1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 482 "Cricket Box"

As soon as I opened the door, Bertolucci in pajamas was standing outside.

"Director Bei, what are you doing?" Jiang Xian was puzzled.

Bertolucci was excited and said in English: "Mr. Jiang, let's talk about the script!"

"Now?"

Jiang Xian glanced at his watch.

It's already past two in the morning!
"Isn't it too late?" He yawned and responded in English.

"Is it late? Then let's talk faster, finish early and go to bed early." Bertolucci said in broken English.

Jiang Xian was confused.

Is that what I mean?

But Bertolucci ignored Jiang Xian's opinion, walked straight to the translator's door and knocked on it.

The translator must have fallen asleep, but he was suddenly woken up with a confused look on his face.

"Let's discuss the script now?"

He looked at Jiang Xian with a bitter face, and Jiang Xian spread his hands towards him.

"All directors are like this. None of the directors I know have a normal work and rest schedule."

"."

The three of them sat down, and Jiang Xian considerately helped make three cups of coffee.

“The script is very well written!”

Bertolucci sat on the sofa and directly affirmed the script written by Jiang Xian.

"Especially the last scene."

"Which one?"

"The cricket box one!"

"Oh."

Jiang Xian realized that Bertolucci was talking about the plot at the end of the movie.

In his later years, Puyi suddenly wanted to visit the Forbidden City, but was stopped by the staff. When he returned to the place where he used to hold court, a child questioned his identity. So he took out a cricket box from his dragon chair and showed it to the child like a treasure.

"I didn't notice the clue of the cricket box at first, but I didn't expect that this cricket box runs through the entire script, confirming each other and having profound meaning. You wrote it so well. How did you come up with this plot?" Bertolucci asked very curiously.

"Oh, actually, this is also a passage I took from reality."

Jiang Xian said: "I heard this from Li Wenda of the Masses Publishing House. He said that Puyi was reformed as a war criminal for many years and made many friends there. Du Yuming and Shen Zui had a very good relationship with him.

Especially Shen Zui, he and Puyi first met at a war criminals association meeting. Since then, the two have frequently interacted and worked together, and have forged a deep friendship.

In his later years, whenever Puyi talked about the Forbidden City, he was very emotional. He said that the Forbidden City had appeared in his dreams many times and he was very familiar with every brick and tile there. If he returned to the Forbidden City, he would know where he was even if he walked with his eyes closed.

So one time, Shen Zui and Du Yuming invited him to visit the Forbidden City together. Puyi refused at first, but later he could not resist the two people's invitation, so the three of them went.

Puyi didn't expect that he would be stopped by the staff as soon as he arrived at the door. The staff told him to buy a ticket before entering.

Puyi had never thought that he would have to buy a ticket to go home. But when he thought about his status, he felt relieved.

"So it is true that we were stopped." Bertolucci asked quickly after hearing the translator's explanation.

"Yes, it's true."

"And the cricket box?"

“That’s artistic processing.”

Jiang Xian said: "As soon as Puyi and his group entered the palace, they were recognized by the tourists inside. After recognizing him as Puyi, they quickly surrounded him and asked him questions.

Faced with so many people's questions, Puyi felt quite uncomfortable.

After Shen Zui and Du Yuming noticed that his expression was not right, they quickly took him away from the Forbidden City.

Later, Puyi's friends never invited him to visit the Forbidden City again.

So this thing didn’t actually happen, I just imagined it.”

"But isn't this imagination a little far from reality?"

The translator raised a question, "Puyi was once the ruler of a country, the overlord of the world, and had tremendous power. He had seen countless rare treasures. He could have any treasure he wanted. How could he have a special liking for a faded cricket box?"

"It doesn't deviate from reality. This is a good idea!"

Before Jiang Xian could answer, Bertolucci took the lead in analyzing.

"This imagination is very reasonable and does not go beyond reality. The reason why Puyi likes the cricket box is not because of the cricket box itself, but because he missed the time when he played crickets in the palace. That was also the most carefree time in his life."

That’s right. Jiang Xian listened to the translation and took over Bertolucci’s words:

"At that time, Puyi had a wet nurse who loved him and father-in-law and mother-in-law who served him. He had no worries and did not have to experience the sorrow of the broken mountains and rivers and the demise of the dynasty.

