National Tide 1980.

On March 1989, 3, the Japan Academy Awards, hosted by the Japan Academy Awards Association, was held as scheduled in Tokyo.

Ning Weimin, Matsumoto Keiko and their family returned from the capital three days in advance.

On the day of the awards ceremony, the couple attended the event together with the directors and main actors of "Crazy Rich Asians" and "Bodyguard".

Needless to say, as the only film awards ceremony broadcast on television in Japan, the public pays a lot of attention to the awards ceremony.

In view of this, Keiko Matsumoto felt somewhat anxious because her figure remained plump after giving birth.

It can be said that I have been troubled by the problem of dressing since I came back.

She had a big fight over what clothes and jewelry to wear to the award ceremony.

But when we actually arrived at the scene, the situation was completely the opposite.

You should know that since she was expecting to give birth, Keiko Matsumoto has rarely made public appearances. She only provided some personal updates for "Weekly Mist" and the promotion of her personal music album. The last time she gave birth to a daughter was in a Japanese newspaper.

There has been no news from her for such a long time, and fans miss her and are very curious.

So as soon as she appeared at the venue this time, she, who had just become a mother, became the focus of media attention, and many fans cheered enthusiastically on both sides of the red carpet.

And seeing that she was so popular, she naturally felt relieved.

After getting out of the car, she regained her confidence, walked onto the red carpet holding Ning Weimin's hand, and waved to the fans frequently. Her every move showed her demeanor as the "No. 1 Sister in the Film Industry" and the temperament of a winner in life.

The audience at the scene and in front of the screen could clearly feel that she was a little different.

Not only was she radiant, but she also exuded a mature and dignified beauty, and the cheers became even louder.

It has to be said that this can essentially be regarded as a successful case of "hunger marketing".

It's just a pity that, somewhat inconsistent with the enthusiasm of movie fans, when the ceremony started and the awards ceremony began, the real grand prize of the year did not go to Mist Studios.

It turned out that due to the participation of the Sino-Japanese co-production "Dunhuang" this year, this historical film with the largest investment in Japanese film history almost completely replicated the historical success and became the big winner.

This film produced by Daiei Company won three major awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, as well as four technical awards including Best Cinematography, Best Lighting, Best Art Direction and Best Editing.

Needless to say, with the existence of such a killer movie, other movies naturally became obscure with nominations but no awards, and could only be pure runners-up.

Even if it was a movie produced by Mist Studio, they could only watch with envy and helplessness, forcing themselves to smile and applaud "Dunhuang".

But to be honest, for Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, this result was what they expected.

So even though I am a little disappointed after losing these major awards one after another, I am not sad or depressed, and I am certainly not likely to show my negative emotions.

why?
It is because they know very well that the movie "Dunhuang" has a huge advantage in terms of artistry, culture and humanistic feelings.

Whether it is the astonishing act of building an ancient Western city in the Republic for the filming of this movie, or the fact that the story is based on the award-winning work of the famous novelist Yasushi Inoue.

Or it could be the extremely long period of three years that the filmmakers took to shoot in the mainland of the Republic.

Or the ancient cavalry clashes and siege battles filmed by thousands of troops, which almost completely restored the suppression of cavalry by crossbows in ancient wars, the fighting style of infantry phalanxes against cavalry, the power of equipment such as catapults, and the well-known "Iron Harriers" and "Linked Horses".

These factors seem to naturally give the film a high-end aura of being carefully polished and spared no expense to restore historical authenticity.

In particular, this film explores the themes of civilization and cultural protection - the scholar Zhao Xingde, played by a Japanese in the film, systematically studied the Xixia language in Xixia and compiled a Xixia dictionary.

After arriving in Dunhuang, Zhao Xingde devoted himself to copying and protecting the ancient scrolls. On the eve of the fall of Dunhuang, he sealed the ancient scrolls in the Mogao Grottoes. He told Zhu Wangli that this was a valuable thing for which he was willing to sacrifice his life.

The award of such an award for a film with strong humanistic significance will undoubtedly elevate Japan's moral status in the international arena and highlight the Japanese attitude towards war in the new era.

