Director Muken Sorge's wife is Hua Yanhe took a bottle of red wine to director Muken Sorge's residence here - an independent two-story house.
Lu Yanhe received the invitation at short notice.
After Hua Ruzhen found out that the person on the other end of Muken Sorge's phone was Lu Yanhe, he snatched the phone from Muken Sorge and told Lu Yanhe to come over for dinner in the evening.
"Muken told me before that you live alone now, and there's nothing to see here. It's a vast place with few people. You come to our place for dinner tonight. It's a deal." Hua Ruzhen said without any doubt, without giving Lu Yanhe a chance to refuse.
After the call ended, the address was sent to me.
Lu Yanhe had no choice but to quickly find a bottle of red wine.
After all, you can't go there empty-handed.
Unlike many directors' wives that Lu Yanhe had met, Hua Ruzhen looked like a very ordinary housewife. She hardly wore any jewelry and her hair was just tied back in a very ordinary way.
When Hua Ruzhen came out to see Lu Yanhe, she was still wearing an apron.
She took off her apron and gave Lu Yanhe a warm hug.
"Although I rarely go back to China, my friends and I have always been paying attention to you," Hua Ruzhen said. "When I was in the United States, I would even drive for several hours to a cinema in another city to watch your movies. You are really our pride."
Lu Yanhe was a little flattered and said thank you.
Hua Ruzhen was speaking to him in Chinese. Muken Sorge was standing nearby, not understanding what they were saying, and felt a little depressed.
Lu Yanhe: "Thank you."
"Don't be so polite. I'm older than you. Just call me sister." Hua Ruzhen said, "It's a great honor for the Chinese film industry to have a young person like you. You don't know, because this guy is a director. I often interact with some people in the film industry. When they hear that I am Chinese, they will curiously ask how I know him, and they will mention in their conversation that there are no good movies in China now. It really makes me angry."
She pointed at Muken and added, "The most important thing is that this guy also holds the same view, thinking that our Chinese films are not good enough."
Muken Sorge finally couldn't stand it anymore and said in English: "Hey, don't always speak Chinese, I don't understand!"
Hua Ruzhen immediately turned around, kissed Muken Sorge on the cheek, and said, "Dear, I was telling Yan He that I'm very happy that you two can work together. I feel very proud that the best director and actor in my mind can work together."
After Hua Ruzhen finished speaking, a smile appeared on Muken Sorge's face.
Lu Yanhe looked at Hua Ruzhen in amazement, hiding his surprise.
Hua Ruzhen winked at Lu Yanhe, signaling him to "keep it a secret," and said to them, "I'll go prepare dinner first. You guys go ahead and finish talking about your work. I hope we can talk about something unrelated to the movie at the dinner table later, such as some celebrity gossip you know."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Please help, sister."
Hua Ruzhen tied her apron again and went into the kitchen.
Muken Sorge took Lu Yanhe to his study on the second floor.
Although it was just a temporary residence, it was obvious that he did not lower his living standards at all and even prepared a study for himself.
Muken Sorge picked up a stack of design drawings from his desk, handed them to Lu Yanhe, and said, "Lu, take a look, these are some ideas I drew these past two days. I wasn't very satisfied with the look of your character in the movie before."
Lu Yanhe took it and said to Muken Sorge, "I'm glad that I agree with you."
Muken Sorge: "Wendy is a talented guy, but also a very stubborn guy. Not only you, I have argued with him twice."
Many people think that in front of big-name directors and stars, others dare not express their own ideas, or insist on their own opinions. This is of course a common situation, but there are also some people who, no matter who you are, only think that their opinions are right and that their ideas are better.
There are many examples of conflicts between the heads of various technical departments, especially those like Wendy who have successful works, won awards and are recognized in the industry, and the directors.
Lu Yanhe was not surprised that Wendy had her own opinions and persistence. What surprised him was Wendy's temper and her act of leaving without saying goodbye.
"Muken, you must know that art directors are very important to a film. If you and he have had two arguments, why don't you change someone?" Lu Yanhe said, "This is your film. If the art director cannot implement your opinions and build a film world that meets your expectations, then I think he is an unqualified art director."
Muken Sorge said: "Wendy and Sinalin are a couple. The film was able to get investment from D19 because Sinalin did a lot of work in it. She is also the producer of our film."
