1979 Golden Age

The three of them went upstairs, entered the office, and closed the door. Fu Qi sat casually on the sofa and asked, "Old Wang, how is the situation this year?"

"As usual, all the studios are tied up, too concerned about the cost, and dare not shoot big dramas."

"Then you mobilize the film studios across the country to negotiate with China Film!" Shi Hui laughed.

"The root is not in China Film, but in the country. What's the point of talking to them? China Film only gives 700,000 for a film. Now the cost of filming is getting higher and higher. All the studios are stuck on the 700,000 line. What good films can they make?"

Wang Yang snorted and said, "I have been communicating. It really makes me anxious. I will write to the central government directly!"

Don't underestimate the power of Beijing Film Studio, which can reach the ears of the emperor. It is not bragging to say that writing to the central government is not bragging. He shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about this. How about your "Shaolin Temple"? "

"Not good!"

Fu Qi looked sad, He said, "We had already filmed one-third of the content and sent the sample to Beijing. Mr. Liao was not satisfied, the Japanese were not satisfied, and we were even more dissatisfied. We had to start over!"

"Ah?"

Wang Yang was shocked and said, "Such a big play, to start over? Do you have enough money?"

"I talked to the Japanese, and they are willing to add 700,000 Hong Kong dollars. If we squeeze a little more, we can also take out hundreds of thousands, which is almost enough. I invited Director Zhang Xinyan to come out, rewrite the script, re-select the actors... Oh, anyway, it's annoying!"

Fu Qi smiled bitterly.

Mr. Liao, whose name is Chengzhi, his father is Mr. Liao Zhongkai.

He is the director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the Hong Kong Affairs Office, and is fully responsible for the affairs in Hong Kong.

At the beginning of this year, he met with the Hong Kong leftist film company and specifically asked to shoot a martial arts film. Because the top leaders in China are all old revolutionaries who have fought on the battlefield, most of them like martial arts, and many of them are from martial arts families, such as General Xu.

Zuopai Company took on the task, but had no money, so they found a Japanese monk named Zong Daochen, who had learned Shaolin Kung Fu in China and founded a Shaolin Temple Kung Fu League after returning to Japan, with more than 100,000 disciples.

He was willing to buy the Japanese copyright of the film and paid 550,000 Hong Kong dollars in advance.

So Zuopai Company wrote a script based on the story of the thirteen monks saving the Tang King. The style was more serious. The protagonist was not the later monk Jueyuan, and there was no emotional line.

They found a director in Hong Kong and selected a group of actors from the Henan Opera Troupe. The protagonist was called Wu Gang.

After shooting a part, when they took it back, they found that the style was strong and did not look like real kung fu. The story was unremarkable, the outdoor scenes were windy and sandy, and the picture effect was not good... All parties were not satisfied, so they had to reshoot.

"Mr. Liao and I agreed to make 36 new movies of various themes within three years. We are doing it with a heavy heart, but in fact, it is difficult for a good cook to cook without rice. We have no money and no people."

"..."

Wang Yang has been looking strange since he started to tell the story, thinking: Such a coincidence? ? ?

"Old Wang, do you have any ideas?"

"I just read one yesterday, it's about Shaolin Temple."

"Such a coincidence?"

Fu Qi was also surprised.

Wang Yang took out two small magazines from the drawer of his desk and said, "But this is about the story of Shaolin Temple fighting against the court's lackeys in the late Ming Dynasty. It has a strong sense of Jianghu, and there is also a love story in it."

"That's a pity. The script we rewrote is also based on the blueprint of the thirteen stick monks saving the Tang King, because the costumes and props are all ready and can't be changed."

"You should take a look. I think the love story is good, especially the ending."

After he said this, Fu Qi and Shi Hui each took a copy of "Story Club" and flipped through it roughly.

Without reading it in detail, Shi Hui only glanced at the general meaning. She read the second half. The ending said that the male protagonist decided to become a monk for the sake of Shaolin Temple. The female protagonist stood outside the main hall and looked at him. They were separated by a door, but they had already cut off their worldly love.

There are two lines of poetry at the end: How can we achieve both in this world, not disappointing the Tathagata and not disappointing you!

Shi Hui's eyes lit up, and he poked Fu Qi and said, "This ending is really good, we can use it!"

"Let me take a look!"

Fu Qi also read it and nodded, saying, "In our new script, we changed a little monk to be the protagonist and added a lot of comedy elements. We are also hesitating whether to add emotional scenes. After all, how to add a monk is more appropriate?

If we follow this idea, the logic is reasonable."

"Can we find this author?" Shi Hui asked.

"He is in Beijing Film Studio. He is also the screenwriter of "Love in Lushan" that you are asking to buy clothes for."

"Oh? What a fate?"

Shi Hui laughed and said, "Then I really want to meet this comrade!"

"Don't worry, I will ask him to come to the symposium later. This guy has an extraordinary brain."

Wang Yang originally planned to study "Kapok Robe" to see if it can be filmed, but the gay people in Hong Kong have a greater demand, so he is willing to give it up. Of course, he has to ask Chen Qi's opinion first, because he is the author.

…………

"Why did you call me to a meeting for no reason?"

Chen Qi was just about to go to the China Bookstore to take a look, when Liang Xiaosheng suddenly called him to a meeting.

