director of the millennium

Chapter 37 Arrival in Hong Kong
6 month 5 number.

John drove Wu Yuan himself to Los Angeles International Airport.

"Daniel, you have to come back as soon as possible. "Juno" is scheduled to be released on July 7th, leaving us not much time for promotion."

On the way, John kept telling Wu Yuan, worried that he would never come back.

"Don't worry, I go to Hong Kong Island because I have business to attend to." Wu Yuan said helplessly.

John's eyes lit up: "Daniel, you, a director, suddenly want to go to Hong Kong Island, aren't you looking for actors?"

"Already have plans for your next movie?"

"Hey, I think you should consider our Fox Searchlight, the company is very willing to invest in your movie."

Wu Yuan glanced at John meaningfully, with a smile on his face: "John, you are really a good employee of Fox Searchlight. You never forget the interests of the company."

"Haha, they are the ones who pay me my salary after all, aren't they?" John said nonchalantly.

"Oh?" Wu Yuan raised his eyebrows: "So what you are saying is that you will work hard for whoever pays you a salary?"

"Oh! Daniel, what do you mean?" John looked at Wu Yuan suspiciously.

"It's nothing, my flight is here, let's talk about it when I come back." Wu Yuan shrugged, said goodbye to John, and walked into the airport.

Watching his leaving back, John fell into deep thought.

China Film Group was indeed able to contact Mr. Zhang Guorong.

Mr. Zhang Guorong was one of the first Hong Kong actors to go north to the mainland to film movies. He came to the mainland to film "Farewell My Concubine" in 1992.

Back then, "Farewell My Concubine" was a co-production between Beijing Film Studio and Hong Kong Island Film Company. Now Beijing Film Studio still has contact channels with Mr. Zhang Guorong.

Director Han heard that Wu Yuan wanted to meet Zhang Guorong, so he immediately passed the word to Hong Kong Island through his relationship.

Zhang Guorong heard that a mainland director who was filming in Hollywood (Note 1) wanted to meet him, so he had no choice but to make an appointment with Wu Yuan on a date and a place to meet.

Both of them have resolute characters, so Wu Yuan boarded the flight to Hong Kong Island.

On the plane, Wu Yuan lay in the first-class cabin and closed his eyes to rest his mind. All the movies that Zhang Guorong had made flashed through his mind.

I have to admit that Zhang Guorong was one of the most shining stars even in the glory days of Hong Kong Island's entertainment industry.

Without any major background, he entered the music scene from the runner-up position in a singing competition. It only took him five years to become the most popular singer in Hong Kong Island.

Later, he and Alan Tam started the Tan-Zhang competition for supremacy in Hong Kong music. The two dominated the Hong Kong music scene that year!
At the same time, he moved to the film industry and filmed films such as "A Better Tomorrow", "A Chinese Ghost Story", "Days of Being Wild" and "Across the World", which were extremely popular throughout Asia.

"Farewell My Concubine" and "Happy Together" were favored by the Cannes Film Festival, which proved Zhang Guorong's acting skills!

From Japan and South Korea to Southeast Asia, almost everyone knows Zhang Guorong, who has conquered countless Asian fans!
Until now, he is still recognized as an Asian superstar!
Until, after that leap two years later, everything came to an abrupt end.

I have to say that this is a big regret for the Chinese film industry.

Although, Zhang Guorong will always live in the hearts of fans after his death, and he is even more famous and has been promoted to the altar. Just like other deceased artists, he is more famous after death than when he was alive.

But for the Chinese film industry, a living Zhang Guorong is definitely more important than being hung on the wall to commemorate him!
He is only in his 40s and is at the peak of all aspects of an actor. If he had not made the leap, he would have created more classic roles for the Chinese film industry and given more movie souls!
Wu Yuan actually thought about reversing this regret and saving Mr. Zhang Guorong from a few years ago.

But there was nothing he could do before.

Now, he had the qualifications to contact Zhang Guorong, but he hesitated.

It’s really hard to save.

