Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 610: Wong Kar-wai Asks Fang Minghua to Help Write the Script

In fact, Fang Minghua was not wrong.

Historically, Wong Kar-wai came to the mainland to shoot Ashes of Time in the autumn of 92, but the filming progress was so slow that it took more than a year to shoot on and off.

One very important reason is that when filming, even the most basic main story framework of the movie was not finalized. For example, Leslie Cheung was originally supposed to play the role of the East Evil, but later he decided to let Leslie Cheung play the role of the West Evil Ouyang Feng. This decision also led to the deletion of most of Wang Zuxian's scenes that had already been filmed.

Moreover, Wong Kar-wai likes to change the script and often abandons the crew to rewrite the script himself.

The investors were afraid of losing money, and if the film was delayed, everyone had to eat. So the film company invited director Liu Zhenwei to use the original crew and actors to shoot a comedy movie "A Chinese Odyssey" in their spare time. It took a very short time and was released during the Spring Festival. Unexpectedly, the box office of the hastily shot "A Chinese Odyssey" was higher than that of "Ashes of Time".

However, in this life, the situation changed. Wong Kar-wai did not rush to the mainland to shoot the film. The problem still lay with the script of "A Chinese Odyssey" written by Fang Minghua.

It turns out that after Stephen Chow got the script last year, he was looking for a director to prepare for the filming of a new movie, and naturally he found Liu Zhenwei, with whom he had worked before.

The two hit it off and began preparing for a new film.

Once, Wong Kar-wai visited his good friend Liu Zhenwei's house. Liu Zhenwei took out a script and handed it to Wong Kar-wai in a show-off manner. After reading the script, Wong Kar-wai remained silent.

After filming Days of Being Wild, Wong Kar-wai wrote a script called The Return of the Condor Heroes 1991, which he gave to directors David Lai and Yuen Kui, starring Andy Lau, Anita Mui, Aaron Kwok and others.

Although the film is named "The Return of the Condor Heroes 1991", it has nothing to do with Mr. Jin's "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

It tells the story of a city mercenary who, after experiencing the departure of friends and the destruction of enemies, becomes tired of fighting and finally retires.

Wong Kar-wai described an unforgettable love story in his own imagination, which also contained the tenderness of chivalrous knights. The romantic and bizarre martial arts world was dressed in ultra-modern new clothes, and with the addition of cartoon-like processing, the film received good reviews after its release.

This time he wanted to make a real martial arts film, of course not in the traditional sense. He had a rough outline in his head but hadn't thought it through.

Now when I read the script of "A Chinese Odyssey", I said "WTF" several times in my heart.

People say that I, King of Sunglasses, write scripts in a wild and unconventional way, but when you see this one written by Fang Minghua, it really subverts your worldview.

Is this still the Journey to the West where Tang Monk and Sha Monk seek Buddhist scriptures? !
But it is indeed "Journey to the West"!
So he decided to seriously consider the martial arts script he was going to shoot. At least it should be better than "A Chinese Odyssey", right?

The filming of "Ashes of Time" was postponed as a result.

Fang Minghua naturally had no idea about what was happening in Hong Kong, but he didn't dare to ask too much, after all, he was not very familiar with Liu Zhenwei.

Besides, they were busy filming and it was not appropriate to disturb them for too long, so he said goodbye to Liu Zhenwei and Stephen Chow and went for a stroll with Zhang Xianliang.

Yinchuan in September is neither too cold nor too hot, which is a great time for tourism. Accompanied by Zhang Xianliang, Fang Minghua not only visited the Western Film and Television City, watched the Western Xia Royal Tombs and the Helan Mountain Rock Paintings, but also went to the Huangsha Ancient Ferry and visited the Ningxia Museum. They also discussed calligraphy skills together and tried local specialties such as mutton noodles, Yan noodles, and Yinchuan Sanzi. They went out early and came back late every day and had a great time.

That afternoon, I went to the famous "Lao Mao Shouzhu" mutton restaurant near the Drum Tower with Zhang Xianliang and several of his friends. We drank "Xixia Gong" and returned to our room in the hotel drunk.

