How did I become famous?

Chapter 118 Wuxia Script (Second Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets! Will be writing this after my afternoon nap!)

"So what idea did Director Fang tell you?"

"I went back in time, fell in love with myself, gave birth to myself, killed myself, and was killed by myself."

"Brilliant! No wonder it's Director Fang! Even a casual idea can be so ingenious!"

"Skinny Monkey, Old Fang isn't here, you don't need to flatter him."

"No, what I mean is, if you can't film such a great idea as Director Fang, you might as well go home and live off your parents instead of just loafing around at the company."

"."

The conversation had come to an end, and Wu Kai was about to get up and go back to his room to read the script.

"Wait!" Liu Mang blocked his way. "Hand over the script!"

Wu Kai frowned: "That's the script Director Fang gave me. Why aren't you thinking about your own script? What are you doing here?"

"We can only improve by watching each other's work. Or are you afraid that the movie I make after reading your script won't be as good as mine?"

"Nonsense! Fine, I'll watch it! The script's in my room, I'll get it right now!"

Two minutes later, the two ignored the snacks and unfinished beer on the small coffee table and instead gathered around the computer to read the script together.

Fang Bie gave Wu Kai the title of the script: "The Grandmaster".

Of course, this is not the same as Fang Bie's previous life as a grandmaster.

Although it contains similar elements, it is mostly a modified version of Fang Bie.

The script does not tell an ancient martial arts story, but a modern one.

Decades ago, the martial arts world was divided into North and South.

Ip Man from Foshan learned Wing Chun from Chan Wah-shun, the third-generation successor of Wing Chun.

Grandmaster Gong Yutian of Baguazhang is getting old and has decided to retire from the martial arts world and stop caring about worldly affairs.

But at the time, he was still the president of the Chinese Wushu Association.

If he were to step down, countless masters would naturally covet the throne of "Martial Arts Alliance Leader".

At that time, the martial arts world was divided into North and South.

The South is led by the five major martial arts families.

In the north, the five major sects reign supreme.

These five families and factions all have the ability to seize the throne of "Martial Arts Alliance Leader", so none of them are willing to submit to the others.

Ip Man, the Wing Chun master, was the eleventh among them.

He believed that practicing martial arts was only for physical fitness, not for fighting.

His philosophy is to stop war with force.

Therefore, he had no interest in the position of president of the Chinese Wushu Association.

Gong Yutian had completed the transmission of Northern Fist to the South, so his sparring partner in the North was his eldest disciple, Ma San.

But there is still one thing he hasn't finished, and that is to spread Southern Kung Fu to the North.

Therefore, he hoped that when he held his retirement ceremony in the South, the person he could help out with would be a Southern boxer.

However, his eldest disciple was extremely powerful, and none of the challengers from the south were his match.

Therefore, they ultimately recommended Ip Man to partner with Gong Yutian.

Ip Man reluctantly agreed.

Before the fight, Ip Man underwent tests and instruction from the five great martial arts families of the South.

Gong Yutian's apprentice, Ma San, was sent back to his hometown because he felt that his apprentice was too sharp. He had come to make peace, but Ma San turned it into a conflict between the North and the South.

Afterwards, the two sparred. Gong Yutian took out a piece of cake and asked Ip Man if he could break it. He said that martial arts are divided into North and South, but can a country be divided into North and South?

He wanted Ip Man to give him an answer.

Ip Man's answer was, "This piece of cake is a martial arts world in your eyes, but in my eyes it is a whole world."

The saying goes, "Great achievements seem imperfect," meaning that progress comes from imperfections.

If it really worked, Southern Fist would have spread far beyond the North.

The cake in Gong Yutian's hand broke.

His daughter, Gong Er, was dissatisfied and challenged Ip Man to a duel, which she won by a narrow margin.

Some time later.

Someone came from the north seeking help from Ip Man, saying that Japan had invaded, and Ma San had defected to Japan and killed his own master, Gong Yutian.

