kuan explored the shooting of science fiction films from scratch, using a variety of lens techniques and narrative techniques, and treated the film completely as a commodity.

Three films and his two debates with literary directors and film critics have enabled him to successfully establish himself as the country's top commercial film director.

However, for this 2004 work, he wanted to make more artistic attempts and strive for the three major European awards.

If we talk about Boss Lu's dream in his two lives, it is nothing more than to work hard in the film industry.

At the Beijing Film Academy, when Section Chief Jia, one of the Seven Gentlemen, asked him, "Do you recognize the value of art films?", Lu Kuan answered without hesitation, "Of course."

Be it an art film, the pursuit of the director's ultimate personal style, or the desire to truly leave a name in film and television.

For this work after "Alien Land", he plans to create with maximum individualism in addition to storytelling and commerciality.

Give a summary and feedback on the nutrients I have absorbed and gained from the art of film in my two lifetimes.

Otherwise, he can only reach the pinnacle of being a film craftsman, but will never be able to enter the mainstream and establish his own style and genre.

Lu Kuan is now like Zhang Wuji, because his perspective as a cheater is to learn from the strengths of many schools. He learns a little from Wudang, understands some from Shaolin, and practices a little from Mingjiao.

He now wants to pursue and focus on his own unique directing techniques and come up with something that truly belongs to him.

Let the audience know at a glance that this is Lu Kuan’s movie.

Just like seeing the slow pace and long empty shots, you know it’s Hou Xiaoxian;

You know this is a Hitchcock thriller when you see the ubiquitous Hitchcock zooms;
When you see the circular structure of the narrative, you know it’s Quentin;

You know it’s Wes Anderson ( The Grand Budapest Hotel ) when you see the candy colors and ubiquitous symmetrical storyboards;

When you see the painterly color scheme and grand narrative, you know it’s Zack Snyder ( Watchmen );

There are also countless world-class film masters who have established their own personal style or even founded their own school.

Kubrick, Godard, Truffaut, Kurosawa, Woody Allen, Bergman...

After honing his skills through three films, Lu Kuan felt the time was right.

It’s time to break away from the identity of a perfect film craftsman and walk towards the door of Kurosawa, Bergman and others...

Even though the road is still long, you may never reach the end in your lifetime.

Just as Liu Yifei commented on him, he is only like a pure artist and a focused sculptor when he is involved in movies.

The artist is currently writing the screenplay for a new film based on Fitzgerald's novel The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The novel was adapted and released in 2008 by David Fincher, the director of "Fight Club". The American version of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" won the Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction and Best Makeup.

In the original novel, Benjamin was born on the night of the victory of World War I in 1918, and his mother died during childbirth.

He was born as an old man with wrinkles on his face and white hair, which horrified his father Thomas Barton, who immediately abandoned him at the door of a nursing home.

Queenie, who works in a nursing home, takes Benjamin in and takes good care of him. With the company of the elderly, Benjamin grows up gradually. The elderly around him keep passing away, but he becomes younger and younger.

The heroine Daisy was just 6 years old when she appeared. She met Benjamin, who was years old but looked like an old man, and they fell in love with each other.

As time goes by, Daisy grows up and Benjamin becomes younger.

The times continued to change. In 1939, World War II broke out, and Benjamin looked much younger.

He went to Britain to fight in the war and made contributions to the anti-fascist war. During this period, he had a short but beautiful love affair with the married Elizabeth.

After the end of World War II, Benjamin looked like a middle-aged man. After returning to his country, he met the heroine Daisy again. At this time, Daisy was already a successful dancer.

But times have changed, and the two people's different growth experiences led to a breakup.

The plot turns when Daisy gets into a car accident, but she doesn't want her beloved to see her in such a state. Benjamin pursues her and the two get married, giving birth to a daughter.

But the irony is that Benjamin is still in reverse growth. He cannot accept that he has to accompany his children in the form of a child. He suffers a mental breakdown and finally chooses to leave for India.

The climax of the movie is coming.

Benjamin returned home after traveling around the world. Daisy had already started a new family. He hated his cowardice, but respected her choice and did not bother her again.

Benjamin returned to the nursing home. His face was rejuvenating, but he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Daisy was found in the nursing home, and she accompanied Benjamin, whose body was getting smaller and smaller, with heartache, and spent the last moments of her life.

At the end of the story, Daisy lies on a hospital bed, recalling her life with Benjamin, who closes his eyes like a baby in her arms.

Love, life, death, the tide of the times, all the elements that an art film has are present, and the story is also sufficient.

What excites Lu Kuan the most is that adapting such works to the modern history of our nation can give the protagonist more contemporary significance!

The male protagonist in his script is called Li Ming.

Benjamin was born in 1918, the night of the victory of World War I. Li Ming was born in Shanghai in 1919, at the same time as the May Fourth Movement was about to break out in China.

