What if what you want just falls into your lap? ⚔ General Yue Fei was a Song dynasty patriot who fended off Jin incursions from the north, perhaps too efficiently. His devotion to killing invaders led to accusations of undermining peace efforts by traitorous bureaucrats. Left undefended by the decadent royalty he routinely rescued, he was executed for treason alongside his son. I was going to make a film about him, set in modern day. The central conceit was, "Would things have been different if Yue Fei had lived during the Nationalist period?" (Spoiler alert: given China's penchant for framing and executing effective commanders , no.) All I had after years of daydreaming were a few pitch elements, like targeting Father's Day, and swooping long takes to classical music. Then this happened:
I try to write something smart twice a month.