Writer’s Story Adapted to Blockbuster

“Let the Bullets Fly” was premiered on December 16th， 2010 and instantly showed every sign of becoming a blockbuster. The incomplete statistics on January 5 indicated it had grossed more than 500 million. The film is based on “Ten Night Stories” by Ma Shitu， a Sichuan writer born in 1915. While it was screened in the version of Sichuan dialect in Chengdu， the capital of Sichuan Province， the 97-year-old writer came to watch the cinematic version of his thriller. He was enormously satisfied.

The cooperation between director Jiang Wen and writer Ma Shitu came back to a day in early July 2008. That morning Ma was practicing calligraphy at home when telephone rang. An official from Sichuan Federation of Literary and Art Circles called to ask whether Ma would mind if Jiang Wen came to visit him the next day. Ma Shitu said okay but wondered why the famous actor and director came all the way to see him.

Ma Shitu has been a veteran member of the Communist Party of China since 1938. Three years before he became a Communist， he joined a Communist-led student movement. Then he was a high-ranking communist official working under cover for years. After the founding of New China in 1949， he was appointed to various high-ranking positions in Sichuan Province. Ma is a writer of national renown. He graduated from the Chinese Department of Southwest Associated University in 1945. Since 1935， he has had 19 books published to his name. A novel he published in 1961 established him as a writer of national renown. The preeminent writer later became the president of Sichuan Writers’ Association and a director of the China Writers Association.

The next day， Jiang Wen came with flowers and fruits to visit the veteran Communist and writer. With the director was Ma Ke， a partner of Jiang Wen’s new film studio. After they paid their respects to Ma， Jiang explained the purpose of their visit. He wanted to adapt “Ten Night Stories” to a film.

Ma Shitu said he had penned the stories more than 20 years before and the stories themselves are all about the people and events in the 1920s and 1930s. He thought the stories might be outmoded.

Jiang Wen begged to differ. He said that the stories showed a strong masculinity and very good plots that appealed a great deal to him. In his opinion， the stories were by no means outmoded.

Born in 1963， Jiang Wen starred in “Last Emperor” when he was only 22. When he was 23， he and Liu Xiaoqing co-starred in “Hibiscus Town”. When he was about 30， he starred in “Red Sorghum”， a film directed by Zhang Yimou. Jiang Wen is an avid reader. He reads extensively. And the talented performing artist is also a brilliant film director. After he and Ma Ke founded their new venture， they decided to make a film based on Ma Shitu’s “Ten Night Stories”. Ma Ke believed it was a very wise choice and the new film would be a blockbuster.

Ma Shitu was very happy to know his stories would be a basis for Jiang’s new movie.

“Ten Night Stories” were written in the early 1980s and published in 1983 by the People’s Publishing House. The ten two-bit government officials each relate a story. The Ten Night Stories combine to reflect the seamy sides of the society in the 1930s. The book was a big hit on the market after it came out. The Central People’s Radio broadcast the stories and the book was reprinted many times.

Jiang Wen wondered which of the ten Ma preferred to be made into a film. Ma said each could be adapted to a film. As a matter of fact， “Theft of Official Appointment” was made into a film in 1986.

Jiang Wen said he had watched the film and found the story great and that was why he read all the Ten Night Stories afterwards. Though the 1986 film was a success， the writer felt it had some imperfections， saying he had hoped the film should show more regional characteristics of Sichuan. Jiang Wen said he would like to make “Theft of Official Appointment” into a film with all the characteristics of Sichuan.

Ma Shitu was very pleased and agreed to let Jiang Wen try. Jiang Wen signed a contract with Ma’s daughter who acted on the behalf of Ma Shitu for film and television rights to “Ten Night Stories”. Jiang Wen paid 100，000. Ma was extremely satisfied with the handsome amount. Many industrial insiders， however， believe Jiang Wen purchased a gold mine for a song.

On July 3， 2008， Jiang Wen visited Anren Town， Dayi County in Sichuan Province. He came to make a field study. The town is home to a large residence which was owned by Liu Wencai， a powerful landlord. Jiang Wen spoke highly of the architecture， thinking the residence emitted the charms of history.

Interestingly， Jiang Wen found a newspaper on display in the town’s museum which carried the first article his father published in the 1960s. Jiang Wen offered to give the museum some props from his first and third movies in exchange of the original newspaper.

He had planned to film the story in Anren Town， but he finally chose to shoot it in Kaiping， Guangdong Province， home to various villa-styled buildings in mixed Chinese and western architectural style. He thought the architecture there suited his film better.

In one year and a half， six scriptwriters tried their best to adapt the story. They broke the story into 120 scenes. They had 120 pieces of paper and each carried a brief note about the scene. Jiang Wen wanted to make sure that every minute of the film should be exciting and that no line should be boring and dull. Ma Ke and the scriptwriters visited Ma Shitu twice during the 18 months. They asked the writer to talk about the time and social background of the story. Altogether they rewrote the script for more than ten times until it was ready.

The next big issue was to find the right actors for the masculine film. Ge You was Jiang Wen’s first choice for one of the three lead characters. Jiang Wen knew Ge You would never consider an offer if no script was presented at the same time. The best actor always wants to read a script first before he makes a decision. Jiang Wen wrote him a short letter in an elegant style and in the traditional Chinese language. Ge You was touched by the sincerity and sent back his laconic one-word reply: “Deal!”

Since this method worked with Ge You， Jiang Wen handwrote another letter to Zhou Runfa. After reading Jiang’s letter， Zhou agreed to appear in the film. In addition to the three best men actors， the film stars a galaxy of very good male actors. Some critics gushed that it was a film of male hormone.

And Jiang Wen indeed made a version in Sichuan Dialect. Some actors with their ancestral roots in Sichuan had an opportunity to speak their local dialect.

Jiang Wen spent three years making the two-hour movie. The blockbuster offers all the elements for audiences of different ages. His purpose was to put audiences on the edge of the seats.

On December 14， Jiang Wen attended a promotion gathering in Chengdu. The 97-year-old Ma Shitu came to the promotion. He presented Jiang Wen with a poem he had written in the previous night after watching the movie.

At the promotion， Jiang Wen expressed his gratitude to his team in general and to Ma Shitu in particular. The film starts with a special acknowledgement to Ma Shitu. Jiang Wen said he is the second man in the world who has honored an author this way. The first man is Coppola who directed “The Godfather” in 1972 and dedicated it to the author Mario Puzo.□