hooklinebooks Chapter 140 New Movie
Chapter 140 New Movie
Chapter 140 New Movie
Carter sent him the latest trailer for "Looper" and asked for his feedback.
Li Jun clicked to watch. The two-minute video was fast-paced, visually stunning, and clearly presented the concept of time loops.
The Chinese elements are also well preserved, including Shanghai's futuristic neighborhoods, acupuncture scenes in a traditional Chinese medicine shop, and the Chinese child the protagonist saves.
The subtitles read "Co-producer for China: Li Jun".
He replied, "The trailer is great. The first draft of the promotional plan for the China region has been attached; please check it."
The attached document contains a proposal he worked on for several nights, centered on the theme of "time and memory." The plan involves collaborating with several art museums to create a cross-disciplinary art exhibition, inviting viewers to reflect on the subject.
If time could be looped, which moment would you most want to return to?
The second email was from Yuan Tao, detailing the post-production budget for "Dreams of Mountains and Rivers".
For the music portion, Li Jun wants to hire a domestic composer skilled in blending traditional Chinese and modern music, and the asking price is quite high.
But Yuan Tao said it was worth it: "The music in this film is very important; it's meant to create an atmosphere of 'landscapes on paper,' so a higher price is acceptable."
Li Jun replied: "Agreed. Arrange a meeting with the composer."
The third email was from my mother; it was very long.
She kept rambling on about how everything was fine at home, and that her father's chronic leg pain hadn't flared up even in winter, so he shouldn't worry.
When asked when he could go home, he said he was making cured pork, which he loves.
Finally, she said, "Seeing how hard you work filming, it breaks my heart."
But I'm also proud of you.
"Take good pictures, and if you do, Mom will treat the whole hospital to a movie."
Li Jun looked at it, and his eyes welled up with tears.
He replied, "Mom, I'm fine."
Filming is going smoothly, and I should be able to go home by the end of the year.
"Keep the cured pork for when I get back."
After replying to the email, he leaned back in his chair and looked out the window.
The village is quiet at night, with the occasional barking of dogs and the sound of a television.
The night sky was clear, and the Milky Way was visible.
My phone vibrated; it was a voice message from Jane Zhang.
When you click on it, there's a few seconds of blank space, then you hear her singing a cappella: "Ink spreads on the paper, like tree rings."
Your pen hovers, my song lingers.
In our respective worlds, we are drawing the same mountain —
The song stopped there.
Then came her voice: "I was recording the demo for 'Inkmark' today and suddenly thought of you. I'll play this for you first. The full version will be available when you come back."
After listening to it, Li Jun clicked on it again and listened to it once more.
Her voice flowed through the quiet room like moonlight, like a stream.
He replied, "It sounds great. The scenes in the bamboo forest have been filmed, and it went very smoothly."
Even though you're in Beijing, remember to get some rest.
She quickly replied, "Yes. You too."
A simple conversation, yet filled with a warm, unspoken understanding.
Li Jun put down his phone, opened the script, and looked at tomorrow's shooting schedule.
We have an important scene to film tomorrow:
The war eventually reached the vicinity of the village, and the villagers began to flee.
Lin Shen and Wanrong decided to stay.
The challenge of this scene lies in portraying the panic of a chaotic world without being superficial.
The villagers' escape was not orderly; it was chaotic, crowded, filled with cries and abandonment.
The decision by Lin Shen and his wife to stay was not a heroic declaration, but a silent, almost stubborn choice.
As he was thinking, there was a knock on the door downstairs.
"Director Li, are you there?"
It was Nicholas Tse's voice.
Li Jun went downstairs to open the door. Xie Tingfeng stood at the door, carrying a small cloth bag.
"Mr. Xie, haven't you rested yet?"
"I can't sleep, I want to talk to you about tomorrow's filming."
Nicholas Tse said.
"By the way, I brought some good stuff with me."
The two sat down at the stone table in the courtyard.
Nicholas Tse took out a small tea set, a tin can, and a portable electric kettle from the cloth bag.
"Lapsang Souchong, sent from Fujian by a friend."
As he spoke, he boiled water, scalded the cups, and took out tea.
"I noticed you liked drinking tea the day we were filming a night scene, so I thought I'd find a chance to drink it together."
The water boiled, so I brewed it.
The unique aroma of black tea permeated the night.
"Thanks."
Li Jun took the teacup.
"What are your thoughts on tomorrow's play?"
Xie Tingfeng also picked up his teacup and blew on the steam: "I'm wondering, when Lin Shen decided to stay, how did he convince himself?"
Is it really as simple as "the root is here"?
What do you think?
I think—
Xie Tingfeng pondered.
Part of him had resigned himself to his fate. He was getting old and couldn't walk anymore, so he figured he might as well stay.
But there's another part, an almost artistic obsession, where he wants to witness firsthand what happens to this land, even if it's destroyed.
Then, he wrote it down with his pen.
Li Jun nodded: "His way of resisting was by keeping records."
