A widower's entertainment

Chapter 318 [The Reader's Allure] (Please Subscribe)
Compared to Wang Xiaobo and his group, other readers were unaware of the foreshadowing about "love" in the novel "The Reader".

Even if someone noticed the novel about love and marriage called "Love," they would probably just consider it another literary work and wouldn't even think that it was a foreshadowing deliberately planted by Lin Youcheng, or that it was a work he hadn't published yet, because it was just a few sentences and was really too insignificant.

Just like the foreshadowing itself, which is silent, perhaps many years later, even if Lin Youcheng publishes that novel "Love", if no one mentions or asks about it, they may not think that the novel "Love" is the one that Jiang Xia sent to Yang Ju to read aloud at the end in "The Reader".

Currently, literary critics and readers are mostly discussing Lin Youcheng's "The Reader," talking about the love between people with a more than 20-year age gap, discussing humanity and dignity, as well as war and reflection.

These topics have already excited young people who love literature.

Among them are young people who have studied performing arts, such as Jiang Wenli and Xu Qing.

Jiang Wenli, who is still the real Wenli girl, watched Lin Youcheng's "The Reader" again. She was deeply moved, and her eyes were slightly red. She exclaimed from the bottom of her heart: "The character Yang Ju in 'The Reader' is so charming. I hope I can have the opportunity to play this role in the future."

According to Jiang Wenli, although Yang Ju, the woman in the novel "The Reader," is illiterate, the character's vividness was so striking that it deeply impacted her.

She really liked Lin Youcheng's "The Reader" and didn't care at all that other classmates said they didn't see "true love" in the novel, because in her opinion, whether there was true love or not was not important, since it was not a romance novel in the simple sense.

Often, a classic romance novel should depict love overcoming human weaknesses and the illusions of reality, allowing the meaning of life and love to endure. Through love, life is elevated, becoming an epic love story.

However, "The Reader" is not such a story, but Jiang Wenli loves this special love story very much.

She felt that it would be great to play the role of Yang Ju. She even understood why Yang Ju always asked Jiang Xia to read literary works aloud; it was because of her yearning for literature and art.

"Isn't it inappropriate for you to play a woman in her thirties right now?"

"If I had to choose, I would definitely want to play Yang Shu in Lin Youcheng's novel 'Love Letter' or Jing Qiu in 'Under the Hawthorn Tree.' That kind of love is so beautiful."

Hearing her classmate Jiang Wenli's words, Xu Qing, on the other side, directly expressed her thoughts and said, "How about letting me play Lin Yu in 'Atonement'?"

Jiang Wenli smiled and said, "Haha, you're much bolder than me. I heard that the role in 'Atonement' is played by Gong Li."

Xu Qing and Jiang Wenli are both third-year students in the Performance Department of Yanjing Film Academy. Gong Li is undoubtedly someone they envy, as she won the Golden Bear Award at Berlin for her first starring film.

They don't know when they'll be able to act in movies.

In fact, Jiang Wenli has already started going to auditions. Compared to Xu Qing, who is from Beijing, Jiang Wenli is still uncertain about whether she will be able to get roles in the future. She really hopes to be able to act.

She wasn't as outstanding as Xu Qing. She wanted to play all the roles that other senior actors had played. You know, "Love Letter" was made into a movie and released several years ago, and the female lead was Gong Xue.

After graduating from high school, she went to the Ontario Water Conservancy School, and naturally became a factory worker at a waterworks. The monotonous, mechanical life made her very dissatisfied. Later, because of someone's words: "Jiang Wenli, it's a pity you didn't go to film school to study acting," she decided to go north from her small, third-tier city to try her luck. She was fortunate enough to be admitted to the Yenching Film Academy.

This may explain why she loves the character Yang Ju so much. Jiang Wenli actually has her own aspirations for performing arts; otherwise, she wouldn't have gone from being a factory worker to learning acting. They were all illiterate at first when it came to beautiful art and literature.

Upon hearing Jiang Wenli's words, Xu Qing smiled and said, "Who knows, you might even become more famous than Gong Li in the future."