In his later years, Puyi had become more detached and open-minded. When he mentioned the cricket box at this time, he wanted to say that what Puyi missed most was still the most ignorant time of his childhood.

I heard from Li Wenda that Puyi once went to Jingshan in his later years.

Puyi liked to call Jingshan "Meishan" because he thought it was a place where coal slag was piled before. When visiting Jingshan Park, he saw the crooked tree where Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself.

Puyi stood in front of the tree for more than ten minutes, feeling very complicated. It was only a long time later that he found a stone nearby to sit down and told others that people would not let him come to this place before, because this was the place where the emperor of the previous dynasty hanged himself, representing the end of the dynasty, so people in the palace would not let him go to such a place for the sake of taboo.

I think that when he felt sad for Emperor Chongzhen, he must have been thinking about himself. Like Chongzhen, he had no control over his life and was pushed forward by the times, events and others.

Therefore, the ignorant time of his childhood must be what Puyi missed the most and was also the happiest time in his life. "

"I see."

After hearing the explanations of the two, the translator reacted quickly, then felt that he was being a little too arrogant.

Just from this speech, you can feel Bertolucci and Jiang Xian's control over the plot and the movie.

Especially Jiang Xian's script.

Just talking about the clue of the cricket box, it neither deviates from reality nor distorts history, and it perfectly matches Puyi's character.

Such a plot is both realistic and dramatic.

This is the master!

He actually questioned what the master came up with?
Bertolucci also affirmed several plots written by Jiang Xian, and what he liked most was the lines written by Jiang Xian.

“This line is so flavorful!”

Because the movie "The Last Emperor" was released overseas, Bertolucci was very worried that the lines written by Jiang Xian would not be understood or resonated by foreigners.

Foreigners may not understand your truly authentic Eastern culture, so you must mix in some content that suits Western tastes.

This brings us to the character of Johnston.

In Bertolucci's view, this character is the best clue to lead foreign audiences to understand the mysterious Qing court.

"Your Majesty, in our country, we usually take an exam first." "Your Majesty cannot be tested."

"Well, we'll have to change that. How about this, the Emperor might ask me questions."

"Where is your family's ancestral grave?"

"In Scotland, your Majesty."

"Then where's your skirt? Don't you Scottish men all wear skirts?"

"No, Your Majesty, Scottish men do not wear kilts, they wear kilts."

"."

In Bertolucci's view, through these conversations between Johnston and Puyi, Jiang Xian skillfully completed the wonderful collision and fusion of Chinese and Western cultures.

After affirming Jiang Xian's script for a long time, Bertolucci gave Jiang Xian some more ideas.

"The character of Wanrong is a bit weak, can you add more content to it?"

"Do you want to strengthen the emotional scenes between her and Puyi? Like in The Burning of the Old Summer Palace?"

"Correct."

Jiang Xian's words immediately hit the mark of Bertolucci's needs, and he immediately became excited. "I heard that her marriage with Puyi was very complicated. Doesn't Puyi have flaws in that aspect?"

Unexpectedly, Jiang Xian shook his head after hearing this and said, "Director Bei, you have to think carefully. Should we make "The Last Emperor" as a historical blockbuster or write about the secret affairs of Puyi and Wanrong? I know that some erotic plots are indeed very attractive to the audience, but doesn't this sacrifice the style and depth of our film?"

"This"

When talking about Bertolucci, one theme that cannot be avoided is love.

Bertolucci is very good at filming love scenes.

There is a erotic film director in Hong Kong named Li Hanxiang, and Bertolucci is the Western equivalent of him.

Speaking of which, there was a big grudge between Li Hanxiang and Bertolucci, because Li Hanxiang also wanted to film Puyi, that is, the movie "Fire Dragon", filming the second half of Puyi's life. Why the second half of his life? Because the copyright of Puyi's first half of his life was bought by Bertolucci.

This led to a feud between the two of them.

It is said that after seeing Tony Leung Ka Fai's performance as Pu Yi, Bertolucci wanted to invite him to star in "The Last Emperor".

As a result, because his mentor Li Hanxiang did not get along with Bertolucci, Tony Leung rejected Bertolucci's olive branch.

Back to the topic, under Bertolucci's lens, his love scenes always have a thought-provoking human dimension.

