Chapter 53 Go to Taipei
On May 17, after Shen Chong returned to Hong Kong, he stayed for only one day and boarded another plane and headed for Taipei.
This time my trip to Taipei was forced to make a temporary arrangement.
In the era of the rise of the Internet and the explosion of information, celebrity idols are like neon lights on the top of skyscrapers. Although they are tall, they are not out of reach. They seem to be colorful, but not many people really like them.
In an era of underdeveloped information, celebrity idols seem to be really stars in the sky, shining brightly and fascinatingly.
So the Shen Chong from the era of the Big Bang of Information underestimated Kurosawa's influence. Overnight, the Hong Kong film industry seemed to know that he had stuffed Ann Hui and Yan Hao into the Kurosawa Akira crew.
Ann Hui is easy to say. "Crazy Raid" scares the whole city, and is well received and popular. She is currently the hottest director in Hong Kong. She has signed a contract with a company owned by Shen Chong. She is a direct descendant and sent to Kurosawa Akira to study and study, which is reasonable.
But why can Yan Hao go there too? He just chatted with Shen Chong a few more times. In fact, it is just a friend.
In the film industry of the younger generation in Hong Kong, who doesn’t know that Chen Chong and Shen Cai like to make friends the most?
We are all friends. If Yan Hao can go, I can’t go?
So the next morning, Shen Chong had just arrived at the office and received seven or eight calls, all of whom were asking about how to join Akira Kurosawa's crew.
Chen Chong was very troubled by this.
He initially wanted to shoot the process directed by Akira Kurosawa in the way of filming a documentary, and then provide it as teaching materials for Hong Kong filmmakers to learn. Unfortunately, Akira Kurosawa firmly opposed it, and the matter was fruitless.
Then he saved the country in a straight line and sent Anhua to steal the teacher. She had a task and recorded what she saw and thought every day, and later published it in "The First Movie Review" or specially compiled and published it.
It was not a big problem to pass Yan Hao. He and Ann Hui had both graduated from the London Film Academy and worked with TVB for a long time. They had a good relationship. Even if they didn’t understand Japanese, there were no obstacles to translation with Ann Hui.
But at this time, if we promise to send someone to Japan and the crowded people came from behind, how can we refuse?
It is definitely unrealistic to send it all over. "Shadow Warrior" was jointly invested by Toho Co., Ltd., 20th Century Fox and Shen Chong. It is okay to send a few financial personnel to it, but if a group of observers on the set is sent, each observer will also be equipped with a translator. At that time, it will be like a vegetable market. If other investors have any opinions, Kurosawa will definitely get angry.
If you reject the later generations, it will hurt others...
So after receiving the call, Chen Chong immediately asked his secretary Qiu Siyu to book the latest flight to Taipei without even carrying his luggage, so he just walked away and fled Hong Kong.
Although it is helpless, going to Taipei is not a waste of time.
The crew of "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch" is about to enter the mainland. Chen Chong did not remember the exact time when Deng Gong visited Huangshan, so he could only wait early with the crew. In 1979, the construction of communication infrastructure in the mainland was blank. After entering deep mountains and forests like Huangshan, he might not be able to communicate smoothly with the outside world for more than a month.
Therefore, it is necessary to inspect its industries before returning to the mainland.
Rolling Stone Records was officially established shortly after Shen Chong went to Los Angeles. He, the major shareholder behind the scenes, should show his face in terms of emotion and reason.
In addition, with Shu Ming, editor-in-chief of "First Movie Review", several famous Taiwanese filmmakers are very interested in submitting articles to magazines. When going to Taipei, you can gather with them to learn about the current situation of Taiwanese films.
In the world film map, if Hong Kong movies are Oriental Hollywood, Taiwan is Oriental France. Hong Kong movies are known for their pure commercialization, while Taiwanese movies pursue artistic quality, and there is a strong complementarity between the two places.
However, due to the existence of "Taiwan Province Martial Law", various political censorship is very strict, which makes Taiwanese movies lifeless, either a pure love movie like Qiong Yao or a war movie with political leadership, with no novelty.
Taiwan's "martial law" has prevented the film industry to an incredible level. Shu Ming mentioned two sad jokes about the Taiwanese film industry while chatting.
First, in the promotion of movie posters, no five-pointed stars or other things will appear, otherwise they will be banned.
Second, cinema practitioners, such as female ticket sellers, have to go to the hospital for "special physical examinations" regularly, equating cinemas with Huajie Liuxiang. It has been 1979, and there are such humiliating regulations... (Note 1)
In this suffocating state, it is unrealistic to force Taiwanese films to innovate and develop.
When the young master Chong'er was persecuted by his stepmother, his adviser offered advice, "If you stay, you die, and if you leave, you will be alive." In Taiwan's current political environment, there is no future to be trapped in the isolated island for at least seven or eight years. Therefore, Chen Chong planned to bring talented filmmakers to Hong Kong, with a free creative environment in Hong Kong, and provide sufficient mobile phone training. I believe they will grow up quickly. When they succeed, the "martial law" should be lifted. At this time, it will be much more convenient to return to Taiwan and show their strengths.
