1980 My literary era

“I think every character in this film is disgusting and the relationships between the characters are also very ugly, unlike in Farewell My Concubine where every character is aesthetically lovable.

But Cheng Kaige likes it, and he doesn’t listen to any of my opinions at all..."

Xu Feng had a dinner date with Michael Phillips and the Berninis. During the dinner, he inevitably complained about Qi Cheng Kaige's performance during the creation of "Feng Yue".

Michael Phillips lamented, but fortunately he did not invest more at that time.

However, he also had a secret fear of Xu Feng, but he couldn't let her kidnap Roberto away. This curly-haired bald man was now his treasure.

"Life is Beautiful" invested 20 million U.S. dollars. Most of the funding came from his money, and a small part came from Columbia Pictures. We are all old acquaintances. He brought Columbia Pictures in, mostly for the sake of better development. Good release.

Michael Phillips bet one-third of his net worth on this movie, which was definitely a big gamble for him.

Such a large investment set a record in his film career.

Of course he had never made large investments before, but those were for others as a producer, not as an investor.

The reason why Michael Phillips dared to place such a large bet on "Life is Beautiful" was of course not because of Roberto Benigni, but because of Lin Weimin.

Cheng Kaige was in the middle of the game and might have misjudged the unprecedented success of "Farewell My Concubine," but Michael Phillips saw it clearly.

The success of "Farewell My Concubine" is certainly partly due to Cheng Kaige, but the greatest contribution lies in the brilliance and influence of Lin Weimin's original work.

The movie almost completely restores various classic plots, character settings and dialogues in the novel. Michael Phillips still remembers the enthusiastic reaction of the audience when the movie was released in the United States.

As a super best-seller that has sold tens of millions of copies in the United States, and the drama adaptation has also attracted millions of fans on Broadway, "Farewell My Concubine" has a deep public base in the United States that far exceeds the average classic masterpiece.

After all, most classics are very famous, but their sales are mostly average, and many works have not been adapted.

Michael Phillips firmly believes that Lin Weimin's popularity and prestige in the United States have already surpassed many long-established predecessors in the world's literary world. Even among local American writers, there are not many who can compare with him in the world.

Michael Phillips is full of confidence in the influence and appeal of his work.

In addition, there is another aspect of "Life Is Beautiful" that deserves his attention, that is, the copyright of this novel was bought by Spielberg. If it were not for a small group of Jews in the United States who firmly resisted, this movie would have been released on television. melted.

After giving up "Life is Beautiful", Spielberg turned around and made "Schindler's List".

When Michael Phillips initially invested, he did not have the idea that the film would achieve results comparable to "Schindler's List", but after watching the completed film, he could not help but praise God and Lin Weimin.

masterpiece!

Roberto Bernini contributed a masterpiece to world cinema!

This is what Michael Phillips really thinks.

Roberto Benigni, a seemingly unattractive comedian, gave him a huge surprise, which also gave him a sense of ambition.

Maybe, maybe "Life is Beautiful" can replicate its success!

What kind of success is "Farewell My Concubine"?

In terms of awards, it won the Palme d'Or, the Golden Globe Award, and the Academy Award at the Cannes Film Festival; in terms of box office, its global box office was nearly 400 million US dollars.

The last movie that received such awards and box office success was probably "Forrest Gump".

Looking further back in global film history, there are only a handful of films like this.

The ambition in Michael Phillips's heart comes from the quality of the film "Life is Beautiful" and from all the feedback after the film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

Rave reviews!

A film that is destined to become a celebrity film history, even the public opinion and impact it arouses are consistent.

Since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, "Life is Beautiful" has led all other films in terms of audiences, professional filmmakers, and venue ratings, and it has the aura of dominating the world.

In addition to Lin Weimin's original novel, the biggest contributor to all of this is of course Roberto Bernini, the curly bald man. How could Michael Phillips not cherish him?

"By the way, have you read the news? Mr. Lin won the Pulitzer Prize in the United States two days ago. I wanted to call him to say congratulations, but I couldn't contact him," Xu Feng said.

"Of course." Michael Phillips said in a subtle tone, "When he won the award this time, the public response was extraordinary."

Xu Feng looked at his expression with some doubts in his heart, not knowing the origin of Michael Phillips's expression.

While everyone was discussing Lin Weimin, on May 17, he had already boarded the return flight.

On the same plane, the same comrades who arrived also came back.

During the flight, Lin Weimin casually chatted with the team leader and got a piece of news from him.

In July, an important official from the United States will visit China.

Thanks to Lin Weimin's award this time, WJ personnel from the two countries have eased the tense relations that had existed for some time. It seems that it is only a matter of time before dialogue is resumed.

"Don't talk about this matter outside." The team leader warned.

This kind of information must be highly confidential, but Lin Weimin is an important promoter of the easing of relations between the two countries, so the leading comrade did not shy away from him, but just warned him.

"Don't worry, I don't have any other good qualities, I just have a strict mouth."

After a long flight, the plane finally landed at the Capital Airport.

After getting off the plane, unlike before, Lin Weimin was arranged to go through a special passage.

After returning home to rest for a night, I showed up at the press conference early the next morning.

The press conference was organized by the Publication Administration. Many reporters were invited to attend the press conference, and the media represented were all heavyweight domestic media.

