After get off work on Wednesday evening, Yu Dong first biked to "Zhongshan", and then he and Su Tong biked to Jinling Hotel together.
When they arrived at the hotel, the two of them sat in the private room for a while, then the door of the private room was pushed open.
To Yu Dong's surprise, Zhang Yimou was not the only one who came in, but there was also a slovenly man beside him.
The man is taller and stronger than Zhang Yimou. He is wearing a military green jacket with the zipper unzipped and naturally open. Inside is a gray shirt with two buttons undone, which makes him look very casual.
There are beards on his lips and chin, but it can be seen that he doesn't take care of them very much and lets them grow wildly.
Compared with the thick beard, the man's hair volume is much inferior. The temples and the back of the head are not bad, and the top of the head is almost gone.
The most distinctive feature is his aquiline nose, the tip of which is sharply curved, making him look like a white-browed eagle king.
Su Tong should know him, so he went up to say hello first, "Director Zhang, Teacher Liu, you are here."
Yu Dong shook hands with Zhang Yimou first, and then listened to Zhang Yimou's introduction: "Old Liu, this is Teacher Yu Dongyu. What do you think? He is younger than you think."
Old Liu smiled and said, "I had expected it when I was young, but I didn't expect it to be so beautiful."
"What is this word?" Zhang Yimou smiled and introduced to Yu Dong: "Teacher Yu, this is my old friend Liu Heng, the screenwriter of "Ju Dou" and the author of the original novel "Fuxi Fuxi"
."
Liu Heng?
Yu Dong was stunned for a moment. In his impression, Liu Heng should be bald, slightly fat, and without a beard. The only similarity with the man in front of him was his nose.
I didn’t expect Liu Heng to be so casual when he was young.
In fact, Liu Heng is not too young now, he should be almost forty years old.
"Hello, Teacher Liu, I've admired you for a long time." Yu Dong smiled and shook hands with Liu Heng, and then greeted: "Everyone, please sit down."
After the four of them were seated, Yu Dong smiled and said, "When did Director Zhang and Teacher Liu arrive in Jinling?"
"I arrived in the afternoon. After arriving, Lao Liu and I stayed in the room and didn't come out. We live here and it's very convenient to come over for dinner." Zhang Yimou replied with a smile.
Then Zhang Yimou pointed at Liu Heng and said: "Teacher Yu, Teacher Su, you two guess why I brought Old Liu here this time?"
Yu Dong and Su Tong looked at each other and saw the answer in each other's eyes.
The two of them guessed right. Zhang Yimou came here this time for the film and television adaptation rights of the novel.
However, they did not expect that Zhang Yimou would get into the topic as soon as his butt touched the bench.
"Let me guess, you were probably afraid that the three of us wouldn't be able to play egg-cracking when you came here, so you invited Teacher Liu here to act as a sidekick." Su Tong said jokingly.
Speaking of egg-beating, Zhang Yimou also laughed, "Although egg-beating is fun, I have serious business here. Mr. Su also knows about Lao Liu's current situation. He is interested in screenwriting and is focusing on this.
By the way, in addition to the previous "Ju Dou", he also served as the screenwriter for "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" which I just finished filming."
Yu Dong nodded, Liu Heng indeed began his screenwriting career with "Ju Dou", and from then on, he gradually became a leading figure in the domestic screenwriting industry.
But now Liu Heng's main identity is actually still a writer.
In 1977, he published his first short story "Little Stone Mill". A few years ago, he also won the National Outstanding Short Story Award for "Dog's Food", which is considered a minor achievement in the literary world.
Zhang Yimou continued, "The reason why we came here this time is actually for Teacher Yu's "Death of a Widow"."
"Does Director Zhang mean to adapt this novel into a movie?" Su Tong asked, helping Yu Dong.
"That's right." Zhang Yimou nodded, "To tell you the truth, I became interested in this novel when I saw it. However, there was still a lot of work to be done on "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" at that time, so I wrote it
I put it aside for the time being. Now that I have my hands free, I ran over immediately."
"Does Director Zhang have any specific thoughts on this novel? In fact, "Death of a Widow" should be regarded as two novels, and one of them is written by Yu Xi, the writer in the book." Yu Dong asked.
"Well, this is what I'm thinking about. It's very special and attractive in the novel, but it's impossible to film. Not to mention whether this kind of expression method is easy to use, technically speaking, it's impossible for me to prepare two sets.
