Chapter 123 Where the Eyes Fall
Shocked by Su Yun's creative ideas, Lu Shaolong, with the help of his wife Lian Da, quickly read through this creative story.
I don't know what Su Yun was thinking. After a few sentences indicating that the characters and plots were all following the normal development of the original novel, he started to make magical changes in the plot of "Grandma Liu visits the Rongguo Mansion for the second time."
The plot of the original novel is that in order to cheer up the people in the Jia family, Granny Liu made up some specious stories. One of them was that she once saw a very pretty young girl who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a bright red shirt and a white silk skirt, collecting firewood in the snow during a heavy snowfall.
When they were collecting firewood in the snow, the stable of the Jia family happened to catch fire. Everyone thought it was unlucky, so the story was not continued.
But Jia Baoyu, who was always kind to women, was concerned. He was afraid that the girl who was collecting firewood in the snow would get sick from the cold, so he had to find out the reason.
So Granny Liu had no choice but to continue talking nonsense, saying that the girl was originally a lady from a large family, her nickname was Mingyu, and she died young due to illness. In order to miss her, her parents built a ancestral hall for Mingyu and made a sculpture to burn incense and offer sacrifices.
However, as time went by, the temple became dilapidated and no one worshipped or offered sacrifices to it anymore, so the sculpture became a spirit, often transforming into the appearance of Miss Mingyu back then and coming out to wander around.
Baoyu hastily corrected him, saying that this was not a spirit. According to the rules, this person was "dead but not dead."
Granny Liu was stuck in a dilemma, so she just went along with what he said, saying that the statues in their village must have turned into spirits, and they had even discussed demolishing the statues and leveling the temples.
This frightened Baoyu so much that he quickly said that he would pay for the renovation and redecoration, and would also pay Granny Liu some money every month to burn incense on her behalf.
Afterwards, Baoyu believed it and actually asked his servant Mingyan to take a few hundred dollars and go to look for the direction and place name that Granny Liu had made up. He planned to let his people take a look first and then make a decision after coming back.
As a result, when Mingyan came back after a whole day's search, he reported that he had not found the place in that direction. After searching for a whole day, he finally found a dilapidated temple on the ridge of a field in the northeast direction. However, the statue enshrined inside was not a lively and pretty lady, but a plague god with a green face and red hair.
Baoyu, however, did not believe it, and said frankly that he would look for it another day: If it was false, he would naturally give up the thought; but if it was true, then it would have accumulated bad karma.
There is no further development in the original novel. Many people speculate that this story made up by Granny Liu was actually a foreshadowing of Daiyu's or Baochai's ending. However, since only the first eighty chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber have been passed down to the world, no one knows it.
Su Yun took Baoyu's comment "although dead, she is not dead" to unfold the magical modified plot of "The Immortal" - Baoyu was worried about Miss Mingyu day and night, so one day when he went out, he suddenly had an idea and took people to look for the ruined temple.
Unexpected things happen. Halfway through the journey, the group encountered exiled robbers. Under the protection of his men, Baoyu finally escaped on horseback alone and was separated from the others.
Late at night, Baoyu, who was lost, accidentally entered a dilapidated temple and finally saw the statue of Miss Mingyu, whom he had been thinking about.
Because he was extremely tired, he fell in front of the sculpture and fell into a hazy dream.
In his dream, Miss Mingyu, who looked like an immortal, told him a terrible prophecy: a plague that could transform the living and the dead into undead zombies was about to spread in this world, and the world would surely turn into purgatory in the future.
This "Baoyu" of his is the reincarnation of the Heaven-Mending Stone, which has the power to make up for natural disasters and purify everything. Therefore, Miss Mingyu hopes that he can do his best to save this disaster-ridden world.
So in the eyes of the world of this era, Baoyu, who is not good at literature and martial arts and relies entirely on the shadow of his ancestors, embarks on a funny journey of exorcising demons, defending the way and fighting zombies in order to go home...
I have to say that Su Yun's magically modified plot, imagination and painting style are really unique.
However, regardless of good or bad reviews, this magical fusion of themes is really attractive!
At least when Lu Shaolong saw the title, he already had the thought: "If there is such a unique movie in the cinema, no matter what its content is, I want to buy a ticket to watch it"...
Is this the legendary victory of tricking the audience into entering the cinema?
"Master, what do you think?" Su Yun asked quickly when she saw that he had finally finished reading the script.
Lu Shaolong sighed: "It is indeed a very creative idea... However, isn't this subject a bit risky?"
Hong Kong has made horror and thriller movies about zombies before - two years ago, Zhao collaborated with the British Hammer Company to make the horror film "Seven Golden Corpses", which was a zombie film that combined Western vampire themes with the Chinese legend of "Xiangxi Corpse Driving".
This is not only the last film in the popular "Dracula" film series of Hammer Films, which is known as the "Vampire Base Camp", but also a big production invested by Zhao Films. The plot combines Chinese and Western elements, and also features the participation of foreign superstar Peter Cushing and Zhao's top player, handsome Jiang Dawei. Jiang Dawei even practiced English hard for this and personally recited the dialogue in his real voice...
However, what is the ending?
Because the film mixed too many elements and the plot was overly horrific at the time, it was a box office failure that could almost be called a disastrous one.
