Global Film Emperor

Chapter 184 "The Boss" Filming Completed

It goes without saying how fast Hong Kong films are made; anyone with even a slight understanding of Hong Kong cinema knows that even at its peak, it was synonymous with shoddy production.

Some movies even went from project initiation to filming to release in just over a week. If it was made out of personal interest, that would be one thing, but for a movie made to make money to be produced so quickly really shocked many people.

It can be said that the glory of Hong Kong cinema was built on countless crude and bad films. Behind the various classic old films from Hong Kong that people see today are a huge number of garbage movies.

This relentless pursuit of speed continues to affect Hong Kong directors; speed is their primary goal. In this era of ever-increasing aesthetic standards, the decline of Hong Kong cinema seems to be a foregone conclusion.

Although there are many reasons such as the place being too small, the scale not being large enough, and the investment being too small, Lu Ze felt that the people of Hong Kong had enough imagination, enough stories, and were not too bad in any aspect.

The size of the location and the amount of investment are not the decisive factors; the most crucial factor is the attitude towards filmmaking.

Just like the Koreans next door, to be honest, their places aren't very big and their investments aren't high, but the films they make criticizing the government are quite influential. At least they've opened the eyes of the people of our great China. It's quite astonishing that there are such cowardly governments in the world.

This wasn't something that no one in the Hong Kong film industry had considered, but they dared not change it because investors were used to quick returns. Previously, films were completed in three months; now, you're asking if you can film for a year? It would be strange if the big investors didn't throw you into Victoria Harbour to feed the fish.

So fundamentally, the decline of Hong Kong cinema, like the era of bad movies featuring popular young idols in mainland China, stems from the control of capital, which led them astray.

In other words, the mainland has a large population base, coupled with the country's growing strength and rapid development, and the continuous improvement of people's living standards and ideological levels. This allows it to withstand the growing pains of the film and television industry going astray and bring it back on track. However, Hong Kong has a smaller population, and they simply cannot withstand the pressure.

Filming for "The Boss" began in December and has now reached the end of May, which is nearly six months – a long filming period for a Hong Kong tycoon.

This is the filming of Jia Helong's autobiographical movie. Young Master Jia said that it must be made well, otherwise investors would definitely be urging him to do it now. But after polishing it for a few more months, Song Qingmin couldn't withstand the pressure.

So, at 3:40 pm on May 27th, the final scene of "The Boss" was about to be filmed.

"Lighting technician, props! Is the cameraman ready? Let's try to get it in one take, then wrap it up and have dinner! How's the makeup going?"

"Lu Sheng just needs a little bit of makeup to finish, it'll be done soon."

The production crew was making the final adjustments. The Song family team had been very diligent, quickly getting all the equipment ready, all waiting to have a feast after filming was over.

When Lu Ze came out of the dressing room, he looked twenty years older. He already looked older than his actual age, and with his obese body and the mustache stuck to his mouth, he now looked to be around fifty years old.

"Aze has been cast in a play."

"Okay, I'll be there right away!"

Hearing Song Qingmin's call, Lu Ze handed the water glass to Wang Zixuan, grabbed a tissue to gently wipe the water stains off his fake beard, straightened his suit, and walked into the film set.

"The Boss, Act 57! Scene 2! Begin!"

The waiter opened the Rolls-Royce door, Jia Helong took a puff of his cigar, exhaled a wisp of white smoke, and then took out a bill and handed it to the waiter.

"Thank you, Master Jia."

Without looking at the waiter, he calmly nodded, hummed in response, and then slowly walked into the hotel lobby.

Ah Er followed behind him like a dog protecting its master, or a bloodthirsty wolf. He turned his head to look at the men and women in gold and silver in the hall. Instantly, there was no sound in the hall, and even the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

No one is afraid of Jia Helong. Even though he is currently in dire straits and surrounded by enemies, he is still the uncrowned king of Hong Kong.

"Master Jia."

When passing by hotel guests, they would all stand up and bow to greet Jia Helong, regardless of whether you were a young lady from a certain company or the son of a high-ranking official, or even if your father was present.

A young man in a white suit nervously greeted Jia Helong. Jia Helong stopped and stood beside him, turning his head to look at him expressionlessly, which made the slick-haired, brooding man sweat.

“Ah Jie, you and Ah Hao were childhood friends. He passed away yesterday. Why weren’t you there? I think he would have really wanted to see you.”

"Master Jia...it's me."

