1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 607 Silver City
Besides Mu Dunfei, there were two other people present who Jiang Xian had to pay attention to.

This is a man and a woman. The man is in his fifties, thin, and very tall.

The woman was in her forties, with wrinkles on her face, but her features were clear, bright, and elegant, making her unforgettable.

"This is Mr. Fu Qi."

"This is Ms. Shi Hui."

"They've both wanted to meet you for a long time."

Xia Mengyu introduced Jiang Xian in a gentle and soft tone.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Mr. Jiang Xian." Fu Qi laughed heartily, his steps brisk, and before he even reached Jiang Xian, he had already extended his hand and shaken it with his.

Shi Hui also smiled serenely, speaking in a soft Wu dialect: "I had long heard that Mr. Jiang Xian was both talented and handsome. Meeting him in person today, I can see that he is indeed extraordinary."

Jiang Xian reacted quickly, shaking hands firmly with Fu Qi and then with Shi Hui. "You two are too kind. I am truly flattered to meet you two comrades today."

Everyone knows that Sil-Doo is our only large state-owned film company operating overseas.

On the surface, Xia Meng is in charge, but in reality, she can't do without her mother's support.

The leaders' plan is very comprehensive.

Silver is in the film industry, and other industries include China Travel Service, China Resources, China Merchants Group, and the most famous newspapers such as Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po.

It took root in every aspect decades ago.

Although that matter is still far from being settled.

But this is already a precautionary measure.

As the saying goes, success is never easy; it's the result of decades of hard work by our predecessors.

Returning to Silver City, it was actually a Hong Kong film production company formed by the merger of three left-wing film companies: Great Wall Film Production Company, Phoenix Film Company, and New Union Film Company.

Fu Qi, on the other hand, was a famous actor at the Great Wall Film Production Company, who later became a director and enjoyed great prestige.

Shi Hui was also an actress with Great Wall Entertainment and one of its leading actresses. At the time, she was known as one of the "Three Princesses of Great Wall Entertainment" along with Xia Meng and Chen Sisi, and she was the second princess.

At that time, Princess Xia Meng went to Canada.

The third princess, Chen Sisi, ran off with a man because she was blinded by love, but she came back later and even appeared on the Spring Festival Gala.

Princess Shi Hui followed Fu Qi down the mountain and became one of the two pillars of the Great Wall during its most difficult period. She actively participated in many activities, endured a lot of hardship, and made great contributions during that time.

Later, in the 80s, the two remained in Silver City to make their final contributions, acting as a bridge between the two places. The film "Shaolin Temple" was actually produced by Fu Qi.

In addition, the couple has a well-known daughter named Gigi Fu. She acted in "Happy Ghost Summer Vacation" at the age of 15 and later joined TVB. She played Guo Fu in "The Condor Heroes" starring Louis Koo and Carman Lee. She portrayed Guo Fu's bright and flamboyant personality to the fullest, especially her red dress look. With her fair skin and beautiful appearance, she became an instant hit with this role.

Unfortunately, she never put her mind to her career. She got married and retired from the entertainment industry after only four years in the business, wanting to become a wealthy socialite. However, her husband's company went bankrupt, losing hundreds of millions of yuan. After the divorce, she went through all sorts of trouble. She played her promising career terribly. Many people who had received kindness from Fu Qishihui wanted to help her but didn't know how.

"I should have met you a long time ago."

Fu Qi said with a look of shame, "You wrote 'Shaolin Temple' so well, you did me a great favor."

When "Shaolin Temple" was filmed, one-third of the footage was sent out, but the higher-ups were not satisfied, Mr. Liao was not satisfied, and the filmmakers themselves were not satisfied either. In the end, they had to change directors and start filming from scratch.

Conditions weren't great back then, but even though I felt the film wasn't good, I still gritted my teeth and started over to remake the movie and not waste this subject matter.

Well, I won't name any specific movie. Such a good subject matter, such a good situation, the same circumstances, clearly knowing that the film was not very good, if they had the courage of "Shaolin Temple", they wouldn't have ended up presenting a mess to the audience. Some directors just don't have the ability. They have "Resident Evil" on their minds. Then they have to change directors and rewrite the script.

When filming "Shaolin Temple", Jiang Xian, as an important participant, also heard about it. The project was assigned by Mr. Liao, who specifically requested that the left-wing film company make a martial arts film.

The left-wing film company then discovered that it also lacked funds.

How to do?
Finally, they found a Japanese monk named So Doshin.

