1928: The rise of giant merchants

Ye Luo's adaptation of "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple" also made reference to multiple versions of subsequent remakes, coupled with his film concepts and novel plots that were ahead of the times, it successfully captured the audience's attention in only the first three or five shots. Heart.

There is no music, no dialogue sounds, only black and white tones and the characters' expressions and movements. The silent film era was a great test of the actors' acting skills and the special effects used in the filming.

Of course, there is actually no systematic concept of special effects yet. This is also the new knowledge that Ye Luo instilled in Zhang Shichuan and others.

With a lot of money, Zhang Shichuan had the capital to imitate the special effects of Hollywood blockbusters. The images he created such as the sword-wielding flying hero, the magical heroine, and the half-human, half-ghost monk influenced generations of directors in the future. .

To Ye Luo, these elements are relatively outdated and old-fashioned, and there is nothing new about them, but for most viewers, it is a visual feast that they have never seen before!

Ye Luo was sitting in a private room, watching the movie together with the ribbon-cutting guests Mei Lanfang, Zhang Yuanbei, Lin Huiyin and his wife, etc. They were all engrossed and obviously attracted by the movie.

Judging from the performance of the audience in other seats, this premiere was undoubtedly a success.

In 1928, we had just experienced last year's massacre, and this year was another troubled year. The second Northern Expedition and continuous wars. The Japanese invaders brutally massacred the provincial capital of Shandong Province, which showed their fangs. In July, an anti-Japanese convention was held, and the anti-Japanese sentiment was strong.

The society is filled with an atmosphere of bloodshed and failure, and emotions of disappointment and escapism are also pervasive. The release of this film was regarded as a typical representative of satisfying people's emotions of escaping reality, and therefore it also achieved great success.

The first episode showed the splendid style of future fairy tales and fantasy novels such as "sword and light fighting, invisibility and escape, flying in the air, flying swords from the mouth, and thunder from the palms", which amazed the audience.

The plot has also become compact and tense after Ye Luo's adaptation. The first episode lasts for 105 minutes, leaving almost no time for the audience to breathe. One after another, fights and events fill the screen, making people feel happy watching it!

Soon, 105 minutes passed without realizing it.

Ye Luo himself was a little drowsy, as he was shocked by the deafening and enduring applause from the audience.

Mei Lanfang stood up and took the lead in applauding. Lin Ruxian poked Ye Luo in the waist to bring him back to his senses.

"Mr. Ye is a great talent! I heard that you wrote the script for this film yourself?" Mei Lanfang asked with a smile.

Ye Luo nodded: "It is adapted from the original martial arts novel written by Ping Jiang Buxiaosheng. I just added some superfluous features, and the film is not enough to show half of the charm of the original work."

"Mr. Ye is so humble! This silent film is the best silent film I have ever seen. It has a tight rhythm, a novel story, gorgeous acting skills, and wonderful special effects. It completely surpasses all previous films and is worthy of leaving a mark in film history." Excellent work!"

Mei Lanfang's evaluation is very high, and only a person of his status dares to say so.

Lin Huiyin was exchanging stories and subsequent developments with Lin Ruxian in a low voice. When they heard Mr. Mei's high praise, they all looked at it with surprise and approval in their eyes.

"To be praised like this by Mr. Mei, this film is worth making." Ye Luo said with a smile, "It has always been my dream to make a martial arts film about monsters and monsters. This time filming "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple" can also be regarded as a tribute to my childhood. My dream came true.”

Several people were talking and laughing in the private room. Zhou Yucai and others who had just left the cinema were also discussing the plot and perception of the movie. The crowds were surging and the praises were endless, which showed the audience's love and recognition for this film.

The premiere of Yip's Guangming Cinema received a perfect score, and "The King of Fighters" and "Yi Yan Qing Yuan" which were released at Jinling Grand Theater and Shanghai Grand Theater on the same day also received good reviews, especially for the martial arts. "The King of Fighters", with a background of wind, continues the recent wave of hot martial arts films. The fighting scenes are exciting and beautiful. Although the plot is cliché, it is also remarkable and does not disgrace their reputation as a big production.

However, unlike Yip's Guangming Cinema, which also schedules these two films, Jinling Grand Theater and Shanghai Grand Theater, which are controlled by Yongxing, Tianyi, and Lianhua Film Companies, do not introduce "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple" ", and also deliberately smeared and ridiculed this pioneering work of Yip Film Company.

Compare the two and make a judgment.

"Mr. Zhou, we are planning to go to the Jinling Grand Theater to watch "The King of Fighters" soon, are you coming with us?" Dai Wangshu was very excited after watching the movie, and it seemed that he was not yet finished. It happened to be a similar theme, and he wanted to take a look at the other two film companies. How about his new work.

Zhou Yu was moved, but seemed to have thought of something. He shook his head slightly and declined the invitation from these young people.

After everyone said goodbye, Xu Guangping asked in a low voice: "Yucai, you seem to have something on your mind? Isn't this movie pretty good?"

"It's not very good, but it's very good. It can be called a masterpiece." Zhou Yucai mentioned the movie, he did not hesitate to praise it and nodded with a smile.

