The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 569 Zhang Manyu, let’s give it a try
Regarding "Dalian by the Sea", Lee Sheng-yew needs to select actors and audition actors to select the most suitable male lead.

As for "Three Billboards", he didn't plan to cast actors. He flew directly to Hong Kong Island and found the actress he wanted to work with most - Maggie Cheung.

It was drizzling outside, and the gentle sea breeze had a light salty smell.

From time to time, sports cars pass by on the narrow streets, as well as old men with white hair pulling handcarts.

There is a table by the window in the tea restaurant. Li Shengyao and his assistant sit on the left, and Zhang Manyu and her sister sit on the right.

Zhang Manyu is reading the script.

In 2012, Zhang Manyu was not as thin as she was later. At this time, she was in slightly better condition. She had slightly curly shoulder-length hair, which was all tied up. She wore a peaked cap, a short leather jacket, and wide-leg jeans.

She looked at it very carefully and slowly.

Zhang Manyu is not a talented player. She was a vase a few years before she entered the industry.

When she was young, with her youthful and beautiful appearance and her daring style, she was very popular in commercial films. From 84 to 87, she actually starred in 27 movies, which is an average of seven movies a year.

Although her acting skills have not been qualitatively improved through numerous performances, she has quickly accumulated acting experience.

Next she acted in Wang Sunglasses' "Carmen in Mongkok", and she immediately became enlightened and embarked on the road of becoming a movie queen.

Maggie Cheung has won the Golden Horse Award four times, the Golden Image Award five times, the Cannes Best Actress once, and the Berlin Best Actress once. After 20 years of debut, plus some small film festival awards, she has won a total of 26 Best Actress, which can be called a Chinese The best in the entertainment industry.

When Li Shengyao was studying in his previous life, he admired and liked Zhang Manyu very much.

If he had to choose his favorite actor or actress, he would choose Al Pacino for the male actor and Maggie Cheung for the female actor.

In his opinion, Al Pacino's small stature has great energy, and he is the most explosive actor in the world.

And Maggie Cheung is the actress in Lee Sung-yao's opinion who has the most natural acting, the most delicate, accurate and rich expressions in the world.

After Zhang Manyu regained consciousness, in addition to playing the role of Wang Sunglasses, there were many MV-style close-ups, often with one expression frozen for a long time. (Add a "Hero")
When she acted in other directors' plays, her expressions were rich, colorful and natural, making her the best among actors.

The most obvious one is "Sweet Honey", in which Maggie Cheung plays opposite Ming Lai. In any given scene, Maggie Cheung changes ten expressions, while the other side only has one or two.

There is a scene during the Lunar New Year, in which the male and female protagonists say New Year's greetings to each other.

Dawn stood there with a smile on her face and kept saying congratulations.

Zhang Manyu was cleaning the glass, thinking, laughing, and talking, his head shaking and his body moving.

Not only is the expression rich, but also very natural.

It was simply a blast to kill Dawn.

When "Sweet Honey" was released that year, Lai Lai was completely criticized by the Hong Kong media. It was really not Lai Lai. His role as Li Xiaojun was already pretty good, and he had quite aura. However, he met Zhang Manyu at his peak. The comparison was too tragic.

The same is true for other scenes played by Maggie Cheung. She has many expressions and is very natural. She rarely stays still and does not move for more than a second. The changes in her expressions are among the best in the world of film.

The number of expressions in any movie after Zhang Manyu's enlightenment exceeds that of Yang Yang, Zhuanzi, and Zhang Han's expressions throughout his life.

There is no director who doesn't like such an actress.

McDormand, who stars in the American version of "Three Billboards", is a very good actress. She is a three-time Oscar winner. Her advantage is that she is very explosive and is very suitable for playing some Hollywood-style strong women.

The script of "Three Billboards" written by Li Shengyao, in order to be more in line with Zhang Manyu's style, the heroine is more feminine and gentle in daily life.

He felt that this was better than trying hard again and again. The American version of "Three Billboards" only had hatred in life and was just a vengeful mother with no trace of a woman's characteristics.

The heroine usually wears solid-colored work clothes and a headscarf, exactly like a car washer.

As for his adaptation of "Three Billboards", while the overall plot remains unchanged, the heroine is more tender and delicate, more like an old saying - women are like water, and mothers are strong.

