Millennium director

In the private room, waiters filed in one after another, bringing some special Hong Kong-style refreshments and two pots of hot tea.

Wu Yuan and Zhang Guorong were not in a hurry to get to the point. Instead, they first talked about the film industry in Hong Kong Island and the Mainland, and talked about some classic movies.

While chatting, the two of them were also sizing up and testing each other.

In Wu Yuan's eyes, Zhang Guorong is definitely as gentle as jade, gentle and elegant, with the demeanor of a gentleman, and he is very cheerful and talkative, and his words are also humorous.

If it weren't for the memory in the dream, he really couldn't believe that such a warm and cheerful person would eventually leave this world due to depression.

In fact, Wu Yuan also hesitated. He was afraid that he could not change Zhang Guorong's future, but that his intervention would worsen his condition, which would make Wu Yuan full of guilt.

So he actually persuaded himself in his heart.

If Zhang Guorong had not agreed to this meeting and was unwilling to see him, then he might not need to rush to intervene in Zhang Guorong's life.

However, the fact is that as soon as Zhang Guorong heard that Wu Yuan wanted to ask him to meet, he readily agreed.

Then Wu Yuan had nothing to hesitate. He could only say that the two of them were destined to have this fate.

"Zhang Sheng, I'm asking you to meet this time because I have a script that I want you to star in." Wu Yuan smiled and handed over a script from the satchel he carried with him.

Zhang Guorong had already guessed Wu Yuan's reason for meeting him. Since he agreed to meet, he must be willing to read the script.

After the previous contact, Zhang Guorong also had a good impression of Wu Yuan.

He became famous at a young age. His first film had a box office of over 10 million in Mainland China, won an award at a B-type film festival, and was invited by Hollywood to direct a film.

If it were someone else, I wouldn't say that my eyes are above my head, and I wouldn't put other people in my eyes, but I would definitely have the feeling of being complacent and self-aggrandizing.

But Wu Yuan is not the case. Although he also has a high-spirited temperament, he is still neither humble nor overbearing in his dealings with others. He is also very humble in his speech. He does not feel that he has made any great achievements and is very down-to-earth and calm.

After receiving the script from Wu Yuan, Zhang Guorong started reading it on the spot.

"The undertaker?"

Yes, the script Wu Yuan came up with this time was "The Embalmer", which killed RB in the film industry that year and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

The original movie was adapted from the novel "The Diary of a Coffin Bearer" by RB writer Shinmon Aoki.

The movie is well shot and is a typical Japanese healing style movie. The whole movie uses "death" to explore the importance of "life", which is very literary.

However, Wu Yuan still had no intention of copying it.

Not to mention the large number of Japanese cultural backgrounds and plots in "The Embalmer", let me just say one thing: Has the industry of embalmers disappeared in China?

Ever since this movie was released, for some reason, the saying that this is the RB profession has spread on the Chinese Internet.

Even searching for "Encoffiant Master", the official encyclopedia actually said that this is a profession that mainly appears in RB and later entered China!

Are you kidding me?

"Encoffining" has been around since ancient times!

A profession similar to that of an undertaker has been recorded as early as in the "Book of Three Rites" of ancient China, "Book of Rites: Funeral Ceremonies for Scholars", "Book of Rites" and "Book of Rites of Zhou", and is a very important part of the ominous rituals.

This profession in China can be traced back to the Xia and Shang Dynasties.

For example, "Book of Rites: Asking about the Mourning" states: "Death takes three days and then the person is buried." The main reason why people are not buried immediately after death is to wait for the resurrection of the deceased.

If there is no resurrection, a funeral ceremony will be held, in which the deceased will be cleansed, have a haircut, and cut his nails to show that he has been cleansed and returned to his true nature.

Until now, the inheritance of this ceremony has not been cut off.

For example, the "Mr. Yin and Yang" in the Northeast, the "timberman" (a person who specializes in funerals and funerals), the pole bearer (a worker who carries a coffin), and the "second cobbler" who sews corpses in rural areas.

Initially, this kind of thing is usually handled by relatives and friends of the deceased's children.

However, as the etiquette system became more and more complete, filial sons and grandsons no longer had to change clothes and clean the body of the deceased because they were entertaining other things, so they needed the help of some specialized people.

So there are professional undertakers.

At least during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was common for embalmers to change the deceased's burial clothes, take care of their appearance, and place them in the coffin.

Until now, most funeral homes have a team of professional morticians to perform cosmetic work on the deceased before cremation.

Why would Wu Yuan copy the Japanese version of "The Embalmer"?

The script he came up with is a combination of the core storyline of the Japanese version of "The Embalmer", which is "from the perspective of a novice embalmer, to observe various deaths and gaze at the love surrounding the deceased." "People who care." and then integrate the story of the Chinese background and specific funeral culture.

After a while, Zhang Guorong, who had been reading the script silently, raised his head, clapped his hands with excitement and said, "What a script!"

"In Eastern culture, because death is opposite to life, topics such as funerals are actually a taboo. Death has more dark and negative connotations."

"Very few directors would focus on this subject."