This Zong Daoshen is no ordinary person. He studied Shaolin Kung Fu in China for several years and then promoted it after returning to Japan. He established the Shaolin Kung Fu Federation in Japan, which was very large and had more than 100,000 disciples.

Upon hearing about this, he immediately expressed his support, saying, "You can sell me the Japanese rights to this movie, and I'll give you a prepayment of HK$500,000."

Yes, so the biggest investor in "Shaolin Temple" is actually from Japan.

"I didn't see you at all during or before filming. Later, Mr. Zhang Xinyan told me about your time on set."

As Fu Qi spoke, his voice softened, and he said apologetically, "It's also my fault. I was only focused on coordinating things at the rear. At that time, Mr. Liao and I made a pact that I would shoot 36 new films of various genres within three years. The situation was urgent then, and I didn't even notice such strange circumstances ahead."

Jiang Xian immediately recalled what happened back then.

He went to visit Zhu Lin on location during filming and discovered that the crew treated mainland actors differently in terms of food, giving them "earth" food while giving Hong Kong actors "heaven" food. He was furious and vented his anger on the crew's production assistants, production manager, Zhang Xinyan, and others. Afterward, he demanded that the mainland actors and Hong Kong actors eat the same level of food.

Jiang Xian's attitude was very fierce at the time. He claimed that he would discuss and negotiate with Xia Gong in person, but that was just talk. How could he dare to bother Xia Gong with such a trivial matter? He was just using Xia Gong's name as a shield. Later, there was no follow-up, and he thought that the shield he used had worked. Now, after hearing Fu Qi's words, it seems that Fu Qi cleaned up his mess.

"I was young back then, and young people are prone to impulsiveness." Now that the matter is in the past, Jiang Xian generously lowered his stance.

"No, no."

Fu Qi waved his hand, "At least in this matter, I think Mr. Jiang Xian's actions were perfectly correct, and very principled and honorable."

When he said this, his eyes were full of admiration, and the same admiration filled Shi Hui's eyes as well: "Yes, I also remember this. I think that being able to do such a thing is very much in line with the identity of the screenwriter of 'Shaolin Temple'. You can't tolerate any injustice, and you have to fight against it."

Jiang Xian could tell that what the two men were saying was not just polite talk.

You have to understand, what he did was nothing compared to what those two did.

I remember that the two were arrested because of an incident. After their arrest, the authorities didn't know what to do with them and were somewhat at a loss. Then a province spoke up and said, "Send them to us." Upon hearing this, the two immediately responded:

"Whoever sends us there will only receive our corpses!"

There was nothing they could do; the other side wanted to deport them, so the two of them stood at the head of the Luohu Bridge and refused to leave.

In the end, there was no other way but to detain him in prison for a year.

Xia Meng brought over some drinks and snacks. In the room, Jiang Xian, Fu Qi, Shi Hui, and Xia Meng, the three leaders of Yindu, along with the "beast director" Mou Dunfei, sat down to chat.

Although Jiang Xian had heard of the "beast director" reputation before, he was surprised to find that the director, Mou Dunfei, was actually very gentle and polite in private, not as "beastly" as his reputation suggested, nor did he seem particularly "perverted".

Everyone was sitting in the room. He neither smoked nor drank, and his manner of speaking was very refined.

"To be honest, you might not know this, but the first time I learned about Mr. Jiang Xian wasn't because of his movies or his novels."

Mu Dunfei said slowly, "It's because of a poem—"

"What poem?" Xia Meng asked curiously.

“We share the cold waves, the thunder, and the lightning; we share the mist, the flowing clouds, and the rainbows. We seem forever separated, yet we are bound together for life.” Mu Dunfei immediately recited a passage. “Oh, ‘To the Oak Tree’,” Xia Meng recognized it.

In recent years, with the popularity of modern poetry and Misty Poetry, this poem "To the Oak Tree," published nearly ten years ago, has long been circulated throughout the country and has become one of the most recited and copied poems.

At this moment, not only Xia Meng, but also Fu Qi and Shi Hui had heard about it.

"To be honest, I also enjoy writing poetry," Mu Dunfei revealed. "I brought a few of my poems with me this time, and I would like to ask you to take a look."

"Oh, okay, okay."

Jiang Xian glanced at it briefly and was quite surprised. Mu Dunfei's poetry was completely different from his film style, written in a very "demure and refined" style.

"Let's talk about movies instead," Jiang Xian suggested, since he had come here specifically for "Black Sun."