This failure not only caused Jiang Dawei, one of Zhao's two signature male stars who had good looks and acting skills and was the first Asian Film Festival Best Actor in Hong Kong history, to almost become box office poison; it also directly led to other Hong Kong film companies not daring to get involved in zombie-themed horror movies anymore.
As a martial artist, although he belongs to a different company, Lu Shaolong also knows Jiang Dawei, who used to be a dragon and tiger stuntman on the set: Even though it has been three years since the release of "Seven Golden Corpses", Jiang Dawei, affected by this failure, is now struggling to temporarily transform himself into a director and direct movies, soliciting investments and looking for scripts to direct and act himself - because no one dares to ask him to film!
If Jiang Dawei hadn't been smart and thought of a solution to change his business on the spur of the moment, he might have really had to bear the blame for the box office failure.
After hearing what Lu Shaolong said, Su Yun nodded in sudden enlightenment: No wonder horror themes are a powerful weapon to compete with comedy themes for box office in other places, but why are they not very common in Hong Kong?
Although there are some horror-themed movies with plots, Hong Kong, where following trends is the norm, is unlikely not to be jealous of the huge profits made by the first zombie movie "Night of the Living Dead" in the 1960s. In Hong Kong, especially the Zhao Film Company, although they are quite stingy with their talents and productions, once they set their sights on something new that can make a lot of money, they are willing to invest huge sums of money into it.
It turned out that he had been cheated once, so once bitten by a snake, he was afraid of the rope for ten years.
This shadow also affected other film companies. It was not until Hung Gam Po's supernatural zombie theme that combined kung fu and martial arts began to make a small profit, and then Lin Jingying's zombie Taoist series was released and made a lot of money at the box office that this sub-genre of supernatural horror and thriller themes was able to flourish in Hong Kong.
"As for this, my opinion is that there are no truly rubbish actors, only producers and directors who are not capable enough to be the best." Su Yun shook her head: this year is already 1977, Peter Cushing is about to shine in the first film of this year's "Star Wars" series, and Chiang Tat-wai will be able to reach the top ranks of leading actors and directors in the Hong Kong film industry in a few years. The "Seven Golden Corpses" that ruined the two of them was just a small pit in the lives of the two big guys.
In this era, so many high-quality actors will not be used. Look at Mr. Xu and Master Wu who came later. One was the alphabet goddess who specialized in portrait pinching and glaring, and the other was the "notorious" taunting artifact Renjian Cangdie. Weren't they still able to tailor-make for them the beautiful and stunningly charming Eun Ruiji and the lovable naughty kid who needed a beating from society in their respective movies?
Once garbage is placed in the right place, it can become a recyclable resource, not to mention that now it is all good material from natural resources!
It's such a waste of resources!
"Many times, audiences are afraid because horror movies are too bloody and the protagonists are persecuted inhumanely." Su Yun pointed to the hilarious journey homeward in the second half of the story, in which Baoyu has his own supernatural powers. "So I referred to the way Jin Daxia described Duan Yu, one of the male protagonists, in the first part of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. I set Baoyu's personal storyline to be protected by supernatural powers and capable of killing everyone, but because of his kindness and the nature of a nobleman who has never seen the dangers of the world, he encounters many dangers along the way, but in the end he is safe."
The audience is easily moved by the protagonist - this can be easily seen in various game live broadcasts in later generations. When watching others play games, you will tremble in fear when watching the noobs playing and screaming in fear. When watching the masters playing the game, you will also feel a sense of invincibility and arrogance...
Therefore, Su Yun set up a hilarious but thrilling plot for the protagonist Baoyu, which must be to allow the audience to follow the protagonist and have fun with him without any danger.
Although Director Jin, who used the shady contract to deceive the newcomers, could not be punished, at least she tried her best to intervene this time, and her sights were not only on the present: at that time, the production of Hong Kong films was seriously following the trend, and as soon as a genre became popular, many people would follow suit. If new themes such as fantasy and horror, which are suitable for all ages, could suppress the profits of erotic and pornographic themes with age restrictions, then perhaps it would not only be possible to save the members of this crew from suffering.
The society entered the entertainment industry to make money, but they don't know how to make good films, so they can only deceive newcomers and recruit celebrities to persecute them.
But if they could offer a subject that is easier to film and more appealing to these gang members, then they would naturally be less concerned with making Category III films.
Although her approach cannot save all persecuted artists - but if there is a chance to save one more, she will try her best to save one more.
After a few years, when they have almost finished filming horror-themed films and the social atmosphere has calmed down, Su Yun will continue to produce films that recall the 1960s and 1970s, police and gang themes, and gambling themes that focus on social reality.
Even if it is a "rampant" film that is rampant and a bad film that people criticize but still does not lose, it is much better than the dark reality of forced persecution.
Of course, even if it is a sloppy or bad movie, if the subject matter is similar and the actors are the same, maybe some of the sincere and creative ones can stand out and merge with the serious original works to become an IP or even an IP universe.
Hong Kong's once immature mafia and gambling universes are typical "good" examples of a lack of long-term vision and a pursuit of immediate gains that will inevitably lead to failure in the end.
So, the road to integration is long and arduous.