This director is vindictive.

Chapter 548 A Qipao Wedding Mixed with Gunfire and Martial Arts: Silent Film-Style Romance Subverts the Entire Scene
The dazzling appearance of six top beauties from the entertainment industry ignited the red carpet event at the premiere!

The scene was like six celebrity bombs exploding at the same time, with flashbulbs going off everywhere and the screams of the fans almost blowing the roof off the theater.

Domestic entertainment reporters typed furiously on their phones, already having come up with headlines: "Chen Mo's Harem Launches a Collective Attack! This isn't a red carpet event, it's like the Six Major Sects besieging Bright Peak!"

Indeed, the six beauties each had their own unique style, yet each was stunning, like the six masters from the six major sects in a martial arts novel appearing at the same time, dazzling the eyes.

The other celebrities who appeared later also knew their place, all dressed in a style reminiscent of the Republic of China era.

Some people wore long gowns and waved folding fans to play the role of scholars, while others wore cheongsams and held round fans to play the role of socialites. The entire red carpet instantly turned into a fashion show of the Republic of China era.

One reporter couldn't help but complain while taking pictures: "Chen Mo's move was really too 'insidious' - he clearly said that the Huayun Republic of China-themed show would be held the next day, but he held a 'pre-show' at the movie premiere in advance."

"Wow, it really is!" a fellow reporter exclaimed in realization.

The most amazing thing was the background music played on stage. The old-fashioned gramophone-like "Night Fragrance" and "Rose, Rose, I Love You" were played on a loop, and the retro outfits of the celebrities made people feel as if they had traveled back to Shanghai a hundred years ago.

The fans shouted, took photos, and posted them on social media, having a great time.

This made many netizens who were unable to attend the ceremony extremely envious!
"Holy crap! This is too much! This isn't a premiere, it's a massive time-travel event set in the Republic of China era!"

"Is it too late to buy a plane ticket now? My heirloom long gown in the closet can finally come in handy!"

"Wow, this is the premiere red carpet? Chen Mo is so good at this! I really want to be there!"

As the red carpet show came to an end.

Suddenly, the background music stopped abruptly, and then the song "Shanghai Bund," familiar to countless Chinese people, began to play.

"The waves surge and flow, the mighty river never ceases its surging course."

The fans and reporters, who had been almost numb, suddenly focused their attention on the end of the red carpet.

A figure that countless people are extremely familiar with stepped out of the limousine.

He wore a top hat, a long overcoat, and a white scarf. His eyes were expressive, and his smile revealed charming dimples. Every now and then, he would take a clean white handkerchief from his jacket pocket to wipe his nose.

"Aaaaaah! Xu Wenqiang!"

"Xu Wenqiang!"

The fans at the scene screamed and exclaimed in surprise.

If we're talking about other works, like the various versions of Jin Yong's martial arts novels, you can say that there's a filter of nostalgia or sentimentality, so you might feel that the new ones aren't as good as the old ones.

So it can be said that in "Shanghai Bund", Chow Yun-fat's portrayal of Xu Wenqiang is absolutely without any filters; he is the very embodiment of Xu Wenqiang!

Suddenly he opened an oil-paper umbrella and reached out to open the car door.

"Feng Chengcheng! Feng Chengcheng!"

Zhao Yazhi stepped out of the car wearing a moon-white soft satin cheongsam. Two white jade buttons on the stand-up collar were carefully fastened to her neck, and the front of the dress was adorned with hand-drawn dark patterns of intertwined branches.

The slit at the hem only reached her calves, revealing her slender ankles encased in sheer stockings as she walked. The round-toed black leather shoes she wore had heels no more than three inches high, yet she exuded the graceful charm of the snow-covered Waibaidu Bridge back then.

The most amazing thing is the hairstyle: all the black hair is combed back into a low bun, with only a wavy fringe in front of the forehead, and a pearl hair clip in the sideburns - this is clearly a classic replica of Feng Chengcheng in the 1980 version of "Shanghai Bund"!

Although time flies and beauty fades, at least at this moment, Xu Wenqiang and Feng Chengcheng from back then have reappeared before everyone's eyes.

Suddenly, Xu Wenqiang pulled a bright red wool scarf from his sleeve and gently wrapped it around Feng Chengcheng's neck amidst everyone's attention.

