A widower's entertainment

Chapter 390 [Under the Times] (Please Subscribe)
Hou Xiaoxian's film "Love" won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. Foreign filmmakers undoubtedly highly recognize Hou Xiaoxian's directorial skills, but they also greatly admire the film's screenwriter, Lin Youcheng.

Even among those working behind the scenes of the film, Lin Youcheng, an Eastern screenwriter, enjoys considerable status and renown in the international film industry.

Of course, this level of fame is different from that of a celebrity actor on screen, where the audience is familiar with them. However, because Lin Youcheng is not an ordinary screenwriter, but also a well-known writer, his novel "The Time Traveler's Wife" won the Hugo Award for science fiction, and his novels such as "The Devotion of Suspect X," "Atonement," "The Lake House," and "Love Letter" have been published overseas, which naturally makes Lin Youcheng's identity as a writer and screenwriter more widely known.

Overseas readers and film enthusiasts will naturally be familiar with Lin Youcheng, an Eastern author and screenwriter.

It's fair to say that many foreign media outlets and magazines now want to interview Lin Youcheng. For example, Time magazine is particularly keen to invite this writer and screenwriter to appear on its cover. Keep in mind that at that time, very few Chinese celebrities and actors could grace the cover of Time magazine. Pan Hong, for instance, only appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1988 after starring in Xie Jin's film "The Last Aristocrat," becoming the first Chinese actor to do so at the time.

If it's this difficult for celebrity actors, imagine how difficult it must be for literary writers.

But Lin Youcheng now has such status and strength.

Because Lin Youcheng's novels were translated and published overseas in cooperation with Time Publishing Company, he naturally received an invitation from Time Magazine.

Bowers of Time Publishing also contacted Lin Youcheng and said that Lin Youcheng did not need to go to the United States. Time magazine would come to Beijing to interview Lin Youcheng.

In fact, Lin Youcheng had been interviewed by domestic magazines and media before, and he did not refuse the invitation from Time magazine.

Undoubtedly, when a group of foreign magazine interview teams appeared in the hutongs and alleys of Beijing, it naturally caused quite a stir and attracted everyone's attention. However, since everyone knew that the person being interviewed was the famous writer Lin Youcheng from the courtyard house in Xinghua Hutong, it was not surprising.

After all, compared to people abroad who know Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter from the East, there is no doubt that Lin Youcheng is more well-known in China, especially in the Xinghua Hutong area of ​​Beijing, where he is practically a household name.

The old Beijing residents in the hutongs all know that a great writer, a very famous writer, moved into that big courtyard house in their hutong a few years ago. The people in the neighborhood are quite aware of this and are quite proud of it, after all, they know the great writer.

Lin Youcheng didn't particularly care that a reporter from Time magazine was coming to interview him. Of course, he knew that Time magazine was a truly well-known magazine in the world, based in the United States but with a global perspective. In addition to news, it also had Person of the Year.

In truth, Time magazine had long been disconnected from China, only beginning to change its stance a few years before Luce's death, especially after the establishment of diplomatic relations, when its coverage of China became more comprehensive and objective. However, in its early days, Time's coverage of China focused more on higher-level issues. As China's reform and opening up deepened and the country began to play an indispensable role on the world economic stage, Time correspondingly increased its coverage of China, broadening its scope to introduce various aspects of China's culture, sports, education, and economy to the world. The interview with Lin Youcheng was naturally conducted by Time Asia.

Although it is the Asian version, there is no doubt that the author and screenwriter, Lin Youcheng, is quite well-known in the United States and around the world.

The reason Time magazine invited Lin Youcheng again this time is because the movie "Love" won the Golden Lion Award, and the previous "The Truman Show" was really too crazy. It can be said that Time magazine has wanted to interview Lin Youcheng for a long time. It is worth noting that Lin Youcheng, this Eastern author, also won the Hugo Award for science fiction literature with "The Time Traveler's Wife", and the movie was even adapted into a film by a Hollywood company.

