The literary era since 1979

Early morning, Hong Kong.

The editorial office of Oriental Daily is usually almost empty at this time of year, but now it is fully staffed.

Everyone has a tense face, just like a soldier ready to go to the battlefield.

Many eyes were fixed on the phone, quietly waiting for calls from reporters assigned to follow up on the Golden Globe Awards, so that they could be the first to publish the "extra edition" about this year's Golden Globe Awards before their counterparts in other Hong Kong media. After all, there are Chinese-language films nominated this year.

The previous "The Last Emperor" also made the editorial department of "Oriental Daily" work overtime.

But compared to "Farewell My Concubine", it is obviously less valued, because the entire film team is composed of all Chinese people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau!

Needless to say, the original author and co-screenwriter Li Bihua is the editor and columnist of Oriental Daily.

As the president, Ma Chengkun paced back and forth in the office area. If there were pedometers these days, he would have probably walked thousands of steps.

Li Bihua was also extremely depressed. When she walked to the drinking water area, she saw that the pot of coffee she had brewed earlier had been completely finished by all the staff in the editorial department.

He sighed softly, tore open a bag of coffee, and then staggered to get some water. The sound of people's discussions came to his ears.

"Hey, do you think this will work?"

"Look at what you said, how could it be wrong?"

"I think it's terrible. The Americans don't want to play with us. Isn't it obvious?"

"That's another movie, but Farewell My Concubine is different. Let's put it this way, even if the Golden Globe judges dislike it and don't give us the Best Actor, Best Actress, or Best Picture awards, they should at least give the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Screenplay awards to Farewell My Concubine!"

"That's right, if these two awards are not given to Farewell My Concubine, how can the Golden Globe Awards win the hearts of the public? Aren't you afraid of being called the 'Water Polo Award'?"

"I actually hope that it won't be awarded to Farewell My Concubine. If that happens, it will be a big deal and we entertainment reporters will have a place to use our skills!"

"........."

Just as the room was filled with discussions, the long-lost phone ring suddenly rang.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the phone, and Ma Chengkun quickly picked up the phone.

Colleagues quickly gathered around and asked, "What happened? What happened?"

"Are the results out yet?"

"Hush! Hush! Be quiet, be quiet!"

Hearing the noise, Li Bihua didn't even bother to make coffee and ran back in a hurry.

The result was disappointing. It turned out to be a telemarketing call, which made Ma Chengkun so angry that he started cursing.

"Oh, I was so shocked. I thought something had happened!"

"That's right, it's easy to have a heart attack!"

The colleagues all despised the telemarketer and returned to their seats in a hurry. However, when they got addicted to it, they couldn't help but whisper about him.

Li Bihua felt a little disappointed. While she was making a cup of coffee, she received several unrelated phone calls one after another.

Everyone's patience and expectations were gradually worn out, and they either ran to pour coffee or smoked with a sad face.

"Jingle Bell!"

The phone rang a few times, but Ma Chengkun no longer planned to answer it himself and winked at Li Bihua.

Li Bihua reached out and as soon as the call was connected, a familiar voice of a colleague came from the receiver.

In an instant, whether they were smoking or drinking coffee, they dropped all the work at hand and swarmed over.

“Bibibi!”

"There's still paper, hurry up and get some!"

Everyone surrounded Li Bihua in three layers, all in silence, with their ears pricked up.

Li Bihua asked hurriedly, "Did Farewell My Concubine win any awards? What awards did it win?"

When they heard that "Fang Yan and Li Bihua won the Best Screenwriter Award", everyone was immediately delighted and congratulated Li Bihua.

Ma Chengkun looked very proud of it. Now Oriental Daily had something to brag about, saying that the publishing house had produced a Golden Globe Award-winning screenwriter!
Only Li Bihua herself knew that the novel version of the TV series "Farewell My Concubine" at that time would never achieve the success it has today.

The reason why they can win the Palme d’Or and the Golden Globe is basically because of their dialects! Dialects are the real MVP!

Just when she was distracted, Ma Chengkun's urging voice brought her back to her senses.

"Bihua, quickly ask him, besides the Best Screenplay Award, did Farewell My Concubine win any other awards?"

"Yeah!"

There was a gleam in everyone's eyes.

Soon, I received good news and bad news.

"Good news! Of course, let's hear the good news first!"

"The good news is that Jiang Wen won the Best Supporting Actor award, setting a new record for Chinese actors at the Golden Globe Awards!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire editorial department was in an uproar, and expressions of shock appeared on every face.