Liang Xiaosheng said in a low voice: "The comrades from Hong Kong are here to hold an internal symposium. The attendees are all the creative backbones of the factory. Calling you here means that the director values ​​you. Look at the room, you are the only non-staff member."

"What non-staff member? I sell big bowls of tea!"

The two entered the meeting room. As expected, there were not many people, only more than 40 people, all of whom were the backbones of the four major creative groups. When he entered the door, everyone was also surprised.

"Old Wang, what's going on?"

"Fu Qi liked an idea of ​​his and wanted to talk about it, so I simply called him to the meeting."

"I know you cherish your talent, but you have to abide by the discipline. This is an internal symposium. What should I do if word spreads?"

The person who questioned was a deputy factory director named Sun Wenjin. Wang Yang knew that he was in the wrong, and he laughed and said: "I won't do it next time! I won't do it next time!"

Chen Qi faced all the eyes and found a corner to sit down. He understood in his heart: He was just an outsider living in the guest house, and it didn't matter if he was treated better, but if he really stepped inside, well, which unit would be calm inside?

"Quiet!"

When everyone arrived, Wang Yang personally presided over the meeting and said: "First of all, we welcome Comrade Fu Qi and Comrade Shi Hui from Hong Kong. They came to the Beijing Film Studio despite their busy schedules and couldn't resist my shameless invitation, so they organized a Internal symposium.

Today, asking them to talk about the current situation of Hong Kong films will be a great help for us to understand the outside film industry..."

"Whoosh!"

As the applause rang out, Fu Qi raised his hand to indicate that he was born in Shenyang and grew up in Shanghai. He spoke with a slight accent and said with a smile: "The last time I came here was more than ten years ago. In the blink of an eye, I was also destined to be a person of destiny, and I felt a lot.

Director Wang asked me to talk about Hong Kong movies, let’s start from more than ten years ago.

As everyone knows, our leftist companies and Taiwanese companies have been fighting with Hong Kong as the battlefield. At that time, we had the upper hand in all aspects and defeated them. The films we shot accounted for one-third of the Hong Kong market.

Great directors, great actors, great screenwriters, great photographers, we have everything, and we also have a theater chain with 8 theaters. I still remember the craze when "Sanjie Liu" was released in Hong Kong...

But things are different now.

After the storm, we open our eyes and look again. Hong Kong movies have fully entered the era of commercialization, and everything is based on box office. But this does not mean that the struggle has disappeared. Our battle is still going on.

Taiwan supports an organization called the Liberty Federation, which is specifically designed to win over Hong Kong film practitioners and suppress us.

Taiwan is the largest market for Hong Kong films. If a film wants to be released in Taiwan, the director and actors must join the Free Federation and become members. This is called a certificate of nomination.

There are also flatterers who blatantly bribe people just to get their own movies taken care of!

At the beginning of this year, Hong Kong TVB cooperated with Guangdong to record a program to celebrate the Spring Festival, with 29 artists participating.

Before coming to Guangzhou, they had to go to the Liberty Federation to register and submit a letter of repentance, to the effect that: We have a contract with TVB, and we cannot refuse the work arranged by the company. Please forgive me..."

As Fu Qi was talking, he suddenly couldn't continue. Shi Hui stretched out her hand and patted him gently.

"Taiwan's ban is equal to the destruction of acting careers, so those artists dare not get close to us.

I also tell the truth that the left is in a difficult situation and relies entirely on the support of a few old people. Many comrades cannot persist and choose to leave.

In the past two years, our three companies have made a total of five movies, which did not do well at the box office. Because Hong Kong movies are developing so fast, we have had a long blank period and have fallen behind.

When we come to attend the Literary Congress this time, the central government’s stance gives us confidence. With our motherland behind us, we believe that we will definitely restore our past glory.

We do not belittle ourselves, nor should we aim too high. The most important thing at the moment is to increase production, produce several influential works, and regain a foothold in Hong Kong..."

"..."

The words were sincere and full of practical information, and the conference room was completely silent.

Everyone was surprised and sympathetic. The work of Hong Kong comrades is even more difficult. They have to face the British Hong Kong government, the rightists, and mainland restrictions. They are often two-faced.

After Fu Qi finished speaking, Shi Hui spoke again.

Wang Yang smiled and said: "You can ask any questions you have. I finally caught them and I can't let them go!"

"Ha ha!"

Everyone also laughed, and an old director spoke first and asked: "Are you still shooting realistic movies?"

"Of course! Realistic themes are our foundation, but the audience is getting smaller and smaller."

“What do you think of this year’s new films from mainland China?”

"It's all very good. I can feel the strong vitality in it. I have watched "Look at This Family" and I was surprised that it is a comedy. I hope there are more movies like this, the better."

"Will you make films that reflect life in mainland China?"

"It's difficult. The British Hong Kong government will not agree to release it. Let's put it this way, the first step for mainland movies or the mainland themes we shoot is censorship. They are afraid of cutting out every frame. For example, teachers' photos cannot appear, and their names cannot appear. It can’t be mentioned, and it can’t be included in the lyrics..."

Fu Qi and Shi Hui answered patiently. They asked questions about art, technology, scale and so on.

And suddenly, a sentence came out from these voices with the same tone: "Excuse me, which movie is the box office champion in Hong Kong this year??"