Chapter 626: Variations of Reform Literature
Lin Weimin, Xu Feng and Michael Phillips quickly reached an agreement on the investment and production of Farewell My Concubine, and Xu Feng was responsible for the specific preparation of the crew.
She found Cheng Kaige and explained the details of the movie "Farewell My Concubine".
"Farewell My Concubine is a classic of Chinese literature. Two years ago, the play Farewell My Concubine premiered on Broadway in the United States and had a great influence in the United States. In fact, it has a strong influence not only in the United States, but also in the vast overseas markets.
Since the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, I have recognized that you are a talented director, and Farewell My Concubine will definitely become the pinnacle of your directorial career."
Xu Feng's persuasion made Cheng Kaige waver.
To be honest, he had read "Farewell My Concubine" when it was published. At that time, he thought the story of the novel was a bit vulgar, even not as good as Lin Weimin's earlier short story "The Death of Eula".
But over the years, "Farewell My Concubine" has not only been a hot seller in China, but has also gained countless readers abroad.
When "Farewell My Concubine" landed on Broadway in the United States in 1989, he was studying in the United States and went to Broadway to watch the play.
The Broadway version of "Farewell My Concubine" retains the original flavor of the People's Art Theatre version. He sat in the audience that day, listening to the thunderous applause and cheers given to the play by the American audience when the play came to an end, and his heart could not calm down for a long time.
From that day on, his perception of "Farewell My Concubine" changed.
After returning home, he took out the novel and read it again. Perhaps because he had gradually lost the cynicism of his youth as he reached middle age, he was completely moved by the story when he read Farewell My Concubine again.
Cheng Kaige did not expect that Xu Feng would get the adaptation rights of "Farewell My Concubine"
He has been in the domestic film industry for so many years, but has never heard of anyone obtaining the adaptation rights for Lin Weimin's works.
Moreover, Xu Feng even organized such a big plan to invite herself to be the director. Look at the actors who were planned to be invited, Leslie Cheung/John Lone, Gong Li, and Han Zhuangzhuang, which one of them is not an actor with a certain influence internationally?
Just looking at this lineup, the investment in the movie must be huge.
The 8 million US dollars investment mentioned by Xu Feng made Cheng Kaige feel dry in the mouth. Apart from those foreign films shot in China, this investment amount should have set a record in the history of Chinese films, right?
With an original novel with international influence, extremely high film investment, and a luxurious cast, Cheng Kaige could not think of any reason to reject this film.
Ever since the Berlin Film Festival for Red Sorghum in 1987, he has been firmly surpassed by Zhang Yimou, who was his cinematographer at the time.
In the past few years, Cheng Kaige has been holding his breath, and today he knows that his chance has finally come.
He must use "Farewell My Concubine" to defeat Zhang Yimou!
Xu Feng talked incessantly about her various ideas for the movie, trying to persuade Cheng Kaige to take on the film.
But she didn't know that Cheng Kaige had already decided to take on the film, but looking at her excited state, he couldn't find a chance to interrupt her.
After waiting for her to finish, Cheng Kaige finally said, "I'll take this movie!"
Xu Feng was overjoyed when she heard this, and couldn't help but pull Cheng Kaige aside to continue discussing the production of the film in depth.
After spending a few days on the film adaptation of "Farewell My Concubine", Lin Weimin's work became busy again.
The editing and review work of the "World Literature Classics Collection" is in full swing. Although there were some oppositions and doubts when this huge project was first discussed, these voices gradually disappeared under Lin Weimin's rapid advancement.
Everyone can see clearly that Lin Weimin is determined to accomplish something unprecedented during his tenure. Everything that needs to be communicated has already been communicated, and it is impossible to stop him.
That afternoon, Lin Weimin finished reviewing a manuscript and came to the Tongwen Press office.
"Li Xin, how are you? Are you used to the work here?"
A few years ago, Li Xin, director of the Contemporary Literature Editorial Department, was poached with a high salary. In order to retain talent, Lin Weimin gave Cheng Zaochun an idea. He first let Li Xin stay in the publishing department of the publishing company to sort out some contradictions and problems in the publishing department, and then give him a promotion with good reason.
When Li Xin arrived at the issuance department, he lived up to the high expectations of Cheng Zaochun and Lin Weimin and completed the task excellently.
Because of this, he was promoted to vice president of Tongwen Society and was transferred to the position just a few days ago.
The office of Tongwen Publishing House is right next to the Second Editorial Office of Contemporary Literature. It used to be one office, but now it has become two, and Li Xin has his own separate office.
Although he did not leave the Overseas Chinese Literature Society, the content of his work did change, and Li Xin also needed to adapt.
Seeing Lin Weimin, Li Xin stood up and said, "No problem, just a little busier than before."
"sit!"
Lin Weimin pulled him to sit down, chatted with him for a while, and then talked about work.
“The work in the agency is quite busy, and I can’t manage Tongwen Agency in detail like I did last year.
