<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > wedge</h1>
In Chinese films, there is a peak that cannot be bypassed in any way - "Farewell to the King".
It scored a high score of 9.6 on Douban, ranking first in Chinese movies. In the top 250, the score is second only to the uncrowned king "The Shawshank Redemption", and behind it is another god work "Forrest Gump".
It has won numerous awards around the world – it is the only film in the history of Chinese cinema to win the Cannes Palme d'Or, and the only Chinese film to win both the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
It missed the Oscars because the Oscar judges thought that "Farewell to the King" had already won the Palme d'Or and the Golden Globes, and they had not seen Chen Kaige's people and publicity about the film, so they thought that "Farewell to the King" did not need this Oscar.
This is by far the highest honor of Chinese mainland film in the world, and "Farewell to the King" is also recognized as a rare masterpiece in the history of Chinese cinema.
Regarding "Farewell to the Overlord", I originally thought that this was the first step for Chinese films to go abroad, but I did not expect that this was the regret of debuting at the peak.
Today, we will talk about whether his brother Zhang Guorong snatched the role of Zun Long as the rumors said in the background of "Farewell to the Overlord".
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >1, dance hall song stage, the wind is always blown away by the rain and wind</h1>
In 1978, Chen Kaige, who came from an artistic family and whose father was the famous director Chen Huaigao, was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy.
But Chen Kaige's admission to the Beijing Film Academy was not all smooth.
First of all, his application for Nortel was first because he failed to apply for Peking University, and second, because Nortel's directing department did not take the mathematics, physics and chemistry, and the age limit was relaxed. He thinks he's very good at writing, and he thinks there's drama.
But during the exam, the teacher asked Chen Kaige what was the rhythm of the movie, and he answered it in order to show his scalp. As a result, I was notified the next day: I was eliminated.
Two days later, he received a letter saying that the film school had expanded and that he had regained the opportunity to take the re-examination. In this way, Chen Kaige entered Nortel to study.
Those who were admitted to Nortel with Chen Kaige in that year were Zhang Yimou, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Gu Changwei, Zhang Junzhao, He Qun, Li Shaohong, Liu Miaomiao, and Peng Xiaolian.
It was also this year that Reed, who had been unemployed in his hometown for several years, was transferred to the art group and began to paint scenes after working as a cooker in xi'an film studio for two years.
In the past few years, Reed once "nibbled on the old" at home, reading Chekhov, Russell, and Wittgenstein all day long, trying to solve his own value problems.
Until the street office cadres couldn't stand it anymore and stuffed him into the Xi'an Film Studio.
A year later, in 1979, Li Bihua in Hong Kong created a novel of the same name based on the Peking opera "Farewell to the King".
The inspiration for the story has to be traced back to Li Bihua's junior high school period: at that time, Li Bihua watched a play "Revenge" starring idols Dillon and Jiang David, and began to be interested in Peking Opera.
It is worth mentioning that the role played by Jiang David in "Revenge", Guan Xiaolou, is only one word away from Duan Xiaolou, one of the protagonists in the later "Overlord Farewell".
The character settings of the brother, sister-in-law and brother in "Revenge" and the concept of dream life are also similar to the "Overlord Farewell".
Later, Li Bihua wrote a short essay "Jiepai Guan", and on a rainy and autumnal night, she leisurely remembered the dream that made her fall in love with Peking Opera, and she would always think of it for no reason: "The dance hall is always blown away by the rain and the wind." "
This is the charm of Peking Opera.
In 1981, director Luo Qirui took a fancy to the script of "Farewell to the Overlord" and wanted to adapt it into a TV series.
At that time, Li Bihua admired Zhang Guorong very much, so he tried his best to recommend to the director: "The role of Cheng Dieyi is none other than Zhang Guorong. "
The reason why Zhang Guorong can get Li Bihua's favor is that at that time, Zhang Guorong just cooperated with Li Bihua in a short drama "The Woman of My Family in the Years and Rivers and Mountains", and Li Bihua was very optimistic about Zhang Guorong.
