Chapter 465: Work Adaptation, Grand Narrative

Chapter 465: Work Adaptation, Grand Narrative

Chapter 465: Work Adaptation, Grand Narrative

“The worldview of Shushan is vast and complex, with elements such as the battle between immortals, demons, and good and evil, all of which are very attractive.

But how to organically combine these elements to form a self-consistent universe is what we need to focus on.”

In the office on the top floor of the Galaxy Building, two of China's top directors are having an in-depth discussion on the new project, the "Shushan Movie Universe".

[Shushan Movie Universe], although it started with Tsui Hark's "Shushan Legend"
The origin of this story, but the root of it actually comes from another older martial arts novel "The Legend of Swordsman in Shu Mountain".

The author of this book is Li Shoumin, the author of Huanzhu Tower. It was published very early, starting from 1932 in Tianjin's Tianfeng Newspaper. By the turn of the s and s, it had reached volumes.

The novel focuses on the development and rise of the Emei Sect, and tells the miraculous experiences of the Emei disciples "Three Heroes and Two Clouds" and "Seven Dwarfs" and others who became disciples and learned skills and slayed demons.

In that turbulent era of war and smoke, China gave birth to such a legendary work as "Shushan", which is extremely fantastic, bizarre, and combines traditional classical culture with gods, demons, flying swords and jumping balls. It can truly be regarded as "a spectacle unprecedented in the world of novels."

This masterpiece of Chinese mythology also directly influenced the development of new-style martial arts novels such as Jin Yong's in later generations. Even the fairy-tale and fantasy online novels after the millennium were more or less influenced by the novel "Swordsman of Shu Mountain".

It can be said that Li Shanji, the great master of fantasy and martial arts novels, had a broad mind and a powerful pen. With his vast and free imagination and magnificent and unpredictable writing style, he created a whimsical world of immortals in "Shushan", opening a new chapter in the uninterrupted tradition of immortals for Chinese novels.

“Of course, it would not be feasible to adapt the film completely according to the original version of ‘The Legend of Sword and Fairy’.” Wang Hao gave the conclusion directly.

Although novel masters such as Wen Ruian and Ni Kuang called "The Swordsman of Shu Mountain" "the most amazing book in the world", and Jin Yong also highly praised it, because the book was written at an early time, "The Swordsman of Shu Mountain" is actually not suitable for today's readers.

On the one hand, it has the common problems of traditional classical novels, with difficult and awkward descriptions of content.

On the other hand, the storyline itself is grand but scattered, with many characters and frequent scene changes.

These are very reader-unfriendly and naturally will not be liked by young readers.

“So this time we not only want to make a breakthrough in visuals, but also work hard on the world view, character relationships and emotional core.”

Tsui Hark echoed Wang Hao's words and raised his own question:

"Of course, we must first clarify what the core of this [Shushan Movie Universe] is?
In the original version of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", which elements and contents do we need, which ones should be discarded, and which ones need to be modified?

Is it a fight between the Shushan sects, or a confrontation between good and evil? Or is it the growth story of a hero? "

Wang Hao shook his head and said with a smile: "Director Xu, you haven't changed your mind yet. Why do you want to make a choice?"

Xu Ke was a little confused, "Mr. Wang, what do you mean?"

"Of course I want them all!" Wang Hao stretched out his hand and clenched it into a fist, as if he was holding everything in his palm.

He said:
“We are going to create a movie universe, Director Xu!

You have to change your past mindset, which is different from the "Once Upon a Time in China" series and other series of films you shot before.

The development of a cinematic universe is far more grand than a film series, and can naturally accommodate more clues and themes, and conduct more explorations and attempts.

The confrontation between good and evil, the struggles between sects, the growth of characters, and even the differences between immortals and mortals, all of these can be accommodated.

The original version of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" has complicated content, confusing plot, grand world, and many characters. It is indeed extremely difficult to compress it into a one and a half hour or two hour movie.

But if it is integrated into a movie universe and a dozen or even dozens of movies are used to describe this world, then everything will not be a problem.”

After Wang Hao said this, Tsui Hark immediately reacted.

"Mr. Wang, you are right. I am old and confused. I can't think straight."

He couldn't help but stand up excitedly and paced back and forth in the office.

