A widower's entertainment

Chapter 296 [Lively Fight] (Subscribe)
Beijing, Xinghua Hutong.

The cold wind in Beijing in December was bleak and biting, and it was chilly and blew like a knife. The courtyard was cold and bleak, but inside the house there was a heated discussion about "Atonement".

Cha Hailing is also a beneficiary of the royalty system proposed by Lin Youcheng. The poetry collections he published before also adopted the royalty system, which has improved Cha Hailing's financial situation a lot. Now he is in a better state. He is looking at Lin Youcheng excitedly and talking about Lin Youcheng's latest novel "Atonement". He said: "Brother Lin, your "Atonement" is so well written. Our Poetry Association is also discussing your novel."

"The whole novel follows the rhythm of beautiful poetry, the structure is beautiful, the novel is in three sections, and the ending is really shocking."

"This love story is so sad, like a beautiful but broken poem!"

Lin Youcheng listened to what Cha Hailing said, poured him a cup of hot tea and smiled. He had heard a lot of such words in the past few days. For example, Zhang Wei specially ran to Xinghua Hutong to give him a letter. He also said that "Atonement" received a lot of discussion and response. Many readers wrote letters to the magazine. And not only Zhang Wei, but also Yu Hua, Xie Shuhua and others also came to praise his "Atonement".

Cha Hailing was truly moved by the love story written by Lin Youcheng from the bottom of his heart, but of course he was also extremely sad about the ending of the story.

After all, poets like Cha Hailing, or such literary youths, will naturally be completely attracted by the story of "Atonement" and be touched in the soul. It can even be said that in the eyes of those literary youths, "Atonement", a story about love and human nature, simply makes them love it to death, especially since the ending is a broken tragedy, how can their hearts not be broken along with it.

"I really want to write a poem about your novel. Imagination is romantic, but also dangerous."

Cha Hailing smiled and said, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me when I say this. I cried a lot when I saw the last part. I really envy the love between Luo Yang and Lin Yu. It's pure, brave and clean!"

"You will have it too."

Lin Youcheng replied with a smile.

Cha Hailing drank a cup of hot tea and said with a smile: "I believe it."

Cha Hailing looked at Lin Youcheng. In fact, he admired Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" from the bottom of his heart. He said, "Everyone is discussing your novel now. I saw several literary magazines have reviews of "Atonement". It's really amazing."

Lin Youcheng actually knew about this, and Zhang Wei had also told him that the People's Literature magazine and the Writers Association were both planning to hold a symposium for his work "Atonement".

The reason is naturally very simple, because Lin Youcheng's novel caused quite a stir.

While Cha Hailing was still chatting with Lin Youcheng about how his colleagues, editors and poets all liked the novel "Atonement" very much, other people also came to Lin Youcheng because of the novel "Atonement", and there were more than one person.

Lin Youcheng was also very surprised. He didn't expect that Jiang Wen would come to Xinghua Hutong to find him with the national teacher Zhang Yi.

This was a huge surprise to him.

In fact, Jiang Wen and Zhang Yimou were also very surprised, because they neither expected that it would be such a coincidence that they both came to find Lin Youcheng together, and their purpose was the same, which was to come for Lin Youcheng's "Atonement".

Jiang Wen followed Lin Youcheng into the house, ignoring Zhang Yimou and Zha Hailing, and went straight to the point, saying, "Brother Cheng, I came here to discuss the film adaptation rights of your novel "Atonement". I want to film your story."

When Master Zhang heard what Jiang Wen said directly, he was a little surprised. He looked at Lin Youcheng and said, "Actually, that's why I came to you. I wanted to work with you before, and I just finished reading your new novel "Atonement". It's really amazing."

This is the real thought of the national teacher Zhang Yimou. He just finished reading Lin Youcheng's "Atonement" the day before yesterday, or he heard from a friend that Lin Youcheng had published a new book, which was particularly awesome. Out of curiosity, he naturally looked for it to read. After reading it, he was really shocked. The first thought in his mind was that he wanted to make this story into a movie.

Obviously, Jiang Wen and Master Zhang had the same idea.

