Literary Master 1978

Pan Yaoming was the executive editor of the Hong Kong pure literature magazine "Ocean Literature and Art" in the 1970s. After "Ocean Literature and Art" ceased publication in 1980, he went to work at Hong Kong Joint Publishing Company.

He went to the United States for further studies two years ago, and was appointed as the deputy editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Joint Publishing Company after returning.

He has always been popular in the Hong Kong literary world, and because he is the deputy editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Joint Publishing Company, he often initiates some activities to communicate with the literary groups in the two places.

This time, the mainland writers' delegation visited the United States at the invitation of Mr. Zhou Wenzhong, director of the US-China Art Exchange Center of Columbia University, and there are more than ten writers in the delegation.

This time, Hong Kong Joint Publishing Company hosted a banquet for the writers who stopped in Hong Kong on their way back from the United States. Many of them were acquaintances of Lin Chaoyang.

For example, Tan Mu, the head of the delegation, and the writers who traveled with the delegation included Feng Jicai, Jiang Zilong, Tie Ning and others.

"Mr. Qin said that he had planned to invite you this time, but when the people from the Literary Association went to your house, they found out that you were in Hong Kong.

It just so happened that Sanlian invited us this time, and everyone said it was a good opportunity to meet you."

As soon as they met, everyone felt the joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land, and Lin Chaoyang finally knew why Pan Yaoming invited him.

Everyone had just returned from the United States, and they inevitably talked about their experiences during the meal.

During their visit to the United States, the writers' delegation visited Columbia University, Harvard University, and Stanford University, and also went to the American Club of the International PEN Center to discuss with American writers and scholars.

Because of the honeymoon period between the two countries, the United States was quite courteous to the writers' delegation.

"Chaoyang, why did you come to Hong Kong?" Feng Jicai asked Lin Chaoyang.

"It's nothing. It just so happened that a film company in Hong Kong took a fancy to my novel and wanted to adapt it into a movie."

There were acquaintances and strangers present, so Lin Chaoyang did not mention Tao Yushu's pregnancy, but only said that he had a cooperation with a film and television company in Hong Kong.

Everyone was filled with curiosity when they heard this. There were many writers whose works were adapted into films and TV series, but Lin Chaoyang was the first one whose works were adapted into Hong Kong.

Feng Jicai asked again: "Which novel of yours did you like?"

"A new novel, not yet published."

Everyone was stunned. An unpublished novel was going to be adapted? Or was it a Hong Kong film and television company that liked it?

They felt it was a bit magical, and couldn't help asking a few more questions. As a result, everyone found that something seemed wrong. Even Pan Yaoming, the landlord of Hong Kong, was a little surprised.

It turned out that Lin Chaoyang was cooperating with Golden Harvest Films this time. The director was Ann Hui, who had become famous in the past two years, and the leading actor was Xu Guanwen, who was popular in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia...

Everyone was even more curious. They couldn't understand how Lin Chaoyang, a mainland writer, could have an intersection with the overlord of the Hong Kong film industry.

And the lineup of the novel-adapted film was too luxurious.

They surrounded Lin Chaoyang and asked questions. Lin Chaoyang could only pick up some unimportant answers, which made everyone feel unsatisfied and unsatisfied.

After dealing with it for a while, Lin Chaoyang took the initiative to shift the topic to Jin Ying.

At the beginning of the year, the movie "The Girl in Red" adapted from her novel became popular for a while. Now her works have also become the focus of film studios. It is said that Yanying Studio plans to adapt her famous work "Oh, Xiangxue".

As expected, everyone's attention was diverted. Then someone mentioned the news of the Sino-Japanese Go Challenge, and everyone immediately started chatting lively again.

Before the Chinese New Year, Jiang Zhujiu completed a series of three on behalf of the Chinese team and killed the Japanese team without leaving a single piece of armor. After the Chinese New Year, he also maintained a hot hand.

First, he won Kataoka Satoshi in the middle game, and then won Ishida Akira in the middle game. He actually swept the five Japanese generals by himself. This was something that the people of China and Japan could not have imagined before the start of the game, and it was even more unexpected by the Go circles and players of the two countries.

With such a strong momentum, some Go fans have already begun to imagine the scene of the Chinese team sweeping out the Japanese team.

