Chapter 477 Oscar
The conversation at the editorial office at noon actually represents, to a large extent, the voice of the Chinese people of this era.
We once had a firm belief, but this belief was likely to collapse after extreme piety, and then we quickly changed direction.
If a huge ship wants to turn around, the people on board have to bear the risk of being thrown off at any time. Even if they are not thrown off, they have to endure the pain of being thrown all over the place and feeling dizzy. Many people have been enduring this pain for many years.
In late March, the water in Beihai Lake had already thawed and the weather was gradually getting warmer.
Lin Weimin received a letter from Shaanxi. It was not written by Lu Yao, who was in most frequent contact with him, but by Cheng Zhongshi.
Since the end of the Yantai Writers' Club in 1983, Lin Weimin had never seen him again, but the correspondence between the two had never stopped, and they would write three or four letters every year.
Cheng Zhongshi wanted to write "The Bricks That Matter to the Head", so he returned to his hometown in Shaanxi and began to plan. It took him more than two years just to look up the information needed for writing, and he didn't start writing until 1986.
In the past few years, due to the enormous energy involved in writing novels, Cheng Zhongshi's output of works was pitifully small, which also brought about a problem, that is, his income dropped sharply, leaving only a fixed salary.
Cheng Zhongshi's family is supported by him alone. In the past, when he had royalties, his family lived a comfortable life. But in the past two years, the royalties have basically dropped to zero, and prices have risen sharply.
Last year, an editor from the Zhongyuan Farmers Publishing House found Cheng Zhongshi and planned to publish a series of "Chinese Rural Novels". Cheng Zhongshi's works were selected by the publishing house, and they originally planned to compile several of his novellas into a collection of novellas. Cheng Zhongshi was quite happy at the time.
Publishing a book means having extra income. He calculated that if the book is published as agreed, he will get more than 3,000 yuan in royalties.
In the heart of Cheng Zhongshi, who had not received any royalties for two years, this royalty was of extraordinary significance.
With this money, the children's tuition was settled, and he could devote all his energy to writing the novel without distraction.
But reality gave Cheng Zhongshi a hard slap in the face. He had been waiting for half a year. At first, the publishing house wrote to say that the book had been edited, and then said that it had passed the final review, and the cover and binding were being produced.
Then the book subscription work began. The bookstore sent subscription orders to Xinhua Bookstores across the country, and waited for feedback from each bookstore before summarizing the final subscription number of more than 9,500 copies. The publishing house thought this number was not ideal, so it made a color single page for subscription. As a result, the subscription number not only did not increase, but fell to more than 6,000 copies.
At the same time, something even more passive happened. The first order contract for more than 9,500 copies was invalidated because the delivery time had exceeded the deadline, and the publishing house postponed the publishing plan to next year, that is, 1989.
After all this trouble, Cheng Zhongshi became discouraged about publishing a book. The promised royalties disappeared, and his hope of concentrating on writing was shattered. He had to find another way.
What can we think of?
Of course, I make extra money by writing.
Cheng Zhongshi's letter was not to complain to Lin Weimin, but to tell him that the writing of the novel had to be postponed as he had to earn some tuition for his three children.
He took a job from a friend to write for a nonfiction magazine, paying 20 yuan per thousand words. From the tone of his letter, it can be seen that Cheng Zhongshi was quite satisfied with the price.
This letter has more than 2,000 words, which is a rare "long letter" in the correspondence between Lin Weimin and Cheng Zhongshi.
He knew that Cheng Zhongshi was an honest man, and he wrote so much because he wanted to explain to him his helplessness.
Lin Weimin looked at the content of the letter and thought for a moment. Cheng Zhongshi said in the letter that the creation of the novel was more than half done, and according to the normal progress, it would most likely be completed next year.
But if he wants the kids to earn tuition, it will take a year or two of his time.
Thinking of the wasted time, Lin Weimin felt a sense of regret.
The novel has not been completed yet, and there is not even a first draft, so there is naturally no question of an advance payment of royalties.
Thinking of this, Lin Weimin wrote a letter back to Cheng Zhongshi, telling him to concentrate on his creation and that the editorial department would advance him a sum of 5,000 yuan in royalties for emergency use, which would be deducted after the novel was published in the future.
After writing the letter, Lin Weimin went to the post office and wired the money during his off-get off work hour. This money was naturally the money he lent to Cheng Zhongshi.
A few days later, when Lin Weimin was discussing the manuscript with his colleagues, Zhang Yimou found the editorial department.
Zhang Yimou was very excited when he saw Tong Zhonggui. He pulled Tong Zhonggui's hand and shook it vigorously, "This must be Teacher Su! I've heard a lot about you!"
Tong Zhonggui was confused by his shaking, "My last name is Tong."
"Hello, Teacher Tong!" Zhang Yimou quickly changed his words.
Lin Weimin knew the purpose of Zhang Yimou's visit, and patted Zhang Yimou on the shoulder with a smile, "Okay, stop talking here, let's talk in my office!"
Lin Weimin called the two of them and went to his office.
Of course, Zhang Yimou came this time because of the book "Contemporary" that Lin Weimin had given him before. As soon as he entered the office, he couldn't wait to take out the second issue of "Contemporary" last year.
"Teacher Tong, your novel is so well written!"
Zhang Yimou is now a nationally renowned director and winner of the Berlin Golden Bear Award. Tong Zhonggui was flattered to hear him suddenly praised like this.
At the same time, he was also confused. Where did this come from?
Zhang Yimou smiled and talked about what happened a while ago, "When I saw your novel, I realized at once that this must be what Teacher Lin wanted me to read."