Compared with the previous honorary returns, Lin Weimin's treatment after winning the award in the United States seems to be different. The reporters who came to the press conference this time all noticed this.

The person who presided over the press conference was the top leader of the Publishing Department. When he saw Lin Weimin, the leader was particularly enthusiastic.

Some time ago, the "World Literature Masterpiece Library" had just been published and received major praise from many leaders, and the Publishing Department followed suit.

This time Lin Weimin won another grand prize in the United States. Outsiders didn't know the inside story, but the leaders knew it very well.

Otherwise, why would the Publication Administration organize such a press conference?

There is no need to elaborate on the content of the press conference. The introduction and Q\u0026A were high-sounding and the journalists who came were familiar with the process.

That evening, "Xinwen Lianbo" reported the news that Lin Weimin had brought glory to the country and attended the press conference.

Starting from the next day, many domestic media followed up with reports.

"Lin Weimin wins double Pulitzer Prizes" "Breaking records, Lin Weimin sweeps Pulitzer Prizes" "With double Pulitzer Prizes, Lin Weimin becomes the first person in Asia"...

The overwhelming news reports tacitly filled the eyes of ordinary people.

The United States, Pulitzer Prize, Lin Weimin...

In the past year, this should be the first large-scale official report on news about the United States, and it is also related to Chinese writer Lin Weimin. Ordinary people did not notice anything unusual.

The current relationship with the United States is not good, but it is a good thing that a writer has won an award in the United States. However, some people with certain political sensitivity have noticed something unusual in these reports.

Many media reports followed suit, triggering a lot of attention and heated discussions among the domestic public.

This kind of attention and discussion has no impact on Lin Weimin.

After the press conference, he returned to the Chinese Literature Society.

After returning to his work after a business trip of more than a week, the first thing he had to do was to hand over to Cheng Wuchun.

How to hand over specifically?

It was very simple. The two of them swapped the nameplates on the office door.

The office is still the same office. The president has become the editor-in-chief, and the editor-in-chief has become the president. There is no problem in being re-elected for four terms.

Although Lin Weimin loved to joke with Cheng Wuchun, he still paid attention to taking care of the emotions of his old comrades at critical moments.

No matter how willing he is to let him take over, he still needs to pay attention to whether his identity has changed.

Leadership changes are a major event for any company.

But in the Chinese Literature Society, there is quite a sense of moisturizing things silently.

Quietly, the Chinese Literature Society changed its color.

Lin Weimin officially took charge of the work of the entire company, Cheng Wuchun focused on the book publishing business, and Lao Zhou, well, Lao Zhou was still the same Lao Zhou, getting stronger with age.

After taking over as president, he presided over the first meeting. Lin Weimin proposed the appointment of Zhao Xin at the meeting, and he was promoted to assistant to the president by the director of the chief editor's office.

There are three things a new official needs to do when he takes office, not to mention that Lin Weimin has been the prince for so many years. As soon as he takes office, his prestige is not inferior to that of Comrade Cheng at his peak.

Of course, his prestige was not lost before he took office.

Zhao Xin became the assistant to the president as she wished and was overjoyed.

In the second half of last year, Zhao Xin worked hard to implement the "Guo Wen Bao" and book sales rankings for the cake that Lin Weimin drew for her. After waiting for several months, she finally got her wish.

Moreover, she was Lin Weimin's first personnel move after taking office. Anyone could see that Lin Weimin valued her, which made Zhao Xin feel grateful to Lin Weimin.

The editor-in-chief... no, the president is actually a talented person with a sharp eye!

Zhao Xin’s voice represents the voice of a large part of the people of the Chinese Literature Society. During the years when Cheng Wuchun served as president, the Chinese Literature Society has undergone earth-shaking changes.

But the real changes basically came after Lin Weimin took over as editor-in-chief.

We are all in the same unit, and it is obvious to all that Lin Weimin's contribution to the development of the Chinese Literature Society over the years, and among them there are many young people like Zhao Xin who have tasted the benefits that Lin Weimin has brought to them.

The editor-in-chief became the president, and the president was replaced by the editor-in-chief. There was no disturbance within the Chinese Literature Society, and the employees' work rhythm was as usual.

The only thing that can arouse everyone's interest in discussion is probably what measures Lin Weimin will enact after taking office.

Lin Weimin took office as the president of the Chinese Literature Society, and the situation was quiet internally. However, it triggered a lot of discussion in the domestic publishing industry and literary circles.

He had just won the literary award in the United States, and immediately after returning to China, news spread that he had been appointed president of the Chinese Literature Society.

Both the main business and the part-time job have a good harvest. Anyone who hears this news can't help but be envious.

At this moment, another piece of news came from overseas.

At the 49th Cannes International Film Festival Awards Ceremony on May 21, the film "Life is Beautiful" written, directed and starred by Italian director Roberto Bernini won the best film, best director, Four awards: Best Screenplay and Best Actor.

Become famous in one battle!

The name of writer-director-actor Roberto Benigni spread to countries all over the world as the film festival concluded.

And this "Life is Beautiful", which won four of the most important awards at the Cannes Film Festival, is adapted from Lin Weimin's work "No matter what, life is beautiful".