There is no reason why the Academy Awards judges would not like this kind of tone. In this respect, the films of Fog Studios are indeed incomparable to others.

To put it bluntly, anyone who has seen this movie may not like it, but they can never deny the film and say that it is poorly made.

Otherwise it means you are uneducated and have low taste.

What's more, another factor that cannot be ignored is that the Academy Awards is essentially a "pork-sharing" award ceremony.

Whether a movie can ultimately win an award has always depended on personal connections and relationships.

In these aspects, compared with Wu Production, which was established not long ago and has just preliminarily determined its qualifications for a share of the profits, it certainly cannot be compared with Daiei Company, which filmed "Dunhuang".

Because Daiei Company was originally one of the top five companies in Japan and has long been a veteran at the table.

Even Matsumoto Keiko herself was made famous by Daiei.

Moreover, the current owner of this film company is the powerful Tokuma Shoten. It can be said that they have a solid network base in both the publishing and literary and art circles, and they completely crush the Mist Studio.

To be more honest, this time Daiei Company came to the award with the determination to win, otherwise it would be a shame for the investment of more than 5 billion yen, so naturally it spared no effort in the public relations for the award.

If anyone dares to vote for other movies and make them lose, that would be blatantly making things difficult for Tokuma Shoten and making an enemy of Daiei Company.

So it is not unfair for Fog Studios to lose these awards.

It is not surprising that the two male protagonists of their films who were nominated, both John Lone and Tomokazu Miura, became foils to the male lead of "Dunhuang", Toshiyuki Nishida.

It is not even an exaggeration to say that if Kiri Studios won one or two major awards, they would be terrified and suspect that someone was trying to trick them and instigate them to become enemies with Tokuma and Daiei.

This is the real world, and many things are the inevitable result of multiple reasons.

No one can change it, not even Ning Weimin.

So from the very beginning, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko were very rational. Their greatest hopes were actually for the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Teresa Teng Award for Best Actress.

They are still somewhat confident about these two awards.

First of all, it is certain that the theme songs plagiarized by Ning Weimin for "Crazy Rich Asians" and "The Bodyguard" are both excellent enough.

In particular, the song "The Flowing River" was the most popular song among Japanese people in the original history. It was also the most positive energy song covered by Japanese singers at that time.

In the nationwide poll of "20 Most Touching Songs of the th Century" conducted by NHK, the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation, this song ranked first. In the present time and space, Japanese national treasure singer Hibari Misora, who missed this song, still loved it deeply when she heard it even though she was seriously ill.

He even went to the door and begged for a cover.

So it can be said that the existence of this song has almost secured this award for Fog Studios in advance.

Not to mention, there’s also the theme song from “The Bodyguard” as double insurance.

In addition, Teresa Teng’s own works are excellent enough, and most of the classic songs she performed over the years have been integrated into the plots of the two films as interludes.

It can be said that "Crazy Rich Asians" and "The Bodyguard" are two gorgeous MTVs with movie scenes, and are the essence of Teresa Teng's many years of personal singing career as the queen of Asia.

If they could still lose the Best Original Score Award, it wouldn't be a problem of the song's quality. It would also be certain that they were the target of the jury's greatest malicious attack.

Not to mention that Mist Studio would not agree to this result, Teresa Teng herself would not be able to accept it. Even the Japanese people would be furious and take to the streets to protest the shady dealings in the Academy Awards.

As for the Best Actress award, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko are also not a fantasy.

Although, logically speaking, the Miss Deng they are promoting is not a professional actor, if we look at her acting skills alone, it is a rare honor for her to be nominated, and it is absolutely impossible for her to win the Best Actress title.

But the thing is, the roles she played in these two movies were too special, they were tailor-made for her.

It's entirely possible to assume that the role she is going to play is herself, so naturally whatever she does will be right.

In fact, it cannot be said that she was acting in a movie at all, but rather that she was freely showing her true self during the filming process.

In addition, the movie "Dunhuang" is just a man's play, and the heroine, Princess Xixia, in the movie is just a vase-like role.