Jiang Wenli never even thought about becoming famous, let alone more famous than Gong Li. She simply said, "If I have the opportunity to play a role in Lin Youcheng's novel in the future, I think that would be great, preferably as the female lead."

Xu Qing glanced at the novel "The Reader" in Jiang Wenli's hand. She had naturally read the novel as well, and couldn't help but say, "The role of Yang Ju in 'The Reader' is not easy to play."

With a smile, Jiang Wenli said very seriously, "It's precisely because it's difficult to act that it's challenging!"

……

Clearly, Jiang Wenli shared the same idea as Gong Li.

Gong Li said the same thing.

"The role of Yang Ju is not easy to play, but it is really challenging!"

"It's a pity that no director will give me this role."

Gong Li looked at Zhang Guoshi and couldn't help but sigh. She knew that she was too old to play the role of Yang Ju.

Lin Youcheng's latest novel, "The Reader," has naturally sparked considerable discussion in the film industry. After all, film art is inseparable from literary works, not to mention that several of Lin Youcheng's novels have been adapted into films.

Right now, Zhang Guoshi is discussing Lin Youcheng's novel "The Reader" with Gong Li.

Zhang Guoshi also read Lin Youcheng's "The Reader" and was deeply shocked. The impact he received was no less than that of the previous novel "Atonement".

In Zhang Guoshi's view, the story of a young man experiencing his first stirrings of love and a naive and sophisticated young woman, with their pure desires blossoming, unfolds in a warm bathtub, on a naked bed, and even during what outsiders perceive as a "mother and son" outing... all the words make the whole story feel like a movie.

While reading the novel, he could almost see the scenes through Lin Youcheng's words in his mind, which were quite realistic and equally shocking.

Upon hearing Gong Li's words, Zhang Guoshi couldn't help but sigh, "You are still too young and lack experience."

"If the story of 'The Reader' can be filmed, the role of Yang Ju is the most crucial. It is indeed a very challenging role for any actress."

“Right now, it would be too difficult for you to play a role like this.”

Gong Li was somewhat unconvinced by Zhang Guoshi's words, but she also knew that what Zhang Guoshi said wasn't entirely unreasonable, mainly because she was still too young. However, she felt that a truly good actor didn't need to consider the age of the role. "Gong Li, you should focus your attention on the role of Lin Yu in 'Atonement' now."

"The filming of 'Atonement' will begin soon after that."

Since the story of "Atonement" begins in the summer, the film will naturally be shot in the humid summer of the South. Gong Li is currently preparing for the role of Lin Yu.

Clearly, Zhang Guoshi was also aware of the situation and timeline of Chen Aige's filming of "Atonement".

Upon hearing Zhang Guoshi's words, Gong Li nodded and said, "I know, of course I will continue to prepare well for the role of Lin Yu."

"I just think Lin Youcheng's book 'The Reader' is really wonderful, and I think it would be very suitable to be adapted into a movie."

"It's suitable, but it's difficult to pass the review process."

Zhang Guoshi was well aware that Lin Youcheng's novel "The Reader" was exceptionally brilliant, and he genuinely admired Lin Youcheng.

I never expected Lin Youcheng to write about the love of an illiterate woman in such a unique, and even more shocking way.

It may seem simple, but the dramatic tension and conflict are unprecedentedly strong.

As a film director, he naturally knew very well how dramatic Lin Youcheng's "The Reader" was. It wasn't just a story about a fifteen-year-old boy and a thirty-six-year-old woman having sex; it was also about Yang Ju, an illiterate middle-aged woman, taking on a crime that wasn't hers in order to maintain her dignity.

Such a tearing apart of human nature is so compelling that it makes him applaud.

According to Zhang Guoshi, the most important element in making Lin Youcheng's "The Reader" a film is the actress. It can be said that the actress must be able to carry the entire role and the entire story.

Zhang Ziyi truly admires Lin Youcheng; he is incredibly talented. After "Atonement," he wrote "The Reader," a story that Zhang Ziyi himself created. If it weren't for the fact that Lin already had plans for another film, Zhang Ziyi might have already decided to make "The Reader."

As for the film's content, the content of his later adaptation, "Fuxi Fuxi," will not be any less explicit than that of "The Reader."

