Chapter 416 Sorry Everyone
Roman Gallihan's concession was not due to Lin Weimin's "domineering spirit", but was due to the strong pressure from France.
"The Lover" has been released in Western European countries over the past few months and has received very good responses.
Recently, film distributors in France are negotiating with Blue Bird about distribution and release issues. To put it bluntly, they want Blue Bird to hand over some of the unsold overseas distribution rights of "The Lover" to them, and they will act as middlemen to distribute and release the film in some countries.
It's a win-win situation for Blue Bird and the French publisher.
The countries and regions that these French film distributors can influence all have a considerable French-speaking population. Not only do film distributors have channels here, but Gallimard also has distribution channels here.
Once a movie becomes popular and has a certain influence, it will also add to the sales of books.
The 12% royalty is a bit high, but it is worthy of Lin Weimin's influence.
However, Roman Gallian was still a little uncomfortable because he was used to taking advantage of writers.
In the car before leaving, he complained a lot about Lin Weimin.
Comrade Liang was speechless. Didn't you two still respect each other after signing the contract? Why did you change so quickly?
Teacher Lin is right. The Gallic rooster never loses with words, but never wins with hands.
The distribution area of the publishing contract of "The Lover" specifies not only France, but also many French-speaking countries and regions. Lin Weimin is of course happy to see this happen.
The more books he sold, the more money he made.
Unfortunately, Gallimard is too stingy. It took them a long time to haggle for 12% of the royalties. In comparison, the Americans are just stupid and have a lot of money.
Well, Mr. Lin has just received the last quarter's box office revenue for "The Intouchables". Counting from the end of 1984, "The Intouchables" has been performed for two years, and the box office share has inevitably declined.
Lin Weimin's share of the box office also dropped from more than 400,000 to more than 300,000, and is expected to drop further in the next quarter.
Lin Weimin had expected this situation to happen, and he and Arthur Miller had discussed this issue a long time ago.
As box office revenue continues to decline, "The Intouchables" will go on tour in the near future. After making some money, it will return to Broadway for a tour and then temporarily enter a dormant period.
Whether it will be revived in the future depends on whether the audience misses it.
That day, Lin Weimin was at work when Zhang Yimou suddenly ran to the editorial office and excitedly told him a good news.
It is said that "Red Sorghum" may participate in the Berlin International Film Festival.
Lin Weimin was not surprised by this. Later, "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, which not only made Zhang Yimou, an internationally renowned director, famous, but also made the two leading male and female actors in the film, Gong Li and Jiang Wen, famous.
Without waiting for Lin Weimin to ask, the excited Zhang Yimou told the whole story like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube.
It turned out that a few days ago, "Red Sorghum" was in post-production and was already coming to an end. Deputy Director Yang Fengliang suddenly came to ask Zhang Yimou if he wanted to send the film to the Berlin International Film Festival before it was released.
Zhang Yimou graduated from Yanying Film Studio. When he was in school, he often heard teachers and classmates talk about the numerous film festivals in the world. Among them, the most well-known are the Cannes Film Festival in France, the Berlin Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival. The three are known as the three major European film festivals and enjoy extremely high reputations worldwide.
Who among filmmakers wouldn’t want to participate in this kind of film festival?
But for most domestic film directors of this era, participating in these three film festivals is something that they can only encounter once in a while.
Not only does it require the quality of your film, but you also need some connections and luck.
This time, Zhang Yimou was hit by a pie in the sky.
This year, Cheng Kaige shot his ambitious work "The King of Children", which is a film adapted from Ah Cheng's novel "The King of Children". Through the operation of Yu Yuxi in the Shanghai film circle, "The King of Children" was sent in advance to Hader, a film critic who has a huge influence in Germany.
After watching the sample of "The King of Children", Hader praised the film highly and hinted that if the film could be entered into the competition, he would definitely help to recommend it. Cheng Kaige readily agreed.
But what Hader and the Berlin Film Festival did not expect was that when it was time to submit the film, Cheng Kaige suddenly changed his mind.
It was decided at the last minute to send "The King of Children" to the Cannes Film Festival in France to compete for the Palme d'Or.
According to what Zhang Yimou heard, there were two reasons that prompted Cheng Kaige to do this.
First, Cheng Kaige heard from a friend privately that in terms of the international influence of films, Cannes in France is stronger than Berlin in Germany.