But this recommendation was rejected by Zhang Guorong's agent: "I am afraid that the gay character of Cheng Dieyi will affect my brother's idol image in Hong Kong." "
Without inviting Zhang Guorong, Li Bihua regretted for a long time.
Luo Qirui later found Yu Jialun and Yue Hua and filmed "Farewell to the Overlord" into a TV short series with two episodes. This is the 1981 TV drama version of "Overlord Farewell".
In 1983, guangying was preparing to shoot "Yellow Land", when the photographer took a fancy to Zhang Yimou, and the director was Chen Kaige, who was seconded from Beijing for four times his salary.
The two joined forces to come to the Loess Plateau to shoot the "Yellow Land" that shocked the world. It is worth mentioning that the director of the Western Film Factory at that time was Wu Tianming, the "godfather of film". The gathering of the three ushered in the highlight moment of Chinese cinema.
But in the same year, the future first screenwriter Reed was "imprisoned" for hooliganism. For this experience, Reed once laughed: "At that time, I danced with people, was taken by the public security organs to be examined, and came out after a period of detention, and was not arrested or imprisoned." "
What Reed did not expect was that after being locked up for 11 months, he became a celebrity, and the literary and artistic youth of the eight villages in ten miles and eight villages had to call him "brother" when they saw him.
Probably no one would have thought that Chen Kaige, Reed, and Li Bihua, who had no intersection at this time, would join hands in the future and contribute a chinese peak work. There have been no ancients, and there are still no comers.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >2, high winds and clouds</h1>
In 1988, Xu Feng, a famous producer at the time, read Li Bihua's novel "Farewell to the Overlord" on the recommendation of a friend, fell for it, and immediately had the idea of adapting it into a film and television work.
So Xu Feng found Li Bihua: "I talked to her for three days and three nights and bought the copyright to this novel." "
However, when Li Bihua sold the film rights to Xu Feng, he added a special request: "I want to have the right to choose actors." "
Because Li Bihua was still not dead to Zhang Guorong: "Cheng Dieyi must be Zhang Guorong." "
In 1985, Chen Kaige made "The Child King", which was deeply appreciated by Wu Tianming.
In the following 1987, at the first film exhibition held by China Film Company, because of the contradiction between Chen Kaige's Western Film and Shangying, Chen Kaige's "Child King" was subject to twists and turns - "Child King" was not selected for the exhibition list of the film exhibition.
It was Wu Tianming's efforts to turn the tide, personally holding up a self-made poster, "selling" table after table in front of the foreign guests' table, and finally "Child King" became the "sales champion" of that film festival.
At that time, Reed was still doing his paintings in the art department.
Reed's chance was when Western Film wanted to shoot "The Last Madness". After Reed saw the script, she felt that the script was very bad, so director Zhou Xiaowen asked Reed to rewrite the script.
As a result, after the release of "The Last Madness" in 1988, it became the box office champion of the year.
Wu Tianming, who cherished talent, saw it and withstood the pressure, promoted Reed to the screenplay.
After Xu Feng bought the copyright of "Farewell to the Overlord", he wanted Chen Kaige to be the director. But at that time, Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou and Wu Tianming wanted to make films with artistic content, and they couldn't look at this "third-rate novel".
Xu Feng repeatedly spoke to him with dialectical elegance and popular propositions, and finally convinced him.
Persuaded, Chen Kaige found Reed, a colleague of Western Film, to discuss the adaptation of the script. Reed released words, if Chen Kaige wants to find him to adapt the script, Chen Kaige can give advice, but the script is not allowed to touch a word.
Why?
In 1991, Chen Kaige's "Singing While Walking" was released, and after Reed and Li Bihua watched the movie, neither of them understood what Chen Kaige wanted to express in the movie, so they reached a consensus: Chen Kaige can be a director, and must not let him touch the script.
