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

Chapter 970 Refusal (23)

Ren Zhonglun is the chairman of Shanghai Film Group.

The Shanghai Film Group's recovery model is essentially about following in the footsteps of China Film Group and investing in movies...

After making money, most of the films he produced himself, except for "Sacrifice" which still had China Film Group's involvement, were rubbish, especially the ones starring Zhou Jielun and Zhu Yanping...

But we made money!

"Kung Fu Dunk", "The Treasure Hunter"...

Although "The Treasure Hunter" did not receive good reviews or box office results, the film was very successful in terms of product placement. With many big-name stars such as Zhou Jielun and Lin Chi-ling, how could the film lack product placement?

And there's also "The Amazing One"!
To be honest, they were just like Enlight Media a few years ago; they didn't understand film at all and thought that if they made money by investing in films, they could produce their own...

In recent years, the film production performance has been poor, but fortunately, the market performance of its affiliated cinema chain, Shanghai United, has been good, which has helped Shanghai Film Group maintain its position as the second largest state-owned enterprise.

China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group are the only two state-owned film companies listed nationwide.

But it was no use; China Film Group, a large state-owned film enterprise, remained the leader!

In terms of production, the annual output is very large, including many patriotic films, but the average quality is not high. In terms of distribution, China Film Group is the only company in mainland China with film import rights, and China Film Group and Huaxia Film Distribution are the only two companies with import film distribution rights. These two powers have established China Film Group's dominant position in the distribution process.

On the other hand, China Film Group has invested in or controlled seven cinema chains, among which China Film Digital, China Film Southern New Line, and China Film Stellar have all performed very well at the box office and have a great influence on the exhibition side.

The two major advantages of distribution and screening can ensure that China Film Group maintains its leading position as a state-owned enterprise for a long time.

Because of their advantages in distribution, Spark Studio and Maoyan Entertainment collaborate with China Film Group on many film projects!
I don't have much connection with Shanghai Film Studio...

Even for films like *The Martian* and *The Wandering Earth*, Shanghai Film Group was only a co-producer, with an investment ratio of less than 2%...

So, Ren Zhonglun mentioned that he wanted to collaborate with Shen Yan on a project…

Brother Yan is quite strange...

Could it be "Terracotta Warriors"?
Ren Zhonglun once publicly announced that Marvel Studios would collaborate with Shanghai Film Group to produce a Chinese version of the superhero film "Terracotta Warrior Hero"...

"What kind of project is Mr. Ren interested in? 'Blossoms'?"

"The adaptation rights to 'Blossoms' have already been given to Wong Kar-wai's Jet Tone Films. If you're interested, I can get them back!"

“No need…” Shen Yan immediately shook his head: “I’m not from Shanghai, I can’t understand ‘Blossoms’!”

……

Wang Jiawei's adaptation of "Blossoms" actually departs from the original novel, creating a parallel world that is almost equivalent to fan fiction...

It clearly draws inspiration from Feng Lun's financial book "Wild Growth" and Ying Jianzhong's financial novel "Red Men and Green Women in the Stock Market" and its companion piece "Joys and Sorrows in the Stock Market".

The author extracted A Bao, one of the three men in the novel, and gave him an economic warfare storyline that was not in the novel. Meanwhile, the other two men, Hu Sheng and Xiao Mao, who received the same amount of attention from the author, were completely deleted.

However, the women who mingled among men in the original novel were retained, becoming the platform and support for A Bao's activities.

The original novel, "Blossoms," is a very fragmented novel without a complete story. If one had to find a main thread, the story unfolds from the 1960s to the 1990s, involving more than 100 characters, which is both detailed and grand.

The stories are all fragmented, without a complete cause and effect. They are usually casual conversations at dinner parties, where the story is pieced together amidst the chatter and the characters' personalities are revealed through the clinking of glasses.

Hu Sheng is the descendant of a military officer, while A Bao is the descendant of a capitalist; Xiao Mao comes from an ordinary working-class background, but because of his humble origins, he escaped a calamity, and his worker status actually gave him a higher status...

In the 90s, the situation changed again. Hu Sheng and A Bao's families were exonerated. A Bao went into business, and Hu Sheng became a lawyer. They were still in the wealthy class. Xiao Mao, as an ordinary worker, could only work as a security guard after the factory closed down, and continued to live at the bottom of society.

This contrast in fates becomes even more poignant when viewed over a longer timeline.

As one line in the book says: No matter how hard a person tries, it's all based on their bloodline, which is basically unchangeable.

Since fate is already predetermined, there's nothing more to explore in life, so why not seek pleasure? Indeed, "Blossoms" focuses more on the women around them and the men behind them, depicting many kinds of male-female relationships, with lust being the main theme.

This book portrays men as having extramarital affairs, women as constantly seducing men, and single men as having a revolving door of partners.

Everywhere was filled with lust, and everyone seemed to be on aphrodisiacs.

Honestly, Wang Jiawei's "Blossoms" wasn't good. The main problem was Hu Ge's acting; he had a weak and submissive demeanor, very much like a timid man, completely unlike the typical romantic CEO...

Actually, you just need to imagine Tony Leung from "In the Mood for Love" and you'll be fine!
……

"Climbing Mount Everest?"

"Yes, the Film Bureau recently invited me to make a film about climbing Mount Everest... It will be released next National Day."

Shen Yan was stunned for a moment... "The Climbers"...

He immediately shook his head: "We're planning to film 'My People, My Country' for next year's National Day holiday... We've found seven directors, each to shoot a 20-minute short film... I don't think we'll have time!"

"My People, My Country...how many of you were the directors?"

"I'm the chief director, and the others include Guo Fan, Lu Yang, Rao Xiaozhi, Han Yan, Wu Jing, Wen Muye..."

"Wu Jing is also one of the directors?"

"Yes, he directed and acted in one of the segments himself..."

Well, I'll refuse on Wu Jing's behalf anyway...

After all, Wu Jing had no say in the "Climbers" project!

It's said that after Wu Jingjin joined the production team and read the script, he requested that his character and Zhang Ziyi's character be changed to "former couple," removing all scenes of them dating...

Then it was rejected!
There is a scene in the movie where Wu Jing, holding two ice picks, leaps across a valley crevice.

During filming, Wu Jing felt quite speechless and asked, "How do you explain this flying over?"

Ren Zhonglun said: "Lu Xun wrote a line, 'The snowflakes of Yanshan are as big as mats,' which is an artistic exaggeration. In a biography of the British mountaineer Mallory, it is written that on the 8000-meter peak, a strong wind came and he and his companions were blown away like pieces of paper. This shows that the wind at the 8000-meter gale is huge. Your leap should be considered as 'the snowflakes of Yanshan are as big as mats.'"

Is this all there is to it?

In addition, the phrase "Yanshan snow mountain as big as a mat" comes from Li Bai's poem "North Wind": "Yanshan snowflakes are as big as mats, each piece blown down from Xuanyuan Terrace."

Why show off your skills?

Because "The Climbers" is a tribute film, if made well, it has a high probability of being remembered in film history!

(End of this chapter)