At the beginning of June, Lin Mingyang received an admission letter from Harvard as he wished, which was what he expected. Because "Admission Notice" was still being filmed, he didn't go back to celebrate with his family. The filming of the film lasted until mid-July, and then after more than two weeks of post-editing, the dailies were finally completed before Lin Mingyang left for South Africa.

The release and release of the film, Lin Mingyang lost all his brains to Ax. After disbanding the crew and leaving his job as a director, he flew to Johannesburg without stopping. As the producer of the film "Lord of War", he has been late for half a month.

As early as June 2, 2004, the crew of "Lord of War" officially started filming in New York, and in the first few days, many scenes were filmed in Manhattan and Brighton Beach on Coney Island. However, it took only nine days for the crew to shoot the location in the United States, and then rushed to Johannesburg, South Africa, to start the high-load work.

South Africa's varied geography is conducive to a focused filming, and with a little retouching, many African, Asian and North American landscapes can be recreated here, even in Ukraine and the Caribbean. The only problem is that although the political situation in South Africa is stable, the law and order has not been very good.

At first, Lin Mingyang suggested that the film be filmed in Cape Town, which is the legislative capital of South Africa, but director Andrew Nicol had a better view of densely populated Johannesburg and decided to build a street scene in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.

South Africa has been labelled as "one of the world's most insecure countries" for many years, and Johannesburg is known as the "capital of crime". South Africa has a chronically high incidence of violence against the wrong surname, with homicide rates seven or eight times higher than the world average. In Johannesburg, the hijacking of cash trucks, the bombing of ATMs, and the burglaries of houses are commonplace, and even the mansions of heads of state such as Mandela and Mbeki have been visited by robbers. Problems ensue because of the security headaches in the area.

Director Andrew Nicol was busy creating locations in the crew, and Lin Mingyang came to the airport to pick up Lin Mingyang from a local security company hired by the crew, and there were five of them in total, and the one standing at the front was actually an Asian face. In contrast, the four black bodyguards standing behind the person in charge were tall and tall. These people are not like Lin Mingyang's usual Western bodyguards, with suits and leather shoes, and cool sunglasses. They were dressed casually, and they were all short-sleeved, revealing the muscular muscles of their arms. Fortunately, there are no tattoos on it, otherwise it looks like a security guard when you go out, and it is exactly the same as the robber in the movie.

"Hello Mr. Felix, I'm the head of the Tyrannosaurus Security Company." The owner of the Asian face shook hands with Lin Mingyang, "Your safety in South Africa is our sole responsibility!" ”

Although the official language of South Africa is English, the English spoken by the locals is very different from American English and British English. The other party used this kind of English with South African characteristics, if it was an orthodox American, it would definitely be a little unaccustomed to hearing his pronunciation, but Lin Mingyang heard some familiar flavors from the tone of the other party's language.

"Are you Chinese?" Lin Mingyang didn't even have English, so he used Chinese directly.

"How do you see that?" The surprise on the other party's face was even more than Lin Mingyang's, "And you can also speak Chinese!" ”

"Because I'm of mixed Chinese descent, half Chinese blood in my body!"

Surprised to surprised, this South African Chinese named Xie Qiang did not forget his accusation, he waved his hand, and the four black bodyguards behind him surrounded Lin Mingyang in the middle very professionally, and then escorted him all the way to the car.

Sitting in the vehicle that looked like an armored car, Lin Mingyang knocked on the glass on the window, it was very thick, and it should be that kind of bulletproof special glass. It seems that the security in Johannesburg is indeed very poor, which makes Lin Mingyang can't help but increase his worries.

After the car started, the black bodyguard sitting in the front row kept looking back, seeing that Lin Mingyang was thinking about the problem, Xie Qiang glared at him, and the other party turned his head in disdain, this scene happened to be seen by Lin Mingyang, who came back to his senses.

