1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 189 Withdrawal
The budget for the entire film "Irresistible Passion" was 200 million, and it was released immediately after filming, so there was no publicity at all in the early stages.

So much so that when the movie was released in the newly opened theaters, it caught fellow practitioners and 1024 fans off guard and caused quite a shock.

Yes, 1024 One Cinema also has fans.

Just like Starbucks has been a symbol of class and taste in the eyes of consumers for a long time.

Under Zhai Yuan's leadership, 1024 is now subtly instilling in the audience the idea that coming to this theater to watch a play is a sign of taste.

In addition to the comfortable viewing environment, the cinema also holds membership activities from time to time, giving free discounts such as "relatives and friends invitation coupons", "couple exclusive coupons", and "family discount coupons" to recharged members.

It seems to be a loss, but in fact these coupon packages are issued when the theater attendance rate drops. Not only can they increase the attendance rate in a short period of time, allowing 1024 to get a higher share from the film distributors, but it also makes fans feel that the membership card is worth buying, their identity has changed, and they have an inexplicable sense of existence.

Commonly known as spiritual shareholders.

Led by the spiritual shareholders, "Crazy Passion" was released for only half a day on April 4, and the attendance rate of 29 theaters and 1024 screens reached a staggering 25%.

The next day, May 5st, was International Labor Day. With the blessing of a one-day holiday for the whole of Hong Kong, the attendance rate exceeded 1%.

The cinema is mainly for young audiences, who are open-minded. However, in an era when resources are not easy to obtain, there are only a few films that can be viewed, and most people still use magazines and Five Girls to solve the problem.

The narrative style of "Crazy Passion" which is done purely for the sake of doing it has broken many people's inherent impression of Category III films.

Yes, everyone comes here to see the fights. What did you call those movies you filmed before?
Criticizing Li Hanxiang by name, what era is it now? Can your romantic girls wearing Republic of China costumes be iterated with your script?
There are also new directors led by Lui Kei and Ho Fan. If you want to shoot women, just shoot them properly. You shoot the back of a woman in the mirror, or the swaying light bulb. Do you think you are very artistic? Or you have to add inexplicable moral judgments to the film. When the plane is in the middle of the shooting, a deep bass voice suddenly comes out in the background and says, "Is it the injustice of society that makes her degenerate, or is it the oppression of power that makes her take this road of no return?" The interest that had just been raised was instantly disrupted.

Therefore, at this time, audiences in Hong Kong would rather buy video tapes from Taiwan than go to the cinema to watch Hong Kong pornographic films.

It was not until the release of "Crazy Love", produced by Sanhe, which was covered with a layer of horror and suspense and knew clearly what the audience wanted to watch, that it bucked the trend in May when the overall film market was sluggish.

The physical fight scenes between the male and female protagonists are not concealed at all, and are shot in close-ups from multiple angles. Their acting is so superb that it doesn't seem like acting.

"Isn't this a real fight?"

In the audience, some people swallowed their saliva and raised questions while watching the sweaty performance on the screen.

The audience next to him stared at it intently and replied, "I can't see it clearly. I'll buy another ticket after the show to study it carefully."

Throughout the May Day holiday, 1024's attendance rate continued to rise thanks to the support of fans.

The company printed more than a dozen copies and distributed them to other theaters for simultaneous release. There were almost no new films released throughout May this year, as everyone was showing second-run movies. The appearance of "Crazy Passion" also provided these theaters with a supply of films, with more than three screenings scheduled every day.

On May 5st, regular theatergoers gave the film good reviews.

However, just after May Day, "Crazy Love" ushered in the first wave of public opinion.

As soon as the short holiday was over, media people of all sizes started to go back to work. A group of editors and writers who had accepted bribes from other theater colleagues, were coerced by right-wing forces, or were simply moralists, launched a massive and harsh attack on "Crazy Passion".

'The director is not a woman, the screenwriter is a beautiful woman, and the film creators dare not reveal their real names. Why do they hide their true names? '—— Ming Pao

Ming Pao was the first to jump out and target the pen names of Wang Jin and Zhai Yuan. The whole article started with the history of Hong Kong films, and it was weird that 1024 produced and screened such bizarre and erotic films, which was a step backwards for the film industry to return to the old path of seven days of freshness.