Unfortunately, they were not happy for long.

Jiang Zhujiu won five consecutive games and forced out Kobayashi Koichi, one of the strongest fighters of the Japanese team, and then lost. Then Kobayashi Koichi defeated the third Chinese player Shao Zhenzhong with absolute strength.

Now the score between the two sides has reached 5:3. China still has the leading advantage, but Kobayashi Koichi is in the front. Domestic Go fans have gradually woken up from their original fanatical excitement.

Even Jiang Zhujiu can win five consecutive games. With Kobayashi Koichi's strength, he may be able to slaughter the remaining players of the Chinese team in one fell swoop.

The current situation is more than the original one-sided situation. People pay more attention to this challenge match. Even Pan Yaoming, who is in Hong Kong, has heard about this Go game.

The day after this gathering, the writers' delegation returned to the mainland.

A few days later, it was already July. Ann Hui finished the storyboard and started to set up the crew.

She is now a well-known director in the Hong Kong film industry. With the support of Golden Harvest, it was easy for her to get the team together.

With Golden Harvest as the backer and a creative lineup like Ann Hui and Xu Guanwen, "The Truman Show" soon attracted the attention of the Hong Kong media after its establishment, and attracted reports from many entertainment weeklies.

The film is scheduled to start shooting next month, and casting has also been put on the agenda.

There is no need to choose the male lead, as this film is tailor-made for Xu Guanwen, but the remaining roles must be carefully selected.

"The Truman Show" is Xu Guanwen's transformational work, and it also has the ambition to win awards. Although other people's roles are small, they cannot be neglected.

Li Hanxiang specially recommended Bao Fanglai to Xu Anhua to play the role of director in the movie.

When it comes to Bao Fang in later generations, no one knows him for a long time, but in Hong Kong in the 1950s, he was a smash hit movie star.

You should be impressed by him if you have watched the 1997 version of "Dragon", in which Bao Fang played the role of the sweeping monk.

In the later stages of his acting career, Bao Fang, who had passed his prime stage, had few filming roles, so he simply joined TVB, where he was willing to be a green leaf and played a series of supporting roles.

In addition to the sweeping monk in the 1997 version of "The Legend of the Dragon", he also played many roles such as Zhang Sanfeng in the 1986 version of "The Legend of Heaven and Sword of the Dragon" and Feng Qingyang in the 1996 version of "The Swordsman".

It is worth mentioning that his two children are also quite famous in the Hong Kong film industry.

His son is Bao Dexi, who won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and his second daughter is the well-known actor Bao Qijing.

When Bao Fang came to Jiahe that day, he caught up with Lin Chaoyang and his wife.

Although he is over sixty years old, Bao Fang is well-maintained and looks like he is in his early fifties. With his deep features and three-dimensional face, he looks somewhat similar to Ed Harris, who played the director in the original movie.

The director is the biggest villain in "The Truman Show". He has a gloomy temperament, is sophisticated, and is dictatorial, which makes people shudder.

Bao Fang's image just matched, and after auditioning for the role, Xu Anhua was very satisfied with Bao Fang's acting skills and image, and asked Xu Guanwen and Lin Chaoyang for their opinions, and they readily agreed.

Xu Anhua asked about Bao Fang's contract again. He is a contracted actor with TVB. Without the permission of TVB, he would not be able to act, let alone the drama of Shaw Brothers' competitor Golden Harvest.

"Hanxiang's side has already said hello to me, and TVB's side is fine." Bao Fang explained, and then revealed, "Shaw Brothers' side is about to close its business, so there will be no impact."

The news that Shaw Brothers will close its business has been a hot topic in the Hong Kong film industry in the past six months, but before it was just a rumor, there was very little conclusive evidence.

Listening to Bao Fang's words, Xu Anhua and others asked him a few more questions.

It is said that Shaw Brothers will close down next month, that is, in August, and the Clear Water Bay studio of Shaw Brothers will also be used as a studio by TVB.

Xu Anhua, Xu Guanwen and others could not help but sigh. They did not expect that Shaw Brothers, which had been in the Hong Kong film industry for more than 30 years and dominated the Southeast Asian film market, would choose to close down so suddenly.

While several people were sighing, Assistant Director Huang Yonghui walked into the office, "Director Xu, Brother Mi Gao, Brother Willie brought an actor here."

