Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 749 Whitewashing the Rich? A Crushing Defeat! "Let the Bullets Fly" Billion! Sweetie's Christmas Deer

Things in this world are sometimes not that complicated.

The Southern boss invested in "Ip Man," so naturally he wanted Wing Chun to become invincible.

Some might say that Hong Kong also produced "Fearless" back then, which is true, but at that time, many of the martial arts and film industry professionals in Hong Kong were martial arts practitioners or filmmakers from the north.

For example, Mr. Hu Jinquan was from Beijing. When I was a child, I gave Huanzhu Louzhu some small gifts. Li Hanxiang, who directed "Jin Ping Mei", was from Northeast China. Early Hong Kong films were mostly in Mandarin. At that time, Mandarin films outnumbered Cantonese films. In addition, Yuen Siu-tien, the father of Yuen Ba-ye, was a Northern boxer.

Now that Terry Gou has spent money on "The Silver Empire," he'll definitely see what he wants to see and hear what he wants to hear.

Therefore, the movie could not possibly portray these businessmen as particularly bad.

However, many things cannot be hidden. Just look at how bad those old-fashioned merchants and landlords were during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period... Only a few decades have passed, and many of the old people from back then are still alive.

Young people growing up in the new era have probably heard this from their grandparents.

Even if you haven't heard of it, you've still gone to school and learned some history, even if what's written in books is already embellished.

While "Empire of Silver" did expose some of the ugly faces of those unscrupulous merchants at the time, it ultimately wasn't thorough enough.

The male protagonist in the movie eventually ascended to his father's position, inherited the entire family business, and became the very person he originally hated the most.

Some people will definitely say that this ending is quite normal, and there's nothing wrong with it.

That would be a mistake, because in that era, true progress meant breaking with one's original family and fighting against a domineering father who treated human life like dirt!
Era, time, background... When watching a story, you must pay attention to these things. If you ignore them, you are more likely to fall into the trap of the director, screenwriter, or even the investor.

Just like in the movie "Empire of Silver", at first glance, the male protagonist is righteous. He acts very righteously, and many things are done by his father who is too ruthless.

For example, the woman he liked was married off to him by his father first, forcing him into a desperate situation.

The character played by Hao Lei has such a tragic fate.

However, in the end, the male protagonist continued his father's ways; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sit in that position.

If we, the audience, adopt the protagonist's perspective and accept everything about him, then the goals of people like Terry Gou will be achieved.

In other words, he successfully whitewashed his image as an unscrupulous businessman.

You see, we businessmen do bad things because we're forced into it.

We are a new generation of businessmen, much better than the previous generation.

It's all our father's fault!

He's dead! Now it's our turn, the newbies, to be in charge. We'll definitely treat you workers well!
Around the year 2010, a trend emerged worldwide: praising the rich, cheering for the rich, and finding justifications for their various behaviors.

Many works of art, including films, television dramas, and various other genres, cater to the wealthy, either whitewashing their acquisition of money or praising their spirit of personal struggle.

They completely disregarded the fact that the great strides forward of our entire society in this era of rapid development are the main reason for their success.

It's not that you can't advocate for individual struggle, but you can't ignore the context of the times. Just like in the old society, try to succeed on your own. The chances of success in that era were extremely slim. You should have thought about surviving first.

Actually, some people have been doing this for several years now. For example, there's Pan Shiyi. This guy frequently appears in the media, invests in movies, and even acts in them, creating a very approachable image.

The source of this encouragement of the wealthy can be traced back to the novel "The Fountainhead," written by a female writer from the former Soviet Union. She later went to the United States, where even the powerful Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was an admirer of hers.

So, this guy's restless heart led him to spend a lot of money to make this film, "Empire of Silver".

It is said to be 8000 million, which means he received 1000 million US dollars in cash.

But the ending of this movie...

Ma Xun believes in the values ​​and beliefs of mainland Chinese audiences.

So, the battle between "Earthquake" and "Silver Empire" is truly fascinating.

……

"What's going on with this 'Empire of Silver'? Why did this movie make me feel so uncomfortable?"

"The plot of 'Empire of Silver' actually has some merit, showing me the depths of humanity, but something about this film just feels off."

"To be honest, the plot is indeed a bit eerie, making the viewing experience rather awkward!"

Soon, word-of-mouth from movie fans began to emerge.

This blockbuster, which was initially generating a lot of hype, seems to be not that great.

And what about "The Great Earthquake"?

"Feng Xiaogang is such a good photographer! The moment the little girl cried, I cried too!"

"Wow, where did we find this young girl? Her acting is really good!"

"Actually, this movie is really good, especially when I saw the part about 08, I cried a lot."

"Back in 08, I also went to help out with a small favor..."

"Honestly, this is probably Feng Xiaogang's most patriotic film."

"What are you saying? It's as if Feng Xiaogang is some kind of reactionary."

"He also... never mind, I won't say anything more."

This is interesting. Regardless of Feng Xiaogang's character, this film, "The Great Earthquake," is indeed quite watchable.

Even fans who particularly like Feng Xiaogang are certainly aware of this great director's problem: he always likes to do things that are a bit sarcastic and unsettling.

The key point is that this guy's thought process is really speechless, just like the movie "The Founding of a Republic" last year.

He played Du Yuesheng, but this Du Yuesheng was really quite funny. He dared to put on airs even in front of Chiang Kai-shek, and he put on airs very much.

