Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 311 Daughter = Wu Dalang?
In a teahouse in Kowloon, Zhang Chen saw the living Johnnie To.

"Director Zhang, nice to meet you~"

"Director Du, hello~"

They were both well-known and needed no introduction. After shaking hands, they took their seats one after another.

Johnnie To himself is very energetic, with a pair of bright eyes.

"Director Du, nice to meet you again~" After the two of them got to know each other and exchanged greetings, Zhongli Ti greeted them with a smile.

"Long time no see, Christy~" Johnnie To also replied.

Christy is Zhong Liti's English name. After all, Hong Kong is a colony, and many people have the habit of calling people by their English names.

"Everyone, have some tea first~" Boss Yang rolled the tea twice, spread it to everyone, and then offered tea. Then he casually asked, "Christy, did you go to the movies with Director Zhang this afternoon?"

It was the first time that Zhang Chen and Johnnie To met and they were not very familiar with each other.

In this case, it must be Boss Yang, the middleman, who is looking for topics to talk about.

"Boss Yang, you won't send anyone to follow us, will you?" Zhongli Ti exaggerated.

It was good to have a woman beside to adjust the atmosphere. Boss Yang laughed and said, "I'm not a paparazzi. How can I send someone to follow you? You can only blame yourselves. You've even been on the news..."

"Oh, I forgot. When we came out of the movie, we were caught by reporters and interviewed. Director Zhang Chen praised Director Du's "Underworld" very much..."

Zhang Chen said, "That's not a compliment. It's all from my heart. Director Du's "Underworld" is really well made. I said it to his face. It's the best gangster movie I've ever seen, bar none..."

Lao Du was obviously very happy to hear Zhang Chen's praise. This was a compliment from a billionaire director. He smiled and said, "Director Zhang, you are too kind. Although "Underworld" is indeed a work that I am very satisfied with, it is not as good as what Director Zhang said. You are too kind, too kind...

I watched Director Zhang's Taken a few days ago and was amazed by it..."

Boss Yang offered tea again. Several people stopped talking, picked up the small teacups and put them into their mouths, the fragrance immediately lingered on their lips and teeth.

Putting down the teacup, Zhang Chen thought that what the other party said just now was just polite talk. After all, they had just met and it was customary for them to flatter each other about their business.

Unexpectedly, Johnnie To suddenly said, "Actually, I was already full of curiosity before I saw it. The media were talking about the six-and-a-half-minute long shot in Taken. To be honest, I was very curious. After seeing it, I realized how amazing Director Zhang is..."

Johnnie To said this suddenly, and Zhang Chen couldn't figure out whether the other party was saying this as a compliment or sarcasm, so he didn't dare to respond.

Johnnie To continued, "I can tell that the long shots were spliced ​​together, but even so, I still admire Director Zhang's scheduling ability, especially the part in the slums, which was so smooth that you couldn't even tell that it was spliced ​​together in many places..."

He is an insider and an expert in using lenses, so it's not surprising that he can see the trick at a glance.

What really surprised Zhang Chen was his attitude.

So far, what Johnnie To said should not be sarcasm, but this is somewhat different from what Zhang Chen expected.

"Many directors in the industry have expressed disapproval of my pseudo-long shot. Doesn't Director Du think that this long shot is a regression in film art?"

"Haha, those bugs, they don't understand movies at all, they are just a bunch of guys who can only recite from the script..."

Zhang Chen didn't expect Johnnie To to say this, so he heard Johnnie To continue, "Those guys only talk about art, expression, style every day...

In fact, they don't understand anything.

What is a lens? It is nothing more than a tool for expression.

What is the difference between a real long shot and a fake long shot? For the audience, what is expressed is the same, and for the director, as long as the audience gets what you want to express, that's enough. Does it matter whether it is a real long shot or a fake long shot?"

The message expressed by Johnnie To's words coincided with Zhang Chen's. Zhang Chen did not expect that Old To was such a pragmatic person, and his favorable impression of him immediately increased.

"Director Du, that's what I think~"

The two talked about long shots and compared them with the real long shot that Lao Du had shot in "Big Events" to verify each other.

"When I was shooting, I found the main photographer of "The Lord of the Rings", but he came over and studied it for three days, told me that he couldn't shoot this shot, and then left. Other photographers were even more afraid to take it. Later, I had to reduce the difficulty to shoot it..."

When it comes to their professional fields, both of them talk incessantly, as if they have endless things to say.

