Chapter 260 271 [I love you and you love her, a bloody love triangle]

An hour and a half later, the movie ended.

The reporters at the scene were all saying compliments, but it was obvious that they were not very optimistic about the film, simply because of Long Wu’s background and influence.

Zhang Min, one of the female lead, looked the most unhappy at the moment. When she took the role in the movie, although she already knew that she was only the third female lead and her role could not compare to Gong Li and Qingxia, at least she had a role.

But now, after Qian Yongqiang’s editing, the third female role? A female supporting role, right?

I estimate that a ten-minute plot from beginning to end would be good.

The one who suffered the most had to be Lin Wenlong, who played the role of Xuzhu. He was originally supposed to play the leading male role, with a role second only to the three female leads, but his scene was cut and he only appeared for less than three or four minutes before he was taken off the screen at lightning speed.

The reporters were not optimistic, Long Wu was not satisfied, Zhang Min was unhappy, but Qian Yongqiang was the only one who was very excited. As soon as the movie was over, after boasting to the reporters for a few words, he immediately ran to Li Yishu’s side, grinning happily and said, “Director Li, do you think the changes are what you thought?”

He spoke so loudly that everyone around him immediately looked over.

Li Yishu’s mouth twitched and she coughed twice: “Ahem, Director Qian’s filming is still very good. The style of this movie is very beautiful, and the composition is also very good…”

“Thank you Director Li for the compliment. I think the filming is still not good enough, but I just ran out of time.”

Qian Yongqiang felt regretful. When the film started post-production, he found that he had shot too few shots and he should not have used the skin of Jin Yong’s martial arts novels in the first place.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Li Yishu encouraged a few words. The overall feel of the movie is very good. Except for some irrelevant plots, the story is quite complete.

Xiaoyaozi has four disciples, one boy and three girls. The boy is Wuyazi, who likes his younger sister Li Canghai. His older sister Li Qiushui likes Wuyazi and wants to compete with her for him. Wu Xingyun pretends to like Wuyazi and wants to compete with Li Qiushui, but in fact, he secretly likes Li Canghai. Li Canghai, under the pressure of worldly people’s eyes, gives up Wu Xingyun and chooses to be with Wuyazi…

Li Qiushui and Wu Xingyun both knew each other and laughed at each other because they fell in love with people who did not love them. Their relationship deteriorated and they competed for the position of Tianshan Tonglao.

The story is still very complete, it’s a bloody love triangle, and what’s more important is that this movie is a female-led movie. Wuyazi only appears from behind throughout the whole movie, Xuzhu is just a supporting role, and Ding Chunqiu is the villain.

There aren’t any good-looking martial arts moves, just crackling flying bombings throughout.

So after all this, except for Li Yishu, Gong Li, Qingxia and Qian Yongqiang, all others saw was a chaotic relationship between the characters, poor martial arts action scenes, and too many unnecessary characters…

Long Tai came over at this time and asked: “Director Li likes this movie?”

Li Yishu nodded: “It’s OK, Director Qian’s filming is still very good, and he has created a new film style, but… a film of this theme may not perform well at the box office in Hong Kong and Taiwan.”

To be fair, Qian Yongqiang’s film is pretty good. It can only be said that the plot is not handled well, and it is a love story under the guise of Jin Yong, which makes people feel that it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Upon hearing this, Qian Yongqiang’s face changed slightly. He had asked Long Wu for money twice to invest in the movie. If the box office was not high, how could he accept it?
Will he be buried by Long Wu?!

“Yes, I was really into this movie. It was so well made. Even as a woman, I almost cried while watching it. Wu Xingyun and Li Canghai were in love but couldn’t be together, which led to many stories. What a sad and beautiful love story.”

Long Tai’s eyes were red, and it was unclear whether she was really moved or because of her excellent acting skills. She then smiled faintly: “Director Li, the box office is not important. What is important is that we at Yongsheng have always attached great importance to the cultivation of young directors. It doesn’t matter if we lose some money. Trying more films with different themes is the foundation for the continued prosperity of our Hong Kong film industry!”

Li Yishu looked at Long Tai with respect. He finally understood why a woman like her could be independent in a company like Yongsheng with complicated internal relationships, and later became an iconic strong woman in the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

Just these words really make people feel comfortable after listening to them.

Qian Yongqiang must have reported the changes to the script and editing to Long Wu and the others in advance. Now that the movie has turned out like this, most people with little vision would have been furious, but Long Tai took this opportunity to try to get closer to Li Yishu.

After all, Qian Yongqiang changed the script in this way because of what Li Yishu said!

Now that Li Yishu has said that she likes this movie and hinted that the box office in Hong Kong and Taiwan will not be very high, it is even less likely that Long Tai will bring up the money issue. Instead, he will go straight to the bigger picture, involving the diversity of Hong Kong film themes, which can bring more prosperous entertainment.

“I’ve long heard that Long Tai is a heroine. Now I see that her reputation is well-deserved.”

Li Yishu praised and said with a smile: “The prosperity of Hong Kong’s film industry is indeed related to the diversification of films. If Yongsheng can keep going, I believe it will definitely become one of the best film and television companies in Hong Kong.”

“Haha, whether it can become one of the best film and television companies depends on whether Director Li is willing to cooperate with us Yongsheng.”