I transferred you here specially this time because I want to entrust you with an important task.
Last year, Tongwen Press made great efforts in the field of martial arts novels and achieved very good results. It should be said that we have established a firm foothold in the domestic publishing industry. However, such achievements alone are not enough. Tell us about your views on the future development path of Tongwen Press!"
After a week on the job, he has adapted to his new position and it is time for him to show his talents.
Li Xin was very clear about the purpose of Lin Weimin's investigation on his visit, so he had been thinking about the future development of Tongwen Society in the past few days.
He pondered for a moment, then looked at Lin Weimin and told him the results of his thinking over the past few days.
Li Xin's idea is that Tongwen Publishing House should be based in the field of popular literature. It is definitely not enough to have achievements in the niche field of martial arts novels alone. This year, it should continue to make efforts in the fields of official literature and criminal investigation literature.
Officialdom literature and criminal investigation literature originated from the reform literature that was popular in previous years, but nowadays, they have gradually become "anti-corruption literature" and "detective literature", focusing on reflecting all kinds of corruption, illegal and criminal behaviors in society, and exposing, criticizing and attacking them.
In recent years, officialdom literature and criminal investigation literature have entered a period of vigorous development, and the readership has continued to expand. This is closely related to the increasing number of corruption and public security cases in society.
He briefly explained his ideas, and Lin Weimin asked curiously, "Do you mean to focus on these two areas this year?"
Li Xin nodded. "Last year, when Tongwen Press was just founded, you planned the route for Tongwen Press to focus on martial arts literature. The achievements of Tongwen Press over the past year have fully demonstrated that your vision and decision were completely correct. Our Tongwen Press is small in size and is constrained by Guowen Press. It is not suitable for a big and open development path. In a few years, we can go deep into and thoroughly understand the various sub-fields of popular literature and master a large number of author resources and copyright resources. This may be more suitable for our development."
After listening to his words, Lin Weimin nodded slightly and praised: "The idea is very clear."
Li Xin said modestly: "It's all according to the route you set."
"No need to flatter me." Lin Weimin smiled and waved his hand. "Since you have an idea, you might as well execute it boldly. Several colleagues in the publishing house are now focusing their energy on the field of martial arts literature. If you want to focus on officialdom literature and criminal investigation literature, you will have a heavy burden!"
"President, can we recruit a few people from outside?" Li Xin suggested.
"Where do you dig them from? How many do you want?"
"Woodpecker, I contacted them and if we give them a budget, two people can come."
Lin Weimin was a little surprised, "It's very efficient!"
"Work doesn't wait for anyone. If there is no relevant editor, isn't that like a good cook without rice?"
"Woodpecker" magazine is a literary journal of the public security system. It was founded in 1980 and specializes in criminal investigation and documentary literature. It has been widely praised by readers over the years. At its peak, the sales of a single issue reached 1.8 million copies.
A big difference between popular literature and pure literature is that the readers of pure literature usually have more diverse reading tastes. They look for literary, ideological, and artistic qualities, and often ignore the type or subject matter of the story.
But readers of popular literature are different. They often have a single hobby. Those who like martial arts novels just like martial arts novels, and those who like romance novels just like romance novels.
There are many readers whose reading tastes span multiple sub-fields, but the difference is much more obvious when compared to the field of pure literature.
Therefore, it is easy to gain a group of fans by engaging in popular literature and specializing in a certain niche field. The success of "Woodpecker" is the best example, and the same is true of the development of Tongwen Publishing House last year. Now many martial arts novel lovers will subconsciously have the desire to buy books published by Tongwen Publishing House as long as they see them in bookstores.
Reform literature, a genre of subject matter born in the early days of reform and opening up, has undergone many changes in its development over the years. Officialdom novels, criminal investigation novels, and historical novels can all be regarded as branches of reform literature, but this is not entirely true. The relationship between them is more like the intersection of sets.
Therefore, in recent years, "Woodpecker" has published a large number of official novels and criminal investigation novels, many of which are quite influential and have produced a group of writers.
For example, Liang Shoushen who wrote "The Painted County Magistrate" and Li Jihua who wrote "Kidnapping".
"Okay. I promised you this. I'll go talk to Lao Cheng."
Lin Weimin agreed to Li Xin's request, and his mood became excited when he felt his leader's support for his work.
“In addition, you should also urge your colleagues in the editorial office to expand their reading range and grasp the essence of various sub-fields of literature.
We can't just enter a niche field and poach people at a time. We don't have that many staff in our company.
Last year, everyone was too busy with their work, so I didn’t have too many requirements in this regard. Now that you are here, you must make this work a success.”
"I understand. I will definitely urge everyone more in the future." Li Xin responded.
After the conversation, Lin Weimin stood up and left Li Xin's office, and Li Xin saw him out.
As soon as I arrived at the door, I met Cheng Zaochun, who looked very happy.
"Weimin, you are awesome!"
(End of this chapter)
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