Boss Yang and Zhong Liti next to them found what they were saying a bit boring.

Especially Zhongli Ti.

Originally, she didn't want to come after knowing it was a directors' party, but Zhang Chen was unfamiliar with the place, his Cantonese was not fluent, and he couldn't even get a taxi properly, so she had to accompany him.

Boss Yang couldn't get a word in and could only keep offering tea. Zhongli Ti didn't feel bored. Her big eyes were fixed on Zhang Chen. She really liked listening to Zhang Chen talk about these things. She didn't understand them, but she just thought they were amazing.

As they chatted, the two were no longer focused on the movie, but the entire movie environment.

"There is one thing I admire about Hong Kong filmmakers, and that is your spirit in making films. You dare to fight and work hard, and you dare to play for real. You don't care about anything for the sake of the film. To be honest, the mainland is far behind you in this aspect."

This is not self-deprecation. Hong Kong filmmakers really lead the world in this respect.

Boss Yang and Johnnie To are also very proud.

"In fact, what I admire more is the creativity of Hong Kong filmmakers. Since the 1980s, there has been a flourishing of talents over the past 20 years, and a large number of classic films have been born..."

Zhang Chen grew up watching these Hong Kong movies and was deeply influenced by them.

It can be said that his later application for the directing department was closely related to the influence he received in his childhood.

"A film like 'The Heroic Trio' was actually made by Director Du in 93. I really admire your imagination..."

At this point, Johnnie To waved his hands in embarrassment: "The Heroic Trio flopped. The Hong Kong audiences didn't buy it at all. The total box office was only 193 million Hong Kong dollars..."

It's all tears when I talk about it.

Zhang Chen was deeply impressed by this film.

Johnnie To invented a post-apocalyptic background, and then stitched Batman and New Dragon Inn together to create a new world.

This imagination alone is ten blocks ahead of others.

Perhaps the only Hong Kong film in later generations that can be compared with "The Heroic Trio" is "Full Alert".

"The Heroic Trio", just looking at the scene color tone and Anita Mui's character, it is easy to remind people of Tim Burton's version of "Batman". The three women joining forces to fight the eunuch is a copy of "New Dragon Inn" from a year ago.

But even so, Zhang Chen still thinks it is wonderful and the whole film is full of imagination.

Anita Mui's Green Hornet mask, Michelle Yeoh's one-piece warm red underwear, Maggie Cheung's afro and fishnet stockings...

Most directors simply cannot handle such settings and styles, but Johnnie To shot it pretty well.

The subject matter is very avant-garde, and the costumes, makeup, and design are also very bold. Although some props and special effects are a bit crude from today's perspective, especially the wire work bloopers that can be seen everywhere, the strong cult flavor exuded by the film itself is really unique.

I wonder if the scene with the skeleton in the fire was influenced by Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters from the 8s and 90s.

The three female heroes each represent a different personality and destiny. Maggie Cheung plays the eccentric Chen Qi, who ostensibly pursues excitement for money, but in fact has a burning desire for justice in her heart.

She is the cute and funny one in the trio, while the other two are heroic older sisters.

In addition, the music in this movie is really good, a typical superhero BGM. When the music starts, you know that a superhero is about to appear.

"I really like The Heroic Trio, especially the fact that you pioneered the use of women as protagonists. This is actually very similar to my The Darkness and The Shallows. Women are traditionally portrayed as weak, and when we give them some masculine elements, the contrast is very eye-catching..."

"Yes, yes, yes, so I endowed the three female protagonists with a brotherly relationship in the movie~"

Johnnie To felt that Zhang Chen really understood him.

After the release of "The Heroic Trio", he was burdened with endless infamy, as people could not understand such an alternative action film.

The style is different, the background is different, the protagonist is different, and there is also a different romance...

Now there is finally someone who can understand him, and he can really understand "The Heroic Trio".

Johnnie To was very excited, with a sense of excitement as if he had found a soulmate. The only thing he didn't have was three incense sticks at the scene, otherwise he might have become a Hongmen brother.

"There were indeed many good movies back then, but why are they gone now?"

Among everyone, the one who felt this most deeply was probably Boss Yang.

Ten years ago, making movies was simply a way to make money.

It doesn't cost much to make a movie, but the box office is very impressive.