All of this allowed Time magazine to learn more about Lin Youcheng, a rather mysterious writer and screenwriter who had never been to Hollywood but was fortunate enough to be popular in Hollywood and even globally.

The entire interview went very smoothly. Although Lin Youcheng had learned English, there was still a translator to translate for him, and the atmosphere of the interview and communication was very relaxed.

"Lin, thank you for accepting this interview."

The reporter who interviewed Lin Youcheng was named Yas. He had read many of Lin Youcheng's works and liked his novels and movies very much. The interview questions were actually quite familiar, such as asking him about his creative process and his views on Hollywood movies.

Lin Youcheng naturally shared his own views as well. He knew that some of the questions were very official and required official questioning. As for Yas's gratitude, he simply smiled and shook his head, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."

Yas really liked the author Lin Youcheng, especially when he heard that Lin Youcheng could sometimes communicate with them in English. He was even happier and said, "Lin, your English is very good. Why don't you go to America? Hollywood would be more suitable for you."

Hearing Yass bring up the issue again, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh, because Yass had asked this question during the interview earlier. He shook his head and said, "I really like it here, and even if I don't go to Hollywood, we can still collaborate, right?"

Clearly, this is the truth from Lin Youcheng.

Just like after the film "Love" was screened at the Venice Film Festival, overseas film companies witnessed the talent of screenwriter Lin Youcheng. Naturally, there were still directors and film companies in Hollywood who wanted to work with Lin Youcheng. It should be said that it's not just Hollywood; there are also many directors in Asia who want to work with Lin Youcheng. For example, Zhang Guoshi mentioned to him that Tokuma Shoten in Japan wanted to work with him.

It's worth noting that the film "Ju Dou" by Zhang Yimou was financed by Tokuma Shoten from Japan.

Lin Youcheng was already a well-known and popular author in Japan because of his novel "The Devotion of Suspect X." Now, with film scripts like "Love," "The Truman Show," "Every Day," and "Atonement" available, many Japanese directors and film companies naturally wanted to collaborate with him. When Yas heard Lin Youcheng's words, he was merely extending another invitation. He could sense that Lin Youcheng genuinely had no interest in Hollywood or any curiosity about the United States; he seemed quite confident in his own country, exuding a confidence rarely seen in people of Eastern descent during the interview.

If a writer like Lin Youcheng were to appear on the cover of Time magazine in the future, it might cause a huge stir online. However, it is clear that this is the world of 1992. In China, the only reason people think of Lin Youcheng as a writer who has been featured in Time magazine is that he is quite amazing, but that's all. Lin Youcheng is amazing because he is amazing, not because he appeared in Time magazine.

It could even be said that whether or not Lin Youcheng appears in the American magazine "Time" will not affect his status and influence.

Lin Youcheng himself didn't pay much attention to the Time magazine interview.

Although he didn't care, there was still a lot of discussion in literary and film circles. After all, Lin Youcheng was the first domestic writer and screenwriter to be featured in Time magazine. Even directors had never been featured in Time magazine before, which was enough to show how amazing Lin Youcheng was as a writer and screenwriter.

Of course, the literary and film circles already knew how amazing Lin Youcheng was when he first sold the copyright of his script to a Hollywood company for millions of dollars. It was truly the first time that a domestic author had sold a film script directly to Hollywood like Lin Youcheng. This made many literary workers in the literary circle even more envious.

The generous foreign exchange fees were truly tempting, but none of them had the talent of Lin Youcheng. His short story "Love" was adapted into a film by Taiwanese director Hou Xiaoxian and won the Golden Lion Award. Furthermore, the same script was sold to both Hollywood and Hong Kong companies simultaneously, which truly made many writers and screenwriters envious.

