Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 294 The Reflections of a National Treasure-Level Director

"Even if Zhang Wuji had a great reason, he shouldn't have broken off the engagement on the spot and gone with Zhao Min! This humiliation is worse than being torn to pieces or pierced by a thousand arrows! If I, Zhou Zhiruo, don't avenge this humiliation today, I will have no place like Zhu!"

In the television scene, Zhou Zhiruo clenched her fist and crushed the pearl into powder on the spot, vowing to sever all ties with Zhang Wuji.

Since its broadcast at the beginning of the year, "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" has become a hit across the country, especially the Zhou Zhiruo played by Gao Yuanyuan and the Zhao Min played by Alyssa Chia, who have become universally recognized as goddesses of period dramas.

At this moment, Wu Yuchen was holding "Zhou Zhiruo" in his arms: "Tsk tsk, our poor heroine Zhiruo, let your brother Chen comfort you properly~"

Gao Yuanyuan rolled her beautiful eyes and gave Wu Yuchen a light snort: "Hmph, you lecherous thief, watch my Nine Yin White Bone Claw!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen immediately let out a strange laugh: "Hehehe, I've long admired Lady Zhou's reputation. Today, I'll use my unique skill, the Thirty-Six Scattered Hands of Yuchenzi, which I've mastered from the Eighteen Touches, to test my skills against you~"

Soon, the two were locked in combat, but it was clear that the Nine Yin White Bone Claw was no match for Wu Yuchen's unique skill. Before long, the female warrior "Zhou Zhiruo" was panting heavily and begging for mercy.

After a while, the heroine Zhiruo gave up and rested on Wu Yuchen's chest, panting.

Wu Yuchen gently patted Da Meiyuan's pert buttocks: "Yuanyuan, when are you going to join the cast of 'Kung Fu'?"

"It's not decided yet. With SARS going on like this, we don't know when it will be over. I guess the production team can't say for sure anytime soon either," Gao Yuanyuan said, crossing her little feet.

That's right, Wu Yuchen cast Gao Yuanyuan in "Kung Fu Hustle." Given their previous collaboration on "Shaolin Soccer," it's only natural that Stephen Chow would choose to continue working with Gao Yuanyuan on "Kung Fu Hustle." Isn't it only right that the investors give her a leading role?
Moreover, the role of the mute girl is meant to be innocent, isn't it? When it comes to innocence, Da Meiyuan is no less than Huang Shengyi, and her current popularity is much higher than that of a newcomer. Stephen Chow can only give her a thumbs up. What reason does he have to refuse?
However, because "Kung Fu Hustle" was filmed in Shanghai, and the prototype of Pig Cage Alley is Longchang Apartment in Yangpu District, the SARS outbreak has made it impossible to start filming. It has been delayed again and again, and it is unknown when it will be completed.

At this moment, Gao Yuanyuan asked Wu Yuchen, "Brother Chen, I heard that Stephen Chow has a bad temper and is difficult to get along with. Is that true?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "Don't worry, no matter how difficult he is to get along with, he wouldn't dare to bully you."

Stephen Chow's characters in movies are extremely hilarious, but in real life, he is widely recognized as difficult to get along with and has very few friends. Even his golden partner, Ng Man-tat, is rumored to have had a falling out with him, and they never collaborated again after "Shaolin Soccer".

However, Stephen Chow may offend people, but he will never offend money. In this respect, he does better than most people.

Moreover, the roles that Wu Yuchen assigns to the women around him are not intimidating or forced; they are generally quite fitting for the characters themselves.

For example, in another movie, "New Police Story," Wu Yuchen also got Fan Bingbing a role, Zhou Su, a female robber, who is also A-Zu's girlfriend.

In the past two years, Jackie Chan's influence in Hollywood has been waning, and he's begun considering his next move: returning to the Chinese film industry. "New Police Story" is the film he's currently preparing to make for his comeback. Although the film isn't funded by Little White Bear Films, Wu Yu-chen asked for a small role, and Jackie Chan naturally obliged—he's always been adept at handling interpersonal relationships.

Although Zhou Su's character doesn't have many scenes, she's quite memorable, and most people who have seen the movie won't forget her. Furthermore, Fan Bingbing is prettier than the original actress, which adds to the film's appeal.

