Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 333 Jiang Dadan Comes to the Door

In the footage, after You Benchang said goodbye to Zhao Wenxuan and the family and left, they encountered the deceased's father outside the door.

The man, with red eyes and his head slightly lowered, said, "After Tie Nan became like this, he often got into fights outside and hasn't been home for a long time. I haven't seen him for a very, very long time."

Then he looked up at You Benchang and Zhao Wenxuan in front of him: "But just now I saw his smiling face again... Ah, this is my son! Even if he looks like a girl, he is still my son!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man burst into tears, his tall frame hunched over, and he bowed deeply to the two of them, sobbing, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

You Benchang and Zhao Wenxuan were both supporting the middle-aged man when they couldn't help but exchange a glance.

This experience was extraordinary for both of them, but it was also very meaningful. Allowing the deceased to leave according to their own wishes, and bringing some solace to the living—isn't that the meaning of their work?
"Pass!"

Filming is now more than halfway complete, and Wu Yuchen estimates that the movie should be finished in about a month.

Actually, it can only be called a pseudo-"wrap-up" because the film has only completed most of the filming. There are still some scenes to be filmed, mainly the scene where the male protagonist, Lin Wu, plays the cello in the wild.

The reason they couldn't film on location was because the season wasn't right yet. The scenery behind them had to change with the seasons, from autumn to winter and then to spring. The male protagonist would play different cello pieces in different seasons, representing his different states of mind.

The seasonal changes also mirror the protagonist's circumstances. In autumn, everything begins to wither, he loses his job, and unwittingly enters the mortuary industry. In winter, his wife leaves him, and he faces career difficulties, wanting to quit. But with the arrival of spring, both his family and career begin to improve. Placing spring at the end symbolizes a future full of hope.

Wu Yuchen didn't plan to film this scene in Shanghai. Instead, he would find a location further north, near Longwang Mountain in Huzhou, where there would be mountains and snow to create a better shot.

Although it rarely snows in Shanghai, movies are fictional stories, so it's normal for scenes from different locations to be pieced together in a film; it can't be too rigid.

……

"Director Wu, I've come uninvited, you won't be unwelcome to me, will you?"

Seeing Jiang Wen's completely unconcerned expression, Wu Yuchen pointed at him and laughed, "Since you're already here, how could I say I'm not welcoming you?"

"Haha, everyone says Director Wu is generous and righteous, and that's certainly true!"

Hearing Jiang Wen flatter him so much upon their first meeting, Wu Yuchen glanced at him, made no attempt to hide anything, poured him a cup of tea, and said directly, "Old Jiang, we're not strangers, let's talk openly for a couple of days. Why are you praising me as soon as we meet? Is there something you want to say?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wen's expression turned serious, and he extended his hand, saying, "Director Wu, you're not right about that. I'm praising you because you're capable, your films are excellent, you're a righteous person, and you have a great reputation in the industry. Besides, you're now a leading figure in Chinese-language cinema. What's wrong with me praising you? It's all from the bottom of my heart!"

Wu Yuchen swallowed the tea in his mouth, then quickly waved his hand: "Alright, let's get down to business!"

The more Jiang Wen said this, the more certain Wu Yuchen became that this guy wanted something from him.

"Let's keep things separate. What I said earlier was from the bottom of my heart!"

Jiang Wen emphasized it again, then took out a script from his pocket and said to Wu Yuchen, "Director Wu, you're an expert, why don't you let me take a look?"

As soon as Jiang Wen handed him the script, Wu Yuchen roughly guessed what he meant.

It's already the end of 2004. Jiang Wen was banned in 2000, and he should be "released after serving his sentence" next year.

Although there are still more than half a year to go, Jiang Wen is already impatient and has begun preparing his comeback masterpiece. He will start filming as soon as he is released from the ban!
Wu Yuchen took Jiang Wen's script and saw that it was indeed "The Sun Also Rises." It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this movie was a huge loss. The investment was 5000 million yuan, but the final box office was only 1700 million yuan. As for how much the international rights would recoup, it was probably not much.

However, Wu Yuchen still opened the script and started reading. In his previous life, many people complained that Jiang Wen's movie was too obscure and difficult to understand, which was why it flopped at the box office.

