1980 My literary era

Jiang Wen's decision to make a movie was just an idea at first.

His original idea was to study abroad in the United States for two years to improve his directing skills, and then return to China to make movies.

As a result, his idea was flatly rejected by his girlfriend Liu Xiaoqing. Learning never comes faster than practice. Instead of wasting time and money studying abroad to learn directing, it would be better to directly invest in making movies to practice his skills.

Liu Xiaoqing had a close relationship with the Hong Kong film industry because of his filming of films such as "Curtain Behind the Curtain" and "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace". He originally planned to use his connections to attract some investment for Jiang Wen.

But Jiang Wen's stubbornness failed him. He didn't want to take advantage of her, so he ran to find Wang Shuo, and then successfully hooked up with Lin Weimin.

Liu Xiaoqing was surprised that he turned around and secured an investment of US$2 million from Columbia Pictures in the United States through Lin Weimin.

After two years of hard work, "Sunny Days" was finally finished and successfully qualified to participate in the Venice Film Festival. Liu Xiaoqing heard from Jiang Wen that this was Lin Weimin's greeting to the film bureau.

Not only that, Lin Weimin even helped to say hello to the film festival judges.

When Liu Xiaoqing listened to Jiang Wen's words, he felt that he was having a whim and had been fooled by Lin Weimin.

Where is the Venice Film Festival?

One of the three major film festivals in Europe, the world's top film palace, said that Lin Weimin had no problem knowing a judge, but he said hello to the judge.

It sounded like a fantasy, and Liu Xiaoqing scoffed at it.

But after "Sunny Days" won the Silver Lion Award at the 50th Venice Film Festival as destined, Liu Xiaoqing recalled what Jiang Wen said and felt ashamed.

It turns out that it’s not that others are bragging, but that I am short-sighted.

Liu Xiaoqing couldn't figure it out. How could Lin Weimin be swayed by one sentence in such a big film festival?

That night, Jiang Wen came back from outside drunk.

The Venice Film Festival has ended for a week, and Jiang Wen has been accepting interviews with various media non-stop since returning to China, as well as various wine parties.

Winning the Venice Silver Lion, Jiang Wen successfully became another famous director after Zhang Yimou and Cheng Kaige, and naturally attracted the attention and pursuit of the domestic film industry.

"Hey, shouldn't you go see Teacher Lin?" Liu Xiaoqing reminded.

Jiang Wen, who was half lying on the sofa, was already drowsy. When he heard her words, he was startled, and his drunkenness disappeared immediately.

broken!

How could you forget this?

I really got carried away!

I just offended Teacher Lin last time. This time I won the award but didn’t report the good news. I was really confused.

Jiang Wen said anxiously: "Tomorrow, tomorrow morning we will go to Teacher Lin's house together."

Early the next morning, Jiang Wen took Liu Xiaoqing and knocked on the door of Lin Weimin's house carrying gifts.

After a few polite words upon entering, Liu Xiaoqing went to talk to Tao Huimin to amuse the children, while Jiang Wen and Lin Weimin sat on the sofa and chatted.

"How's it going? Has the horse's hooves become so bad these days?" Lin Weimin joked.

A bit of embarrassment flashed across Jiang Wen's face, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Teacher Lin acting like this, he probably didn't bear any grudge against me.

"Isn't this all thanks to your help!"

"Haha, it has nothing to do with me. It's because you are good at making movies."

Jiang Wen said: "Don't be so modest. I heard someone say after the festival that if director Gianni Amelio hadn't insisted on giving the Jury Prize to "On a Bright Day", I would have been empty-handed this time. And he’s back.”

"How can you return empty-handed? The weight of the actor is not light!"

"That's because the actors are good at acting. What does it have to do with me as a director? So, I can't make this movie without your help. I just returned to China these days, and I've been busy with interviews and wine parties. . I didn’t even have time to say thank you, so don’t be surprised..."

Lin Weimin waved his hand, "Let's not talk about this anymore. When is the movie going to be released? How is the copyright sale going?"

Jiang Wen became excited when he talked about it.

"Before the film festival ended, it was very difficult to sell our copyrights. In European countries, people were not willing to pay 50,000 US dollars, and the total copyright fee was just over 200,000 US dollars.

As a result, on the day of the closing ceremony, the jury awards were won, each company had 100,000 or 200,000 yuan, and everyone rushed to buy them.

Didn't you see that Columbia's distribution manager's face looked like a chameleon..."

With a proud look on his face, Jiang Wen recounted his experience of selling copyrights at film festivals. During a trip to the Venice Film Festival, "Sunshine Days" sold the copyrights to 24 countries, earning 4.6 million US dollars in copyright fees.

Even before the movie was released, Columbia Pictures, which invested the money, had already made a fortune.

How do literary films make money?

It relies on selling copyrights.

The most critical bonus for selling copyrights is whether you win an award and the weight of the award.

There are dozens of important film festivals or film exhibitions around the world, and there are hundreds of films shortlisted every year, most of which are sideshows and don't even get a single award.

But even so, these films that have been eliminated by major awards have already outperformed 90% of their peers, because they have already experienced a cruel fight to be able to participate in the exhibition.

When you come to a film festival or film exhibition, there is a high probability that you can sell some copyrights, and you can maintain your capital or make a profit.

But the ones that can really make big money are those works that can win awards or even grand prizes at film festivals.

Jiang Wen's experience in selling his films is the same as that of most new directors in the film industry. When you are unknown, your films are given to others and no one wants to take them.

After winning an award, his net worth immediately doubled, and film companies from all over the world rushed to get it.

this is the truth.

While chatting about the interesting things at the Venice Film Festival, Jiang Wen kept talking and mentioned recent rumors circulating in the film industry.

