Entertainment: The Era of the Cantonese Circle

The question of the future of Hong Kong films has been discussed annually by people in the Hong Kong film and television industry in recent years.

At first, the Hong Kong media would give very exciting reports, but what happened? They always made a big deal out of nothing, and eventually they stopped reporting on it altogether.

This time was a little different. Wang Jing was the first to point out where the way out was, and the Hong Kong media were immediately ignited when they found out.

Yesterday, director Wang Jing pointed out the problems with Hong Kong films. He suggested that instead of struggling to adapt to the national market, it would be better to develop friendly relations with our neighbor, Guangdong province. Is this a good path?

"Abandoning the national focus and setting its sights on Guangdong, Wang Jing's vision is truly ahead of its time... oh."

Wang Jing makes a startling statement: Hong Kong films are dead; people in the Hong Kong film industry don't need to make Hong Kong films anymore, they should make Cantonese films instead.

"What right does Old Wang next door, who only makes commercial films—and big commercial flops at that—have to say Hong Kong cinema is dead? What gives him the right to talk about its future?"

The next day, many people in Hong Kong couldn't help but read the newspapers if they wanted to miss what happened the night before; major newspapers, medium-sized newspapers, tabloids, legitimate newspapers, and illegitimate newspapers all reported on it.

Many Hong Kong residents in their thirties and forties have a complex and lively lives.

They experienced the rise, glory, and decline of Hong Kong films. In the 1980s and 90s, watching Hong Kong films was the biggest form of entertainment, and they were very concerned about the future of Hong Kong films.

Supporters argue that Hong Kong's film and television market is so small that it previously relied on overseas markets. Now that overseas markets have collapsed, it's inevitable that the mainland market will be the next option. Guangdong is better than Beijing or Shanghai, at least because the audience watches Cantonese.

A neutral commenter said: "It doesn't matter, as long as it's good-looking. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be a bunch of terrible movies, otherwise I'll definitely curse Wang Jing, the leader of this flop, to death."

Opponents angrily retorted: "A bunch of people who don't work hard themselves yet claim that Guangdong is a good way out. They're trash, incompetent, and useless. They can't do anything right, and they're just good at talking big."

The mainland is even more bustling than Hong Kong.

There are two kinds of liveliness here.

The first kind of liveliness is the liveliness of ordinary people.

Ordinary people outside of Cantonese-speaking areas simply watch the drama unfold.

"Can we watch the resources online a little earlier, since it's in Guangdong province first? It seems that we can't understand Cantonese in Hong Kong films, so we have to watch the dubbed version first."

Ordinary people in Cantonese-speaking areas, especially in Guangdong province, laughed.

"Oh ho, Wang Jingting is quite knowledgeable. Come on over, I'll treat you to a meal at a farm. Just don't say you were just bluffing when you wake up the next day."

The second kind of excitement comes from professionals.

Several northern film and television companies that have contact with the Hong Kong film and television industry said, "Welcome, welcome, warmly welcome! There will be many opportunities to learn from Hong Kong's experience and techniques."

They all contacted the Hong Kong directors and actors they had worked with.

But instead of supporting the other party to go to Guangdong Province, they were trying to poach their talent: "Brother! If you think Guangdong Province is too small, you can come here. Our market in the north is huge."

As for the film and television industry in Guangdong Province, there's been no activity because there aren't many people there.

Meanwhile, Liao Shuhui, the head of Zhujiang Film Studio, the leading film and television company in Guangdong Province, called Chen Yunfan.

"Xiao Fan, you're amazing! You've stirred up such a huge controversy in Hong Kong, it's caused a sensation throughout the film and television industry."

"What Wang Jing said has nothing to do with me?"

Liao Shuhui bluntly stated: "The commotion above, your recent frequent contact with the Hong Kong film industry, and the events at Wang Jing's celebration banquet—combined, I would never believe it has nothing to do with you."

Chen Yunfan sighed, "It really is a treasure to have an elder in the family."

"What do you mean?"

"Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure."

"You're quite good at omitting things."

After confirming that it was Chen Yunfan's work, Liao Shuhui asked, "Are you planning to poach talent from the Hong Kong film and television industry to Guangdong?"

"Both China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group called me to ask who our target was, to avoid any conflict."

Chen Yunfan shook his head. "Without a target, Hong Kong and Guangdong are just a short distance apart. Why would we need to ask them to come?"

"You don't know how difficult it is to lack talent until you're in charge..."

Liao Shuhui sighed, then suddenly realized something and said, "You're really quick, kid. You've already got your eyes on Zhou Xingci and Wang Jing for a while now."

"One is the king of comedy, the other is a quick shooter; one attracts people with his name, the other with his quantity. Two of them are enough."

Chen Yunfan blinked, his face innocent and naive.