It can be said that Daiei Company has no intention of winning this award at all.

The only opponent who could really compete with Teresa Teng and pose some threat to her was Sayuri Yoshinaga, who was nominated for her leading female role in the movie "Crane".

So Teresa Teng, who was nominated for the leading actress role in two movies, naturally had a great chance of winning.

Whether or not this can be achieved in the end actually depends on the choice of the Academy Awards judges.

See how they weigh it on the scale of human feelings?
Is this to save face for the female star Sayuri Yoshinaga?

Or is it to save the face of Keiko Matsumoto, the boss of the film company, and Teresa Teng, the Asian singing queen?
From the perspective of interests, the answer to this math problem is obvious.

As expected, the final results revealed about the two awards were exactly what Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko wished.

It was the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" that won the Best Original Score Award, and it was also this movie that made Teresa Teng, the Asian queen of pop, win the Best Actress award at the Academy Awards.

Both awards went to Mist Studios.

This result not only means that Teresa Teng has successfully washed away her reputation as a box office poison in Chinese-language films for many years, but also has achievements to be proud of in the Asian film industry. Her advertising endorsements and acting pay in Asia will definitely rise to a new level in the future.

At the same time, it also means that Teresa Teng’s income from music will reap astonishing dividends again.

Ning Weimin is certain that after winning the award today, the soundtrack of the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" will once again see a wave of sales thanks to the Academy Awards.

The song "The Flow Never Stops" from this album will probably become an enduring classic, and the copyright fees from karaoke and other singers' covers will probably bring in a lot of money.

Such benefits could not be achieved even if "Dunhuang" did not disrupt the situation, and even if "Crazy Rich Asians" won those mainstream awards.

From this perspective, Fog Studios really won the award that suits them best and made a lot of money this time.

That’s not all. There was even an unexpected gain - the Best Supporting Actress award unexpectedly went to Keiko Matsumoto.

To be honest, even Keiko Matsumoto felt that her role as a rich girl in "Crazy Rich Asians" was just a supporting role, and her acting skills were nothing remarkable.

Being nominated was already a favor from the jury, and she never thought she could win the award.

She was puzzled and thought about it over and over again, and she was afraid that she could only find one explanation.

This award should be the Academy Award showing goodwill to her, and it is an extra benefit brought to Keiko Matsumoto by her identity as the owner of the Fog Studio.

Anyway, on the way to the stage to receive the award, she saw the unsuccessful newcomers applauding her with respect, especially when she saw Sayuri Yoshinaga, there was a flash of envy in her eyes even though she was trying to remain calm. This feeling still made Keiko feel very happy.

Suddenly, she even felt a little sympathy for this old rival in front of her.

I feel that Sayuri Yoshinaga seems a bit pitiful.

That's right, the two of them have always been obsessed with competing for awards in the past and have always regarded each other as their rivals in their acting careers.

They have always been friendly on the surface but targeting each other behind the scenes, and no one has a good impression of each other.

But now everything has changed, things are a little different.

Because I had already completed the level evolution without realizing it and had reached a new height.

But Sayuri Yoshinaga remained where she was.

It seemed that I had left her far behind, and she seemed unable to compete with me anymore.

So no matter how ambitious a woman is, it is better to marry a good husband.

I have to say that reality is so interesting. The sudden idea caused a wonderful change in Keiko Matsumoto's heart.

Just like that, Matsumoto Keiko's bad feeling towards Yoshinaga Sayuri disappeared without a trace. Years of accumulated resentment seemed to be emptied out in an instant, and all past obsessions were let go.

So much so that after she stepped onto the stage to receive the award and before she formally gave her acceptance speech, she even smiled in the direction of Sayuri Yoshinaga.

It is worth pointing out that this is absolutely not a show-off on her part, nor is it provocative at all.

It was only from this moment on that she suddenly... suddenly... felt that she had let go of her past obsessions.

She doesn't want to live the same life as before, but wants to embrace a new, relaxed life where she only needs to focus on herself and her family. (End of this chapter)