"These people are just envious and jealous. I have a noble person like you to help me, so who can prevent them from dying?"

Jiang Wen nakedly flattered Lin Weimin.

"Definitely! Stop talking such nonsense."

Lin Weimin interrupted his disgusting flattery and asked, "What are your plans next?"

“Next to prepare for the film’s release, Columbia Pictures has retained the distribution rights in several key countries, and I am responsible for domestic promotion.

By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet, "Farewell My Concubine" has a big star this time! I heard people in Colombia say that even the news in the United States reported that the box office was 200 million! "

Jiang Wen clicked his tongue and praised the strange way.

"It's less than 200 million, the difference is more than 10 million."

"Farewell My Concubine" has been in theaters for more than two months and was just released in early September. The box office stopped at 186 million, creating unprecedented box office results for Chinese movies.

"Rounding up, it's 200 million. When I chatted with people in Colombia, they were all shocked. A literary film sold more than 20 million dollars, which is rare even in their country. Director Cheng relied on this film this year , not allowed to win awards and be soft-hearted?"

"There are no weighty awards now. The highlight is the Hollywood awards season after December. Both Xu Feng and Mike want to compete for the Golden Globe and Oscar."

Jiang Wen sighed when he heard this. He had just won the award and was very proud of himself.

But compared with works like "Farewell My Concubine" that really won awards, it is still far from the same.

At least Michael Phillips, who is also the producer of both films, has not talked to him about hoping that "It's Always Sunny" to compete for the Golden Globe.

At the end of the chat, Lin Weimin asked Jiang Wen if he would like to take "Sunny Days" to the Shanghai International Film Festival.

"What do you think?" Lin Weimin asked Jiang Wen.

"No problem, I will definitely participate, and I can also gain favors from the organizing committee, so why not?" Jiang Wen said with a smile.

Regarding bringing the film to the film festival, the organizing committee of the Shanghai Film Festival actually approached Cheng Kaige.

Unfortunately, "Farewell My Concubine" had just won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was in a hurry to release it. Cheng Kaige didn't quite appreciate the influence of the Shanghai Film Festival, so he rejected it directly.

At that time, Teng Jinxian had not asked Lin Weimin to be a judge, otherwise maybe we could still discuss it.

Generally, international film festivals require that participating films must be premieres.

However, because the Shanghai International Film Festival is new, the quality and quantity of its film sources cannot be compared with those of long-established film festivals, so it naturally has to lower its requirements and only requires that participating films must be Chinese-language world premieres.

It was confirmed that Jiang Wen would participate in the Shanghai International Film Festival with "Sunny Days", and Lin Weimin called the organizing committee to tell them the good news.

Wu Yigong was overjoyed when he got the news. "Sunny Days" had just won the Silver Lion Award in Venice. Although it may be a bit unfair, the Shanghai International Film Festival is still an initiative after all. If this film can participate in the Shanghai International Film Festival, it will undoubtedly be a success. It gives the film festival a boost of momentum.

Wu Yigong thanked Lin Weimin for his kindness on the phone, and then contacted Jiang Wen according to the contact information given by Lin Weimin.

In late September, when the Yu Hua family's child was one month old, Lin Weimin took time to take Tao Huimin and Xiaodou Bao to attend the full moon wine.

Yu Hua and Cheng Hong had basically no relatives in Yanjing. They were all friends, colleagues, and many acquaintances, and the atmosphere was warm and harmonious.

Xiaodoubao has just learned to walk and talk, and is curious about everything. Especially when he sees the little one in Cheng Hong's arms, he becomes even more interested and follows Cheng Hong all the time.

"Auntie, look at my brother!"

Cheng Hong knelt down and opened the swaddling clothes with a smile, "Take a look."

Xiaodou surrounded the little one and just glanced at it twice, when the little one started crying, scaring Xiaodoubao so much that he hid in Tao Huimin's arms.

"Mom, my brother is crying!"

"Yeah, maybe you're hungry. Aren't you the same?"

"Beanbag didn't cry."

"You cried last night because I didn't give you milk."

Xiaodoubao tilted her head. Such a conversation was still a bit complicated for her. She couldn't understand, so she got into Tao Huimin's arms and said coquettishly: "Mom!"

While Cheng Hong was feeding the child, Yu Hua was accompanying many guests.

He was so proud of the spring breeze today that he whispered to Lin Weimin: "Teacher Lin, I have finished writing the novel I showed you before."

Lin Weimin nodded when he heard this, "So fast? The efficiency is pretty good!"

"I'm all learning from you!" Yu Hua said proudly.

After finishing the novel and giving birth to his son, Yu Hua was so proud that he couldn't wait to show it off to Lin Weimin.

"The Story of Xu Sanguan Selling Blood".

The inspiration came from a stroll that Yu Hua, Lin Weimin, and Shi Tiesheng had in Nanlishi Road Park.

That year, Yu Hua was still studying at the National College of Liberal Arts, and Lin Weimin invited him and Shi Tiesheng to go to Barbeque Wan to eat barbecue.

After coming out of the barbecue area, a few people had eaten too much and walked into Nanlishi Road Park.

There are shabby tents scattered in the park, which are parents who come to the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University to accompany their children for medical treatment.

They didn't want to live in a guest house, so they had to live in tents.

The tents of the 1980s did not have the colorful camping tents of later generations. They were all military green. The military green color faded and became mottled and worn, giving it a sense of fragmentation.

Yu Hua squatted there and chatted with the sad-looking man at the entrance of the tent for a long time.

Now, he has finally written down the emotions he felt back then in a book, and he couldn't be more satisfied with this new work.