Chapter 435: Can't Keep It Hidden Anymore
Lin Weimin looked at the photos selected by Bertolucci and felt relieved that he had not let down Comrade Lao Teng.
Bertolucci held the photo in his hand and said to John Lone, "John, I'm sorry, this may be hard for you!"
Zun Long smiled. He looked at the photo and completely understood what Bertolucci meant.
Gong Li was chosen to play Wanrong. This girl's sour Shandong accent in English was very painful for the male actor acting opposite her.
After deciding on the final female lead, Bertolucci asked his staff to announce the result to the many actresses waiting outside on the spot.
Except for the heroine Gong Li who stood there in a daze, the disappointment of everyone else was palpable.
Chen Chong was extremely disappointed. She flew all the way from the United States back to China for the audition, but she didn't expect this to be the result.
Fortunately, when she came back for the audition, she told the crew of "The Kite Runner" that she had asked for leave to visit her family, and she could continue to perform in the drama when she returned.
Liu Xiaoqing never dreamed that she had always regarded Chen Chong as her biggest competitor, but in the end she was defeated by Gong Li, a young girl who was just starting out and had never even released a movie.
She looked at Gong Li in dissatisfaction, and really couldn't understand why she lost.
Similar to Liu Xiaoqing's idea, all the actresses present had only one thought in their minds.
Why can Gong Li be the leading actress?
Gong Li stood there in a daze for a while before she came to her senses and asked, "I'm the leading actress?"
When Zhang Yimou told her that the crew of "The Last Emperor" asked her to audition for the female lead, Gong Li was terrified and did not think she would get the role. She thought she was just dragged in as a runner-up because of the recent popularity of "Dream of Red Mansions".
In her opinion, it would never be her turn to star in such a movie with such a big investment, international background and a famous director!
But the truth was beyond her and everyone else's expectations, the role of heroine really fell on her.
Many actresses left Fangqing Building in disappointment, only Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong stood there unwillingly.
At this time, Bertolucci, Thomas, Lin Weimin and others came out of the audition room and congratulated Gong Li who was in a daze.
Liu Xiaoqing, who was standing by, hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Teacher Lin!"
Among the three, Liu Xiaoqing only knew Lin Weimin, so she could only call him.
Lin Weimin glanced at Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong, and said to Bertolucci and Thomas, "I want to say a few words to them."
After saying that, he took Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong to the corner of the corridor. Looking at their slightly indignant expressions, Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Are you very unconvinced?"
Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong looked at Lin Weimin and nodded.
It would be fine if she lost to other actresses, but Gong Li is still a student at the Central Academy of Drama. She only acted in one movie that hasn’t even been released yet. Why would she lose to her?
Lin Weimin nodded slightly and said, "Compared to the two of you, Gong Li does have many shortcomings. But..."
He paused here, and the two men's eyes were fixed on his face.
"Gong Li has an advantage that neither of you have."
"What are the advantages?" Chen Chong couldn't help but ask.
"She was holding a copy of Red Sorghum in her hand!"
Hearing this, Liu Xiaoqing was shocked. What's this? Everyone has masterpieces. When it comes to masterpieces, Liu Xiaoqing can beat Gong Li by ten blocks.
"Little Flower", "Mysterious Buddha", "Xu Mao and His Daughters", "Behind the Curtain", "Burning of the Old Summer Palace"...
Which work is not both critically and commercially successful?
Not to mention her, even Chen Chong is better than Gong Li, this student!
Seeing the expressions of Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong, Lin Weimin had already guessed what they were thinking, and he shook his head.
"You two didn't understand what I said. Red Sorghum just won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival. In the next year, Red Sorghum will participate in all international film festivals that it can participate in. Do you understand what this means?"
A loud drum does not need a heavy hammer. Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong immediately understood what Lin Weimin meant.
"In the coming year, Gong Li's name will appear at many film festivals around the world, and every film festival will be equivalent to Gong Li appearing in the news in many countries and regions around the world.
One year is enough for Gong Li to become an internationally renowned actress.
At the same time, if Gong Li becomes the heroine of "The Last Emperor", then "The Last Emperor" will inevitably be mentioned and promoted at every film festival as Gong Li's next film.
If such exposure is calculated as publicity expenses, it would be in the millions of dollars.”
Having said this, Lin Weimin stopped talking.
