Chapter 371: Ties to the City by the Sea

"Ties to the City by the Sea."

Cao Yang typed the movie title on his computer, stared at it for a moment, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He thought with a bit of dark humor that, given the title, any audience member looking for a "romance" blockbuster certainly wouldn't be disappointed.

Yes, they definitely wouldn't be disappointed.

This movie title also has a history; it is the Chinese translation used in Xiangjiang for a certain film, originally titled "Manchester by the Sea," which also appears to be a romantic movie.

Regardless of whether you watch this film for its English title or the Xiangjiang Chinese translation, after finishing it, your heart will absolutely be stirred and unsettled by "emotion."

Since the goal is to film a Chinese-language movie that embodies "unity," this "Manchester by the Sea," with a slight adaptation, is actually very suitable.

Of course, this so-called suitability is specifically for film festivals, specifically for the Berlin International Film Festival—it is very easy for this kind of anti-chicken-soup, human-nature-exploring film to win awards.

The adaptation is actually very easy as well.

The male lead is set as a Xiangjiang native who, due to his own mistake, causes a fire that accidentally buries several young children in the sea of flames, and his wife also leaves him.

To escape, and to avoid being reminded of the past, he chooses to go far away to England or Canada—these places are also where current Xiangjiang people are most willing to go, and are "holy lands" in the hearts of many.

Of course, Cao Yang is also capable of exporting cultural values.

Here, the male lead is a down-and-out apartment manager living a life like a walking corpse without a ripple, having lost all confidence and hope in life, living alone in a narrow, semi-basement room.

Although he never complains about the tediousness of his work, he still faces quite a bit of discrimination—old white men discriminating against other races is a common phenomenon, even though they shout about not having racial discrimination and wanting equality.

Whenever there is something in this world that people are desperately shouting to deny, it must exist, and it must be quite serious—serious enough that they have to shout slogans.

Cao Yang set up a few small conflicts here; the male lead is already in this state, so what is he afraid of? What else is there to fear?

Those who deliberately look for trouble, racial discrimination, and so on—the protagonist doesn't indulge them at all. He is simply a man with a short temper and a rude attitude, and he has been complained about countless times.

For a worker with such low pay, who is willing to do anything, never complains, and holds several jobs at once, the manager won't fire him no matter how many complaints are received.

Furthermore, the manager will even protect him and make excuses for him.

Otherwise, they would need to hire several workers and pay several times the salary; the manager isn't stupid.

The story actually has two narrative threads, unfolding around him and his older brother respectively.

His brother is a fishing boat owner who is diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and his wife is addicted to alcohol and gambling; after his brother falls critically ill, she disappears without a trace.

The brother suddenly falls ill and passes away, leaving behind a 16-year-old son, and the will designates the male lead as the son's guardian.

The male lead returns to Xiangjiang to handle his brother's funeral affairs and is forced to live with his nephew; the two story threads converge here.

After a series of interactions with his nephew, the male lead still cannot let go; the fear of what people will say among acquaintances and the heavy psychological burden make it impossible for him to regain a happy life, and he ultimately chooses to leave once again.

For the male lead, the saying "time heals all" is completely ineffective; his tragedy lies in the fact that he lives forever in the shadows of the past, unable to erase the traces left behind.

Real life is cold and distant to him, yet the memories of the past are too vivid to escape.

When he chokes up and says to his nephew, "I can't take it anymore," the tragic nature of the film reaches its peak.

Of course, the life of the protagonist and the campus life of the nephew in Xiangjiang must be adapted to fit reality; this kind of change will not affect the main plot or the theme of the story.

Whether this movie can succeed depends mainly on the performance of the male lead.

Therefore, Cao Yang secretly thought, could he find a big star in Xiangjiang who isn't known for acting, and then through a few immersive experiences, make everyone gasp in surprise?

It would also let the Xiangjiang film and television circle and their media see what "coaching an actor" really means.

Well, if one doesn't work, add a few more.

Of course, the prerequisite is to ensure the actor doesn't get too deep into the role and become depressed; even if they do get depressed, their safety must be guaranteed.

It would be best to have a professional psychologist join the crew from the start.

Given the male lead's experiences, if an actor gets too deep into the role, it would really be easy to do something foolish...

Cao Yang thought about it, but maybe not; judging from the plot, the male lead shouldn't have any intention of committing suicide. He is punishing himself; he wants to live in pain forever to punish himself.

Perhaps, the day he forgives himself or lets go, he might actually commit suicide.

But throughout the entire film, the male lead never lets go or forgives himself, so even if the actor gets into the role, even if they get very into it, even if they get completely into it, they won't easily commit suicide.

Then what is there to worry about!

Add the immersive experience with confidence!

Let the Xiangjiang film and television circle and their media see how an actor not known for acting becomes a Best Actor.