《太阳照常升起》表面上由四个看似独立的故事组成，结构是模仿《低俗小说》那样的环形叙事。从电影先后顺序是1、2、3、4，但是实际上真正的故事时间线应该是4、2、1、3。。因此光是这个结构的安排就给观众一定程度上造成了观影的困难。

Furthermore, the film is rich in metaphors. On the surface, it's about the pursuit of love and desire, but it's actually a story of an idealist's disillusionment.

These four independent stories are "Madness," "Love," "Gun," and "Dream." The first three take place in the spring, summer, and autumn of 1976, respectively, while "Dream" takes place in the winter of 1958. The appearance of flowers and herbs at the end of "Dream" represents the transition from winter to spring, which can be seen as an expression of hope for the future, similar to the seasonal setting in "Departures."

Anyone with even a slight sensitivity to the history of this period will roughly know what happened, from the great leap in 1958 to the sudden death of a great figure in 1976, and the events of the decade or so in between, which I won't go into detail about.

As Wu Yuchen looked at the script, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Damn, Jiang Wen is still the same Jiang Dadan (a character known for his boldness)."

Wu Yuchen noticed the metaphors and implications everywhere he looked. The 18 years from 1958 to 1976 corresponded to the life of the character Li Dongfang in the film, representing the generation of young people who were obsessed with the country. His mentally ill mother was a metaphor for the motherland, and Alyosha was an allusion to the Russians. These were almost all explicit metaphors.

And then there are the most lovable people; "train" refers to Marxism-Leninism, and "velvet" is a veiled reference to Democracy. Uncle Li, the departed Soviet idiot, the old brother who turned against us…

Looking at this story, it's clear that in 58, Alyosha and his "madwoman" were still deeply in love, but he still forced himself on her. Later, she discovered his ulterior motives and broke off their relationship, de-Russianizing, with very serious consequences, leading to the wrongful deaths of many young men.

Meanwhile, Jiang Wen, the male protagonist who wields the gun, continues his grand pronouncements. As a result, the Western-style allure represented by Kong Wei seduces Li Dongfang, who, despite having destroyed the White House built by the "madwoman," still harbors hopes for the Velvet Revolution, a symbol of democracy. However, Jiang Wen points out that it's nothing but a fig leaf, so he shoots him dead.

But before this, Jiang Wen's friends in Beijing had already told him to recognize his mistakes, otherwise history would wash him away like the shoes and clothes of his madwoman. And the sun, symbolizing ideals, dreams, and the future, would still rise as usual.

As Wu Yuchen read, he sighed with emotion. There were many deeper meanings he dared not delve into. After turning the last page, he pointed at Jiang Wen and cursed:

"You fucking never learn! You always have to flirt with sensitive topics! It hasn't even been released yet, and you're already thinking about making something big?!" Jiang Wen said with a wronged expression, "Director Wu, what am I flirting with? This is just a very simple movie about love and romance. Is it because you have too much imagination and are making too many connections?"

However, Wu Yuchen's expression remained unchanged:

"You're still pretending in front of me? You can fool me with big scissors, but do you even want to fool me? Do you still want to invest?"

Jiang Wen immediately laughed and said, "Hey, Director Wu, I was just kidding! How could this thing possibly hide from your eyes? You're willing to invest in me?"

Wu Yuchen snorted and didn't answer him. Instead, he said, "Don't think that big scissors are easy to fool. There are plenty of people who know about them. Nobody's a fool."

Jiang Wen shrugged and said, "Hey! I've already done this much work on the script, you can't just ban it now!"

Wu Yuchen glanced at him: "Whether you can take the picture or not is entirely up to them. But even if you can, making it so subtle, how many people do you think will actually listen?"

"Director Wu, let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart. I've been holding back for the past few years. Even if I have to sell everything I own, I have to make this movie!" Jiang Wen said confidently.

Wu Yuchen retorted irritably, "Sell your pots and pans? You're selling other people's pots and pans! Now you've come after me, do you think we're easy to bully?"

"Oh dear! My Director Wu, right now, in all of China, who would dare to bully you? If you turn the tables, you're the one bullying me!" Jiang Wen began to feign weakness.