In the face of Reed's request that "you can't touch the script", Chen Kaige can only be cheerful: "That's great, I don't have to worry." "
In this way, the three came together, ready to brew the most energetic work in the history of Chinese cinema. On the stage at the end of the century, they are ready to stage a magnificent performance.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >3, the style is unique, it is a lively era</h1>
In 1991, the movie "Farewell to the Overlord" was officially planned, and Li Bihua once again recommended Zhang Guorong.
However, Zhang Guorong's second agent is also afraid that the role of Cheng Dieyi will affect the image, and the schedule of the movie is very tight, and the producer of "Overlord Farewell" cannot give a specific time to kill, and the two sides have not been able to negotiate.
On top of the role of Cheng Dieyi is the self-recommended Zun Long, because Zun Long feels the experience of Cheng Dieyi, which is very similar to his childhood self who entered the opera team to learn Peking Opera.
And Xu Feng did recognize Zun Long's fame and sincerity, and the two sides once reached the stage of negotiating the remuneration of the film. And Gong Li, who has signed a contract to play the role of Ju Xian, has also publicly said in an interview that in cooperation, it is necessary to learn more from Zun Long.
But the one who produces the variables is also the agent - because Zun Long's agent put forward many specific requirements such as treatment, which made the producer of "Overlord Farewell" feel very embarrassed, so he did not agree immediately, and the contract was not signed.
For the candidate for the role of Cheng Dieyi, there is also an interlude, which occurred when Zhang Guorong resigned and Zun Long had not yet introduced himself.
At that time, the vacancy of Cheng Diyi attracted many artists.
For example, Zhang Weijian.
But unfortunately, because Zhang Weijian's family environment was not very good, the company owner at that time was heavily in debt, and he urgently needed his artists to quickly make money to supplement cash flow, and it was impossible to let him make a movie that took time and was uncertain.
For example, Jiang Wen.
Originally, Jiang Wen was recommended to play the overlord, but Jiang Wen, who did not take the usual path, took a look at Yu Ji Cheng Butterfly: "Who said that Cheng Butterfly can't be like me?" "
(Please make up for it: a lifetime of good words, just a lifetime of fucking motherhood!) ）
The turning point of cheng die-yi's role occurred in late 1991.
That year, the Asia-Pacific Film Festival and the Golden Horse Awards were held in Taipei at the same time, and investor Xu Feng, director Chen Kaige, Zun Long, who was verbally determined, and Zhang Guorong, who resigned, all attended the party on the same day.
Xu Feng looked at Zun Long and Zhang Guorong in front of him, and felt that although Zun Long was handsome, the edges and corners were too strong, so he had the idea of changing angles.
At the same time, Hong Kong's famous "Outside" magazine invited Cheung Kwok-wing to take a group of photos with the theme of "anti-string" and published it on the cover.
After Chen Kaige saw it, he also had the idea that Zhang Guorong was more suitable for playing Cheng Dieyi.
In order to persuade Zhang Guorong to play, Chen Kaige personally went out to meet Zhang Guorong at the Mandarin Hotel Café in Hong Kong.
Although the script had not yet been adapted at that time, it did not affect Chen Kaige's eloquent storytelling to Zhang Guorong about the story of "Farewell to the Overlord".
Chen Kaige couldn't care how much Zhang Guorong could understand, but just said excitedly. Until after he finished speaking, Zhang Guorong stood up excitedly: "Thank you for telling me the story, I am Cheng Dieyi." "
The stone in Chen Kaige's heart landed: "This is a moment that makes people stand upright. This is the only experience like this. "
What contributed to Zhang Guorong's role as Cheng Dieyi was the support of Huang Baiming, Zhang Guorong's boss at the time. In order to thank Zhang Guorong for his self-reduced film remuneration to shoot "92 Happy Events", he took the initiative to adjust the schedule that Zhang Guorong had finalized, and completed Zhang Guorong to shoot "Farewell to the Overlord".
It is precisely because the casting of the actor who played the role of Cheng Dieyi has been twists and turns, so there are many rumors in the media.
