A widower's entertainment

Chapter 425 [Master Lin's Best Actress and Best Actor] (Please Subscribe)
Li Shaohong's film "The Reader" ultimately failed to win the Golden Bear, the highest award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The Best Film award was still given to "In the Name of the Father." However, it is clear that "The Reader" received high praise both at the festival and overseas, and even won the Best Actress award at the Berlin International Film Festival, which is quite remarkable.

After that, some inside stories about film festival judges were revealed. Among them, some judges supported "The Reader", while the jury chairman was more supportive of "In the Name of the Father" for the Golden Bear. Regardless of how the awards were contested, the final result has been settled.

Li Shaohong knew in her heart that winning awards was a matter of luck, and that winning the Best Actress award was already a great achievement, even though she didn't win the Golden Bear.

It can be said that the news of Pan Hong winning the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival has sparked heated discussions among many people in the film industry, and naturally, there will also be media reports.

Siqin Gaowa, who was filming in Northeast China, was undoubtedly quite envious when she heard that Pan Hong had won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival. Although her film "Woman Sesame Oil Maker" won the Golden Bear last year, which is definitely a major award, she still did not win an acting award. Now that Pan Hong has become the Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival, she is truly envious.

In fact, Siqin Gaowa really hoped to play the role of Yang Ju in "The Reader". After all, she had read Lin Youcheng's novel and knew how good the story was. It's just a pity that the movie didn't give her the opportunity and instead chose Pan Hong.

This is actually why Siqin Gaowa accepted the role in "Crossing the Guandong"—firstly, because the script was excellent, and secondly, because she wanted to work with Lin Youcheng.

After all, this collaboration will allow me to get to know screenwriter Lin Youcheng better, and there might be opportunities to work together again in the future. After all, it was because Pan Hong had worked with Lin Youcheng on "The Message" that Lin Youcheng recommended her for the role in "The Reader".

Compared to Siqin Gaowa's inner envy, some other young actors expressed their envy more directly and openly.

"That's really amazing. Pan Hong won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival, becoming the first Chinese actress to win the award."

Jiang Wenli was filled with envy and said, "I really envy her."

Upon hearing Jiang Wenli's words, Yu Feihong, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but say, "Zhang Manyu from Hong Kong has already won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award, but Pan Hong is also quite remarkable this time."

"Yes, she's a Best Actress winner at one of the three major European film festivals!"

Jiang Wenli's eyes were full of envy as she said, "I don't even dare to dream of winning Best Actress at the three major film festivals. I would be content if I could win the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress in China."

Since they were all young people who had a passion for acting, they didn't find Jiang Wenli's words too bold.

Chen Jianbin stated directly, "The story of 'The Reader' is very exciting, and the character Yang Ju requires a lot of acting skills. If we can get good scripts and good roles in the future, we will definitely be able to perform well."

People like He Bing and Yu Feihong would naturally not say such things, since it's best to keep these thoughts to themselves and not worry about being laughed at if they were spoken out.

When Yu Feihong was nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Rooster Awards for her role in "If Love Has a Destiny", she did wonder if she would win. However, it was clearly just a thought and nothing like that happened.

Nowadays, if any actor in China wins an acting award at one of the three major film festivals, it's definitely newsworthy.

Although Pan Hong had previously won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress, it was clearly this Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival that truly brought her international fame.

It wasn't just the actors in the "Crossing the Guandong" crew who discussed and envied Pan Hong; Liu Xiaoqing, who was previously considered for a role in "The Reader," also felt somewhat envious of her.

To be honest, Liu Xiaoqing still remembered Lin Youcheng's "The Message" and had considered casting Pan Hong as Gu Xiaomeng. At that time, she was quite resentful. Fortunately, she played the role of Gu Xiaomeng well and won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress. However, now that Pan Hong has won the Berlin Film Festival's Best Actress award for her role as Yang Ju in "The Reader," she still feels somewhat bitter.

Although she has started doing business and is not taking on any acting roles, she was indeed a potential candidate to play the role of Yang Ju in "The Reader".

At that time, Lin Youcheng promised to give the script for "The Reader" to Jiang Wen. If Jiang Wen were to make this movie, she also said that she could play the role of Yang Ju. However, after Li Shaohong visited him repeatedly, Jiang Wen gave the script to Li Shaohong for filming, and the role of Yang Ju was played by Pan Hong.

Liu Xiaoqing didn't think much of it at first, but now she's a little envious. Although she has won many film awards in China, and some awards more than once, she has never won the Best Actress award at the three major European film festivals.

Jiang Wen was obviously aware of this as well, and naturally he talked about it with Liu Xiaoqing, saying, "I wish I had been the one to film 'The Reader' back then."

Liu Xiaoqing naturally knew this was extremely difficult. At that time, Jiang Wen was still filming "In the Heat of the Sun," and it wouldn't be possible to film "The Reader" until after "In the Heat of the Sun" was finished. Although Liu Xiaoqing was somewhat concerned, she hadn't filmed in a long time and had no plans to film at the moment. She smiled and said, "Don't say that. I'm not thinking about filming right now."

Jiang Wen knew that Liu Xiaoqing had no intention of acting, but he was also very clear about what an acting award at a European Film Festival meant, and even he himself cared about this award to some extent.

Of course, Jiang Wen also really hopes that his film "In the Heat of the Sun" will win a major award at the Venice Film Festival. It wouldn't be good if someone from "The Reader" won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival, while his film "In the Heat of the Sun" won no awards at all.

Jiang Wen didn't believe it; he was full of confidence in his film, "In the Heat of the Sun."

It has to be said that Pan Hong's Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival truly solidified her position in the Chinese film industry. Even Gong Li, who won Best Actress at the three major film festivals earlier than Pan Hong, still does not have the same status as Pan Hong, after all, Pan Hong is still the senior.