Long Tai smiled and said, “Nowadays, everyone in Hong Kong knows that Director Li is the number one director in China. Time magazine even rated you as the Godfather of Asian Cinema. If you can cooperate with Yongsheng, it will definitely make Yongsheng one of the best film companies in Hong Kong.”

“Haha, there’s a chance, Long Tai.” Li Yishu smiled politely. He would never cooperate with Yongsheng. It would be bad if it was exposed in the future. Seeing that Li Yishu was not taking the bait, Long Tai did not continue to talk about cooperation, but changed the subject: “Director Li, your “Three Kingdoms Red Cliff” crew said before that they welcome actors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong. I wonder if our actors from Yongsheng will have the opportunity to star in your Chinese masterpiece?”

Li Yishu nodded: “Of course!”

Mrs. Long’s eyes lit up: “That’s great, Director Li, do you think Zhang Min, Qiu Shuzhen, Guan Zhilin, etc. have any chance to get suitable roles?”

“I’m not sure about this.”

Li Yishu pretended to be hesitant and shook her head, saying, “This movie has an investment of 5 million yuan, and the control of actors is still very strict. Now the crew is holding an open audition in Yanjing. If Long Tai has a suitable candidate, he can arrange for an audition in Yanjing. Long Tai can rest assured that it will be absolutely fair and just!”

“Of course I believe that Director Li’s crew is fair and just, but I have also arranged for some people to go to the Yanjing crew, where the Mandarin requirements are very high, and most of the Hong Kong actors don’t speak standard Mandarin…”

Mrs. Long is having a headache. She and her husband, Long Wu, have been thinking about how to enter the domestic market, because they both know that as the day of Hong Kong’s return is getting closer, if they don’t actively integrate into the mainland market early, they will be abandoned or even liquidated sooner or later.

The production companies of “Red Cliff” that Li Yishu is going to direct this time are all well-known, including the Beijing Film Studio and the August First Film Studio in Yanjing, which are both state-owned enterprises, as well as Japan’s Toho Corporation, including Li Yishu’s personal Art and Entertainment Group.

Although it is unlikely to participate in the investment, sending actors in will definitely be of great benefit to Yongsheng Film Company.

Because at the original press conference, Han Sanping mentioned that actors from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong would be used, which obviously meant that he wanted to actively win over actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Do you really think there are not enough mainland actors?
Li Yishu shook her head and said, “There’s nothing we can do about that. The movie requires the original soundtrack to be recorded and filmed, but I believe there should be quite a few actors in Hong Kong who are good at speaking Mandarin. I remember Zhang Min’s Mandarin is pretty good.”

“That’s true.” Long Tai knew that he couldn’t get Li Yishu into the crew, so he sighed inwardly and turned around with a smile and said, “Speaking of which, thank you Director Li for coming to the movie premiere this time.”

“Haha, Long, you’re too polite. I’ve also visited the set of this movie in person. Of course I’ll come and see it when it comes out.”

Li Yishu’s words were very straightforward. I came here just for Gong Li and Qingxia’s sake.

Long Tai also understood this clearly, so he just smiled and said nothing more.

At this time, Long Wu came over at the right time. Li Yishu chatted with him for a few words in a perfunctory manner, and then left the cinema with Gong Li and Qingxia.

On the way back to the car.

“The film was pretty good.”

Qingxia sighed, “But I’m afraid Hong Kong won’t like this style of movie.”

“If I edit it a little more, I might be able to sell some copyrights in Europe.”

Gong Li is not very familiar with the Hong Kong and Taiwan film market, but she is very familiar with the European film market. Her participation in film festivals for so many years is not in vain.

If this kind of homosexual-themed movie goes to a European film festival and finds a distributor, it should be able to sell. I’m not sure how much it will be sold for, but at least recovering the cost should not be a problem.

Li Yishu suddenly said, “Sister Qingxia, wait for the box office to come out in a few days. If the box office is not good, please help me contact Long Tai and ask her if she can sell this movie to me.”

“sell to you?”

Based on what Gong Li said, Qingxia guessed, “You want to take it to Europe?”

“Yeah.” Li Yishu said as he drove, “It’s not good to say that I made Director Qian change the script. Now that the box office is in trouble, you’re just cheating, right? Besides, this movie is the first time you two have worked together, and it’s quite good. If you buy the copyright and sell it during the Cannes Film Festival, it shouldn’t be a loss.”

If I remember correctly, this year Lee Yi-su should have won Ge You the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for “To Live”, but Gong Li won nothing. However, the film “To Live” increased Gong Li’s influence in Cannes.

By then, Li Yishu will launch this “The Fairy of Tianshan Mountains”, in which Gong Li will play a lesbian role in ancient society. I believe that film producers will be very interested.

Of course, there is another reason he didn’t mention, which is that as the godfather of Asian films, if the advice he gave to other directors failed to have a positive effect, it would damage his image as Lee Yi-seo.

Therefore, he bought all the copyrights of “The Fairy of Tianshan” this time and took it to Europe to sell it at the Cannes Film Festival. I believe that with the reputation of Li Yishu and Gong Li, it can be sold for several million dollars or even more.

“Okay, I’ll contact Director Qian in a few days after the box office results are out.” Qingxia nodded and agreed.

(End of this chapter)