Chapter 135: Friendship Years
Through word of mouth among young students with higher receptive abilities, this adaptation of the Dream of the Red Chamber, which received mixed reviews, quickly became a minor hit in cinemas.
Those who love it naturally love it because it allows them to let their imagination run wild, while those who don't like it think it is too much of a modification and disrespects the original work... But no matter what, this is the only wonderful movie this summer that can make one's blood boil, sweat profusely, and leave one with an endless aftertaste.
Of course, these controversies are only matters for outsiders. As the box office of the movie gradually increases due to mixed reviews, investors who see that such magical changes can actually make money are a little tempted and want to find others to follow suit.
However, the protagonists in the play were afraid of the dark after seeing the ghost, and they dared not take any more roles easily. In addition, the genius director Xu He, who made this movie, returned to TBB to make a TV series. Those who came to visit just gave up the idea of looking for the original team to borrow the momentum for another round, and planned to form a new team to do things.
Having finally gotten rid of the wrong path of being a Category III movie star without any trouble, Zhang Querong deliberately found a night when there were no night scenes and went to Chen Boyan's house to borrow a phone to call Su Yun to express his gratitude - Chen Boyan and his mother were often abroad, and their home was equipped with an international long-distance telephone, and the interior furnishings were much better than the rental house he was living in now.
Although his home is equipped with a telephone that can make international long-distance calls for the convenience of contacting foreign guests, he considers himself an adult and wants to be independent, so he would rather trouble his friends than go home.
Not only Zhang Querong thought so, Chen Boyang also wanted to leave home. However, his mother was away abroad during this period, and he couldn't find a suitable rental house. So he temporarily gave up the idea and stayed at home.
"If you really want to move out but have nowhere to go, then come live with me first. At most, we can share a bed!" The so-called sharing a bed means two people sleeping in one bed. Since they are good friends, Zhang Querong doesn't mind squeezing in for a while.
"Who wants to share a business with you?" He could tell from his words that he was treating him like a younger brother. Chen Boyang, who had always been spoiled, started to lose his temper again.
Normally, he would feel at ease to be favored by friends who looked and were older than him. However, although Zhang Querong was a few years older than him, he had the same baby face as him, so he immediately became unhappy.
Unfortunately, this Lesley guy has a bad temper in front of his acquaintances. He especially likes to tease him, and when he gets angry, he coaxes him in a gentle voice. It's really hard to say anything good.
Boys of this age usually like to play and compete with each other. On the one hand, they feel they are not as good as the other, but on the other hand, they are unwilling to admit defeat and want to catch up.
"That's true. If we want to shop together, we should shop with a pretty girl with a good figure. What's the point of two idiots hanging out together?" Zhang Querong shrugged.
"Have you become addicted to gossip because Ci Gu urged you to do so? Why do you act like a gossipy old lady who is keen on urging people to get married?" Chen Boyang took a step back in an exaggerated manner.
"Of course not! I just feel that at our age, it's very suitable for us to find a girl we like to date." Zhang Querong raised his eyebrows: the "Ci Gu" that Chen Boyang mentioned is referring to his first and current agent Zhou Caici, who signed him after the singing competition of Liying. Because she is the daughter of the opera master Zhou Jinfang, she can be considered a family background in learning and joined Liying as a film and television producer and publicity manager.
Because she always teamed up with Taiwanese newcomer Mao Chunjun and they had a good relationship, Zhou Caici helped book a hotel and invited reporters, and she also arranged for the reporters to discover their "secret affair" scandal.
In fact, Mao Chunjun already had a singer boyfriend at that time, and the two of them were just having an ordinary meal as instructed, but suddenly a scandal broke out.
"So that's how it is. Sigh, the entertainment industry is really complicated." Chen Boyang nodded thoughtfully, and then teased his friend, "But, are you sure you don't have other thoughts about Miss Mao?"
"Of course not, she has a boyfriend, and I will never steal her away!" Zhang Querong explained repeatedly, and even he himself was speechless: Although Mao Chunjun was indeed a pure, lovely and beautiful girl, who was very much in line with his aesthetic standards, but stealing someone away... he really couldn't do it.
