Wang Taili wrote the old boy in tears on the bus. It was popular all over the country as soon as it was released, but no one expected that this song made Chopstick Brothers fall into a plagiarism storm. Its melody and notes are exactly the same as the Japanese song "Thank you", and it has not moved at all. Such a melody with unforgettable lyrics makes countless people cry after listening to it.
Everyone thinks that as long as it sounds good, it doesn’t matter whether it is copied or not. The reason why the old boy is so popular among the public is not only the lyrics and melody, but also the unknown story behind the micro-film that lasts more than 40 minutes.
Wang Taili, who was forty, and 36-year-old Xiao Yang made an agreement on the road to pursuing dreams. After filming the old boy, they bid farewell to each other and make a living and develop each other. Few people know that Wang Taili has paid too much for this enthusiasm, and even left a lifetime of pain. When he was young, he wanted to make good music and did not hesitate to break up with his father. Even if he only had 500 yuan on his body, he would embark on the road to pursuing his dreams in Beijing without hesitation. But more than ten years have passed, 40-year-old Wang Taili has no improvement. The only thing he has made is to open a small company that can barely support it. He is engaged in promotion, ringtones, and some small advertising businesses. Although life is difficult, he cannot destroy his musical dream.
At this time, Xiao Yang's appearance made Wang Taili see hope. One was full of passion and the other was unwilling to be ordinary. So the two young people hit it off and wanted to break out into a world. In order to promote the song "Memoirs of a Male Geisha", each person received 10,000 yuan. It was directed and edited by Xiao Yang and starred by Wang Taili. A funny MV was filmed. In order to make the video more interesting, Xiao Yang took a different approach and asked Wang Taili to cross-dress, put on women's clothing, put on red lips, swaying in shape, and had a great sense of humor. After posting it on the Internet, their unique creativity made them popular. In just one week, the click rate reached 10 million. After becoming famous on the Internet, the two of them formed a group and named it Chopstick Brothers.
Immediately afterwards in 2008, they followed the trend and continued to shoot micro-films. The two of them received more than 200,000 yuan in total. They thought they could be extraordinary, but they didn't expect that the short film was like a rock sinking to the sea and was submerged in the wave of many online videos. The two of them were like eggplants beaten by frost, completely wilted and didn't want to do it. In desperation, one continued to go back to shoot advertisements, and the other went back to his hometown in Shandong to open a restaurant.
Just as the two of them hid their dreams in their hearts, in 2009, a bad news suddenly came, and Michael and Jackson unfortunately passed away. Hearing this news, Wang Taili was mixed with emotion. The idol who influenced his musical dream disappeared and it also made him fall into deep thought. Should he be short-lived or evergreen? Thinking about it again, I have passed my forties. Although I work hard, I still don’t fight in my father’s eyes, and the spiritual pillar that accompanies him no longer exists.
Wang Taili seemed to have been severely damaged, and his just silent music dream could no longer be suppressed. He decided to fight again, even an old boy would never let down his passion. So he took the initiative to call Xiao Yang, and the two hit it off. Wang Taili began to rewrite the lyrics of the Japanese song "Thank you". He wrote all his bitter feelings about himself as a little person into the lyrics, and finally wrote this song with tears on the bus. The lyrics of
are full of helplessness and heartbreak. Xiao Yang was shocked after watching it. Coincidentally, this year, China Film Group and Youku invited 11 leading directors to create a ten-minute short film with the theme of youth struggle, and Xiao Yang was also among them. After discussing with Wang Taili, the two decided to make their own experience into an old boy's micro-film, and take this opportunity to do a big fight. If they fail, they will be successful. They agreed to do this only once and go their separate ways if they fail.
But I didn’t expect that the script would last 42 minutes after it was written, which seriously exceeded the organizer’s restrictions. These 42 minutes are not included in the activity funding, the only solution is to delete it. But the two of them dared not give up, so they simply paid for the excess. However, the micro-film really burned money. Not long after, they burned all their money, so the two of them simply took a gamble. The people around them were borrowed and finally invested in the money for buying a house.Because of the tight funding, they can't afford to hire too many actors. Except for some of them, they either support the extras who support the two brothers, or friends and relatives around them. They don't need to pay for the film and are obliged to help.
For this reason, the Chopstick Brothers have unprecedented motivation. But just as the two were working hard to shoot, the bad news suddenly came about that Wang Taili's father fell ill. After examination, the diagnosis was advanced lymphoma . On one hand, there is a family affection that is thicker than water, and on the other hand, a career that has just improved, Wang Taili is in a dilemma.
After returning to his hometown, Wang Taili took his father to Beijing for treatment after only one week. He filmed on the crew during the day and went to the hospital to accompany his father to treat his illness at night. Wang Taili has never been recognized by his father, but this time, he wants to try hard to prove that he is not doing his job properly. In order to help the old man fulfill his wish and to prevent Wang Taili from leaving any regrets, Xiao Yang began to shoot movies crazily and stayed up late to edit them later. But unfortunately, in the end, Wang Taili's father still didn't wait for this "Old Boy", so this also became Wang Taili's lifelong pain.
This old boy, cast with sweat and tears, exceeded 300,000 clicks on the first day, and exceeded one million on the second day. On the third day, it became a phenomenal hit and quickly became a popular all over the country. Back then, he was the ceiling in the short film, with nostalgic and sad plot, and combined with extremely realistic lyrics, hitting the softest part of countless people's hearts. As stated at the end of the film, dreams, like classics, will not fade because of time, but will be more precious.
