Literary Master 1978

"The sun is rising from the west?"

Xie Jin and Lin Chaoyang have known each other for quite a while. First they made "The Horse Herders" and then "The Wreath under the Mountain". In those two or three years, they would get together from time to time to discuss scripts and movies, and their relationship gradually became closer.

Although they have not cooperated in the past two years, and the number of meetings and correspondence has decreased, the friendship is still there.

Xie Jin certainly would not take advantage of Lin Chaoyang, but more of a teasing. The fact that he was exempted from the manuscript fee did break his inherent impression of Lin Chaoyang.

"If you can talk, talk more." Lin Chaoyang said sarcastically.

Xie Jin confirmed again with concern: "Do you really not want the manuscript fee?"

"If you force it, it's not impossible." Lin Chaoyang said.

Xie Jin said: "Who is going to give you money!"

He looked up and down at Lin Chaoyang in confusion, with a sense of freshness of "a man who has been away for three days looks at him with new eyes".

"Not asking for royalties, that's really not your style."

Lin Chaoyang said impatiently: "You're not done yet, are you? I asked you to pay again!"

Xie Jin immediately shut up, then asked seriously: "Why don't you ask for royalties?"

"Acheng's script is well written, I'm just helping, it doesn't take much effort."

Xie Jin asked again: "Then the signature..."

"Just change the script, forget about the signature." Lin Chaoyang waved his hand.

This time Xie Jin was really shocked, not asking for royalties, not signing, is this still the Lin Chaoyang he knows? It's almost like a living LF.

He thought about it and thought that this was probably to take care of Acheng's face, he knew that Lin Chaoyang and Acheng had a good relationship.

Lin Chaoyang didn't want to take credit for this matter, Xie Jin could only accept this favor silently, no longer mentioned it, and talked about the movie instead.

Lin Chaoyang helped him solve the urgent problem of the script, and the crew could finally move.

"I will go back to Shanghai tomorrow morning and gather the cast and crew to get them ready. Alas, I have to go to France in a few days. It's really a waste of time."

Xie Jin went to France to attend the award ceremony of the Caesar International Film Festival held in Paris. He almost attends this kind of event two or three times a year. He has long been accustomed to it and even a little disgusted.

"If you really don't want to go, you can ask someone else to go." Lin Chaoyang joked with him and said, "By the way, you have to do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"Help me contact a few movie stars..."

Lin Chaoyang told Xie Jin about the opening of the Asia-Europe Clothing City. Xie Jin complained, "I said why don't you want the royalties? It turns out you are waiting for me here!"

"My royalties are not as good as inviting a few stars?" Lin Chaoyang stared at Xie Jin dissatisfiedly.

Xie Jin, who had taken advantage, could not refute him, "Who do you want to invite?"

"You can invite as many stars as you can from your Shanghai Film Studio."

"You think it's like ordering food. You can invite as many as you can."

"You, Director Xie, don't have this much strength?"

Lin Chaoyang used the method of provoking, but Xie Jin didn't fall for it. He pondered for a while and said, "I'll contact you first, and I'll tell you when it's confirmed."

"Okay. In addition, for the expenses, food and accommodation will be reimbursed, and each person will be given 500 yuan for travel expenses."

Hearing his words, Xie Jin was surprised.

"Oh, you are so generous!"

In the past two years, folk performances have just become popular. Many actors from various film studios, song and dance troupes, and drama troupes have performed privately.

This kind of thing is definitely not allowed by the unit, but if the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate it. As long as it's not too excessive, the general unit will turn a blind eye.

Those unknown actors are not qualified to go out to perform, and those who can get the work are generally a little famous.

The organizers of the performances are mostly state-owned factories and local governments. The performances can be as little as a few dozen yuan, and as much as one or two hundred yuan, which is already a lot for these actors.

After all, everyone relies on wages to live at this time, and it is not easy to have such extra income.

