Chapter 879: Mr. Meng, who do you think is more like your parents?
Although people can't always live in the past, they can't help but miss the past.
Li Yi and Meng Qiguang chatted a lot this day, probably because they hadn't chatted like this with anyone for a long time. Meng Qiguang was almost always talking, and Li Yi was listening and adding a few words from time to time.
Li Yi also heard a lot about his father Li Zhenye from Meng Qiguang.
Time passed like this without even realizing it.
During this period, many people came to visit Meng Qiguang.
So the news that Li Yi was going to film the Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong series "Thieves of Time" naturally began to spread.
The entire Hong Kong film and television industry was shocked by this news.
In fact, at the very beginning, at the Hong Kong Island Light and Shadow Centenary Ceremony, although one of the themes was the "Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong" series of themed movies, everyone knew that in this era, the "money" opportunities for making such movies were really limited.
Except for some old directors and some literary film directors, most people don't really care about this.
Nothing else, because it is obviously difficult to make a commercial film with this kind of subject matter.
In addition, the subject matter is limited to Hong Kong Island’s past, so the market is also limited to Hong Kong Island itself.
But how big can the local market on Hong Kong Island be?
However, no one expected that the first person confirmed to direct and shoot the "Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong" themed movie would actually be Li Yi.
Li Yi is known as the light of Hong Kong Island. It can be said that he is worthy of his name and is almost universally recognized.
And his movies, without exception, are synonymous with success.
Nowadays, Li Yi, the first director in the Chinese film industry, is the first to decide to make a movie with the theme of "Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong Island". Doesn't that mean that this type of movie also has great potential?
To this end, reactions from various walks of life have varied.
Needless to say, the media are all like chicken blood. As long as Li Yi opens a new movie, there will be news.
However, the veteran filmmakers in Hong Kong are all more fond of Li Yi.
Especially those old directors who have plans to make similar films about the past in Hong Kong Island. People tend to be nostalgic, and they are no exception.
Who doesn’t have a movie in mind that they want to make?
However, this type of movie can be said to be the least popular among the unpopular. In the golden age of Hong Kong movies, it was difficult for this type of movie to have a strong commercial performance, let alone now?
Therefore, few companies are willing to invest in such unpopular films.
But now, Li Yi, the director who is known as the most visionary and the best understanding of the audience's preferences, wants to make a movie about Hong Kong Island. Doesn't it mean that this kind of movie will also be loved by the audience?
If the audience likes it, then there will be a market, so the investment that was still being discussed suddenly becomes much smoother.
This is where the influence of the head director lies.
Simply put, if Li Yi is interested in a movie project, he will not worry about poor market response, so for movie projects of the same type, he will naturally not need to worry about not having an audience.
As for new directors, since the same Li Yi dares to make this type of movie, can they also try in this aspect?
Of course, for other directors, some may lament Li Yi's unique vision, while others may be skeptical.
However, it is the entertainment industry that is most affected!
Since the film is about a theme like "Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong Island", Li Yi should be more interested in actors from Hong Kong Island, right?
Therefore, for a while, actors in Hong Kong began to use their connections to inquire about Li Yi's new movie.
Li Yi had no intention of keeping it secret, so he soon found out that the movie Li Yi was going to make was actually a movie called "The Thief of Time" based on Meng Qiguang's real experience.
So for a time, there was an endless stream of people coming to visit Meng Qiguang.
As for what kind of story "The Thief of Time" tells, it was quickly dug out.
Many actors are eyeing this movie.
Even though Li Yi doesn't seem to have made many literary films, no one doubts whether Li Yi can make them well.
After all, Li Yi can film a foreign movie from an outdated era like "Cinema Paradiso", let alone Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong Island?
After all, Li Yi is a native of Hong Kong Island, so many people are optimistic about "Thieves of Time".
In fact, this is not a secret. After Li Yi finished talking to Meng Qiguang, he started to submit the script for preparation.
However, compared with the past, when some movies had to rack their brains to find suitable actors, "Thieves of Time" actually had too many suitable candidates.
To put it simply, the characters in "Thieves of Time", including Papa Luo and Mama Luo, have the most suitable actors in Hong Kong Island.
Because this requires middle-aged actors, the kind who have a sense of vicissitudes of life, but what type of actors are most popular in Hong Kong Island?
Isn't it this kind of thing?
It can be said that from top stars to minor supporting actors, there are really many talents in this field in Hong Kong.
And each can fulfill both roles.
On the contrary, it made Li Yipo somewhat difficult to choose.
Of course, "Thieves of Time" is not without limitations. For a movie like this, it is about the story of the people at the bottom of Hong Kong society.
Therefore, actors with too personal characteristics are not suitable. For example, Chen Weijie was very interested in the role, but was rejected by Li Yi immediately.
After all, Chen Weijie is too famous in Hong Kong Island, and his personal image and characteristics are too outstanding.
In the end, Li Yi directly handed over the decision to Meng Qiguang. According to Li Yi, this was the story of Director Meng.
Li Yi joked: "Director Meng will recommend which actor he thinks is more similar to your father."
Isn't it? Originally "Thieves of Time" was adapted from the story told by Meng Qiguang, although there are some differences.
Meng Qiguang quickly recommended Li Yi to his "dad and mom" candidates.
One is Hong Kong Island's relatively late-blooming actor, Fong Chi-sheng.
Fang Zhisheng is very interesting. In the first ten years of his acting career, he rarely played any decent leading role in movies.
Fang Zhisheng initially became an actor solely to help his mother maintain the family's livelihood.
This is actually similar to many veteran actors in Hong Kong. For example, Chen Weijie had this idea when he first started acting.
There was a big difference between being an actor at that time and now, because the income of actors at that time was actually not higher than that of other industries. On the contrary, many actors actually earned dead wages.
Before Fang Zhisheng really became famous, he had almost never played any decent male protagonists. Even if he had male protagonist roles, they were all restricted.
However, many years of acting career allowed Fang Zhisheng to hone his acting skills, which is why he became an instant hit. He played the role of a serious male protagonist for the first time and won three box office awards and reputation.
He is also known as the representative of Hong Kong actors who are late bloomers!
ps: It seems that there are double monthly passes this month. It’s the end of the month. Old friends, please come over if you have any monthly passes! They are expired and invalid!