The birth of "Red Sorghum" was a bit of a breakthrough for the Chinese film industry.
Not only did it make the talented and brilliant director Zhang Yimou emerge, it also made the actress Gong Li famous, making her the most popular actress in domestic films since the 1980s.
This record was not broken until A-mou made Zhang Ziyi, his "girl", famous again.
Two thousand years later, Zhang, Zhou, Zhao, Xu and Shuang Bing, everyone has tried this route to win the award.
But except for Zhang Ziyi, who was promoted by famous directors, and the charming Zhou Xun, all the others failed without exception.
Winning an award requires not only talent, but also timing and luck. It is not possible to be recognized by the public just by winning one or two Best Actress awards.
Later, "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear Award at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival. At that time, "The Last Emperor" had already been completed and had even started its journey to compete in film festivals. Naturally, Gong Li had nothing to do with it.
But now, because of Lin Weimin, the Golden Bear Award for "Red Sorghum" was in 1987.
With the strong support of this movie, Gong Li almost became the only choice for "The Last Emperor".
Lin Weimin glanced at Chen Chong, and four words inexplicably flashed through his mind.
The luck was taken away!
After a while, Lin Weimin came back to his senses and looked at Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong who were silent. "Do you understand now?"
The two nodded with difficulty.
No matter how hard they racked their brains, they could not have imagined this result.
While Liu Xiaoqing was feeling frustrated, she even thought, how nice it would be if the Berlin Film Festival was held a month later!
Unfortunately, there are no ifs in this world.
Who made them not the heroines of Red Sorghum?
Liu Xiaoqing smiled bitterly and said, "I never thought that after acting in movies for more than ten years and being the leading actress for more than ten years, I would not be as good as the student who only acted in one movie."
Lin Weimin comforted her, "You can't say that. Gong Li's situation was largely a matter of luck, and no one could have predicted it!"
Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong couldn't help but nodded. It was impossible to ask them to admit that Gong Li got the role based on her own strength.
They could accept it as luck.
After seeing off Liu Xiaoqing and Chen Chong, Lin Weimin returned to his room.
Bertolucci and Thomas were asking Gong Li about her role in the movie. Although the girl had recovered from the huge surprise, she was still confused.
She had just made one movie and was interacting with a group of rookies like Zhang Yimou.
I was suddenly working with a group of foreigners like Bertolucci and I had no idea what to do.
Seeing Lin Weimin coming back, Gong Li was like a drowning person grabbing at a straw.
"Teacher Lin!"
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. You have been chosen as the female lead. You just need to listen to the director and producer for the rest."
Hearing his words, Gong Li's face showed a bit of relief.
After the audition was completed, Lin Weimin left Yanying.
The next day at work, Wang Shuo came to the editorial department.
He threw the script in his hand onto Lin Weimin's desk with a wanton and unrestrained manner, highlighting his free and uninhibited personality.
"Look!"
Lin Weimin glanced at the script without even turning it over, "What are you showing me? This isn't written for me!"
Wang Shuo, who had intended to take revenge, was almost hurt by this sentence.
The script was written for Zheng Xiaolong and his team, so why was it written for Lin Weimin?
But if you think about it carefully, that’s not right!
"You are the chief screenwriter of our TV series!"
Lin Weimin said, "Oh," and said, "Do I still have this title?"
The nonchalant tone made Wang Shuo angry for a moment, and he was pretending to be cool with us!
Lin Weimin then opened the script, glanced at it briefly, and said, "Well written!"
???
That’s it?
Wang Shuo said unhappily, "Can you be more perfunctory?"
"I fully believe in your abilities!"
Lin Weimin threw the script back to Wang Shuo and said, "Just discuss this script with Dudu and Haiyan. You don't need to show it to me!"
Wang Shuo muttered, "Just a name but no work, what a black-hearted person!"
"By the way, how's the writing of your novel going?" Seeing this kid so excited, Lin Weimin decided to put some pressure on him.
When Wang Shuo heard this, his momentum immediately weakened, "I haven't found any space yet!"
"Hurry up! Don't spend half a year writing a novel. You rely on this for your livelihood!"
Wang Shuo was annoyed by his urging and said perfunctorily: "I know, I know!"
I shouldn’t have come if I had known!
Wang Shuo found an excuse and ran away, and Lin Weimin didn't try to keep him.
In the afternoon, another visitor came to the editorial office.