Wang Hao's words completely inspired him, and made him rethink the "Shushan Cinematic Universe" by combining the examples of "Galaxy Cinematic Universe" and "Marvel Cinematic Universe".

"Indeed, if it is a movie universe, we don't have to be so hasty. We can first split up the characters in the original novel, film their own personal stories, and then pair them up based on several major events in the novel..."

“Hahaha, you’re following the Eastern version of the Avengers,” Wang Hao laughed, “but the idea is correct. Our screenwriter department is already analyzing the book and summarizing it in this regard.”

"Of course, even if there is a 'movie universe' framework that can include the entire 'Swordsman of Shu Mountain', the main plot still needs to be there.

For example, our [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] is divided into five or six stages. The first stage is "The Three-Body Problem", which mainly tells the story of the battle of wits and courage between humans and aliens. The second stage is "The Wandering Earth", which tells the story of the indomitable fighting spirit of mankind.

[Shushan Cinematic Universe] also needs to tell the story in stages and main lines.

Fortunately, the original novel of "The Legend of Swordsman" also has a general idea about this. For example, the sword fight in Ciyu Temple in the early stage, where all the sword masters gathered to defeat the evil demon, can be used as a plot detonator.

There will also be the opening of the Emei Palace and three sword fights later on, which will progress gradually from small conflicts to big ones."

"The main plot will still be the confrontation between good and evil and the struggle between sects," Tsui Hark concluded.

Wang Hao nodded, but then shook his head, "I don't think this is enough."

"What's not enough?" Tsui Hark asked, "The main plot is simple and clear enough. For a commercial film, the conflict is already good enough."

Compared to Wang Hao, Tsui Hark, who had experienced two previous failures, is undoubtedly much more cautious in his mentality, so now on the project of "Shushan Movie Universe", the two seem to have lost touch.

Wang Hao used to be steady and cautious, but he was radical and bold in the project "Shushan". Tsui Hark was once called a "genius", but in this comeback work, all he thought was "Don't do it, let me shoot it well."

"A simple story with gorgeous special effects and some elements of Chinese classical culture is enough. The audience will definitely love it."

Tsui Hark didn't dare to refute Wang Hao and could only try his best to persuade him not to do anything weird like his past self.

He knew that young people tend to become arrogant after they become successful, especially after continuous success. He was like that himself at the beginning. Now looking at Wang Hao, Tsui Hark seemed to see himself when he was about to shoot "The Legend of Zu".

The same high spirits, the same success, the same firmness.

However, Wang Hao was actually calmer than he thought. "The audience may like to watch what you said, but they can't always like it. People will always get tired of it.

[Shushan Movie Universe] has more than a dozen or even dozens of works planned. Can it continue to use this routine?

In this regard, we cannot learn from Hollywood's [Marvel Cinematic Universe]. "

What Wang Hao said was based on the reality he described based on his past life experience.

In 2025 of his previous life, even the Marvel Cinematic Universe inevitably fell into a state of decline.

On the one hand, this is due to the deep interference of European and American political correctness and feminism, and on the other hand, Marvel's movies have reached the point where there is nothing left to shoot.

“There are only so many types of so-called dramas and stories. Hollywood divides commercial films into ten categories.

Haunted house, golden fleece, wish fulfillment, troublesome guy, ritual of transformation, companionship, detective reasoning, fools succeed, institutionalized, superhero.

Although this classification is not comprehensive enough, the so-called new stories that came later were nothing more than new wines in bottles based on these, or a combination of different types.”

Wang Hao spoke slowly and logically. After Tsui Hark thought about it carefully, he couldn't help but nodded, indicating that it made sense.

“So how do we make the [movie universe] or the work more vital?”

While Tsui Hark was pondering this question, Wang Hao gave a direct answer.

“That’s about connecting the work to our own history and giving it a deeper cultural flavor.

This is precisely our biggest advantage over Hollywood movies.”

“Don’t be fooled by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood movies, but what history do they have? The country was founded only two hundred years ago.

China is the only country in the world with a credible and verifiable history.

Our history is not fictional or imaginary, nor is it full of myths and legends like Europe’s. Credible history has created an ancient heritage and formed the continuation of culture. After three thousand years of development, it has even been integrated into the blood of the Chinese nation and together formed a splendid civilization.