Song Tangtang was in the room, operating something on a laptop with a pile of account books next to her.

The notebook was the one that Stephen Chow gave to Fang Minghua. After the Chinese Literature Award ceremony was over, Fang Minghua took it home and gave it to his wife.

Shengshi Film and Television Company began to promote computerization and bought genuine UFIDA. Song Tangtang also installed UFIDA in this notebook so that he could use it conveniently.

When she saw Fang Minghua coming back, she looked up and said, "You're out now, and your life is so carefree."

"That's right." Fang Minghua chuckled, "As for the filming, Liu Zhenwei and his team are progressing smoothly. If we don't understand, we shouldn't get involved. As for the company, you, Mr. Song, are in charge. Do you still need me to worry about it? I'm just an idler, I'm just having fun."

Song Tangtang snorted after hearing this, and then said, "Liu Zhenwei is looking for you today."

"What do you want from me? To revise the script?"

"No, it seems like I'm asking you to help write the script."

"What script are you writing?" Fang Minghua was stunned.

"I don't know either. He will probably come to see you after the crew finishes work tonight." Song Tangtang said. "Okay." Fang Minghua said and fell on the bed.

"Have you drunk too much? I'll make you some tea." Seeing this, Song Tangtang stood up.

The tea was brought by Fang Minghua himself. Now he always brings his own tea whenever he travels far away. He is used to the taste and it feels good.

Song Tangtang made a cup of strong tea and helped Fang Minghua up again.

Leaning against the head of the bed, Fang Minghua took a few sips and immediately felt much more comfortable.

The Hong Kong crew finished work late, and at almost nine o'clock, Fang Minghua heard some noise coming from the corridor outside, and guessed that the crew had returned.

After a while, someone knocked on the door. Song Tangtang went to open the door and saw Liu Zhenwei standing at the door.

"Is Mr. Fang back?"

"He's back, Director Liu, please come in."

Fang Minghua was lying down. When she heard the conversation at the door, she got up and went over to greet Liu Zhenwei. The two of them sat on the sofa and started chatting.

"Director Liu, I heard from my wife, what kind of script do you want me to write?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Yes, Mr. Fang, I'm here to see you for this matter, not me, but my friend."

"Who?"

“Wong Kar-wai.”

"Wong Kar-wai asked me to help write the script?!" Fang Minghua was very surprised when she heard this: "Director Wang is a master of screenwriting, how come he wanted me to write the script for him?"

Liu Zhenwei talked about the origin of the matter.

It turned out that just last night, Liu Zhenwei received a call from Wong Kar-wai in Hong Kong about company matters.

Just this year, the two jointly opened a film production company called Zedong Films. During the period, Liu Zhenwei talked about his filming of "A Chinese Odyssey" and said that Fang Minghua, who wrote the script, was in Yinchuan and was traveling around the area at the invitation of a friend.

Wong Kar-wai suddenly made a request: he asked Liu Zhenwei to tell Fang Minghua to help him write a martial arts script.

"Mr. Fang, Kar-wai has bought the film adaptation rights for Mr. Jin Yong's The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and has been thinking about how to adapt it. He has written several scripts but he is always dissatisfied. When he saw the script you wrote for A Chinese Odyssey, he really appreciated your wild ideas, so he wanted to ask you to help him write a script."

Oops
Write "Ashes of Time"?
interesting.

"Okay." Fang Minghua agreed immediately.

Liu Zhenwei didn't expect Fang Minghua to agree so readily, and he felt a little embarrassed.

Could it be that I had screwed him over?
It turns out that Wong Kar-wai is notoriously difficult to serve and has extremely high requirements for scripts. What's even more infuriating is that by the time the written script is finished filming, it has been changed beyond recognition.

This is a nightmare for a screenwriter.

Liu Zhenwei had a very good impression of Fang Minghua, a very famous writer in the mainland. He was said to be very rich and well-mannered.

And he also had a pleasant cooperation with his wife's Shengshi Film and Television.

If Fang Minghua was badly abused by his good friend because of the script, he would feel guilty about it.

But the other party has already agreed, so there is nothing more to say.

(End of this chapter)