Lin Mingyang opened his mouth and asked, "Is there something wrong with him?" ”

As he spoke, the guy in the front row turned his head again, and Xie Qiang smiled apologetically at Lin Mingyang, "This guy is your fan!" ”

"My son adores you too, his room is plastered with your posters and he spends his days imitating your movements from those films." When the black man saw that the opportunity had come, he quickly explained: "He knew that you were coming to Johannesburg, so he begged me to ask for a signature of yours!" ”

"Just a signature?" A smile appeared on the corner of Lin Mingyang's mouth, the more poor and backward the place, the more simple the emotion people revealed. "I don't have a habit of carrying a pen with me, and I don't know where to sign now, I'll be in Johannesburg for a while, you can find a space to bring your son, I'd love to take a picture with him and sign him on the photo!"

The black bodyguard was so excited that he thanked him repeatedly, although Lin Mingyang was a big star in Hollywood, he didn't put on a high stand, which made him win the favor of everyone in the car. On the way, Xie Qiang also chatted with him in Chinese.

Xie Qiang, who is in his 30s, is thin and dark, only about 1.7 meters tall, with a pair of black-framed glasses, giving people a very weak feeling. But at the age of 12, he followed his parents to South Africa, where he grew up studying and joined the police reserve and became a police officer. Later, he participated in the work of the South African Chinese Police-Community Cooperation Center, and became the general manager of the South African Chinese Security Company after its establishment.

"I feel like the security situation here is worse than I thought!" During the conversation, Lin Mingyang did not hide his worries.

"How so?" Xie Qiang wanted to hear the reason for Lin Mingyang's judgment.

"On the plane, I looked through some local newspapers in Johannesburg and found out that it was very unreasonable why they would put such a big news about the robbery of a cash truck in an unobtrusive place on the page, and then I looked through other newspapers and the result was the same. This can only be said to be one thing, this kind of law and order incident, which seems to me to be very serious, is just a norm in the eyes of South Africans. ”

"Your judgment is correct, but the reality is not as bad as you think. As the saying goes, 'Tigers don't eat people, but they have a bad reputation'. After all, South Africa is a very politically stable country, and in recent years, the political axe has invested a lot of financial and police resources to improve the law and order environment, and the results are very obvious. Most cases of mischief are organized and premeditated, and generally do not target individuals, and even if they are unfortunate enough to encounter petty thieves, they rarely cause physical harm. ”

The problem of firearms, especially private guns, in South Africa is an important reason for the frequent occurrence of many robberies and shootings. However, Xie Qiang told Lin Mingyang that last year, the South African political axe changed the law, and each person can only have four guns, and private individuals cannot own guns with mass destruction.

But at the same time, South Africa's laws are also very strict, if the other party only robs with a knife, it is not allowed to fight back with a gun; Even if the gangster robs with a gun, if the robbery has ended, you can't shoot the gangster in the back and hurt him, etc.

"Guns are just a deterrent tool. If you really use the gun, you can fight whatever it takes. Maybe the bandits were acquitted, and the bodyguards became criminals. "Xie Qiang's security company has been established for so many years, and the number of times a year that the actual shooting and robbers are only two times a year, and the others are all shooting into the sky to warn in dangerous situations, calling nearby security guards or police to come to support.

"There are so many crimes with guns, don't the police care?"

"The [***] of the South African police community is also an important reason for the chaos in the local law and order!" The only way to deal with robbery in South Africa is prevention, and relying on the police is an unrealistic idea. That's why Andrew Nichol hired Xie Qiang's security company to take care of the safety of all the crew during filming in Johannesburg, and according to Xie Qiang's own words, "That's what he does." ”

Lin Mingyang learned from Xie Qiang that every year in South Africa, foreign tourists are robbed and even shot dead by robbers. His security company aims to protect the lives and property of local South Africans, and can also provide personal security services for foreigners visiting South Africa for tourism or business.

Although the security guards in Xie Qiang's company have been professionally trained by the South African Security Association, they know how to deal with various situations and ensure the safety of their employers, Lin Mingyang is still a little uneasy, and the expression on his face is not very pleasant when he meets Andrew Nicol in the crew.

