Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 284: Young People After All

The unprecedented success of "The Horse Run" is not only reflected in the overwhelming praise from the audience, but also in the almost zero negative reviews from the usually picky critics.

Director Xie Jin was intoxicated by such a huge success, but he also knew that the basis of this strong preference from the audience and critics came from the excellent quality of the film itself.

The next work he shoots must reach or even surpass the level of "The Horse Wrangler" in order to meet the expectations of the public and the industry.

The novel "The Garland under the Mountain" writes sharply about death, blood, poverty, suffering, debt, and even complaints, bureaucracy, and unhealthy practices, which were unimaginable in the creation of Chinese military literature in the past.

Because it broke through previous stereotypes, the novel "High Mountains" has been loved by countless readers since its publication and has sold millions of copies. It can be said to be a milestone work in contemporary Chinese military literature.

When people heard that he was going to make "High Mountains" into a movie, there was a burst of excitement.

Recently, he has received enthusiastic concerns and responses about the film from several old friends.

Comrade Huang Mei suggested that he should strengthen the character of Liang Sanxi when filming "High Mountains"; Comrade Bai Yu said: The character of Aunt Liang is the mother of the Chinese nation and should be strengthened; Comrade Feng Mu loved Little Yanjing very much and told him to make sure to strengthen the role of Little Yanjing.

Faced with the enthusiastic concern of these three literary and artistic predecessors and friends for "High Mountains", Xie Jin was filled with emotion and at the same time felt a huge pressure.

The point is, now that the script has been written, these people take turns giving suggestions, and it will be a hassle to make changes.

For this reason, Xie Jin made a special call to Lin Chaoyang and told him about this matter.

"It's fine if one person gives suggestions, but how can we change it if three people give suggestions? They want to give more scenes to the characters they like, or should we just change them all to the protagonists?"

Xie Jin said, "Don't be so quick to complain. The comrades are doing this for the good of our film. Everyone is looking forward to hearing that "High Mountain" is going to be made into a movie."

"I understand their good intentions. But as a director, you can't let them interfere with your creative thinking. Trying to please everyone will only backfire in the end."

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Xie Jin argued: "Aren't they all old friends? They helped to speak up during the previous incident of Legend of Tianyun Mountain."

"It's just helping. If you want to adopt their opinions, that's your business. I won't change the script.

Old Xie, I think your current mentality is not right.

Everyone has high expectations for "High Mountain" because they want to see a good work, and it is also based on trust in you and your work. Now you are so unsteady in your will, and you want to change the script just because someone says a few words. How can you produce a good work?"

After being scolded by Lin Chaoyang, who was more than 30 years younger than him, Xie Jin looked embarrassed and felt hot.

He was actually aware of this problem, but the overwhelming praise from the outside world during this period, coupled with the personal relationships, really affected his judgment.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Feeling a little embarrassed, Xie Jin hung up the phone anxiously.

After hanging up the phone, he said helplessly to the old man sitting next to him: "Look, I told you it's not possible. This guy is so pretentious, he looks more like a director than me."

Feng Mu laughed and said, "Young people having this attitude is a sign of responsibility towards art!"

Listening to his words, Xie Jin curled his lips inwardly. This was not the attitude you had when you forced me to give Xiao Yanjing more scenes just now.

Xie Jin has been in Yanjing recently. In addition to preparing for "High Mountains", he also took time to attend several meetings.

What he said to Lin Chaoyang on the phone just now was not false. He had recently attended various meetings and met many colleagues in the literary and art circles.

It is generally believed that with the six words "The Garland under the Mountain", his movie is already half successful. Next, as long as the actors are well selected and all departments work together, it will surely be another wonderful work that is no less than "The Horse Herder".

Xie Jin listened to everyone's opinions, feeling both relieved and uncomfortable. He was relieved that many senior figures in the literary and art circles recognized the quality and influence of "High Mountains", but he felt uncomfortable because after adapting this movie, his presence as a director seemed to be getting weaker and weaker.

In fact, he has had this feeling since the release of "The Horse Herder". The novel itself has a huge mass base. Even though he is a famous director, after the successful adaptation, everyone seems to naturally put most of the credit on the original work.

The influence of "High Mountain" is even greater than that of "The Horse Herder", so much so that even though the film is still in the preparation stage, his limelight as a director has already been overshadowed by this work.

Fortunately, Xie Jin always put himself at the back of the movie and did not think this was unacceptable.

Among the many voices concerned about the movie "High Mountains", he valued the opinions of Comrade Huang Mei, Comrade Bai Yu and Comrade Feng Mu the most.

In addition to the fact that the three of them have great influence in the literary and art circles, it is also because Xie Jin is familiar with the three of them and has received more or less support from them before.

In the past few days, the three of them have successively put forward some opinions on the script of "High Mountains", and Xie Jin had to take it seriously. He also understood that too many people's interference would only do harm to the script, not good.

But he couldn't get rid of the issue of face. Today, he happened to be with Feng Mu and the topic came up again, so he simply called Lin Chaoyang.

Now the call was over. Even though Feng Mu was scolded by Lin Chaoyang, at least he was able to shut up.

If Huang Mei, Bai Yu and others ask about it later, I will have something to say.

You see, it’s not that I don’t want to change it, it’s just that Lin Chaoyang is a rebellious guy and he doesn’t even listen to me, the director.

Feng Mu saw that he looked angry, so he changed the subject and said, "I heard that he recently changed the heroine because of a conflict with Yanying Studio."

"Why do you believe these rumors? They are all nonsense!"

"I don't know much about your film industry," Feng Mu said.