Gong Er was determined to take revenge herself, but the martial arts world in the north was in imminent danger, so she came to the south for help.

Ip Man then went north with the five major families of the Southern martial arts world and other grandmasters to provide assistance.

In the city, the defending troops were resisting the invasion while waiting for reinforcements.

Ip Man actually saw quite a few monks and Taoist priests here.

They also came down from the mountains to provide rescue.

But Ip Man discovered that they weren't using swords or fists, but rather long guns and cannons.

He didn't understand, saying that this would cause the things left by our ancestors to be lost.

A Taoist priest smiled and told him that martial arts have been lost for thousands of years, so one more thing won't matter.

What is martial arts?

To stop war with force is true martial prowess.

If the purpose is to stop war and protect the country, aren't guns and cannons also a form of force?

Since ancient times, those who break the law with martial arts have been considered chivalrous.

In a fit of rage, he would kill every ten steps to become a hero.

To draw one's sword and help those in need is the mark of a chivalrous person.

Serving the country and its people is also a form of chivalry.

He also gave Ip Man a pistol.

Ip Man seemed to understand something, and then kept it close to his body.

Afterwards, news arrived in the city that reinforcements would arrive in three days.

But after three days and nights of fierce fighting, the place was about to fall before dawn.

The martial arts world of the North decided that Ip Man and other martial artists from the South would escort the city's residents and their descendants to the South for refuge.

They would stay behind to cover the retreat of the remaining troops defending the city.

Ip Man agreed.

Before leaving, he witnessed the final charge of martial arts masters against guns and cannons.

This is the final masterpiece of martial arts masters from both the North and South.

At this moment, they were no longer the veteran martial artists of the Northern and Southern martial arts worlds.

They are all martial arts masters in China.

It was only then that Ip Man truly understood what chivalry meant.

Those who knowingly do the impossible are also heroes.

These heroes, regardless of their skill level, were all grandmasters.

Therefore, Ip Man rejected Gong Er's veiled confession. He entrusted the important task of escorting everyone south to Gong Er and went alone to the Japanese army outside the northern city. He declared that he was the president of the Chinese Martial Arts Association and wanted to fight the Japanese martial arts instructors to the death to see which was stronger, Chinese martial arts or Japanese martial arts.

In order to strike at China and boost the confidence of the Japanese people, the leader of the Japanese forces granted his request.

So Ip Man defeated the instructors of various martial arts schools in the Japanese military camp one by one.

Finally, he even challenged himself to fight ten against one, and he actually won.

At this moment, Japan sent out its last person.

That was Ma San, who had by then become the chief instructor of Japanese martial arts.

After a fight, Ip Man used the Baguazhang technique taught to him by Gong Er to kill Ma San.

However, the Japanese troops surrounded Ip Man, and all of their spears were pointed at him.

The Japanese commander laughed and said that both Chinese martial arts and Japanese martial arts were things of the past. No matter how strong they were, how could they be a match for spears and cannons?

Then, dawn arrived, and the sun began to rise.

The sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn.

The bugle call to charge came from afar; the reinforcements from China had arrived.

Looking at the panicked Japanese troops and their officer, Ip Man smiled.

He said, "You are wrong. Perhaps Chinese martial arts will decline, but those who are willing to accept new things and do not change their original intention of using martial arts to stop war will all be grandmasters."

Then he took out the pistol that the Taoist priest had given him from his pocket and aimed it at the Japanese commander.

Countless gunshots rang out.

Closing the script, Liu Mang took a deep breath and lit a cigarette: "Old Fang's scripts... are still so excellent."

Wu Kai didn't say anything.

Liu Mang turned to look at him, only to find that he was already in tears.

"..." Liu Mang forced a smile. "No... it's just a dry script, why are you crying like this?"