"In military factories, steel is cut, shells are stamped and formed. Primer, gunpowder, warhead, boxing, transport, magazine. Got into the chamber of the gun, took aim, and then a childish-looking African kid collapsed. In this way, a bullet completes its life trajectory and completes its mission - to end human life. That's how I started designing for this film, what do you think? Andrew Nicol didn't notice this, as soon as Lin Mingyang arrived at the crew, he pulled the other party to visit the location that had just been arranged.

"Since that script, I've given full trust in your abilities without doubt, and the madman will give another madman $40 million to make a crazy movie." Lin Mingyang stopped, "But what I appreciate is only your madness in movie creativity, I don't like the place you chose, it's too dangerous for the crew!" ”

"The most common thing foreigners talk about here is public security, and when I went to a restaurant to eat just now, I had a deep understanding that almost every store has one or two iron gates, and customers have to close tightly when they enter. Even when you get home from work, you have developed a habit of keeping an eye on the rearview mirror in the car to prevent someone from following you. Do you really think it's a wise choice to shoot here? ”

"Why not?" Andrew Nichol looked at Lin Mingyang with a straight face, "I even know better than you how dangerous it is here, based on a local family of 5, a family can have 20 guns." On the black market, a gun costs around 400 rand, or less than $50. On the black market in Soweto, rent for a month for R200. But with so many guns, and how many of them are produced by South Africa itself, only when you really walk in here, everyone in the crew, including me, really knows what kind of depth the film can express. So I think it's the right choice to come here. ”

"Okay, since you insist, then increase the security force, and I'll pay for the excess!" Lin Mingyang made an undoubted decision, this is his first time as a film agent, although he will not interfere with the director's work, he also does not want any accidents in Johannesburg.

Andrew Nicol did not refuse, and Lin Mingyang finally let go of some worries in his heart. The climate in Johannesburg is a bit muggy, and even with the air conditioning on, it is not very comfortable to stay in the room. Lin Mingyang found a good place to escape the heat and cool off, he sat alone by the pool and was stunned, when someone suddenly came over from behind.

"I thought I was the only one on the crew who hated Johannesburg's ghost weather!" Nicolas Cage sat on the edge of the pool and soaked his feet in the pool like Lin Mingyang.

Feeling the coldness of the pool water, Nicolas Cage sighed comfortably, "How come I didn't find this good place before, it would be more perfect if there was a cold beer and two cool bikini chicks at this time!" ”

Lin Mingyang turned his head and smiled at him, "Beer can be had, but beauties are not within the service scope of the hotel." ”

After saying that, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers at the waiter standing in the distance, and the black waiter ran over quickly, "Sir, is there anything you need me to serve?" ”

"Two cold beers, thank you!"

"Last time at the Vanity Fair cocktail party, I remember you had juice in your hand." Nicolas Cage had a meeting at the last Oscars, and they chatted a couple of words at the reception.

"I just turned 18 in April, and I'm a good law-abiding citizen!" Lin Mingyang had a sly look in his eyes, and after the waiter brought the wine, he and Nicolas Cage tacitly touched a glass.

"I heard that the investment in this film was all made by you alone?" Nicolas Cage knew that the little guy in front of him was very rich, but while lamenting Lin Mingyang's generosity, he still had some doubts in his heart.

"And Mr. Cage, why are you willing to appear in this movie?" Lin Mingyang kicked the ball back again.

"From the theme to the plot, this film is very attractive, you know that old men like me always like to play some special roles, so you can give yourself more challenges!"

"Actually, Andrew originally wanted me to play your brother in the film!"

"What?" Nicolas Cage was stunned for a moment, tilted his head and took a sip of beer, "Thankfully, this stupid idea didn't come true, and the two of us don't look like each other at all." ”

"I feel the same way, but Mr. Andrew will definitely not give up the director's position to me, and I like this movie as much as you do, so I have to become an investor in the end!"

(To be continued)