Actor team. Regarding this matter, I chatted with Old Liu for a long time on the road, and we managed to come up with something." Zhang Yimou looked at Liu Heng.
Liu Heng understood and took over the topic: "I will try my best to show the content of Yu Xi's novel through the dialogue between the characters. As long as the audience knows that Yu Xi wrote such a novel, what is the content about it?
, it only matters what kind of impact it has on the heroine. Moreover, Lao Zhang’s intention is to highlight the character of Li Xuelian as much as possible, so the plot development will also focus on describing Li Xuelian’s living environment in the village.”
After Liu Heng finished speaking, Zhang Yimou spoke again: "Teacher Yu, I really want to praise Lao Liu's screenwriting ability. Although he has not been a screenwriter for many movies, his screenwriting level is definitely among the best in China.
."
"I absolutely believe this." Yu Dong smiled and nodded.
Liu Heng glanced at Yu Dong with some surprise. He didn't expect Yu Dong's reaction to be so straightforward, and his words were very sincere, and he couldn't tell that he was complimenting or agreeing at all.
Of course Yu Dong is sincere. In fact, he understands Liu Heng's screenwriting skills better than Zhang Yimou.
"Assembly", "The Young Emperor", "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit", "Ju Dou", "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins", "Yun Shui Yao", "Once Upon a Time in China" and other film and television dramas are all produced by Liu Heng.
In later generations, in the domestic screenwriting world, Liu Heng was like a mountain that people looked up to.
"I don't have any objections to the screenwriting aspect. I'm honored to have a screenwriter like Mr. Liu as the lead writer."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhang Yimou raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Teacher Yu, are you agreeing?"
"I agreed." Yu Dong smiled and said, "I have no reason to refuse, but I am still a little worried."
"Well, tell me." Zhang Yimou looked at Yu Dong with bright eyes.
"The novel touches on a sensitive period. If it is filmed based on the novel, will it be difficult for the radio and television to get it through censorship?"
Zhang Yimou patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I know very well how to pass the trial."
Hearing Zhang Yimou's words, Yu Dong's ears buzzed: Why are these words so familiar?
Then he remembered that Zhang Yimou later told Yu Hua when he was filming "Alive".
But in the end, "Alive" did not pass the review.
With this "learned lesson", Yu Dong kept beating his heart, saying that Zhang Yimou should not let Zhang Yimou get away with it this time.
If it goes wrong this time, not only will it be a problem that "Death of a Widow" cannot be solved, but the subsequent "Alive" will probably be even more difficult.
"I think Director Zhang, you should be more prepared." Yu Dong reminded.
Zhang Yimou nodded and said: "Okay, I will pay attention."
Yu Dong observed that although Zhang Yimou said so, judging from his expression, he did not take the trial matter seriously.
Also, the starting point of Zhang Yimou's career as a director is too high. So far, it has been basically smooth sailing, and he can succeed in whatever he shoots. Today, he has not experienced any major setbacks. He is at his most high-spirited, and of course he has full confidence in himself.
At this time, Su Tong smiled and asked: "How did Director Zhang arrange the actors this time?"
"I can't talk about the arrangement yet, I just have some ideas." Zhang Yimou said with a smile: "There are not many main characters in it. I plan to let Gong Li play the role of Li Xuelian, and her acting style is also suitable. Another important role is Yu Xi, Lao Liu and
What I recommend is Li Xuejian.”
Liu Heng on the side nodded and said: "I am the screenwriter of Li Shaohong's new movie "Forty Not Confused", so I had a lot of contact with the starring Li Xuejian some time ago. He played an intellectual in "Forty Not Confused", and the character presentation
There won’t be any problems.”
"But the role of Yu Xi is very controversial. Would it be inappropriate for Li Xuejian to play it?" Yu Dong worried.
Li Xuejian has become popular in the past two years, starring in "Jiao Yulu" and "Desire" consecutively.
His current image is extremely positive. If he is suddenly asked to take on a role like Yu Xi, he may not be willing. Even if he is willing, the audience may not be able to accept it.
Today's TV audiences take themselves too seriously and easily tie actors to their characters. Many people really believe that those who play good people are good people and those who play bad people are bad people.
If a person plays a negative role very vividly, the audience's first reaction is not how good the actor's acting skills are, but that this actor is such a person.