Hong Kong has a small territory, insufficient market, lack of space to display and ability to resist risks. In Shen Chong's film territory, Taiwan has never been Taiwan, but a satellite city for Hong Kong movies. When the film industries of Hong Kong and Taiwan were integrated, a large amount of "Taiwanese funds" poured in in the 1990s, causing the collapse of the Hong Kong film market, there was no possibility of it happening.
"The world is really crazy." The middle-aged man sitting next to him interrupted Chen Chong's thoughts. He held a magazine, pointed to the cover, and called out: "Look, Britain actually chose a woman as prime minister."
Chen Chong looked at it and found that it was Mrs. Thatcher's victory in the election, so he smiled and said, "Men have ruled the world for thousands of years, and now it's the woman's turn."
"I bet that Britain will soon be in chaos." The man looked confident and said, "It is not possible for women to be officials, and Empress Dowager Cixi is the lesson of the past."
Chen Chong smiled. After Mrs. Thatcher's death, there were not necessarily less controversy in the UK than Empress Dowager Cixi, but she successfully transformed the British industry, while Empress Dowager Cixi successfully finished a country.
"Can you show me the magazine?"
"It just so happens that we can read it in a different way." The man handed over the magazine and took away Shen Chong's only luggage - a book "First Movie Review".
Chen Chong looked over for a while and felt that the views and content of the magazine were quite impressive. He felt a little moved, so he closed the magazine and looked at the name.
"Asiaweek", ****?
I don't know which media group it is...
After failing to publish financial articles repeatedly, Chen Chong had the intention to acquire a financial magazine. He initially liked the Far East Economic Review, a magazine with a history of more than 30 years, and is recognized as one of the most influential and authoritative international news and economic weekly in Asia. Unfortunately, after contacting HSBC's Feliton, he learned that a few years ago, the Far East Economic Review was acquired by the Dow Jones Media Group in the United States. They did not have the intention to sell it. What Chen Chong wanted was a magazine with absolute control, which was finally left unresolved.
This "Asiaweek" is a news and current affairs magazine, which can only be considered a stalemate with politics and economy, but it is done well. If you have the chance, you can get it.
"Oh, Zou Wenhuai is really good at blowing." The man interrupted Chen Chong's thoughts again. While looking at Zou Wenhuai's interview, he said: "I said I would invest $60 million to promote Jackie Chan as the next Bruce Lee and enter the American market. Bruce Lee is real kung fu, Jackie Chan is juggling, it's weird that Americans see it."
"It's always a good thing to have ambitions." Chen Chong said: "It's better to make money from Americans than to stay in Hong Kong to make money."
"What's the use of ambition?" The man flipped through the magazine and said disdainfully: "There is no easy thing for Americans to make money. US$60 million. If you lose, Jiahe will go bankrupt and close. In fact, with Jiahe's brand, it's better to concentrate on making money in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. It's safe and sound. Why go to the United States where you are unfamiliar with your own place to take risks."
Chen Chong shook his head when he heard this.
Among the several famous companies in the history of Hong Kong film, Shaw Brothers and Jiahe are the ones that Chen Chong attaches most importance to. For nothing else, these two companies have international vision and lofty ambitions. While competing for the traditional local and Southeast Asian film markets, they also actively go out and try their best to build Hong Kong films into the international market.
Shaw Brothers began to participate in international production as early as the 1950s. He first co-produced "Yang Guifei" with Kenji Mizuguchi, and later collaborated with British film companies to shoot movies such as "Seven Golden Corpse" and "Grand Claus" and "The Grand Claus" last year. Last year, he spent more than 16 million US dollars to capture Sean Connery and co-produced "The Catastrophe" with Hollywood. It seems that the movie will be released in a few months. (Note 1)
After Bruce Lee, Jiahe actively planned to package Jackie Chan into a new generation of action superstars, thus entering the international film market. In an exclusive interview with the second episode of "First Movie Review", Zou Wenhuai revealed that he would soon cooperate with Fox and invest 60 million US dollars to film "Killer Trench" and "Sky Speed", with ambitions that are not inferior to Shaw Brothers. (Note 2)
Although these actions are all for profit and purely for making money, this enterprising international action objectively promoted the spread of Hong Kong movies in the world, expanded their influence, and inadvertently resisted the invasion of Hollywood.
Apart from these two companies, Hong Kong has no more enterprising and international vision.
In the 1960s, Shaw Brothers dominated the country, in the 1970s, Shaw Brothers Jiahe competed for beauty, and in the 1980s, New Art City emerged in a new era. However, New Art City never had the idea of taking the initiative to attack the international market. On the outside, it would only compete for food in the circles established by its predecessors such as the local port and Southeast Asia. On the inside, there was no artistic pursuit and no rational development plan. With a brute force, it impacted the Hong Kong film industry in a mess, but did not establish a new order. Then, after a wave of internal strife, it disappeared, left a mess, leaving behind a mess.
Xinyi City is like Huang Chao and Li Zicheng. It has enough destruction and insufficient construction. How good would it be if they were Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang?
So some film critics say that the damage to the Hong Kong film industry by New Art City is far greater than its contribution. Although it is extreme, it is not unreasonable.
———————————————
Note 1: See "History of Contemporary Film in Taiwan".
Note 2: See Shaw Brothers’ Events.
Chapter completed!