Last year, the Hedong Theater in Yuncheng, Shanxi invited Liu Xiaoqing to the theater to give a tour for the audience, which caused a sensation in the whole county.

Not only did local audiences rush to buy tickets to watch the performance, but local government officials also received her throughout the whole process. Liu Xiaoqing finally received 150 yuan in performance fees.

After tasting the sweetness, Liu Xiaoqing performed 24 shows in a row and earned a total of 3,600 yuan.

At this time, Liu Xiaoqing was already a movie star who was popular all over the country. Going out to perform was only 150 yuan per show. You can imagine the value of the 500 yuan given by Lin Chaoyang.

It was simply driving up prices!

"Be more generous, aren't you guys responsible for the favor?" Lin Chaoyang said in a brisk tone.

Whether he asked Xie Jin or Chen Huaikai for help, Lin Chaoyang never thought of taking advantage of them. He asked them to help only because he lacked channels to contact the actors.

"Besides, the opening ceremony of the clothing city is expected to have a great impact. After these actors come to participate, they may be criticized and write self-criticisms. The extra money will be regarded as spiritual compensation!"

Hearing this, Xie Jin couldn't help laughing, "You think it's quite thoughtful."

"Okay, leave it to me!"

Xie Jin left Yanjing with satisfaction with the script.

The New Year also passed quietly in people's joyful mood and rosy smiles, and everything returned to its usual rhythm.

On the Lantern Festival, Lin Chaoyang received a letter and package sent by Kitamura Miyu from Japan.

As early as late December, Lin Chaoyang had received a sample copy of the Japanese version of "Crossing Guandong" sent by Kawade Shobo. At that time, Kitamura Miyu said that the novel would be published in Japan in early January.

Two months passed in a flash, and Kitamura Miyu introduced Lin Chaoyang in a letter about the situation of "Crossing Guandong" after its publication in Japan.

The novel was released in Japan on January 3, 1987, and was available in hundreds of bookstores including Kinokuniya Bookstore, Maruzen Bookstore and other chain bookstores.

Before the novel was released, Kawade Shobo published book advertisements for the novel in several pure literature magazines such as "Wenyi" and invited three well-known writers in the Japanese literary world to write recommendations for "Crossing Guandong".

Among them was Mizukami Tsutomu, who had dinner with Lin Chaoyang when he went to Tokyo last time, as well as Matsumoto Seicho and Oe Kenzaburo.

Among these three writers, Mizukami Tsutomu and Matsumoto Seicho are both important writers of Japanese social reasoning, and later generations were evaluated as the three great Japanese reasoning masters.

Kenzaburo Oe's achievements are in the field of pure literature. He won almost all literary awards in the Japanese literary world in the 1950s and 1960s, and by the 1980s he had become one of the most important writers in the contemporary Japanese literary world.

Another common feature of these three people is that they are all ZY writers.

It is normal for publishers to invite writers to write recommendations for new books.

But what level of writers can be invited depends not only on the influence of the publisher, but also on the quality of the works.

After all, many writers also have to save face. Writing recommendations for new books is, to a certain extent, the writers using their own credit to endorse the book.

The publication of "Crossing Guandong" was recommended by these three writers. Kawade Shobo only played a role in threading the needle. The most important thing is that the creative level of the novel itself has been recognized by them.

On the waist cover of the Japanese version of "Crossing Guandong" that Kitamura Miyu sent to Lin Chaoyang in December, the three people's evaluation of the novel was written.

"The grand epic narrative, ingeniously combining magical realism with historical reality, "Crossing Guandong" is a rare masterpiece - Matsumoto Seicho"

"This is an incredible epic work, which depicts the rise and fall of a family in Northeast China in the early 20th century, and presents a historical picture from the late Qing Dynasty to the eve of World War II.

The author uses delicate brushstrokes to depict the original style of rural life, reflecting the great changes in Chinese society and the twists and turns of personal destiny, as well as people's struggles and choices in the torrent of history.