Muken Sorge's words shocked Lu Yanhe.
WTF?
Are producer Xin Nalin and Wendy a couple?
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized what an unreliable thing he had done before.
No wonder he was unwilling to communicate with Wendy, and Xin Nalin didn't reply to his message.
Lu Yanhe suddenly thought, if he really had a conflict with Wendy and the two of them could no longer work together, would Xin Nalin replace him?
Lu Yanhe doesn't think his position in the film crew of "The Mist" is that important.
Muken Sorge said: "Cinnarin is a very good woman, but unfortunately, she doesn't have a good eye for men. I don't think Wendy really cares about Cinnarin at all. He is just using her to climb the ladder."
Muken Sorge's words... can be considered quite sharp and harsh.
Lu Yanhe also felt relieved.
If nothing else, Muken Sorge must have hated Wendy very much.
"Muken, if we don't accept Wendy's opinion and must modify and adjust the image of me in their minds, will Xin Nalin accept it?" Lu Yanhe asked doubtfully.
"I am the director of this movie." At this time, Muken Sorge said this again.
-
"So what if he's the director of that play? What does the success of 'Wulin Wai Zhuan' have to do with Bai Jingnian? Everyone knows that the most important creator of this play is Lu Yanhe, right? The script he wrote is the most important."
In China, when Hu Siwei was communicating with an investor he knew well about his investment intention for his next play, he mentioned that the director of the play was Bai Jingnian. Before the investor said anything, his girlfriend, who he brought to dinner with him, suddenly said the above words.
This made Hu Siwei stunned.
The investor glanced at his girlfriend beside him and nodded at her, signaling her not to interrupt.
Hu Siwei smiled and still explained.
"Director Bai Jingnian's style does make it easy for people to overlook his own talent. When he was in Beijing, some leaders in the station also thought so, thinking that he had no talent, and that he just got the credit because he got Lu Yanhe's good script and filmed it. However, you can see the difference between the second and third seasons of "Friends". There was no script by Lu Yanhe either, but the other configurations were similar except for the director, so how big the difference in the reputation of these two seasons was."
Hu Siwei said to the investors, "Even though this drama was not written by Lu Yanhe, and it is not a big IP in the conventional sense, this is the first drama I want to make independently after joining Lu Yanhe's production company. It is also a sitcom. Among sitcom directors in China, the only one who can really make a hit is Bai Jingnian."
"Indeed, he doesn't have any showy skills. The style he shoots is as if he just set up a camera and shoots there. It seems that there is no directly visible artistic style. But he was able to use such a straightforward style, which seems to have no skills, to shoot two sitcom hits, and the audience liked them. This is a skill."
The project that Hu Siwei was talking about was the story of a couple living together that he saw on .
At the beginning, Chen Ziyan bought this IP to attract him to join Linghe.
After Hu Siwei joined Linghe, in addition to the reboot of "Friends", he was working on this project.
"Siwei, I believe in your vision and ability." The investor nodded, signaling Hu Siwei not to say anything more. He said, "However, you also said that you asked Bai Jingnian to direct this drama, but not to find famous actors to star in it. To be honest, you know without me saying that without stars, it will be difficult for this drama to be recognized by the market."
Hu Siwei nodded.
"I can invest, but I hope you can leave the heroine to her."
The investor looked at his girlfriend beside him.
His girlfriend pouted and said, "I don't want to act in a low-budget drama that no one watches. You promised me that you would help me act in a big-budget fantasy drama."
Hu Siwei looked at the woman in front of him who was indeed beautiful but not very smart, and remained silent.
-
Bai Jingnian smiled and clinked glasses with Hu Siwei, saying, "It's normal, calm down. Think about it, even Yan He encountered arguments about character modeling when he went to shoot a movie. We want to shoot a movie, so it's okay to encounter any weirdness."
"He wasn't that kind of person before. Why does it seem like he has become stupid after finding such a stupid girlfriend?" Hu Siwei was speechless.
"It's not that he's become stupid, it's that people don't care about our small production without any stars." Bai Jingnian said with a smile, "The domestic market is like this now. Without stars, even if you find a big TV director, it won't sell. He's not stupid, of course he knows, so of course he's not very interested in investing."
Hu Siwei: "You are still making sarcastic remarks here. If this drama cannot find investment, it will be difficult to promote it."
"Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't Chen Ziyan tell you before? If you really can't find investment, the company will take care of it." Bai Jingnian said, "Anyway, someone will back you up, so what are you afraid of?"
"I'm afraid this drama won't sell and I'll lose a lot of money." Hu Siwei sighed, "I just came to Linghe. If the first drama I made fails, what will I do next? I don't want the company to bear all the pressure for my first drama. I've been in this industry for so long. Will I be unable to get investment if I leave Beijing and Taiwan?" Bai Jingnian: "Then I'll go ask Northern Lights and see if they are willing to invest a part of it?"
"You are now their contracted director, and it is still uncertain whether you can be the director of this play." Hu Siwei asked, "Have you discussed this matter with them?"
Bai Jingnian: "I mentioned to Mr. Lin that although I have signed a director contract with Northern Lights, it is not exclusive. I can also take on other roles. You don't have to worry about this."
Hu Siwei heard this and nodded, "That's good."
Bai Jingnian smiled.
"What are you going to do with the script? Are you planning to ask Lu Yanhe to write it?"
Hu Siwei: "If I could have asked him to write the script, there would be no need to go through so much trouble for this play. Besides, don't you want to see what kind of results you can achieve by making a play that is truly based on your ideas and is not written by Lu Yanhe?"
Bai Jingnian was silent for a moment and nodded.
indeed.
They all have a very good relationship with Lu Yanhe, and they have been through a lot together.
Even so, everyone hopes to truly prove themselves to the world, rather than being questioned by others through tinted glasses: Doesn’t your success depend on others?
"I know your talent, and I really admire your aesthetic taste in film art."
Xin Nalin looked helplessly at Wendy who was still angry and said, "But we can't just quit when we have a disagreement. Lu is the leading actor of this movie, not a small role. You are making it very difficult for me to do this."
Wendy glanced at Xin Nalin and said sarcastically, "Why are you embarrassed? You are a producer anyway. If you really recognize me, you should support me."
"I can't support you." Xin Nalin said after a moment of silence.
"Why?" Wendy showed an expression of disbelief.
Xin Nalin said: "It's not just Lu, Mu Ken actually told me the day before yesterday that he was not satisfied with Lu's image in the movie."
"Why are you telling me now?!" Wendy looked at Xinnalin in disbelief, her voice rising and sharp.
"I originally thought that if Lu Yanhe approved of this look today, I could communicate with Mu Ken based on Lu Yanhe's opinion." Xin Nalin took a deep breath, her eyes becoming deep and unfathomable. "I have always been doing my best to support you, Wendy. You don't know how much I have done for you."
Wendy suddenly became irritable.
"Don't tell me how much you've done for me! You know what I want. What I want is to make a movie that is truly my own, not to be the art director for other people's movies again and again! You promised me before that there will definitely be this opportunity! Where is the opportunity? Why haven't I seen it?"
Xinnalin opened her mouth and wanted to say something.
But Wendy suddenly picked up her cell phone and walked towards the door.
"where are you going?"
"Leave me alone!" Wendy shouted loudly and angrily.
-
"I'm also following 'Wulin Wai Zhuan'." Hua Ruzhen said to Lu Yanhe, "I'm surprised that you could write such a play. It doesn't seem like a subject or story that a young person would write."
Lu Yanhe didn't expect that he met Hua Ruzhen again in the supermarket the next day after meeting her the day before.
As soon as Hua Ruzhen saw him, she showed joy.
Lu Yanhe explained: "People often tell me that the scripts I write don't seem to be written by someone my age."
He looked a little amused.
It's all acting.
"I really like the character of Tong the Shopkeeper in the movie. I don't know how you came up with the idea of creating such a female image. After all - to be honest, if such a female character appeared in a movie directed by Muken one day, I would think he must have asked someone else to help him shoot it." Hua Ruzhen said, "Many men can write a woman like Guo Furong, but it is difficult to write a woman like Tong Xiangyu."
Lu Yanhe thought that the original author Ning Caishen was a man.
"why?"
"To be honest, in China's cultural environment, it's rare to see a widow character like Tong Xiangyu that's so normal and vivid. I've watched quite a few Chinese-language film and television dramas, and the widows in them are either widowed for many years and eventually drive themselves inhuman, or they go to the other extreme and are portrayed as slutty and wanton. The term "widow" already has a certain symbolic meaning, and the word already has a direction, don't you think?" Hua Ruzhen asked.
