This director is vindictive.

Chapter 549 The director has gone mad! He's made the audience collectively die in the movie theater!
For Chen Mo, he has already done so many shows for the Huayun Wedding Dress series that the novelty has long worn off.

All that's left is to give women a sense of ritual to treat everyone equally.

Originally, he planned to go straight through the formalities for the wedding, but then he realized that going straight through the formalities would be meaningless.

Add to that the cheongsam, the bustling Bund, the Paramount Ballroom, and so on; it's fair to say that when these elements are combined, they always give off a sense of worldliness and sophistication.

Therefore, it was finally revised to present Shanghai in that era in the form of a silent film. As for what the meaning is?
Sorry, no! I just thought this arrangement was more interesting.

As for the display of cheongsams, there are actually quite a few. Throughout the film, Gao Yuanyuan alone changed into more than a dozen different cheongsams, including school uniforms, evening gowns, and formal wear. You could say that almost all of them were featured.

Of course, the most surprising part was the final scene. To put it simply, the principle wasn't that complicated. It used holographic technology to make each audience member dressed in Huayun "travel" to become a guest at a wedding banquet in the Republic of China era.

But at least for now, no one has tried this. The main reason is that although it's not technically difficult to do, it costs a lot of money!
After the premiere, the audience members were all chattering about it.

"As expected of Chen Mo! He knows how to have fun!"

"That's right, I was completely dumbfounded when I saw myself at the wedding banquet!"

"Tsk tsk, I thought I was just here to see a cheongsam show on screen, but I didn't expect this surprise."

"It felt completely different! From the red carpet show at the premiere to the end of the film, it was the most fun premiere I've ever attended. It really felt like I was back in the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, back to that place where history and events converged!"

For many people, this kind of premiere, in this kind of way, is indeed quite novel.

That evening, film critics couldn't wait to share their thoughts on this unique premiere.

Chen Mo's go-to film critic, Zhou Xiaobin, described this feast with the title "A Subversive 'Silent Film' Romance: Chen Mo Recreates an Eastern Aesthetic Feast".

"Chen Mo's premiere of 'The Wedding in a Qipao' was completely innovative, turning an ordinary premiere into a large-scale 'Republic of China-themed party'."

This is not a premiere in the traditional sense at all, but an immersive retro experience show meticulously designed by Chen Mo!

The red carpet was a striking sight – all the media reporters and fans present spontaneously wore clothing from the Republican era.

The female reporters all wore elegant student cheongsams, while the male reporters wore modified Chinese long gowns. The fan groups were even more diverse: there were cheongsam beauties holding oil-paper umbrellas, literati and scholars wearing round-framed glasses, and even a little boy cosplaying as a newspaper boy.

The entire red carpet event was transformed into a street with a Republican-era theme, with the old Shanghai song "Night Fragrance" playing in the background, and even the security personnel's walkie-talkies were covered with retro brocade pouches.

While everyone thought that "The Grand Wedding in a Cheongsam" would be a fashion show on the big screen like in the past, Chen Mo went against the grain. After the film opened, Chen Mo used silent film to show Shanghai in 1936: coal ships on the Suzhou River, morning mist on the Waibaidu Bridge, and glass stockings dripping water in the alley.
These delicate and vivid images make the audience feel as if they have traveled through time.

When the male protagonist meets the female protagonist in the ballroom of the Peace Hotel, the crystal chandeliers, the jazz band, and the elegant ladies' flowing cheongsams vividly depict the decadent and extravagant lifestyle of old Shanghai.

The biggest surprise of the entire film comes during the wedding scene—when the bride turns around, the audience in the theater suddenly finds their own figures appearing on the screen at the wedding banquet! This is a trick Chen Mo played with using holographic technology, allowing every audience member dressed in traditional Chinese clothing to travel back in time to become a wedding guest.

This brilliant move elicited screams from the audience, with some jokingly saying: "Chen Mo turned the premiere into a large-scale cosplay event combined with a 4D immersive experience!"
The entire premiere was like a sophisticated retro time machine: from costumes and styling to set design, from background music to interactive elements, every detail perfectly recreated the atmosphere of the Republic of China era.

Rather than saying the audience came to see a movie, it's more accurate to say they came to participate in a meticulously designed "time-travel" experience. This unconventional creativity once again proves Chen Mo's exceptional skill in marketing and content presentation—he always manages to bring unexpected surprises to the audience.

Zhou Qingquan, editor-in-chief of the film weekly, also wrote in his column: "Half of the history of the Republic of China, a fashion revolution, is very much a subject of Chen Mo."

"Farewell to the purely visual style of the previous five wedding dress promotional videos, 'The Grand Wedding in a Cheongsam' introduces a plot framework for the first time. Chen Mo boldly adopts silent film techniques, using black backgrounds with white text for the era titles, film stripe effects, and silent performances to recreate the vibrant life of Shanghai in 1936."

