"Snapped!"
Jiang Wen slapped the table with his palm, stared and said, "This paragraph must be kept, otherwise it won't have the energy! Energy, do you understand?"
As he said that, he put his head around and asked Li Tang, "Xiao Li, what do you think?"
"I don't care." Li Tang shrugged without commenting.
He didn't expect that the storyline in the script that he disliked the most was about Zou Jie trying to violate his adopted daughter Hua. He hadn't mentioned it yet, but director Hou Yong had proposed to change it.
This is how this section is described in the original work. However, a movie is a movie, and the movie is more widely disseminated. Hou Yong was worried that filming such a section would not pass the censorship.
In fact, those writers are quite bad. In the beginning, Zou Jie was portrayed as the first party member in the school, with both good character and academic performance, and he volunteered to work in a difficult place, such a great and upright character. But in the end, he turned into a despicable person who tried to violate his adopted daughter. The contrast was particularly huge.
When such a storyline is adapted into a script, there will naturally be fierce conflicts and conflicts, which can achieve a particularly good dramatic effect, but it always feels like you are deliberately insinuating something.
This is not because Hou Yong himself wants to change it, but because someone had put forward opinions in this regard when the script was submitted for review. Although the filming permit was successfully obtained due to the operation of China Film and Huayi Huayi, some people have recently made goodwill suggestions to him. Advice to avoid trouble when submitting for review later.
For Li Tang, as Jiang Wen said, this plot would be boring after it was taken away, but he couldn't accept it from the bottom of his heart. Although after some mental construction some time ago, he can still act if he is forced to act. Of course it would be best not to act, because he can portray the role of Zou Jie without any burden.
When Jiang Wen heard this, he was immediately dissatisfied: "Tsk, Xiao Li, I'm not talking about you. How can you be so old-fashioned and arrogant at such a young age? You have no sense of responsibility at all! You have also appeared in a play, and they say you have a good eye for choosing scripts. Okay, can’t you see it? Can the effect be the same?"
Li Tang said unhurriedly: "Actually, I don't think it matters much whether to change it or not. It turns out that this paragraph in the script has a strong dramatic conflict. But Director Hou's opinion is also reasonable. They say rumors can kill people. Especially in that era when saliva can drown people, reputation is often higher than life. Furthermore, Zou Jie is such an excellent person, and he cherishes his feathers even more. He can't stand the pressure of public opinion and builds him up. I think it's good to be a tragic figure, at least it won't be controversial, don't you think?"
As soon as Li Tang finished speaking, Hou Yong continued: "Yes, that's what I'm worried about. I'm sure it won't pass when I finish filming and submit it for review. I'll have to change it then, so why bother? It's better that we change it now."
Jiang Wen was even more dissatisfied when he heard that the two of them were working together. He is the kind of person with mental mysophobia, especially when it comes to movies. If he thinks he can do better, he will never give up.
"Tsk, look at what you two said, why are you so easy to compromise? Come on, this is a movie! It's art! You have to strive for excellence, otherwise I'll just stop making this movie."
"Well……"
Hou Yong had a troubled look on his face. He looked at the excited Jiang Wen and then at the calm Li Tang. He hesitated and said, "How about shooting both versions."
Jiang Wen was reluctantly satisfied when he heard this, but he looked down on Hou Yong's conciliatory approach and shouted: "That's right. When the time comes to submit it for review, let's try it first. Let's do our work. What if this is passed! That’s what review is all about, you have to reason with them..."
Just when Jiang Wen was talking enthusiastically, Li Tang suddenly said: "But what if it doesn't make sense?"
"..."
Now it's Jiang Wen's turn to be speechless. If it had made sense back then, his "The Devils Are Coming" wouldn't have been banned. Even he himself wouldn't have been banned from directing for five years. Until now, he's only had fun watching it. .
In fact, Li Tang felt that Jiang Wen was a little too picky. The main plot of this drama is the unfortunate love experiences of the three generations of mother and daughter Jasmine, Li, and Hua. The character Zou Jie is at best the hero of the second story, at worst he is the condiment. The role of the seasoning is to highlight the character Li's stubborn character caused by childhood injuries. Zou Jie's death was the last straw that destroyed her. Does it matter how she died?
Of course, in the eyes of the creator, no scene is superfluous, but in the eyes of the audience, it may be a simple storyline. They will only focus on the harm Li caused to Zou Jie. To put it bluntly, it is self-inflicted. I won’t worry about why Zou Jie committed suicide. At most, the plot of Zou Jie trying to violate his adopted daughter Hua will be regarded as satisfying the evil taste hidden in his heart.
After several days of discussion and debate, the script was finally finalized. Li Tang also took the time to go back to his hometown. Everything was going well at home. After Lao Li had Aunt Xiao by his side, Li Tang felt a lot more at ease outside.
Most of the filming locations for "Jasmine Blooms" are in Chedun Film and Television City, and some exterior scenes need to be shot in urban areas. However, in the second story, Zou Jie’s hometown will be filmed in Dongshan Town on the edge of Taihu Lake in Suzhou. It was the filming location for the movie "Spring in a Small Town" and the TV series "Oranges Are Red".
One more thing, the producer of "Jasmine Blooms" is Tian Zhuangzhuang, the director of "Spring in a Small Town".
Speaking of which, "Spring in a Small Town" is Grange's comeback after being banned from directing for ten years, even though the film won the San Marco Award in the Against the Current category at last year's Venice Film Festival. But those who understand understand that this award is more of a tribute to this "unyielding director" in the eyes of Westerners.