Tong Zhonggui was puzzled, "Are you so sure?"
Zhang Yimou's eyes were firm and a bit fanatical, "Teacher Lin knows me too well. He knows what kind of story I need. He can't be wrong."
Tong Zhonggui looked at Zhang Yimou's expression and saw two words on his face.
superstitious!
When Tong Zhonggui saw this expression, he felt a sense of déjà vu.
Before he could think about it any more, Zhang Yimou said, "Teacher Lin, Teacher Tong, I want to adapt "The Story of Minglan"."
Although he was mentally prepared, Tong Zhonggui was still full of surprises.
This is a director who won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival. Now he is going to adapt his own novel. Tong Zhonggui can't suppress his joy.
Lin Weimin nodded and smiled, "This is a good thing. I think we should let Xiao Tong be the screenwriter!"
Zhang Yimou said: "No problem, I came here to invite Teacher Tong."
Tong Zhonggui quickly waved his hands and said, "I can't do that. I've never written a movie script before. I don't know anything about it."
Facing Tong Zhonggui's refusal, Zhang Yimou laughed and said, "It doesn't matter. We still have Teacher Lin! With Teacher Lin's approval, the script will definitely be correct."
Tong Zhonggui immediately looked at Lin Weimin after hearing this. Lin Weimin said helplessly, "Why are you looking at me like that? Do you still want to blackmail me?"
Tong Zhonggui pleaded, "Teacher Lin, I really have no experience in this area..."
"Yes, Teacher Lin, you were the one who recommended this novel to me. You can't just kill the person and not bury him, right?" Zhang Yimou also advised.
The two of them persuaded Lin Weimin and he reluctantly agreed. He said to Zhang Yimou, "I have another script to write recently, so let Xiao Tong write your script first. We can discuss it together when we have time."
"No problem! No problem!" Zhang Yimou nodded hurriedly. He just wanted Teacher Lin to agree to participate in the screenwriting.
More than a year after winning the Golden Bear Award, he became a well-known director in China, but he has not yet planned to make his next movie.
In addition to the delay in attending film festivals and events, another reason is the mental burden.
The starting point of the first film was too high, so Zhang Yimou was inevitably worried about gains and losses. Now with the joining of Teacher Lin, Zhang Yimou is more confident.
After the script adaptation was confirmed, Zhang Yimou started talking about the royalties.
He was penniless at the time, and the production budget for Red Sorghum was very tight, so he only gave Mo Yan 800 yuan for the script, which also included the royalties for Mo Yan's writing the script.
Mo Yan was so happy at that time. Later, the movie won an award, the Xi'an Film Studio sold hundreds of copies, and the national box office exceeded 4 million. Zhang Yimou always felt guilty.
The situation is different this time. Zhang Yimou's fame has already spread throughout the film industry, and there are many people who want to invest in his new film. Among them are not only major domestic film studios, but also investors cooperating with various foreign film festivals, including companies and funds in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places.
Three thousand yuan is the fee that Zhang Yimou paid for adapting Tong Zhonggui's work.
As for the script royalties, Zhang Yimou asked Lin Weimin for his opinion. When Lin Weimin helped with the script of Red Sorghum, he never asked for money. Zhang Yimou was short of money in producing the film, so he shamelessly accepted the favor.
Things are different now. He has enough funds to make movies, so naturally he doesn't want to take advantage of Lin Weimin anymore. He knows how much Lin Weimin gets for writing scripts for Hong Kong filmmakers.
Lin Weimin waved his hand, "Forget it, I'm just helping out. The script will definitely be written by Xiao Tong, I just gave a few suggestions, it's not appropriate to take money for it."
"How can that be possible..." Zhang Yimou said hurriedly.
"It's OK. If you really want to pay me for the work, it will eat up a large chunk of your production costs. Forget it! When you are ready to make a movie with an investment of tens of millions, you can compensate me."
Zhang Yimou stammered and wanted to say a few more words, but found that no matter what he said, it would sound pale and hypocritical. Teacher Lin never helped him for money.
Zhang Yimou put aside his stubbornness and said sincerely: "This time, I benefited from your help again!"
"You are a big director now. Screenwriters would love to have someone write a script for you. How can you ask for royalties?" Lin Weimin joked.
Zhang Yimou and Tong Zhonggui both laughed.
Finally, after negotiation, Zhang Yimou will pay Tong Zhonggui 6,000 yuan as adaptation fees and royalties, and Zhang Yimou will send the money to Tong Zhonggui in return.
After talking about his own movies, Zhang Yimou asked about Lin Weimin's "The Last Emperor".
This movie was completed last year and was released in several Western European countries and the United States at the end of the year. Lin Weimin went to watch it when he received an award in France. At that time, it was said that the box office in these countries was not ideal and he did not make any profit.
As early as February 16 this year, the US Academy Awards held a nomination ceremony. "The Last Emperor" was nominated for nine awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Art Direction.
As soon as the nomination ceremony was announced, Bertolucci called Lin Weimin and invited him to attend the Oscars ceremony on April 11.
Teng Jinxian will not attend the award ceremony due to his official status, and Lin Weimin also declined Bertolucci's invitation.
After all, "The Last Emperor" is not a movie made by Chinese people. It is certainly a pleasure to be involved in it, but it is difficult to arouse Lin Weimin's sense of pride.
After hearing what Lin Weimin said, Zhang Yimou felt sorry for him and said, "Xiao Gong is going this time."
"Her going to the award ceremony is much more useful than me going behind the scenes. China will have another movie star with international influence in the future!" Lin Weimin said casually.
Zhang Yimou admired Lin Weimin's indifference to fame and fortune.
(End of this chapter)
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