Back to 80: My Literary Life

"You watch first, I'll go see how my son's room is tidy." After saying that, Song Tangtang left the room.

Fang Minghua made a cup of tea and looked carefully.

The story takes place in the ancient fantasy world and mainly tells the story of love, betrayal and revenge among characters such as Kunlun Nu, Princess Qingcheng and Duke Wuhuan of the North. Kunlun Nu is a slave with magical power, Princess Qingcheng is a beautiful and free woman, and Duke Wuhuan of the North is an ambitious powerful man. From this, a story of fate and curse begins.

The story frame is big enough and ready to be epic.

Texts can be fictional, statements must be true. But there are no characters, no motivations, no ideas in this script, only preaching.

The whole play is just a bunch of obviously carefully polished Shakespearean dialogue, each sentence seems to be full of philosophy, and at the same time dry and tasteless. One word: Silly! Four words: Mysterious! Might as well call it "Shappy Dialogue" for short.

No climax, no emotion.

Why.

Fang Minghua put down the script and shook his head.

Song Tangtang walked in and asked, "Have you finished reading? What do you think?"

"What do you think?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Lu Wei and several other screenwriters and I read it, and everyone agreed that the script was poorly written. I really don't know what Chen Kaige has learned in the two years since he went to Hollywood."

Fang Minghua laughed after hearing this.

"He went to Hollywood to learn how to make commercial blockbusters, not to learn how to write scripts. Since you all think the writing is terrible, just reject it."

"But he is Chen Kaige. Shouldn't he be careful? So I want to hear your opinion." Song Tangtang replied.

"I agree with you. Tell him that if he really wants Shengshi to invest in his movie, don't write the script yourself and ask Lu Wei!"

"Okay, I'll get back to him at work tomorrow."

Fang Minghua no longer cares about this matter, and his mind is on the novel.

This afternoon, Fang Minghua was typing on the computer in the study. The cell phone on the desk rang. It was Chen Kaige.

After thinking about it, he answered it.

"Minghua, I am Kaige, have you returned to China?" Chen Kaige said on the other end of the phone.

"It's only been two days since I came back, and the jet lag hasn't come back yet."

The two exchanged a few words and Chen Kaige got to the point: "Minghua, I heard Mr. Song said that you also read the script I wrote. Why do you think it's not good?"

Fang Minghua pondered for a moment, and instead of answering directly, asked: "Director Chen, what exactly do you want to show in this script?"

"It expresses more thoughts about freedom, love, fate and choice."

"Director Chen, you want to make a commercial blockbuster rather than an artistic film! Don't you think there are too many things you have to present?!"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, let me walk you through the structure of your script." Fang Minghua continued: "There are many script structures on the market now: six-step method, Hollywood twelve acts, Golden Fleece drama structure and the most typical three-act play. Wait, you know all this and I don’t need to repeat it, but the question is, what is the structure of your three-act play "The Promise"?

"Yes, a three-act play."

"Well, according to the three-act play you mentioned, the male protagonist in the first act should be Kunlun.

How the male protagonist in the second act becomes the light. The male protagonist in the third act seems to be Wu Huan again. "

"Director Chen, who is this? What is this? What is this picture about? Not to mention the audience, I felt confused after watching it."

"Director Chen, the three-act play was not determined by anyone. It was figured out by generations of playwrights, theater troupes, and filmmakers from generation to generation. One can clearly explain the main line, no, it can be divided into two lines. Two lines are not enough , divided into three lines, and then ending in the form of a drama for artistic sublimation

"Even if you want to break through and subvert, you can't write like this."

On the other end of the phone, there was silence at first, and then the phone was hung up suddenly, leaving only a beeping sound.

A month later, Chen Kaige suddenly held a press conference in Yanjing and announced to everyone that he would shoot the epic blockbuster "The Promise", which would be invested and produced by film and television companies such as Xiudong Pictures and China Film Group Corporation.

Zhang Dongjian, Liu Ye, Nicholas Tse, Cecilia Cheung and other mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan stars joined the show, and various media outlets rushed to report on it, creating a huge momentum.

A year later, "The Promise" was released in mainland China and North America. It failed miserably at the box office and received constant criticism in China. It was ridiculed by netizens as "A Murder Caused by a Steamed Bun".

Fang Minghua's life was as ordinary as ever.

Daughter Fang Rui has enrolled in the San Francisco Art High School, and son Fang Le has also entered the High School Affiliated to NPU. They usually live on campus and only come back on weekends.

In addition to attending meetings of the Writers' Association, he basically concentrated on writing novels.

It was late September, and Song Tangtang came home from work. When the two of them were having dinner together, Fang said, "Minghua, Zhang Yimou wants to make a new movie."

"What script?"

"He wants to strike while the iron is hot and make another martial arts film called House of Flying Daggers."

This one?

Bad movie!

It's not like striking while the iron is hot, right?

However, Fang Minghua remained calm on the surface and wiped his mouth: "Have you read the script?"

"Well, most people think it's okay."

"Most of them, does that mean there are still people who object?"

"Yes, Lu Wei objected, saying that this script alone is worse than "Hero"."

Well, it is indeed a reed.

Known as the number one gold screenwriter in the country, he has a truly unique vision.

"What do you mean?"

"I feel a little conflicted. I think what Lu Wei said makes sense, but Zhang Yimou is full of confidence. How about you take a look and give some suggestions?"

"Okay."

"I'll give it to you after dinner."

After dinner, the weather outside was cool, so he started walking again. He strolled for a long time before going home to the study to read the script.

"Ten Sides of Ambush" tells the love story of two head constables, Liu and Jin, and a singing girl in the late Tang Dynasty. Originally, the singing girl liked Liu, but after some twists and turns, she found that she loved Jin the most. Liu hated her because of love, and had the idea of ​​killing the singing girl. In the end, the singing girl died with Liu to save Jin's life.

This time, Zhang Yimou gave up the "political" and "historical" views expressed in "Heroes" and returned to the human perspective that he was good at, telling the love tragedy of a woman entangled between two men.

The script has a special design: the three protagonists all have fake identities, and the three are deceiving each other, but after peeling off the false and deceptive coat, you will find that the feelings of the three people in the process of true love are real.

Isn't this another tribute to Kurosawa Akira's "Rashomon".

It is not an exaggeration to say that Kurosawa Akira is Zhang Yimou's spiritual mentor.

But "Rashomon" reveals the complexity of human nature and the elusiveness of the truth. It explores the deception and hypocrisy of human nature.

And "House of Flying Daggers" is just love!

The style has been reduced a lot.

In the script, love is not clearly stated. The love between Xiaomei and Jintoutou, which dares to change the world and compete with the sun and the moon, has no basis. This kind of confused love can either be explained by the idiom of love at first sight plus the beginning of the mess and the end of the abandonment, or it can only remind people of the Cantonese "nonsense";

Liutoutou's deep affection for Xiaomei seems even more childish. Except for his self-proclaimed deep love for Xiaomei in the conversation with Xiaomei, the previous plot did not give any hints.

Don't shoot it, it will ruin your reputation.