When Jiang Wen heard what Master Zhang said, he immediately looked at Lin Youcheng and said, "Brother Cheng, you promised me that if I became a director, you would write a script for me. At that time, I really wanted to direct and act in your film "Tengu", but Wu Ziniu got there first."

Lin Youcheng naturally remembered that Jiang Wen had come to him specifically to ask for the film adaptation rights of the novel "Tengu", but he did not remember agreeing to Jiang Wen at that time, because at that time it was his daughter Lin Zhaomei who said she also wanted to be a director, and he, as a father, said that he would write the script later.

Jiang Wen looked at Lin Youcheng and said seriously, "I really like your film "Atonement". I was completely attracted to it when I first watched it. This story is very suitable for being made into a movie."

As he spoke, Jiang Wen turned his gaze to Master Zhang and said, "Director Zhang, are you really going to compete with me?"

Master Zhang and Jiang Wen are also old acquaintances. Jiang Wen played the leading male role in "Red Sorghum", which won the Berlin Golden Bear Award for Master Zhang.

It’s a coincidence that both of them now want to film Lin Youcheng’s "Atonement".

Zhang Guoshi also knew that Jiang Wen really wanted to be a director. After all, he was just a photographer in the crew at the beginning. But he personally really liked Lin Youcheng's "Atonement", especially the narrative from a child's perspective in the novel was still delicate and sharp. He was completely surprised by Lin Youcheng's conception.

He and Gong Li also discussed that the plot of the entire novel is already very complete, and it would be a very good script to shoot according to the narrative structure of the novel. In addition, Gong Li also likes the story of "Atonement" very much and hopes to play the role of Lin Yu.

Master Zhang glanced at Jiang Wen and said, "I really like the story of "Atonement". Didn't you say before that you were going to film Wang Lu's novel?" Lin Youcheng knew that Jiang Wen was following Liu Xiaoqing and had contacts with Wang Lu. As early as 1991, he had obtained the film adaptation rights of Wang Lu's novel "Ferocious Animals". Later, he decided to direct his own feature film. The film was later named "Sunny Days" and was specially started on Wang Lu's birthday in 1993. Jiang Wen even pulled out a banner on the scene: "The sun will always be bright, and Master Lu will always be awesome!" Obviously, this was also a footnote to Wang Lu's status in the film and television industry at that time.

Even with last year's "Wang Capsule Year", Lin Youcheng's novels are still the hottest, just like the earthquake caused by the publication of "Atonement" in the literary world.

Not to mention that literary critics can see the awesomeness of the novel "Atonement", directors Zhang Guoshi and Jiang Wen are naturally also very clear about how awesome Lin Youcheng's novel is.

The whole story is a very clever setting. Is it because of jealousy, misunderstanding, or because of her rich imagination and ability to express herself in words? The scene she accidentally saw through the window and the adult words she accidentally encountered when she intentionally opened the letter became the catalyst for the emotions and imagination of the ignorant but self-proclaimed mature literary girl...

The human nature in such a story is too real, especially the process of Lin Xue making a big mistake later on, which torments his heart. The delicate psychological description and plot design accurately capture the most important boundary between reality and virtuality in the novel. How can this not make these directors crazy?

They also value the darkness and tearing of human nature.

They were well aware of how great the tension in such a plot was, and they had even thought in their minds about the ending in which the elderly novelist facing amnesia returns to his childhood estate to watch his grandchildren perform the play that was not successfully rehearsed and performed that year. The moment it appears on the screen must be quite shocking.

The most important thing is that such a story not only touches their hearts, but also touches the excitement of the three major film festivals.

Such a good story will not be too bad as long as it is filmed well, because the plot of this novel has laid a solid foundation.

Seeing that both Zhang Guoshi and Jiang Wen wanted the film adaptation rights of Lin Youcheng's novel "Atonement", Cha Hailing admired them very much. They thought Lin Youcheng was indeed in trouble. However, he also felt that Lin Youcheng would be in a difficult situation at this time. After all, with these two people coming together, it would not be easy to agree to it for either of them.

