Duong Khiet: Director of Journey to the West hasn't seen a movie in 10 years, conflicts with film crew

The late director Duong Khiet - the creator of the 1986 classic Journey to the West, which few people know had a period of time when the movie he was showing turned off, revealing conflicts within the film crew.

Yang Jie, born in 1929, died in 2017, was a Chinese female director. She was born in Hubei, China and is from the same country as her husband Wang Chongqiu. On April 15, 2017, she passed away and was buried at Ba Bao Funeral Home in Beijing. During a career spanning two decades, she made 11 television films, the most famous of which is Journey to the West (1986) and ended her career with the second part of this series. She is also considered the first generation of television directors and artists in the Chinese entertainment industry.

In November 1981, during a press conference to promote the film "Dream of the Red Chamber" directed by Wang Fulin, CCTV Deputy Director Hong Dansheng proposed inviting Duong Khiet to produce a series of Western films. travelogue and she also agreed. It took Duong Khiet 6 years from 1982 - 1988 to make and complete the entire first part of Journey to the West . The first 11 episodes were completed in the first four years, while the remaining 14 episodes were made in 2 years from 1986 - 1988.

In 1987, CCTV's survey showed that the hugely popular movie had an audience rating of 89.4%. However, because the film's budget was up to 3 million yuan, causing difficulties for the station, Duong Khiet had to campaign everywhere for more funding, but only completed 25 episodes compared to the planned 30 episodes. In 1999 - 2000, Duong Khiet edited the five missing episodes in the first part into part two of the series with 16 episodes, bringing together all the actors in part one. In 2000, when Journey to the West 2 was released, the work received many mixed reviews and ended Duong Khiet's filmmaking career.

In addition to Taoist Laoshan and two parts of the series Journey to the West , Duong Khiet also made a number of other television films such as Te Dien Venerable (1990), Minh Thai To (1993)... but could not succeed. Like Journey to the West , the work has become a classic that has been associated with her name for the past 30 years. Since its release in 1986, the film has been rebroadcast more than 2,000 times on Chinese television. Up to now, Journey to the West 1986 is still considered the most successful television series in Chinese film history, which no version has yet surpassed.

Although there have been many film and television adaptations of Journey to the West (original novel by Ngo Thua An, 16th century), up to now, for the public, the television series directed by Duong Khiet, First broadcast in 1986, it is still considered the most successful work, becoming a model and classic.

Although later, there were many people who remade Journey to the West with a larger budget, a hundred times more modern technology and effects, and a cast that was also talented, famous and beautiful, but the film was produced with the highest quality standards. Duong Khiet's poor, rudimentary art is still the most loved by the audience. When mentioning the movie Journey to the West , generations of audiences immediately think of the 1986 version.

Usually when it comes to movies, audiences only remember the names of star actors, but after many years, fans of Journey to the West always remember the name of director Duong Khiet. The film brought her lifelong fame, as well as her important contribution to bringing great fame to many actors participating in the film. Many actors in the film crew are grateful to Duong Khiet, calling her a teacher.

However, in 2011, when interviewed in a television program, Duong Khiet surprised the audience when he confided: "I don't see the glory of Journey to the West. The movie is the eternal pain in my heart." mine. Ten years after the movie first aired, I didn't watch it. When I turned on the TV and saw Journey to the West, I changed the channel."

Behind the resounding success of Journey to the West are countless hardships that the female director had to go through, including conflicts within the film crew. "I don't know what to say. Unhappy things happened," Duong Khiet said. The film crew has hundreds of people with hundreds of conflicts, including conflicts among the main actors. The salary issue also causes a lot of trouble, because there are cases where actors playing supporting roles receive salaries many times higher than the main actors.

The fact that Tu Thieu Hoa - the most handsome and popular actor among the three people playing Duong Tang - quit his role is also considered due to resentment about his salary. He was not satisfied when he learned that the amount of money he received for each episode was lower than "Bajie Pig" Ma Dehua. Compared to the actor who plays Bach Ma and Tang Tang's mother, his salary is even lower. After that, even though he was given a raise of 5 yuan per episode, he still withdrew from the film crew with the excuse of attending graduate school.

Being doubted about her ability by the leader was also a pain for director Duong Khiet during the process of making Journey to the West , but she firmly overcame it and asserted herself through the product. Then when filming episode 11, the budget ran out and the TV station stopped providing money. The female director was very angry at this decision but could do nothing, she could only look for other financial sources. Fortunately, in the end producer Li Hongchang sponsored them to continue filming.

Having suffered so much, trying to ensure the best quality for the film, Duong Khiet was heartbroken when someone told the TV station leader: " The film crew of 'Journey to the West' took advantage of the opportunity to travel and enjoy everywhere." ".

Her husband, cameraman Vuong Sung Thu, recounted that in order to choose the best setting, the group had to travel all over the country, to many rugged and desolate places: "Travel at that time was not like it is now, some places didn't even have motels." . When we arrived at Thanh Thanh Mountain, we were in a place worthy of being called a slum. There were a lot of rats there, every day everyone had to hear the sound of rats squeaking...".

Although director Duong Khiet has now passed away (in 2017), the classic television works directed by her still remain in the hearts of the audience.

Hằng Nga đẹp nhất "Tây du ký": Cả đời chỉ đóng một phim, nàng tiên tỷ phú có tấm lòng thiện nguyện T.T09:16:41 27/05/2023Khâu Bội Ninh chỉ đóng một vai diễn duy nhất trong sự nghiệp nhưng đã trở thành tượng đài trong lòng hàng triệu khán giả. Ở tuổi U70, bà được ngợi khen nhan sắc và thành công trong kinh doanh sau nhiều năm rời xa làng giải trí.