According to what he saw in the dream, Zhang Guorong was suffering from endogenous depression.

The so-called endogenous is actually what most people call physiological factors, that is, endocrine and other problems.

His depression was not caused by external influences, public opinion pressure, or psychological factors, but depression caused by physical lesions.

In the beginning, it was due to repeated stomach problems, and some tormenting pains appeared in the body, such as acid reflux, stomach pain, limb twitching, etc., and then the brain was affected, leading to endocrine disorders and depression.

And even before his death, he was actually full of desire to survive. He never subjectively wanted to commit suicide.

Zhang Guorong was well aware of the seriousness of his condition and actively sought medical treatment and actively cooperated with the treatment.

When he eventually lost control of his condition and committed suicide, his suicide note contained the words "This past year has been very hard and I can't bear it anymore" and the ending "I have never done anything bad in my life, why are you like this?" which further expressed his extreme helplessness and his desire to linger on this world.

It was the torment of illness and the incomparable physical pain that caused him to finally lose control.

Later, people also analyzed it.

Endocrine problems in the body and repeated stomach problems are mostly due to overwork.

Judging from the disclosed information, Leslie Cheung should have started to have physical problems in the second half of 2001, and then he was diagnosed with depression in March 02.

It just so happened that this period of time was Zhang Guorong's busiest time.

While he was holding concerts back-to-back, he was also preparing for a movie to be directed by himself, writing songs, preparing for a new album, researching roles for new movies, and dealing with the ubiquitous paparazzi on Hong Kong Island.

With so many things to deal with, can the body not be overworked and suffer from recurring stomach problems?
The only way to change Zhang Guorong's life is to let him stop being so tired during this period of time. When the stomach problem first appeared, he should be actively treated immediately, so as not to delay the endocrine disorder to cause brain lesions, then it is possible to prevent depression from appearing.

Once endogenous depression really occurs, there is really no way to save it. You can only carefully prevent suicidal behavior again and again.

Fortunately, Wu Yuan still has a chance now. Zhang Guorong's depression was delayed until March and April in 02. Now there is still time to change.

Regardless of whether he can achieve it in the end, Wu Yuan wants to give it a try!
As a director, he couldn't just watch an excellent actor go to the end.

After another long night flight, Wu Yuan arrived at Hong Kong International Airport in the early morning of Hong Kong Island time.

Wu Yuan, who didn't bring any luggage but only a travel bag, got on his backpack and took a taxi. He found a random hotel and went to catch up on jet lag.

The next day, before eight o'clock in the morning, Wu Yuan left the hotel neatly dressed and headed to a very famous tea restaurant on Hong Kong Island.

He and Zhang Guorong made an appointment to meet here.

"Hello, do you have an appointment?"

"Yes, the private room reserved by Mr. Leslie."

Although the front desk clerk was a little uncomfortable with Wu Yuan's Mandarin, he immediately showed his signature smile and guided him to the private box behind the tea restaurant that was not open to the public.

Soon, Wu Yuan met this legendary Asian superstar in a very elegantly decorated box.

"Mr. Zhang Guorong, hello, I am the director Wu Yuan. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Wu Yuan took the initiative to step forward and stretched out his hand to shake Zhang Guorong's hand.

Now, whether in terms of fame, achievements, or status, he is not as good as the Asian superstar in front of him.

He also didn't know the other party's future by himself, which meant he was superior to others.

"Hi Director Wu."

A bright smile also appeared on Zhang Guorong's face. He didn't look down on Wu Yuan or look down on him just because he was less famous than him.

"I've heard of you. You are amazing. Your first movie was sold to the global market."

Zhang Guorong spoke Mandarin very well, even with a bit of a Beijing accent. He greeted Wu Yuan to take a seat with a smile on his face.

"I've seen your movie "The Night the Comet Came" and it was really well made. I heard that the American adaptation of this movie has already grossed more than 3000 million US dollars at the box office?"

"Really amazing!"

"Come on, let's sit down and talk."

　Note 1: Hollywood, Hong Kong's transliteration of Hollywood.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)