What could he say? That the entire Jia family is going to die out, that the Jia family is going to fall, and that his father forbids him from having any more contact with Ahao? That he's afraid of getting into trouble? If he dared to say that, he had no doubt that A'er, who was behind Jia Helong, could shoot him dead.

“I understand, relax. I didn’t come here specifically to see you. It’s just that Ah Hao considered you his best friend, but you didn’t even come to visit him before he was buried. He was my most beloved son, and you hurt a father’s heart.” “Master Jia, I was wrong! I’ll go see him right now.”

"Don't apologize, it's all in the past, isn't it?"

He stuffed the cigar into the man's wine glass, patted the man's shoulder, turned and left, pressed the elevator button. The people in the elevator greeted Jia Helong and quickly made way for him, waiting for the next elevator.

Ah Er has gone mad, his mind is extremely unstable. He probably would even kill his own mother, except for Jia Helong. He pressed his face against the brooding man's, exhaling heavy breaths from his nostrils. After staring at the man for two seconds, he turned around and followed Jia Helong.

The waiter pushed open the door to the banquet hall, where a dozen or so people were sitting. They were all old heroes who had followed Jia Helong in conquering the country. In fact, there were some old generals who were not present today because they were either dead or had turned against him.

After Jia Helong entered the banquet hall, a group of people stood up and bowed to him. Jia Helong waved his hand casually, sat down in the main seat, picked up a pack of cigarettes from the table, took one out, and Ah Er lit it for him.

His subordinate poured Jia Helong a cup of tea, but Jia Helong didn't touch it. He just leaned back in his chair, pinching the corner of his eye with his left hand and gently tapping the table with his right hand, which was holding a cigarette.

“I have eight sons. No, I have no sons anymore. I only have one daughter. She has my blood, but she hates me. Big Tooth.”

"Master Jia, I'm here."

“Take that Liang Changwei to Australia. You can go with him and take care of him and watch him grow up.”

"I understand, Master Jia."

Da Ya seemed somewhat reluctant. As a loyal subject, he naturally did not want to take care of a half-grown boy when the gang was going through a turbulent time, even though he knew in his heart that this boy named Liang Changwei was Master Jia's last son.

But he also knew that he had no choice but to listen to what Master Jia said. It was a chance to survive, and although he didn't want it, he had to accept it since Master Jia had given it to him.

Are the remaining people afraid of dying?

"What's there to be afraid of? Just tell me what to do, Boss Jia, and I'll do it!"

"I'm not afraid! Losing my head is just a scar the size of a bowl! I'll be a hero again in eighteen years!"

These people had all sorts of opinions, but none of them said they were afraid of death. Jia Helong rested his chin on his hand, picked up his teacup, blew on the steam, took a sip, and looked indifferent. He had never valued his life. The lives of his subordinates, his family, his opponents, and even his own life were all insignificant to him.

"Alright, Tiger, blow up Raul's house tonight. Kill his wife, his son, and his daughter. Contact the Vietnamese. I need guns, the more the better. Black Turtle, go to Macau and set fire to it tomorrow. Oh, and Ah Er, there's something you need to do."

"Brother Long, please speak."

"Send that damn bastard downstairs to see Ah-hao, right now."

"it is good."

Ah Er immediately pushed open the door and went downstairs. Less than a minute later, several gunshots rang out downstairs, accompanied by a woman's screams. Even Jia Helong and the others on the third floor could hear them.

After finishing his tea, Jia Helong stood up. Da Ya draped a trench coat over his shoulders. Jia Helong descended the steps to the main hall, followed by a dozen burly men in their forties and above.

After Ah Er tucked the gun into his waistband, Jia Helong looked down and saw the brooding man lying at the entrance of the lobby, probably just about to leave the hotel. Ah Er had shot him in the back, and the blood began to spread, staining his white suit blood red.

Ah Er kicked the corpse aside, grabbed a tablecloth from beside him and spread it on the pool of blood. Jia Helong stepped on the tablecloth, left the hotel, threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it, then got into his car and drove away.

"Cut! I hereby declare 'The Boss' filming wrapped! Pack your things! Time to eat!"

Song Qingmin breathed a sigh of relief, and his voice was much stronger than it had been two days ago. Everyone laughed and hurriedly packed up the equipment.

Lu Ze got out of the car and saw Song Qingmin give him a thumbs up. He walked over and hugged Song Qingmin.

"Director Song, it was a pleasure working with you."

"Me too, it's a pleasure working with you."

"."

(End of this chapter)