In recent years, under Wu Yuchen's leadership, mainland films have gained considerable prestige. However, Hong Kong films still enjoy a strong presence in the overall market, generally dominating the vast majority of mainland films. This is due to two main reasons: firstly, audiences have a biased view of Hong Kong stars; and secondly, many mainland directors simply don't know how to make commercial films, always aiming for art-house cinema from the outset.

Of these two films, one, "Kung Fu Hustle," stars Stephen Chow, and the other, "New Police Story," stars Jackie Chan. Both are top contenders in the market, and both films are of good quality. They represent the best resources he could find for the women around him.

As for Wu Yuchen himself, he simply couldn't be in two places at once. After all, he has a lot of energy to spend filming Hollywood movies, and there simply aren't that many opportunities to share Chinese-language films with everyone.

……

In a conference room, a red banner hung at the front, with the words "The Boy in Striped Pajamas" commendation and seminar written in white lettering.

In the conference room sat several representatives from the production team, led by Wu Yuchen. Apart from them, most of them were not strictly speaking insiders in the industry.

This time, it wasn't Han Sanping speaking; he could only be a spectator, obediently listening attentively, because the speaker was his boss's boss...

What surprised Lao Han even more was that a higher-ranking leader had come this time, which was completely beyond his imagination. He had never had the opportunity to meet such a leader before, but he never expected that he would be present this time.

It was supposed to be a seminar and exchange meeting about "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," but as the leaders spoke, they unconsciously broadened the topic, starting with Chinese films and then escalating to China's cultural exchanges with the world, talking at length.

"I think what Director Wu Yuchen said in the interview was quite good. Our China has a cultural history of five thousand years. It is a great civilization. How many cultural stories are worth exploring? These are inexhaustible treasures for everyone to draw upon in artistic creation."

In the future, when we engage in artistic creation, we should take "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" as a model, and produce excellent works that are thoughtful, meaningful, powerful, and influential. We must tell our Chinese stories well and shape our Chinese image well..."

After the event concluded, Wu Yuchen breathed a sigh of relief. In recent years, he had primarily attended events in the arts and entertainment industry, and this formal occasion felt completely different. Moreover, as a film director and Oscar-winning director, he had been repeatedly asked to speak by the leaders present.

On the way back, Han Sanping smiled at Wu Yuchen and said, "Brother Wu, I really benefited from your help this time."

At the meeting just now, the achievements of Chinese-language films in the past two years were also recognized, which made Han Sanping very happy.

He then added enviously, "You're one of a kind to have that person talk to you privately!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "It's just encouragement for me to keep creating and strive for even greater success!"

Han Sanping thought to himself, "It's only because the other party didn't pursue an official career. Otherwise, with such a benefactor's favor and support, his path would have been smooth sailing."

Wu Yuchen naturally had no intention of pursuing a career in politics. After all, who would take the civil service exam after being reborn?
Although he might not even need to take the exam if he wanted to now, he genuinely wasn't interested. There were too many rules and regulations. He didn't have the ability or the willpower for that. He'd rather continue shining brightly in the entertainment industry, bringing warmth to others.

……

The SARS outbreak caused an unusually active period on the internet. Many people were complaining in the film and television section:

"I heard that Director Wu has returned to China. What a pity! With SARS, we can't even watch movies!"

"Yeah, he won the Oscar for Best Director! I can't wait to see it!" "Soon, soon, the pirated copy is on its way!"

"Hey! How can you watch a pirated copy of this movie? Can't you have any conscience? You should be worthy of Director Wu's hard work!"

"What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for? I don't believe you haven't seen pirated movies!"

"Big news! Big news! Everyone, turn on the movie channel! 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' is coming!"

"What do you mean? The movie is going to be shown in theaters?!"

"Damn! I saw it! It's not showing in theaters, it's being broadcast on the movie channel! This weekend!"

"Really?!"

"Of course it's true! The movie channel is showing the trailer right now! The time has been set!"

"Wow! I'm so happy! I can finally see it!"

"If you don't release it in theaters but show it on TV, are you going to throw away the box office revenue? Director Wu, are you serious?"