Of course, some writers and screenwriters in mainland China also found another door opened by Lin Youcheng writing scripts for film companies in Hong Kong, allowing them to indirectly seek cooperation with film and television companies in Hong Kong. However, they also knew very well that even so, it was quite rare for a story written by Lin Youcheng to be appreciated by all three regions of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

The children in the family had naturally heard that foreign journalists had come to interview their father. Although they knew that their father's stories had been made into movies abroad, the fact that foreign journalists were interviewing them still made them feel a bit novel.

Lin Zhaomei looked at Lin Youcheng and asked curiously, "Dad, why did the foreign reporters interview you this time?"

"Because the stories my dad wrote were made into movies that were very popular abroad and even won awards."

Lin Youcheng patted Lin Zhaomei on the shoulder with a smile and said, "And it's not just one story."

It was precisely because Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter from the East, had several successful works that caused a great stir that Time magazine made a special trip to interview him. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for the magazine to focus its attention on the screenwriter behind the film based on just one movie.

Lin Zhaomei then asked, "Dad, why can't we see the movie you wrote?"

"Because it hasn't been released in China yet, it will have a chance to be released later."

"when?"

When Lin Zhaoqing asked again when, Lin Youcheng thought for a moment. To be honest, American films were among the earliest foreign films to enter the Chinese market. As early as 1897, American films were screened in Shanghai. Later, after the outbreak of war, the European film industry declined, while American films seized market share worldwide, becoming the most numerous foreign films shown in Chinese cinemas at the time, and exerting a significant influence on various aspects of China during the Republic of China era.

However, it wasn't until October 1994 that China Film Group began importing a series of American blockbuster films, marking a new stage of opening up for the mainland film market. Just a few years earlier, there were very few American films released in mainland China each year. Even if they weren't Hollywood blockbusters, most of them still attracted a lot of enthusiasm from the audience. For example, Breakdance, which led the disco craze in the 1980s, was reportedly imported at an average price of $20,000 per film to buy out the copyright.

Following this, China Film Group Corporation was responsible for simultaneously importing American blockbusters and sharing revenue with Hollywood production companies based on domestic box office figures, thus bringing a breath of fresh air to the then stagnant film industry. However, for eight years from 1994 to 2001, the box office top spots were consistently dominated by imported Hollywood blockbusters, with the sole exception of the patriotic film "Life and Death Choice" in 2000. It wasn't until 2002, when the domestic blockbuster "Hero" became the highest-grossing film of the year, that domestic film production fully recovered, and the industry ushered in a new wave of development.

Lin Youcheng thought about the development of domestic films and understood that there was still a long way to go. With this thought in mind, he turned to look at Lin Zhaomei and said, "In two years, we will be able to see them in China."

Lin Youcheng felt that it might not be necessary to wait two years. After all, the films he collaborated on with Hollywood could be imported now. It just depended on whether the import terms could be negotiated. Of course, even if they couldn't be negotiated, when Hollywood commercial films were released later, domestic audiences should be able to see the film scripts he wrote. After all, they were the works of domestic screenwriters, so there was no shortage of a few Hollywood films to import.

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Lin Zhaomei frowned slightly and said, "We still have to wait that long?"

Lin Youcheng smiled. Under the tide of the times, it wouldn't be until 2002 that a domestic film truly won the annual box office crown—that was the real long time…

Thinking about this, Lin Youcheng's gaze couldn't help but fall on his daughter again. By 2002, Lin Zhaoxi should have been out of college for three years. If she really became a director in the future, could she prevent Hollywood blockbusters from dominating the domestic box office?
Could his daughter also become the highest-grossing female director in China?

Back then, they might have been featured in Time magazine, becoming the first director in China to be featured in Time magazine, and both father and daughter were featured in Time magazine.
The thought only flashed through Lin Youcheng's mind for a moment. Looking at Lin Zhaoxi, he couldn't help but laugh, realizing that he had been thinking too far ahead.

(End of this chapter)