"Don't always blame me. I gave my first love to someone else when I was in middle school. But you - you are locked up in a small dark room by your agent KK Tan all day long to practice singing. At most you come out to appear on some shows and take some gg. If you continue like this, your youth will be wasted!" Zhang Querong said with a look of grief.
Most of the interactions between boys are like "I am your dad" and filial piety between fathers and sons. So Zhang Querong, who has always been a dramatic actor, now looks like an old father who is worried about his unfilial son...
"Come on, you look so naughty now!" Chen Boyang, who was disgusted by his appearance, pushed him, "I am such a big man, I must have had my first love!"
"Really? Who is it? Do I know her? Is she pretty?" Zhang Querong immediately changed his expression to a gossipy one and asked his friend four questions from the bottom of his heart.
Thinking of the first time they met when the bauhinia flowers were dancing that day, Chen Boyang was silent for a while, and finally heaved a long sigh: "In short... Alas, it's hard to put it into words!"
"Oh..." Seeing Chen Boyang's lonely look, Zhang Querong estimated that this first love was most likely not only unsuccessful but also left deep scars, so he patted his shoulder considerately and did not continue to explore.
"Come on, let's find a time when we are both free some other time and go to a disco to meet girls - the beach is fine too. The weather is great right now and many people say there are many pretty girls on the beach." After a moment's silence, Zhang Querong, unable to keep quiet, began to chatter and change the subject.
"Don't come. What if we both like the same girl? Then who will give way to me or me? It will hurt our relationship!" Chen Boyang waved his hand.
"Hello everyone, brothers, why are you saying give in? That's so unpleasant!" Zhang Querong waved his hand, "Of course, everyone should compete fairly based on their abilities."
"Okay, I definitely won't lose." Chen Boyang raised his eyebrows.
"I never thought that I wouldn't win." Zhang Querong immediately replied confidently.
The two laughed for a while, and when they saw Chen Boyang get up with his eyes down and go to the bathroom to wash his face, Zhang Querong suddenly remembered that he wanted to come over to borrow the phone, so he quickly stretched out on the sofa and reached out to grab the phone on the small coffee table and put it in his arms.
After hearing from the phone call that "Dream of Red Mansions" had good box office and reputation, and probably had a good chance of hitting the top three of the annual box office, Su Yun, who is currently in Japan preparing for the TV series, and Zhang Querong on the other end of the phone congratulated each other, and then chatted about their recent situation.
Finally, after wishing each other a bright future, Su Yun hung up the phone.
However, soon, unable to find a suitable TV drama producer and director, she picked up the phone again and dialed Xiang Jiang Jiahe's number.
Zou Yunhua has a wide network of contacts. If he really can't give her the names of some Japanese producers and directors, it is not impossible for her to find a Hong Kong producer and airlift him over.
The Hong Kong producers of this era are not those amateurs who command the professionals and try to fish in troubled waters after the market chaos. Instead, most of them are versatile people who can handle both the positions of producer and director. When necessary, it is not impossible for the producer to take on the job of director and shoot a movie as the "producer himself".
Anyway, she was in control of the first season, so the director was secondary - although the second female lead Ayumi had an important role in the early stage, it was not too much, so she could also serve as the director.
The plot of "The Girl with a Thousand Faces" includes a lot of plays within plays and theatrical performances. In order to make the filming effect understandable to most people, Su Yun planned to produce it according to the animated version that was well adapted in later generations. Therefore, the scenes in the animation where "the elusive acting skills are transformed into the reality visible to the audience" require a lot of post-production special effects support.
It's not that the young actors' acting skills are not good enough to make up for the special effects, but the performance without props is considered awkward in the eyes of most people. In order to keep it easy to understand for all ages and not just a love letter to professionals, Su Yun must consider using the simplest way to show the acting skills.
Therefore, her high standards for the final product require her to approach the producer and director in an unusual way.