For example, Zun Long missed this role because Zun Long "played a big card", "asked too much" and "air transport puppies".
For example, Zhang Guorong robbed Zun Long's horn from his own demotion.
But in fact, the main reason is that investor Xu Feng wants to make a Chinese film that "breaks into the Western film market" and wants to find the most suitable actor for the role in the film.
Although Zun Long missed this role, there are reasons why Zun Long agents ask for too much, but the most important reason is that Zhang Guorong is more suitable for Cheng Dieyi.
At this time, the crew of "Overlord Farewell" has been formed, and the Kunpeng of "Overlord Farewell" can already face the east wind and spread its wings to fly.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >4, not crazy, not alive</h1>
In February 1992, Zhang Guorong came to Beijing to try on the outfit. The first time he came to Beijing, out of respect for Mei Lanfang, he proposed to go to Wanhua Mountain to worship Mei Lanfang.
Chen Kaige was very surprised that Zhang Guorong from Hong Kong had such a "heart of awe."
As a result, there is a classic picture of the creator of "Overlord Farewell" taking a group photo in front of Mei Lanfang's tomb.
Later, Chen Kaige recalled that after coming down from Xiangshan on the same day, the group came to the Summer Palace to listen to the oriole restaurant for dinner.
Zhang Guorong asked him, "What does it mean to listen to a oriole?" "
Chen Kaige replied, "Just listen to Mei Lanfang and they sing, and the warblers cry gracefully." "
Zhang Guorong was depressed after hearing this: "Oh... These old gentlemen sang songs all their lives, but they were treated like birds. "
In the same month of the same year, "Farewell to the Overlord", which has everything in place and the east wind has arrived, officially began filming. Under the influence of each other, the crowd quickly entered the state, and the whole crew was united in their minds, just thinking about how to make the movie well.
First of all, a group of leading actors insisted on refusing to stand-ins and practicing Peking Opera hard.
For example, Zhang Guorong, who has a fever of 39 degrees and is still practicing with his legs.
For example, Zhang Fengyi, who was really on the body, personally beaten, and had to be helped back to the medicine after shooting: "I think it is a very bullish man, and it is more effective to let the master pull off his pants and beat him." "
For example, Gong Li, who is serious about doing her homework: "I am the wife of a famous actor, and I should also understand the things in the drama team." "
Even the little bean- Yin Zhi. There is a scene in the film that realizes "from one to the end", he gives a fierce hand and smokes himself.
Look at the imprint on this face, who looks at who is distressed.
Which actor would be like today who has to rest with a little skin on his hands.
There was also the actor Li Dan who filmed the scene of the little leper escaping, he couldn't cry at that time, and the whole crew was waiting for him. Xiao Li Dan felt guilty in his heart, and his eyes immediately swirled in his eyes, and he did not think about using eye drops at all.
The whole crew is just like what is said in the movie - not crazy devils can not live, how crazy devils come, all the main creative staff have shown excellent state.
Therefore, "Farewell to the King" is not only the excellent quality of the film itself, the film shooting process is also the only time in the life of everyone at that time to indulge in the experience of the film.
It was also the madness of this group of outstanding filmmakers at that time that there was a momentary scenery and vigor of the creator of "Farewell to the King" in Kangcheng, and only then did he have the pinnacle of this Chinese film.
At that time, "Farewell to the Overlord" was assembled by Ge You, the fourth grandfather of Yuan, Jiang Wenli, the biological mother of Xiao Douzi, and:
The cinematography of the film is Gu Changwei;
In charge of film music is Zhao Jiping, chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association;
The person who controls the film art is Yang Zhanjia, a national first-class film artist;
The makeup and voice-over of Cheng Dieyi were Respectively, Ye Pai's concubine Xiaosheng Song Xiaochuan and Zhang Pai's famous artist Wen Ruhua;
"Jia Zhiguo" Yang Lixin dubbed Zhang Guorong, and Li Zongsheng and Lin Yilian joined hands to sing the theme song "When Love Has Become a Thing of the Past";
……
There is also the screenwriter Reed, which is adapted on the basis of Li Bihua's original work, giving the film an epic temperament.
