As the director of the 1960 version of "A Chinese Ghost Story", Li Hanxiang dragged Zhang Che to secretly attend the premiere out of curiosity, wondering what Zhou Wen would remake his favorite work into.
Li Hanxiang was born in the 1920s. He received a lot of traditional education since he was a child and has profound classical literacy. Therefore, his works are classical, dignified, and exuding the charm of traditional Chinese moral values. A kind of simple and elegant beauty.
He is good at costume dramas. In "A Chinese Ghost Story" he directed, whether it is Ning Caichen, Nie Xiaoqian or Yan Chixia, they all bear the mark of the times. For example, the song Ning Caichen heard when he met Nie Xiaoqian was "Man Jiang Hong". ¡±, when the two met and answered each other, they all had the charm of literati etiquette, full of bookishness, just like a Chinese painting. Ning Caichen was completely intellectually humble, neither humble nor arrogant, and Xiaoqian also understood music well and was well-informed. "Everyone is a lady", even if grandma came to scold Ning Caichen, she would still scold him based on traditional morality for "walking into a boudoir at night, a man and a woman alone".
These exquisite images won rave reviews at the time, and were also the reason why Chang Cheh praised "an overlord in silk robes and silver armor" in the film review. The film participated in the 1060 Cannes Film Festival in France and was the first Hong Kong color film to participate in an international film festival. It can be regarded as the most glorious work of Li Hanxiang's film career, so after hearing that Zhou Wen was remaking it, he was worried and looking forward to it.
Zhou Wen participated in the remake of "A Better Tomorrow" into a contemporary classic and created a new trend of hero movies. Today, with the proliferation of hero movies, Zhou Wen still has the courage to pick up the director and make costume movies that have been abandoned by the audience. This courage and courage alone won Li Hanxiang's appreciation. As a master in the film industry, Li Hanxiang does not want the film world to be filled with various fashion action movies. I don¡¯t want the precious legacy left by my predecessors to be forgotten. It is a feeling that is difficult to express. But nowadays, filmmakers are focusing on commercial films to make money. Only Zhou Wen is willing to try costume films. How can you and Li Hanxiang not look forward to it? ?
While looking forward to it, there are also worries. After all, Zhou Wen is only in his early 20s. According to Li Hanxiang¡¯s understanding of him, it seems that he has only graduated from Form 5. Moreover, his family situation is not very good and he does not have the conditions to accept the influence of traditional culture. Li Hanxiang is worried that he will not be able to control "A Chinese Ghost Story" with rich classical culture.
After watching one-third of the film, where Ning Caichen and Nie Xiaoqian met each other in the water, Director Li finally let out a sigh of disappointment.
"Old Li, why are you sighing when you are so good?" Zhang Che asked.
"Do you feel anything?" Li Hanxiang asked with a frown.
Zhang Che chuckled and said, "I know what you want to say. In fact, you can't expect today's young people to have the literary literacy of our era."
"Haha. The things of the older generation are almost lost!"
The two key protagonists, Nie Xiaoqian and Ning Caichen, have undergone tremendous changes. Ning Caichen is no longer a talented and honorable man with a mind for revenge, but a down-and-out debt collection scholar. Such a person is pitiful, although it can arouse the audience. Their infinite sympathy, especially the sympathy and love of the female audience. However, Li Hanxiang could not be satisfied. His "The country is broken and the mountains and rivers are still there" and "The river is red" disappeared in Zhou Wen's version of "A Chinese Ghost Story".
And Nie Xiaoqian's change shocked Li Hanxiang even more. Nie Xiaoqian was no longer a well-educated and educated boudoir girl among the ladies, but turned into a real professional seductress with various styles, enchanting, charming expressions and captivating eyes. A man¡¯s female ghost!
"I am quite dissatisfied with this Xiaoqian. How is it different from the prostitutes who sell themselves in reality!" Li Hanxiang was very upset. Pointing to Wang Zuxian's version of Xiaoqian, he said to Zhang Che: "The essence of the original work has been lost, so it's okay not to watch this film!"
After saying that, he walked away. But Zhang Che grabbed him. "Lao Li, why are you doing this? In your opinion, this movie is not good, but look at the audience's reaction."
Hearing this, Li Hanxiang looked around and saw that the audience was watching with great interest, and a wave of depression surged in his chest.
"Times have changed, and sometimes we have to refuse to accept our old age. If the audience doesn't buy our account, it means we are behind the times and should give way to young people!" Zhang Che sighed and said, "I don't want to continue to be a director, but the market does not allow it. We If you can't adapt to the market and make movies that the audience will buy into, no film company will dare to invest. Lao Li, don't always look at the problem from a subjective perspective, you must accept the reality!"
Li Hanxiang remained silent, just as Nie Xiaoqian was playing on the big screen, she tried every means to throw herself into his arms. However, the bookworm Ning Caichen still didn't understand the charm, and even complained that her face was too white, her hands were too cold, her body was too heavy, and she wanted to give her a favor. She went to see the doctor In the end, Miss Xiaoqian had to have a good time, blowing him down in one breath, and faintly said: "You are a good person, but it's a pity that you came to the wrong place."
