A widower's entertainment

Beijing, Yenching Film Academy.

There is no doubt that the entire film academy was in an uproar over Lin Zhaomei winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Everyone was discussing this matter enthusiastically because it was something to be proud of and worth discussing, especially since Lin Zhaomei was a student at the film academy, and winning the Palme d'Or was also an honor for the film academy.

"Too good!"

"That's absolutely amazing!"

"Yeah! That's amazing! He won the Palme d'Or before even graduating! Incredible!"

"She's probably the most outstanding female director in China. It seems like no other female director has ever won the top prize at one of the three major film festivals in China."

"Yes, she really is a genius. I heard that Cannes is constantly reporting on this, just because she made history. She is truly the pride of our film academy!"

"That's right, she is our pride."

Lu Chuan wanted to say something more, but all he could hear were Lin Zhaomei's impressive words. He wanted to say that Lin Zhaomei relied on her father, Lin Youcheng, but he also knew very well that winning the Palme d'Or was not something that could be achieved by relying on her father; it required that the movie be truly well-made.

It's important to know that Lin Youcheng is not a director; he has never directed a film, he only writes screenplays.

The film "Our Millionaire" was directed by Lin Zhaomei herself, and it is this film that she directed that won the Palme d'Or, the highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

It's worth noting that there are only three Palme d'Or awards for Chinese-language films: one for Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Devotion of Suspect X" from Taiwan, another for Chen Ai-ge's "Farewell My Concubine," and now 21-year-old director Lin Zhaomei has brought a Palme d'Or back to China. This is truly an amazing achievement!
It's fair to say that not only the Yenching Film Academy was abuzz with excitement, but the entire domestic film industry was in an uproar.

"Winning the Palme d'Or at just 21 years old? That's really amazing!"

"Who says it isn't?"

Lu Chuan felt very jealous as he listened to these words, but he could only keep his jealousy to himself, because from the moment Lin Zhaomei won the Palme d'Or, he was no longer in a position to say anything.

Indeed, when Lam Siu-mei was filming the feature film "Our Millionaire" and it was nominated for the Cannes Film Festival, there were many rumors that Lam Siu-mei relied on her father. This was also a common perception in the industry.

However, this movie has now completely proven to Lin Zhaomei that although she relied on her father, she also has real talent and is a true genius.

With just this one Palme d'Or, she can be considered the first female director in China to achieve this.

Li Shaohong, also a female director, had mixed feelings. On one hand, she was happy for Lin Zhaomei and for Chinese-language cinema, but on the other hand, she was envious. She had also competed in the three major film festivals, but hadn't won the top prize. Her film "The Reader" won the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival, which is also her representative work. But now, Lin Zhaomei has started making TV dramas...

This left Li Shaohong feeling somewhat uneasy.

Li Xiaowan undoubtedly knew Li Shaohong's thoughts. She knew that Li Shaohong was filming TV series so that she could make movies. At this moment, all she could say to Li Shaohong was, "Shaohong, you can still make movies in the future."

Li Shaohong smiled. She knew that although she could make movies, it would be very difficult to win the top prize at the three major film festivals.

"Zhao Mei is so lucky!"

That's the truth. Li Shaohong is well aware that winning awards at the three major European film festivals depends on luck and whether the jury in the main competition will choose or like a particular film. After all, the jury's decisions are ultimately based on the judges' preferences.

Li Shaohong was also envious, saying, "Although I'm happy for her, I don't know if I'll ever have such an opportunity again."

Li Xiaowan didn't know what to say either, since no one can predict what will happen when it comes to awards. She smiled and said, "Anyway, you've won an award at the film festival."

Li Shaohong smiled. She had won awards before, but they were not the highest awards at the three major film festivals.

She doesn't even know if she can still get into the three major film festivals if she gets used to filming TV series and keeps doing it. After all, the rhythm of TV series is different from that of movies. Although she tries her best to use cinematic language when filming TV series, they are still different in the end.

There will be different opinions within the industry, but most people congratulate and envy Lin Zhaomei, and some envy the actress herself.

Jiang Shan's classmate, Chen Xiaoyi, said with great envy, "I'm so envious of Jiang Shan. Although she's not the female lead in the movie, the movie she starred in won the Palme d'Or. That's really amazing."

"Yes!"

He Bing had also worked with Lin Youcheng on "Crossing the Guandong" and knew Lin Zhaomei. It was a pity that he was not in the movie "Our Millionaire". He said with regret, "I don't know what kind of movie it is that can win the Palme d'Or. When I saw director Lin Zhaomei before, she was still in school."

She is still in school.

Chen Xiaoyi smiled and said, "This is also a history for the film academy. A student won the Palme d'Or while still in school. It's really amazing. I must go see the movie when it is released."

"Sure!"

"I had heard in the industry before that the script written by Mr. Lin Youcheng was really amazing, and many directors wanted to film it. However, Mr. Lin Youcheng gave the script to Lin Zhaomei. Now that it has won the Palme d'Or, the script must be extraordinary. I must go to the cinema to see it."

"I don't know if this movie will be able to be shown in theaters. It might be as difficult as 'Farewell My Concubine'."

……

This matter is being discussed within domestic circles, and it has also been reported in news newspapers as a major news story.

After returning to China, she was constantly in the news and interviews, with everyone praising Lin Zhaomei's abilities.

Of course, Lin Zhaomei was truly amazing, after all, she made history. "Sister, you are really incredible!"

Lin Zhaole had no idea what the Palme d'Or was, but he knew that many reporters were coming to his house to interview Lin Zhaomei, which meant that his sister had won a very big prize.

Hearing Lin Zhaole's words, Lin Zhaomei smiled and said, "Study hard, and you'll win awards in the future too."