In contrast, nowadays, the films he has handled have high investments, but the box office performance is worse than the last. Even Cheng Long, who starred in "Three Zhous and One Cheng", is not doing well. "The Myth", which cost 1.4 million Hong Kong dollars, has been released for almost a month, but the box office has not even exceeded million. He has lost a lot of money.

He didn't expect to get an answer, he just wanted to complain, but he didn't expect Zhang Chen to say, "Classics were produced in the past because the market had a high tolerance rate and low trial and error costs.

Back then, there were four ways for audiences to entertain themselves: watching TV, reading books and magazines, watching movies, and singing and dancing in entertainment venues.

So when a new movie comes out, everyone goes to see it. The audience has a low aesthetic sense and a high tolerance for bad movies, so even bad movies can’t get their reputation out.

Things are different now, times have changed.

As long as someone watches a movie and thinks it is a bad movie, he will say it, and people will not watch it after seeing the bad reputation on the Internet.

Moreover, people now have many ways to entertain themselves, and movies are no longer the only one.

Moreover, I think the most important thing is that the previous period was a period of high productivity for filmmakers. The whole environment was relaxed, and filmmakers had many creative ideas, so it was easy to produce excellent works.

Now, there are basically no newcomers emerging, which means that there are no new ideas impacting the market. In addition, the cost of making movies is getting higher and higher, and the cost of trial and error has increased greatly. Those who are cautious in making movies will naturally find it difficult to produce high-quality movies. "

This topic was a bit depressing, and everyone lost interest in talking about it, so Zhang Chen simply changed the subject.

“You know what I like most about your movie?”

"Appreciate further details."

"Composition~
The positioning in the scene behind the pillar in Gunfire is absolutely amazing, it can be used as a teaching material in film schools..."

Hearing Zhang Chen praising him, Lao Du waved his hands in self-mockery: "I'm not good at action scenes, so I can only work harder in these areas. I envy you. The action scenes in Taken are really groundbreaking. I'm sure Hollywood will learn from you in the future..."

Lao Du always felt that the gun battle scenes in "Big Event" were not shot well enough.

Others commented on his "Big Event", saying that it was useless except for that seven-minute long shot.

Lao Du does have some problems.

His personal style is strong, but his strengths and weaknesses are equally obvious.

He is not very good at filming emotional scenes, and his action scenes are just average.

"If I were to shoot Taken, I would have the daughter die in the end. I think this would elevate the tone of the entire film and make it easier for the audience to resonate..."

After everyone got to know each other, Johnnie To finally spoke his mind.

Zhang Chen was not surprised at all when Lao Du said that.

In fact, this guy really likes to do this and always likes to give people this sudden blow.

In "Underworld", Le Shao suddenly picked up a stone and hit Da D on the head just because he didn't wear a helmet.

The same thing happened in "Underworld 2", where Uncle Dumbledore died so suddenly.

This is simply Johnnie To's bad taste. Everyone guessed that Big D and Uncle Deng would not have a good ending, but when and how they would die was something you could never imagine no matter how hard you tried.

Finally hearing a familiar topic, Zhongli Ti immediately interrupted and said, "Yeah, I'm also curious, what would happen if Jinmi died?"

Zhang Chen saw that both of them were looking at each other and shook his head: “I thought about it, but I didn’t dare?”

"?"

"According to character logic, if Kimmy died, I don't know how the protagonist would end up?"

The two still didn't understand, so Zhang Chen explained in detail: "I actually wrote the role of Liang Jiahui based on Wu Song...

You all know the story of Wu Dalang and Pan Jinlian, right? "

Seeing everyone nod, Zhang Chen continued, "In fact, no matter who slept with Pan Jinlian, Wu Song would not care. Even if Ximen Qing slept with Pan Jinlian and injured Wu Dalang, as long as Wu Dalang was not dead, Wu Song would not kill them all.

But they chose to kill Wu Dalang. You should know that the two brothers' parents died early. Wu Dalang was selling pancakes on a shoulder pole, with pancakes on one end and Wu Song in the basket on the other end. If he met someone who could breastfeed, he would give the pancakes to them for free, just to give them to the brothers to feed them.

Is this your brother?

This is father!

As long as Wu Da was not dead, Wu Song would not be so angry even if Pan Jinlian cheated on him.

For Wu Song, Wu Dalang's life meant that he still had a home. When Wu Dalang died, it didn't mean that Wu Song lost a brother, but that his entire family was wiped out.

Do you understand? For the spy dad, the character of Kimmy is his Wu Dalang..."

……

Just one today.
(End of this chapter)