The literary era since 1979

What Run Run Shaw invited was both a dinner and a family dinner.

The location was not at the Peninsula Hotel that she often visited, but directly at Fang Yihua’s seaside villa in Akong Bay, Sai Kung.

Even Wang Zuxian, who was known as "Mrs. Fang's adopted daughter", had never taken even one step into the stage before. This was her first time.

After five dishes and three rounds of wine, Run Run Shaw wiped his mouth and said slowly:
"Yanzi, we have been considering the requests you mentioned these days, but we still have a small concern."

"What kind of movie do you plan to have Shaw Brothers make?"

Fang Yihua cast an inquiring look, "Or do you have a preliminary story outline?"

"I don't have a complete idea at the moment, so I dare not boast easily. However, I believe that you two have already known from Xiaoxian about the two scripts I prepared for Golden Harvest and Cheng Long, right?" Fang Yan turned his head to Wang Zuxian.

Run Run Shaw admitted openly, "It is said that the new generation pushes the old generation forward. I have learned a lesson from Yanzi's great talent."

Fang Yan said: "You are too kind."

Run Run Shaw waved his hand and said, "That's not an exaggeration at all. If we really shoot the film according to what Yanzai said, Jackie Chan will definitely be able to break into Hollywood, and Golden Harvest will definitely be able to enter the European and American markets again. The long-cherished wish of Zou Wenhuai and Ho Kuanchang has finally been realized."

Fang Yihua added tacitly that they also took a fancy to the script of "Die Hard" and hoped that it could be handed over to Shaw Brothers Films to film.

Fang Yan was well aware of the two's plans. Although "Police Stories" was not inferior to "Die Hard" and was often regarded as an action movie textbook by Hollywood, its appeal to the European and American markets was actually quite limited because the story background and environment were all in Hong Kong.

And "Die Hard" is the key that truly opens the door to Hollywood for Jackie Chan.

Shaw Brothers cut off this film, which was like cutting off the source of funds for Jackie Chan and Golden Harvest to jump into Hollywood.

But obviously, he would not offend Golden Harvest for the sake of Shaw Brothers. "Eating from both ends" cannot turn into "blocking both ends".

So, he politely refused, saying, "I've thought about that, but the key problem is that Shaw Brothers doesn't have any action stars who can stand out on their own."

“There is nothing to cultivate.”

Fang Yihua shook her head and laughed, "What we lack the most is actors. Even if Shaw Brothers doesn't have them, we can still find them in TVB."

"Uncle Six, Aunt Six, action stars are different from ordinary actors. They not only have to be able to act and fight, but also have to fight in their own style."

The dialect tells the truth that all the martial arts films made in Hong Kong over the years are like Ao Gan's medicinal dregs.

The martial arts moves are all rigid and hard-core, not decisive, not smooth and not satisfying, and are purely formulaic fights.

The core storyline of the ancient ones is about martial arts, while the modern ones are about fashion fighting.

There is no novelty inside or outside, and the audience's aesthetic taste is constantly improving. If you want to stand out, you must either surpass your predecessors or find another way. Because martial arts films are different from other types of films, they have a strong personal heroic color, so personal characteristics must be prominent and have a strong style.

For example, Cheng Long is all about kung fu drama, desperate stunts, and thrilling parkour.

For example, Jet Li is a costumed martial arts hero with the demeanor of a master.

Like Wu Jing, it’s not that he didn’t think about becoming the second Jet Li.

However, despite filming ancient martial arts films such as "Monkey Fist" and "Tai Chi Master", he was still unable to shake Jet Li, who was in the same ecological niche. He then turned to modern martial arts films, but his first film "Wolf Tooth", which he wrote and directed, flopped, proving that he was not suitable for modern martial arts either.

Finally, by chance, he set his sights on the blue ocean of the Chinese market - war action movies, and learned from Sylvester Stallone's "First Blood" and "The Expendables", turning to military special forces and heavy industry action themes. Zhen Zidan turned to Republican action movies, and "Ip Man" became his style label.

As for the negative example, it is Zhang Jin. His style is not prominent enough. Even though he is an athlete of Wuying level, he only leaves the image of a thug in a suit.

After listening to his clear and logical analysis, Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua looked at each other and sighed quietly:
"What Yanzi said makes sense."

"All the famous action actors like Sammo Hung, Cheng Long, and Yuen Biao are now in Golden Harvest. Even if we insist on making this kind of police and gangster film, it seems that we can't find anyone who can take the lead. It seems that Shaw Brothers is destined to have no chance of making police and gangster films."

"That being said, I can assure you here."

