A widower's entertainment

Chapter 389 [The True Master] (Please Subscribe)
amazing!

Quite astonishing news!
While the domestic literary circles were hotly discussing Lin Youcheng's short story "Love", "Love", which was shortlisted for the main competition of the Venice Film Festival, also won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.

This is truly astonishing news!
Meanwhile, Zhang Yimou's "The Story of Qiu Ju" won the Jury Prize, and Gong Li won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival.

This is undoubtedly a very bright spot in Chinese-language films.

At the same year's three major European film festivals, two Chinese-language films won three awards, including the most important Golden Lion.

This result is naturally quite astonishing!

In fact, domestic filmmakers are unaware that the highest award is being contested by Zhang Yimou's films "The Story of Qiu Ju" and "Love".

However, the jury unanimously awarded the highest honor, the Golden Lion, to "Love." This marks Hou Xiaoxian's second Golden Lion win, following his previous win for "A City of Sadness" three years prior, placing him among the few "double Golden Lion club" members.

In fact, the Venice Film Festival jury revealed that they wanted to award "Amour" even more awards: Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, etc. This shows that the film is perfect in every aspect and has brought a rare resonance to the jury members.

Without a doubt, Hou Xiaoxian's film "Love" is truly amazing.

Unlike "The Story of Qiu Ju," the plot of the film "Love" is simpler, but this simplicity is what makes it even more shocking to film festival audiences and filmmakers from overseas.

Because the emotions in this story are just too powerful!
The entire film, directed by Hou Xiaoxian, fully demonstrates his mastery in character development, aesthetic style, and themes of aging and death, making it a truly astonishing work.

Of course, with Hou Xiaoxian's masterful directing skills, overseas filmmakers will naturally notice that the script for the film "Love" was written by Lin Youcheng.

It's worth noting that Lin Youcheng's previous film, "The Truman Show," drove the international film industry crazy. After all, everyone knows that the success of "The Truman Show" was entirely due to its script. Now, Lin Youcheng, this Eastern screenwriter, has actually written a work called "Love," which has made countless film media professionals want to interview him.

After all, everyone knows that this screenwriter was previously nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the romance film "Every Day" and won the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival for the film "Atonement".

Now, following "The Truman Show," screenwriter Lin Youcheng from the East has brought us "Love," which is why many international film masters want to get to know this incredibly talented screenwriter.

Although Lin Youcheng did not attend the Venice Film Festival, the film "Love" has caused a huge reaction since its screening at the festival, and its ratings in film magazines are quite high. It can truly be said to be incredibly shocking.

Overseas audiences and film critics were shocked that Hou Xiaoxian had brought such a realistic and impactful film, "Love."

Although the film offers different interpretations of the theme of "love," it also explores questions such as: What is love? Can love withstand the test of time and aging? And what does love mean in the face of death?
As the film suggests, this isn't a story about aging, but rather about facing and dealing with the extreme pain of loved ones. In increasingly extreme situations, the true meaning of love—an abstract concept—is revealed, and its outward manifestations don't always align with its inner essence. For an elderly spouse who has lost their ability to care for themselves or has even become mentally unstable, unwavering and meticulous care is naturally an expression of love. But when the situation reaches an extreme, can such treatment still be maintained? Will the selfish or darker side of human nature unconsciously surface? And can the protagonist's final actions truly be considered "love"?
Such a controversial approach, which could even be described as provoking the audience's emotions, naturally elicits a variety of opinions.

Most importantly, this film calmly raises hot social issues without ever taking a stance, allowing the audience to feel and make their own judgments.

The audience at the film festival, or rather the international audience and the jury, found it hard to imagine that a Chinese-language film would touch on the topic of euthanasia. Although it was not explicitly mentioned, it was enough to cause a huge uproar at the film festival, especially since it was in 1992.