Especially when I learned that Jiang Wen stepped on "Hollywood's hottest star" Tom Cruise and won the first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in the history of Chinese-language films and even in the history of Hollywood films. Before that, the best result of a Chinese actor in the Golden Globe Awards was that John Lone was nominated for Best Actor.

This is just like "Farewell My Concubine" winning the Palme d'Or, it is another milestone for Chinese actors and Chinese-language films!

Li Bihua realized the great value of this news and immediately gave orders.

According to the report over the phone, colleagues quickly wrote down Jiang Wen's acceptance speech on paper and passed it to the people standing outside.

People outside immediately started writing news reports based on Jiang Wen's acceptance speech and the various information they had collected previously.

"It's good news that Jiang Wen won the Best Supporting Actor award, but what about the bad news?"

Li Bihua asked, "Could it be that Farewell My Concubine didn't win any other awards?"

"No, no, the award ceremony has just come to the Best Actress in a Drama Series, and unexpectedly there was a double yolk, which was rare before."

A sigh came from the phone, "It's a pity that neither of the two winners is Gong Li."

………………

At the same time, Sigourney Weaver and Jodie Foster gave their acceptance speeches on the stage.

Gong Li lowered his head, feeling depressed and sad. Gong Xing, Lin Qingxia, Zhu Lin and others immediately came to comfort him.

"You've done a great job. Only five or six actors are nominated for the Golden Globe Awards every year. The names on the nomination list alone represent the highest level of the global film industry. This is an achievement that countless actors can hardly achieve in their lifetime."

"That's right, you don't know how much Sister Qingxia and I envy you for being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress!"

Wang Zuxian said sincerely.

Gong Li forced a smile, but the look of disappointment could not be concealed on his face.

Zhang Yimou opened his mouth, but he was too dumb to know how to appease them. Seeing the two of them like this, Fang Yan couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, and then the women stared at him meaningfully, all of which hinted at him to take action.

So he pretended to cough twice and took the examples of Hollywood actresses such as Glenn Close and Meryl Streep. They have also been nominated for the Golden Globe Awards many times but have only won one or two Golden Globe Awards so far. They are all "uncrowned queens", but this does not prevent their acting skills from being recognized by the world.

“Awards may come late, but great performances will always be remembered by time.”

"What Fang Sheng said is absolutely right!"

Zhang Guorong added: "Gong Li, don't be discouraged. It is very rare to win the award for the first time you are nominated."

Then take "Chow Yun-fat" as an example. He completely lost confidence because he didn't win the previous Academy Award nominations. He attended the event casually that night wearing a shirt and jeans. Unexpectedly, he won the "Best Actor" award for his role as Mark in "A Better Tomorrow".

"Yes, I still remember that he adapted the lines from A Better Tomorrow as the award speech."

Lin Qingxia's words were immediately echoed by Wang Zuxian. The two of them reviewed carefully and thought hard, "It seems so, it seems so..."

Zhang Guorong told the whole story, "Ah Fat said, 'I was nominated three times, I wore a dress three times, I waited three times, why did I have to wait until tonight when I was not mentally prepared and dressed casually to get this award?'"

After being comforted by so many people, Gong Li gradually came out of the shadow of defeat:

"Thank you, everyone. I'm really sorry for making you worry about me. I'm much better now."

"That's good. Actors should live for their roles, not for awards. Awards are just icing on the cake. The real winner is the one who gets the recognition from the audience." Fangyan glanced around. "Obviously you have done this. Your name will be recorded in film history forever with Farewell My Concubine."

Everyone looked at him thoughtfully.

"This sentence is for Gong Li, and also for you who are nominated for the next award."

Fangyan looked at Gong Xing, the "Best Director Candidate", on the left, and at Zhang Guorong, who was nominated for Best Actor, on the right.

"I have prepared for the worst. Even if I lose, I don't think it may be a bad thing."

Zhang Guorong smiled and said: "Just like the Cannes Film Festival, although we didn't win any individual awards, we won the highest honor, the 'Palme d'Or'. If my failure can help "Farewell My Concubine" win the 'Best Film', I think it is worth it!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Gong Xing, Gong Li and others cast glances of approval and recognition, and it was obvious that these words touched their hearts.

"With your mentality, I guarantee that you will be crowned emperor sooner or later."

Fangyan patted his shoulder and said, "Maybe the next In the Mood for Love will do."

"Haha, then I'll borrow Fang Sheng's auspicious words!"

Just as Zhang Guorong and others were whispering, the Golden Globe Awards had just awarded another award, the Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

The remaining awards are all heavyweights, including Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Picture...

