The literary era since 1979

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa."

The applause was thunderous and only died down gradually when Fang Yan, Li Bihua and Lu Wei stepped down from the stage.

When passing the "Rain Man" crew in the aisle, Fang Yan and Dustin Hoffman, Barry Levinson and others locked eyes for a few seconds.

Tom Cruise could vaguely sense a tense atmosphere around him, especially as the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor would soon be presented.

Nicole Kidman curled her lips and said, "The money Fox spent on the publicity and PR for Farewell My Concubine was really well spent."

Tom Cruise uttered a light "eh" and turned to look at his fiancée.

Nicole Kidman said: "The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, saying that Fox spent millions on public relations."

"This is Fox trying to curry favor with Fang. Now there are countless companies in Hollywood that want to work with him and get his scripts."

Tom Cruise smiled self-deprecatingly. Although he is a "hotshot" and "box office drug" in Hollywood, how many movies can he take on as an actor in a year? However, a world-class writer like Fang Yan can create continuously as long as he wants.

"Compared to Fox's generosity, United Artists is far behind."

Nicole Kidman frowned, "Otherwise, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor should not go to a Chinese, but to you."

"Whether it's the Golden Globe or the Oscar, just spending money is useless."

Tom Cruise was quite unhappy, "Even if I really get it, I can't win back respect, honor and applause."

Nicole Kidman realized that she had spoken out of turn and accidentally exposed his scars, and immediately changed her words:
"My dear, I am also speaking up for you."

"I know what you're thinking."

Tom Cruise patted the back of her hand, but his face fell. It was just as his fiancée said, if it was not Jiang Wen but himself who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, as long as his management team put some effort into it, he might be able to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

However, now, "Farewell My Concubine" is the most likely to win the award!

Even though he was in a bad mood, when the faces of the candidates nominated for Best Supporting Actor appeared on the big screen, he immediately controlled his facial muscles and smiled brightly. Like everyone else in the camera, he tried his best to show his generosity, composure and grace.

"The best supporting actor is Kevin Crane for A Fish Called Wanda!"

As soon as the award results were announced, there was an uproar.

Upset!

Another upset!

It was neither Tom Cruise, who has the highest popularity and commercial value on the list, nor Jiang Wen, who had the highest media support and the greatest hope of winning the award. Instead, a dark horse emerged and snatched the food from the two tigers, "Rain Man" and "Farewell My Concubine".

Just as everyone was shouting in surprise, Fang Yan seemed to know in advance and gave Jiang Wen an apologetic look:

"I'm sorry to have wronged you this time."

"Teacher Fang, I understand. This is a necessary sacrifice."

Jiang Wen raised his hand.

Fang Yan and Gong Xing and others looked at each other. After experiencing Western award ceremonies such as the Cannes Film Festival and the Golden Globe Awards, they became more and more aware of the unspoken rules behind these awards. You have to give up in order to gain, so you have to use the best steel on the blade and focus on public relations for the big awards you want to win the most.

Unless it is like "The Godfather" and "Titanic", which can form a dimensionality reduction attack on other movies competing on the same stage!
"Hehe, I'm already content. At least I won a Golden Globe Award."

Jiang Wen raised a sly smile, "Of course, if Teacher Fang is willing to give me some compensation, I would be even more satisfied!"

"Pfft!"

Seeing his expression, Gong Xing, Gong Li and others couldn't help laughing.

Fang Yan said: "I knew you wouldn't want to suffer any loss at all."

Gong Xing added, "Your teacher Fang has already discussed this with me and is preparing to give you a play."

Jiang Wen was astonished, he was just talking casually, but he didn't expect there would actually be compensation!

“It can’t be considered compensation.”

Fang Yan said, "I recently wrote a novel about people from Yanjing immigrating to the United States. I plan to have the studio and the TV Drama Art Center use this as the subject matter to jointly adapt it into a TV series. If you are willing to make a TV series, you can try out for the male lead in it then."

"TV drama?!"

Jiang Wen was surprised and happy.

Seeing that he unexpectedly agreed, everyone was very curious.