Filmgoers and critics are fiercely debating whether it's appropriate to depict the entire process of a husband suffocating his wife with a pillow so directly, and what the point of such a portrayal is. Some see it as a work that coldly disregards the individual and life, while others see it as the most authentic expression of humanity, rather than the heartwarming scenes in perfect films where the whole family comes to the hospital ward, gathers around their loved one's bedside, and tearfully bids farewell to their loved one who is connected to a ventilator.

Now, Hou Xiaoxian uses a calm, even ruthless, aesthetic style to slowly peel away the complex face of human nature like peeling an onion. Its ugliness is as unsettling as the smell of onions. Some people will cover their faces and leave, while others will be moved to tears.

The film *Love* successfully finds common ground among opposing viewpoints on this highly controversial subject, sparking reflection on various real-world issues in its analysis of human nature, such as love, family, aging, and euthanasia.

This explains why the discussion surrounding the film "Amour" at the Venice Film Festival was far more intense, even more so than the controversy within domestic literary circles and among readers.

Who would have thought that a Chinese-language film, directly titled with such a broad word as "love," would choose to depict the final moments of two elderly people's lives—their most wretched, lonely, and helpless moments, the moments when they gradually lose their dignity and respectability?

Every little act of companionship, every sunrise and sunset, every argument and compromise throughout a lifetime, intertwined with his final journey with his wife. Love is life itself—ordinary yet cruel, beautiful yet helpless. Love led him to make the cruelest choice for both him and his wife, but also the best choice.

This choice is really impactful.

Foreign moviegoers were truly stirred by the film "Amour," and various discussions ensued.

Such discussions will only amplify the impact of the film "Love".

Naturally, countless media reporters would ask director Hou Xiaoxian about his thoughts on the film, and Hou Xiaoxian would unreservedly praise Lin Youcheng's screenplay as quite brilliant.

In particular, when Hou Xiaoxian received the Golden Lion Award, he also thanked Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter who did not attend the film festival, in his acceptance speech, saying that without Lin Youcheng, there would be no film "Love".

Of course, that's the truth.

But all of this is enough to prove that the film "Love," hailed as a great film by foreign audiences, is inseparable from the solid screenplay of screenwriter Lin Youcheng. Just like the opening scene, it immediately grabs the audience's attention. The film opens with the police breaking into an apartment and discovering the body of an elderly woman who has been dead for a long time. Hou Xiaoxian unusually uses a flashback technique to reveal the ending, yet leaves behind a bunch of intriguing questions: Who is she, and why was she dead in her home for so long without being discovered?

Next comes a long, fixed shot of a packed concert hall, a shot that tests the viewer's eyesight to see which character the director intends to focus on. Attentive viewers can always spot subtle clues. As the music begins, the male and female leads appear, followed by a shot of them taking a bus home. This rare shot outside their apartment hints at their past professions and subtly introduces their relationship with the musician, who reappears later in the story.

Without a doubt, this kind of shot design was written in Lin Youcheng's film script, and Hou Xiaoxian did not change these script contents. This is why Hou Xiaoxian highly recommends Lin Youcheng's film script "Love," which is truly perfect.

Film media professionals abroad are well aware that the success of a film depends on the director, actors, script, editing, and so on...

However, Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter from the East, has such a strong presence and influence that even though he hasn't appeared at overseas film festivals, discussions about him still revolve around him.

There's no way around it; the screenwriter's script is just too solid.

It's worth noting that "Amour" is also considered a strong contender for next year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, just like Paramount Pictures' "The Truman Show" was previously hailed as the Oscar winner.

Although these are just some film critics' comments, they undoubtedly demonstrate the global influence of these two films. The key point is that both films were written by the same screenwriter, which makes it impossible for a group of overseas film professionals not to frantically praise and discuss screenwriter Lin Youcheng.

Lin Youcheng wasn't particularly surprised when the news of "Love" winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival reached China.

