Hearing that Spielberg had already chosen a rough topic, Li Mu suddenly became interested and blurted out: "Steven, I wonder which part of the history of the Chinese Anti-Japanese War you have chosen?"
Spielberg said: "I think the deeds of General Chennault leading American pilots to form the Flying Tigers in China are very touching, and it is not only the deeds of the American Flying Tigers in fighting the Japanese in China that are touching, but also the bravery of the Chinese local Flying Tigers. The deeds of resisting the Japanese army are also very touching, so my initial idea is to create a film based on the real historical events of General Chennault and the Chinese and American Flying Tigers fighting against the Japanese invaders, as well as the film and television art processing of part of the story. A movie of about 140 minutes.”
As a son of the Chinese nation, Li Mu naturally knew the deeds of the Flying Tigers very well, and he knew the history of the Flying Tigers very well. It was not only the deeds of General Chennault of the United States who led American pilots to volunteer to support the Chinese Anti-Japanese War, but also many stories about China. The touching deeds of the local Flying Tigers also included many unknown national heroes, but he did not expect that Spielberg, an American, would also learn about the deeds of the Chinese Flying Tigers. This really made him He was very surprised. It seemed that the great director's ability to collect and discover clues was indeed different from ordinary people.
Li Mu said in amazement: "Steven, I personally like your material selection and main plot setting very much. I wonder if you can introduce it in more detail?"
Spielberg nodded and said: "First of all, the story must start with Chennault. To facilitate your substitution, you can imagine Tom Hanks as Chennault. If this movie is confirmed, we will not have any problems." Opportunity to cast Tom Hanks.”
Li Mu smiled slightly: "The image of Tom Hanks is indeed very suitable for hard-core soldiers, especially those during World War II."
Spielberg said with a smile: "The story first tells how Chennault came to China. According to his personal experience, he first came to China after retiring and was employed as an instructor at an aviation school in Hangzhou. During this period, he trained There are many ace pilots who will become famous among local Chinese pilots in the future. According to my understanding, there is a very famous ace pilot named Liu Zhesheng among them."
Li Mu nodded: "There is indeed such a heroic martyr. He should have received training from Chennault in 1936."
Spielberg smiled: "Then the information I checked should be correct."
As he spoke, he continued: "The story starts from when Chennault came to China to when he became an instructor at the Chinese Aviation School and trained a group of local Chinese talents. In this part, we basically followed the history completely, except for the second male lead. And the second male lead The number two appeared in this period of history. The second male number was a local Flying Tigers player from China. He was Chennault’s favorite student and the strongest one in the Chinese Flying Tigers team;”
"Shortly after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out, China began its eight-year war of resistance. At this time, Chennault saw with his own eyes the crimes committed by the Japanese invaders against the Chinese people. He also witnessed the fights between students, including the second male lead, and the Japanese army in the sky. The process, as well as their huge disadvantages in scale and aircraft performance against the Japanese Air Force, strengthened his determination to help China, which had an extremely weak air force, fight against the Japanese invaders. This is the first major paragraph of the story."
Li Mu was very excited when he heard this and couldn't help but ask: "Where is the second big paragraph?"
Spielberg said with a smile: "There needs to be a transition between the first big paragraph and the second big paragraph, to connect the previous and the next. This transition plot is the process of Chennault returning to the United States in 1940 to recruit pilots for the Flying Tigers. During this process, the plot will temporarily leave China and the battlefield, and jump to the United States, which has not been affected by the war. At this time, our third male lead will appear."
Li Mu asked tentatively: "The first male is Chennault, the second male is a Chinese Flying Tiger, so the third male should be an American Flying Tiger, right?"
Spielberg smiled and said: "That's right! The character of the second male lead is extremely decent and patriotic. The hatred of the country and the family makes him put all his thoughts on fighting the Japanese invaders. In this case, the male lead three I need to have an opposite to him, so the male number three I imagined should be a young, uninhibited American young man who only wants to fly planes, hunt for novels, and pursue beautiful girls every day. Smoking cigarettes and doing nothing, but he is the most talented and best pilot in the flying club."
At this point, Spielberg added: "You can use the image of Leonardo from "Titanic" to represent this pilot."
Li Mu laughed and nodded repeatedly. Spielberg was indeed a great director. With just one sentence, the picture in his mind became more concrete.
Spielberg continued: "The male lead is interested in the strength of the male lead three and hopes to invite him to join his Flying Tigers and go to China to fight against the Japanese invaders. However, the male lead three is not interested at all. He said casually, The war has nothing to do with him. There are only three things in his life: airplanes, cigarettes and women, so he will not accept the invitation of the male lead."
"In order to achieve this goal, the male number one asked for a flying contest with the male number three. If the male number one lost, he was willing to give the male number three a thousand dollars; if the male number three lost, he would have to compete with the male number one. He came to China to join the Flying Tigers until the end of World War II."
"The male number three was extremely conceited. He competed with the male number one for money and face, but failed to defeat him. In the end, he had no choice but to admit defeat and followed the male number one to China with nearly a hundred other pilots."
After saying this, Spielberg looked at Li Mu and said, "This is the transitional part I'm talking about."
Li Mu nodded: "Very good. The American Flying Tigers are heading to the battlefield. My blood boils with excitement. Now that we've finished talking about the first paragraph and the transitional paragraph, it's time to talk about the second paragraph, right?"
