Chapter 217: Chinese Version of *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*

On December 13, 2003, the 40th Golden Horse Awards were held at the Tainan City Art Center.

The hosts were still Cai Kangyong and Zheng Yuling, but Lu Kuan ultimately didn't come, which made Hou Xiaoxian sigh.

As the organizer, in order to show the sincerity of reconciliation between the two sides, and also to judge fairly from the actual quality of the film.

In the end, the Best Feature Film was won by *Shoplifters*, filmed on the island.

It defeated *Infernal Affairs* of Media Asia, *PTU* of Mei Ah, and *Blind Shaft* invested by Lu Kuan himself.

However, in the selection of Best Director and Best Actor and Actress, Lu Kuan, Zhou Xun, Feng Yuanzheng, and others all missed the awards.

Instead, Bingbing, under the public relations of Huayi, defeated Lu Qiaoyin and others to win the honor of Best Supporting Actress.

There was also an unknown Wang Baoqiang who was awarded the honor of Best New Actor.

This award was won by Liu Yifei of *Drummer* last year, but she voluntarily gave it up for some reason.

In the award session, the inappropriate teasing of Hong Kong actor Liu Dehua by Cai Kangyong and Li An caused the latter's unhappiness and the attacks of many fans.

On the blog site, there was no lack of fans of Andy Lau who turned over Lu Kuan's commentary blog post from the same day last year as a weapon, greatly belittling the gold content of the Golden Horse Awards.

There was also no lack of clear-eyed audience members who pointed out that the Golden Horse Awards jury was being a whore and setting up a memorial arch.

They wanted to reconcile with Director Lu from the mainland, but because people didn't come, they only issued an important award hesitantly to maintain their pitiful self-esteem.

The saying of "Dead Horse Award" became rampant again, which made Hou Xiaoxian very headache, and he called Lu Kuan to complain for ten minutes.

Boss Lu was preparing the script for the next movie in the study of the Ice Cellar Wang Mansion.

Since his rebirth, he had basically maintained the creation progress of one movie a year.

The copied *Drummer* and *Thief* were both commercially adapted on the basis of art films.

Making their lens language, narrative structure, and film style more adapted to the mainland market and audience.

This time, in the filming of the original script *Exotic*, Lu Kuan explored the filming of sci-fi theme movies from scratch, used a variety of lens techniques and narrative skills, and completely operated this movie as a commodity.

Three movies, and his two debates with literary directors and film critics, allowed him to successfully establish the banner of the first commercial film director in the country.

But for this work in 2004, he wanted to do more artistic attempts and go to impact the awards of the three major European film festivals again.

If Boss Lu had any dreams after living two lives, it was nothing more than tossing around in the one-third of an acre of movies.

At Beijing Film Academy, when facing the question of Jia Kezhang, one of the Seven Gentlemen, "Do you admit the value of art films," Lu Kuan answered without hesitation, of course.

Whether it is art films, the pursuit of the director's extreme personal style, or wanting to truly leave a name in film and television.

After *Exotic*, he was ready to carry out the maximum individualistic creation beyond the story and commerciality.

To make a summary feedback of the nutrients he had absorbed and absorbed in film art in his two lives.

Otherwise, he would at most reach the extreme on the road of film craftsmen and would never be able to enter the hall and establish his own style and school.

Lu Kuan is now like Zhang Wuji, learning from everyone's strengths because of the perspective of a hanger, learning a little from Wudang, understanding some from Shaolin, and practicing a little from Ming Cult.

He is now going to pursue and pay attention to his unique directing techniques and take out things that truly belong to him.

Let the audience know at a glance, eh, this is Lu Kuan's movie.

Just like seeing the slow rhythm and long empty shots, you know it is Hou Xiaoxian;

Seeing the ubiquitous Hitchcock zoom, you know this is Hitchcock's thriller;

Seeing the circular narrative, you know this is Tarantino;

Seeing the candy color and ubiquitous symmetrical split-screen, you know it is Wes Anderson (*The Grand Budapest Hotel*);

Seeing the oil painting color scheme and grand narrative, you know it is Zack Snyder (*Watchmen*);

And countless world-class film masters who have established personal styles and even founded schools.

