I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

Chapter 410 Returning to Beijing
"Xiaoxi, I have something to do. Let's talk tomorrow."

Li Xiaoran, feeling utterly exasperated, couldn't continue the conversation any longer. She quickly said something and then turned off her phone.

"Cheng Sheng..."

Li Xiaoran raised her little head, her cheeks flushed, and looked at Cheng Sheng pitifully with her eyes. She had a lot to say, but for a moment she didn't know how to explain it.

"I believe you and Xu Fanxi are innocent."

As Cheng Sheng spoke with Li Xiaoran in his arms, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily. He thought to himself: We've been washing abalone together, what's with the innocence? Why do I feel like Xu Fanxi has cheated on me?
"Ok!"

Li Xiaoran blushed, let out a soft hum, and buried her head in Cheng Sheng's arms.

Upon seeing Li Xiaoran's appearance, Cheng Sheng's heart stirred slightly, and he lowered his head to kiss her.

Li Xiaoran struggled slightly at first, and then responded.

The war reignited.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Cheng Sheng was kicked out of the villa by Li Xiaoran.

Cheng Sheng was just too good at causing trouble. Li Xiaoran was afraid that if things continued, she would die at Cheng Sheng's hands.

Moreover, my best friend Xu Fanxi is coming to Shanghai today. If she sees Cheng Sheng there, yesterday's events will definitely be exposed.

Cheng Sheng was speechless as he left Li Xiaoran's villa. Did she not want a lover anymore now that she had a best friend?
Well, it's good that he should go back to Kyoto.

Cheng Sheng took a taxi to the airport and bought a plane ticket to Kyoto.

Kyoto Airport.

Cheng Sheng, who had just gotten off the plane, did not expect to run into Liu Dehua at the airport.

"Hello, Director Cheng, I didn't expect to run into you here."

Upon seeing Cheng Sheng, Liu Dehua greeted him warmly.

"Brother Hua, did you just come from Hong Kong?" Cheng Sheng asked curiously.

"Yes, I'm in Kyoto for the premiere of 'A Battle of Wits,' the movie in which I play the lead role," Liu Dehua said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Sheng recalled memories of another version of himself. Because the movie "A Battle of Wits" starred Andy Lau, this other version of himself had a deep impression of it.

This is a masterpiece painstakingly crafted by Hong Kong director Cheung Tze-leung over ten years.

In addition, the film boasts a star-studded cast including Lau Tak-hua, Ahn Sung-ki, Fan Shuangbing, Wang Zhiwen, and Wu Qilong from Hung Hing.

Looking at these actors, Cheng Sheng couldn't help but complain. This is a Chinese story, and forcibly adding Korean actors is really speechless.

It feels like these days, movies without Japanese and Korean actors have no market.

The movie "A Battle of Wits" is neither a classic nor a good movie.

"A Battle of Wits" is adapted from the best-selling Japanese manga of the same name. It tells the legendary story of Ge Li, a Mohist during the Warring States period, who, in order to save the small state of Liang, led 4,000 women and children to confront and fight against 100,000 elite soldiers of the Zhao state. In the end, he caused the Zhao state to lose 5,000 soldiers and return empty-handed.

To be honest, Chinese people really love Chinese history. Many Chinese novels are basically about Chinese history, especially the history of the Three Kingdoms, which has been written to death by Chinese people.

The film's theme is "calling for peace and opposing war," advocating the Mohist concept of "universal love and non-aggression." As a result, it appears rather serious and even somewhat profound and obscure, making it easy to fall into superficial preaching. However, Zhang Ziliang did not preach for the sake of preaching, nor did he impose his own ideas on the audience. Instead, he "edutainment" by telling the story in an exciting and dramatic way, thus naturally bringing out his own views.

All the war and fighting scenes were not very bloody. Even though there were "corpses strewn everywhere", there was never "blood flowing like a river" - Zhang Ziliang seemed to be intentionally avoiding those overly bloody and violent scenes. The visual language was relatively mild, realistic and unpretentious.

While lacking in sensory stimulation, the film subtly reveals his unique understanding and reflection on war and life. However, the film also has many obvious and regrettable shortcomings.

It is precisely because of these flaws that "A Battle of Wits" is unlikely to become a classic.

Zhang Ziliang prepared for this film, "A Battle of Wits," for nearly ten years.

No one doubts his sincerity and effort, and while the film has its flaws, it's not a bad movie.

As Cheng Sheng pondered the reviews of the film, he looked at Liu Dehua with a pitying gaze.

Liu Dehua's appearance in "A Battle of Wits" was truly speechless. As a result of the film's box office failure, Liu Dehua was dubbed "box office poison" and faced a lot of criticism.

But how can the blame for this look be placed on the actor?
Moreover, there are many criticisms of the plot, saying that it does not conform to historical reality and that many scenes are too fake.

This film is a typical commercial blockbuster with a Chinese background story, but the forced inclusion of South Korean actors and dubbing feels very abrupt.

Choi Siwon's portrayal of Prince Liang Shi was alright, but Ahn Sung-ki's portrayal of the General of Zhao was very jarring. At first, Cheng Sheng thought it was a minor actor.

Of course, the biggest problem with this movie is that it adds unnecessary romantic elements to what should be a war film that tells a good story.

With such a large investment, is it really necessary to include a romance element just for commercial success?
The biggest flaw in this movie is indeed the romantic relationship between Liu Dehua's Ge Li and Fan Shuangbing's General Yi Yue.

In this film, which was supposed to be a male-dominated production, Fan Bingbing stunned the audience with her beauty. It has to be admitted that Bingbing is always beautiful.

However, this is a time of war and chaos, and such a romantic storyline shouldn't appear in such a harsh environment!

The director and screenwriter also devoted a lot of screen time to the romantic storyline between Liu Dehua and Fan Shuangbing, which is really speechless.

The two characters face danger and experience life and death together in the drama, and their feelings for each other gradually deepen.

Oh my god, the director almost arranged a passionate scene between Liu Dehua and Fan Shuangbing.

However, if I had held back this time, there would have been no happy ending.

Fan Shuangbing plays General Yiyue, who is imprisoned in a dungeon after the King of Liang cuts out her tongue and eventually drowns.

The director and screenwriter still made Liu Dehua's Ge Li find Fan Shuangbing later, and only jump in to save her when she was about to die.

As for how they finally got up there, nobody knows.

Many people probably feel that the story has gone off track. Yes, the plot has completely veered off course.

Therefore, this movie shouldn't have too many things added to it.

If "A Battle of Wits" can tell a good story, it will definitely be a good war film.

The most outstanding performance in this film is Wang Zhiwen's portrayal of King Liang. After watching his performance, I really gritted my teeth at this cruel and incompetent tyrant.

The two adversaries in the film, Ge Li and Xiang Yanzhong, seem so foolish in their battle of wits and courage.

The arrogance of the Zhao general and the Mohist principles of non-aggression and universal love are all meaningless.

Another major flaw of this movie is that Andy Lau's character Ge Li keeps lecturing on grand principles.

Honestly, it's quite strange that the director was nominated for so many Best Director awards for this film.

At the same time, it's impressive that the story of this movie was nominated for so many Best Screenplay awards.

Cheng Sheng could only say that such a huge investment and such a star-studded lineup were a complete waste.

(End of this chapter)