Zhang Guoshi glanced at Gong Li and said with a smile, "No matter what, we should find an opportunity to work with Lin Youcheng properly and adapt his novel into a film."

……

It's not just established directors who want to collaborate with Lin Youcheng and adapt his novels into films; young directors who are still unknown also dream of working with him.

"Lou Ye, I think you shouldn't think that far ahead. You're just an advertising director, yet you're thinking of adapting Lin Youcheng's novel 'The Reader'. Don't you even know which directors Lin Youcheng has worked with?"

"The Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's film adaptation of his novel 'The Devotion of Suspect X' won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival."

Lou Ye heard his colleague mention the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, his eyes flashed, and he said, "If I were to direct his film 'The Devotion of Suspect X,' it wouldn't be bad either, after all, the story itself is very exciting."

Lou Ye's colleague couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. He didn't know why Lou Ye was so confident and said with a smile, "Why don't you go back to Shanghai? Your parents want you to go back to Shanghai."

Lou Ye graduated from the Directing Department of Yanjing Film Academy last year. He was originally assigned to work at Shanghai TV Station after graduation, but he did not go. Instead, he worked as an assistant director on a film. Now he works as an independent director in Yanjing, producing and editing advertisements and short documentaries. He can be considered an early "Beijing drifter".

In fact, Lou Ye would have been better off returning to Shanghai to develop his career. After all, Lou Ye's father was an actor in the Shanghai Youth Drama Troupe, and his mother was a teacher in the Acting Department of the Shanghai Drama Academy. Initially, because he did not do well in school, he took the entrance exam for a vocational high school after graduating from junior high school to study animation production. After graduating, he joined the Shanghai Animation Film Studio as an art designer and participated in the production of the animated films "The Legend of the Heavenly Book" and "The Monkey King Subdues the Demon".

Lou Ye originally came to Yanjing intending to apply for the Animation Department of Yanjing Film Academy and the Oil Painting Department of Yanjing Academy of Fine Arts. However, he failed the entrance exam for Yanjing Academy of Fine Arts, and the Animation Department of Yanjing Film Academy did not recruit students that year. Instead, the Directing Department recruited him.

However, it is clear that Lou Ye has now fallen in love with the profession of directing and is eager to make his own feature film.

"What am I going back for? I'm planning to make my own movie."

Lou Ye was thinking about making his own movie and said, "It would be great if Lin Youcheng's 'The Reader' could be made into a movie."

"The novel 'The Reader' is not easy to adapt! I'm afraid it won't pass censorship."

"I think you should give up on adapting Lin Youcheng's novel. If you really want to make a movie, you might as well write your own."

Lou Ye smiled and said, "I will definitely write a script, but I don't know if I can write a work like Lin Youcheng's, which is about love and crime, and the struggle between lust and humanity. I want that kind of extreme stuff."

Lou Ye has always admired Lin Youcheng's novels, especially "The Devotion of Suspect X," a suspenseful crime romance. He also longs to adapt such a story into a film, one that blends love and crime. In his view, the psychological and emotional impact of such a story is more valuable and captivating to the audience than the visual spectacle.

Of course, he now also really likes Lin Youcheng's latest novel, *The Reader*. Reading the text, whether it's the scenes of studying and exercising in bed or the trials in prison, the words deeply resonated with him. He even couldn't help but think about how best to film such scenes himself. Images were already flashing through his mind; perhaps he should handhold the camera and follow Yang Ju's free movements, creating a shaky, almost breathing effect, fully showcasing the human element of the camera, Yang Ju's expressions, inner thoughts, and emotions…

"Then I hope you can cooperate with Lin Youcheng in the future!"

Lou Ye naturally noticed the amusement in his colleague's words, but he didn't pay it any mind. He was just thinking about Lin Youcheng's "The Reader" and felt that the character Yang Ju was like a seductive lover who fascinated him.

Lou Ye had no idea that his later debut feature film would be called "Weekend Lover".

He's just thinking that the story of "The Reader" is so brilliantly written that it would be amazing if it were adapted into a screenplay and made into a movie.

Of course, it would be even better if he were the one to film it.

(End of this chapter)