A widower's entertainment

Chapter 414 [Fire and Deathly Silence] (Please Subscribe)
Whether it's Lin Youcheng being invited to serve as a jury member for the main competition at the Venice Film Festival, or Chen Aige being invited to serve as a jury member, it's because both of them are recognized in the international film industry, and it's because their films have been recognized.

It can be said that 1993 was a truly rare year in which Chinese-language film festivals shone brightly on the international film scene.

Not only did Chen Aige's "Farewell My Concubine" win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, but Xie Fei's "Woman Sesame Oil Maker" and Li An's "The Wedding Banquet" both won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. That's right, it's rare for the Berlin Film Festival to award the Golden Bear to two Chinese-language films at the same time. Although there were no Chinese-language films at the Venice Film Festival in September, it's worth remembering that at the beginning of the year, Lin Youcheng, an Eastern screenwriter, made history by winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

The film "The Truman Show," written by Lin Youcheng, won Best Picture, an award for Chinese-language filmmakers. It can be said that without Lin Youcheng as screenwriter, there would be no "The Truman Show."

This is why mainland filmmakers are so excited, and why Li Shaohong is so eager for her film "The Reader" to win awards next year.

It was around this time that Lin Youcheng's previous collaboration with Paramount Pictures, "The Hunt," was released. While this art-house film didn't perform as well at the box office as "The Truman Show," it was still quite good, even exciting Paramount Pictures, as it topped the box office charts in its opening week. Not to mention, the film's production cost was much lower.

More importantly, the film has received excellent reviews, with audiences and media alike giving "The Hunt" very high praise.

It could even be described as astonishing!

Indeed, Lin Youcheng, an Eastern screenwriter, has once again collaborated with Paramount Pictures on "The Hunt," which has truly surprised many Hollywood filmmakers.

Although there were rumors that Lin Youcheng had written an excellent script for Paramount Pictures, and that male actors wanted to take on the roles in the script, it wasn't until the movie was actually released that audiences and film critics truly realized just how amazing the script written by Lin Youcheng, the Eastern screenwriter, was.

The Guardian gave the film high praise, giving it 4 stars and 4 stars respectively. One film critic wrote: "Although The Hunt tells a difficult story, the film is exceptionally wonderful and leaves a lasting impression."

The Hollywood Reporter commented: "Daniel Day-Lewis's performance is very precise and powerful, combined with the film's storytelling, delivering another Oscar-worthy performance."

The Los Angeles Times wrote: "Another amazing story from an Eastern screenwriter after The Truman Show, and a big reason why this film is so good is Daniel Day-Lewis's stunning performance."

Variety stated, "Compared to The Truman Show, The Hunt is more realistic."

……

Just as these media outlets and newspapers are praising the film "The Hunt," praising "The Hunt" undoubtedly also affirms Daniel Day-Lewis's performance.

Paramount Pictures clearly values ​​"The Hunt" highly, and specifically cast Daniel Day-Lewis in the film.

It's worth noting that Daniel Day-Lewis is a universally recognized acting talent. Back in 1990, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the biographical film "My Left Foot." He is undoubtedly a powerful actor, and his performance in "The Hunt" is another Oscar-worthy performance.

Of course, besides Daniel Day-Lewis's undeniable performance, audiences and film critics will also be discussing and debating the story of "The Hunt" written by Lin Youcheng. Clearly, they really didn't expect that Lin Youcheng, this highly imaginative Eastern screenwriter, would write such a realistic, even true, film story this time.

It's worth noting that Lin Youcheng's previous works in Hollywood, besides "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "The Lake House," were mostly imaginative stories like "Every Day" and "The Truman Show." Of course, this doesn't mean that all of Lin Youcheng's scripts are imaginative stories; after all, audiences in the United States have also seen the films "Atonement" and "Love" written by Lin Youcheng.

Although they didn't win any awards, both "Atonement" and "Amour" were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Clearly, they hadn't anticipated that Lin Youcheng's collaboration with Paramount Pictures on "The Hunt" would also be based on such a realistic story, even a suffocating one: a daycare teacher is wrongly accused by the entire community of a crime because of a child's retaliatory lie. As the rumors spread, they were amplified to an extreme degree, and everyone became convinced of his guilt. Friends turned away, neighbors attacked him, supermarkets refused to hire him—he became the target of everyone's hostility.

Compared to China, it's clear that the US understands much better what social death means, or why the film is called "The Hunt," because they know exactly how "witch hunts" happen in modern society: the truth is insignificant; the group only needs a target. For audiences and critics, the most disturbing aspect of "The Hunt" isn't that someone lied, but that everyone eagerly believed the lie. Believing the lie unites them, giving them a false sense of justice. This is also true in reality: when anxiety has nowhere to go, people need an outlet to vent all their unease and anger. Thus, one person becomes the target of public condemnation.

This story is incredibly realistic and extremely depressing. Moviegoers were completely shocked and shocked by the story of "The Hunt," because everything the protagonist faced was truly terrifying and desperate.

Undoubtedly, the United States is now a more modernized country, and people are well aware of what rumors mean. This film is also extremely profound, which has led many media outlets to analyze and discuss its serious themes.

What's more important for film critics and Hollywood studios to discuss and pay attention to is that the realistic story written by Lin Youcheng, an Eastern screenwriter, is very much in line with Hollywood, and some of the stories are actually similar. It's no wonder that Paramount Pictures bought the script for "The Hunt".

