Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 1004: Testing the waters with a Three Kingdoms theme! (23)

how to say…

Great directors love to use metaphors, create mind-bending plots, and explore profound mysteries; they love to expose human nature!
Because… critics often describe the director as having "insight into human nature," and say, "They are sensitive, able to see the darker side that ordinary people cannot, and they film these as warnings and critiques of social development."

You can't get these people to sing praises of humanity.

Zhang Yimou's movies and Chen Kaige's movies are both like this!
Despite the many magnificent and turbulent stories in our history, they chose to film things like conspiracies, lust, assassinations, and internal strife—things that are not fit for public display.

If "Hero" were to tell the story of the King of Qin conquering the six kingdoms, wouldn't that be more relevant to the theme than just making a film about a few assassins?

If "The Legend of the Demon Cat" were a story about the Tang Dynasty when all nations paid tribute to China, wouldn't it be more appealing to audiences than a story about Yang Guifei?
Including "The Promise" and "The Banquet"...

In the past, when Hollywood movies were all the rage, we commented, "Hollywood tells stories of the true, good, and beautiful aspects of humanity; our movies never talk about those things!"

Do you make historical films or those revolving around love, romance, and intrigue...?

Why don't audiences watch urban films or crime films?
Why should we study history?

Actually, the film *Shadow* also approached Shen Yan to play Pei Liang, the ruler of Pei State, who is actually Sun Quan…

The script gave Shen Yan a headache…

The Three Kingdoms period!
An era that produced many heroes.

In the script of "Shadow," apart from Yang Cang who still possesses some heroic qualities, all the other characters are only capable of plotting and scheming...

Of course, the cowardly Wu Kingdom of Jiangdong only had a talent for internal strife left...

Sun Quan had no ambition to dominate the world, but he was extremely talented at checks and balances and internal strife. There was no way around it. When Sun Ce died, Sun Quan was only 19 years old, and his other brothers were even younger, but he also had other cousins.

When Sun Quan succeeded to the throne and power was in the hands of Zhang Zhao, Sun Gao, the son of Sun Jing, rebelled, and Li Shu, the governor of Lujiang and a close confidant of Sun Ce, also rebelled.

Sun Quan's strategy of checks and balances was brilliant—he cooperated with Zhou Yu, allowing him and Zhang Zhao to check and balance each other.

He pardoned his third uncle's family, but allowed Sun Gao's sons, who had rebelled, to work for him, thus keeping the generals of the conquest faction in check.
He also violated ethical norms by marrying his cousin Xu Kun's daughter, becoming her son, and having Xu Kun help him deal with Li Shu; then he used his uncle Wu Jing to counterbalance his father-in-law Xu Kun...

Without these methods, Sun Quan might have died mysteriously one day!

That's how they got to the top!
Therefore, after the Ji Yan case was instigated, the Zhang family of the Wu family was abolished.

The Lü Yi case led to a comprehensive crackdown on court officials, and Zhu Ju of the Zhu family was almost deposed.

The factional strife in Southern Shandong resulted in heavy losses for Gu, Lu, Zhu, and their related-family groups…

Despite this, Sun Quan was still able to pacify the Baiyue and conquer the Yizhou!
Pei Liang in "Shadow" and the entire script are too petty.

In particular, the male protagonist, Ziyu, trapped himself in a cave after being defeated by Yang Cang.

He was neither human nor ghost, emaciated, and his mind was filled with nothing but revenge. Even though he knew that his wife and his shadow double were having an affair, he only dared to watch from outside the window... to satisfy his voyeuristic tendencies!

But how could Grand Commander Ziyu, who is an idol of all the people of Pei, be a hero with both literary and martial talents, and be recognized as such?
They even created the Eastern Wu umbrella to counter the Yang family's sword...

It's euphemistically called Yin-Yang aesthetics!

The battlefield doesn't distinguish between Yin and Yang; it only demands Yang!
This movie's box office success of 6 million yuan is entirely due to Deng Chao's star power and the publicity and marketing efforts...

However, Shen Yan plans to film a movie based on the Three Kingdoms period!

But he had many concerns…

The biggest concern is that it's difficult to do!
……

Many forums have previously discussed why "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" couldn't be made into a trilogy like "The Lord of the Rings."
The reason is simple: the plot and characters of The Lord of the Rings are not that complicated. It is a great battle between the good side, represented by the elves, and the evil side, represented by the orcs. Good triumphs over evil, and the final outcome is that the good guys win. That's it, it's satisfying!

Even the most brilliant director and screenwriter couldn't have come up with a plot like "Jin is the good guy, Wei, Shu, and Wu are the bad guys, Jin wins, and establishes a kingdom! Mwah!"
o(╯□╰)o
As for adapting it into a Marvel Cinematic Universe...

That's not quite right either... There's no absolute protagonist in the Three Kingdoms!

Lu Yang does have some ideas!
He was interested in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and mentioned "The Wind Rises in Longxi".

"A reinterpretation of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' from an espionage perspective: the small figures caught in the cracks of an era!"

Shen Yan countered, "...The problem is that the Three Kingdoms period was an era of heroes. If we're going to make a film about this subject, why choose ordinary people?"

"Aren't we... going to reinterpret it?" Lu Yang continued, "...a spy story set within the framework of the Three Kingdoms period, where a nobody stirs up historical events."

“…I’m not optimistic,” Shen Yan shook his head again, but still said, “If you’re interested, you can find a TV station or video platform to cooperate with!”

"To make it into a TV series?"

"There's so much content, it can't be condensed into a single movie!"

"Fine!"

"I'll think about the movie myself!"

……

"The Wind Rises in Longxi"...

Like "The Longest Day in Chang'an", it also includes the Novoland series such as "Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy" (a drama with nearly 80 episodes, which didn't even finish the prologue), and "Serenade of Peaceful Joy".

These types of dramas share a common characteristic: large investment, large production, grand and impressive scenes, exquisite costumes and props, and plenty of gimmicks.

Use strong publicity to attract viewers and make them feel that "this is a well-made, high-quality drama"...

Pseudo-highbrow drama!

The audience's actual viewing experience: What are you even acting out? That's it?

My mind is full of question marks.

But I don't dare to complain right away.

After all, they invested and produced it, and that's what it is.

It's easy to fall into self-doubt: Do I really not know how to appreciate things?

Therefore, the above-mentioned dramas initially received very little criticism online.

Especially "Serenade of Peaceful Joy," produced by Daylight Entertainment, is known for its high-quality productions. The lead actor, Wang Kai, is known for his roles in "Nirvana in Fire" and "Like a Flowing River." With such a production background, no one dares to criticize it.

Big production + famous actors + empty content.

Since viewers dare not complain, their way of protesting is to silently abandon the show.

Therefore, all of them started strong but ended weak.

When it came to "The Wind Rises in Longxi", even a strong opening was impossible!

Because audiences have long been accustomed to this kind of pretentious, pseudo-high-class production, with its elaborate costumes and props, they simply don't buy into it...

Of course, casting Chen Kun as the lead actor was also one of the reasons for the film's failure!

Chen Kun has a high opinion of himself. He looks down on idol dramas and popular idols, as well as so-called "vulgar" works, and always wants to pursue "strength".

They also crudely equate "strength" with "artistic, incomprehensible, and pretentious."

They lack the ability to distinguish between good and bad works of art, yet they think they're amazing!
However, Shen Yan really intends to test the waters with a Three Kingdoms-themed work...

(End of this chapter)