The reason for choosing Modu was considering the nursing home as his birthplace. At that time, only a few concessions had such conditions.

The newborn Li Ming has the face of an old man and is about to die.

This is just like the Republic of China of the same period: the Xinhai Revolution had just succeeded but was facing restoration. The surface was new, but the inside was deeply mired in the feudal quagmire.

As the times change, by the time Li Ming finally turns into a baby and dies, the motherland's reform and opening up has achieved certain results.

In Lu Kuan's script, Li Ming's gradual rejuvenation and the country's progress from backwardness to prosperity are two intertwined hidden lines, which serve as metaphors for each other.

The United States did not suffer much from domestic harassment during the same period, but our motherland suffered greatly.

In this context, there is more to explore in terms of social progress, cultural conflict, and ideological liberation.

This film has a certain fantasy color and is an imaginative masterpiece of the original author.

Specifically during the filming process, the main obstacles are makeup and special effects.

The time span of the male protagonist Li Ming's life, from a few years old to old age, needs to use the same actor's face, which requires the top makeup and special effects technology in the Hollywood film industry.

In 2004, only a few companies, such as Digital Domain, had such technology.

For example, after selecting a short special actor to play Benjamin as a teenager, Digital Domain first created a computer-animated CG head, then "mapped" Pitt's expressions onto this CG head, and finally placed this CG head on the neck of the actor who played the childhood Patton.

To recreate the actor's facial expressions, special effects staff used 3D scanning technology to create a 3D digital model of Pitt's head. They then had Pitt make a variety of expressions and created a model for each. They also created D digital models of Patton's head at different ages.

Finally, the producers matched the key points of the two models and finally completed the film.

There is no way. If there were AI face-changing and head-changing technology in the future, it would not cost tens of millions of dollars to Hollywood special effects companies.

Lu Kuan decided to play the male lead Li Ming himself. He wanted to explore the deeper artistry of the film from both the perspectives of director and actor.

In this case, he himself cannot stare at the camera for a long time. Cao Yu's current level is barely enough to be a photography DP, and this kind of work is beyond his ability.

Boss Lu plans to ask Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang to introduce Zhao Fei to him. Zhao Fei had just finished filming Feng Kuazi's "Cell Phone" and was temporarily unemployed.

Zhao Fei is also a top photographer in the industry. He once felt that he could no longer learn anything in China, so he went to Hollywood and made movies with the master Woody Allen for several years.

With this kind of experience, I think I should be able to adapt to my own crew management and shooting style.

His next work was Jiang Wen's "The Sun Also Rises" in 2007, which was considered to be a preemptive move by Boss Lu.

If they cooperate well, they can work together for a long time. However, Cao Yu’s ability is already a bit stretched and he still needs some experience.

He is still considering the casting issue.

In the movie, Li Ming travels and fights, where he meets all kinds of people. Each of them influences Li Ming's life in a unique way, enriching the story's connotations.

Just like Queenie in the nursing home in the original film, who gave him maternal love and guidance in life;
Captain Mike taught him to be brave and stand up for himself;

Ladies wearing wedding rings make him think about life and death, and so on.

Just like "Forrest Gump", this kind of movie that travels through time is always full of outstanding supporting characters.

On December 2003, 12, the premiere of "Crazy Racing" was held at the Xindong'an Cinema in Beijing.

"Guide!", "Boss".

Lu Kuan arrived at the event site with ease, and Ning Hao, Huang Bo, Zhang Songwen and other main creators greeted him one after another.

It has almost the same original cast as "Stone", with a fixed audience group, and the box office and profit expectations are relatively ideal.

"Huang Bo, you're famous now. I was just in the elevator, and all you saw were the commercials for Geng Hao."

Huang Bo bared his front teeth. "Hey, Boss, are you praising me or yourself? Everyone knows that this is all your property."

Boss Lu nodded at him with a smile, saying that people with high emotional intelligence are different.

If someone else were to do the same thing, they would definitely reply: Thank you, Director Lu, I will definitely keep up the good work!
In late September, Lu Kuan spent 9 million to acquire a 7000% stake in Focus Media. Jiang Beichun used this money to continue spending in the blue ocean of elevator advertising.

By December, when "The Race" was released, Focus Media had already captured 12% of the national elevator advertising market.

The rest are private plots owned by groups of people, which are more difficult to chew.

But just as Boss Lu said when he deceived Jiang Beichun, Wenjie's investment was not only to solve his urgent financial problem.

It is also the successive business undertakings from "Racing", "Love Is Not Blind" to the later "The Disguiser" and "Zhu Xian", which is the key to the sustainable development of the enterprise.

Even if venture capital can pay so much money, you don’t have that much business!

Which domestic film and television company can produce so much in a year now?