There are many people named Willy in Xiangjiang, but in Jiahe, there is only one Willy brother, and that is Chen Ziqiang.

He is a Malaysian Chinese who worked as a hotel clerk when he was young. With his excellent communication skills, he came to Hong Kong and became the deputy manager of Cathay Films.

In the 1970s, he formed a sworn sworn relationship with Chen Hao, Xie Xian, Shum Dianxia, ​​Zhang Chong, Deng Guangrong, Qin Xianglin and others to form the Silver Rats band, which often performed outside.

In the mid-1970s, Chen Ziqiang joined Luo Wei's film company as general manager, and recommended Cheng Long, who was unknown at the time, to Luo Wei, and let him star in his first leading actor movie "Fist of Fury".

In 1980, Cheng Long and Luo Wei fell out. Chen Ziqiang resolutely supported Cheng Long's departure and signed a contract with Jiahe Film Company, which started Cheng Long's journey to become a kung fu star.

Since then, Cheng Long has become the backbone of Jiahe, and Chen Ziqiang has naturally become an important adviser under Jiahe Films, and the two have cooperated seamlessly.

Huang Jiahui said that Chen Ziqiang brought actors with him, and the purpose was self-evident. Although everyone has their own problems in the company, they must give them the face they deserve.

Therefore, when Chen Ziqiang and others entered the door, Xu Guanwen immediately stepped forward and held his hand enthusiastically.

"Brother Willy!"

"Brother Michael!"

After some business exchanges, Chen Ziqiang greeted several other people in the office under the introduction of Xu Guanwen, and then pushed out the actress who had been following him.

"You must be familiar with this one, Miss Hong Kong's runner-up and the most photogenic Miss last year, Miss Maggie Cheung."

Maggie Cheung greeted everyone shyly. When it was her turn to say hello to Tao Yushu, she saw Tao Yushu smiling and looking at her, and she also smiled at Tao Yushu, revealing two cute little tiger teeth.

The two had just met at Shaw Brothers' Clear Water Bay set a few days ago, and they didn't expect to meet again on such an occasion today.

"Brother Michael, Director Xu, Shaw Brothers is about to graduate. If nothing else happens, Maggie's agent will sign me.

"The Truman Show" has Brother Michael as the star, and it will definitely be a hit in the future. If possible, wouldn't it be convenient to arrange a role for Maggie? "

Chen Ziqiang's request was as expected by Xu Guanwen, and he and Xu Anhua looked at each other.

"The Truman Show" is Xu Guanwen's transformational work. He attaches great importance to this movie and naturally does not want to be disturbed by others.

But Chen Ziqiang is quite prestigious within Jiahe. If he refuses too harshly, he may offend others.

While he was hesitating, Xu Anhua said: "Brother Willie, the heroine of "The Truman Show" is Truman's wife played by Michael. She is similar in age to him. I'm afraid Maggie's age and image..."

When Xu Anhua stopped here, his meaning was self-evident.

With her acting as the villain, Xu Guanwen was relieved.

But at this time, Chen Ziqiang burst into laughter, "Director Xu, you misunderstood."

"The Truman Show is Michael's transformation masterpiece. For such an important play, I dare not ask for the heroine no matter how big my face is!

Besides, Maggie has just entered the film industry, and with her acting skills, she can't support the heroine.

What I mean is, is there any female supporting role with a little weight for Maggie to practice her acting skills.

Michael's acting skills are superb, and the lineup of this movie is so strong. If Maggie can get some of your glory, maybe there will be a smooth road in the future!"

Chen Ziqiang's words were reasonable and well-controlled, and he didn't forget to flatter Xu Guanwen at the end, which made Xu Guanwen feel very happy.

But although he was happy, Xu Guanwen was still a little embarrassed.

The Truman Show can almost be regarded as his one-man show, and the only two roles with weight are Truman's wife and first love.

But because they want to match him, the two roles must be more mature in age and image. Maggie Cheung is only in her early twenties, with a face full of collagen, which does not fit the role at all.

Chen Ziqiang brought people to ask for the role today, and his attitude was humble enough. If he refused too bluntly, it would be too offensive.

In today's Hong Kong film industry, favors are more important than anything else.

Xu Guanwen hesitated for a moment.