This gesture instantly triggered collective memories—it was a similar red scarf that Xu Wenqiang used to tie on Feng Chengcheng's neck on a snowy night in the original drama. At that moment, the background screen switched to a classic still from the drama for comparison. The instant the old and new images overlapped, even the security guards maintaining order couldn't help but take out their phones to take pictures.

"Time truly does not diminish beauty! Even though she's already a grandmother, she's still so beautiful!"

Many older journalists and fans have vivid memories of this.

Even younger viewers who didn't experience that era or watch the TV series "Shanghai Bund" from that time were inexplicably moved by this scene.

Sometimes, nostalgia can certainly play a significant role, but similarly, a classic is a classic because it will inexplicably move you regardless of whether you have seen it or not.

The premiere venue was also decorated in the style of old Shanghai.

As the theater lights dimmed and the scratches of yellowed film appeared on the screen, the audience suddenly fell silent—this was not an ordinary opening sequence, but a 4K restored documentary of Shanghai street scenes in 1936: the clanging of trams passing under the Waibaidu Bridge, a female student in a blue cotton cheongsam carrying books wrapped in kraft paper passing by the camera, an old woman selling magnolias with jasmine in her hair, and even the air seemed to be filled with the fragrance of Pechoin cosmetics.

Unlike previous promotional videos for weddings featuring traditional Chinese wedding attire, which lacked any plot, Chen Mo has specially designed some storylines for "The Grand Wedding in a Cheongsam."

So, although this isn't a proper movie, it's certainly different from any previous wedding costume promotional video.

When the words "1936·Shanghai" appeared on the screen in white lettering on a black background, the camera suddenly swooped down from above—coal ships on the Suzhou Creek sounded their horns, the steel framework of the Waibaidu Bridge appeared and disappeared in the morning mist, and newsboys ran across the Zhapu Road Bridge, their feet still wet with the ink of the Shen Bao extra edition. The entire city of Shanghai seemed to come alive as if by magic. The protagonist, played by Chen Mo, walked through the alleyways of Xiafei Lane in the early morning, and the camera followed his steps, unfolding a dynamic panorama:
Water dripped from the nylon stockings drying on the bamboo poles hanging from the window of the pavilion, falling into the steam rising from the public steamer downstairs.

A maid wearing a short jacket made of fragrant silk used a copper kettle to fetch water for the master to wash his face. The creaking of the wooden stairs startled the tortoiseshell cat curled up on the balustrade.

The young ladies, with their hair styled in espadrilles, leaned against the courtyard of the Shikumen, munching on melon seeds while comparing the new Parisian perfumes that had just arrived at Wing On Company.

Many people were somewhat taken aback.

Because it's quite obvious that "The Wedding in a Cheongsam" is quite different in style from the previous ones.

"This seems to be part of a storyline?" Many people have this question.

Of course, even if "The Wedding in a Cheongsam" has a plot, it's just a simple one.

Moreover, they were all filmed in the form of "silent films," with virtually no dialogue.

Even so, it still surprised the audience.

After all, everyone came to see a "cheongsam" show and didn't expect any plot. It's not like this is the first time they've seen a "wedding".

To some extent, this surprise comes from the impression left by the previous five wedding videos. Since those videos didn't have a plot, the sudden appearance of a storyline here makes everyone feel inexplicably surprised.

The opening paragraph was actually mainly intended to showcase the everyday life and bustling atmosphere of the Shikumen neighborhoods during that era!

The results were clearly quite good.

The reason Chen Mo acted this way was because Shanghai was truly special, especially during that particular era, a place where great figures and events converged.

It would be a waste not to make something else.

The scene shifts, and the male protagonist arrives at the "Peace Hotel"!
It's safe to say that whenever Shanghai is mentioned, the Peace Hotel is an unavoidable landmark.

The dance hall scene where the male lead, played by Chen Mo, and the female lead, played by Gao Yuanyuan, first meet is a visual spectacle:

The crystal chandelier reflected the golden light from the jazz band's saxophones, and the Filipino musician in the white suit puffed out his cheeks like a frog.
Socialites wearing wide-sleeved cheongsams revealed Max Factor powder boxes in their handbags, while men's pocket watch chains swayed gently to the rhythm of blues.