"right."
Nicholas Tse said.
"Like Wanrong, her reason for staying was probably simpler: wherever her husband was, that was where her home was."
But her method of resistance was different; it was daily persistence:
They cleaned the house, which was stained with gunpowder, and grew vegetables in the yard, trying their best to make a living.
"So, that scene tomorrow,"
Li Jie said.
"The villagers' escape is the background; it's chaotic, noisy, and panicked."
Lin Shen and Wanrong stood at their own doorway, watching the crowd surge past, their demeanor calm, composed, and silent.
The contrast between movement and stillness creates a visual effect.
"How should the lens be handled?"
"I want to use a long shot."
Li Jun said.
"Starting with the fleeing crowd, the camera slowly moves, passing over crying faces, abandoned luggage, and fallen children, finally stopping at Lin Shen's doorstep."
They stood there, Wanrong holding Lin Shen's arm, both looking at what was happening before them, their faces showing no fear, only a profound calm.
Nicholas Tse closed his eyes, seemingly imagining the scene.
After a while, he opened his eyes: "I'll try. That calmness wasn't numbness; it was accepting the worst possible outcome and becoming fearless."
The two drank tea and chatted about some details. The tea was fragrant, and the night was quiet.
"Director Li,"
Nicholas Tse suddenly said.
"It's very comfortable working with you. You give actors space, but you can still keep the direction in mind."
"It's because you acted so well."
Li Jun said.
"If the actors understand the character themselves, the director saves a lot of effort."
Nicholas Tse smiled: "It's a mutual benefit."
The tea had become weak by the third infusion.
Nicholas Tse checked the time, got up, and took his leave.
"Oh, right."
He walked to the door, turned back, and said.
"I've heard about Master Cheng Guoqiang's situation."
Li Jun was taken aback.
"This circle is very small."
Nicholas Tse said.
"He has his difficulties. His son is studying abroad, which is expensive. It's hard to refuse the price Wang Zhonglei offered."
"I see."
Li Jun said.
"I don't blame him."
"That's good."
Nicholas Tse nodded.
"Get some rest, there's a big event tomorrow."
After seeing Xie Tingfeng off, Li Jun returned upstairs.
The night was deeper.
One by one, the lights in the village went out, until only a few remained.
The Milky Way stretches across the sky, its starlight cold and eternal.
He lay in bed, recalling Xie Tingfeng's words.
Everyone faces difficulties and has to make choices.
Cheng Guoqiang chose a high-paying job, Zhang Ziyi chose a role that generated buzz, and Wang Zhonglei chose to compete using business tactics—none of them were wrong.
He chose this path, making niche art films, working with a dedicated crew in the deep mountains of southern Anhui, slowly crafting a story about perseverance and memory.
This is also a choice.
There is no distinction between high and low, only different paths taken.
He closed his eyes, and images of tomorrow flashed through his mind:
Amidst the panicked crowd and the silent couple, in a turbulent world, two small figures guard a door, a home, and a belief.
The scene was beautiful, yet tragic.
But it is precisely this beauty and tragedy that deserves to be recorded.
Outside the window, even the last bark of the dog stopped.
All sounds are silent.
Only starlight silently illuminates the sleeping village and the people in the village who are still working hard for a movie.
Before dawn, Li Jun was awakened by a rhythmic "thump-thump" sound.
The sound came from downstairs, dull and rhythmic, like someone hitting something with a heavy object.
He put on his coat, got up, and opened the window to look down.
In the courtyard, the Party Secretary's wife, whom everyone in the village calls Aunt Gui, was squatting by the well, forcefully striking a dark red object with the back of a kitchen knife.
In the dim morning light, you could see that it was half a pork carcass, which had been almost completely cut up, and Aunt Gui was chopping the ribs into small pieces.
"Aunt Gui, so early?"
Li Jun asked, leaning against the windowsill.
Aunt Gui looked up, her face glowing with the healthy rosy hue typical of mountain people: "Director Li is awake? There's a wedding in the village today, so I need to get the meat ready early."
Did I disturb you?
No, no.
Li Jun said.
"It's time to get up."
When he washed up and went downstairs, Aunt Gui had already chopped the meat and was putting it into a large basin.
The courtyard was filled with the unique sweet and pungent aroma of fresh pork, mixed with the coolness of the well water.
"How did filming go today?"
Aunt Gui asked while she was working.
"It went well, thank you for your concern, Aunt Gui."
"That's good."
Aunt Gui wiped her hands with her apron.
"I see you guys work really hard filming, leaving early and returning late."
When Teacher Xie came back last night, his legs were wobbly, and Teacher Qin's hand was still bandaged.
I offered to make you some nourishing soup, but you said you were too busy to eat.
Li Jun felt a warmth in his heart: "If I finish work early today, I will definitely come and try Aunt Gui's cooking."
"Okay!"
Aunt Gui smiled.