Kubrick, Godard, Truffaut, Kurosawa, Woody Allen, Bergman...

After the tempering of three movies, Lu Kuan felt it was time.

It was time to shed the identity of a perfect film craftsman and walk toward the door of Kurosawa, Bergman, and others...

Even if the road is still long, maybe he won't reach the end in his life.

Just like Liu Yifei's evaluation of him, he is only like a pure artist when he touches movies, like a sculptor who is focused.

This artist is creating the script for a new film, adapted from Fitzgerald's novel *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*.

This novel was adapted and released by *Fight Club* director David Fincher in 2008. The American version of *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, and Makeup.

In the original work, Benjamin was born on the night of the victory of World War I in 1918, and his mother died in dystocia.

He was born with a wrinkled face and white hair, an old man image, which made his father Thomas Button terrified and immediately abandoned him at the door of a nursing home.

Queenie, who worked in the nursing home, took Benjamin in and took care of him carefully. Accompanied by the elderly, Benjamin gradually grew up, and the elderly around him kept leaving, but he became younger and younger.

When the heroine Daisy appeared, she was just 6 years old. She and the twelve-year-old Benjamin, who looked like an old man, met and intersected, and love sprouted between them.

As time passed, Daisy gradually grew up, and Benjamin also gradually became younger.

The era background continued to change. In 1939, World War II broke out, and Benjamin's face had become much younger.

He went to Britain to participate in the war and contributed to the anti-fascist war. During this period, he had a short and beautiful love affair with the married Elizabeth.

After the end of World War II, Benjamin was already in the appearance of a middle-aged man. He met the heroine Daisy again after returning to the country. At this time, Daisy was already a successful dancer.

But things changed, and the different growth experiences of the two led to an unhappy breakup.

The turning point of the plot arrived. Daisy had a car accident, but she didn't want her loved one to see her embarrassment. Under Benjamin's pursuit, the two combined and gave birth to a daughter.

But the strange thing was that Benjamin was still in reverse growth. He couldn't accept accompanying his child in the appearance of a child. Under the mental breakdown, he finally chose to leave and went to India.

The big climax of the movie arrived.

After traveling to various countries, Benjamin returned home again. Daisy had already formed a new family. He hated his cowardice and respected her choice, and didn't go to disturb her again.

Benjamin returned to the nursing home. His face was returning to his youth, but he suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

The nursing home found Daisy, and she accompanied Benjamin, whose body was getting smaller and smaller, with heartache, and spent the last time in his life.

At the end of the story, Daisy lay on the hospital bed, recalling her life with Benjamin, while Benjamin closed his eyes like a baby in her arms.

Love, life, death, the torrent of the era, all the elements that art films have are complete, and the story is enough.

What excites Lu Kuan most is that adapting such works to the modern history of our nation can give the protagonist more era significance!

The male protagonist in his script is named Li Ming.

Benjamin was born on the night of the victory of World War I in 1918, and Li Ming was born in Shanghai in 1919. The China of the same era was about to break out the May Fourth Movement.

Choosing Shanghai is considering the birthplace of the nursing home. At that time, only a few concessions had such conditions.

The newborn Li Ming had an old face, dying.

This is just like the Republic of China of the same era: Xinhai succeeded but faced restoration, the face is new, but the inside is deeply trapped in the feudal quagmire.

According to the development of the era, when Li Ming finally became a baby and passed away, the motherland's reform and opening up also achieved certain results.

In Lu Kuan's script, Li Ming's gradual becoming younger and the country's moving from backwardness to prosperity are two intertwined dark lines, which are metaphors for each other.

The United States of the same era did not suffer much attack, while our motherland suffered deeply.

Under such a background, social progress, cultural conflict, ideological liberation, and other connotations that can be excavated are more.

This movie has a certain fantasy color and is a masterpiece full of imagination by the original author.

Specifically in the filming process, the main obstacles are makeup and special effects.

The male protagonist Li Ming's time span from a few years old to old age needs to use the same actor's face, which requires top-notch makeup and special effects technology in the Hollywood film industry.

In the era of 2004, only a few companies like Digital Domain had such technology.