With its profound cultural heritage, unique The artistic charm of "Crossing Guandong" has become a monument in contemporary Chinese literature and has also added a cornerstone to the world's literary hall - Mizukami Tsutomu"

"I recommend readers who want to understand China's modern history, or friends who seek literary enjoyment, to read "Crossing Guandong". This is a work full of vitality that people will never forget after reading it.

I think it not only belongs to China, but also to Asia and the world - Oe Kenzaburo"

The high evaluation of "Crossing Guandong" by Mizukami Tsutomu, Matsumoto Seicho, and Oe Kenzaburo opened a good start for the launch of the novel.

At the beginning of the launch of the novel, many readers were attracted by the joint recommendation of the three.

In addition, Kondo Naoko and Fujii Shozo, Lin Chaoyang's fans in Japan, also actively promoted this novel to the Japanese literary world after the publication of "Crossing Guandong".

A review article written by Fujii Shozo for "Crossing Guandong" "Magical Realism from Latin America to China" was also published in the well-known Japanese newspaper "Asahi Shimbun", which attracted the attention of many Japanese intellectuals.

With such unremitting publicity, "Crossing Guandong" soon became famous among the pure literature audience in Japan, and the novel sold nearly 9,000 copies in the first month of its release.

And the word of mouth continued to ferment, and it received great praise from these readers, further promoting the sales of the novel.

Before Kitamura Miyu wrote to Lin Chaoyang, the first print of 12,000 copies of the novel by Kawade Shobo had been sold out, and the second print of 20,000 copies had been placed on the bookshelves of major stores in Japan.

Kitamura Miyu congratulated Lin Chaoyang at the end of the letter.

"The first print run of "Crossing Guandong" was sold out in less than a month and a half, which is undoubtedly a very successful start.

I believe that in the near future, this novel will definitely create even better results.

Thank you Mr. Lin for bringing such a wonderful work to Japanese readers. I hope you can continue to maintain your vigorous creative energy and create more great works for the Asian literary world.

Sincerely, Kitamura Miyu."

After reading the letter, Lin Chaoyang flipped through the package sent to him by Kitamura Miyu, which contained some letters from enthusiastic readers to Kawade Shobo.

The letters were all in Japanese and had been opened. I think they should have been selected by Kawade Shobo.

Lin Chaoyang looked at the letters and couldn't understand them at all. Fortunately, Kitamura Miyu had thoughtfully stuffed a small note with a translation in each letter.

"Dear Mr. Hayashi:

Hello! I am a junior student in the Faculty of Literature at Waseda University and also your reader.

I read your work and was deeply moved by Mr. Matsumoto Seicho's high evaluation of your work. I wrote this letter to convey to you some of the emotions and thoughts I felt through your work.

When I first read "Crossing the Guandong", I always compared it with Ryotaro Shiba's Taiga novels. They have many similar characteristics.

For example, the long length and time span, the grand historical background and other characteristics.

But as I read this novel in depth, my views were revised little by little.

Shiba Ryotaro's novel is more like a historical epic, while "Crossing Guandong" is a fragment cut from history.

It is a real history that has happened before, with flesh and blood..."

There were more than ten letters sent by Kawade Shobo. Because the content of the letters had been translated in advance, Lin Chaoyang could easily understand the content of the letters.

These letters were all praises for "Crossing Guandong" and Lin Chaoyang himself. It was a very pleasant thing to be praised by readers in a foreign country.

In addition, Lin Chaoyang also discovered a phenomenon, that is, the readers who wrote these letters almost all had a literary background or were intellectuals.

This shows that after the publication of "Crossing Guandong", it should have been recognized by at least a considerable number of highly educated people in Japan.

After reading the letters from readers, there were some postcards and photos in the package. The postcards must have been sent by readers. Japanese readers like this the most.

As for the photos, it is not I know where Kitamura Miyu found it, all of them are photos of readers buying "Crossing Guandong" in bookstores, or reading "Crossing Guandong".