'1024 openly screened vulgar films, the practitioners were of mixed quality, of low quality, lacking a sense of responsibility and social morality.' - Sing Pao

The accusation was even bigger, and he talked about everything from the negative impact of the vulgarization of society to the need for guidance on the cultural consumption of film audiences, and he was full of benevolence, righteousness and morality.

"Pornography and violence are prevalent, fists and pillows are used to induce young people to degenerate, and this is actually inciting social unhealthy trends." - Southern Evening News

Other newspapers with their own stances, such as Tianguang Daily, Guomin Daily, and Guohua Daily, criticized "Irresistible Passion" to the utmost.

"I expected that. Regardless of whether they were paid to smear you or not, there is no shortage of moralists in Hong Kong's cultural circles."

Cai Lan and Huang Zhan had just watched a movie and were full of fantasies about Tina, the beautiful tech girl. They found an excuse to ask Zhai Yuan out for a chat, and the topic turned to today's public opinion.

In the coffee shop downstairs of 91 Entertainment in Ngau Tau Kok.

Cai Lan pointed at the sensational headlines in the newspaper and laughed, "Back then, TVB and ATV made police and gangster films like "CID" and "Big Brother", and they were criticized even more severely than you are now. Those moralists believed that TV stations should not broadcast violent police and gangster dramas during prime time. They are really crazy! Don't worry, film censorship is much more relaxed than TV dramas. As long as the Film Censorship Office does not order you to take down the film for rectification, the criticism in the newspaper will be nothing."

Television is free entertainment and so is more strictly regulated than pay-per-view movies.

Zhai Yuan pouted indifferently: "I don't take it seriously. The newspapers like Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po haven't said anything yet. Let these clowns make trouble. Just think of it as free publicity for my movie."

Huang Zhan and Cai Lan used to be columnists for Ming Pao and were known as one of the four great talents along with Jin Liangyong. They immediately gave Zhai Yuan advice.

He said in a hoarse voice: "Jin Liangyong has no stance, but he values his reputation very much. If you just say you want to remake his martial arts novel, he will praise you as a young talent leading the vanguard of film in the newspaper tomorrow."

Zhai Yuan has little interest in remaking martial arts novels, mainly because he has no shortage of good stories himself.

Xu Kui's "Swordsman" was indeed well made, and it also gave Lin Qingxia a second spring in her career. However, because he deconstructed Jin Liangyong's original novel, he actually portrayed the character that others wanted to discredit as an extremely charming positive person. The lines "The country is so beautiful that countless heroes compete to bow down to it" and "You are not in the world, but there are many people in the world who pretend to be Dongfang Bubai and do evil" directly broke Jin Liangyong's defense, and he never allowed Xu Kui to touch his novels since then.

"Forget it, martial arts movies are a thing of the past, let's just make some TV dramas for fun."

Last year, Chen Xiaodong's "The Secret of Life and Death" only earned more than 5 million at the box office. Zhai Yuan has lost interest in the market for martial arts movies. Later, Xu Kui's "Swordsman" attracted a bunch of copycat works. The special effects became more and more gorgeous, but the story was never innovative. In the end, it just gave this type of film a breath of fresh air.

…………

Although Zhai Yuan didn't care about public opinion, the eldest sister of Sanhe Film Studio Co., Ltd. couldn't sit still.

On May 5, the overwhelming condemnation had just passed.

On May 5, Sanhe’s funds were in place and public opinion gradually reversed.

"Mysterious porn star Tina made her first appearance in an interview with our newspaper. In the hit pornographic film "Irresistible Passion", Miss Tina's breast buds were exposed, making men dizzy." - Oriental Daily

This newspaper is also called the White Flour Newspaper. In the 1970s, the newspaper's founders, the Ma brothers, were arrested for selling white flour. They later jumped bail and fled to Taiwan. They had close ties with the Xu family of Xinji, and they were the first to speak out at this time.

Newspapers and magazines including Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kong Paper, and Jing Bao followed suit, arguing that the film industry should allow a hundred flowers to bloom, and they started a confrontation with the media that criticized yesterday.

The Film Censorship Office allowed the screening, so why did you media stop it? Do you want to kill the development of Hong Kong films? Who sent you?
After the routine daily dirty water throwing session was over, Zhai Yuan called Chen Lan to his office.

"It doesn't make much sense for you to do this. Audiences are used to seeing movies deliberately slandered and abused in newspapers. They would think it's fake if it's true."