For example, Benjamin in the same period, after choosing a short special actor, Digital Domain would first make a computer animation CG head, then "map" Pitt's expression to this CG head, and finally put this CG head on the neck of the actor playing the childhood Button.

In order to restore the information of the actor's facial expressions, special effects personnel used 3D scanning technology to copy the 3D digital model of Pitt's head.

Then they let Pitt make many kinds of expressions, and made models for each expression separately. At the same time, they also made 3D digital models of Button's head at various ages.

Finally, the producers corresponded the key points of the two models, and finally completed this movie.

No way, if there was AI face-swapping and head-swapping technology in later generations, it wouldn't cost tens of millions of dollars to smash to Hollywood special effects companies.

Male lead Li Ming, Lu Kuan decided to play it himself. He wanted to explore the deeper artistry of this movie from the perspectives of director and actor.

In this way, he couldn't stare at the lens for a long time. Cao Yu's current level is barely enough to be a photographer DP. This kind of work is beyond his ability.

Boss Lu prepared to ask Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang to introduce Zhao Fei to him. This person had just finished filming Feng Kuzi's *Cell Phone* and was considered temporarily idle.

Zhao Fei is also a top photographer in the industry. He once felt that he couldn't learn anything in China, so he went to Hollywood and followed the master Woody Allen to film for a few years.

With such an experience, I think he should be able to adapt to his crew management and filming style.

His next work should be counted as Jiang Wen's *The Sun Also Rises* in 2007, which is considered Lu Kuan's early interception.

If they cooperate well, they will cooperate for a long time, and Cao Yu's ability is already a bit stretched and needs to be tempered.

He is still considering the casting problem.

In the movie, Li Ming travels and participates in the war, meeting all kinds of people. They each influence Li Ming's life in a unique way, enriching the connotation of the story.

Just like Queenie in the nursing home in the original film, giving him maternal love and life guidance;

Captain Mike taught him to face bravely and persist in himself;

The lady wearing a wedding ring made him think about life and death, etc., not all.

Just like *Forrest Gump*, this kind of movie that crosses the river of time is never short of brilliant supporting roles.

December 14, 2003, Beijing Xindongan Cinema, *Crazy Racer* premiere.

"Director Lu!", "Boss".

Lu Kuan came to the event site with ease. Ning Hao, Huang Bo, Zhang Songwen, and a group of main creators greeted him one after another.

It was almost the original team of *Stone*, with a fixed audience group, and the box office and profit expectations were relatively ideal.

"Huang Bo, you are famous now. I just saw the advertisement for Geng Hao you played in the elevator."

Huang Bo bared his big teeth: "Oh my, Boss, are you praising me or yourself? Who doesn't know that those are your industries?"

Boss Lu smiled and pointed at him. High emotional intelligence is different.

If it were someone else, they would definitely reply in a stereotyped way: Thank you Director Lu, I will definitely make persistent efforts!

In late September, Lu Kuan spent 70 million to acquire 51% of the shares of Focus Media. Jiang Beichun took this money to continue burning in the blue ocean of elevator advertising.

By December when *Racer* was released, Focus had occupied 87% of the national elevator advertising market.

The rest were the private land of Jucheng, which was relatively difficult to gnaw.

But just as Boss Lu fooled Jiang Beichun at the beginning, the inquiry realm's investment was not just to solve his urgent need for funds.

It was the business undertaking from *Racer*, *Love in 33 Days* to the later *Lurking*, *Zhu Xian*, which was the key to the sustainable development of the enterprise.

Even if venture capital could take out so much money, you don't have so many businesses!

Now which domestic film and television company has so much output in a year.

Xu Pengle, vice president of Shanghai Film Group, saw Lu Kuan chatting with the crew and walked over. They were one of the distributors.

The main competitors faced by *Racer* at this time node were *Infernal Affairs* and *Cell Phone*.

*Infernal Affairs* was represented by Yu Dong's Bona, so *Racer* continued to be handed over to Shanghai Film Group and the newly invested inquiry realm Xi'an Film for joint distribution, which was considered a force that Lu Kuan deliberately befriended outside Beijing.

"Director Lu, are you going to the Shanghai premiere?"

