Rebirth: I Want to Surf

Nathan Road, Kowloon.

Yao Yuan was wearing an American shirt, jeans, and sunglasses, squatting on the street in a cool manner, looking at Hong Kong in 1977.

In the 1970s, Hong Kong Island's economy took off, the population grew, and the society became increasingly affluent. At this time, the New Year was approaching, and there was a lot of joy and joy.

But in his eyes, this is an extremely divided place:

Western-style elites and self-combed women cross the road together. Double-decker buses pass by with horizontal signboards. Under a string of English letters, the translation "Nine Dragons and Towers Phoenix" is written seriously. Young people are also positive and upbeat, one by one. His face was filled with the vitality of someone who had been bullied for a long time and was ready to bully others...

No matter what kind of cloak Hong Kong Island wears, there is always a rotten smell of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.

"Oh, I'm not much better!"

Yao Yuan suddenly sighed.

Just a few days ago, he was celebrating the 2024 Spring Festival with his family on a small island in the Mediterranean. By the way, he planned to stuff a note into the belly of a fish in Texas that read "Great Meixing, Trump" king"!

As a result, as soon as I opened and closed my eyes, I came to this crappy place!

Come on, it’s tiring to put it on!

According to the custom of time travellers, when you come to Hong Kong in this year, you basically have to fuck Zhao Yazhi. After all, no matter how old the female star is, the audience will not recognize her, and the younger one is still young...

Yao Yuan's current identity happens to be that of an insider.

He is already an old man who has lived through three lifetimes. He has long since lost touch with this low-level interest. He has no interest in Huimin and Zuxian flying together, and Zhilin sharing the joy of happiness.

Making trouble is his eternal goal.

In 1978, the mainland was reforming and opening up. Next year, Li Huanggua would acquire Hutchison Whampoa. Four years later, during the Sino-British negotiations, Thatcher kowtowed in public... How many big things were waiting for him!

Yao Yuan started to get excited.

He stood up!

I walked into the building at the back, went up to the sixth floor, and found a lonely sign that read: Hong Kong Xinlian Pictures Company.

"Ayuan, how do you think about what I told you yesterday?"

"What's up?"

"My niece, she is a college student, and you are also a college student. She is beautiful, and you are considered a beauty. She works in a foreign company, and you work in a film company. What a perfect match!"

"I'm very happy that you complimented me on my handsomeness. Let's just skip the marriage talks. I still want to play for a few more years!"

"Young people are ignorant and will regret it when the time comes."

Yao Yuan proposed a marriage as soon as he walked in. There were not many people in this company, and they were all old, with few young faces. He walked through the corridor and came to a conference room. He said hello to everyone before taking a seat.

There were a total of five people in the conference room. They were very different from the money-oriented temperament of Hong Kong. They were dressed in old-fashioned clothes and had serious faces. The words "Stick to the literary and artistic position and serve the people" were posted on the wall.

They were all very old, over 50 years old. The only middle-aged man was next to Yao Yuan and asked quietly: "Why are you here so late?"

"I watched the midnight show yesterday and got up late."

"What midnight show?"

""The Face" stars Sammo Hung, Mai Jia, and Wu Yaohan. The quality is not bad and it should do well at the box office."

"Oh, I thought you couldn't stand it anymore and quit."

"What are you talking about? Even if you suspect me of going to Jiulongloufeng, you can't suspect me of running away!"

"Shh!"

The middle-aged man called Sun Le and quickly stopped him, lowering his voice: "Don't talk nonsense. If you just said that a few years ago, you wouldn't be as good as you!"

"Thanks for reminding me, I don't have to."

Yao Yuan did not raise any objection and nodded.

Sun Le gained a high emotional value, and a handsome boy who listens to advice is a good handsome boy.

After a while, Yao Yuan asked again: "Isn't there a plenary meeting today? Are there just a few people?"

"Today is different from the past. In the past, our production department was very prosperous. Later, many people left and others retreated. Mr. Liao personally retained these few people, and there was no way to recruit new people... Speaking of which, you are Chang Fengxin The only newcomer this year!”

Sun Le sighed.

Changfengxin refers to the three leftist film companies in Hong Kong, Great Wall, Phoenix, and Sunlink.

During the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, a large number of mainland filmmakers went south to open up this barren land. They mostly adopted a master-apprentice system and passed it down from generation to generation. This laid a solid foundation for Hong Kong films and directly created the 1980s and 1990s. golden decade.

After the founding of New China, the government sent a group of filmmakers to station on Hong Kong Island because Hong Kong is a window to the outside world and needs to build a bridge of communication.

This group of people established several companies, that is, left-wing films, which reached their peak in the 1960s. At that time, Hong Kong had four major Mandarin film companies: Great Wall, Phoenix, Shaw Brothers, and D\u0026M; and four major Cantonese film companies, Sunlink and China United Film Company. , Guangyi, Overseas Chinese.

The leftists account for three of them, which shows their strength.

Great Wall mainly produces social realistic Mandarin films, Phoenix mainly produces comedy Mandarin films, and Xinlian focuses on the Cantonese film market.

Later, during the movement, there were harsh censorship and persecution by the British Hong Kong government, and right-wing films represented by the "Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Film Professionals Federation" were pursued and blocked. Externally, there was also a ban on Taiwan, making it difficult to move forward.

The biggest impact was on the mainland. Chang Fengxin was considered to be "a product of the black line in literature and art, and a large number of poisons were spread in Hong Kong, Macao and overseas." All personnel were required to study in China in batches, and the creative requirements were mainly to portray the heroic image of workers, peasants and soldiers. , theaters must screen model dramas such as "Red Lantern" and "Shajiabang".