This is the inexhaustible cultural treasure of our Chinese nation.

Therefore, when we create cultural works such as the Shushan Cinematic Universe, we must be careful not to be superficial. If we are superficial, it will fall apart. Audiences may enjoy it at first, but after a while they will become bored and lose the sense of immersion and fail to experience the power to move people.

In fact, your original "Huang Feihong" series did a very good job in this regard, especially the second part "A Man Should Be Strong", which incorporated family and country feelings into the film and combined it with chivalrous culture. It is no longer limited to personal love, but tells stories with a big pattern and vision. "

When Tsui Hark heard Wang Hao talking about the "Once Upon a Time in China" series, he couldn't help but show a smile on his face.

“For example, my Galaxy Cinematic Universe actually has a hidden thread like this.

On the surface, it tells all kinds of strange science fiction stories, but if you study it carefully, you will find that the development of the story is actually inextricably linked to the rise of our country.

The reason why [Galaxy Cinematic Universe] is so popular is that the story is only one aspect. The grand narrative of the rise of a great power hidden behind it is the important reason why it is more sought after and welcomed as the national self-confidence is growing. "

The rise of a great power! The work caters to the general trend!
Wang Hao's words were a wake-up call to Tsui Hark. The other party was explaining to him the creative ideas of cultural works from a high-level perspective.

If a film or television work wants to be popular and have long-lasting vitality, it is not only necessary to have an interesting story, beautiful pictures, and outstanding special effects, but also to determine the tone at the beginning of the project, keep pace with the times, know what the audience wants to see, and let the work conform to the trend of the times and take off.

“Similarly, what kind of momentum does the [Shushan Cinematic Universe] need?
Today, our country's economy is developing rapidly, the people are prosperous, the social spirit is uplifting, the national self-confidence of the Chinese people is high, and culturally they naturally pursue "abandoning the West and returning to the East."

In the past, everyone yearned for life in Western society, studied Western culture, and admired the West's leadership in science and technology and humanistic thought. Even when making movies and writing novels, people were proud to win awards in the West.

But now you see, what do those Western awards mean to us? Since the Beijing Olympics, these have lost their charm. People don’t care about them at all, but they don’t take them that seriously.

What replaced it was traditional culture, classical aesthetics, national trend and national style.

The music industry actually reacted to this earlier than our film and television industry. Jay Chou's Chinese-style songs directly led the trend, which is proof of this.

Traditional Hanfu and our intangible cultural heritage are beginning to attract more and more attention, which is enough to prove the revival of Chinese traditional culture.

Therefore, the Shushan Cinematic Universe must also grasp this trend. First of all, the core and tone of the story must be our own culture and our own things, rather than the growth, justice, freedom and love of Western Hollywood. "

Xu Ke thought for a moment, "I understand what you mean now. See if I understand it correctly."

He is not an uneducated person. The fact that he was able to produce works such as "Once Upon a Time in China" series, "Green Snake" and "New Shushan Swordsman" is enough to show that he has done some research on Chinese traditional culture.

“The Western concept of growth, justice, freedom and love is based on the underlying logic of their culture, which focuses more on oneself and personal will, but lacks patriotism.

This is also related to their pirate and nomadic history, having a home but no country.

The growth of teenagers in Western movies is a process of moving from childishness to maturity, and from dependence to independence.

The growth of our Chinese youth is to broaden their horizons, set far-reaching goals, establish their mission for all living beings, and bring peace to all things.

Justice in Western movies is absolute, while justice in Eastern movies is relative.

The freedom in Western movies is individualism and the absolute power of man, while the freedom in the East is Zhuangzi's freedom to ride the wind and transcend the world.

Love in Western movies is for you and me to be enemies with the whole world, while love in the East is "helping the world when you are successful."

We make our own films, which does not mean that we cannot have these elements, but we should tell our own stories based on our own history, culture, philosophy and social background. "

"Not bad!"

Wang Hao nodded with satisfaction, drank the tea in the cup, and felt happy for Tsui Hark's realization.

With this understanding, at least the main tone of the "Shushan Cinematic Universe" is stable.

(End of this chapter)