When Jiang Wen heard what Master Zhang said, he couldn't help but say, "I really want to film Cheng Ge's "Atonement". The story is really great! There is no doubt that if I film a story like this, I will definitely win an award."

Will you definitely win a prize?

That's really arrogant of you to say!

It’s not easy for a movie to win awards, especially some real film awards.

Actually, he had thought about filming Lin Youcheng's "The Devotion of Suspect X", but he was worried that the plot was too sensitive. Later, Hou Xiaoxian won the Palme d'Or for his adaptation of the novel. He watched Hou Xiaoxian's movie and found that it was different from his own. He later felt that if he filmed "The Devotion of Suspect X" himself, he might not be able to win the award like Hou Xiaoxian.

Master Zhang is not the kind of person who would talk big like Jiang Wen, but he also knows that Jiang Wen is just like that. Looking at Lin Youcheng, he also knows that this matter will ultimately depend on how Lin Youcheng decides. Neither of them arrived first or later, but they just happened to come at the same time. The timing is really a coincidence.

"Youcheng, I have thought seriously about your novel. If I were to make your film, I would follow the overall structure of your novel. The plot of your novel is already very perfect. Whether it is love, sin, or war, they are all quite real. It is a very powerful narrative perspective, talking about war, the novelist's excitement, love, psychology and guilt. I will also use different perspectives, memories, and large-scale detailed descriptions to shoot your story."

Obviously, at this time, Master Zhang was already discussing his filming ideas with Lin Youcheng, and he added, "In addition, I also plan to let Gong Li play the role of Lin Yu."

Lin Youcheng looked at Master Zhang. He actually knew that Master Zhang won the Berlin Golden Bear Award last year. Later, he co-directed the film "Codename Jaguar" with Yang Fengliang, and also starred in the film "The Terracotta Warriors" directed by Cheng Xiaodong. Yes, it was a love movie starring Gong Li together.

Next year, Zhang Guoshi will continue to collaborate with Yang Fengliang to direct the film "Ju Dou". Although it did not win the grand prize at the three major film festivals, it was still nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Jiang Wen didn't expect that Master Zhang would start deciding on the actors right away, and even mentioned Gong Li. He was anxious and couldn't help but say, "Brother Cheng, let's not talk about the actors first. If I were to shoot this, in addition to the previous storyline, I think the focus should be on the war scenes. The whole story has a strong literary and artistic atmosphere of love. Only a large-scale brutal war can better balance the literary and artistic feeling of the whole story and better help to set off the tragic fate of Luo Yang and Lin Yu."

Obviously, Jiang Wen also has his own opinions on this novel. In his opinion, the front of the story is just Luo Yang's unjust case and the testimony of the thirteen-year-old girl. The real conflict is still under the war and the torrent of the times. The two young men are on opposite sides of the battlefield, and their death on the battlefield will be more impactful.

"I especially think that the plot twist in your novel where Lin Yu was hit by a shell and Luo Yang died of sepsis is so amazing! When I read it, I was so shocked that I stood up!"

Jiang Wen looked at Lin Youcheng with admiration, and couldn't help but give him a thumbs up, saying, "It's really well written!"

“Yes, this novel is really well written!”

In fact, Master Zhang held the same view and could not help but nodded his head in agreement. Lin Youcheng's novel "Atonement" was so well written that he was still thinking about the story after reading it. The plot of the whole story gave him specific pictures in his mind, which kept appearing in his mind.

He was a photographer by training, and he had a feeling of excitement about how to best shoot the scenes for this story. He even had an image of Lin Yu running in the Xia Tian Manor in his mind. If Gong Li were to act out that scene, it would definitely turn out beautifully.

Just when Jiang Wen and Zhang Guoshi came to Xinghua Hutong to look for the novel "Atonement", it was not known whether it was a coincidence or Chen Ai'ge heard from somewhere that Zhang Guoshi was also interested in Lin Youcheng's "Atonement", so he hurried to Xinghua Hutong, wanting to get the film adaptation rights of the novel "Atonement".

Lin Youcheng didn't expect that Chen Aige would come to him.

Now, three directors are vying to shoot his "Atonement"!
(End of this chapter)