Chapter 433: Female Lead Selection

The report on the "Xinwen Broadcast" was like a clarion call, sounding the wave of news media across the country reporting on "Red Sorghum" winning the Golden Bear Award.

In a short time, the names of Zhang Yimou and Red Sorghum became known throughout the country.

Gong Li and Han Zhuangzhuang, who used to be only sidekicks at press conferences, have become popular targets for interviews by various media. They are busy every day, with only two words on their schedules - interviews.

Zhang Yimou’s situation is similar to the other two, accepting endless interviews and attending endless meetings every day.

Not only that, the higher-ups also issued instructions to the Xi'an Film Studio.

It is not easy for China to produce an award-winning film like Red Sorghum, so they just submitted all the films that could be nominated this year. This news made Zhang Yimou extremely embarrassed.

In his opinion, winning the Golden Bear Award is the highest honor that a film can receive.

Even if we win the Golden Bear Award, it is impossible for us to participate in the other two major European film festivals. Don’t even count on the Oscars, as China has not yet established any connection with the Oscars.

It actually doesn't make much sense for "Red Sorghum" to participate in some lower-level film festivals.

But he is the leader after all, and there is no harm in winning two more awards, so Zhang Yimou had no choice but to agree.

Another good news is that the Xi'an Film Studio has set the release date for "Red Sorghum", which is mid-March.

With the momentum of winning the award spreading across the country, I believe that "Red Sorghum" will surely achieve good box office results.

In the room of Yanjing Hotel, Lin Weimin met Bertolucci again.

From the second half of last year to this year, Bertolucci has been traveling between Europe, the United States and China to prepare for "The Last Emperor".

After this period of preparation, "The Last Emperor" was finally co-produced by Italy's Yanco Film, Britain's Dao Films and China Film Co-production Corporation.

The bulk of the funds were obtained by producer Thomas by taking out loans from several banks. There are requirements for bank loans, which is to ensure that the film can at least make back its investment.

How can we ensure a return on investment when the movie hasn’t even been made yet?

This requires finding a strong distributor and conducting pre-sales.

Thanks to the fame of director Bertolucci and the producer's strong connections, "The Last Emperor" found Columbia Pictures in the United States at the beginning of its filming. Although the filming of "The Last Emperor" had not even started and the cast list had not been finalized, the pre-authorization for the film had already been sold to dozens of countries and regions around the world.

Teng Jinxian listened to Bertolucci's narration as if he was listening to a fairy tale. This kind of fundraising method is something that domestic officials today cannot understand no matter how hard they try.

Now, the first batch of investment funds for "The Last Emperor" has arrived, and the funds will be received in batches according to the progress of the filming.

At this stage of preparation, a lot of the preliminary preparations have been completed. The most critical thing now is the list of actors, which is also the purpose of Bertolucci looking for Teng Jinxian and Lin Weimin today.

According to their previous agreement, the protagonist of the film must be a foreigner.

But in terms of male actors, Columbia Pictures in the United States had already recommended a mixed-race actor of Chinese descent from Hollywood, John Lone, so Bertolucci could only give the role of the female lead.

Teng Jinxian was very satisfied with such conditions. After all, the movie "The Last Emperor" was only co-produced by the domestic Chinese Film Co-production Company, and ranked last.

However, Bertolucci was troubled when it came to choosing actresses, as he didn't know any of the domestic actors.

Lin Weimin said, "This is easy. First of all, they need to be well-known in China and suitable for the role. There aren't many candidates who meet these two requirements. Just make a list and let everyone come for an interview. These actresses will definitely be willing."

Teng Jinxian nodded, this was the safest way.

Bertolucci agreed, "Let's do it. But the choice of this person..."

Bertolucci looked at the two of them, and Lin Weimin looked at Teng Jinxian, "You are the director, and these actors are all your soldiers. Why don't you make a list for Director Bei?"

Teng Jinxian smiled bitterly. This job looked good, but it was actually a thankless job.

But who made him the director of the Film Bureau?

He casually wrote down a bunch of names, the first one was Liu Xiaoqing, followed by Pan Hong, Chen Chong, Fang Shu, Zhang Yu, Gong Xue...

At the end, Teng Jinxian also wrote Tao Huimin's name.

Lin Weimin knew that Old Teng was doing him a favor, but he simply erased Tao Huimin's name.

Tao Huimin is currently filming "Dream of Red Mansions", and she is the absolute protagonist. The filming of "Dream of Red Mansions" spanned three years from 1986 to 1989, with an investment of tens of millions. It is impossible for her to quit halfway.

This kind of thing is likely to happen to Liu Xiaoqing.

Although Liu Xiaoqing was also filming "Dream of Red Mansions" at that time, her role as Wang Xifeng was not as important as Tao Huimin's. Not to mention overlapping roles, even if Liu Xiaoqing was asked to quit "Dream of Red Mansions" to play in "The Last Emperor", she would dare to do it.

