Photo/Princess Kan Entertainment
Photo/Princess Kan Entertainment
Preface
In this 30-episode TV series, 57 golden songs are integrated. With such a huge music copyright, only Wong Kar-wai can easily win it. When the classic old songs in "Flowers" are played one after another, the audience seems to travel back to that specific era, which also raises people's curiosity about the question: how much money did Wong Kar-wai spend to buy the rights to these songs?
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai was born in Shanghai in 1958 and moved with his parents to Hong Kong, China at the age of 5, where he began his family life and career. Even so, Wong Kar-wai is still fluent in Shanghainese. In the film "In the Mood for Love" directed by him, the audience can feel the strong atmosphere of old Shanghai. In the TV series "Flowers", Wong Kar-wai once again paid tribute to his hometown. In order to raise funds for the filming of "Flowers", Wong Kar-wai shot a series of advertisements to support the financing of the project.
In April 2020, the crew booked a high-standard studio in Hengdian and settled in May. Shangying Chedun Film and Television Base specially built a number of Shanghai street scenes for the play and the movie "Flowers", which truly restored the style of Shanghai in the early days of reform and opening up. During the filming of the past two years, Wong Kar-wai and most of the actors used Shanghainese dialect to communicate and perform. In addition, except for a few actors such as Xin Zhilei and Huang Jue, almost all actors in the play are from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.
Ma Yili and Tang Yan are not accustomed to the soil Wong Kar-wai uses a cinematic approach to shoot TV series, whether it is the picture composition, scenes, or the expressions and movements of the actors, they all bring the audience the grandeur and delicacy of a movie. However, correspondingly, this also tests the acting skills of the actors more. For Ma Liyi and Tang Yan, who are accustomed to performing on TV screens, it is indeed a little difficult. In other words, compared with Xin Zhilei, their performances always have a bit of a childish atmosphere.
Tang Yan plays a foreign trade company employee and is the first generation of white-collar workers in China. She has a tsundere temperament, and her performance is passable, but sometimes with a little effort, she will look a little "silly and sweet". "Lingzi" played by Ma Yili and "Bao" played by the actor Hu Ge run a restaurant together. "Reiko" in the original book is the proprietress of the hotel, who is too dusty and lacks aura.
Hu Ge's performance is decent It is not difficult to imagine that the appearance of Ah Bao (played by Hu Ge) is full of the colors of Wong Kar-wai's movie: On New Year's Day, at the door of the hotel, a man holding 300,000 cash in his hand was hit by a yellow taxi, and 100 yuan bills were scattered in the air, causing passers-by to rob ..... When the camera zoomed in, the originally suave Po was already lying on the ground with blood on his face.
Hu Ge once played the role of "old Shanghai" in a suit in "The Pretender", so the audience can easily imagine what he looks like. Although he has not filmed as many movies as TV series, the 9 years and 94 performances he spent in the drama "A Dream Like a Dream" have made his acting skills fully stand the test of the movie screen.
10 million salary
The richness of the music in "Flowers" is quite surprising. This time, Wong Kar-wai surpassed the scale of his previous works, covering 57 tracks, and the copyright fee was as high as 10 million yuan. These include tracks such as "Stealing Hearts", "Casual Fate", and "Obsessed Without Regrets", which once became popular headlines on major music platforms.
Hu Ge once shared an interesting story about the filming experience of "Flowers". He recalls that Wong Kar-wai often used his own music library during filming, playing songs repeatedly, such as "A Fire in Winter", "Looking Back Again", "Superstar in Troubled Times" and "The Internationale", among others. The whole shooting took three years, and about seventy or eighty of these songs were played.
This story is no stranger to Wong Kar-wai's fans. As we all know, he has high requirements for music and has a unique taste for music. Unlike other directors, he doesn't just take the script to shoot the story, but prefers to play music live to find emotional resonance. As he told Martin Scorsese: "I think the concert on set gives us a sense of rhythm. ”
He tends to find the right music first and then buy the rights. That's why the music in his films is always just right and goes well with the mood. Many songs have become classics, such as "California Dream" from "Chongqing Forest" or "In the Mood for Love" from "In the Mood for Love".
Years later, when Chinese-speaking audiences hear these songs again, the first thing that comes to mind is no longer the original singers, but images that are closely connected to the two films. The richness of the music of "Flowers" this time once again set a new benchmark for Wong Kar-wai's musical aesthetics.
Finale
Po, a man who drifts in the waves of fate, has said goodbye to women several times. He had generously given away 500,000 yuan in savings to help Master pay off his debts, but was imprisoned for a year for disguising his identity. In his cramped prison, he silently reflected on his life. In the jewel combination, Miss Wang's company was initially successful, but she resolutely returned the car to Bao. What she pursues is not only material wealth, but also Po herself. In the face of the choice between reality and feelings, she made a heart-warming choice.
Po bids farewell to the familiar Peace Hotel and steps into the unknown. Although his whereabouts are erratic, his heart is full of yearning for the unknown. The promise to be fulfilled with Miss Wang in front of the Oriental Pearl in Shanghai is that two hearts eager for the future meet at this moment. Po not only helps Lingzi, Li Li, and Miss Wang, but also maintains trust in friends and partners. In the face of betrayal, he chooses forgiveness and shows an open-minded attitude towards life. In his world, friendship and sincerity are far more important than money.
Lu Meilin lost her husband and mortgaged the hotel, but the affectionate Du Honggen has been waiting. Bao's affection and righteousness left a deep imprint at this moment. Perhaps love is an unforgettable memory, even if time passes, feelings are still blooming leisurely in the bottom of the heart. Bao's life is affectionate and righteous, and he interprets his loyalty to friendship and love with his actions.
On the road of fate, the golden moment left many touching moments. This philosophy of life is perhaps something that everyone should learn. Po's life is like a play, with parting, ups and downs, but also love and sincerity. He sketched a colorful picture of life with his golden fate. Perhaps, it is in the ups and downs and scenery that we can find our own light.
epilogue
Wong Kar-wai's TV series "Flowers" has attracted much attention, and one of the eye-catching points is that the starring salary is as high as more than 10 million yuan, even exceeding the well-known actors Hu Ge and Xin Zhilei. This high salary has attracted wide public attention and has become the focus of discussion. Wong Kar-wai has put a lot of effort into this work, not only investing a lot of money to buy the music rights of more than 57 tracks, but also to produce a true restoration of the street scene of Shanghai in the early days of reform and opening up.
A number of Shanghai streetscapes have been built in the Shanghai Film and Television Base. This deliberate act makes the scenes in the play more historical, and also presents a more realistic and touching work for the audience. In addition to the high salary and careful scene restoration, Wong Kar-wai also put all his heart into casting. This time, the cast not only includes powerful actors such as Hu Ge and Xin Zhilei, but also starring actors with a salary of more than 10 million yuan, which ensures the luxury of the cast. On the whole, "Flowers" reflects Wong Kar-wai's intentions and attitude of pursuing excellence in terms of salary, scene restoration and casting, bringing the audience an exciting high-quality TV series.