Upon returning to China, Pan Hong not only had interviews with reporters, but also immediately went to Xinghua Hutong to personally thank Lin Youcheng once again.

Pan Hong was well aware that without Lin Youcheng's recommendation, she might not have been able to star in the play "The Reader," and she was genuinely grateful to him. Clearly, Pan Hong was also aware that Lin Youcheng had just welcomed a daughter, and naturally, she brought some gifts from abroad for Lin Youcheng's children as a token of her appreciation.

"Youcheng, thank you so much for recommending me for the role in 'The Reader.' If it weren't for you, I would never have won this Best Actress award."

Although Pan Hong knew that Li Shaohong was the director of "The Reader," she also knew that it was because of Lin Youcheng's recommendation that Li Shaohong considered casting her in the role.

More importantly, Pan Hong also knew that Xu Feng had spoken up for her on the side of the judges regarding her winning the Best Actress award, which was due to the relationship between Lin Youcheng and Xu Feng. She was well aware of all of this.

Lin Youcheng was in the courtyard, gently rocking Lin Zhaoyuan who was sleeping in the cradle, while chatting and laughing with Pan Hong, saying, "You should thank yourself for your good acting."

Pan Hong smiled when she heard Lin Youcheng's words. Although she knew that winning the Best Actress award was inseparable from her performance, opportunity was more important. All she could do was seize the opportunity when it came.

In Lin Youcheng's opinion, Pan Hong is undoubtedly one of the most talented actresses in China today, arguably the best among them. It's just a pity that she hasn't had a particularly good opportunity to win awards at the three major film festivals.

This is actually because most of the top directors in China have their own actresses they work with, so many actresses don't have suitable opportunities. After all, some actresses' acting skills in certain films are really no less than those of actresses who have won awards at the three major film festivals or Oscars.

Yan Bingyan's performance in the movie "A Thousand Arrows Piercing the Heart" was absolutely Oscar-worthy. However, it is clear that actresses like her rarely have the opportunity to work with great directors. Even the movie "A Thousand Arrows Piercing the Heart" was not initially intended for her. The first two actresses considered for the lead roles were Xu Fan and Yan Ni. In the end, Yan Bingyan was chosen as the lead actress due to scheduling conflicts.

Lin Youcheng felt that Pan Hong was now able to win a Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival, and no matter what happened in the future, she should not be reduced to playing mother-in-law roles in TV dramas.

In Lin Youcheng's view, in the future, those actors will not only want to work with internationally renowned directors, but also with him, the screenwriter. Of course, even if Pan Hong doesn't win the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award this time, those actors will still want to work with him, after all, the depth of his works is undeniable, and frighteningly so.

After all, which screenwriter has two works nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture at the same time, especially since his script won the Oscar for Best Picture last year?

Now that the Berlin Film Festival has announced its results, many filmmakers in China are naturally eyeing the Oscars ceremony in March.

It's fair to say that domestic filmmakers are eager to see if Lin Youcheng, who has been nominated for two screenplay awards, will win another Oscar this time.

It's worth noting that Lin Youcheng already won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay last year.

It should be said that not only domestic filmmakers are waiting, but also many people in the United States are eager to know whether Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter from the East, who has been nominated for two awards, will win the screenplay award again.

Warner Bros. naturally hoped that screenwriter Lin Youcheng would attend the Oscars ceremony, but it is clear that Lin Youcheng still has no intention of attending the Oscars ceremony.

When the results of the Oscars were announced, the biggest winner was naturally the film "Schindler's List".

Compared to "The Departed" which unfortunately went home empty-handed due to its clash with "Schindler's List," "The Hunt" surprisingly won Daniel Day-Lewis an Oscar for Best Actor.

That's right, it's amazing!
Although Daniel Day-Lewis was already a strong contender, having won several Best Actor awards in previous benchmark categories, the only real contender was Tom Hanks for "Philadelphia," who had just won the Best Actor award at the Berlin Film Festival and was also considered a strong favorite.

But it's unclear how much effort the company put into public relations or how the selection process went, but Daniel Day-Lewis won his second Oscar for Best Actor for "The Hunt," following his previous film "My Left Foot." This is truly astonishing news.

Two Oscars for Best Actor!
This news is truly astonishing!

This is really too difficult!
It's worth noting that before this, only Dustin Hoffman had won two Academy Awards for Best Actor: one for Kramer vs. Kramer in 1980 and the other for Rain Man in 1989.

It's clear that winning two Oscars for Best Actor is extremely difficult!

For so long, only Dustin Hoffman has been able to do this, so you can imagine how amazing Daniel Day-Lewis's Best Actor win is this time!

A second letter!
But what no one actually knows is that Daniel Day-Lewis is the actor with the most Oscar wins in another timeline, having won three Oscars. In addition to his previous film, "My Left Foot," he will also win Oscars for "There Will Be Blood" and "Lincoln," making him the actor with the most Oscar wins in history.

Clearly, Daniel Day-Lewis was quite excited to win the Oscar for Best Actor. In his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony, he naturally thanked Lin Youcheng, a screenwriter he had never met.

There is no doubt that Daniel Day-Lewis is also very grateful to Lin Youcheng for writing the story of "The Hunt".

Clearly, in just one month, screenwriter Lin Youcheng's films have produced a Berlin Film Festival Best Actress winner and a two-time Oscar Best Actor winner. These two astonishing achievements have naturally boosted Lin Youcheng's global influence once again.

Which actor wouldn't want to work with such a script and role? Who wouldn't want to be the next Best Actor or Best Actress in the work of Lin Youcheng, the internationally renowned screenwriter?

(End of this chapter)