Chapter 354: All the Wise Men Gather

"Hello everyone, my name is Gong Xue, the character I play in the film is Li Mingyu, an assistant teacher in a church school."

"Hello everyone, my name is Yan Shunkai, the character I play is Zhou Jiasheng, a tailor."

"My name is Tie Niu, and I play Li Mingyu's father!"

A fat old man with a broad face and big ears stood up, smiling happily.

Tie Niu is a stage name, an old actor of Shanghai Film Studio, the most familiar roles to the audience should be Han Zhongli in "Legend of the Eight Immortals" and Maitreya Buddha in "Journey to the West".

Most of the content of "Life is Beautiful" is relatively light and has many comedy elements. The father of the heroine bears part of the laughs, so he was asked to play.

Following, another little old man stood up, with a round head and a friendly face.

"My name is Cheng Zhi, and I play a Japanese doctor!"

Cheng Zhi is one of the four villains of Shanghai Film Studio, similar to Chen Qiang and Ge Cunzhuang of Beijing Film Studio. He has a son named Cheng Qian.

Ha!

Chen Qi was happy, very good, Elder Jin Chi is here too.

It's a pity that he played a Japanese, not a Jew, otherwise he could have added a line: "Gaza, my baby Gaza!"

Introduce each one briefly.

"My name is Li Baotian, I play a small official of the pseudo-city government, who often comes to blackmail Zhou Jiasheng."

"My name is Wei Zongwan, I play Zhou Jiasheng's neighbor and friend."

"My name is Zhou Yemang, I play a Japanese soldier."

"My name is Xi Meijuan, I play Li Mingyu's good friend."

"My name is Li Lingyu, I play Gong Xuejie's sister!"

Most of these people are from Shanghai, or have lived in Shanghai for a long time. Especially a few supporting roles that are not very prominent are played by old actors from Shanghai Film Studio, so Chen Qi is relieved.

The main creators got to know each other.

Li Wenhua said: "Today we will go through the script collectively. Time is tight and the task is heavy. Let's work together to get this play!"

…………

It is said that in 1937, Japan occupied the Chinese area of ​​Shanghai.

In 1941, the Pacific War broke out and the Japanese army occupied the concession again.

In 1943, the Wang Puppet Government "took over" the French Concession and the International Settlement. After the concession was taken back, it was still the most prosperous central area of ​​Shanghai.

The story begins in 1940. The heroine is called Li Mingyu. Her father is a celebrity in Shanghai. In order to build good relations with foreigners and to protect himself, he pretends to believe in religion and donates money to church schools.

Li Mingyu is not young when she appears. She has been married once and her husband died early. She received new-style education, knows English, and works as an assistant teacher in a church university.

The name of this school is fictional, but it has a prototype, called St. John's University.

It was founded by American church members and has a great influence. There are many Chinese teachers and students. Famous alumni include: Gu Weijun, Song Ziwen, Lin Yutang, Rong Yiren, Zou Taofen, Zhang Ailing, Pei Yuming, etc.

The hero is Zhou Jiasheng, a very famous tailor. He opened his own shop. His customers are all celebrities and dignitaries, and there are also foreigners who specifically ask him to customize suits. He had more contacts and could speak a few foreign languages. There was also a Japanese doctor who was his old customer.

Li Mingyu often asked him to make clothes, and they became familiar with each other.

Zhou Jiasheng was not good-looking, but he was humorous and sincere, and slowly captured Li Mingyu's heart.

Her father was Westernized on the surface, but he was actually traditional. He looked down on Zhou Jiasheng and didn't like his daughter to show up in public. But his daughter was a second marriage. Not to mention the old society, there were people who talked about it now... In short, after much tugging, Li Mingyu still got married and had a child.

Zhou Jiasheng regarded her as a treasure and was very happy after marriage.

In 1941, the Japanese army occupied the concession and began to strictly manage the household registration of European and American expatriates. In 1943, concentration camps began to detain people.

At that time, there were more than 100,000 foreigners in Shanghai from dozens of countries. Japan listed 16 of them as enemy expatriates. From 1943 to 1945, a total of more than 6,000 people were detained.

At that time, there were 1,369 Americans in Shanghai, and about 700 of them were sent to concentration camps.

Although Japan also persecuted church organizations in Shanghai, it was relatively less inhumane. In early 1945, there were only a few months left before Japan's defeat and surrender.

The Japanese army in the late period of the War of Resistance was different from the early period. The combat effectiveness was weak, there was a lack of food and clothing, and the military discipline was lax. Especially the group of people who were not on the front line, they only knew how to make money.

A good colleague of Li Mingyu was found to have anti-Japanese espionage activities. She helped him conceal it and was implicated. The whole family was sent to the concentration camp.

During this period, soldiers were constantly drawn from the front line, and there were not enough Japanese soldiers guarding the camp. Many concentration camps were merged, and the prisoners began to move. Li Mingyu's family was imprisoned in a concentration camp where people from different countries were mixed.

In order to protect their children, Zhou Jiasheng and Li Mingyu started that game.

The reactions of the people in the same cell were different. Some were indifferent, some were crazy, some were irritable, and some were sarcastic. But gradually, they were all infected by the love of the parents for their children, especially an American couple, Ed Harris and his wife, who joined in unconsciously...

This is Chen Qi's version of "Life is Beautiful".

This kind of script has never been seen in China. There has never been a play set in the Anti-Japanese War era. In the end, the protagonist did not die heroically. Everything started from his own children.

It is not a blockbuster, but a small film. Both the scale and the story framework are very small. The biggest scene is just a few seconds of shots of airplanes and tanks.

But its core is very big.

It is easy to be brilliant to express a large core with a small story framework.

On the contrary, it is funny to use a large framework to express a small core of thought. Chen Kaige likes to do this the most. He shoots it in a grand and magnificent way, with a lot of flowers and clusters. At the end, the theme of the film comes out, just like a joke.

For example, "The Promise" and "Legend of the Demon Cat".

…………

"Gurgle!"

"Puff!"

In the bathroom, Gong Xue spit out mouthwash, washed her face, opened a small white bottle, dipped some, rubbed her face, and gently massaged it.

A voice nearby asked, "What is this?"

"Facial cleanser!"

"Facial cleanser?"

"It removes oil, sweat, and dirt from the skin. Here, try it!"

"I don't need it!"

"It's good to use it. You need to take care of your skin, too."

"I'm OK. I'm still young..."

"Tsk!"

Gong Xue turned her head away. Li Jianqun wiped her face with a towel. She pretended not to see him and walked away, saying, "I have some new ideas for your costume. I asked the teacher at Shanghai Film Studio to modify it. I'll get it for you."

"Jianqun!"

"Oh, let's go."

She ran away.

Gong Xue hummed as she continued to wash her face and brushed her teeth. She came out of the bathroom with a washbasin, wearing a floral vest and big shorts, revealing her smooth calves, and red slippers.

The filming will start tomorrow, and she will also live in the guesthouse from today.

There are many people in the crew, and even the most famous ones have to live together. Her only privilege is that she can choose her own roommate, so she chose the one who is most familiar and the most unreliable.

That’s right, Gong Xue thinks Li Jianqun is unreliable.

She looks pitiful on the outside, but she is free and easy in her heart. She even dares to say that she is old... Humph! Even the little fool dare not say that.