"You don't understand." Wu Kai wiped his eyes with his sleeve, then lit a cigarette. "This is actually the script that Director Fang wrote for me. I can sense that."

In his view, this was the story Fang Bie had written for him.

Artsy types like to beat around the bush.

The term "Northern and Southern Martial Arts World" refers to both art films and commercial films in the film and television industry.

Those old, stubborn masters—referring to the older generation of directors in the industry—are depicted in the script as masters who ultimately set aside their differences between North and South, willingly sacrificing themselves for the younger generation. This is Fang Bie's hope.

Wu Kai felt that the script was actually something Fang Bie wanted to tell him.

That means movies aren't divided into art films and commercial films; a good movie is one that is moving and entertaining.

Therefore, he wants to avoid paying too much attention to commercial films or art films, which is also reflected in his previous film, "Shadow of Light".

Don't call it an art film, but it's actually a fusion of art films and commercial films.

And this proves to be true: as long as it's a good movie, no matter what genre it is, the audience will like and support it.

The final scene where those masters turned their backs on the southward-bound people and chose to charge towards the guns and cannons of Japan, and Ip Man's final act of pulling out a pistol, represents Fang Bie's hope that Wu Kai could reach a reconciliation with the senior figures in the domestic film and television industry.

Faced with the aggressive advances of foreign films, veterans in the domestic film and television industry should set aside their prejudices, and Wu Kai, the Ip Man of the film industry, should also set aside his prejudices. Instead of getting caught up in the debate between commercial and artistic films, they should focus on making good movies. This is the best way to fight back against foreign films.

Wu Kai understood.

He felt he had found his direction.

He was completely transformed.

At that moment, he put aside his jealousy of Liu Mang, realizing that Fang Bie actually valued him more than Liu Mang.

Otherwise, why would he entrust such an important matter to me? And he even wrote this script specifically to enlighten me!

Wu Kai made a decision.

Fang Bie enlightened him, and he was going to use this script, which had consumed countless efforts of Fang Bie, to make a movie that would go down in history and awaken those stubborn old fogies in the country!

This is his mission!

Looking at Wu Kai's determined gaze and his seemingly elevated, holy expression, Liu Mang felt quite speechless.

After Fang Bie gave the script to Wu Kai, Wu Kai felt unhappy and went to Fang Bie to complain.

But Fang didn't say that the script was something he just wrote casually and left there; he had a whole bunch of the same scripts.

He only gave him the idea because he felt Wu Kai couldn't write a good script, so he just casually gave him one to try out first.

If that doesn't work, he can give Wu Kai several more.

But seeing Wu Kai's expression, he felt it was best not to say anything.

Let him immerse himself in his own world and not be able to extricate himself. Anyway, the two movies will be released at the same time this time. With Fang Bie's seriously thought-out ideas and guidance (this was admitted by Fang Bie himself. He said that the ideas he gave to Liu Mang were seriously thought out, while the script he gave to Wu Kai was just written casually to appease him), he will definitely be able to surpass Wu Kai in both box office and word of mouth!

But now there's another problem: what should I do with my own script?

Both of them fell silent.

After a long pause, Wu Kai spoke first.

His voice was hoarse: "Fatty, I'm going to make this movie really good. I want everything to be perfect. Do you know anyone who knows kung fu? I mean, the real kind."

Liu Mang scratched his chubby face and replied, "I overheard Lao Fang saying during a casual chat that he knows a master named Ye who once broke three of someone's ribs with a single kick and was subsequently arrested and detained for several days. Maybe you can go ask Lao Fang about it tomorrow."

In order to modify this dungeon, I skipped through the parts of Bullet Brother's Ip Man and then stayed up all night to watch The Grandmaster again.

I must say, as expected of Wong Kar-wai, I feel like I've grasped what he was trying to express.

But I searched online and it seems there are many different explanations... Maybe I didn't understand it?

As expected of the King of Sunglasses

(End of this chapter)