No, we're just saying that if Du Yuesheng really knew that someone would portray him like this later, he would be scared to death again!
Even when he was alive, Du Yuesheng wouldn't have dared to act so arrogantly. Now that he's dead, someone else is acting arrogantly for him. That guy's life was pretty much worthwhile.

The key question is, why did Feng Xiaogang act this way? Anyone in the know will understand immediately: it's because he acts this way to grab attention.

He was originally an insignificant figure. In the grand scheme of history, Du Yuesheng was nothing!

But look at how Feng Xiaogang put on this show; immediately, a wave of articles praising Du Yuesheng appeared online, and many people wanted to ride this wave of traffic.

Ma Xun knew what happened next: another group of people came out to denigrate Du Yuesheng and also insulted Huang Jinrong.

Huang Jinrong was really unlucky; he wasn't famous when he was, but he was criticized when he was.

Putting all that aside, Feng Xiaogang really did manage to bring a lot of positive energy to the film "The Great Earthquake".

In addition, the little girl Zifeng also performed quite well. Her crying in the rainy night was truly touching.

So...

"The Silver Empire's box office performance was disappointing!" "Terry Gou's investment was a major failure!"

"Only 1500 million in its opening week! 'Empire of Silver' lives up to its blockbuster reputation!"

"Terry Gou refused to be interviewed at the airport and refused to comment on the film!"

"According to sources... Terry Gou was furious. He originally intended to invite Lin Chih-ling to play the female lead, but the production team refused..."

"Foxconn stated that the film has no connection with the company and that the stock price fluctuation is normal."

Huh? This movie actually affected Foxconn's stock?

It had some impact, but in reality, it wasn't that significant; it was just someone with ulterior motives using the opportunity to create hype.

But "The Great Earthquake" is much better.

"Breaking 100 million! After five days of release, 'The Great Earthquake' has surpassed 100 million yuan at the box office!"

"The first film to break 100 million yuan in box office revenue during the Lunar New Year season has been born! 'The Great Earthquake'!"

"Following closely behind! 'The Laughing Swordsman' has also surpassed 100 million!"

It's really good; this film, "The Great Earthquake," is currently showing signs of unstoppable momentum.

After surpassing 100 million in box office revenue, "The Laughing Swordsman" also surpassed 100 million in box office revenue. For Ma Xun, there was also double good news.

"Great news! 'Let the Bullets Fly' has surpassed 10 billion yuan!"

"China's first film to break the 1 billion yuan box office mark has been born!"

"Let the Bullets Fly broke the 1 billion yuan mark despite being largely ignored!"

"Chinese films have entered the era of billion-yuan box office revenue!"

Good guy, really good guy!

"Let the Bullets Fly" quietly surpassed one billion yuan at the box office.

As the main investor, Ma Xun naturally reaped substantial profits.

Jiang Wen naturally received quite a bit, but as for his brother... it's said that he didn't receive much money.

Forget it, Ma Xun can't handle this anyway.

In reality, the crucial period for the Lunar New Year film season is yet to come.

The blockbuster film "The Warring States" is about to be released!
Ma Xun also has another film, "Lost in Thailand".

These two movies seem to have no basis for comparison; "The Warring States" is a blockbuster, after all.

However, this showdown is still about to take place!
Interestingly, many people don't know that on Christmas Eve, before the showdown, Ma Xun was invited out by someone.

……

"You should know that it's dangerous for us to meet like this."

"If I'm not afraid, why are you?"

"Of course I'm scared."

"Huh? My dear Mr. Ma, is there anything you're afraid of?"

"What I'm afraid of is that if you get photographed with me, and then there's the upcoming 'Warring States,' you'll get so much criticism."

"Hehe...you're worried about me?"

"I guess so. You know, I don't usually care about people this much."

Yoma was looking for Jing Tian, ​​and our sweetheart, for some reason, insisted on coming to spend Christmas, though not on Christmas Day.

Because "The Warring States" is scheduled to be released on Christmas Eve, it means that Jing Tian will be very busy recently.

It's strange, why did she insist on asking Ma Xun to come out?
Ma Xun was also puzzled, but since things had come to this point, if he didn't go to the appointment, Da Tian Tian would be angry.

Fortunately, the place they chose wasn't a particularly busy commercial street.

Villas in the suburbs of Beijing.

When the horse found the place, it discovered that the Christmas atmosphere was very strong.

A Christmas tree has been set up in the yard, with many colorful little lights on it.

The overall color scheme is predominantly green and red.

Upon seeing this, Ma Xun simply went inside.

result……

"Jingle bells! Jingle bells..."

Unexpectedly, Jing Tian appeared wearing a red and white Christmas-style coat and skirt.

However, Ma Xun noticed that Da Tiantian was also wearing a small pair of deer antlers on her head.

"Are you cosplaying as Santa Claus or a reindeer?"

Ma Xun's question was completely rhetorical; he knew the answer to everything.

Da Tian Tian laughed heartily, "Of course it's Little Deer!"

Ma Xun then laughed and said, "You know, I don't actually celebrate Christmas."

Da Tiantian replied, "Sure, but are you really willing not to ride the Christmas reindeer?"

That's so direct, so incredibly direct!
Ma Xun liked it very much, so he simply walked over with a smile, picked up a piece of leather rope, and the other end of it was with Jing Tian.

“I know you’re under a lot of pressure, but this is your way of relieving stress…”

"Stop talking!"

Even the little deer is getting anxious.

Ma Xun, holding the leather rope, simply pulled it...

There's no need to say a thousand words.

(End of this chapter)