"It's estimated to be enough. I have to finish the script for the next movie this month, and I have to be busy with the Travel Channel."

Xu Pengle's face dimmed. It was harder than going to heaven to invite this person to stand on the stage now.

If *Racer* was not a project of the company itself, Boss Lu would definitely not spend this time. He really had too many things on hand.

*The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* script and storyboards, *Exotic* post-production, and he had to review the first few episodes of *Zhu Xian* every day.

It is expected that the first four episodes he directed will start filming after the New Year.

Lu Kuan looked at Zhang Songwen, who was like a transparent person in the corner, and called him aside to talk.

"Songwen, after the premiere, take a script in my car, ponder the character, it's an important supporting role, I'll find you to try the play next week."

Zhang Songwen nodded calmly, but his small movements of rubbing his hands betrayed his excited heart.

Among the company's big male artists, Wang Baoqiang won this year's Golden Horse Best Newcomer, auditioned successfully for Feng Xiaogang's *A World Without Thieves*, and it is said that he is also the male lead of the company's next military-themed TV drama;

Huang Bo and Ning Hao were friends before joining the company, and produced two comedy movies together, which really made a name for themselves and walked out of their own acting path;

Hu Ge came from behind, although he hadn't set foot in the movie circle, he was the first choice for domestic ancient idol dramas;

Looking back at himself, he was almost going to compare misery with Zhu Yawen who just joined the company.

He repeatedly advised his roommate Baoqiang to be patient, to be patient, but do good things without asking about the future, but he was also anxious.

Finally, two years after entering the inquiry realm, he waited for his first opportunity!

Zhang Songwen just wanted to find Boss Lu to express his gratitude, when he saw that this washing machine director, who was famous for his flowers, had already been entangled by beauties.

"Little Lu, you are a bit unkind. Every time I ask you out for dinner, you use excuses to block people. How do you say it today?"

Boss Lu looked at the big beauty with some awkwardness, and there was an embarrassment of being caught on the spot for lying.

Big beauty, you too, every time I call and say I have something to do, just listen to it, but you have to get to the bottom of it, making me have to make it up on the spot.

It's not that Boss Lu is not moved by Gao Yuanyuan, it's that he is afraid of sticking to his hands!

Big beauty's female literary youth disease is too heavy, forcing Zhang Yadong to vomit blood. Lu Kuan is afraid that if he gets stained, he won't be able to shake it off.

"Eh? Is there a paparazzi?"

Gao Yuanyuan looked back suspiciously. She specially pulled Lu Kuan to the corner to talk, just to prevent being photographed.

Why does it feel like there was a flash just now.

Su Chang, who was by the corner wall, stroked her chest with a guilty conscience. It was too stimulating, and she was almost discovered.

She came as a company artist to support the direct-line movie.

She had no experience as a paparazzi for the first time, and forgot to turn off the flash.

She edited an MMS and sent it to her best friend Liu Yifei. This new function that came out this year was quite easy to use.

The phone call was made in less than ten seconds.

"What's the situation? Report the location and characters."

Su Chang rolled her eyes: "Xindongan Cinema, *Racer* premiere."

"Characters... Washing Machine and Zhou Zhiruo."

"Zhou Zhiruo?"

Su Chang went crazy: "That's Gao Yuanyuan, code name! Do you understand code name!."

"Why are you so amateur? Didn't you also watch *Lurking* organized by the company last week? Yu Zecheng is also called Deep Sea!"

Liu Yifei didn't care about her Deep Sea or Shallow Water at this time, said "wait for me" and hung up the phone.

The young girl had just finished the second round of rehearsal in the first studio of CCTV, changed clothes, and took Liu Xiaoli out.

"Where are you going?"

"Watch a movie, the inquiry realm's *Racer* premiere."

Liu Xiaoli's face turned black when she saw her daughter's appearance. Does the old mother not know what you are up to?

"Xixi, you have to report to the *Return of the Condor Heroes* crew tomorrow. It's too late to go now."

Liu Yifei was righteous: "It's not late! It's less than 8 kilometers from East Third Ring to Wangfujing, and it won't take twenty minutes to get there."

Liu Xiaoli's face turned even blacker.

You even found out the distance, right!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 218 =====