Do you believe me if I say it was a coincidence?

"Besides directors Zhou Xingci and Wang Jing, Xiao Fan, which other directors do you think are suitable to collaborate with Pearl River Film Studio? Don't talk about begging or not, this is an invitation, and we're racing against time, otherwise things might change."

"I feel like you don't have much of your own opinion, Uncle Liao. You always ask me for help whenever something happens."

"Who told you, Uncle, to study management? Who told you to be so capable? Who told you not to come to Zhuying Film Studio in the first place? Who told you to ask me to save trouble? Who told you to..."

Chen Yunfan quickly interrupted, "Okay, okay, I'll recommend it to you."

He told Liao Shuhui to wait a moment while he went to check on directors in the Hong Kong film and television industry.

Although he is familiar with many directors in the Hong Kong film industry, there are just too many, and some of them have hidden problems, so he needs to screen them.

Chen Kexin? His straw hat is almost more valuable than Straw Hat Luffy's, so pass!

Johnnie To is crazy? He's a cunning old fox; he couldn't even pass the censorship test.

Wu Yushen? This guy is good at petty stuff, no, he's good at police and gangster stuff, very good at it, so good that he can even make a historical epic like "Red Cliff" into a police and gangster film.

A few minutes later, Chen Yunfan called Liao Shuhui again.

"Liu Weiqiang is good. He is good at police and gangster action films, and he also has a knack for urban romance and comedy. He is a perfect fit for the urban direction that Pearl River Film Studio is pursuing. We can let him direct 'Taken'."

There's one thing Chen Yunfan didn't mention: Liu Weiqiang will continue to promote patriotic themes in his later works. He made "The Founding of an Army" and two other films with Chinese subtitles, "The Doctor" and "The Captain," which were all quite well-made.

If you want to make a patriotic film in the future, you can use it.

"The second one is Chen Jiashang. He is good at period dramas, suspense, and action films. He is a good match for Zhujiang Film Studio's spy films. He is a flexible person. If you give him a script, he will not mess around. He was able to create tension when he directed 'The Message'."

"One more thing, he became the president of the Hong Kong Directors Guild this year."

Liao Shuhui knew both of them and laughed heartily, "Haha, great! I knew I made the right choice in finding you. These two are indeed very suitable for Zhuying, especially since you brought in Chen Jiashang, the chairman. It will be easier to find other people later."

"By the way, I just looked around and saw Xu Ke and Wang Jiawei. What do you think of them? One is a top director of martial arts films, and the other frequently wins awards for art films."

Chen Yunfan shook his head: "Xu Ke is no good. He's too arrogant. Without someone to keep him in check, he'll make some weird movie in no time. Wang Jiawei is a deadbeat. Whoever invests in him will lose money."

"Haha, one of them is wanted by China Film Group, and the other by Shanghai Film Group. We'll see how they use them."

Chen Yunfan was speechless.

I thought you wanted to poach two people, but it turns out you just wanted to see them make a fool of themselves.

Indeed, rivals are enemies. You, the old nemesis of China Film Group and Shanghai Film Group, are truly a victim.

......

The question of how Hong Kong films can find a way out remains a hot topic even though several days have passed.

Some unscrupulous Hong Kong media outlets, in an effort to grab attention, have been publishing articles in their newspapers every day predicting the demise of Hong Kong films and the impending unemployment of its citizens.

Many behind-the-scenes staff, including those in lighting, stage management, props, and sound recording, were terrified.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't scare you. The problem is that the Hong Kong film and television industry really did experience a few years of stagnation, resulting in many behind-the-scenes staff losing their jobs.

In those years, they survived by making bad movies with Wang Jing. Now that Wang Jing wants to develop in Guangdong Province, other directors and film company bosses are not as good at making movies as he is. They are really afraid of going back to the hardships of those years when they were being swayed by the media.

Some film crews that are still in production have already shown signs of apathy and lack of motivation because of this incident.

The Hong Kong crew of "The Legend of Bruce Lee" was also inevitably affected.

"Wang Jing is good enough; he has a way out. We're just waiting to die."

"We can go with them."

"It would be good if we could bring them, but the question is how many people can we take with us? Especially since recruiting locally is much easier than bringing people over."

"Sigh! If Hong Kong films are monopolized by mainlanders from now on, we'll just have to finish this job and switch careers."

Even when director Li Wenqi passed by some behind-the-scenes people in Hong Kong, they didn't care at all and continued to lament and chat, thinking, "I'm about to lose my job, what am I afraid of?"

"Producer Chen, this atmosphere isn't right!"

Li Wenqi immediately located Chen Yunfan, who was processing documents.

He already knew, and calmly replied while typing, "No rush, it's not too late to deal with it when someone has a problem."