1978 Synthetic Writers - Chapter 490 Wang Xiaobo

"Jiang, drink, drink."

"Let's go later. I have a lot of things to do today." Jiang Xian opened the window. He felt a headache when he saw Ryuichi Sakamoto.

"How late is later?"

"."

"Drink less. Drinking too much is harmful to your health," said Zhu Lin.

"It's indispensable today."

Jiang Xian took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to give him a drink today and he won't want to drink again in his life."

"???"

This first of the eight big restaurants unfortunately closed down in 44 due to poor management. It was not until a few years ago, at the end of 82, that the municipal government made efforts to revive the "Chinese time-honored brand", and Dongxinglou was reborn.

The chefs in the building are all really skilled, as can be seen from the sweet and sour carp dish. Those with poor skills can make it look like a submarine, while those with high skills can make it look so beautiful, with a raised fish tail, amber in color, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, perfectly shaped like a carp jumping over the dragon gate.

In addition to the sweet and sour carp, the waiter also served chicken slices in lotus sauce, fried double crisps in soup, and mullet egg soup.Dongxinglou is worthy of being the best of the Eight Buildings. The Furong Chicken Slices are so delicious that you can’t even feel the chicken, and the mullet egg soup is perfectly balanced and harmoniously seasoned.

After three rounds of drinks, Sakamoto Ryuichi started complaining again, "I'm just an actor, but you want me to compose music?"

"And now there's not even a piano to be found."

"."

That’s right, Ryuichi Sakamoto joined the crew as an actor.

All we can say is that Bertolucci was too scheming. He lured him in as an actor and then asked him to compose the music.

It was probably from this time that he developed an indissoluble bond with the out-of-tune piano.

By the way, there is another composer for "The Last Emperor" named Su Cong.

This person is a college classmate of Liu Sola, who is the original author of "You Have No Choice".

Su Cong has been studying music since he was young, and went to the Munich Conservatory of Music in Germany for further studies during college.

There is no doubt that this person is the prototype of the "little guy" in "You Have No Choice".

In the novel, the little man realized that after he found nothing, he decided to go abroad to look for it.

Precisely because so many characters in the novel were based on her classmates, Liu Sola did not dare to return to school for many days after the novel was published, for fear of being embarrassed by meeting these classmates.

Let’s get back to Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Bertolucci asked him to write a short piece of music to depict the scene of Puyi's coronation, and gave him only two weeks to complete it.

He wanted Sakamoto to have written and recorded the scene the day before.

But there was almost nothing on the set, and when we finally found a piano, it was seriously out of tune.

Sakamoto protested, but Bertolucci challenged: "This is how musician Morricone works!"

These include the later well-known songs "Where is Armo" and "Rain".

The most classic one is "Where is Armo", which is composed of violin, erhu, guzheng, pipa and other Chinese instruments.

With this song, Ryuichi Sakamoto swept the Oscars, Golden Globe Awards and Grammy Awards for film score the following year.

"Jiang, you are much better than that guy Zunlong." Sakamoto Ryuichi complained.

"You and Zunlong are equally handsome, but compared to you, he is really a weirdo." Sakamoto Ryu said.

"Is such that."

Sakamoto Ryuichi's translator smiled and explained to Jiang Xian:"When Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Zun Long first met, Zun Long said to Sakamoto Ryuichi very seriously, 'You are Amakasu, the mastermind sent by Japan. You are my enemy. I will not talk to you until the film is finished.'"

"."

But this is understandable.

Zun Long has a strong sense of national dignity and love for his motherland. In the 80s, in Hollywood, where Chinese people were marginalized, despite the hosts’ repeated “pitfalls”, Zun Long repeatedly said firmly on the other party’s territory: “I am proud to be Chinese.”

When Hong Kong was about to return to China, most people in Hong Kong were in a panic, but when public opinion was at its strongest, Zun Long made a statement: "I will definitely be in China when Hong Kong returns."

This was indeed what happened later. In 97, he booked a hotel several months in advance and happily went to watch the flag-raising ceremony carrying a small suitcase.

Not at all.

Zun Long is a bit pitiful. His childhood is really the same as Cheng Dieyi in "Farewell My Concubine". Cheng Dieyi's childhood is his childhood. Both were abandoned and sent to the Peking Opera Troupe, where they were beaten and scolded.

Later, thanks to chance, he went to America and entered Hollywood.

Compared to other actors in Hollywood, Zun Long has always wanted to return to China to develop. Even when he was excluded, he always emphasized that he is Chinese.

This seemed to give Zun Long an opportunity, but as Hollywood actors at the time, their value was completely determined by the market, and the actors themselves had no control over it.

In the end, the investors rejected him because the salary was too high.

After many conversations, Cheng Dieyi finally returned to Leslie Cheung, and Zun Long could only say goodbye with regret.

If we say that Zun Long is "playing big" for this reason, and that he is a "foreigner who is here to make money."

"Come again, come again."

"No, no. Yue"

At the end of the drinking, Jiang Xian pulled Ryuichi Sakamoto and put the wine glass to his mouth. Ryuichi Sakamoto kept waving his hands, and finally he couldn't bear the burden and spurted it out.

"Isn't it drinkable?"