Zhang Guorong shook his head and sighed: "But we just need a movie that tells the view of life and death in Eastern culture."

"Death-related behaviors in the Western world often involve religion, but our Eastern culture is different."

"Oriental people's attitude towards death is not about relaxation and relief, let alone going to some beautiful paradise."

"For the living, death represents careful mourning and is heavy. But for the deceased, death is another rebirth and the beginning of a new reincarnation."

"But the concepts of rebirth and reincarnation do not exist in Western religions."

"Christ does not talk about new life or the afterlife, but only talks about redemption and waiting for the so-called doomsday judgment."

"Westerners believe that death is falling into the arms of God, entering heaven to enjoy a happy life, and a kind of redemption. God's things belong to God, and Caesar's things belong to Caesar."

"So at Western funerals, you can even see family members chatting easily about the deceased's life stories, with some humorous teasing and ridicule."

"It is impossible to see this at a funeral under Eastern Confucian culture. This kind of behavior is disrespectful to the deceased and disrespectful to death."

"Because in the Confucian concept, death is the continuation of life and the beginning of another new life."

“Confucianism emphasizes being cautious about the end and pursuing the future, that is, handling the funerals of loved ones carefully and offering sacrifices to ancestors devoutly.”

"Death under the Eastern concept is that although the body dies, the soul will never die. The dead use another identity to protect their living relatives."

"So we should treat the deceased with the same attention and respect as before, and we should pay tribute and worship from time to time."

"This is what is called the dead man."

"The script explains this concept of life and death that is unique to Eastern culture very well! Many plots are very touching!"

Zhang Guorong summarized it very well, and Wu Yuan nodded in surprise.

As expected of a talented actor, his ability to review scripts is indeed extremely high.

The movie "The Embalmer" is actually a story that uses the perspective of the "Encoffiant" to tell the story of Eastern people's concepts of life and death, as well as the funeral culture.

The story itself is easy to understand, humorous and sensational. It uses the stories of the deceased to express the affection in different family relationships.

The core of the story seems to be talking about different kinds of death, but in fact it reminds the living that only by not being afraid of death can they live a better life.

This is also the most important part of the Confucian concept of treating death, that is: the dead are like this, and the living are gone.

Death is not scary. Everyone will eventually die. The living only need to respect death and enjoy the process of living.

In fact, Wu Yuan's version of the script is almost the same as the original film "The Embalmer" except for changing the story background and the funeral format to a purely Chinese style.

Then it became a very authentic movie full of Chinese cultural charm.

This is the sad part!

The core of the story of the original version of "The Embalmer" is all about Confucian connotation culture, which is part of Chinese classical culture. However, after countless Chinese people read it, they found it novel and respectable.

This is called "overseas, we can talk about preserving ancient things, but if we lose etiquette, we will seek to go wild."

China's own cultural concepts should be understood and learned from foreign movies.

And after I finish learning, I have to praise others for how awesome they are.

This is originally part of our own culture.

We Chinese people can also take pictures of the concept of life and death in Eastern culture!

That’s why Wu Yuan wanted to film “The Embalmer” by himself, so that his childhood would not be as beautiful as before!

Of course, the more important reason is that if this movie is to be performed well, the male protagonist must integrate into the profession of "encoffiner" and experience life seriously.

If Zhang Guorong wants to film, he must stop all work at hand and go to some funeral parlors in the mainland to experience this job in depth as an intern mortician, for at least two months!

It is said that it is to experience life, but in fact it is to reduce his burden, take him away from the busy work, and have some time to breathe.

Wu Yuan will definitely not let him get involved in the subsequent filming. He will have to stay on the set honestly.

Adding up to half a year like this, it can be regarded as giving Zhang Guorong a vacation to recuperate his body.

Yes, for Zhang Guorong, having only one movie shooting job in half a year is already a holiday.

The premise is that he is willing to make such a sacrifice.

"Zhang Sheng, is this script good?" Wu Yuan looked at Zhang Guorong with a smile and said unhurriedly: "This male protagonist is just for you."

"But if you want to star in this movie, you must give me the next six months."

"You are not allowed to go to concerts, release a new album, or accept other movie announcements. You only need to do one thing for the entire six months, which is to film "The Embalmer."

"The promise I can give you is that if you follow the team seriously for half a year, I believe that the film we will produce will bring you a Cannes Best Actor."

"You have reached the pinnacle in the music industry and have won all the awards you can win."

"But in the film industry, you still lack a weighty enough Best Actor trophy."

"I heard that you want to become a director and don't want to do front-of-screen work so frequently anymore."

"Before that, I think using a Cannes Best Actor trophy as the curtain call for an actor's career is the most perfect farewell ceremony."

"What do you think?"

Every time I write about a movie to be made, I need to first introduce the content of the movie and discuss the script. People may seem a little bored.

But there's nothing I can do about it. Since the protagonist is the director and he wants to make a movie, the content of the script still needs to be written. Otherwise, a dry sentence of "The script is very good, Zhang Guorong took it" would be too messy.

Of course, I will try to keep this narrative content within one chapter and not make it a long story.

Later, when writing about the filming process of the crew, I will use the characters to write specific plots.