Fang Yan vowed: "The script I prepared for Shaw Brothers will definitely not be worse than Die Hard or Police Stories."

Fang Yihua smiled and said, "Yanzi's words are enough."

"cheers!"

Run Run Shaw raised his glass with a kind look.

Wang Zuxian, who had been distracted from the topic, was startled and hurriedly drank the wine in one gulp, just like in Fangyan.

After that, no more business was discussed at the table, and the dinner gradually came to an end.

Run Run Shaw personally escorted me to the door, his tone full of concern:

"Yanzi will go back tomorrow?"

"Yes."

Fang Yan nodded and said that as soon as he returned to Beijing, he would report all matters concerning his cooperation with Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers to the cultural department.

…………

It was already late at night when we returned to the hotel from the villa.

When Wang Zuxian opened the door, she saw Lin Qingxia wearing her pajamas, lying on the bed with her legs raised and swinging from side to side.

"You're having a good time, but I'm exhausted."

"You still think this is tiring? Do you know how many people want to have a meal with Master Liu and Mrs. Fang, but don't have the chance to do so?"

Lin Qingxia rolled her eyes playfully, "You picked it up instead. If others heard this, they would say you were ungrateful."

"Actually, I'm not tired, I just feel a little bored."

Wong Zu-Hsien curled her lips and said that when she was speaking in dialect with Run Run Shaw and Fang Yihua, they talked about current affairs, economy, literature, politics and other issues. She did not understand any of these issues and naturally could not get a word in. Over time, she felt isolated and left out.

"You just know."

Lin Qingxia said, "You and he are like me, living in two different worlds. It's okay to be friends, but if you have to choose between Xianglin, Qin Han and him, as you said, he should be eliminated first, because there is no way we can be together."

"You are both right and wrong."

Wang Zuxian explained that although she could not get a word in, she was pleasantly surprised to discover the talent and value of dialects while being ignored.

Lin Qingxia insisted on her own opinion, "Surprises are only temporary, but being together is a lifetime thing. Even if you or I are lucky enough to be with Fang Sheng, we won't have much in common. It's too dangerous to continue this kind of relationship. Something will happen sooner or later."

"According to what you said, Fang Sheng's wife is an actress. Don't they have anything in common?"

"This this……"

"Besides, Fang Sheng is an Oscar-winning screenwriter and has a deep understanding of movies."

Wang Zuxian told everything that happened at the dinner party.

Lin Qingxia's eyes widened, "He said all this?"

"Of course. He also said that although Shaw Brothers couldn't make police and gangster films, they could let Shaw Brothers' actors participate." Wang Zuxian patted her chest, "He was going to recommend me to act in Police Story."

Lin Qingxia was surprised at first, then overjoyed, "That's great!"

Wang Zuxian hooked her shoulders and said, "Hey, now we can finally act in a movie together!"

Lin Qingxia was stunned. "Wait, what about us?"

"Yes, Police Story has two female protagonists." Wang Zuxian smiled, "Besides me, Mr. Fang also plans to recommend you."

Lin Qingxia was puzzled, "Why did he choose the two of us?"

"Maybe he's attracted to you, or me, or maybe we're both attracted to him," Wang Zuxian joked.

"Stop talking nonsense and get serious."

"He said that when he chooses actors, he doesn't look for the most beautiful one, but only the most suitable one, and the two of us are both suitable and beautiful."

"Did he really say that?"

Lin Qingxia's eyes were complicated. "He is really weird, even weirder than those literati like Li Ao and Yin Meng."

"I think so too, Qingxia, what kind of person do you think Fang Sheng is?"

Wang Zuxian pulled Lin Qingxia to sit beside the bed and started chatting with her in dialect.

They chatted all night long, and the next day, he took the initiative to send Fangyan to the dock with Xu Ke, Shi Nansheng and others.

As soon as I returned to eastern Guangdong, I flew back to Beijing without stopping.

I saw the tarmac was full of people, including leaders from the Film Bureau, Culture, Propaganda, Radio, Film and Television and other departments who came specially to greet us.

Under the banners fluttering in the wind, reporters from "Popular Movies", "Guangming Daily", "Wenyi Bao" and other newspapers were all present. Their cameras were pointed at Fangyan who got off the plane. The shutter sounds kept ringing, and they were already thinking about the title and content of the article in their minds.

"Clap clap clap."

Accompanied by applause, Fang Yan took the flowers from Zhu Muzhi's hand.

Immediately afterwards, he shook hands and chatted with seniors and leaders in the film industry, including Shi Fangyu, Teng Jinxian, and Zhong Dianfei.