It was Zhong Lin, the editor of "Script". Previously, "Script" wanted to publish the scripts of "The Intouchables" and "Farewell My Concubine", and had specially come to find Lin Weimin.
The two scripts were published in "Scripts", which earned Lin Weimin a few hundred yuan in royalties, which was better than nothing.
Today, Zhong Lin came to the editorial office to find Lin Weimin, not on behalf of the "Script" editorial office, but on behalf of the Dramatists Association. He is now the Secretary-General of the Dramatists Association.
Zhong Lin explained his purpose, he came to formally invite Lin Weimin to join the Dramatists Association.
In the past few years, Lin Weimin's works were performed one after another at the People's Art Theatre, but because his teacher Mr. Wan was the chairman of the Dramatists Association, in order to avoid risks, Lin Weimin never joined the association, and he did not even participate in the annual awards selection.
The reason why Zhong Lin invited Lin Weimin this time was still related to "Red Sorghum".
Zhang Yimou, who returned home with honors, praised Lin Weimin to the skies at the press conference and flattered him constantly during interviews. In particular, when he was interviewed by Li Xiangyang, a reporter from the Yanjing Youth Daily, the two of them sang the same tune and thoroughly exposed all the awards Lin Weimin had won in the past two years.
Countless readers also learned after reading this report that Lin Weimin had won two awards in the country in the past two years.
Li Xiangyang also added some personal insights, and in his report he specifically explained to readers the value of the Cannes Film Festival and the Tony Awards.
One is one of the three major international film festivals in Europe, on par with the Berlin Film Festival, where the film "Lover" written by Lin Weimin won the Best Screenplay Award.
One is the highest award for drama and musical in the United States. The drama "The Intouchables" written by Lin Weimin won the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards there.
Thanks to Li Xiangyang’s popular science, readers immediately understood the value of these two awards.
Lin Weimin is a screenwriter and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Isn’t that equivalent to Zhang Yimou winning the Golden Bear Award?
The Tony Award seems to have little to do with Lin Weimin, but the script was written by him after all. Without a good script written by him, it will be useless no matter how well your actors perform!
Besides, this is the highest drama award in the United States!
Nowadays, no matter what it is, if it has the word "America" in it, it will be looked up to.
Riding on the momentum of Red Sorghum, countless Chinese people learned about the Cannes Film Festival and the Tony Awards, as well as the honor Lin Weimin had achieved overseas.
Teacher Lin, who has always been low-key, can no longer hide the truth.
Combined with Zhang Yimou's flattery on various occasions, apart from director Zhang Yimou, the person who gained the most fame because of "Red Sorghum" turned out to be Lin Weimin, who was not even as famous as the leading actress Gong Li and the leading actor Han Zhuangzhuang.
It is also because of the Cannes Film Festival and the Tony Awards that the Dramatists Guild has been on pins and needles recently.
In the past few years, because Mr. Wan avoided suspicion, Lin Weimin's works were not even included in the awards for several consecutive years.
Now that news has spread that Lin Weimin has won a series of awards abroad for his drama creation, the association feels under great pressure.
Lin Weimin's works have won numerous awards abroad, but why hasn't he even received a nomination in China?
Without anyone asking, the Dramatists Association already felt guilty, so they quickly sent out Zhong Lin.
First join the Dramatists Guild, then give the award.
This is what Lin Weimin understood from Zhong Lin’s words.
Zhong Lin also emphasized: "We have already informed Mr. Wan, and the old man has no objection."
In the past, a big reason why Mr. Wan avoided suspicion was to protect Lin Weimin. He carried the title of "Wan Jiabao's disciple", and no matter how capable he was, he could not avoid being talked about.
Now that the news that Lin Weimin won an award abroad has spread, the Dramatists Association has no choice but to give him the award. Who dares to question the credibility of this award?
Mr. Wan was naturally happy to agree.
Since there is no problem with the teacher, Lin Weimin is naturally willing to give face to the Dramatists Association. After all, Mr. Wan is still well-known in the Dramatists Association!
"Let's make it clear first, don't look for me for activities or anything like that!" Lin Weimin said to Zhong Lin.
"Oh, my dear teacher Lin! As long as you can join the association, you don't have to worry about the rest. Our association will take care of everything for you!"
Zhong Lin had a pleading look on his face.
(End of this chapter)
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