This is what it feels like to marry a rich woman.
Xia Siyu also said, "Don’t get too happy too soon. I’m providing both the funding and the talent, so you better make this film good! If I lose money and don’t win any awards, just see how I’ll deal with you when I get back!"
Bo Yan felt the pressure suddenly increase: "The film hasn’t even started shooting yet, how can I know what it will turn out like?"
Of course, he hoped it would turn out great. If he were an actor, he’d be very confident, but as a director, this being his first ti, he felt a bit clumsy. Also, there was the matter of both money and awards.
Many great directors can’t balance artistic and comrcial films, let alone a newcor like him.
"I believe in you!" Xia Siyu was full of confidence in Bo Yan. She had read the script, and if he fild it honestly according to the script, the result shouldn’t be too bad.
She said, "Honestly, when we’re audience mbers watching a movie, we don’t really analyze whether it’s artistic or not. The first ti we watch it, as long as the story is engaging and the narration is smooth, it’s already pretty good. If you can’t even sit through it the first ti, what’s the point in analyzing its artistry? Once you’ve finished watching, and then you co back to analyze it, that’s when you might feel there’s sothing profound. Shots do have their own language, but if it’s just for the sake of showing off techniques or for the sake of rounding off so philosophical idea that’s empty and grandiose, it’s counterproductive."
Bo Yan listened and beca silent. Indeed, at the start of his directing career, he’d thought of many showy techniques, like long takes or handheld shaky filming, black and white effects. But Xia Siyu’s words made a lot of sense. Remakes should have new creativity, but if there’s no particular artistic pursuit, then honestly sticking to the script is the simplest option.
"But ’Sunrise’ has already been made into a film, even if the existing one is from decades ago. If you want to shoot it, there definitely needs to be adaptation."
Xia Siyu nodded: "Of course. What is adaptation, in my opinion, it’s like Yuan Zhen wrote the first draft ’The Story of Yingying’, and Wang Shipu adapted it into ’Romance of the Western Chamber.’ Is ’Romance of the Western Chamber’ an improvent in terms of writing and plot over ’The Story of Yingying’? That’s good adaptation. Yuan Zhen was a great talent, and Wang Shipu did a lot of elaboration based on Yuan Zhen’s work. So do you think your screenwriter is better than Cao Yu? You can adapt, of course, but you shouldn’t change his core aning. If you can’t, then just stick to Cao Yu’s original words; there’s no sha in that."
After all, ’Sunrise’ was written by Cao Yu. Even if limited by its tis, so expressions might seem sowhat critiqued nowadays, but he was still a literary master. Adaptation is fine, but don’t lose the core just to show off.
Indeed, Bo Yan initially got stuck in the quagmire of adaptation, going a bit astray. He wanted to differentiate his work from the original, and for such a well-known work, adding innovation was not easy. But Xia Siyu’s words made him realize maybe it doesn’t need to be so complicated. Just shoot it honestly, and where you can’t handle, embrace the original. Unless you’re Xun Ke, you better not ss with the original, or you’ll get harshly criticized.
Having figured this out, when he looked at Xia Siyu again, it was as if she was a completely different person. Who would have thought, two years ago, Xia Siyu couldn’t even understand classical Chinese.
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