This led to sluggish creation, loss of talent, and the loss of the market. The 10 million surplus accumulated in the early stage also turned into a loss.

By the time the movement was over, Hong Kong movies had already been transformed. Bruce Lee was born and fell quickly, Xu Guanwen was crowned the first generation comedy king, and Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest were competing for hegemony, and commercial value dominated.

The advantages established by the leftist company have been exhausted, and they have made several films in the past two years, all of which have been at the bottom of the box office, which is equivalent to a waste of everything.

Yao Yuan sat for a while, and an old man who was nearly 60 years old came in from the outside. He had a long face, silver-rimmed eyes, and a gentle demeanor. He was Liao Yiyuan, the general manager of Xinlian Company.

He was originally from Guangdong and was born in Hong Kong. He was a journalist. He participated in the anti-Japanese national salvation movement and served as the director of Wen Wei Po. In 1956, he moved from the journalism industry to the film industry. He is a very influential figure.

Liao Yiyuan, wearing a suit, looked at the sparse conference room and sighed secretly.

"Let me tell you something first!"

He sat down and said: "The central government sent a document. Mr. Liao (Chengzhi) is the new director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the Hong Kong Affairs Office. He will be responsible for our literary and art work in the future. Mr. Liao invited relevant personnel from Changfengxin to hold a symposium in the capital. The time will be at the end of next month, and I will report my entourage within this month."

"..."

Everyone was silent and not looking forward to it. The wind direction in the mainland was unpredictable. They had no clue. Who knew what they were going to do this time?

Liao Yiyuan didn't say much, and suddenly called his name: "Yao Yuan?"

"Hello Mr. Liao!"

Yao Yuan stood up.

"This is our new comrade, a top student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has taken the initiative to join Xinlian and contribute to the literary and artistic front. Xiao Yao, please tell everyone a few words."

Xiao Yao? ? ?

snort!

Since I became the richest man, no one calls me that, even the big leaders have to call me Comrade Yao Yuan!

He groaned inwardly, mumbled a few words, and sat down again.

"Let's talk about the problems we face..."

Liao Yiyuan added: "I have said it several times. The biggest dilemma at present is low creativity and too little output. We are already lagging behind and the output cannot keep up. It is even more difficult to make a comeback.

Taiwan is the main market for Hong Kong films and prohibits any films from leftist companies from entering. Even Hong Kong filmmakers involved in their production will be banned.

This makes everyone afraid to cooperate with us. Only a few directors are willing, and some are more neutral and are willing to support under pseudonyms. "

Pseudonym means using a false name to come to help.

For example, Wang Jing's father, Wang Tianlin, used the pseudonym Wang Tao to help Xinlian Company make several films... Well, Fatty Wang's flexible stance can be said to have a family background.

"Actually, there are many ways to solve this problem. For example, we can set up a subsidiary, or support new directors to set up studios without using Xinlian's name. We will invest behind the scenes, but in the current environment, we cannot let it go. We need to I give my clear permission and hope to receive good news when I go to Beijing for a meeting next month.”

"Okay, let's study next year's mission."

Liao Yiyuan took out the script and said: "This is the only script I have received so far. It is called "Happiness to the In-Laws". Everyone has read it and everyone can express their opinions and discuss it."

Yao Yuan has also read this script.

The male protagonist and the female protagonist are in a relationship, and they are discussing marriage. However, the heroine's mother wants to marry the male protagonist, but the male protagonist's mother firmly refuses, so she lets her son marry the second daughter.

After the second female lead understood the situation, she voluntarily quit, but the family differences between the male and female protagonists remained and the quarrel was intense.

One day, the two of them were knocked unconscious by gangsters when they went out to discuss countermeasures. Their parents thought that they had died for their love and left, and they were extremely regretful... Of course, they were reunited in the end, and the lovers finally got married.

Yao Yuan has never seen the movie itself. Based on the story alone, he feels that it is quite satisfactory. The director and actors play a great role. If they are used well, they can be a hit.

Historically, the director of this film was Wang Tao, also known as Wang Tianlin.

Wang Tianlin has made many movies for Shaw Brothers, but he has no masterpieces. He is stable, not eye-catching, and does not make mistakes. He is better than his seniority.

The much-hyped "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was produced by Wang Tianlin, but was actually directed by several young people headed by Johnnie To.

Yes, Johnnie To is the director of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

They are all disciples of Wang Tianlin. It is obvious that the master is in charge and the disciples use their fists and kicks. It is hard to say who contributes how much.

Wang Tianlin is well-known, more because of various supporting roles in Johnnie To's movies, such as Deng Bo in "Underworld", his domineering expression of "please tea" is revealed.

At this moment, everyone had a heated discussion on "Happily to the In-Laws".

The so-called fierceness is actually a helpless move.

Left-wing companies have always been squeezed out by all parties. In the past, it was okay to have directors, screenwriters, and actors under contract, which could guarantee production. But now they have nothing, and they have to hire them from outside. Xinlian has little money, and it can only make one film. .

So it was just a discussion, but in fact we could only film the film "Happily with the In-Laws".

Liao Yiyuan was not very satisfied either, but this was the best that Xinlian could come up with. After patiently listening to everyone's opinions, he finally took a look at the newcomer.

Although new, he is a good-looking guy.

"Xiao Yao, do you have any ideas?"

"I don't have any ideas, I only have some immature suggestions..."

Yao Yuan cleared his throat.