He said to Chen Lan: "Arrange Tina to take over a few TV interviews. Let a beautiful girl cry and play the victim in front of the camera. It will be easier to arouse the audience's desire to protect her."

Chen Lan didn't quite understand this marketing method of 'celebrity appearing on TV shows to promote movies', so she asked Zhai Yuan for more details and suddenly she felt like she had suddenly understood something.

Over the next three days, all the fans of 1024 Theater who needed to buy tickets did so in support.

When movies rely only on passers-by to enter the theaters, the shortcomings of low-budget productions are still exposed, and theater attendance rates drop by more than 40%.

On May 5, Tina, the heroine of "Crazy Passion", appeared on the screen for the second time, this time on the show "Tonight Without Defense".

The late-night show paired with popular porn stars has aroused great anticipation among many TV viewers who watch evening dramas.

At the beginning of the show, Cai Lan, Huang Zhan and Wang Minquan started a discussion on the recent impact of "Crazy Love", and then invited special guest Tina to come on stage.

When facing the camera, Tina showed none of her aggressive self-image in private, but instead acted like a weak and innocent girl, performing according to the script she had memorized in advance.

Huang Zhan asked her: "You are so beautiful, why do you want to make pornographic movies?"

Tina stared with innocent eyes: "I don't think I'm shooting a pornographic movie. Movies are art, and my body is also art. I think it's a challenge to show my body in front of the camera. Recently, the newspapers said that I am a porn star, which made me feel very uncomfortable. I think it's sexy at most. I hope everyone will put aside their tinted glasses and enjoy this movie." Wang Minquan asked: "So has the recent public opinion affected your life?"

Tina's eyes gradually turned red. She wiped away the tears and said, "My father had just passed away before I made this movie, which made my life fall into a low ebb. But he taught me that I don't need to care about other people's opinions and I should do what I think is right. So I don't really care about what the outside world thinks."

As soon as the program was broadcast, it set the highest ratings record since the launch of "Tonight Without Defense", which was three times the ratings of Kara Hui in the previous episode.

Because there was no rebroadcast, the next day various print media began to exaggerate and retell Tina's interview last night.

In many gossip tabloids, Tina was portrayed as a person with a tragic family background but a beautiful and kind heart. In this month with little news, the top star of Portland Street became the hot topic of the day.

The attendance rate, which had just dropped to 1024, soared again.

"Boss, it's a pity that I already have Brother Qiang, otherwise I would definitely devote myself to you."

Chen Lan's admiration for Zhai Yuan was beyond words. Tina's sympathetic attack instantly made other newspapers stop attacking "Irresistible Passion". To attack "Irresistible Passion" further would be to go against the public's sympathy.

Death is the greatest thing. Miss Tina's father just died, and you are still scolding her for making a pornographic movie?
"Don't make trouble. I'm not interested in you. We are only suitable to be business partners."

Zhai Yuan did not hesitate to express his dislike for Chen Lan, which in return resulted in her pretending to be tearful.

Although she said she was willing to sacrifice herself, she was actually just testing Zhai Yuan's attitude. She never thought of cheating on Xu Jiaqiang. Zhai Yuan's statement actually made Chen Lan feel relieved.

After all, this woman was still very confident about her appearance at this time, and was somewhat worried that Zhai Yuan would make excessive demands one day and she would lose this backer after falling out with him.

However, this worry was obviously unnecessary, as there was no place for her at Mr. Zhai's mahjong table.

Chen Lan said: "After Tina played the victim in front of the camera, she had a few more wealthy customers willing to spend money to support her. The pretty mom on Portland Street said she wanted to find a few pretty girls to thank you."

Zhai Yuan waved his hands in a lack of interest: "Wu Yusen has finished filming "Shocking Change", and it will be released tomorrow."

The original film of "Shocking Change" was starred by Wen Bixia and Ren Dahua. The plot of the film is a little more complicated. The heroine played by Wen Bixia was walking between two men, her husband who wanted to plot against her property and the kidnappers. In the end, she used her beauty to make the kidnappers kill her husband, and she escaped unscathed.

When it comes to filming pornographic scenes, Wu Yusen is miles behind Wang Jin.

The heroine in his film was also a favorite of his beautiful mother, even more beautiful than Tina, but there was no aesthetic appeal in the film he shot. Fortunately, the chief art director Zhai Yuan came to the scene and forced the style to be more erotic, deleted some irrelevant plots, and added two scenes of the heroine seducing the kidnappers, which barely saved the film.