After all, the script is excellent, and it's directed by Hou Xiaoxian. Although winning awards at film festivals is not guaranteed and depends on luck, it wouldn't be surprising if it did win an award, as it has the ability to do so.

Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to the overseas popularity and discussion surrounding the film "Love," as he was currently very busy with his children starting school.

Especially with his daughter Lin Zhaoxi going to university, although it's in Beijing, she'll be living on campus, so naturally there are some things to prepare.

Although Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to the Venice Film Festival's award list, others did.

After receiving the award, Hou Xiaoxian specially returned to the mainland with Zhang Guoshi and went to Xinghua Hutong in Beijing.

Hou Xiaoxian served as the producer of Zhang Yimou's film "Raise the Red Lantern". Although there is competition between them at the Venice Film Festival, it will not affect their relationship at all.

“Youcheng, you don’t know, at the Venice Film Festival, all the reporters were chasing after me asking about you, the screenwriter, and they all wanted to interview you.”

"I really have to thank you, the screenwriter, for winning the Golden Lion this time."

Upon hearing Hou Xiaoxian's words, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your filming is still the best."

Zhang Guoshi looked at Lin Youcheng with admiration. Although he thought his own film "The Story of Qiu Ju" was very well made, he was also quite impressed with Hou Xiaoxian's "Love".

He knew very well why Hou Xiaoxian's "Love" won the Golden Lion Award. It was also because this story resonated more with Western filmmakers. Even when all external conditions were optimal, the fragility of life could not be eliminated. The whole film was a lie of modern civilization. The rationality, art, and emotion that we are so proud of are useless in the face of aging and disease.

Beneath the extremely restrained and subtle camera work lies a brutal yet intense emotion. While watching the film, he himself felt his heart pounding, almost unable to breathe. He was acutely aware of this ultimate question, often obscured by life, and was deeply moved.

Zhang Guoshi was very thin. What struck him was when his husband covered his wife's face with a pillow. He was deeply moved when he noticed the camera focusing on his husband's wedding ring. He was lying face down on the bed, so his expression was not visible and he did not make any other movements. Only the wedding ring that had been with him for decades told a story.

At that time, Zhang Guoshi was initially shocked, but in the end he felt pleasantly surprised. He even asked Hou Xiaoxian privately why he filmed it this way. Hou Xiaoxian told him that he had talked to Lin Youcheng about this scene, and it was Lin Youcheng who gave him the idea.

"Yo-sung, I hope we'll have the opportunity to collaborate sometime!"

Director Cheung had previously wanted to direct Lin Youcheng's film "Atonement," but unfortunately missed the opportunity. Now, Director Cheung is even more eager to collaborate with Lin Youcheng.

Lin Youcheng smiled. He knew that because of his actions, Zhang Guoshi had missed out on the Golden Lion Award this time. He smiled knowingly and said, "Of course we should cooperate when the opportunity arises."

In fact, nowadays, whether in China or abroad, there are undoubtedly many filmmakers who want to get to know Lin Youcheng and collaborate with him. There's no way around it, given how incredibly talented Lin Youcheng is as a screenwriting master.

The commercially successful film *Everyday*, a romantic comedy brimming with imagination, not only achieved phenomenal box office success but also received an Oscar nomination for Best Publicity Screenplay. The art film *Amour*, a thought-provoking work confronting humanity and death, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Even *The Truman Show*, considered a commercial film, deeply resonated with audiences due to its exploration of etiquette, striking a chord with the essence of human nature. Other notable films include *Atonement*, *The Time Traveler's Wife*, and *The Devotion of Suspect X*.

All of this undoubtedly elevates Lin Youcheng's status as an Eastern screenwriter to a new level, making him a truly renowned screenwriting master in the global film industry. Many international directors are now eager to collaborate with Lin Youcheng.

Whether in the East or the West, screenwriter Lin Youcheng exists like the sun, shining brightly on both sides.

(End of this chapter)