Second, this year's "Lover" won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Although "Lover" was sent to the festival in the name of Hong Kong, it is still a Chinese-language film after all. Cheng Kaige believes that domestic films may be more in line with the tastes of the Cannes Film Festival.
Lin Weimin scratched his head after listening to Zhang Yimou's narration. The fact that Kaizi temporarily withdrew from the film festival and gave A-mou a chance has always been a hot topic among domestic film enthusiasts.
But he didn't expect that this matter actually had something to do with him?
Kaizi actually chose to send "The King of Children" to Cannes because of the award won by "The Lover"!
"So, Red Sorghum will soon be participating in the Berlin Film Festival?"
"Not necessarily. The film hasn't been submitted for review yet, and participating in the film festival also requires approval from the leaders of the Film Bureau. I'm afraid it will be too late." When Zhang Yimou said this, a hint of worry inevitably appeared on his face.
"Why is it too late?" Lin Weimin asked.
Zhang Yimou explained to Lin Weimin that the Berlin Film Festival is held in February every year, but the registration period for participating films is until the end of November of the previous year.
In other words, the registration period for the film festival has passed.
But Yu Yuxi promised Zhang Yimou that as long as the film's production, submission for review and entry approval could be completed before January, he could go through a special channel and be added to the list of participants.
"What problems could there be with the Film Bureau? For domestic films to participate in a well-known film festival like the Berlin Film Festival is also a work achievement for them, right?"
Zhang Yimou shook his head. "Feng Liang told me about the twists and turns. The Berlin Film Festival spot was originally for The King of Children, but now Kaige has decided not to participate. It's true that Sister Yu contacted me, but I still need the approval of the Film Bureau to participate. I may not be given the spot!"
Lin Weimin understood as soon as he heard it. This was another piece of Tang Monk's meat. He also understood the purpose of Zhang Yimou's visit today.
Zhang Yimou looked at Lin Weimin with a somewhat embarrassed look.
Lin Weimin smiled and said nothing.
Instead, he picked up the phone on the desk and dialed.
"Hello, Director Teng, I have something to ask you."
"I heard that Cheng Kaige's film The King of Children was originally scheduled to participate in the Berlin Film Festival, but it was changed at the last minute?"
"Nothing, just asking. Zhang Yimou from Guangxi Film Studio told me that Yu Yuxi plans to recommend his recently completed film Red Sorghum to the film festival."
"Yes, it was me who built the bridge. I also had my name on the script, and it was Xi'an Film Studio that invested in it."
"We can't waste such a good quota! I've seen the finished film of Red Sorghum, and the quality is absolutely fine."
"Well, when you are free, I will ask Yimou and his team to take the film to the Film Bureau for a screening, and we can see it for ourselves."
"Okay, okay, that's it."
Lin Weimin hung up the phone and looked at Zhang Yimou, his face full of excitement.
"Don't just stand there, is the film ready? I promised them!"
"It's done, it's done! Sister Yu said she would recommend us to participate in the film festival, so we worked overtime to finish the movie."
Lin Weimin nodded, confident.
"Then go back and get the film. I'll send it to the Film Bureau with you tomorrow, and it will be ready for review by these leaders!"
Zhang Yimou was overjoyed, "Thank you, Teacher Lin, thank you, Teacher Lin!"
The next day, Lin Weimin took a leave and accompanied Zhang Yimou to the Film Bureau to deliver the film.
In the small screening room of the Film Bureau, Director Teng was in charge, along with several staff members in charge of review.
Lin Weimin sat next to Director Teng. The two of them looked relaxed and talked in private.
Zhang Yimou sat next to Lin Weimin, looking nervous.
The projector was ready over there, and after saying hello, Lin Weimin and Director Teng stopped their conversation.
The movie was about to start, Zhang Yimou's face was stiff with nervousness, his eyes fixed on the screen.
"Relax, don't be so nervous, it's okay!" Lin Weimin comforted.
Zhang Yimou nodded with a stiff neck.
Lin Weimin smiled helplessly. It was the young man's first time, so he was inevitably nervous.
The beam of light hit the screen, the dust in the air was clearly visible, and the movie officially began.
The gong and drum players played cheerful music, and the sedan bearers twisted their feet and bodies to make the sedan sway left and right, creating a joyful and festive atmosphere.