Xu Pengle, vice president of Shanghai Film Group, saw Lu Kuan greeting the crew and came over. They were one of the distributors.

At this point in time, the main competitors of "Racing" are "Infernal Affairs" and "Cell Phone".

"Infernal Affairs" was represented by Yu Dong's Bernard, so "Racing" continued to be jointly distributed by Shanghai Film Group and Wenjie Xiying, which had just acquired a stake. This was a force that Lu Kuan deliberately made friends with outside of Peking.

"Director Lu, are you going to the premiere in Shanghai?"

"I think it's going to be tough. I have to finish writing the script for my next movie this month, and I also have to deal with Travel Channel."

Xu Pengle's face darkened. It would be extremely difficult to invite this person to stand on the platform now.

If "Racing" was not a project of Wenjie's own company, Boss Lu would definitely not spend this time on it. He really has too many things on hand.

I have to work on the script and storyboard of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and the post-production of "Alien Land", and I also have to review the scripts of the first few episodes of "Zhu Xian" every day.

It is expected that the first four episodes he will direct will start shooting after the new year.

Lu Kuan looked at Zhang Songwen, who was like a transparent little guy in the corner, and called him aside to talk.

"Songwen, after the premiere, come to my car and get the script. Try to figure out the character. It's an important supporting role. I'll have you audition next week."

Zhang Songwen nodded calmly, but the small action of rubbing his hands betrayed his excitement.

Among the company's top male artists, Wang Baoqiang won this year's Golden Horse Award for Best Newcomer, successfully auditioned for Feng Xiaogang's "A World Without Thieves," and is rumored to be the male lead in the company's next military-themed TV series.
Huang Bo and Ning Hao were good friends before joining the company. They worked together to produce two comedy films, which really established their reputations and helped them carve out their own acting paths.
Hu Ge came from behind and although he has not yet entered the film industry, he is currently the first choice for domestic ancient puppet dramas;

Looking back at myself, I almost feel like I am comparing my misery with Zhu Yawen, who just joined the company.

He repeatedly advised his roommate Baoqiang to be patient, be patient, and to do good things without worrying about the future, but he himself was also anxious.

Finally, after two years in the industry, I got my first chance!
Just when Zhang Songwen was about to find Boss Lu to express his gratitude, he saw that the infamous washing machine director had been entangled by a beautiful woman.

"Xiaolu, you're a bit mean. Every time I ask you out for dinner, you always find excuses to stop me. Let's see what you have to say today."

Boss Lu looked at Da Meiyuan awkwardly, feeling as embarrassed as if he had been caught lying.

Da Meiyuan, you're the same. Every time you call me, I tell you to just listen if you have something to say, but you insist on asking me questions and make things up on the spot.

It’s not that Boss Lu is not attracted to Gao Yuanyuan, it’s just that he is afraid of getting his hands stuck!

The female intellectual from Da Meiyuan is so ill that she is forcing Zhang Yadong to marry her until he is about to vomit blood. Lu Kuan is afraid that he will not be able to get rid of her once he gets involved with her.

"Huh? Are there paparazzi?"

Gao Yuanyuan looked back in confusion. She had deliberately pulled Lu Kuan to a corner to talk, just to prevent them from being secretly photographed.

Why does it feel like there was a flash just now?

Su Chang, who was standing by the wall at the corner, rubbed his chest guiltily. It was so fucking exciting, he almost got discovered.

She came as a company artist to support the company's films.

It was my first time as a paparazzi and I had no experience, so I forgot to turn off the flash.

She edited a MMS and sent it to her best friend Liu Yifei. This new feature that was just released this year is quite useful.

The call came in less than ten seconds.

"What's going on? Report the location and people."

Su Chang rolled his eyes. "New Dong'an Cinema, the premiere of 'Racing'."

"Characters... washing machine and Zhou Zhiruo."

"Zhou Zhiruo?"

Su Chang was frantic: "It's Gao Yuanyuan, code name! Do you understand code names?!"

"Why are you so amateur? Weren't you there when the company organized a viewing of 'Insidious' last week? Yu Zecheng is also called Shen Hai!"

At this time, Liu Yifei was still caring about her deep sea and shallow water. She just said wait for me and hung up the phone.

The girl had just finished the second round of rehearsals in CCTV's first studio. She changed her clothes and pulled Liu Xiaoli out.

"Where are you going?"

"Watch the movie, the premiere of 'The Race'."

Liu Xiaoli's face darkened when she saw her daughter like this. "You think I don't know what you are planning, right?"
"Xixi, I have to report to the set of The Return of the Condor Heroes tomorrow. It's too late to go now."

Concubine Liu Yi said righteously: "It's not too late! The East Third Ring Road is less than 8 kilometers from Wangfujing. It will take less than minutes to get there."

Liu Xiaoli's face turned even darker.

You've already found out the distance, right?

(End of this chapter)