At this stage, mentioning male actors who can represent the Xiangjiang film and television circle, without a doubt, that would be the "Two Zhous and One Cheng," "Two Liangs and One Wu," plus the "Four Heavenly Kings."

That is, Zhou Runfa, Zhou Xingxing, Cheng Long, Liang Chaowei, Liang Jiahui, Wu Qihua, Liu Dehua, Zhang Xueyou, Li Ming, and Guo Fucheng.

Others like Gu Zai, Liu Qingyun, Zhang Jiahui, Zheng Yijian, and the Chef Xie that Xiangjiang is pushing hard, are still a bit lacking compared to those mentioned above.

Li Lianjie is from the mainland and cannot represent Xiangjiang.

Cao Yang thought for a moment; among those actors recognized as representing Xiangjiang, in terms of acting, those recognized by media and audiences include Zhou Runfa, Liang Chaowei, Liang Jiahui, and additionally Wu Qihua.

Why add Wu Qihua?

Because he followed Cao Yang, and although he hasn't won a Best Actor award at the three major European festivals, he has the highest awards.

For example, in the Venice Golden Lion film "3-Iron," he had an important role as the abusive husband.

For example, in the Cannes Palme d'Or film "Secret Sunshine," he is considered the male lead.

He also played the heavy-duty role of the tycoon in "Inception," which had a global box office of over 900 million US dollars.

He also played the alien leader in "District 9," which won the Oscar for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

These films have the highest recognized artistic achievements, box office success, and critical acclaim; who can say Wu Qihua cannot represent Xiangjiang? Who can say Wu Qihua has no acting skills?

He is currently recognized as the international superstar in Xiangjiang second only to Cheng Long.

These four can be removed for now.

Zhou Xingxing's acting is also very good; Cao Yang believes that if you set aside other factors and only discuss acting, his acting is no worse than Zhou Runfa, Liang Chaowei, or Liang Jiahui.

In terms of awards, he won the Golden Horse for Best Supporting Actor in '88 for "Final Justice," and won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor in '02 for "Shaolin Soccer."

During this period, he was nominated for Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Award Best Actor countless times.

Zhou Xingxing can also be removed for now.

Among the Four Heavenly Kings, the one recognized as the best at acting is Zhang Xueyou; although he hasn't won a major Best Actor award, he long ago won the Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He also contributed a great many memes to later generations, which can also indirectly reflect that his acting is not bad.

Therefore, Zhang Xueyou can also be removed for now. Although Liu Dehua has always been criticized for his acting, if you look solely at awards, he is the one among the Four Heavenly Kings who has won the most Best Actor awards.

Up to now, he has two Hong Kong Film Award Best Actor titles and one Golden Horse Best Actor title in his hands.

Guo Fucheng, the former "little fresh meat," Asian dance king—looking only at these labels, one might subjectively think his acting must not be great.

But he won the Golden Horse Best Actor for two consecutive years in '05 for "Divergence" and '06 for "After This Our Exile."

To be honest, his performance in these two films was very good, and it really made people look at him with new eyes.

Another former "little fresh meat" who swept across Asia, the Heavenly King Li Ming who dominated back then with his looks—people might also subjectively think his acting is very poor.

However, he also won the Golden Horse Best Actor in '02.

That leaves the last one, who is also the most famous among these people, Cheng Long; his label is comedy action star, and perhaps some might think his acting might not be much.

However, Cheng Long has also won the Golden Horse Best Actor and the Golden Rooster Best Actor.

It's just that his action star label is too strong, masking his acting.

It wasn't until the '09 film "Shinjuku Incident" came out, where Cheng Long abandoned his specialty of action scenes, that everyone discovered his acting was actually very good.

So, after Cao Yang checked the information in detail, he discovered that these actors who can represent Xiangjiang almost all have Best Actor titles under their belts.

It's not easy to pick a "soft persimmon."

Perhaps he can only choose one who has left a fixed impression on the audience.

For example, Cheng Long with the kung fu label, or Li Ming or Guo Fucheng who started as "little fresh meat," or the Heavenly King Liu whom everyone thinks has average acting.

Let's wait and see; he still needs to combine other conditions before finally making a choice.

What needs to be done first now is to let the word out, see the reaction from Xiangjiang, and also temporarily put an end to the thoughts of Xiangjiang and Wanwan capital wanting to smear Cao Yang online as "not united."

If it weren't for the Olympics next year, the words "not united" would have almost zero impact on Cao Yang; it is precisely at this critical moment that being labeled as such is still a bit troublesome.

In "Manchester by the Sea," besides the male lead, there are three other relatively important roles: the male lead's wife, his brother, and his nephew.

The male lead's wife has very few scenes, but she is very important.

Cao Yang is preparing to try and invite Zhang Manyu to play this role; her age is appropriate.