But what Su Yun did not expect was that after listening to the details of her request, Zou Yunhua actually gave her a name of the Zhao family.
Zhao Liying - former general manager of Zhao Brothers Film Company, nephew whom Zhao Rifu once regarded as the most promising successor, and the second-in-command of the Zhao family before Zou Yunhua and Fang Mona.
Since Zhao Liying left the Zhao family because of a dispute between his father and his generation, the position of general manager of the Zhao Brothers Film Company has since been transformed from a powerful position into an empty position with a mere title. This shows how much Zhao Rifu valued his nephew.
"It was also when you mentioned him when you went to Yinshan to film Memoirs of a Geisha that I learned about his whereabouts in Japan in recent years." Zou Yunhua sighed, and said a lot of heartfelt words like Su Yun reminiscing about the past. The gist of it was that he even learned it from Zhao Liying, who was younger than him. He said that this old friend was really talented, but unfortunately he was always unlucky and his personality was too foolish and filial.
"Do you want to take this opportunity to let me help him?" Su Yun asked.
"It's not just this reason. He can be the producer and director you need. It just depends on whether you can ask him to step up again." Zou Yunhua replied.
Well, just based on this evaluation, Su Yun has to go to Yinshan again.
It just so happened that Yuko Tanaka was also filming "Oshin's Story" in Ginzan during this period. Even if she couldn't hire anyone, she could still visit her friend and it wouldn't be a wasted trip.
After a lot of trouble, Su Yun arrived at the summer town of Yinshan, and suddenly met two acquaintances.
"Why are you here? Isn't it summer vacation at school? You are not practicing in the piano room?" Su Yun was very confused when she saw Wang Jiaju and Lin Jiashu looking like travelers.
"School trip!" Lin Jiashu explained: It is very popular in Japanese schools to organize students to go to various historical sites, natural forests and other places for a study trip during the holidays.
Because his good teammate Wang Jiaju was visiting Japan for the first time, Lin Jiashu wanted to play the role of a good host and took him on a school trip that he didn't really like.
In Lin Jiashu's words, such a trip was a waste of his time for practicing musical instruments. If it weren't for letting Wang Jiaju experience the Japanese way of learning, he would not have been willing to come.
Most music lovers, except for those who share the same interests, don't like to hang out together. So after arriving at Yinshan, the two of them spontaneously formed a two-person team to practice singing while exploring.
Su Yun listened carefully and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Su Yun was also one of the musicians he had admired. Although he failed to recruit her into his team, Lin Jiashu's attitude towards her was still very good.
"The pronunciation and singing style of this section can be modified a bit." Lin Jiashu practiced an old song called "Tell Laura I love her", which tells the love story of a teenage couple: In order to buy a wedding ring for his girlfriend Laura, the male protagonist Tommy participated in an extremely dangerous illegal car race, and his car overturned in flames. The last words he uttered before the end were the song title "Tell Laura I love her", which was a very famous teenage tragedy song in the 1950s and 1960s.
This old song has been quoted countless times in old Hong Kong movies and TV dramas, and Su Yun is very familiar with it.
After hearing Lin Jiashu say that this song was the song they were selecting for their next competition, Su Yun thought about it, and when she found it difficult to explain how to modify it, she simply cleared her throat and sang it to him directly: It was not that his singing skills were bad, but that he was still too young and could not fully feel the subtle beauty of the tragedy of the young couple.
Although Su Yun herself appears to be about the same age as Lin Jiashu, at heart she is an old girl who has witnessed countless tragic love stories. Coupled with her memories of the tragic plots of old movies, it is not difficult for her to sing out the flavor of the song.
Su Yun stood in the alley singing melodiously, but the people on the next floor opened their windows in shock.
When he was still in Hong Kong, Fang Mona, a former singer, would often sing for his uncle in the afternoons to entertain him. He had heard this old song several times...
Fang Mona was the famous "Yellow Oriole" in Southeast Asia back then. Her singing style and voice were very unique, and she was especially good at singing English love songs. He should not have heard it wrong!
So...was it Uncle Six who came to see him?