There is a prejudice these days that the film industry looks down on television production, and the big screen looks down on the small screen. Jiang Wen has always been active on the movie screen, and has never filmed a TV series before. What's more, he has now won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, so he is still a big name!
"As long as it's written by Teacher Fang, whether it's a movie or a TV series, I'll take it!"

Jiang Wen said: "After all, what Teacher Fang wrote is definitely a good script. If an actor doesn't accept a good script, he is a complete idiot!"

Zhang Guorong smiled and said, "If it were me, I would agree without hesitation."

Jiang Wen said that the previously popular TV series "Desire" and "The Story of the Editorial Department" changed his prejudice against TV series. He found that TV series could be so interesting. He had never filmed a TV series before, so this was a good opportunity for him to satisfy his craving for it.

"If you say so, that's great."

Fang Yan and Gong Xing looked at each other and said, "The script is probably still being polished. As for the novel, it should be published after we return to China. By then, you can take a look at the latest issue of People's Literature. It's called 'Yenching People in New York'."

"Got it!"

Jiang Wen grinned, and the last bit of disappointment at not winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor disappeared.

…………

After the Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards were presented, the Oscars ceremony entered a short commercial break.

Fangyan took advantage of this time to walk towards the bathroom, and happened to run into Steven Spielberg.

"Fang, how are you preparing the script for Jurassic Park?"

"The author has agreed to grant me the film and television adaptation rights of 'The Miracle of the World's Highest Peak'."

"Won't that mean we can see the script soon?"

"It may take three to five months. I'm currently busy writing a children's literature work and I can't spare the time for the time being."

Fangyan spread his hands helplessly.

“Children’s literature?”

Steven Spielberg was amazed.

“Novels with fantasy and adventure features, such as The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and The Little Prince.”

The dialect simply explained the whole story.

"Haha, to be honest, I once dreamed of making a movie based on children's literature, such as The BFG." Steven Spielberg's eyes were full of anticipation. "Are you going to make this novel into a movie in the future?"

Fangyan nodded, but said regretfully that he was a step too late as he had already made a promise to Miyazaki Hayao.

"That's really a shame."

Steven Spielberg zipped up his pants and walked to the sink. "In a little while, the awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture will be announced. If you were asked to choose the award you want the most, which one would you choose?"

“Naturally the best film.”

Fangyan smiled.

"Oh, what a coincidence! I happen to be the presenter of the Best Picture award."

Steven Spielberg whistled playfully.

Fang Yan was startled at first, but suddenly thought of something and said half-jokingly:
"It's a pity that you haven't received the winners' envelope yet, otherwise I might ask you to give me a spoiler."

"What if I knew? Do you really want me to tell?"

Steven Spielberg narrowed his eyes.

Fang Yan washed his hands and said, "No, I still hope to leave myself a suspense, so that when the surprise comes, it will be more enjoyable."

Steven Spielberg said that although he didn't know the final result of the Best Picture, he could give him a hint when the award was presented.

Fangyan wanted to refuse, but after thinking it over, he accepted his kindness.

"If I cough twice before announcing the result, then congratulations on your film Farewell My Concubine winning the Best Picture award."

There was a hint of amusement in Steven Spielberg's eyes behind his glasses.

The two smiled at each other and returned to the lobby.

The commercial break was fleeting, followed by a series of award presentations.

Best Animated Film, Best Short Film, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short Film…

Next came the turn of the Best Foreign Language Film. Crews from Spain, Hungary, Italy, Denmark and other countries appeared on the big screen at the same time as Fang Yan, Gong Xing, Zhang Yimou and others, but none of them looked excited, as if it had nothing to do with them.

Because everyone knows very well that this year's Best Foreign Language Film Award will not go to any of them.

It’s not that we didn’t try hard, but China has Gundam!

The result was indeed as expected by everyone. After winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "Farewell My Concubine" went on to win an Oscar!

Looking at Gong Xing, Fang Yan, Jiang Wen and others standing on the stage with high spirits, Zun Long's eyes were full of envy, especially for Zhang Guorong.