Lu Yanhe: "I don't really have much of a feeling about this. I've rarely heard anyone say the word widow in my life since I was a child."
Hua Ruzhen showed a look of envy.
"You grew up in a much better environment than I did." Hua Ruzhen smiled and shook his head, "Very good, no wonder you can write such a character."
"Sister, did you grow up in China?" Lu Yanhe asked.
"Yes, but I have never been a Chinese citizen, if that's what you want to ask." Hua Ruzhen said, "My mom divorced my dad when I was three years old and took me back to China. They were both overseas students and got married in the United States. So, even though neither of them had American citizenship, I became an American. I was only three years old when I returned to China, and I don't remember much. Now I basically don't remember anything before the age of three. Later, my mom married another man in China. They lived a happy life, and I was actually quite happy too. They treated me well, but when I was ten, that man had an accident and died."
When Lu Yanhe heard this, his heart skipped a beat.
He immediately realized why Hua Ruzhen cared so much about the widow just now.
You can probably guess it.
"My mother never changed my nationality back for me. In fact, I could have changed it after returning to China when I was a child," Hua Ruzhen said. "Later, when I was studying in Germany, my mother passed away. I went home for the funeral and heard a lot of gossip from relatives, all about my mother. I was young at the time and couldn't control my temper. I took a knife and wanted to chop people. The one who accompanied me back was Muken, who was my boyfriend at the time. He tried his best to stop me, so I didn't really do something irreversible. Otherwise, I might still be in prison now."
Lu Yanhe listened with a serious expression.
"Later, I married Muken and lived in Germany and the United States for many years. I rarely went back to China." Hua Ruzhen smiled gently at Lu Yanhe. "After a long time, I still wanted to talk and chat with Chinese people. I don't know if it's in my genes or if I really grew up in China, but what I recognize and accept in my heart is still the way we are in China. I can never get along with the people around Muken. So I started watching our domestic TV series and movies. I watched a lot of them. I tried to find a sense of familiarity and identity from our domestic TV series and movies. Isn't it ridiculous?"
Lu Yanhe shook his head, "Sister, this is not funny at all, I understand."
At this moment, he was suddenly very glad about one thing.
Although he traveled through time, he still traveled to China and to the body of a Chinese.
Otherwise, the sense of self-identity and acceptance will become more fragmented.
"I really like the drama "Wulin Wai Zhuan"." Hua Ruzhen said, "Compared to "Friends", I still like "Wulin Wai Zhuan" more."
Lu Yanhe: "But unfortunately, this drama is hard for foreigners to understand."
"It's true. Muken didn't really understand it." Hua Ruzhen laughed. "I asked him to watch two episodes with me. He really had 800 questions to ask me. I was too lazy to ask him to watch it with me later, otherwise I would have to explain to him some parts he didn't understand. The subtitles of the international version of Northern Lights were also poorly translated."
Lu Yanhe didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "Then I'll go report this to Beijiguang."
-
It was not until the filming of "The Mist" started that the main character design of Lu Yanhe was finally finalized.
The final look was designed and decided by Muken himself.
Because he always appears as a ghost, he basically doesn't have a second set of clothes, and his appearance doesn't change much.
After the design was finalized, the costume team started working overtime to make the clothes.
Lu Yanhe's role was therefore postponed and he had to wait.
Lu Yanhe thought this was a good idea.
He has never filmed a foreign movie and has no idea what foreign crews are like.
Since I don’t have to act in these few days of filming, I can observe how the crew is running.
The day before filming began, Muken Sorge gathered all the main actors together, introduced them to each other, and read the script together again.
Although The Mist is a film with a low production cost, the cast of this film is surprisingly good. The three actors who played the Asian family who was set on fire and killed that year are all actors who have already starred in famous movies and are also well-known in Europe and the United States.
After all, this is not the work of an unknown new director. Director Muken Sorge's new work can still attract some well-known actors to participate.
Lu Yanhe didn’t know whether they knew each other or not. Anyway, it was the first time he met everyone.
During the breaks between script readings, everyone was chatting.
Wendy is here. (End of this chapter)
