As the male protagonist, Takakura Ken is over 50 years old this year. Although he takes good care of himself, having to act from when he was in his twenties to when he was in his 80s really tested the makeup skills of Wang Films.
"In the movie, the male protagonist's ideological changes are divided into several parts. The first is the student days. At this time, Uno Hide, like other young people, loves life, enjoys love, and is ready to enter the society and show his talents. The second This was the stage when he was bewitched by militaristic ideas. He wanted to serve the Emperor and resolutely left his fianc¨¦e to join the army. The third stage was the passionate soldier stage. Uno Hidekazu came to China with the army. He was brave and fearless for the Emperor. Every time he won a battle, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep. , wrote his excitement into a letter and sent it to his fianc¨¦e in his hometown. The fourth stage of confusion began. With the endless war year after year, Uno Hidekazu began to be tired and confused, until one day he walked into the military prostitute camp and saw When the comfort woman lying on the bed turned out to be his haggard fianc¨¦e, Uno Hidekazu's faith began to collapse. The fifth stage is the aversion to war, which is also the climax of the whole movie. After Uno Hidekazu entered Nanjing with the troops, he witnessed a large number of inhumane things. The massacre, he finally understood the true meaning of this war" Wang Zijun analyzed for Takakura Ken.
Ken Takakura is a veteran actor who has been acting for decades. He has also been a leading actor in Hollywood movies and has a very strong grasp of roles. He rubbed his tired face and said, "I have talked with Mr. Toshiro and Mr. Thomas, and I will try my best to perform well."
Seeing his tired look, Wang Zijun asked: "Why, is it the opposition from those right-wingers that puts you under a lot of pressure?"
Takakura shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Opposition from others has little impact. When I was reading the script, I also read a lot of information about the Nanjing Massacre and felt the pain from history. I felt that if I finished filming this drama , I¡¯ll probably go crazy.¡±
Wang Zijun patted him on the shoulder with a serious expression and said, "I will invite some professional psychologists to provide scientific psychological counseling for everyone."
It¡¯s not just Takakura Ken, it¡¯s Wang Zijun himself. If you immerse yourself in those tragic events for a year or two in a row, you will be driven crazy. Ken Takakura is the male protagonist, and he is the director of the entire movie. They both have to invest their emotions in it. Once they invest too deeply, psychological problems will occur in the long run.
I continued shooting in Otaru City until the end of October, and then went to Tokyo and Kyoto Prefecture to shoot and add some scenes until the beginning of November. Wang Zijun finally brought the crew to Tianjin.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome Mr. Wang's crew to our Tianjin for filming!" After the crew got off the plane, they were warmly welcomed by the local government, and the municipal Party committee secretary personally led the team to greet them.
The movie "Holy War" has received strong support from the Ministry of Culture, and the China Film Co-production Company has also participated as one of the producers. The China Film Co-production Company is responsible for liaising with the government and arranging actors in the filming locations in mainland China. It can even use the military to participate in the filming of some war scenes, while Wang Films only needs to pay a certain subsidy to the participating soldiers. .
In return, China Film Co-Production Company will become one of the producers. And obtained the film distribution rights and all box office revenue of "Jihad" in mainland China.
It must be said that Chinese film co-production companies have great powers. This company was founded in 1979. It is responsible for cooperating with overseas film companies to shoot movies, such as the famous "Burning of the Old Summer Palace", "The Last Emperor" and other movies, all of which are participated by this company. There is also Xingye's "Xiaoqiang, you don't want to die" "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance", which was co-produced by China Film Co-production Company and Xiang Huaqiang's Yongsheng.
This time, the entry visas for the crew of "Holy War", the customs entry procedures for film equipment, etc. were all handled by the China Film Co-Production Company. Wang Zijun only needed to concentrate on filming.
Of course, the secretary of the Tianjin Municipal Party Committee can come to the airport to pick him up in person. The attention of the Ministry of Culture and the operation of China Film Co-production Company are not enough. In order to shoot realistic war scenes, Wang Zijun invested US$1.5 million to rebuild the Drum Tower of Tianjin's old city that was demolished more than 30 years ago and repair the city wall. This is what makes Tianjin government officials happiest.
"Hello, Mr. Wang, I am Ning Xiaoying. I am the liaison person of the China Film Co-production Company. If you have any errands to do in the future, just ask me." A middle-aged woman in her forties who still retains her charm came over. When shaking hands with Wang Zijun, Ning Xiaoying was wearing a white suit, which was different from the Chinese tunic suits worn by the officials.
"It's troublesome, Ms. Ning." Wang Zijun didn't dare to neglect this woman. For the next year or so, the filming in mainland China will rely on this woman to contact various places. If something goes wrong, she will be in trouble.