"It's true! I just saw it in the newspaper. Wu Yuchen said that this movie was made for the Chinese people and he didn't want everyone to keep waiting, so he decided to put it on the movie channel so that everyone could see it sooner. As for the box office, it will definitely be better to release it after SARS. Those who are interested can go to the cinema to see it."

Wow! Director Wu is so thoughtful!

"Director Wu is truly righteous!"

"I love Director Wu!"

"Long live Wu Yuchen!"

"I want to kowtow to Director Wu, and I will definitely buy a movie ticket after the film is released in theaters!"

"Tch, you think he's bought you off like that? An Oscar-winning director like him doesn't care about box office numbers? That's to be expected!"

"Fuck you! Get the hell out of here!"

"Fuck you! Get the hell out of here!"

……

The news that "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" would be broadcast on the movie channel sparked a huge wave of enthusiasm among the public. With Wu Yuchen's Oscar win for Best Director still going strong, many are eager to see what "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is like.

Now that Wu Yuchen is willing to make the movie available for free on the movie channel for the entire nation to watch, he has naturally received widespread praise. The people have their own standards; Wu Yuchen has not only brought honor to us internationally, but he has also made the movie available for free to us. Doesn't this deserve praise?
On Saturday, the movie channel was on high alert, and its leaders specifically instructed again: "Everyone stay alert. Director Wu's willingness to let 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' air on our channel shows his trust in us. We must not let any mistakes happen!"

"Don't worry, boss, we'll be 200% prepared. Besides, we've never had any problems before, so we're sure everything will be fine this time too."

The leader nodded. Actually, the movie channel already had a lot of experience broadcasting films, but this time was different. So many people were waiting to see this movie, and he was worried about the possibility of something going wrong. Therefore, he had given several reminders and instructions. He had a feeling that the broadcast of "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" would definitely set a new ratings record for their movie channel!

On Saturday night, "Movie Appreciation" started an hour earlier, at 8 PM. Instead of immediately showing a film, the show, as is customary, began with a half-hour introduction to various aspects of the movie, and this time was no exception. The audience was given background information on the film, such as its awards and related background.

To be honest, many viewers already knew all this, but hearing about the numerous honors they received again still kept them entertained. Furthermore, Huang Xiaoming and Shu Chang were among the invited guests, and their sharing of stories from the filming process added to the audience's interest.

Half an hour later, the introduction ended, and the audience in front of the TV finally got to see the highly anticipated "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas".

An hour and a half later, ...

"Waaaaah! How could this happen?! I always thought Xixi would be rescued, I really can't accept this ending! I'm crying so hard!"

"I also thought that sending Xixi to the concentration camp was just to let him experience the truth and reveal the cruelty and despair of the concentration camp from his perspective, but I never expected that he would actually die!"

"Xi Xi was so cute and innocent, why did it have to end like this! It shouldn't have been like this!"

"When you were grieving for Xixi, did you think about Xiaochun? Did you think about the others who were sent into the gas chamber with them? Did they deserve to die?"

"It's all because of my life!"

"My mom and I hugged each other and cried our hearts out!"

"My dad, my grandpa, and I were cursing Xiao Rizi! Xiao Rizi deserves to die a horrible death! That damned Huang Xiaoming is so despicable!"

"No matter what kind of person you were before, after putting on this striped pajama set, you will become the same person. This movie is not only about war, but also has many sexual connotations. As expected of director Wu!"

"It's truly different from previous anti-Japanese war films. Even though the first 80 minutes are set up calmly, they still manage to captivate the viewer. The heaviness of the last few minutes, set against the backdrop of the simple and unpretentious beginnings, is exceptionally powerful. Director Wu truly deserves the Oscar for Best Director!"

Shortly after the movie ended, the internet was abuzz with discussion. Some cried, some cursed, some praised, and some offered film reviews and analyses; it was a scene of utter excitement late into the night.

The following day, many newspapers and media outlets published their reviews of the film "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," with the People's Daily article being the most noteworthy:
Reflections by Wu Yuchen, a National Treasure-Level Director: The Weight of Life, the Pain of the Nation!

(End of this chapter)