Chapter 205 - Strong Yet Broken

The film trailer was finally released. If it were any other indie film, it wouldn’t garner much attention. After all, most indie film productions didn’t have the resources to widely promote their films unlike major production studios.

This film, however, wasn’t just any other indie film. It had LX Productions as its backer. Although the film couldn’t be promoted through traditional means like on TV or radio commercials, the web was another matter.

As soon as the trailer was released, it became top featured on video streaming websites. It also played as an online ad in all major websites. This kind of heavy promotion was something only major production companies could afford. It immediately caught people’s attention.

The film was titled "Strong Yet Broken". It was based on a true story. A life story that was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

It was familiar because it featured the story of Guan Jintao, the blind Paralympian gold-medalist swimmer who was the most famous disabled athlete in the country. His fame rivalled that of famous Olympian athletes because his inspiring life story was already adapted into movies, documentaries, and books. He was undoubtedly a legend in the country.

Given his fame and influence, why then was this new film an indie one?

The answer was simple. The film wasn’t about Guan Jintao. It was about the unfamiliar life story of his mother.

It seemed that major production studios weren’t interested in making this film because the main character was a broken woman. It was, in simple terms, a very dark story.

Unlike the hopeful and triumphant adaptations of Guan Jintao’s life story, this indie film about his mother heavily focused on the subject of dealing with depression after the death of a lover which morphed into postpartum depression that never really went away, eventually ending in suicide. It was the story of a woman desperately trying to stay strong for the sake of her disabled child when she was all broken inside from the death of her lover.

It was emotional, heavy, dark, and suffocating. An eerie sense of hopelessness and death permeated the story.

No major film production company wanted to make this kind of depressing film. Some of them expressed interest if more focus was given to Guan Jintao’s character rather than on his mother, but doing so would change the essence of the story.

In the end, it could only be made into an indie film.

When people started watching the trailer, the reactions were mixed. Some were instantly drawn to it, while some were turned off by the dark tone. However, halfway through the trailer, their attentions were piqued once again.

An oddly familiar voice started singing familiar lyrics.

They finally realized what was going on.

The song was "Phantom of Your Love" by Iris Long!

It sounded so different from the original version. Only the lyrics were the same. The melody only retained a shadow of the original. Even Iris Long’s voice sounded different—lower, deeper and more haunting.

"OMG! It’s the mysterious film that Iris Long has been working on. Look at the credit. It says ’Original Music by Iris Long’!"

"I’m having chills. I think this new version of ’Phantom of Your Love’ sounds even better than the original."

"Poster above, I disagree! I like the original version better. I don’t like this new version at all! It sounds too dark. Thank goodness the trailer didn’t play the entire song. I think I’m gonna have nightmares if I listen to the whole song. Ugh. I’m shuddering just thinking about it."

"Yeah! This new version is too dark! But based on the trailer, I think that it fits the film very well."

"Wow! It doesn’t sound like Iris Long. The voice sounds more like the goddess of death. So dope!"

An hour later, JJ’s record label made an official announcement.

"We are proud to announce that the new version of ’Phantom of Your Love’ by Iris Long will be used as the official theme song of the upcoming independent film ’Strong Yet Broken’, based on the riveting true life story of the late mother of Paralympian gold-medalist swimmer Guan Jintao. Iris single-handedly composed the entire film score. We are also excited to announce that we will be releasing the new version of ’Phantom of Your Love’ together with the entire film score as a soundtrack album. It will be Iris Long’s third official album with our record label. Please support the film and Iris Long’s music. Thank you very much!"

JJ’s record label also released an official sample audio of the song.

Iris and Bright Summit shared this post to their own followers. Because of this, "Strong Yet Broken" received even more attention. By the end of the day, the trailer became the number 1 trending video on the web. In extension, Iris’ new version of "Phantom of Your Love" was also receiving a lot of attention.

When it was first announced that Iris Long was rearranging "Phantom of Your Love" to be more cinematic to make it suitable as a film’s theme song, many fans made their own cinematic covers of the song. They even set up a betting pool online, competing against each other to see whose cover would be the most similar to Iris Long’s version.

Now, however, after listening to the official audio sample, they unanimously agreed that nobody among them came even close to Iris’ version. They didn’t expect that she would make the already dark "Phantom of Your Love" even darker to the point that it sounded like music that came directly from the netherworld.

It sounded so eerie—the melody and most especially Iris’ voice. Her vocals lacked the usual showmanship of high notes and modulation. This new version of "Phantom of Your Love" sounded like pure longing and darkness. It was beautiful to the point of being scary.

Those listening would feel their hair standing on end, like darkness was embracing and suffocating them, making their hearts tremble. The feeling was so unusual yet oddly thrilling at the same time. They couldn’t wait to listen to the whole song. It was also making them want to watch the film.

Of course, the entire Black Stars were there to support their Boss Iris. With LX Productions’ powerful promotions, the film was already making waves on the internet. But with the addition of the Black Stars and the buzz around Iris’ new version of "Phantom of Your Love", an indie film managed to outshine other film trailers intended to become blockbusters by major production companies.

While all of this was happening online, Iris and Jin Liwei were on their way to Lin Yehan’s farm villa. Jin Liwei was finally going to introduce his baby girl to his Fifth Brother.