This sister has always been bold and unconventional.

After crossing out Tao Huimin's name, Lin Weimin did not return the pen to Teng Jinxian, but wrote another name on the paper.

"Gong Li".

Teng Jinxian's eyes lit up. Why didn't he think of that?

"Red Sorghum" has just won the Berlin Golden Bear Award. As the heroine of the film, Gong Li has made a solid appearance in front of moviegoers all over the world.

Before Red Sorghum, the Chinese film industry lacked actors with international influence. Liu Xiaoqing's influence was limited to the Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and Pan Hong's influence was limited to East Asia, not to mention male actors.

But now it is different. With her wonderful performance in "Red Sorghum", Gong Li has the potential to become China's first actress with international influence.

If she could star in "The Last Emperor", Gong Li's popularity in the West would be consolidated and further enhanced.

You should know that "The Last Emperor" is a big production with an investment of more than 20 million US dollars, and it will be released in many countries and regions around the world in the future.

By then, Gong Li, like Zhang Yimou, will become a business card for the Chinese film industry to the world.

After writing the list, Bertolucci asked about the meaning of the conversation between Lin Weimin and Teng Jinxian just now.

Lin Weimin then told Bertolucci about Red Sorghum and Gong Li, and Bertolucci nodded after listening.

No objection was raised. He did not attend the Berlin Film Festival, so he had no direct impression of the reception that Red Sorghum and Gong Li received at the festival.

But he had heard about "Red Sorghum" winning the Golden Bear Award in the past few days, but he was too busy recently and didn't pay much attention to it. Now that it was mentioned, he expressed his desire to see this movie and its director Zhang Yimou.

Teng Jinxian called Zhang Yimou over without saying a word.

Zhang Yimou was a little excited to see Bertolucci. Comrade Bertolucci became famous too early and Zhang Yimou had even seen one of his films when he was studying at Yanying. It was no wonder that he was excited to meet such an idol-level figure.

"Don't underestimate yourself. You are now a famous director who has won the Golden Bear Award. Comrade Lao Bei received only nominations." Lin Weimin joked when he saw that Zhang Yimou was a little nervous.

The translator at the side hesitated for a moment and said nothing. Lin Weimin smiled and said, "It's okay. You translate yours."

The translator repeated Lin Weimin's words. Bertolucci did not mind at all after hearing them. Instead, he laughed. "Lin is right. Zhang, you are a great director now. In your future career, as long as you can make another work like Red Sorghum, it will be enough to leave your name in the history of world cinema."

Getting encouragement from Bertolucci was a great boost to Zhang Yimou's confidence.

After the two exchanged their experiences in filming, Bertolucci couldn't help but admire Zhang Yimou's talent in filming.

Zhang Yimou’s talent in movies is recognized, especially in pictures and photography. The stories of his movies may not amaze you, but the pictures will definitely amaze you.

Besides the core of the story, the most important thing about a movie is the pictures.

After talking with Zhang Yimou, Bertolucci talked about wanting Gong Li to audition for "The Last Emperor".

Zhang Yimou said happily: "That's great."

At this time, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li did not develop a relationship beyond friendship. He was simply happy for Gong Li from the perspective of a colleague.

Besides that, there is also a little pride.

Gong Li's fame is closely related to "Red Sorghum". In other words, Gong Li was made famous by this movie.

After chatting in the Yanjing Hotel, Lin Weimin and his friends went to Bertolucci's Film Bureau.

"Red Sorghum" had not yet been released to the public at that time, and only the Film Bureau could screen it internally.

After watching the movie, Bertolucci gave it a very high evaluation, which made Zhang Yimou feel a little proud.

A man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree.

Even though Bertolucci has only been nominated for the three major European awards, the Oscars and the Golden Globe Awards so far, one or two times is just a coincidence. So many times can only prove that he is indeed capable of winning the awards, but he is just unlucky.

Besides, Bertolucci has been famous since the 1960s and has been active in the international film scene for 20 years. Zhang Yimou has reason to be complacent to receive his high praise.

After the meeting with Bertolucci, the news that the heroine of "The Last Emperor" was auditioning domestic actresses quickly spread through the channels of the Film Bureau to major domestic film studios, drama troupes and other art groups.

For a while, the Qing-style building in the Yenching Film Academy was crowded with people.

Thomas, the producer of "The Last Emperor", rented the newly built imitation Qing Dynasty building in Yanjing Film Academy at Yanying. The row of buildings can be used as a background for filming and as a temporary guesthouse.

An entire row of two-story buildings was booked by the crew of "The Last Emperor". Usually, all the people coming in and out were foreigners, which was quite eye-catching.

Lin Weimin was invited by Bertolucci to participate in the audition today. As one of the screenwriters, Teng Jinxian has an official status and it is not appropriate for him to attend this kind of audition, so Lin Weimin was invited.

(End of this chapter)