Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 380 Recalling the Dragon Mark
Regarding the issue of two versions, many people blame the mainland film censorship system, thinking that it is because the mainland's censorship is too strict that filmmakers are forced to make another positive version against their will in order to pass the review. In fact, it is not entirely its fault.

In Asia, strict film censorship is not only in mainland China, but also in Singapore and Malaysia.

Before Hong Kong films embraced the mainland, Hong Kong filmmakers had already started playing with dual versions.

It's simply to cope with censorship in Singapore and Malaysia, especially Malaysia.

The most famous one is "Young and Dangerous". In the eyes of Malaysian audiences, Chen Haonan is an undercover police agent. This was said by Wang Jing himself.

Therefore, the other version of "SPL" is more of a Malaysian version, or a censored version, rather than a mainland version.

In fact, there are two versions of "Infernal Affairs":
Reviewed version:

Liu Jianming was kidnapped by Chen Yongren and a gun was put to his head.

Opposite Liu Jianming, there was a policeman confronting them.

The elevator door behind him opened, and Chen Yongren pulled Liu Jianming back into the elevator. Before he knew it, gunshots rang out.

Chen Yongren was shot dead, his legs lying stiffly across the ground, and the elevator door opened and closed but could not be closed.

A pair of eyes wide open, dying with eyes open.

The policeman who shot Chen Yongren dead walked into the elevator. As the elevator went down, during the conversation, he learned that Chen Yongren was also an undercover agent sent by Han Chen.

The elevator slowly descends along the straight steel wire.

There is a flashback, showing Chen Yongren’s eyes wide open.

Four more gunshots rang out.

The elevator door opened, and only Liu Jianming walked out of the elevator calmly, and was surrounded by fully armed police officers.

A pair of handcuffs - Voice-over: Liu Jianming, you have been found to be an undercover gangster!
The movie ends here.

Hong Kong version:

After a few gunshots, the elevator door opened and Liu Jianming walked out holding his police ID high. He calmly said four words: "I am a policeman."

The police rushed into the elevator. Liu Jianming remained calm and pinned his police ID calmly on his chest.

Looking back, I saw the unwilling expression in Chen Yongren's eyes, which he had not yet closed.

Chen Yongren's identity was finally discovered by his psychiatrist, and his funeral was solemn and grand.

Liu Jianming was dressed in the uniform of a senior police officer, looking very heroic. At this moment, who could have imagined that he was once an undercover agent of the underworld?

Facing Chen's tombstone, he stopped and saluted.

There is a small photo of Chen Yongren on the tombstone, with a relaxed smile on his face.

There was no trace of complacency in Liu Jianming's eyes.

What he saw was a person who had once been in the same hell as himself. Only Chen Yongren could best understand the pain of being unable to distinguish right from wrong and having a confused identity.

He seemed like a true confidant to Liu Jianming. The difference was that Chen Yongren only regained his identity and got final relief after his death.

Liu Jianming's eyes showed regret, emotion, but more of admiration and determination to be a good person again. Has he been freed? Maybe his identity will not be discovered, but the shadow in his heart makes his eyes less clear forever.

The film ends with the moment when Chen Yongren left the police academy:
Chen Yongren's youth in black and white.

The colorful Chen Yongren smiled helplessly and embarked on the Infernal Affairs from then on;
The police officer shouted, "Anyone who disobeys will be expelled from school. Who is willing to trade with him?!"

Liu Jianming's youth in black and white,
The colorful Liu Jianming looked at Chen Yongren's departing back, struggling painfully in his heart, but he was also helpless.

Voiceover: "I'm willing to trade with you."

……

Time came to the second week, and just when Huang Bogao thought that "SPL" could continue to be successful, the theaters suddenly received a notice that "SPL" was to be removed from the shelves immediately.

When Oriental Film Group, the distributor, received the notice, they were stunned and had no idea what was going on.

They asked the cinema and the reply they got was that this was an order from the General Administration.

An order from the General Administration?
Sun Entertainment was also confused when it received the notice from Oriental Film Company.

Is there any violation there?
Why not broadcast it again?

Then they received a penalty notice from the General Administration:

After reading it through, I found out that the reason was that different versions of "SPL" were released in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Dual versions are expressly prohibited.

The CEPT agreement clearly states that dual versions are not allowed, but everyone has been doing so all along, and no one else’s dragon logo has been taken back.

"Hey, how come everyone else is fine, but when it's our turn, something's wrong?"

Huang Bogao glanced at Hong Jinbao and asked, "Did any of you offend someone?"

A typical case of blaming someone indirectly, which is just short of saying that Hong Jinbao offended someone and brought disaster to the movie.