Wu Yuchen scoffed, "I bully you? I can't bully you, Jiang Dadan."

Seeing that Wu Yuchen wouldn't budge, Jiang Wen simply asked directly:

"Director Wu, just tell me, why are you willing to invest in me? How about I act in your movie right now? I'll act for you for free!"

In recent years, Jiang Wen hasn't been directing, but he has acted in several films. Besides the well-known "Looking for a Gun," he also starred in "Warriors of Heaven and Earth," "Green Tea," and "Letter from an Unknown Woman." "Letter from an Unknown Woman" was Xu Cairen's directorial debut, but it's estimated that Jiang Wen wasn't too interested in this subject matter, so he didn't leave much of a mark on it.

Wu Yuchen waved his hand dismissively: "Come on, you'd be nothing but a nuisance in my movie. I'd even think the coffin is too small for a corpse!"

Wu Yuchen then said, "This movie of yours is 100% going to lose money, and I don't want to be the sucker!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wen immediately became a little anxious: "Hey, Director Wu, you can't treat people differently like this!! You can invest in other people's art films, so why are you labeling me a money-loser when it comes to me?"

"Ha! You have the nerve to say that? When I give someone money, everyone tries to stretch every penny. What kind of person are you, Jiang Wen? Are you planning to break another record for the highest film ratio in China?"

Jiang Wen reached out and said, "Hey, Director Wu, don't say that about me. How come even Wong Kar-wai is ranked ahead of me?"

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but swear: "Damn it, you second son, you even got to be honored!"

Jiang Wen and Wong Kar-wai are both directors in the Chinese film industry who are most prolific at burning through film.

Jiang Wen wasn't annoyed. He chuckled and then clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute to Wu Yuchen, saying, "Director Wu, can you give me some guidance on how to get me to invest this money?"

After talking for a long time, he realized Wu Yuchen's attitude. If he really didn't intend to invest a single penny in the first place, he wouldn't have talked to him so much and would have just politely sent him away.

Wu Yuchen glanced at Jiang Wen a few times; he did indeed intend to invest in this film. However, his interest wasn't solely in this movie, but also in the one that followed.

In my past life, "The Sun Also Rises" was invested in by Yang Shoucheng, the boss of Emperor Entertainment Group, and it resulted in a huge loss. Later, Jiang Wen specially produced "Let the Bullets Fly," which made Yang Shoucheng earn it all back.

Wu Yuchen said, "I can vote you out, but there's a condition."

Jiang Wen immediately replied, "Please speak!"

"Your movie is just for your own enjoyment. I dare say 95% of people won't understand it. I'm only giving you 4000 million for this movie, not a penny more. You'll have to figure out the rest yourself."

"If this movie flops, you have to promise me you'll honestly produce a movie that everyone can understand, enjoy, and is willing to fight for tickets, even climbing over walls or standing on bricks to see!" Wu Yuchen said to Jiang Wen.

In his past life, when Jiang Wen appeared on the talk show "Roundtable" to discuss movies, he was asked for his opinion on entertainment films:
"You're using movies to talk about how to make money, or how to pick up girls—that's all nonsense!"

What is entertainment? It's when you can get me to scramble for tickets, to climb over walls, to trespass and endure hardships to see something – that's impressive. Entertainment isn't streetwalking, it's not about singing difficult songs or having meals with powerful figures – that's just being cheap.

Jiang Wen isn't saying he looks down on ordinary people or entertainment films. He's just saying that your "Titanic" and "Avatar," those kinds of entertaining films that draw crowds to watch, are awesome. But making trashy films that rely on hype and pandering to get donations is just streetwalking, it's despicable.

Although Jiang Wen hasn't said it yet, he can understand what Wu Yuchen means. If someone else had said it, he would have agreed without hesitation and even secured investment for the next movie. It would have been like a windfall.

But Wu Yuchen isn't easily fooled. If this film really flops, then when he comes up with a script for his next film, Wu Yuchen will immediately know what he's up to and whether he's just after money. At that point, everyone will definitely be under his control.

However, considering his current situation, many people are hesitant to invest in him, fearing he might cause another "Devils on the Doorstep" incident...

"Okay, Director Wu, it's settled!"

(End of this chapter)