The background is yellow earth, with wind blowing and dust flying.
The red bridal sedan, the yellow ground, the men with bare upper bodies, shouting: The guests have not left, the feast has not ended, I can’t find the bridegroom anywhere, I can’t find him…
In Huajiao, Jiuer, played by Gong Li, was tossed up and down by the sedan bearers, her lips slightly parted, and the camera was filled with red. She clearly did nothing, but people felt a strong tension and a suppressed sexiness.
Lin Weimin nodded when he saw this, it was just like the opening of the movie he remembered.
The opening of Red Sorghum immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. As the plot of the movie progressed, everyone watched more and more seriously.
The one and a half hour movie ended quickly and the atmosphere in the screening room was quiet.
Zhang Yimou was completely immersed in the movie world he had created and had completely forgotten about being nervous. Now that the movie was over, the nervousness surrounded him again. He couldn't help but look at Lin Weimin, trying to find some comfort.
Unfortunately, Lin Weimin didn't look at him, but asked Teng Jinxian with a smile.
"Director Teng, what do you think?"
Teng Jinxian did not answer him immediately, but turned his head to look at his colleagues next to him. Everyone shook their heads slightly, and then he said, "The movie is good!"
Lin Weimin praised: "Yimou has ideas and talent, he is a good director!"
Teng Jinxian also looked at Zhang Yimou next to him, and seeing that he looked nervous, he smiled and said, "Comrade Yimou's film is indeed very good, thank you for your hard work!"
Zhang Yimou was flattered, but he was speechless and didn't know how to respond.
Lin Weimin laughed and said, "He is a man who is clumsy with words but deft with hands."
Teng Jinxian's eyes flashed with appreciation, "This is better. Being a director doesn't need to be able to speak."
Zhang Yimou looked at Lin Weimin with gratitude.
After chatting for a few more words, everyone left the screening room and the others returned to their offices.
Lin Weimin asked Zhang Yimou to wait for him, and he and Teng Jinxian went into the office.
"How is it? Director Teng, is everything okay?" Lin Weimin asked.
"No problem, let's go with Red Sorghum."
Lin Weimin said happily: "Yimou will be so happy if he knows!"
After the two chatted for a while, Lin Weimin came out of the office and told Zhang Yimou the good news.
Zhang Yimou jumped up excitedly and spoke incoherently with joy.
After a long time, Lin Weimin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Okay, don't get excited. Go back and tell everyone about this news. This is great news!"
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Zhang Yimou nodded in response and looked at Lin Weimin with eyes full of gratitude. He wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
Teacher Lin is right, except when talking about movies, he is really not good at talking.
The most important thing is that he felt that no words could repay Teacher Lin for his help.
At the beginning, I just had that idea, and it was Teacher Lin who encouraged me to try it.
The script was written by Teacher Lin in collaboration with Mo Yan.
The investment was obtained by Teacher Lin through contacting Xi'an Film Studio.
Nowadays, it is the Director of the Film Bureau who is approached by Mr. Lin to approve films for review.
Zhang Yimou thought about everything that had happened over the past year or so, and his heart was filled with nothing but gratitude.
Lin Weimin drove Zhang Yimou to Yanying Studio, where the post-production of Red Sorghum was done.
At this time, assistant director Yang Fengliang, photographer Gu Changwei, Gong Li and Han Zhuangzhuang were all waiting here.
When Zhang Yimou saw everyone, his face was calm. When everyone saw his expression, they felt worried, wondering whether the movie would be okay or not.
"I'm sorry, everyone..."
As soon as Zhang Yimou said this, everyone's faces suddenly fell and their eyes were full of disappointment.
Lin Weimin looked at him with amusement. He didn't expect that the always honest A-mou could be so naughty.
"We have limited funding for this film festival, so not everyone can go!"
Everyone was stunned, and then their expressions showed ecstasy.
Gu Changwei and Zhang Yimou were classmates and had always been best friends. Gu Changwei was the first to rush over and hug Zhang Yimou.
"Damn it! You scared me!"
Yang Fengliang also rushed over to join in. Han Zhuangzhuang was the last one to fall behind, and he directly pushed the three of them over, causing them to stagger.
The four of them hugged each other and laughed out loud.
Only Gong Li, a girl who had not yet graduated from school, stood there and smiled at the childish happiness of the few people.
(End of this chapter)
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