Upon hearing this, Chen Lan immediately asked, "What publicity methods will be used this time?"

Zhai Yuan stroked his chin and thought for a moment before saying, "How is the attendance rate for Crazy Love now?"

Chen Lan said: "It's very high. Yesterday, all five 1024 theaters were full, and other theaters that released the film also had an attendance rate of more than %."

Zhai Yuan looked at her and said, "With such good public opinion right now, if we suddenly announce the withdrawal of the film, what will the outside world's reaction be?"

Chen Lan: “Hmm… hm?”

…………

On May 5, a large number of viewers learned about the movie "Irresistible Passion" from various channels and were preparing to buy tickets to enter the theater, but they received an unexpected news.

"Irresistible Passion" was criticized by people from all walks of life. Although the film passed the review of the Film Censorship Office, the 1024 Theater and the producer Sanhe Company still decided to conduct a joint self-inspection.

Therefore, this movie was completely withdrawn today and may be re-released after the self-inspection is completed.

When the news came out, the film industry and various media have not yet reacted.

The audience who bought tickets to enter the venue were the first to protest.

"Are you kidding me? I drove all the way from the New Territories to show my support, and you tell me the movie is being pulled?"

In front of the ticket counter of the 1024 Cinema in Ngau Tau Kok, a man with a crew cut looked unhappy and banged the counter.

Following behind him was a group of spectators waiting in line, who protested upon hearing the news.

The theater staff looked helpless: "I am so sorry to all the distinguished guests. You have all read the recent newspapers. If this movie is not released soon, I am afraid our theater will have to close down for rectification."

One viewer immediately retorted: "Is it that exaggerated? The Film Censorship Office didn't say anything, and you guys just did a self-inspection for no reason. What a fool!"

"Sir, that's not what I meant. Our theater is open for business. Why would we take the initiative to do such a loss-making business?"

The staff remembered the words that Boss Zhai had trained them on overnight, and said with a bitter face: "Self-examination, ah, if you are not being suppressed by others, why do you need to self-examination?"

Oh? Being suppressed?

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience pricked up their ears and looked curious.

Then the staff continued, "1024 is the most luxurious theater in Hong Kong. It has attracted high-quality audiences like you, which has made other theaters very jealous and dissatisfied. Now that they have seized the opportunity, they will of course do their best to discredit us. You may not know that although the Film Censorship Office has not made any public statement, it has received countless letters of complaint from other theaters and production companies in the past few days, demanding a strict investigation of our theater. Privately, the sirs of relevant departments have come to warn us. It is really a helpless move to ask the movie to be withdrawn for self-examination. I hope everyone will understand..."

Someone in the crowd set up a camera and secretly recorded the staff member's remarks.

…………

That night.

The speeches of the 1024 employees involved in the incident then appeared in the news broadcasts of several TV stations.

The camera creates a candid angle, and although the picture is not clear, every word is crystal clear.

Almost every viewer who has read this news has the first reaction: It's too dark! Commercial competition actually uses such a lowly method as reporting.

The second reaction: 1024 Theater is so miserable, Miss Tina is so miserable.

Reporters from all over Hong Kong rushed to various places overnight to collect materials and print and typeset news for the next day.

Are established theaters suppressing new theaters? Are the Film Censors saying one thing in public and another behind the scenes? How will 1024 respond to this crisis?
Various headlines related to 1024 quickly occupied the news pages of the next day.

There are countless water army writers among them, who have concretized the image of 1024, creating a grassroots image that refuses to go along with the old theaters that rely on their past profits in order to bring better viewing experience to the audience and fights against the power of capital.

1024 are spiritual shareholders.

We have a theater with a card, but we are being bullied? We won't accept this!

After reading the news, the fans immediately activated the power of the history book and dug out the newspapers that had slandered the movie "Irresistible Passion" a few days ago, naming the names one by one.

Ka Mei Street, Chai Wan.

In the office building of Ming Pao, Jin Liangyong and a group of editors and writers all looked unhappy.

"Mr. Jin, this morning we received more than a dozen parcels from unknown persons. Threatening letters are the lowest level. The worst is someone sending a pile of feces..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the voice of the deliveryman was heard outside.

"Is Mr. Jin Liangyong here? Here is your package. Please come out and sign for it."

(End of this chapter)