Suncity Entertainment is a property of Macau Hua. It would be fine if “SPL” itself was bad, but that’s because of his lack of ability.

But the situation of "SPL" was obviously very good, but it was banned because of such a stupid reason. It is obvious that someone was instigating this.

This is the first time that Sun Entertainment has entered the mainland market. It has no enemies in the mainland at all, so after thinking about it, it can only be because of Hong Jinbao.

Hong Jinbao wanted to curse, but Rong Xiang suddenly possessed him: "The local gangs are too rude."

But cursing does not solve the actual problem. Since it is caused by yourself, you have to be responsible for solving it.

"I'll look for my junior fellow apprentice to see if he has any connections to help mediate..."

Hong Jinbao called Cheng Long, but Cheng Long actually didn't have any connections in this area.

He has just entered the mainland market not long ago, and this time the General Administration intends to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

……

Beijing Normal University Canteen

Yue Jun was feeding his girlfriend in the cafeteria, causing people around them to feel a chill.

"Baby, let's go to the movies together after dinner, okay~"

"Okay, what do you want to see?"

"I've asked around, and the latest movies 'SPL' and 'Kowloon Walled City' are both pretty good. We can watch whichever one you want?"

"Well, baby, you are so nice. I heard that "SPL" is starred by Zhen Zidan and Hong Jinbao. Let's go and watch it, okay?"

"Okay, it's up to you, baby."

After the baby and the treasure had been fed disgustingly for half an hour, the classmates around them finally sent them away.

"Bah, I curse them not to be able to buy tickets for SPL~"

Looking at the two people leaving, the single person who felt hurt couldn't help but spit.

A prophecy

When Yue Jun and his girlfriend arrived at the cinema, they really couldn't buy "SPL".

"Hello, I want two copies of "SPL"~"

"Sorry, SPL is out of theaters~"

"Ah, didn't it just come out?"

"We don't know the specific reason. Why don't you consider other movies? Kowloon Walled City is also very good."

Yue Jun felt distressed when seeing his girlfriend's disappointment, but he turned around and glanced at the people queuing behind him and immediately said, "Oh, okay, give me two copies of Kowloon Walled City."

I skipped class to come here specially. "SPL" has been taken off the screen, but I can't just not watch it.

There are countless situations like Yue Jun's. Zhen Zidan and Hong Jinbao are still somewhat well-known, and many people come to watch the movie just for them.

But now that I'm here, even if I can't watch "SPL", I can't just not watch it, otherwise the box office will be lower for "Kowloon Walled City".

……

At the same time, the crew of Painted Skin was filming the scene before Wang Sheng went out to eliminate the horse bandits.

We have just started filming, and in order to get the crew to get used to each other, we only shot some simple interior scenes.

Wang Sheng, played by Huang Xiaoming, stood there motionless. Beside him, two maids, Qin Lan and Li Xiaoran, were flitting around Huang Xiaoming like butterflies, helping him put on his armor.

One covered the armor leaf on his body while the other helped to tie the straps.

While putting on the armor, Peirong, played by Zhou Gongzi, came out and asked, "Where are you going, husband?"

Huang Xiaoming: "I don't know when a group of horse bandits came from the west. They have been robbing our trade routes for several days. I went to wipe them out today."

Upon hearing this, Master Zhou did not stop him, but took over Li Xiaoran's work and personally tied the armor straps for Huang Xiaoming.

"Then my husband must be careful on the road."

"I saved it~"

"Click~"

Zhang Chen leaned over the monitor and watched the playback, then gestured: "OK, this one is passed, let's eat, and we'll continue shooting after we eat~"

The morning show was a bit delayed, so we had dinner a little late today.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the cast and crew members relaxed immediately.

The food in "Painted Skin" is pretty good, and there are chicken legs for lunch.

Master Zhou and Zhang Chen gathered together to chat, and their assistants brought them lunch boxes.

Several people took the lunch boxes and ate while chatting.

After a while, Chen Minghao, Wang Qianyuan, Zhang Yi and others also came over.

Zhang Chen doesn't put on airs, and neither do several of the main actors. Even though these three are minor supporting roles, they all have a good relationship with each other.

"Minghao, this chicken leg is for you~"

Ms. Zhou's lunch box is the main character's lunch box, which contains six dishes. She herself is a vegetarian, so whenever there are meat dishes, she will share them with others.

"Thank you, Brother Xun~" Chen Minghao looked happy.

As they ate and chatted, Chen Xi came over with a lunch box, and Zhang Yi quickly made room for her.

“SPL has been removed from the shelves~”

After Chen Xi shared the braised pork in the bowl with others, he took a bite of the vegetables.