Of course Jiang Xian couldn't drink Sakamoto Ryuichi to death. He had his reasons for wanting to make friends with Sakamoto Ryuichi.

In the United States, after so many years of development and accumulation, his "Today" magazine quickly became famous across the country with the serialization of "The Hunger Games".

Earlier this year, Advertising Week even listed Today in its list of the "Top Ten Popular Magazines" in the United States in January 1985.

The circulation of 85 copies in January only ranked 10th on the list, which was just enough to enter the threshold of this list. But for Zhao Zhenkai and Jiang Xian, this result was enough to make them happy.

With the introduction of Jiang Xian's agent Marshall, "Today" first signed Lee Ang, who had been idle for several years.

Well, in other words, now the poet Bei Dao, the writer Acheng, and the director Li Ang are all Jiang Xian’s employees.

In fact, Ang Lee was also hesitant at the beginning.

After all, the pie that Marshall had painted for him was of Hollywood level, and with his level of ability, even if his life was in a difficult situation, it seemed that he should not join such a newly established small film and television company.

Because "Today" was founded by Jiang Xian.

Even without considering the current fame of Today magazine in the United States, just based on the name "Jiang Xian", Ang Lee felt that he could give it a try.

Who can guarantee that Jiang Xian will not be the second Stephen King?

And there is another benefit to joining "Today":This is a Chinese company after all!

Let’s get back to Jiang Xian.

Now that he has started his career in the film industry, how could he miss out on such an excellent composer like Ryuichi Sakamoto who has not yet become world-famous?

If we can get it, of course we should get it.

"Have you finished eating?"

The waiters at Dongxinglou all looked impatient during the drinking party.

Because Ryuichi Sakamoto was a foreign guest, the waiter was much more polite in his words. If it were Jiang Xian, he would have probably punched him right now.

"We're leaving now."

Jiang Xian bowed and left angrily.

Seeing that it was getting late, he decided not to go home but returned to his hotel room, which was next to Bertolucci's room.

What surprised Jiang Xian was that Bertolucci's door was wide open and the light was on inside.

After a quick glance, I saw that the producer Thomas was there too, along with a few foreigners. The group seemed to be arguing fiercely in the room about funding issues.

"We've already filmed here, you can't interfere with us!" Bertolucci roared with his neck red.

Jiang Xian listened for a while and roughly understood it.

The person who came was from the insurance company that Thomas signed.

These people came to check the accounts.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t check, but if you do, both sides will be unhappy.

Bertolucci was certainly not happy.

So the two sides were arguing fiercely in the room, while producer Thomas was mediating.

There is no way. In order to avoid interference from capital, "The Last Emperor" did not allow Hollywood to intervene from the beginning.

Such a grand movie would certainly be difficult to shoot without the support of Hollywood.

I heard that the insurance company had signed a new agreement with Bertolucci, which temporarily put the conflict on hold.

Jiang Xian smiled and greeted Bertolucci, but did not rush to interfere and went back to his room to rest.

But I have some new plans in my mind.

United States.

He came to the United States with his wife two years ago. His life was quite difficult. Times were very tight and he sometimes had to work in a Chinese restaurant to pay for his tuition.

Fortunately, he survived those days and obtained a master's degree in Chinese studies from the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.

This choice also enabled him to meet the benefactor of his life, his mentor Xu Zhuoyun.

Xu Zhuoyun had a congenital disability. When he was born, his palms were facing downwards and the soles of his feet were facing upwards. No matter how hard he tried, he could not change the posture of his hands and feet.

With his help, Wang Xiaobo put a lot of effort into refining his writing.

And he's writing a novel, a novel called The Golden Age.

This novel, which is currently in progress, has also been revised by his mentor.

"I want to write a novel that is different from theirs," Wang Xiaobo shared with his wife.

However, she also knew that her husband was arrogant. There were very few writers in the country who were respected by Wang Xiaobo, and there were also very few writers who were liked by Wang Xiaobo.

For example, Wang Xiaobo once said that he particularly disliked Zhang Ailing. He felt that novels could write about pain and despair, but not about things that make people upset.

There is also Jiang Xian's "The Chess King". Although it is very famous, in Wang Xiaobo's eyes, "This novel is written very romantically. Four-fifths of the chess I have played in my life were played when I was in the queue. At the same time, I went from being a pretty good chess player to a hopelessly bad chess player. Now, putting the words "playing chess" and "queue-hopping" together can arouse my disgust. I will never write such a boring thing into a novel."

Of course, Jiang Xian would not feel hurt by such comments. After all, Wang Xiaobo disliked too many people, such as Su Dongpo. Someone asked him, do you like Su Dongpo's poems or his calligraphy? Wang Xiaobo said, "Neither, I like Dongpo pork. Dongpo pork is stewed very well, fat but not greasy, and it is really delicious."

In short, there are very few people who can be favored by him.

"What's in the bag?" Wang Xiaobo noticed the handbag on the table.

"Magazine."

Li Yinhe said:

"Magazine?"

Wang Xiaobo opened the bag and pulled out a copy of "Huacheng".

After all, "Huacheng" is located in a place connected to the world, so it is quite easy to get it abroad.

He sat down and saw that it was the 1986th issue of 7. He flipped through it and saw a novel signed by Jiang Xian on the front page:《Variations without a theme!》