"Oh, of course, of course."

Mu Dunfei became interested upon hearing this.

Fu Qi and Shi Hui exchanged a glance and frowned.

Mu Dunfei had been planning this movie for a long time and had talked to them many times. Fu Qi and Shi Hui were very supportive of his idea to make the film, but it was a bit uncomfortable to listen to him talk about it. They just couldn't accept Mu Dunfei's heavy taste.

"I was born in Shandong."

Mu Dunfei's expression suddenly turned serious, and his gaze became somewhat distant, as if he were lost in memories. "It was only 41 years ago. Even though I was very young, those fragmented memories and those blurry fragments are truly shadows that are hard to erase for a lifetime."

"The thing that left the deepest impression on me, and that my family mentioned the most, was that military unit."

"No one discusses this topic, as if it never happened in history. It has always seemed to be just a folk legend that is passed down among people."

"After I came to the mainland to make movies, I've actually been thinking about this matter. Over the past four years, I've spent traveling all over Japan and the United States to collect information, specifically visiting those who are still alive, and organizing the details they told me. The events of that year have become clearer and clearer."

"Mr. Jiang Xian, what do you think of this movie?" Fu Qi interrupted Mu Dunfei and asked Jiang Xian, "Currently, we are still discussing the filming plan for this movie. After all, we are in a friendly relationship with them, so some people have suggested that we slow down and not film the movie yet."

"I think"

Jiang Xian stopped smiling.

He also clearly saw a hint of hesitation in Fu Qi's eyes.

This is, after all, a sensitive topic, and a historical fact that they are keeping silent about and absolutely refuse to acknowledge.

Given the current situation, if this film is released and has an impact, bringing up this past event again will definitely put pressure on them and have some influence on the overall situation.

Therefore, Fu Qi's attitude was actually somewhat hesitant.

Why did Mu Dunfu spend four years preparing?

Four years, ostensibly for thorough preparation, was also for observing the international situation.

Right now, it seems like a good time to shoot, but it's not entirely a good time either.

The room was quiet for a while.

Fu Qi stared at Jiang Xian for a while, and realized that he might have been asking Jiang Xian a question that was too difficult for him.

Just as he was about to look away, Jiang Xian, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke:

"I think"

"Friendship is good, but we must not forget what happened in the past."

".?!"

Friendship is good, but the past must not be forgotten.

Fu Qi murmured these words over and over, his gaze suddenly becoming intense.

"it is good!"

He laughed heartily and said, "You're right. Being friendly is one thing, but does that mean we have to forget about the past?"

Shi Hui couldn't help but clap her hands, "That's so well said. Mr. Jiang may be young, but he has profound insights. He is truly a young talent nurtured by our motherland."

Xia Meng wasn't as excited as the other two, but she also sat on the sofa, looking at Jiang Xian with approval.

"Today's trip was definitely worthwhile."

Fu Qi looked pleased with his accomplishment, "After submitting the application for this film, I'll have something to say to those who oppose it."

"I just say whatever comes to mind," Jiang Xian said modestly.

"Mr. Jiang Xian".

At this moment, Mu Dunfei really wished he could treat him as a confidant. "Mr. Jiang Xian, I'd like to offer you a toast."

"You're too kind, Director Mou."

The two clinked glasses and chatted for a while. Mu Dunfei then brought up the topic of film with Jiang Xian, offering some "ingenious ideas" for shooting.

Fu Qi, Shi Hui, and Xia Meng felt somewhat unwell while listening, but Jiang Xian listened with great interest and even offered some "constructive" suggestions, which brightened Mu Dunfei's eyes.

"Mr. Jiang Xian, I have a favor to ask: please participate in the creation of the script."

"Ah this."

Jiang Xian paused for a moment, not in a hurry to agree.

Actually, his main reason for meeting with Mu Dunfei was to take on the project of "Black Sun," because the film didn't have a strong female lead, and he wanted to see if he could design a suitable role for Zhu Lin within the existing storyline.

But after talking to Mu Dunfei about the film, he changed his mind.

The plot and theme of this movie are already good enough; any further additions would be superfluous.

The idea of ​​having Zhu Lin star in this movie gradually faded from my mind.

Just as he was discussing this matter with Mu Dunfei, Fu Qi, Shi Hui, and Xia Meng got up to say goodbye.

"The three of you, please don't leave yet."

Jiang Xian quickly stopped them, "I have something else I'd like to discuss with the three of you."

(End of this chapter)