Ning Xiaoying introduced the people behind her and said: "This is Mr. Chen Kaige, the famous director in my country, and Mr. Zhang Laomou, the famous director. They are all your directors."?Assistant. "
Wang Zijun shook hands with the two and said with a smile: "We are old friends, Ms. Ning needs no introduction."
Speaking of which, China Film Co-Production Company is not a professional film company at this time. Instead, they come out to cooperate with the filming to make money when there are overseas blockbusters that need to be filmed in China. And they can mobilize the manpower of all film companies in China. As long as the parties and the company agree, anyone can be hired.
In this way, you can make money, and secondly, you can learn from advanced foreign film shooting experience. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone. Those film workers who have been transferred are generally happy to come and help. After all, there are very few opportunities to cooperate with foreigners.
For example, in "The Last Emperor", Zhang Laomou played a minor role in bowing to Puyi when he boarded the plane, while Chen Kaige played a guard with a few lines. And many times, they are giving advice to director Bertolucci.
Back in the city, the local officials inevitably invited them to dinner. Ning Xiaoying, Zhang Laomou, and Brother Chen Kai accompanied her, and a group of leading actors, consultants, photographers, etc. also followed.
Naturally, Toshiro and Makoto Tanabe were the two main tables. The local official took advantage of his drink and asked, "I heard that Mr. Toshiro is in the machine tool business?"
"A little business." Dongshiro said modestly. This old man didn't go to War Diary just to make money. He was a factory owner himself, and he also ran several movie theaters.
"Mr. Dong Shilang can visit Tianjin more. The investment environment here is still very good." The official said, but his eyes glanced at Wang Zijun.
Wang Zijun has already donated US$1.5 million (of the film budget) to rebuild the Drum Tower and the city wall, and Tianjin itself already has two Wang Food Group bread and instant noodle processing plants, so local officials are naturally embarrassed to challenge him again.
"I will take a closer look." Dongshiro nodded.
The officials chatted with Dong Shilang about investment, while Wang Zijun chatted with several people from the China Film Co-production Company.
Ning Xiaoying asked: "Mr. Wang, I heard that the budget of "Holy War" is 100 million US dollars?"
"There should be some surplus, mainly due to the budget people below. I didn't expect labor here in mainland China to be so cheap." Wang Zijun nodded and replied, "I estimate that it can be completed with a maximum of 80 million US dollars."
Can it be cheaper? Ordinary extras are paid a few RMB per person per day. No one in Hong Kong and Taiwan would be willing to do this, but there are countless people from mainland China rushing to come.
Even if the army is mobilized to participate in the filming, the subsidy per person per day is only about ten yuan, and the soldiers are very happy.
80 million U.S. dollars was an astronomical figure at this time. Ning Xiaoying really couldn't figure out how Wang Zijun could spend so much money. She said: "Bertolucci only spent 25 million U.S. dollars on filming "The Last Emperor". All their foreigners The water the staff drinks is mineral water flown in from Italy, and the cook is also a foreign cook picked up by plane."
Wang Zijun laughed and said: "The Last Emperor had the Forbidden City where it could be filmed on location. My Holy War had to temporarily set up scenes in various places. For example, in Tianjin, a sum of money was spent to build the Drum Tower and the city wall. Also, There are airplanes, tanks, and cannons used for filming. Some are real ones rented from military museums, and some are models we built ourselves. But no matter what, these cost a lot of money. 80 million US dollars, really can¡¯t be any less ¡±
Wang Zijun's "Holy War" has a lot of content and is at least three hours long. It was filmed from Hokkaido and Tokyo to Tianjin, Jinan, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan and other places. Spread money.
Brother Chen Kai and Zhang Laomou were listening, secretly speechless. The extravagance and waste of the crew of "The Last Emperor" has opened their eyes, and Wang Zijun's current arrogance has made them truly feel what it means to be generous. For them, let alone a budget of US$100 million, even a production of US$1 million is unimaginable.
At the wine table, Wang Zijun and Ning Xiaoying discussed the specific shooting tasks and said that the army would be needed in half a month. Ning Xiaoying hung up the phone directly after the meal, and then told Wang Zijun that the Beijing Military Region had agreed, but they could only bring up to 300 soldiers. If there was a shortage, Wang Zijun would have to find extras.
It was Wang Zijun who shocked them just now, but now it is Wang Zijun who is impressed by Ning Xiaoying. He can transfer people in the Beijing Military Region with just one phone call. If the Ministry of Culture hadn't supported this cause, this lady would have been patient.
¡°Boss.¡± After dinner, we returned to the hotel, and it didn¡¯t take long for Le Yun to find her. For more than a year, Le Yun has been responsible for the work on the mainland. Everything is controlled by Wang Zijun, and the results are not bad.