Feng Yuanyi, who later acted in "Don't Talk to Strangers", is an example.
With the development of the film and television industry, although this situation will also occur in later generations, it is not as exaggerated as it is now.
Zhang Yimou thought for a while and said: "The role of Yu Xi is very complicated. Although he is very controversial, he is not completely a villain. He is a scholar with some shortcomings. In fact, he still has a bottom line and persistence in his heart. It is just because of a momentary thought.
, promoted Li Xuelian’s tragedy.”
Liu Heng said, "That's why I think it should be played by Li Xuejian. Although the role of Yu Xi is not as big as Li Xuelian's, he is very complex and important. There are not many actors who can interpret him well.
Li Xuejian is very suitable. And based on my understanding of him, he should not refuse, at least not because of the controversial image of the character Yu Xi."
Yu Dong nodded, "You two know better about actors."
Of course Yu Dong was happy to have Li Xuejian play the role of Yu Xi. Li Xuejian is an actor that Yu Dong likes very much. His roles as Jiao Yulu and Qin Shihuang both left a very deep impression on Yu Dong.
And Yu Dong is not worried at all about whether Li Xuejian can play this role well. Li Xuejian has very good acting skills and a wide range of roles. It can be said that he can play whatever he wants.
When the matter came to this point, the atmosphere in the box became more relaxed. As for the copyright royalties, Yu Dong didn't ask, and Zhang Yimou didn't mention it either.
The main reason is that Su Tong, Liu Heng and the others are here, so it is not convenient to discuss the specific cost.
At this point, the purpose of Zhang Yimou's trip has been basically achieved, and his hands are itching again, "Anyway, the food hasn't been served yet, let's play cards for a while. I took them to play egg-breaking on the set, and Lao Liu can do it, so there's no need to bother teaching him the rules.
."
The proposal was unanimously approved and the card table was quickly set up.
While playing cards, a few people stopped talking about business and started chatting about some gossip.
Liu Heng has been quite busy during this period. The shooting times of the two films "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit" and "Forty Do Not Confused" overlap, so he needs to take care of both ends, which is not easy.
But he himself said that he was very happy with it. Since he started working as a screenwriter, he has been full of energy.
Liu Heng said with a smile, "I feel like I can't stop the car now."
Su Tong sorted out the cards and looked up at Liu Heng, "How do you say this?"
"People, once they taste the sweetness, they will continue. In fact, I have always been very yearning to recreate a certain scene. When I see a certain scene in the movie, I will be moved instantly. So I hope that one day I will
Creation can also achieve this effect, which was also my initial expectation for the film, to be able to communicate directly with the audience."
After hearing Liu Heng's words, Yu Dong and Su Tong nodded at the same time.
In fact, literary creation and script creation have both similarities and differences.
In script creation, the shaping of images is basically necessary. But for literary creation, this is not the case. The sense of image can sometimes be abandoned.
Yu Dong also found out from Liu Heng's words why he could step by step become the top screenwriter in the country.
For a person's success, internal motivation is very important, and Liu Heng's internal motivation is what he calls shaping the picture and communicating directly with the audience.
Of course, external motivation is also very important, which is what he calls "sweetness". If "Black Water" had not been changed into "Ben Ming Nian" at the beginning and "Fuxi Fuxi" was changed into "Ju Dou" immediately afterwards,
I'm afraid he wouldn't rush into script writing without hesitation.
…
After dinner, Zhang Yimou found an opportunity to tell Yu Dong that they would meet again tomorrow, and Yu Dong agreed immediately.
At noon the next day, Yu Dong met with Zhang Yimou again and discussed the licensing of "Death of a Widow" in detail.
Yu Dong issued a letter of authorization to Zhang Yimou, and then received 4,500 yuan from Zhang Yimou, and the cooperation between the two was concluded.
The next thing will be left to Zhang Yimou. He will immediately start the film plan, prepare the shooting team, and recruit actors.
At the same time, Liu Heng will also work overtime to complete the script.
Zhang Yimou himself predicts that the movie will start shooting in September. If everything goes well, the movie will be released next summer.
Seeing Zhang Yimou's enthusiasm, Yu Dong couldn't help but sigh. He has been so passionate about creation in the past few years. He makes movies one after another without taking a break. He is a real model worker.
Chapter completed!