Chapter 542 Sense of Picture
After Zhang Yimou left, Fang Minghua returned to the study and did not rush to code. Instead, he drank tea and thought about what Zhang Yimou said just now.
Fang Minghua has not watched "Ju Dou".
As a banned film, it has not been released in the mainland. Even before this era, Fang Minghua had never seen it online.
But I have read the reviews of this movie.
There is a very interesting passage.
In Zhang Yimou’s movies, women are always sexually repressed.
In "Red Sorghum", "Raise the Red Lantern", "A City of Golden Armor" and even "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit", the women in them are either bursting out from sexual repression or suffering from sexual repression Perish in the middle.
"Ju Dou" is a relatively late film in Zhang Yimou's film sequence. Because it also talks about sex, it does not have the enthusiasm and exciting power of "Red Sorghum". It was once listed as For banned films.
Compared with "Raise the Red Lantern", its critical strength is only superficial and lacks the depth of the back of the paper. It is like a semi-finished product.
However, it has a milestone significance in the history of Chinese film.
It is China's first Oscar-nominated work, and represents the fifth generation of directors represented by Zhang Yimou officially launching an attack on the Oscar. From it, we can see Zhang Yimou's courage to explore and also see his eagerness for quick success.
Zhang Yimou went so far as to give in to what he liked, so much so that he used too much force, causing this "Ju Dou" to go astray. It was insufficiently criticized and overly curious. It became a pornographic film in the hearts of many people until the next film "Red Lantern" Gao Gao hangs" before repositioning the steering wheel.
Okay, let’s straighten it out.
Fang Minghua put down the tea cup and turned on the computer again.
In the evening, when Song Tangtang came back from work, Fang Minghua brought out two bowls of fried noodles, and the two of them chatted while eating.
When Song Tangtang heard that Zhang Yimou was planning to make a new film but had not yet found investors, he immediately clapped his hands happily.
"Okay, I will go to Zhang Yimou tomorrow to discuss investment with him!"
"The script has not been written yet."
"Husband, you write it Script, what do I have to worry about?" Song Tangtang chuckled.
"Look, the novel was written by Su Tong, adapted by you, and filmed by Zhang Yimou. It's a perfect combination!"
"And our Song Dynasty beauty invested." Fang Minghua joked .
"Yes!" Song Tangtang chuckled, "But this will require hard work for my husband. You can rest after eating and I will wash the dishes."
A week later, Fang Minghua completed the The writing of "Twilight" is about 280,000 words, which is enough to fill a novel.
Fang Minghua copied the contents to a three-inch floppy disk and sent it to Li Li in the United States.
It has become much more convenient since using floppy disks. There is no need to print out piles of manuscripts, which is just a big package.
Then he made an international long distance call to Li Li and explained some things. He stopped worrying about it and believed that Li Li would translate well.
The next step is to write a script for Zhang Yimou.
"Raise the Red Lantern" is adapted from Su Tong's "Wives and Concubines", but compared with the original work, the changes are quite significant.
In the original novel, although there are lanterns, there are not so many scenes of red lanterns hanging high, but the idea is quite good.
In the original novel, a well under the wisteria trellis was described many times, and people died there. The servant told Songlian that a woman from the previous generation had an affair and was thrown into the well. Inside.
There is water in the well, and the water is yin, so the well also has a gloomy color. There is a "Zhenfei Well" in the Forbidden City in Beijing. It reminds me of the time when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing and Empress Dowager Cixi Before escaping, he asked the eunuch to push Concubine Zhen, who supported the reform, into a well and drown her.
So, the well also has a symbol of the oppression and humiliation of women in feudal society.
The well in the original novel symbolizes death. The souls in the well appear in Songlian's trance, which also gives the novel a gloomy atmosphere. But in the movie, there is no well with the wisteria trellis, but instead a small, remote dark room.
Fang Minghua felt that a well was better, so the script followed the original work and changed it to a well.
As for the wisteria flower, the flower language is endless love, and one is willing to dedicate everything to love.
But the movie was shot in the Qiao Family Courtyard in Shanxi Province. There are no wisteria flowers in that place in Shanxi Province!
Also, it is clear that Su Tong's "Wives and Concubines" tells a story from the south of the Yangtze River, but Zhang Yimou chose to film it in a northern courtyard.
Think about it, this is easy to understand.
Zhang Yimou himself is a northerner, and he knows the north better than the south.
In addition, as a photographer, Zhang Yimou prefers northern buildings from an aesthetic point of view because they are square, straight, smooth and symmetrical, while southern buildings are curved and thin.
Obviously, Zhang Yimou is interested in big and straight things, but not in curved, thin and messy things. If he were asked to take pictures of a city like Suzhou, he would probably have no feeling at all. not good.
Well, that’s it.
Writing a movie script is much easier than writing a TV series script, especially for a talented director like Zhang Yimou.
The content of the script does not need to be too much, giving the director room to play.
Maybe this time, the photo will be better than in history.
So, Fang Minghua only took two days to complete the script, which is about 30,000 words.
The first reader is of course Song Tangtang.
In the evening, Song Tangtang looked at the script and was a little surprised.
"Minghua, what you wrote is different from the original work. Suddenly there were so many more lanterns, and the name was changed to "Raise the Red Lantern""
"Don't you think, this name is better than "Raise the Red Lantern"? Is "Honey and Concubines" more graphic?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.
"Well, Zhang Yimou is a photographer, he must like it! Okay, I will give him the script tomorrow." Song Tangtang said.
"Tangtang, how are your discussions with China Film Co-Production Company going?" Fang Minghua thought of another question.
“The other party is very interested, but we still have to see the script before talking.”
It turned out that although Song Tangtang was planning to invest in this new film produced by Zhang Yimou, Shengshi Film and Television did not have the qualifications and had to find a film studio to cooperate.
Xiying Film Studio has no way to find it. Director Liu is as timid as a mouse and is afraid that Zhang Yimou’s film will cause trouble for him again.
Zhang Yimou had an idea.
When I was filming the last movie "Ju Dou", in addition to the investment from Xiying Film Studio, there was another company: China Film Cooperative Production Company, and I could contact them for cooperation.
In this era, in addition to the eight major film studios in the mainland, such as Bayi and Xiying, there is another less familiar film studio - China Film Co-Production Company.
It was established relatively recently—it was only established in 1979. It is referred to as a co-production company. It is different from the eight major film studios in that the company is entrusted by the national film authorities to be responsible for the management, coordination and management of Sino-foreign co-productions (Sino-foreign co-productions). Serve.
In other words, this company is not responsible for filming, but is responsible for reviewing co-productions!
No matter which film studio you are from, all Chinese and foreign co-production movie scripts must be reviewed and approved by the company before they can be shot!
Very awesome.
Fang Minghua felt relieved when his wife said that the other party was willing to cooperate. Of course, he didn't have to worry about the specific process.
Now he is going to write the script of "Yenjing Man in New York".
In addition to the script, there is another important thing. Which director will film it?
(End of this chapter)