The "Spring in a Small Town" he filmed just copied director Fei Mu's classic.
Perhaps the ten-year ban on directing completely sapped his spirit, so this once very prolific director throughout the 1980s resigned from his position as director of Beijing Film Studio at the beginning of the year and went to his alma mater, Beijing Film Studio. TV, serving as a master's tutor in the directing department.
Serving as the producer of "Jasmine Blooms" this time is more to cheer for Hou Yong, an old classmate, little brother, and old partner.
As for the female lead, Zhang Ziyi, she hurried from Hong Kong to the crew to report for work until the day before filming started. In the past two years, she has been filming "2046" directed by Wang Jiawei. However, the filming of this film has been intermittently, which does not affect her from taking on other films.
Hou Yong was very low-key and did not hold any launch press conference with great fanfare. On the night when the heroine Zhang Ziyi arrived to report to the crew, he convened many of the main creators and actors to hold a small banquet at the Chinese restaurant of Huating Hotel where the main cast stayed. Let’s have a kick-off party and let’s get to know each other.
Because "Jasmine Blooms" was filmed in Shanghai, in addition to the main actors, the other supporting roles were all local Shanghai actors. For example, the barber Lao Wang who coveted Jasmine in the first story was played by actor Huang Daliang from Shanghai Film Studio. He is a professional villain actor.
In fact, when I was reading the script, I found that the character of the barber Lao Wang was very vivid. In the play, Lao Wang not only had an affair with Mo's mother, but also always coveted Mo's beauty, and often took advantage of the opportunity to do something to Mo's hair.
The reason why I say the image of this character is because in Shanghai, no matter in the past or now, wealthy people often ask barbers to come to their homes to do their hair. Moreover, there is a saying in Shanghai: being obscene is nothing more than a barber. What it means is that there are too many things like barbers making dirty jokes, touching, and even having sex with old customers when they are doing hair.
Later, Li Tang learned that Su Tong, the original author of "Jasmine Blossoms", was from Suzhou. No wonder he described such details in such a wonderful way.
For example, the director in the play is Lin Dongfu, a famous voice actor and host in Shanghai. This is Lao Koehler. He always wears a crisp suit, shiny leather shoes, and a fresh head. This guy started out as a voice actor at a translation studio, and later worked as a variety show host at Shanghai TV. He especially loved drama. He would hang out at the drama center when he had nothing to do. He also starred in the French satirical comedy "Art" with Bald Xu. Extra-staff actor at Drama Center.
Also playing Zou Jie’s mother is teacher Xi Meijuan, a senior actress from the Drama Center.
These are basically all old acquaintances of Li Tang. They have not seen each other for a long time and it is indispensable to exchange greetings and greetings. In the past, Li Tang might have been a newcomer to the drama center, but now Li Tang is not only the most famous and outstanding young actor in the drama center, but also the boss of a film and television company, with a certain say. Therefore, no one dares to look down upon him. It is more common for peers to have equal and even deliberately friendly conversations.
"Hey, Teacher Li, I heard from the director that your role has been decided?"
Zhang Ziyi, who had been very reserved during this period, saw the opportunity and pulled Li Tang aside to whisper.
As I said before, in the industry, as long as there is no prefix in front of the director, such as Director Chen, Director Feng, Director Hou, the one who only calls "director" is director Zhang Yimou.
So Li Tang didn't misunderstand and just nodded towards her.
"No wonder, I asked you why the former Captor Jin in the script became Captor Li again." Zhang Ziyi smiled, winking at Li Tang and saying: "Teacher Li, you are so awesome, you actually recommended Anle Company. The role of Kim Sung-wu was snatched away.”
Li Tang looked at her and couldn't help but joked: "Are you quite disappointed?"
Because in the director's new movie, the girl played by Zhang Ziyi has many intimate scenes with Capt. Li. Think about it, Kim Sung-wu is more handsome than the little king of Asia.
As a result, Zhang Ziyi looked him up and down and said jokingly: "You're not bad either!"
Well, although Li Tang likes to flirt with women, he doesn't dare to mess with this sister, not to mention she's not his favorite.
He immediately changed the subject and said, "Are you going to attend the Oscars on the 23rd?"
"Of course!"
Speaking of Oscar, Zhang Ziyi's eyes suddenly lit up, with light in her eyes. Although this is not her first time attending the Oscars. As early as two years ago, she had already walked on the red carpet that attracted the attention of the whole world as a member of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
"I've already asked for leave. We'll set off on the 20th." Zhang Ziyi said with a smile.
Then he added: "So this time we will work harder and try to finish filming the second story before the 20th."
Li Tang was a little surprised and couldn't help but said: "Are you in such a hurry?"
How many days did it take from the time it was launched on the 8th to the 20th?
Zhang Ziyi said: "There is still a lot of preparation work. I have to get there two days in advance."
Before, she was busy trying on dresses and picking out jewelry in Hong Kong, all in preparation for stepping on the red carpet of the Oscars on March 23.
However, Li Tang felt that she might be destined to be disappointed this time, because in the memory of his previous life, the red carpet was temporarily canceled due to the outbreak of the Iraq War before this Oscar ceremony.
Second update, there was a bit of a lag when coding this chapter, so please bear with me if it may be a little unsatisfactory.
(End of chapter)