"I'll make you pork rib and lotus root soup. The lotus root was just dug from the pond yesterday, and it's very soft and starchy."
As they were talking, the rest of the crew got up one after another.
Xiao Chen came out of the next room yawning and saw Aunt Gui chopping meat. His eyes lit up: "Aunt Gui, are we having meat today?"
"Yes, yes, yes, come all tonight!" Aunt Gui said cheerfully.
The village gradually awakens in the early morning.
Smoke rose from the rooftops of houses, roosters crowed incessantly, and the sound of tractors starting up could be heard in the distance.
Today is a bright and sunny day. The eastern sky is already turning a pale white, and a few streaks of dawn are like light red ink stains on the blue sky.
Li Jun stood in the courtyard and took a deep breath.
The air smelled of firewood, earth, and morning dew.
This flavor is something you can't find in the city.
At breakfast, Li Jun announced today's filming schedule: "We'll do some reshoots of establishing shots and transition scenes in the morning, and then focus on filming the big scene of the villagers' escape in the afternoon."
Hurry up, everyone, the weather forecast says it might rain again the day after tomorrow.
Everyone nodded and quickened their pace of eating.
After the meal, the convoy set off.
Our first stop today is the terraced fields behind the village. We need to shoot a series of empty shots.
The terraced fields in the morning mist, layer upon layer, resemble the fingerprints of the earth.
This sequence of shots will be used as a transition in the film, moving from a peaceful rural life to the arrival of war.
The terraced fields looked unrealistically beautiful under the morning sun.
The terraced paddy fields, like mirrors, reflect the sky and the shadows of the mountains.
The paddy field ridges are covered with green grass, and egrets are foraging in the paddy fields. Hearing human voices, they flutter up and take flight, their wings cutting through the morning mist.
Zhao Xiaodong set up the equipment and adjusted the exposure.
He insisted on waiting for the moment when the light was best—the sun had just jumped over the mountain ridge, and the sunlight slanted, gilding the terraced fields with gold, but the fog had not completely dissipated yet.
Everyone waited quietly.
Li Jun stood on the edge of the field, looking at the scenery before him.
He suddenly remembered a line from Lin Shen's script: "The most beautiful landscapes are always in the moment when the light is about to break and the darkness is about to dissipate."
Just like life, it always exists between certainty and uncertainty.
These words were written by screenwriter Zhou, but at this moment, Li Jun truly understood them.
"They're here!" Zhao Xiaodong whispered.
Everyone held their breath.
The sun leaps over the mountain ridge, and the first rays of sunlight pierce through the morning mist.
The terraced fields were instantly illuminated, and the water surface reflected thousands of golden rays.
The mist began to move, like a light veil being fluttered by the wind.
A white egret happens to fly across the frame, its wings becoming a semi-transparent silhouette against the backlight.
Zhao Xiaodong steadily pushed the crane arm, and the camera slowly panned across the entire terraced field.
"Cut! Perfect!"
This one has passed.
The following establishing shots also went smoothly:
A close-up of the old camphor tree at the village entrance, its leaves trembling in the morning breeze;
A panoramic view of the stream and stone bridge, with a thin mist floating on the water;
A backlit shot deep in the bamboo forest, the edges of the bamboo leaves edged with gold —
By 10 a.m., all the planned establishing shots were completed.
They moved back to the village and filmed a few transitional scenes.
These are all small scenes:
Lin Shen was drying his drawing paper in the yard, Wanrong was cooking in front of the stove, and the students were helping to chop firewood.
These everyday scenes may seem simple, but to capture the texture of life, they require more meticulous work.
Nicholas Tse and Qin Hailu have entered a wonderful state. They don't need much communication. A glance or a gesture is enough for them to know what the other is going to do.
When drying the painting paper, Xie Tingfeng unfolded the Xuan paper, and Qin Hailu naturally handed him a paperweight; when cooking, Qin Hailu added firewood to the stove, and Xie Tingfeng filled the water vat.
This tacit understanding is honed through spending time together day and night.
Li Jun watched from behind the monitor, feeling at ease. A good performance is like good calligraphy—not every stroke is stunning, but every stroke is precise, and the whole piece has its own charm.
During his lunch break, Li Jun received several messages from Yuan Tao.
The first item is the promotional progress of "Looper":
Lionsgate has finalized the China premiere plans, which will be held in Shanghai, and plans to invite Li Jun and Villeneuve to attend.
Two months later, it was the final stage of filming "Dreams of Mountains and Rivers".
The second piece of news is about Wang Zhonglei's film: "Huayi New Life" has officially titled its movie "Beauty in Troubled Times" and has already begun intensive promotion.
The first poster released was extremely impactful: a purple cheongsam was torn, revealing her shoulders and neck, and her eyes were hazy yet fierce.
The slogan is: "A woman trades her body for survival, and uses her desires to fight against the times."
The comments section has exploded. Some are criticizing the "exploitation of women," while others are praising the "bold breakthrough," and the discussion is going very well.