Even because the script is too good, Li Bihua also added the plot of the movie to his novel.
Regarding the script, there was also a small episode at that time.
After the adaptation of the script, Chen Kaige's father, Chen Huaikai, cried directly after reading it, saying that it was too wonderful. But Reed knew that such a script could not pass the review.
So Reed asked Chen Kaige to discuss and spend five days writing a fake script for review.
In 1994, "Farewell to the King" won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, ushering in the highlight moment of Chinese cinema.
Later, the ban was lifted in China, and the Shanghai Daguang Theater was surrounded by water at the time of the screening.
The theater manager still remembers the glass doors in the lobby that were crowded and the injured security guards.
There was also Zhang Guorong dressed in a good outfit, and as a result, the buttons of the suit were all squeezed out.
It was a magnificent era, and a group of brilliant people got together to shoot a magnificent "Overlord Farewell".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >5, this past year, should be a good day and a good scene</h1>
Regarding the "Farewell to the Overlord", Yingda, the actor who played Na Kun, later recalled that there was a couple in the crew who studied Peking Opera, and the male was a Peking Opera martial artist who liked to beat his wife.
That Wusheng found an opportunity to toast Zhang Guorong's wine, but he did not think, after Zhang Guorong drank a few drinks, he patted the table and said: "Li X, I want to hear you beat your wife again, I will let my friends in Hong Kong come to clean you up!" "
Zhang Guorong's body instructor Zhang Manling recalled the feast, which was also very sad: "Guorong drank too much, cried, he seemed too excited. "
This shows Zhang Guorong's true disposition.
Later, after the drama was dispersed, Zhang Guorong never forgot Zhang Manling and Shi Yansheng.
He has always been worried about Zhang Manling and his wife, but whenever he goes to Beijing, he will definitely visit them, and at the end of the day, he invites them to play in Hong Kong. Zhang Guorong really personally drove to pick up, even Zhang Manling and his wife got on and off the bus, Zhang Guorong had to help them protect their heads, and also called himself a "coachman".
When Zhang Guorong heard that Shi Yansheng was not in good health and could not eat, he flew to Beijing to visit.
Zhang Guorong himself supported a small bench and coaxed Shi Yansheng to eat: Old Man Shi, you eat a bite, I eat a bite, see who of us eats more.
But not all people can be like Zhang Guorong and Zhang Manling, thinking about each other.
In 1996, Chen Kaige invited Reed to check the script of the movie "Wind Moon".
"Wind Moon" is still a cooperation between Xu Feng and Chen Kaige, Xu Feng is a producer, Chen Kaige is a director, and Zhang Guorong and Gong Li are starring. It can be seen that Xu Feng and Chen Kaige also want to continue the legend of "Overlord Farewell".
However, at that time, after Reed checked the information, he found that the story of "Wind moon" only came from a few words in the anecdote, and there was no real historical background as a support. He advised Chen Kaige that a story without a sense of reality would not be wonderful.
But Chen Kaige did not believe it, and the two of them did not disperse happily.
Wang Anyi, the screenwriter of "Wind Moon" who cooperated with Chen Kaige, later recalled writing "Wind Moon" with Chen Kaige, saying: Often halfway through the creation, I lost my way, and then I had to go back to the place of departure and start from scratch. According to Wang Anyi's view, there are some plots in the movie that can be predicted in advance, but Chen Kaige can't, he must go through it again, hit the south wall and turn back.
This has also become the foreshadowing of "Wind Moon" falling short of expectations.
After "Wind Moon", Xu Feng and Chen Kaige completely broke up, and the two parted ways from then on and never cooperated again.
