John Woo has seen Lin Mingyang's movies, and he also knows that most of the films in them have scripts written by Lin Mingyang himself. From the idea to the conception, these scripts are standard Hollywood productions. In the past, Lin Mingyang was dubbed a "genius" by the Hollywood media, and John Woo always felt that there was a lot of hype in it, and the official contact with Lin Mingyang made him change his previous perception.

"I don't think this film represents your violent aesthetic style, so it's normal for a film to not score well under Hollywood's current rating system. But I love this movie very much, and every time I watch it, I feel a sense of intimacy. ”

John Woo felt that Lin Mingyang didn't need to deliberately compliment himself, so he was very curious that he had successful works in Hollywood before "The Wind Whisperer", but why Lin Mingyang only liked one of his "unsuccessful" works.

Seeing the confusion in John Woo's eyes, Lin Mingyang further explained: """Broken Arrow", "Changing Face" and even "Mission Impossible 2", these films are just a completely Hollywood story that you use your own film skills to pave up. Your shot style is cut to the point of being concise and clear, and an action is often broken down into several combinations, which is very much in line with Hollywood's appetite, but when you contribute your directing skills to Hollywood, people can hardly tell that this is the work of an Oriental director. ”

"What really intrigued me about 'The Wind Whisperer' was the resurgence of your oriental perspective in the film. The representation of the Indians in the film is obviously delicate and vivid, and it is more human than that of American GIs. It is rumored that the ancestors of the Indians came from China, and there is also a plot of Indian soldiers pretending to be Yu himself in the film, so I would venture to guess that the most impressive and progressive surname in this movie is the Indian Whisperer Adam. In a way, you can say that you use this Asian-like face as a spokesperson for the struggle of the East for their place in the West. ”

The story line of the film basically develops around this main line. From the initial hostility and distance to the final communication, life and death, the film shows how American minorities have won the right to life and the right to nation with their dignity and bravery. For a person with a similar face to the Indians, it is natural for you to pour into this face your own feelings about the ups and downs of Western society. And I'm also Chinese-American, so the film reflects the integration and communication between the various ethnic groups in the United States, which has a natural affinity for me. ”

Lin Mingyang didn't know that his judgment based on personal conjecture had already made Wu Yusen feel like "meeting old acquaintances in a foreign country", but Lin Mingyang noticed a detail, Wu Yusen leaned on the sofa at first, but now he is sitting upright, obviously what he just said played a big role.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Lin Mingyang began to consciously lead the topic to "Tales of the Night", "I heard that you are a devout Christian? ”

"I was born in mainland China, but I grew up in Hong Kong. You know that the problem of the triad in Hong Kong has always been very serious before the handover, and many of my peers who grew up with me have joined the triad community, but I have not. Growing up, I never fired a gun, never fought, and even killed a fly, and I would say sorry. Recalling the past, John Woo smiled and said that none of this prevented him from becoming a "master of violence" in the Hong Kong film industry.

"So do you have a taboo about movies about religious heresy?"

Lin Mingyang's temptation Wu Yusen didn't understand too much, "What heresy are you referring to?" ”

"Werewolves and vampires." Lin Mingyang Suo made the topic clear and said, "You know, I've been in a little trouble recently, there is a film that is being filmed, and I made the director angry and left. ”

"So you want me to take his place?" Wu Yusen immediately understood what Lin Mingyang meant.

If it had been before, Wu Yusen would definitely refuse without hesitation, but Lin Mingyang left a very deep impression on him in the previous chat. He even suspected that he would not get along well with someone like Lin Mingyang, which was a failure for the director who left. So when he was about to refuse, Wu Yusen instinctively hesitated, which became a breakthrough for Lin Mingyang to persuade him.

"Although a small part of the film has been filmed, the rest of the plot is the main line, and there is still a lot of room for you to play. And this is an out-and-out action movie, with the heroine as the clue character. It seems that you have never made a similar work before, both in terms of the type of film or the subject matter of the script, and I think this will be a good experiment. ”

Lin Mingyang's suggestion is very prescient, but on the issue of rejection and acceptance, John Woo still can't make up his mind, "The story of 'Tales of the Night' is about synchronizing with modern society, and there is a dark and unknown underground world outside of humans. Two rival races are active there: aristocratic and mysterious vampires, and savage werewolves, who have fought for centuries for the survival and dominance of the underworld. To humans, they are nothing more than ghost legends in the streets, but in reality, the fierce confrontation between the two sides never stops, and they continue to fight each other all their lives, vowing that one side will not give up if one side falls. The vampire and werewolf tribes, each with their own arsenal, produce a large number of killing weapons, technology is changing, vampires and werewolves will change, they are all using modern weapons, so there will be a lot of gunfights in the film, not just simple hand-to-hand combat! ”

Lin Mingyang knows that John Woo likes to make movies that involve gunfights, and guns are a kind of life in his films, and they are an extension of the characters' psychological thinking. As for the pistol confrontation, it is John Woo's favorite action. When introducing the plot, Lin Mingyang deliberately highlighted the gunfight content in the film, in order to attract the interest of this "master of violence".

But Lin Mingyang tried his best to speak, but Wu Yusen's face still showed no signs of being moved. When Lin Mingyang showed the script to John Woo, he inadvertently slipped out of his folder a still from the film, which happened to fall at John Woo's feet.

Wu Yusen helped Lin Mingyang pick up the photo, and originally wanted to return it to him, but in the photo, Kate Beckinsale's cold appearance in a black shiny leather coat had a great visual impact, Wu Yusen was stunned, and the hand that was about to hand back the photo was frozen in mid-air.