"Isn't that better? Look at it like this, there should be a second episode and a third episode if domestic films can reach this level, we should be happy." Xu Guangping was puzzled.

Zhou Yucai looked around, sighed, and lowered his voice and said, "It's just because it's so good that it's not good. If something is as beautiful as the forest wind, it will be destroyed. If something goes wrong because of this, it will be a big loss for the film industry and for us." It’s a huge loss to the Chinese business community.”

"Ah, is it so serious?" Xu Guangping was stunned for a moment. Zhou Yucai never exaggerated, and he never made unreasonable remarks. When he said this, he was obviously aware of something wrong.

"No, I have to talk to him."

"Who are you looking for?"

"Second Young Master Ye Luo!"

Boom, boom, boom.

There was a knock on the door.

Ye Luo and Mei Lanfang looked at each other, and then Lin Ruxian ran to open the door.

The person in charge of the cinema walked in. He was a little timid when meeting a group of big guys, but he still mustered up the courage to walk up to Ye Luo and said: "Second Young Master, someone is looking for you outside. He said his name is Zhou Yucai. Did you hear that?" With this name, you will definitely meet him.”

Zhou Yucai?

Ye Luo was stunned at first, and then suddenly realized why this great god came to his door.

"Mr. Zhou is a famous writer in the literary world. Second young master, go quickly. I have Huiyin and the others here, so you don't have to worry about it." Mei Lanfang smiled and pushed him.

"Then I'll excuse you now." Ye Luo nodded and walked out quickly.

Zhou Yucai was waiting in the living room.

After a while, Ye Luo pushed the door open and met each other at close range. Both of them had a little surprise and curiosity in their eyes.

Ye Luo was curious because he was so famous. He had read countless articles about him, and had frequent contact with him when he was a student. Now that he could meet a real person, it felt like a dream.

Zhou Yucai was surprised and curious because Ye Luo was tall and handsome, far more outstanding than the photos in the newspaper. The opening ceremony just now was too far away to see clearly. Now when they were face to face, that unique temperament rushed towards him. It made him very emotional.

"Hello Mr. Zhou, I heard that you want to see me for something?" Ye Luo stepped forward to shake hands.

Zhou Yucai first introduced himself, and then got straight to the point: "Mr. Ye, your movies are very beautiful, but they are also very dangerous."

"Oh? What do you mean, Mr. Zhou?" Ye Luo raised his eyebrows, probably knowing what he was going to say.

"Lift your index finger, and the swirling white light will use magic to fight your sword unconditionally against the enemy! This artistic conception and creativity can be called a masterpiece! But at the same time, the temple was destroyed, the scriptures were burned, and a It was bleak, and those who were killed had no peace until they died. They were either hung upside down on wooden stakes, or their heads were cut off, and piled in the soil to wait for weathering. Such gods, ghosts, ghosts, and strong smell of cults were different from those of the past. It’s very different from the martial arts films I’ve seen and can be called martial arts monster films.”

When Zhou Yu said this, his expression became more serious.

"But it won't be a good name, it will only be a bad name, superstitious, and inconsistent with our current social environment."

He said it more implicitly, but he also revealed the final fate of "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple". Its release set off a trend of martial arts and monster movies, and also created a spectacle that was packed with people.

But at the same time, after 18 consecutive episodes, it was finally banned by the Film Censorship Committee of the Nationalist Government. This type of film also went south to develop in Hong Kong. It was not until March 1935 that the 19th episode "The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple" was born in Hong Kong. That brought it to a perfect end.

"Sir said it, I know it in my heart, I will think about it carefully." Ye Luo is very grateful that he can resolutely risk being misunderstood to pour cold water on himself at this time, but he still has to shoot when he needs to shoot, and he still needs to make money when he needs to. make money.

The National Government's ban was just to fool the people and at the same time break up the enthusiasm of the film industry, so that they could invade the film companies during the "National Advancement and Private Retreat" period.

Even without "The Burning of Red Lotus Temple", something like this would have happened.

"Then I won't bother you." Zhou Yucai said simply and left simply. Before leaving, he highly praised the film and called it an epoch-making masterpiece.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Ye Luo was woken up by hurried phone calls one after another.

He deliberately stayed at No. 32 Xiafei Road last night so as not to go home and be nagging his parents about recent events.

Unfortunately, too many things cannot be avoided after all.

Little Ah Qiao was also sleepy and naked. She had a ridiculous night with Ye Luo last night, which made up for the emptiness and loneliness of the past month or two. Now her body is soft and weak, but she still endured the sleepiness and got out of the bed. He stretched out his fair hand and answered the phone.

"The first day's box office statistics are out?" Xiao Aqiao shuddered, woke up, and quickly leaned down to kiss Ye Luo who was still sleeping in bed. "Second Young Master ~ Brother Luo ~ Husband, the results are out!"

"Um"

Bah, bah, bah.

"Don't keep Ishikawa waiting~"

"Hmm, how much?"

Ye Luo covered his head with a pillow, turned around and hugged Xiao A's soft and voluptuous body, moving up and down.

Little Ah Qing had no choice but to continue listening to the phone and asked: "Ishikawa, the second young master asked you how much it is?"