"Da da da!"

The rain outside is getting heavier and the wind is getting stronger.

The slanting wind mixed with raindrops hit the glass windows.

Pedestrians are in a hurry and running among the vehicles.

The tea had already cooled down a long time ago. When the sensible waiter saw that it was Li Shengyao and Zhang Manyu, he took it and reheated it. At this time, it was steaming with an alluring fragrance.

Li Shengyao picked up his chopsticks and picked out a piece of taro cake.When he put down his chopsticks, Zhang Manyu finally finished reading the script of "Three Billboards".

"Director Li, this script is really good. It is the best script I have seen in the past few years."

"Three Billboards" won the Venice Best Screenplay Award. The plot has constant twists and turns, and the story is absolutely wonderful.

Li Shengyao nodded, "Yes, I think this story can be compared with "Parasite" and is better than all my other films."

Zhang Manyu glanced at her sister, and then said: "I like this story very much, and I also want to act in a movie, but..."

The most annoying thing.

"But I haven't acted for a long time. I'm afraid I won't be able to complete such a good story now. My current state is far worse than before.

Moreover, I had rested for too long and was feeling lazy, so I didn’t know if I could get up. "

"Teacher Zhang, there is absolutely no problem with your acting skills. I believe in your ability."

"Director Li, this story requires a lot of explosive power. I'm really worried that I won't be able to complete it."

"Three Billboards" does require a lot of explosive power, especially in a scene where the billboard erected by the heroine is secretly burned by her ex-husband.

The belief she had been holding on to almost collapsed. She went to put out the fire, but her son stopped her and she yelled at her son.

With that roar, unwillingness and anger seemed to burst out from his soul.

When Li Shengyao watched it in the cinema, he burst into tears instantly. Two simple words can make people feel the despair and grief of a mother.

And explosive power is precisely Zhang Manyu's weakest aspect. It does not mean that Zhang Manyu's explosive power is not good, but she is too good in other aspects. Relatively speaking, the explosive side is slightly weaker.

Li Shengyao continued to persuade him for a while, but Zhang Manyu never relented.

He vaguely understood Zhang Manyu's thoughts at this time. It was not that she didn't want to film, on the contrary, she actually wanted to act and she had a desire to express herself.

It’s just that the past was too glorious, and honors and awards have become shackles.

She was worried that she wouldn't be able to act in new roles, so she might as well not take the role and keep her acting skills.

Li Shengyao thought for a while and planned to use his trump card, "Teacher Zhang, I will arrange for this film to participate in next year's Venice International Film Festival."

Zhang Manyu was stunned when he heard this.

Venice?
She then reacted, "Director Li, is it too late?"

"There's enough time. I'll start working on "Dalian by the Sea" next month and finish it by March next year at the latest. From April to October, there's still half a year left. There's no problem with the time."

Zhang Manyu lowered his head, looked at the script in his hand, and was silent for a moment, "Okay, I will take this play."

My sister hurriedly winked at Zhang Manyu, hoping that she would think about it again.

There is absolutely no need to agree now, you can think about it for a few days.

Lee Sheung Yew was overjoyed and stretched out his right hand, "Teacher Zhang, I believe in your ability. Let's work together and give it a good try to create a legend in the Asian film industry."

Maggie Cheung won the Best Actress at Cannes and the Best Actress at Berlin. The only thing missing from the three major film festivals was Venice.

In the world of film, the only actress who has captured the top three European actresses is France's Juliette Binoche. She is a French actress and has the home advantage of Cannes.

If Maggie Cheung gathers three major European movie queens, the gold content will be even higher.

In terms of film awards, Tony Leung is still ahead of Toshiro Mifune in the Asian film industry.

Maggie Cheung is now No. 1 in Asia. If we can add a Venice Best Actress, then not only Asia but the whole world can compete for the top three.

Maggie Cheung retired from acting a few years ago. Many media in Hong Kong felt sorry for her and hoped that she would become the best actress in Venice.

It's not that she didn't have this idea, it was just that at that time, Hong Kong movies were in decline, and Mainland veteran Kaizi Ge's group also began to make commercial films.

Now Lee Sing-yew wants to hit the Venice Film Festival with "Three Billboards", which is exactly what she wants.

(End of this chapter)