If she really has retired from acting, it doesn't matter; there are plenty of Best Actresses in the country, and he can just grab one to fill the spot when the time comes.

For the role of the nephew, he won't conduct a large-scale casting call; there's no need.

Usually, large-scale casting calls are just gimmicks to promote a movie; Cao Yang's movies don't need to do that in the country, nor do they need such gimmicks.

The male lead's nephew is a high school student, so he can just find someone with a youthful face from the students at the Beijing Film Academy; it can be considered a benefit for the students, and spreading it will further stimulate the enthusiasm of students wanting to apply to the Beijing Film Academy.

The other role, the protagonist's brother, also doesn't have many scenes; finding a teacher from the Beijing Film Academy to make a guest appearance or finding a veteran actor from Xiangjiang will work, there's not much difference.

Therefore, the most important thing right now is the choice for the male lead.

Because the word was deliberately let out, in a short time, many people in the Xiangjiang film and television circle knew that Cao Yang intended to film an art-house movie, which would most likely go to next year's Berlin International Film Festival.

Most importantly, the male lead has plenty of scenes, and it is said that Cao Yang also intends to find an actor around forty years old from Xiangjiang to play the male lead.

It really was a stone that stirred up a thousand waves.

As for the male lead of a Cao Yang movie, don't look at how their media wasn't very willing to report on Cao Yang before; for actors in the Xiangjiang film and television circle, this is absolutely the highest-quality resource, the director they most want to cooperate with, and the "high branch" they most want to climb.

Setting aside other factors, just look at Wu Qihua's status and influence and you'll know...

Thinking of this, countless people were startled; everyone knows Director Cao Yang is sentimental and likes to use "old" people—could this role be for Wu Qihua?

Then, a reporter interviewed Wu Qihua.

Unexpectedly, Wu Qihua smiled bitterly in front of the camera and said that Director Cao felt his image didn't quite fit the character's positioning, so he had no connection to this film.

Once this interview came out, it was truly lively.

Every actor in Xiangjiang around forty years old, regardless of their status or whether they had acting contracts in hand, all looked for friends and connections, both openly and secretly, to inquire about the news, wanting to know what kind of actor Director Cao needed and if they had a chance.

The "Two Zhous and One Cheng," "Two Liangs," plus the "Four Heavenly Kings"—these people all took action.

"Alright, alright, thank you, Han Zong. I'll treat you to a meal another day."

Cheng Long hung up the phone, put away the smile on his face, and sighed.

He hadn't managed to glean much information from Han Zong at the China Film Group.

Han Zong only speculated that Cao Dao was most likely using this film to make a run for the Berlin Golden Bear, as Cao Dao was only one Golden Bear away from achieving the Grand Slam of the three major European film festivals.

As for the film's content or related information, Han Zong said he wasn't too sure either.

Han Zong's words made Cheng Long even more restless.

A film aiming for a Golden Bear Grand Slam would definitely have guaranteed quality; it was highly likely to be another classic art-house film.

As long as this film could win the Golden Bear, it would absolutely secure a place in film history.

Who wouldn't want to occupy a place in film history and become an unavoidable name?

Of course, that was only part of it.

Cheng Long knew his own situation best.

The performance of "Rush Hour 3" had been unsatisfactory, causing him to lose almost his last chance in Hollywood; the "Rush Hour 4" he had originally intended to greenlight was now nowhere in sight.

He had already accepted it, thinking he would just focus on the mainland, since he couldn't really fight anymore anyway.

Who would have thought that his last straw of hope would appear without any warning—if he could get connected with Cao Yang, perhaps there would still be a chance in Hollywood.

Even if there were no more chances in Hollywood, following Cao Yang would mean he could "walk through" the mainland film and television industry with ease; wouldn't that be much better than trying to find his own way again?

Besides, what if this film could win him a Berlin Best Actor award?

The three major European film festivals—the halls of world cinematic art—who doesn't have a heart that yearns for art?

If he really starred in this film and won a Berlin Best Actor award, wouldn't that be the most perfect conclusion to his nearly finished "world cinema journey"?

Perhaps it could even be seen as an exclamation mark.

He took out his phone, feeling excited and wanting to call Cao Yang—this was actually a very poor approach; if the other party refused, there would be no room for maneuver.

This was also the reason why he hadn't called Cao Yang directly before, but had called Han Zong instead.

Just as he flipped through his contacts, he slapped his forehead and muttered to himself, "I've really lost my mind."

Tossing his phone onto the sofa, Cheng Long paced back and forth with a furrowed brow.

Then, slapping his thigh, he decided to make a trip to Jingcheng to see if he could talk to Cao Dao in person.

As long as Cao Dao was willing to use him, never mind a share of the profits; he would be willing to do it for a symbolic one-dollar salary!

(End of chapter)