"Well, they deserve it. The General Administration has wanted to rectify this aspect for a long time, and they walked into the trap." Zhang Chen ate his food without paying attention.

"If you don't want to eat vegetables, give them to me~"

Zhang Chen obediently passed all the vegetables to Chen Xi, who took a bite and then said:

"Boss Yang has secured an invitation to the Academy Awards for Taken. The organizer wants to invite you to participate as an award presenter for one of the segments. What do you think?"

One of the requirements for participating in the Academy Awards is that the film must be produced by a Hong Kong film company, and "Taken" does not actually meet the requirement.

But it features Hong Kong actors, so a special invitation quota was arranged.

The Hong Kong actor of course does not refer to Leung Ka Fai, but the Twins.

Twins can truly be described as Boss Yang's own daughters, and he spared no effort to pave the way for them.

If "Taken" won an award, the twins would become actors who participated in the award-winning work, and their value would naturally increase.

Even if they don't win the award but are just nominated, it will be of great benefit to both of them.

The reason why I specially greeted Zhang Chen is that everyone knows that Zhang Chen is not interested in awards. What if he gets angry and really doesn't go?
Zhang Chen thought for a moment: "What month is the Academy Awards?"

"April."

"Well, answer them, I'll be there when the time comes."

Of course we have to give face to Boss Yang, and another reason is because of Brother Xun and Liang Jiahui.

If he remembered correctly, at this year's Academy Awards, Liang Jiahui won the Best Actor award for "Election", and Zhou Gongzi won the Best Actress award for "If Love".

Both of them have a good relationship with him now, so there is no reason for him not to show up at such an important moment.

On the other side, Chen Zhangjin was whispering with Yang Xiaomi:
Yang Xiaomi: "What happened to the removal of "SPL"?"

Zhang Chen: "I read the news and it seems that because the General Administration discovered that the film had a double ending in mainland China and Hong Kong, the dragon seal was taken back."

"Are double endings not allowed?"

"Of course it's not allowed. Last year, the General Administration issued a statement that Hong Kong co-productions enjoy the same treatment as mainland films. One of the conditions is that dual endings are not allowed."

“Oh, they do deserve it.

After "SPL" is removed from the shelves, won't the audience only be able to watch our "Kowloon Walled City" if they want to watch a movie? Isn't Lu Yang making a fortune?"

Yang Xiaomi stuck out her tongue, looking cute.

Zhang Chen was very satisfied with her "we".

It was actually foreseeable that Wilson Yip would have a double ending.

This person really likes dark endings, the kind where good people don't get rewarded.

In "SPL", Zhen Zidan defeated Hong Jinbao, but was ambushed by the latter, thrown off the building, and killed his wife and children.

In the sequel "SPL 2", the same thing happened again. Tony Jaa, the best fighter, had clearly defeated the enemy, but still fell from the building and died while trying to save others.

Maybe he thought it was more shocking this way.

It is indeed more shocking.

It’s just not easy to pass the review.

If you want to pass the review, you have to shoot another ending.

In fact, if Wilson Yip was a Korean director, he might have achieved greater success, because his style is more valued there.

"We're going to shoot the martial arts scenes in a few days. How's your practice going?" Zhang Chen asked while eating.

Huang Xiaoming raised his hand: "I have almost mastered horse riding and martial arts, so I can do it anytime~"

Zhang Chen nodded, "What about the others?"

Zhang Jin smiled and said nothing. He was a martial artist, so these things were the easiest for him.

Yang Xiaomi and Fan Xiaopang on the other side also nodded: "We have practiced it well, we can do it anytime~"

Among these people, only Zhou Xun looked happy.

She played the role of Mrs. Wang, who was dignified and graceful, without any action scenes.

Others have to practice horse riding and martial arts these days, but she is the only one who is bored and anxious.

While others were practicing, she wandered around and visited almost every corner of the Western Studios.

It's just that the wind and sand here are dry, and it dried her face.

"I envy Brother Xun so much~"

Fat Fan looked at Mr. Zhou with envy in his eyes.

"Why do you envy me?"

"I envy you for being able to play. We are all struggling to learn tricks, but you can go out and play~"

Mr. Zhou smiled slyly: "Okay, let's switch roles. I'll play the fox demon and you'll play Peirong~"

Fatty Fan immediately refused: "Hehe, you wish for it, I would rather be in pain and happy~"

Mr. Zhou is a person of genuine character, and he doesn't try to be scheming when interacting with other people. Everyone just says what they think, without having to be cautious.

In addition, everyone is humble and the overall atmosphere of the "Painted Skin" crew is very good.

(End of this chapter)