"You see! Xiaoqian is also a pitiful ghost, a puppet who is oppressed and manipulated and has no freedom. Look at that?The sad and resentful eyes reminded me of being controlled by an old monster for so many years, how depressing and painful my life was. So speaking of Lao Li, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mean to photograph a young lady sitting on the stage. He didn¡¯t ruin you No, no. Ruining Pu Songling's things. "Zhang Che persuaded his old friend by putting himself in his shoes.
Li Hanxiang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he had to admit that Zhang Che's words made sense. Yes, only young people can understand the psychology of young people. Zhou Wen did this to comply with the needs of the market. If the screen was filled with all kinds of people, It's a sophisticated traditional movie, and it's only wonder that the audience likes it. Business and entertainment are the eternal topics of Hong Kong movies.
After changing his mind, Li Hanxiang looked at Nie Xiaoqian, played by Wang Zuxian, who was much more pleasing to the eye. She was dressed in white gauze dancing in the night sky. If it weren't for the charming look in her eyes, she might have been regarded as a fairy rather than a female ghost, especially in the night sky. When flying around in a white gauze, with long sleeves fluttering in the air, the flying beauty of Chinese ghost mythology also looks particularly dynamic. Wang Zuxian's gestures, body posture, and movements are all full of the elegant and volleying beauty, whether playing the piano or playing the piano. Flying, sitting, standing, and lying on one side all interpret the subtle sex appeal of oriental classical women to the extreme!
Li Hanxiang decided to stay. Even though he still had a lot of criticisms about Zhou Wen's version of "A Chinese Ghost Story", he still decided to watch the whole show.
Behind the two big shots in the film industry, there was a short-built guy with piercing eyes. He stretched his miniature tape recorder forward and recorded something in the dark.
The plot on the big screen continued to play. In order to lure Yan Chixia away, Ning Caichen even pretended to be a pheasant, screaming "cuckoo" and thrashing. This silly look not only made the audience in the theater burst into laughter, but also the trees. Xiaoqian couldn't help laughing when she peeked.
By accident, his country tricks finally attracted Yan Chixia, but what greeted him was Yan Chixia's sword slashed from the air. Seeing this, Nie Xiaoqian had to come to the rescue. At the critical moment, midfielder The mini-boss thousand-year-old tree demon-Grandma finally appears!
The bun is as high as horns, and its magical powers are unpredictable. It can use wind, fire, or fire. Even its speech is a weird two-channel stereo sound. It can scare people to death just by scaring it. After seeing the appearance of grandma, the audience was not scared away. Instead, they followed Yan Chixia on the screen and yelled: "You old fool!"
Except for the main creator and insiders, no one found that my grandma is the same person as the kind-hearted Nan Di in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". I have to say that this costume is quite bluffing.
After all the commotion, Ning Caichen returned to Lanruo Temple. The mummies in the building were salivating for him and wanted to eat him. However, without noticing the enemy at all, Ning Caichen accidentally wiped out all the mummies with a single movement. The audience While they laughed, they also felt a little sweaty for the little scholar.
¡°Damn it, this Ning Caichen is so lucky that he can kill mummies even if he opens a window!¡±
"Foolish people have their own stupid blessings. How can Ning Caichen's kindness be shown off without an ugly mummy?"
"Hey, Ning Caichen started to learn bad things and actually wrote false accounts without authorization, haha, what an unlucky and cute guy!"
After hearing the various comments of approval from the audience, Zhang Guorong breathed a long sigh of relief.
"Master Rong, are you nervous?" Zhou Wen asked with a sideways smile.
"Yes." Zhang Guorong shrugged and said, "I was worried that the audience would not recognize my acting skills, but it's much better now."
Zhang Guorong still has doubts about costume films. He still remembers that the first movie he starred in was also a costume film. At that time, he had just finished participating in a singing competition and was very hesitant. His singing career was at a loss, and a company offered him a salary of HK$6,500. It was a great temptation for him to play the starring role, but the film was criticized in many ways.
He remembers that he felt very aggrieved at the time and didn¡¯t understand why everyone was ¡°gimmicking¡± (sarcasm, laughing) at that time. He didn't do anything wrong. He even wore a red T-shirt and white underwear in a hurry. He still remembers the applause from the audience who shouted "Go home and take a rest early"
After that film, Zhang Guorong had a shadow of ancient costume films. Even though Zhou Wen later showed him the script and explained the plot very thoroughly, he was still wary of some passionate scenes in the film. This is why Zhou Wen came on stage. Another reason for the cameo stand-in.
But now it seems that everything is going very well. The audience has recognized his role as Ning Caichen. He has not been booed or booed, and no audience has said that he "bought a pig cage". He can finally face the costume film. . Zhou Wen helped him realize all of this.
Thinking of this, Zhang Guorong said softly to Zhou Wen: "Awen, thank you."
"You're thanking me for no reason." Zhou Wen chuckled and said, "If you really want to thank me, just perform your best in "Rouge Button"."
?"I will definitely work hard!" Zhang Guorong promised.