As the male lead, played by Chen Mo, glides in and wraps his arm around Gao Yuanyuan's waist, the camera suddenly cuts to the view outside the window—the searchlights of foreign warships on the Huangpu River sweep across the scene, intertwining with the rotating lights of the dance hall on the glass to create a kaleidoscope effect.
The next scene shows the decadent and extravagant atmosphere of Fourth Road.

The casino scene, orchestrated by the villains, is full of hidden secrets: a small, gold-plated pistol tucked into the thigh of a dancer at the Paramount Ballroom gleams dangerously under the neon lights.
The Green Gang boss stroked his jade thumb ring, while his bodyguard's axe was hidden in the folds of a "Liangyou" magazine behind him;

A pyramid made of American cigarette boxes on the gambling table suddenly collapsed, revealing flyers printed with sickles and hammers underneath.

Although there hasn't been any wedding-related plot or dialogue so far, the audience is still thoroughly enjoying it.

It felt less like watching a wedding promotional video and more like witnessing the bustling metropolis of that era, a place where great figures and events converged.

In the chase scene, Chen Mo used a microscopic perspective to recreate the texture of old Shanghai.

Leather shoes stepped through puddles, reflecting the neon sign of Sincere Department Store's "Unified Tax, Tax-Free" advertisement. A bullet shattered the window of Shen Dacheng Pastry Shop, and the glutinous rice filling of the rice cake stuck to the villain's slick-haired face. As he leaped onto the tram to escape, the colorful lights of the "Great World" showroom on the front of the tram illuminated Gao Yuanyuan's profile as she tried on a pearl necklace in front of the Yong'an Company's window.

As the air raid siren sounded, the camera focused on a small market. A female student in a blue cotton dress with indigo gave her last dollar to an old woman selling magnolias. A little boy in a Boy Scout uniform desperately protected two blood-stained pear syrup candies in a bamboo basket. A schoolteacher in a long gown covered a crying baby with his body, his round-framed glasses shattered in the scale pan.

As the echoes of the air raid siren faded from the screen, the scene suddenly transitioned into extreme stillness.

A crescent moon hangs above the spire of the Peace Hotel, and the shimmering waves of the Huangpu River shatter into countless pieces of silver foil.

The camera slowly ascends the spiral staircase, the shadows of the carved iron railings creeping across the walls like a musical score, finally stopping in front of a gilded red-lacquered door—the light leaking through the crack in the door sways gently to the melody of "Night Fragrance".

The moment the door was pushed open, the entire theater erupted in a collective gasp of shock.

The 300-square-meter central hall has been transformed into an old-style wedding hall: eight palace lanterns with vermilion tassels hanging down, and the double happiness character in gold thread on the central banner is as big as a round table.

Even more astonishing are the wall decorations—the left side features a Wall Street bull relief made of hundreds of old stock certificates, while the right side displays a circuit diagram of the Chinese character "囍" (double happiness) formed by neon signs from Nanjing Road, a blatant yet tasteful fusion of East and West.

But all of these pale in comparison when the bride turns away.

Gao Yuanyuan appeared in a bright red silk dragon and phoenix gown, with nine golden phoenixes on the hem, each feather adorned with a pearl the size of a grain of rice. When she raised her wide sleeves to offer tea, the crisp sound of the jade bracelet on her wrist clinking against the silver spoon caused the audience in the front row to subconsciously touch the back of their necks, which had gone numb from the sound.

Suddenly, the jazz music changed to suona music, and to the tune of "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," Chen Mo, dressed in a long black satin robe, stepped across a brazier.

The wedding climax arrived after the "three bows": twelve young girls dressed in indigo-dyed blue dresses led the way with palace lanterns, and the lantern shades even projected black and white images of the newlyweds' first encounter in the ballroom and their love sealed by gunfire.

As the procession reached the terrace, all the buildings on the Bund suddenly lit up—the green roof of the Peace Hotel displayed "May you have a long and happy marriage," the hands of the Customs House clock froze at 7:07 (the time of Qixi Festival), and even the cruise ships on the Huangpu River formed a giant concentric circle.

"Holy crap, this isn't special effects!" A sharp-eyed audience member in the front row suddenly pointed to the bottom right corner of the screen—when the camera panned across the guests, they actually saw themselves sitting in the theater.

(End of this chapter)