"Xiao Fang, Oscar did a great job this time."

Xia Yan praised: "You have brought honor to our Chinese literary and artistic circles, overseas Chinese, and Asian films."

"Yeah, great job!"

"As expected, he has stood out from the literary world. He didn't lose any points for us!"

"Yes, this is not only a personal honor for Mr. Fang, but also a collective honor for our Chinese-language films. It proves that although the technology of Chinese films may be backward, the talents are by no means inferior to the world-class ones. The directors, screenwriters, actors, artists, etc. are all world-class!"

"........."

Surrounded by the crowd, Fang Yan was taken to the conference room of the Film Bureau.

The layout was quite grand, with the table filled with all kinds of fruit candies, peanuts, melon seeds, etc. It was obvious that a celebration and symposium in the form of a tea party was going to be held. In addition to the people who had just come to pick them up at the airport, the participants also included representatives from Beijing Film Studio, Bayi Film Studio, Xi'an Film Studio and other film studios.

Looking around, he saw both Gong Xing and Zhu Lin in the crowd.

A pair of eyes were staring at the Oscar statuette that Fang Yan took out of his luggage.

“Is this the Oscar trophy?”

"Is this trophy solid gold or gold-plated?"

"Hasn't the newspaper previously published any information about the Oscar trophy? It's gold-plated, just like our Golden Rooster Awards!"

The trophy was passed around among the crowd, and everyone looked it up and down, feeling it was extremely novel.

"You're right. In fact, the American Oscars are nothing more than our Chinese Golden Rooster Awards."

Fang Yan said: "It's just that it lasts longer, covers a wider range, has more participants, and the scale of the awards is larger..."

Everyone present agreed with this. Nowadays, there is not much worship and attention paid to the Oscars.

"Xiao Fang, can you tell us what you think of Hollywood and American movies after your trip to the Oscars?"

Xia Yan threw the topic over, "Also, share your thoughts and experiences on Saving Private Ryan."

"I think the biggest feeling I got from this trip is..."

After a moment's hesitation, Fang Yan said words such as "entertainment film", "commercialization" and "industrialization".

Zhong Dianfei, Xia Yan, Shi Fangyu and others looked at each other and asked him to explain in detail some words they had never heard of.

In particular, the entertainment, commercialization and industrialization of movies sparked heated discussions, with everyone whispering and talking about it.

Zhu Lin lowered his voice and said, "Gong Xian, why do I feel like the atmosphere is a little off?"

"Do you think so too?" Gong Xing looked puzzled.

Zhu Lin nodded. "Look at their faces. They are so solemn. They are not as relaxed as before."

Gong Xing felt the same way, so he secretly asked Xie Fei next to him for advice. He found out that the film industry was currently debating two different approaches.

One is the path of "literary and artistic aesthetics" brought by films such as "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog" and "Yellow Earth".

After all, the "color and picture" techniques of the fifth-generation directors subverted the traditional narrative style of Chinese-language films, transforming the feature film model with "plot" as the main body into an art film aesthetic with "image" as the main body, and set off a "New Wave Movement" similar to France in the film industry.

The other one also contains dialect.

That is the "commercialization of movies" brought about by entertainment films such as "The Ring", "The Qin Empire", and "Once Upon a Time in China".

At present, newspapers and periodicals such as "Film Pictorial", "Popular Cinema" and "Wenyi Bao" have questioned the "commercialization of entertainment films".

Even in the "Discussion and Debate" column of "Contemporary Film", there are endless criticisms and denials of the entertainment and commercialization of movies, and firm opposition to borrowing Western film business models and industrial mechanisms, such as "From 'commercialization' to the direction of development of Chinese films."

"'Commercial film' is an ambiguous concept. If we use this concept indiscriminately, it will cause ideological confusion and be detrimental to the healthy development of the film industry. If we use 'the commercial logic and experience of Western films' to transform our studios, the consequences will be disastrous. Therefore, we should temporarily not adopt the concept of 'commercial film' and stay away from the path of 'commercialization'..."

"hiss!"

Gong Xing and Zhu Lin gasped. They had never expected the situation to be like this.

"Teacher Fang is not only the initiator and participant of these two lines, but also the best screenwriter of the Golden Rooster Awards and the Oscars. He is an important figure in the domestic and international film industry. His words and deeds will make the whole debate more complicated and more intense."

Xie Fei's face was solemn and his tone was serious.

Zhu Lin's heart skipped a beat. Like Gong Xing, he looked at Fang Yan with some concern and subconsciously grasped the corner of his clothes. (End of this chapter)