You didn't say you didn't understand when you were pointing fingers. Xie Jin complained in his heart and explained, "The rumors are not credible. Zhang Jinling quit because she was pregnant. He did have a feud with Yanying Studio, but it was because of the script's stance. He was not targeting the person but the matter."

"They are young men after all! Full of vigor and vitality!" Feng Mu sighed, unable to conceal his admiration for Lin Chaoyang. When "High Mountains" was published in "People's Literature", the literary world had always been conservative about military literature, so no one spoke out. Only Feng Mu stood up and highly praised "High Mountains" with a powerful article.

Therefore, Feng Mu has always admired Lin Chaoyang very much, but Lin Chaoyang has never been close to official organizations, and the two sides have very few opportunities for contact.

"Speaking of which, his works have such a great influence that you, as a director, are almost being overshadowed."

"Who can blame him for writing well? If he didn't write well, I can't change it!

You saw it during the meeting. When the studios talked about the adaptation rights for "High Mountain", they looked at me with strange eyes, especially the people from the Bayi Studio. All these sarcastic remarks came from them."

"Alas, it's a pity that the word count of "High Mountains" is a little short, otherwise Lin Chaoyang would definitely win the Mao Dun Literature Prize this year." Feng Mu said with regret.

Feng Mu is one of the judges for this year's Mao Dun Literature Prize.

Since March this year, the Mao Dun Literature Prize has received 145 novels submitted by literary associations, literary magazines, publishing houses and other organizations across the country.

The jury members are generally over 145 years old, and there are also many comrades in their s and s. If Feng Mu and other judges were to review novels, not to mention whether they would have the energy to do so, they would not have the time.

To this end, the Creative Research Office of the Literary Association invited 19 critics, editors and university teachers to hold a reading class in Xiangshan. The members of the reading class read the works and screened them, and this screening was only a preliminary selection.

After the screening results come out, they are not directly submitted to the jury, because even if a small number are screened out, it will be a huge workload for many members of the jury.

Therefore, the Literary Association set up a preliminary selection group, headed by Feng Mu, and others included Wei Junyi, Chen Qixia, Kong Luosun, Xie Yongwang and others.

In a few days, Feng Mu will go to the guesthouse with these people and live there for a month, devoting himself to further reviewing the selected works.

Once their review results are released, they will become an important basis for the Mao Dun Literature Prize jury to make their judgment.

Because the members of the preliminary selection group and the judging panel have a high degree of overlap, the review results they provide have a significant impact on the final awards.

"I heard that Chaoyang has submitted several works, right?" Xie Jin asked.

"Two."

This news does not need to be kept secret, Feng Mu replied directly.

"He's had two of his novels selected, so his chances of winning should be higher than other writers who have only one selected, right? Besides, his novels are all good."

The reason why Feng Mu regretted "High Mountains" was because he personally liked this work, and he was also very optimistic about Lin Chaoyang's shortlisted works.

But in front of Xie Jin, he couldn't say it too bluntly.

“Awards are not competitions. It doesn’t mean you will win just because you have a lot of nominated works. What matters is the work itself.”

"I understand, I understand!" Xie Jin showed an intriguing smile.

May has arrived quickly. Spring is in full swing but the scorching heat of summer has not yet arrived. The sandstorms from the west and north gradually disappear in the early spring.

That evening, Lin Chaoyang took Tao Yushu across West Chang'an Avenue and walked into Daliubukou Street.

As the sun sets, the blue sky is dyed with a layer of pink glow, and the Sophora japonica trees on both sides of the street are lush and green.

In the past half month, there have been two spring rains in Yanjing City. Trees have grown, flowers have bloomed, and the whole city seems to be embellished with brilliant colors.

"Spring in Yanjing is so comfortable!" Tao Yushuo said comfortably as he glanced at the sunset in the sky.

"It would be better if there were no sandstorms, so it seems that autumn is better."

The couple chatted all the way to Xiaoliubukou Hutong and walked into the three-courtyard courtyard house that they had bought a month ago.

This courtyard is divided into east and west courtyards. The west courtyard is well preserved, but the east courtyard was occupied by someone in the past few years and has been ruined.

After buying it, Lin Chaoyang asked Du Feng to find Geng Chuanfeng and his group to help with the repairs.

During this month, Geng Chuanfeng and others focused their main energy on the west courtyard, which has good basic conditions and can be moved in after simple repairs.

Repairing the East Courtyard is a huge undertaking, so there is no need to rush.

The couple would come over for a stroll every now and then, firstly to act as supervisors, and secondly to accompany Tao Yushu for a walk.

Tao Yushu is now two months pregnant. Her belly is not yet noticeable and she has not had any morning sickness. She just loves to eat and sleep. She has become visibly plumper, her skin is whiter than before, and she exudes a graceful and elegant temperament.

In March, the couple invited the award-winning writers to dinner. Afterwards, Tao Yushu gradually received manuscripts from some of the award-winning writers. These were all new works by writers who had just won national awards. These manuscripts made Tao Yushu famous in the editorial department.

Everyone in the editorial department couldn't help but sigh when they saw this situation. For ordinary editors, it was really a dimensionality reduction blow for Tao Yushu to be an editor to commission articles. She was also praised by editor-in-chief Yang Mo and deputy editor-in-chief Su Xinqun for this.

Tao Yushu's group submitted many high-quality manuscripts, and her status in the editorial department rose rapidly. Yang Mo assigned the task of registering manuscripts to Liu Heng on the grounds that she was responsible for too much work.

Seeing that Tao Yushu, a young girl who had just graduated, was doing very well in the editorial department, he felt very uncomfortable.

What’s more important is that the hot potato flew back into his hands after being thrown around, and Liu Heng was in tears.

(End of this chapter)