At this moment, John Woo remembered the little pony in his famous work "The True Color of Heroes", although the style imagination between Chow Yun-fat and Kate Beckinsale can be said to be very different, but John Woo recalled the picture of Little Pony sitting in the dance hall burning money and lighting cigarettes from Kate's cold eyes, and he had a strong premonition that Catherine played by Kate Beckinsale will become a classic on the screen like Little Pony, and this character image is destined to become a strong stroke in vampire and werewolf type movies.

John Woo held his chin in one hand and this still in the other, and looked at it again and again for a long time, then reluctantly took his eyes off it, "Kate Beckinsale, I remember that she seems to have acted in a lot of movies with you?" ”

Lin Mingyang sensed some vague but positive signals from John Woo's eyes, "We are also partners in this film, but this time she is the real protagonist!" ”

"She will maintain this performance in the picture throughout the film?" Wu Yusen then asked.

"For the most part!"

Wu Yusen frowned, "Most? ”

"Because in a certain writing scene, there will be some emotional collisions between her and me, and at this time she will occasionally show her tender side." Lin Mingyang explained.

"Tenderness buried in the night?" Wu Yusen quickly flipped through the entire script, and then nodded thoughtfully, "They used to be human beings, but under the dark night, people saw only their bloodthirstiness and ferocity, but they couldn't see the hesitation and confusion hidden under the fangs and claws." Behind the fire-breathing pistol, there is numbness and pain; The murderous roar can't hide the fragility and loneliness in the heart. I think behind this story, the tragedy in the hearts of the characters is even more fascinating! ”

John Woo's unique grasp of the plot surprised Lin Mingyang, although John Woo is known as the "master of violent aesthetics", but in fact, his films focus on depicting the relationship between characters and inner emotional changes under the cloak of violence. Thinking about this, Lin Mingyang also understood why John Woo would have such an evaluation of the script.

"If I were the director of this film, you'd be completely reduced to a supporting role, and I know Lakeshore Pictures paid a lot of money to bring you to the lead role in this film, so you have to think about it yourself before I make any decisions." John Woo is saying ugly things ahead.

However, Lin Mingyang breathed a long sigh of relief, "I think this is a sign of the success of a Hollywood actor by taking more pay than others and then acting in the least scenes!" ”

---John Woo finally succeeded Wiseman as the director of "Tales of the Night", Lin Mingyang announced that he would reduce his salary by $2 million, and then Kate also took out $1 million from his salary, Lakeshore Film Company gritted his teeth and took out another $5 million, just like that, as soon as he took over, John Woo had an extra $8 million shooting budget in his hands.

Before arriving in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, John Woo had no idea what he had in mind, and although he had sketched out the entire outline of the film in his mind, the stretched budget was simply not enough to create the kind of authentic interior location he needed. In the end, he found some inspiration and material for shooting in the city's historic urban complexes that have gone through the vicissitudes of life and have a strong ancient atmosphere.

The shots left by Wiseman can basically be used, and John Woo decided to continue Wiseman's style orientation to this film, but when it comes to some fights and shootout scenes, John Woo decided to reshoot. Now that he has taken over the guide tube, it is necessary to deeply imprint this film with the imprint of Wu's violent aesthetics.

At that time, John Woo was full of ambition and was ready to break into the world in Hollywood, and he couldn't even speak English at that time. Fox invested in his first Hollywood production, The Ultimate Bull's-eye. John Woo thought at the time that Americans invited him to film because they wanted to see his Hong Kong film style, so the film became a Hong Kong film packaged in English. During the test screening, the reputation was very poor, and the audience looked at the slow-motion and freeze-frame shots without knowing what was going on, and even laughed. The first compromise John Woo made was re-editing, and the film was re-edited seven times before it passed the censorship.

Having learned the lessons of failure, John Woo once spent two years in the United States without filming, to study how Americans live, to understand their thoughts, duties, joys and fears. It wasn't until he thought he had thoroughly studied the Americans that he began to make his second film, "Broken Arrow".

John Woo could only complain at that time, "Hollywood heroes have too many rules, they can't get shot a lot, and they will never die", and at the same time, he said: "Now I know the rules, and I won't do it again next time." ”

After carefully studying the plot of "Tales of the Night", John Woo found that the action processing of this type of film was completely different from what he imagined, and his set of subdivided action shots and the lens expression of the characters when they completed the action in slow motion could be well used in the shooting of this film. And the protagonist in this film is no longer human, so he can design gun battle scenes without scruples, whether the warring parties are werewolves or vampires, it is not so easy to die if they are hit by one or two shots, except for the use of special bullets, of course.

After discovering this pleasantly, John Woo brought Lin Mingyang to discuss the filming of the film's action scenes. When it comes to gunplay design, John Woo is an absolute connoisseur. In terms of fighting scenes, Lin Mingyang, who has Bajiquan martial arts skills, also put forward opinions that are of great reference value.

At the end of the film, Michael, played by Lin Mingyang, will transform into a half-werewolf and half-vampire and start a big battle with the vampire leader Victor. In the design of the last fight scene, Lin Mingyang proposed to integrate the close-to-the-body fighting posture of Bajiquan into the action performance, but John Woo put forward a different view.

"Felix, have you ever thought about it, this is not a war between humans, you are half-werewolf, half-vampire, and your opponent is a vampire, and they are all more powerful than humans. There is a saying in martial arts called 'one force down ten hui', which says that people with great strength will have a great advantage in martial arts, so I think the fight between vampires and werewolves tends to be simple and straightforward. ”

"Although Bajiquan is a practical boxing technique, the subtleties of the movements contain a lot of skills to exert strength, and the movements will be a little complicated when really applied to shooting. Especially when two monsters are in a duel, this kind of addition will seem a bit cumbersome. ”

(To be continued)