Because of the constant interviews, Lin Zhaomei has been approached by media reporters.

However, she and her father, Lin Youcheng, both knew that the most important thing right now was for the film to be released in China, which depended on how the authorities would review it.

In truth, while the movie "Our Millionaire" has its dark side, it also has a bright and romantic ending, which can be said to be a happy ending in a way.

However, opinions on this film are divided.

On one hand, the film won awards, and its content involved real-life strange phenomena and dark mines. However, these realities were just news reports that had appeared in newspapers. The film script had also been reviewed beforehand, but the script intentionally downplayed these two issues.

The issue of Bai Xuemei's alleged sale can be considered to have a good outcome, since the protagonist helped her. As for the dark mine, it was indeed too dark, but it was a real case, just dramaticized, which meant that the protagonist survived. In a way, this was a kind of double entendre.

After all, in real life, people won't be merciful to their children just because they killed their fathers. Let alone the slightest bit of compassion from those heartless people, in a real story, no protagonist would survive because they couldn't bear to continue killing.

Because of these reasons, some people believe that the film has always had a kind of benevolent undertone, encouraging people to be kind. It is because of the protagonist's kindness that he survived on Bus Route 44 and made it all the way to the end of the show, winning the million-dollar prize and finally getting together with the female lead. This ending is undoubtedly romantic and beautiful.

If this were applied to artistic expression, and one were to relentlessly pursue an artistic and literary aesthetic, it would simply be a frantic tearing apart of human nature. In the end, the protagonist might not even answer the question or win the million-dollar prize; everything would have been just one step away from him.

Of course, the movie might not be called "Our Millionaire," but rather "The Last Question."

This movie doesn't actually touch on anything political; perhaps the most sensitive issue, the one the protagonist didn't answer—

"According to the Constitution, which class leads our country?"

A. Working class B. Peasant class C. Urban petty bourgeoisie D. National bourgeoisie
This question may be a true inquiry into the social and political levels, but the problem lies in the fact that while all of the protagonist's questions have been answered, this one remains unanswered.

This is the crux of the problem, and bypassing the metaphor of this problem is also crucial.

Of course, the reason this movie couldn't be released is because it involves some negative news in society and doesn't align with the mainstream ideology.

Such opinions exist, but in reality, the existence of such debates is actually a good thing, since it hasn't become a one-sided discourse. At least this "Our Millionaire" allows for some discernment.

Of course, these two opinions are only because the film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Otherwise, there would be no discussion or controversy at all. It would simply be a matter of one word: not allowed to be released. It's very simple.

But now the film has won the Palme d'Or. The previous film, "Farewell My Concubine," also touched on that special period and went through many twists and turns.

Initially, when the film first won the award, the authorities believed it had serious problems, investigated the person in charge of censorship, stopped the celebration activities at the Taipei Film Studio, and restricted its screening and promotion, demanding that it not premiere, advertise, or promote itself.

However, it was eventually approved for screening after high-level approval. In July, it was banned again, and in August, due to its popularity in Shanghai and Beijing, it was banned again. It was not until the end of September, after some dialogue was revised, that it was re-released nationwide. Moreover, the film was not nominated for any of the major film awards in mainland China. At that time, the Golden Rooster Awards and other awards did not include it in their selection criteria, reflecting the official cautious attitude towards films involving sensitive historical themes.

Compared to "Farewell My Concubine," "Our Millionaire" undoubtedly does not touch on sensitive history, but only touches on some dark news in reality, but the ending is still a happy one.

Such disputes and discussions exist, but no clear answer has been given.

It was under these circumstances that the film was ultimately compared with "Farewell My Concubine," which also won the Palme d'Or. After some consideration, the authorities finally agreed to its release. Of course, the publicity was kept as low-key as possible, and no big promotion was to be expected.

Well, this is already a pretty good result.

Lin Youcheng was well aware of this. It was a good thing that the movie wasn't completely banned. Of course, the most important thing was that the movie "Our Millionaire" itself wasn't a dark film. Otherwise, it wouldn't have ended so beautifully and romantically.

This is actually the real brilliance of the movie "Our Millionaire": a perfect combination of realism and romanticism. It has both the darkness of human nature in the face of artistic fate and the epic feel of a commercial blockbuster. Both of these are well displayed in the movie through the shots and plot, and are very well balanced.

It's already great that the movie was released; as for publicity and such, we'll find out the answer in the end.

"Dad, thank you!"

Lin Zhaomei knew that her father had helped her with both winning awards and getting the movie "Our Millionaire" released.

Hearing Lin Zhaomei's words, Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "This is your own movie, you deserve it!"

Lin Zhaomei's face was full of smiles. She knew that some things didn't need to be said; it was enough to keep them in her heart.

To be honest, the movie "Our Millionaire" would have already broken even without being released in China. The reason is simply that other countries overseas have also bought the distribution rights for the movie, which means that the movie will be released globally.

After all, like the previous film "Humanity", this movie is a story that takes place in China, but the plot is actually understandable even to foreign audiences. This means that the movie can be released overseas. Moreover, this movie is written by Lin Youcheng, an international screenwriter. To some extent, even if it doesn't win the Palme d'Or, it will still be bought. Now that it has the Palme d'Or title and is directed by the youngest female Palme d'Or winner, the publicity is quite significant. Foreign film companies have no reason to miss out.

Lin Youcheng then entrusted Columbia Pictures to distribute the film, after all, the success of the film "Human Wonders" was a testament to that. Even though the film was directed by Li An and was an excellent work, its global box office performance was very good, which was inseparable from Columbia Pictures' promotion.

In any case, "Our Millionaire" is about to be released in the country.

Whether there are any problems, and what those problems are, the audience will know after watching! (End of Chapter)