It just looks like a battle among many heroes and competition among multiple companies, but in fact it is the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"Working Girl", which has been winning consecutively, took the top spot in this year's comedy and musical category, while the other two were in the same "drama" track. "Rain Man" and "Farewell My Concubine" were both considered favorites, and the rest of the crews nominated for the drama category were just supporting roles.

If this moment was like a Champions League football final, the score in the first half of "Farewell My Concubine" and "Rain Man" would be 2-0!

It's time to pop champagne at halftime!
Just when everyone was looking forward to the second half of the game, the Golden Globe Awards sneakily interrupted the broadcast with a commercial.

This is also what the Golden Globe Awards are criticized for. First, there are too many awards, and second, it is a live broadcast, so time has to be left for advertising.

Whenever the screen changed, the big and small stars in the venue would look around, and when the host reminded them, they would sit down in a pretentious manner.

By this point in the party, many people's butts were sore from sitting so long that they started to blatantly wander off.

Fangyan took the knife and fork and expertly cut off a small piece of steak. "This tastes good. You all should try it."

Everyone started to taste the dish. Tonight's main course was fillet steak marinated with onions, served with cheese-baked tomatoes, Tuscan kale, potato croquettes and secret cherries. It had a very rich taste.

Wang Zuxian waved her hand and was about to take a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray, but was persuaded by Fangyan to change to red wine in a few words.

"Is there anything special about this?"

Gong Xing was very curious.

The dialect lied with open eyes, and did not mention the Milan joke in the football circle, but said that there is a curse of "drinking champagne at halftime" in Hollywood.

Lin Qingxia, Zhu Lin, Zhang Guorong and others looked at each other, and for the sake of good luck, they all switched to red wine.

However, it did not seem to bring much luck. The first award announced in the second half, the Best Director Award, finally went to Barry Levinson. This was also the first major award won by "Rain Man" so far. At this time, the score on the football field was 1 to 2.

Gong Xing, who had already prepared himself mentally, did not show much discomfort on his face.

And they didn't have to feel sad for long, because when everyone present thought that "Rain Man" had made a comeback, the "Best Foreign Language Film" award was awarded to "Farewell My Concubine" without any surprises.

Gong Xing pulled up Zhang Yimou, Gong Li, Zhang Guorong and others who had never been on stage before, and they walked onto the stage in an orderly manner.

Fangyan stayed behind and acted as a protector for Zhu Lin, Lin Qingxia and Wang Zuxian, eating, drinking, chatting and laughing with them.

The atmosphere at the table was lively and relaxed. After all, the score between "Farewell My Concubine" and "Rain Man" was 3 to 1.

Seeing their happy expressions, Dustin Hoffman frowned and felt a little uneasy in his heart.

Logically speaking, he, who had won both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Actor for his role in The Graduate,
"The Best Foreign Language Film goes to Farewell My Concubine, which is well deserved." Barry Levinson raised his glass and said, "Of course, if the Best Actor and Best Picture are awarded to you and Rain Man, they are also completely worthy of the title!"

Dustin Hoffman clinked glasses with him with a smile on his face, and at the same time, glanced at Gong Xing and others who were leaving the stage out of the corner of his eye.

Until now, there are still four major awards to be announced, namely the Best Actor in a Drama and Comedy Musical, and Best Picture.

"Now, please welcome Al Pacino and Diane Keaton to present us the Best Actor in a Drama Award!"

As the music started, the male and female protagonists of "The Godfather" walked to the front of the stage. Diane Keaton, wearing high heels, was half a head taller than her partner.

The former American sweetheart already had wrinkles on her face and said directly: "Let's take a look at the list of nominations..."

"Forest Whitaker. 'Rookie Parker.'"

"Tom Hulce, My Brothers."

"Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man!"

When his name was called, the whole audience burst into applause. Dustin Hoffman folded his arms across his chest, looking calm and relaxed like a veteran driver.

"Leslie Zhang, Farewell My Concubine!"

After Zhang Guorong's English name was announced, many people present applauded enthusiastically, especially David Fincher.

"I clearly don't know them, why are they cheering so enthusiastically?" Zhang Guorong was surprised.

Fang Yan lowered his voice and said that there is a pro-gay group in the Hollywood camp, and David Fincher is one of the leaders of this group.

"Sigh~"

Zhang Guorong took a deep breath and got goosebumps all over his body when he thought about how he had just winked at him.

"Gene Hackman, 'Mississippi Burning'."

Gene Hackman, who played the super villain Luthor in "Superman", had a stern face, as if he was facing a formidable enemy.

After announcing the last candidate, Al Pacino glanced at the envelope, handed it to Diane Keaton, and said in unison:
"The winner is..." (End of this chapter)