Spielberg nodded and said: "The second major paragraph is that the male number three followed the male number one to China, officially joined the Flying Tigers, and met the male number two, and the two became comrades. In this way, The second male and the third male can present a very strong contrast in personality, for example: a Chinese face and an American face; one is extremely decent and the other is bohemian; one has no time to care about the love of his children, while the other thinks about pursuing beautiful girls all day long; One pilots a plane to protect his family and the country, while the other pilots a plane to pursue novelties and make money. The conflict between characters is almost everywhere."
"It was these two completely different people who became comrades fighting side by side under Chennault. The conflict between the characters would be strong at first, but with the baptism of war, the male number three finally realized the intentions of the Japanese invaders during the war. crime, and realized that he was not fighting for curiosity and money, but for justice. During this period, the male number 2, who had been looked down upon by the male number 3, saved the life of the male number 3 in an air battle, and then the two They are completely different people, but they reach the same destination through different routes and have become the closest comrades in arms, fighting side by side."
Having said this, Spielberg added: "I am also planning to add two relatively weak female characters. An American female nurse in Flying Tigers fell in love with the unsmiling second male lead, while the third male lead... After a plane crash and skydiving, he fell in love with the Chinese peasant girl who hid him and helped him avoid being hunted by the Japanese army. Subsequently, the male number 3 began to pursue the peasant girl fiercely, and the American female nurse also began to express her love for the male number 2. .”
"The shy Chinese girl is trying her best to avoid the passionate third male lead; the second male lead, who cares about the hatred of the country and the family, is clearly aware of the admiration of the American female nurse and is obviously attracted to her, but takes the fight against Japan as her own duty and dare not give any Responded positively, until one time when the air force was fighting against the Japanese invaders, Male Number 2 and Male Number 3 fought side by side. During the fierce battle, Male Number 2's plane was damaged by the Japanese army. Male Number 3 desperately tried to cover his parachute, but Male Number 2 At this time, his chest had been hit by a machine gun from a Japanese aircraft."
"On the verge of dying, the second male gave up parachuting and said goodbye to the third male through the radio. He also asked him to help tell the American female nurse that he also liked her. Unfortunately, the timing of the two meeting was too unlucky. If in peacetime, He must marry her. After saying this, the second male lead pulled up the injured aircraft and rushed towards the formation of Japanese aircraft. Before being shot down by the Japanese, he finally shot down a Japanese fighter plane."
"The heartbroken Male No. 3 and other comrades repelled the Japanese army, but Male No. 2's plane had crashed. He returned in tears. The female nurse heard about the tragic fighting on the front line and rushed to the runway expecting to see Male No. 2's plane land, but in the end The plane that landed was the plane of Male Number 3. After he landed, he told the female nurse that Male Number 2 had died, and the female nurse cried silently."
"At the end of the story, Chennault's Flying Tigers disbanded, and Male Number Three was about to return to the United States. Before leaving, he once again went to find the farm girl who had saved him but had been hiding from him, but found that the entire village where her home was located had After being razed to rubble by the Japanese army, Male No. 3 thought she was dead and cried sadly in the ruins of her home. Unexpectedly, the girl suddenly appeared in front of him alone; "
"Male No. 3 was so excited that he hugged her tightly and said I love you in English. The peasant girl couldn't understand, but she didn't push him away. Instead, she shed tears in his arms. She said in Chinese that her parents were The Japanese killed her, and she was the only one left in the family. Male number three could not understand him. He just repeatedly said in broken Chinese: "Follow me, follow me." The peasant girl understood his words and hesitated for a moment. Still nodded."
"The third male hugged her tightly, crying like a child with excitement, and then the second major part of the plot came to an end."
When Li Mu heard this, his eyes were a little sore. He didn't expect that Spielberg could describe a fictional story based on real history so touchingly using just words. What's more, he didn't expect that the young Anne Hathaway had already My eyes were red when I heard it, and tears could even be seen rolling in my eyes.
No one spoke. They looked at Spielberg. He took a deep breath, adjusted his mood, and then said: "The end of the story is divided into two scenes. The first scene: On the side of the ship returning to the United States, the camera panned over the man. Number 1, and the faces of many American Flying Tigers, they lay on the side of the ship and looked at the farther and farther coast without saying a word, which was the Chinese land they once fought bloody battles to defend;"
"Then, the camera paused for a moment as it panned the American female nurse. The female nurse wept silently and carefully took out a photo from her pocket. The photo was a photo of the second male lead on the aviation school's honor list. After the second male lead was sacrificed, he was She takes it with her;”
"Then, the camera passed by her and came to the male number three. The male number three's eyes were red, looking at the land of China, as if he was remembering his comrades who fought side by side. Then, the camera passed by him. The person beside him was that A farm girl who lost her parents, with red eyes, slowly nestled on his shoulder, then the camera shot up, getting further and further away... "
"Act 2: In the summer of 1999, an old American man and an old American lady came to China, accompanied by an old Chinese lady and several mixed-race children. They came to a martyrs cemetery in the suburbs of Spring City in the southwest;"
"Standing in front of a tombstone, an old American man and an old Chinese lady intertwined their fingers and looked at the photo on the tombstone seriously. The photo on the tombstone was that of the number two male lead at that time. Even the photo was taken away by an American female nurse. That photo is exactly the same;"
"At this time, the lonely old American lady beside them tremblingly but carefully took out a yellowed black and white photo. The photo was the same as the photo on the tombstone. Then the old man's wrinkled eyes shed tears. Tears flowed down the old man's wrinkled face, and at the moment they fell in front of the tombstone, the play ended... "
(End of chapter)