It looks very erotic, but I can't get excited.

Well, this kind of thing doesn't need any explanation, everyone can understand it.

Of course, it is precisely because of Bertolucci's technique of finding the best balance between European style and Hollywood-style narrative, this shooting method that appeals to both the elite and the masses, that has brought Bertolucci great honor.

But even the best directors have their limitations.

Jiang Xian has seen many of Bertolucci's films. One of the weaknesses of his films is that, due to their transnational production nature, these films do not belong to any specific piece of land, so there is often a strange sense of disharmony.

The reason is that Bertolucci has limitations in his cognitive level.

Take "The Last Emperor" for example. The reason why this movie is commendable is that Bertolucci avoided the rut of grand narrative and chose a personal perspective.

However, if we strip away these successful concepts and methods, we will find that the film's portrayal of Puyi's character and growth experience is not actually that brilliant.

The absence of his parents and his attachment to his wet nurse did not help deepen Pu Yi's character. The only function of these plots was to make it easier for Bertolucci to understand Pu Yi using his own knowledge framework.

Similar questions can be raised in many of Bertolucci's other works.

For example, in "The Conformist", the protagonist's experience of being sexually assaulted as a child has no necessary connection with his later life as a fascist. The despicable and evil nature of the farm foreman in "Nineteen Owen" has no direct connection with his strange personal sexual preferences.

All in all, Bertolucci's vision is not enough.

If he wants to make a grand masterpiece that truly belongs to Chinese soil this time, he should abandon some of his previous shooting habits, such as Wanrong's bed affairs.

".You can have the love scenes between Puyi and Wanrong, but they can't be shot too aesthetically, nor can they use too many subjective shots, otherwise it will be no different from the movies you shot before, and it will still be the same routine.

You have always told me that you filmed The Last Emperor this time in order to break Hollywood's stereotype of you as a 'romance film director', and that you should shift the focus to the characterization of Pu Yi. Now this idea is not right."

Jiang Xian gave Bertolucci a lecture without mercy. He did not care about Bertolucci's identity as a foreign friend when he spoke, and his tone could be said to be very impolite.

Of course Bertolucci felt uncomfortable after hearing this.

He is a powerful director. He has never been scolded like this by a screenwriter before. The tone of his voice was even as he was teaching him how to make a movie. In Hollywood and Europe, he always chose the script that satisfied him the most from a dozen scripts, and the screenwriters were as humble as dogs.

But thinking of the excellence of Jiang Xian's script "The Last Emperor", Bertolucci still patiently asked:

"But I think Wanrong's life experience is also a highlight of the movie."

"Are you talking about 'the last emperor' or 'the last empress'? Wanrong is just a supporting role in the portrayal of Puyi. Why do you use her to attract the audience's attention? If there are too many scenes like the one you want to shoot, it will only lower the quality of our film."

"I'm the director! Can't I change the script?" Bertolucci stood up and looked at Jiang Xian with a confused look on his face.

"I didn't say no, but what you want me to write is ruining my script!"

Bertolucci had been reading the script for a whole day and night. When he heard Jiang Xian's words, he felt his brain warm up and his blood boil.

“This is my movie!”

"Yeah, but the script is mine!"

Jiang Xian looked at him quietly, paying no attention to Bertolucci's emotions.

"Oh my God!"

"God!"

"hateful!"

Bertolucci had no place to vent his anger, so he stood up and walked around the room a few times. He was less than 40 years old this year, young and energetic, and he was so angry that he finally held his forehead and fell backwards.

"Director Bei."

Jiang Xian and the translator were afraid that he would faint, so they rushed over to support him.

"We can talk about this. Have a drink of water and take a rest."

"Ugh--"

Bertolucci let out a long sigh, and the pain on his face gradually subsided.

"The owner will become fat if he looks at the horse."

"What do you mean?"

“That’s an Italian proverb.”

The translator smiled bitterly and explained, "A horse can grow well if its owner takes care of it personally. This means that you should do everything yourself to do it well. Don't rely on luck or rely on others."

"This"

Jiang Xian frowned, and before he could reply, he heard Bertolucci weakly say:
"I'm such a fool."

"Why did you hand the script to someone else so easily?"

(End of this chapter)