The huge success of "The Hunt" has once again shocked Hollywood filmmakers.

Lin Youcheng, this screenwriter from the East, writes truly amazing scripts!

That's right, it's amazing!
Hollywood professionals are well aware that Daniel Day-Lewis has already secured a Best Actor nomination at next year's Oscars based on his performance in "The Hunt." While winning a second Oscar for Best Actor is difficult, given his performance in the film, it's not entirely impossible for him to achieve it.

Furthermore, the film *The Hunt* will definitely be featured at next year's Oscars, and screenwriter Lin Youcheng, from the East, may be nominated again for Best Original Screenplay. Crucially, if Lin Youcheng is nominated again, it will be his third consecutive Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His first nomination was for *Everyday*, and his second was for *The Truman Show*, which won the award. If *The Hunt* is nominated again, it would be truly incredible.

Of course, in the eyes of many Hollywood media outlets, newspapers, and film critics, the story of "The Hunt" absolutely deserves an Oscar for an original screenplay.

For American audiences and Hollywood filmmakers, the story of *The Hunt* carries profound meaning. Like the film's ending, where the protagonist is nominally exonerated, the shadow of being watched and suspected lingers forever. Witch hunts don't simply disappear when the truth comes out. Even innocent victims can never go back to the way things were. Reality is similar.

This is arguably why the film *The Hunt* has generated such a strong reaction. It's not a film about isolated incidents, but rather a mirror. It reflects how public opinion, driven by authoritative pronouncements, can quickly descend into fanaticism, and how individuals can be silenced in the face of collective anger. Even more frightening is that this process doesn't require malice, only conformity.

This, to some extent, reflects Hollywood's correct approach to governance and is something the real world needs to reflect upon: have we become accustomed to this rhythm, where someone is pushed out as prey, and the group confidently wields its moral spear? Media professionals will naturally discuss Lin Youcheng's novel, *The Hunt*, because they all know this story is not far removed from their lives; at some unexpected moment, anyone could become the target of a collective hunt.

This is also the most terrifying aspect of Lin Youcheng's story "The Hunt"!
This low-budget film has really stirred up a lot of people in the film industry, and there are so many things to discuss about it.

Such discussions continued unabated, with various voices appearing in American media and newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. They were all discussing how Lin Youcheng, this incredible Eastern screenwriter, had once again brought forth the astonishing script, "The Hunt."

Lin Youcheng, an Eastern screenwriter, was already quite well-known in Hollywood. His previous Oscar win and "The Truman Show" made his name resound throughout Hollywood, attracting the attention of all film companies. Now, after "The Truman Show," he has brought us another story like "The Hunt," which is sure to make Hollywood companies and directors tremble with fear.

Lin Youcheng, this screenwriter from the East, is as strong as ever!

Lin Youcheng's scripts are as awesome as ever!
Undoubtedly, Universal Pictures, which has collaborated with Lin Youcheng on two films, is very happy. Although the success of the film "The Hunt" has nothing to do with them, they also have two other films in hand. In their opinion, although "The Hunt" is quite wonderful, the scripts "Seaside City" and "Father and Son" are by no means inferior.

Compared to film companies that have successfully collaborated with Lin Youcheng, other Hollywood film companies naturally also very much hope to collaborate with Lin Youcheng and are eager to obtain scripts from this amazing Eastern screenwriter.

The popularity and high level of discussion surrounding "The Hunt" overseas have kept quiet in China, but those truly within the industry naturally pay attention to foreign films, especially since this popular movie is related to Lin Youcheng, which naturally draws their attention.

Of course, within the mainland film industry, this seems to be taken for granted. Lin Youcheng's film script, "The Hunt," had previously been published as a novel in China, and they were aware of just how amazing the story of "The Hunt" truly was.

Now that Hollywood has made movies about Lin Youcheng's story and they're popular, it's no surprise that it's expected.

It's no surprise that Lin Youcheng's films are incredibly popular in the arts today. It's fair to say that the entire film and television literature scene is booming, much like Lin Youcheng's film "The Hunt." However, serious literature is becoming increasingly quiet.

Even more surprisingly, poetry in literature has truly fallen silent, and at this time, some rather astonishing news has emerged.

That is, the genius poet used an axe to chop his wife down in a pool of blood, and then hanged himself from a tree by the door.

Undoubtedly, this news has also caused a considerable shock to the literary and poetry circles, because it is truly astonishing.

Cha Haisheng already had dealings with Lin Youcheng and they discussed the current state of poetry, but he was now also shocked by the news of that genius poet.

Cha Haisheng was utterly shocked, not knowing why this had happened. He looked at Lin Youcheng and asked, "Could Poetry be dead too?"

When Lin Youcheng heard Cha Haisheng ask this question, he shook his head and said, "Of course not, aren't you poets still writing poetry?"

"But nobody reads it anymore...and fewer people are writing it."

Lin Youcheng naturally understood what Cha Haisheng meant by that, and said, "But you're still writing!"

Lin Youcheng was well aware that the tide of the times was surging forward. Whether it was the popular poetry and literature of the past or the popular film and television dramas of today, everything was a tide under the passage of time, surging forward and not stopping for anyone.

The booming film industry of 1993, and the silence of poetry and literature, will all come to an end, and then we will move on.

Lin Youcheng was also well aware that, just as film and television dramas, whether movies or TV series, would be impacted by short dramas, or rather, they would fade into obscurity, but whether they were popular or stagnant, time was always moving forward.

(End of this chapter)