From the bustling street life of the Shikumen to the jazz dance hall of the Peace Hotel, from the undercurrents of gambling on Fourth Road to the myriad aspects of life under air raids, every scene is an archaeological replica of the customs and culture of the Republic of China era.

He turned the wedding video into a contemporary allegory reminiscent of "The Grand Budapest Hotel," where the cheongsam was no longer just a symbol of clothing, but a vibrant life force amidst chaos.

Compared to the previous "aesthetics above all else" tone of the Huayun series, this film creates surprises with contrast: the male lead hides a pistol in his suit, and the female lead has a secret letter from the underground party hidden in her pearl necklace; during the wedding, the Bund buildings suddenly spell out "a long and happy marriage" in lights - this collision between the gunfight of the underworld and the wedding ceremony was described by the foreign media reporters present as "Quentin Tarantino-style romance".

In particular, the holographic technology allowed viewers to "travel" into the wedding banquet guests, blurring the line between the screen and reality. Netizens joked: "Chen Mo proved with technology that the best sense of immersion is to let the audience become the 'extras' themselves."

Perhaps, as he quipped in the post-screening interview, "If previous wedding films were like sugary sweet soup, this time I wanted to try adding a touch of whiskey." — Still saccharine, but with a powerful aftertaste.

The advance screening of "The Grand Wedding in Qipao" that evening, although it was only the eve of Qixi Festival, still had an astonishingly high attendance rate.

Interestingly, almost every screening turned into a fashion show set in the Republican era.

The vast majority of the audience members tacitly agreed to wear clothing in the style of the Republic of China era. The men wore modified Chinese long gowns, while the women mostly wore cheongsams. This created a unique scene at the end of each screening of "Cheongsam Wedding" in every cinema, making more people curious about the film.

Actually, Chen Mo hadn't thought much about the event where people wore traditional Chinese clothing and watched movies for free.

He guessed the effect would be good, but he never expected it to be so amazing.

Actually, the event itself doesn't have any specific requirements regarding the type of traditional Chinese clothing worn.

So, in reality, it's fine to wear Hanfu or modern Chinese-style clothing with elements of traditional Chinese clothing.

However, he himself overlooked one point: Qixi Festival is a day that is different from other festivals.

Furthermore, the premiere night's immersive experience of Shanghai's vibrant nightlife, reminiscent of the Bund during the Republican era, coupled with the fact that "The Wedding in a Cheongsam" itself is a film primarily featuring cheongsams, further contributed to its popularity.

As a result, many couples unanimously chose to wear Republic of China-style clothing for Qixi Festival the following day.

As a result, many people woke up to find that the streets were filled with "Republic of China style" decorations.

Another point that has been overlooked is that Hanfu, especially traditional Hanfu, is not really suitable for modern people to wear as everyday clothes.

Therefore, Huayun's best-selling items have never actually been Hanfu, but rather clothing designed with ancient elements combined with modern clothing features.

However, many people suddenly realized that traditional Hanfu is indeed not suitable as everyday wear, but modern "Republic of China style" clothing seems to be quite suitable.
For example, the female student uniform in the Republic of China era consisted of a dark blue top, a black midi skirt, white gauze stockings, and round-toed cloth shoes.

Or it could be like the cheongsam worn by female students in the Republican era, which Zhao Liying often wears.

These kinds of clothes are perfectly fine for modern people to wear as everyday clothes; the key point is that they are very distinctive.

Especially on Qixi Festival, men wearing modified Chinese-style long gowns and women wearing cheongsams or midi skirts that combine Chinese and Western styles, walking together, it feels really wonderful!
The key point is that these clothes are really not picky about who you are or how you fit your body.

Suddenly, the fashion trend for this year's Qixi Festival was swept up.

What's even more interesting is that the luxury alliance's fashion show also kicked off on Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day).

Moreover, they followed the example of the welfare week that Chen Mo had organized before, and set up several themed sub-venues.

Then, something funny happened.

Because this grand show imitated Chen Mo's "Hanfu Millennium Show" during Welfare Week, it was aimed at a broader audience.

Therefore, the show was held in a stadium that could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

But once the showgoers entered, they discovered that, wow, the place had also been taken over by the Republic of China style.

When the live stream of the show started and the camera panned across the venue, viewers were immediately amused.

"Wow, did we come to the wrong place? Why is everything in the style of the Republic of China era?"

"So, Chen Mo is truly terrifying! One event and one movie have turned the Republican era style into a trend!"

"I just want to know, could all these people be spies sent by Chen Mo? Isn't this a huge embarrassment?"

The organizers of the luxury alliance fashion show were also somewhat caught off guard by this scene.

The main issue is that although they have put on many shows, these large-scale shows for the general public are actually not that many of them are truly amazing.

Of course, the most outrageous thing is that these people are dressed so damn neatly.

It was all in the style of the Republic of China era. Actually, some people weren't dressed like that at first, but when they arrived at the entrance of the show, they found that many people were dressed like that, so they immediately went to rent or buy these kinds of clothes to change into.

This has resulted in this exaggerated situation.

(End of this chapter)