Xu Feng once complained about Chen Kaige in public: Chen Kaige is very strange in the choice of story theme! At first, he didn't like the script of "Farewell to the King", thinking that it was a very popular story, and as a result, I spent more than 200 hours convincing him. At the beginning, I did not agree with him to make "Wind Moon", I think that every character in this film is very annoying, and the relationship between the characters is also very ugly, unlike "Farewell to the Overlord", where every character has aesthetic cuteness. But Chen Kaige liked it, and he kept trying to convince me. I understand now that I should never shoot stories that I don't like in the future.
It also confirms the line of "Farewell to the Overlord": "From now on, you sing yours, I sing mine." "
In 1994, Zhang Yimou asked Yu Hua for the copyright of "Alive", found Reed to check the script, and found Ge You and Gong Li to star.
In the end, "Alive" brought back the Grand Jury Prize from Cannes. Reeds suddenly created two peaks of Chinese cinema.
Reed later said: "I was very lucky, when I worked with Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, it was when they were in the purest stage of art, when I fell into the illusion and felt that we had finally started." But I didn't expect that it would be the end of our generation. "
Later, in 1999, Reed learned that Chen Kaige was preparing to prepare for the filming of "Jing Ke Thorn Qin King", and was very interested, Xingchong rushed to find Chen Kaige: If you don't trust the script, I will help you write it, and we will cooperate again.
As a result, Chen Kaige replied directly: I am very relieved, I wrote it myself.
Reed was bored, and his stomach was all choked.
Reed later said bluntly: "His (Chen Kaige's) creative state was judged before and after this. At that time, he was very passionate, his judgment was very sharp, and then he was meticulous and conceited, but the aura of character was far away from him. "
Looking at this passage now, it is not unreasonable. Chen Kaige's later works, in the eyes of many people, have lost the spirituality in "Overlord Farewell", so that many people doubt whether the amazing work of "Overlord Farewell" is not made by him.
In 2005, Chen Kaige completed the script of "Wuji" very confidently, firmly saying that it was a good script and pulling in an investment of 200 million.
However, just a few days after the release of the movie, it was hit by word of mouth, and the Douban score was 5.4, which had not yet passed.
And Li Bihua? After the great victory of the movie "Farewell to the Overlord", Chen Kaige regarded Li Bihua as the second biggest contributor to the film.
Although the first screenwriter of the film was Li Bihua, according to the later Reed, the script was actually written by himself, and Li Bihua was only a pseudonym. In Li Bihua's novel, it is only the love triangle of Duan Xiaolou, Cheng Dieyi and Ju Xian, and the story is thin.
On this basis, Reed doubled the content and word count, mixing elements of Peking Opera and the grand historical background into the movie, turning it into an epic masterpiece.
But in fact, the reeds who have poured a lot of effort into "Farewell to the Overlord" do not enjoy any copyright in the film script, and the entire copyright of the script belongs to Li Bihua.
So in 2014, Reed wanted to publish a collection of his own plays, planning to include the world's god work "Farewell to the Overlord", but was severely warned by Li Bihua.
Since then, a few people who were once full of vigor and talent have parted ways. The enmity and resentment between them are like a chasm that runs through everyone's heart.
The only way is: this past year should be a good day and a good scene.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
On April 1, 2003, his brother Cheung Kwok Wing fell to his death from the 24th floor of the Oriental Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong due to spiraling depression.
Fei Zhenxiang, who was beaten for the protection of beans but still squeezed his eyebrows, later became a director, often cooperating with Guan Hu to shoot the "Ghost Blowing Lights" series. 2019's "Angry Qing Xiangxi" was filmed by him alone.
Throwing the bean bag to let him "roll", but the small stone with tears in his eyes, Zhao Hailong. The latest work is "The Biography of Zhen Huan", playing Zhen Huan's chief eunuch, Kang Luhai. In 2008, he studied under the famous performance artist Li Jiacun.
Xiaodouzi Yinzhi, who came from a Peking Opera family, passed the college entrance examination and successfully entered a professional school to study, with few works. In 1996, Yin Zhi also thought about becoming a monk, but was opposed by his family
Once bustling, there is nowhere to be found.