Chapter 84

This person is Zhang Weiping. For a considerable period of time, all of Zhang Yimou's films, including "The Flowers of War," were produced by Zhang Weiping's New Flower Film Company.

It can be seen that the friendship between the two Zhangs is still in its honeymoon phase, and for a long time, they have been comrades-in-arms.

At this moment, Zhang Yimou introduced: "Weiping, this is an actor I discovered in Guo Dao's crew, Ye Ming. His acting is quite good. I plan to use him as the lead in my next film. Wait a moment, I'll talk to you later."

After saying this, Zhang Yimou turned and said, "Ye Ming, I have a script in hand and want to shoot a new film. I won't mention the name of the film yet, but I want you to play the male lead. Now, I have a question for you: What is your family background?"

This question made Ye Ming pause. It seemed that after 1979, the issue of family background was no longer a problem. After so many years of reform and opening up, why was this still an issue?

Ye Ming hesitated for a moment, and Zhang Yimou seemed to understand something and said, "Don't have any ideas. Actually, my lead character is a poor intellectual. If your background is too good, I'm afraid there will be a gap."

Ye Ming was relieved. My father is a poor intellectual.

Ye Ming then said, "Director Zhang, don't worry. My family is very poor. When I was a child, we could only eat meat during holidays. I have a deep understanding of poverty."

Zhang Yimou nodded and said, "That's good. Now, act out a scene where a rural teacher has just finished a class and returns to his dormitory. Improvise."

There were no props, and this was the most challenging part of the test.

Ye Ming turned and left, his heart pounding. He was a bit nervous and unsure of how to perform well.

The key was how to make Zhang Yimou approve.

At this moment, a flash of inspiration came to Ye Ming. He had seen the original film and deeply understood its atmosphere—poverty, warm love, mutual support, and growing old together.

A vivid picture of a deep rural love story unfolded in Ye Ming's mind.

Suddenly, Ye Ming thought of the key point.

He opened the door, first took a non-existent towel, and patted his body, as there would be chalk dust after class, which needed to be brushed off.

This was a sign of the cleanliness of a poor intellectual.

After brushing off the dust, Ye Ming naturally put the towel back, carefully took off his shirt, folded it neatly, and put it aside. He then rolled up his pants and started working.

Zhang Yimou watched with great interest, but Zhang Weiping was a bit puzzled.

However, Zhang Weiping could see that Zhang Yimou was very satisfied with Ye Ming's performance.

Soon, Zhang Yimou called a stop and said, "Alright. Tell me your understanding of the character."

Ye Ming summarized, "He is clean, so he always pays attention to personal hygiene. However, he is poor, so he needs to take care of his appearance during class and wear better clothes.

But these are for the students. Even if he is poor, a teacher must set a good example for the students.

However, since he only has one good set of clothes, after class, he carefully folds the clothes he wore during class before doing any work to avoid damaging his good clothes.

I think these two points are common among intellectuals of that era, especially teachers."

At this moment, Zhang Yimou asked, "Is anyone in your family a teacher?"

Ye Ming shook his head and said, "No, but my primary school homeroom teacher was such an intellectual, and I remember him vividly."

Zhang Yimou nodded happily and said, "Good. These are things that can't be learned in film school. It's you. Weiping, what do you think?"

Zhang Weiping said generously, "Why are you asking me? I don't understand your industry. If you think he's good, then he's good. Have you decided on the female lead? I wanted to do you a favor."

Zhang Yimou, without giving any face, said, "You're always like this, you can't change your businessman's nature. The female lead is almost decided. She's a new face, but I see potential. She's a student from the Central Academy of Drama, Zhang Ziyi. If she's well-trained, she has a bright future."

Although Zhang Yimou isn't very good at grooming male stars, the "Zhang Yimou girls" are a well-known brand.

Zhang Weiping laughed and said, "Being chosen by you is her luck. Fine, I won't interfere. I'm here to tell you that 'Not One Less' is about to be released. You need to pay attention to the publicity. Also, the film lacks a theme song. How can a film without a theme song be complete?"

Zhang Yimou was taken aback and then pondered for a while, completely ignoring Ye Ming. Finally, he said, "A theme song for this film? That's not a good idea. It's a film about the Hope Project. What kind of theme song would fit our film? We might get criticized."

Zhang Weiping laughed and said, "It's just my intuition. Like last year's 'Titanic,' the theme song 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion was a huge hit. I'm just trying to align with international standards."

Zhang Yimou waved his hand and said, "Don't give me that. I know you. Has someone approached you? What's the point of adding a theme song to a film about the Hope Project? Who approached you?"

Zhang Yimou knew his partner well. If he said this, someone must have raised the issue.

Zhang Weiping laughed bitterly and said, "You know, this is a commissioned film. We can't refuse it. The request came from a leader, and I can't turn it down."

At this moment, Zhang Yimou grunted and said, "In such a short time, how can I find a suitable theme song? This is ridiculous."

Zhang Weiping knew it was ridiculous, but he had no choice. Some things were beyond his control. He frowned and suddenly looked at Ye Ming, who seemed familiar: "Ye Ming, didn't you sing 'Blue and White Porcelain' at the Spring Festival Gala? It was great, I liked it. Since you can write 'Blue and White Porcelain,' why don't you write a song for our film?"

Ye Ming was about to say something, but Zhang Yimou waved his hand and said, "Ye Ming, don't listen to him. He's the CEO of New Flower Film Company, Zhang Weiping. He doesn't know what it takes to write a song. Can you just write one? And it's a commissioned piece, which is difficult. The film is about to be released, and there's no time."

The rough cut was almost complete. 'Not One Less' was in the final stages, so adding a song was impossible.

At least, Zhang Yimou thought it was impossible.

Even Zhang Weiping didn't expect Ye Ming to complete the task. He was just grasping at straws, hoping to find someone.

But to his surprise, Zhang Weiping had a premonition. He doubted anyone could complete the task in such a short time, but Ye Ming was different.

Ye Ming hesitated for a moment and said, "Director Zhang, Mr. Zhang, to be honest, I do have a song that fits the film. I've heard of 'Not One Less,' though I haven't seen it. Your film is already well-known. It's about the Hope Project, and I have a song that fits the theme."

Ye Ming was confident that his song would fit 'Not One Less.'

At this moment, both Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping were stunned, especially Zhang Weiping, whose face showed disbelief, as if he had just won a lottery.

Could a random question to a random person solve the problem?

Zhang Weiping became interested and said, "You have a song that fits the theme? What is it? I must warn you, if the director is not satisfied, it won't work. If you can help me solve this problem, the lead in my next film will be yours."

Since Zhang Yimou had already chosen Ye Ming, Zhang Weiping was just doing him a favor.

Zhang Yimou also said with interest, "Yes, think carefully. This is not an ordinary film. It's a commissioned project for the Hope Project. I'm doing it out of duty. If you get involved and mess it up, it will affect you."

Zhang Yimou was quite satisfied with Ye Ming and didn't want him to get involved.

After all, the film's reception was uncertain, and even as an international director, Zhang Yimou wasn't a god.

Ye Ming said confidently, "Director Zhang, don't worry. I won't take on a task I can't handle."

PS:

Chen Xi stepped forward with big, watery eyes and said, "Please recommend and collect. If the recommendations and collections go up, I'll end my single life soon."

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