My life experience is so similar to Cheng Dieyi in the movie!
I'm afraid that even if I spend my entire acting career, I will never find another film like "Farewell My Concubine"!

While feeling overwhelmed with emotion, another thought flashed through his mind. Even if he had no chance to star in "Farewell My Concubine", he would be content as long as he could make a few movies for China in the future, because he always remembered the feeling of stepping on the yellow soil of China when filming "The Last Emperor".

………………

As of the Best Foreign Language Film, "Farewell My Concubine" is ahead of "Rain Man" both in the number of awards and quality.

But in the second half of the Oscars, "Rain Man" gradually began to gain momentum and catch up.

As the director of "Rain Man", Barry Levinson not only defeated Gong Xing, who was also nominated, in the Best Director Award, but also stood on the shoulders of Hollywood bigwigs such as Martin Scorsese and Mike Nichols to win one of the highest honors in the directing industry.

Then one after another, "Rain Man" won the Best Original Song, and "Farewell My Concubine" won the Best Editing.

The two sides were chasing each other. When the Best Actress was awarded to Jodie Foster for her role in "The Untold Story", the only awards left in the Oscars were the Best Actor and the Best Picture. Everyone in the audience was in high spirits, watching the presenters come on stage.

According to Hollywood rules, this year's Best Actor will be announced by last year's Best Actress.

Cher, who won the Best Actress award for her performance in Moonlight, opened the envelope with a smile on her face and read out the shortlisted candidates one by one.

“‘How to Be a Teacher’, by Edward James Olmos.”

"Mississippi Burning, Gene Hackman."

"Tom Hanks, Flying Forward."

"Forrest Gump" with curly hair faces the camera, his face showing no sign of hiding his desire and eagerness for the Best Actor award.

As the winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, it can be said that he is one of only two actors on the list who has the potential to win the award.

The other one, of course, is Dustin Hoffman, who won the Best Actor in a Drama Series for his role in "Rain Man".

Compared to his calmness at the Golden Globe Awards, even the veteran Dustin Hoffman couldn't help but hold back his emotions at this moment. He looked around, appearing extremely anxious, because there are very few actors in Hollywood who have won the award twice, and now he has such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Even before the Oscars ceremony began, many media outlets had predicted that he would be the winner!
On the contrary, Zhang Guorong looked calm, as if he was just watching a show.

"Next, we'll announce the Best Actor winner."

When the scene was silent and motionless, everyone's hearts were still beating.

The honor is so dazzling and right ahead, laying the foundation for every actor's life path. No one will not desire it.

"Dustin Hoffman!"

When he heard the name, Fangyan smacked his lips.

Given the nature of the Oscars, there has only been one black actor who won the award, and it was given to Sidney Poitier during the height of the civil rights movement in the 60s. This is also why even though Kwan Ji-wei was the leading actor in "Blink", he only won the "Best Supporting Actor" award in the end, because it is almost impossible for the Oscars to set this precedent and break this invisible ceiling.

"Huh, it's finally the Best Picture."

Gong Xing took a deep breath.

Everyone was equally nervous. The previous sacrifices in the Best Supporting Actor, Best Actor and Best Actress categories were all for this moment!
"The last award tonight is the Best Film Award. Please welcome our award presenter!"

As the host spoke, Steven Spielberg came on stage, striding forward with big, brisk steps, seeming a little impatient.

“There’s a reason why the best picture is saved for last.”

“It’s the sum of all the ingredients, the end of a journey that always starts with a dream, and this year those dreams were sparked by Farewell My Concubine and Rain Man, which reinterpreted the road movie as a spiritual journey of a younger brother and an older brother with autism.”

"..."

Steven Spielberg commented on the nominated films one by one, then opened the cards, "Okay, let's take a look..."

His eyes searched around the audience, and finally settled on a certain position. When his eyes met Fang Yan's, he suddenly coughed twice:
"Cough cough!"

This sound made Fangyan, who had been anxiously waiting for the result, feel relieved all of a sudden. He leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and heard:

"The winner of the 61st Academy Award for Best Picture is Farewell My Concubine!" (End of this chapter)