Looking at these photos, Lin Chaoyang's vanity as a writer was greatly satisfied.

He had to admit that in terms of winning over writers, the publisher of Xiaobenzi was indeed ahead of domestic publishers.

While domestic publishers were still thinking about using pen clubs to encircle writers, they had already begun to show spiritual humanistic care.

This method is not a little bit worse!

I have to let Lao Li learn it well in the future, only with comparison can there be progress!

In the evening, Tao Yushu, who came back from outside, solemnly saved all the readers' postcards and photos in an album. In her words, "They all came from across the ocean. The gift is small but the sentiment is heavy. It is very valuable for collection. ”

After she put away the postcards and photos, she said to Lin Chaoyang: "Chen Kaige came to see me today and said that the clothing city is opening, and Zhang Jinling, Li Xiuming and Fang Shuneng from Yanying Studio can come. Liu Xiaoqing has an event in the United States in early March and may not be able to make it. "

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "Old Chen is very famous, and three golden flowers came at once. ”

In the 1970s and 1980s, domestic film studios liked to use "Golden Flowers" to promote their own actors.

Yan Film Studio previously had "Three Golden Flowers", namely Zhang Jinling, Li Xiuming and Liu Xiaoqing. In the past two years, two more golden flowers, Zhang Liwei and Fang Shu, have been added, and they are called the Five Golden Flowers of Yan Film Studio.

These five golden flowers are all popular movie stars, especially Liu Xiaoqing and Fang Shu, who have been in the limelight in the past two years.

The two also served as hosts in the just-concluded Spring Festival Gala, and their popularity has already opened up a gap with the other three golden flowers.

It is true that the five golden flowers are actors of Yan Film Studio, but they spend most of their time filming, and most of the time they are away from home.

Let alone five people, it is not easy to get three people together at once.

Tao Yushu also said happily: "Yes, if the three of them can come, there will definitely be a huge crowd on the opening day. Lao Chen has helped a lot this time."

Lin Chaoyang said again: "And Lao Xie should be able to invite a few people. ”

Xie Jin is one of the most famous names in the Chinese film industry today. He will definitely help to contact people, and the lineup will definitely not be inferior to Chen Huaikai’s.

Tao Yushu imagined the scene of drums and music and people rushing in on the day of the opening of the clothing city, and couldn’t help but feel excited.

“Du Feng also found colleagues from their art troupe. At that time, their colleagues will be responsible for stage design and art, and they can also put on a few programs…”

As Tao Yushu spoke, he felt something was wrong, “Hey, why do I feel that there are too many people invited? Will they steal the show?”

Lin Chaoyang thought about it and felt that it seemed a bit too much. This is not a concert.

Don’t let the audience only watch the performance, and no one cares about the opening of the clothing city.

“You can split it up into two or three days, and make a preview of which stars will appear on which day, and attract more people to come.”

Tao Yushu clapped his hands when he heard it, “This is a good idea!”

Lin Chaoyang warned again: “But don’t count too much on the stars. Ordinary people come here to bring popularity and fame to the Asia-Europe Clothing City, but the clothing city is taking a high-end route. Whether you can retain customers depends on your products and services. "

"I understand." Tao Yushu said, picking up the clothes she brought back from the company, "Try this dress."

In the clothing business, product selection is a very critical link.

Since participating in the preparation of the clothing city, Tao Yushu would bring back two clothes from time to time for her family to try as models.

She took out a Japanese version of a dark gray windbreaker. Nowadays, European windbreakers are popular on the market. Because they are designed and tailored according to the body shape of Europeans and Americans, these windbreakers are often not so suitable for the body shape of Chinese people.

The Japanese version of the windbreaker is different. They are both East Asians, and the design and tailoring of the Japanese version of the windbreaker are more suitable for the body shape of Chinese people.

After Lin Chaoyang put on the windbreaker, Tao Yushu looked at him for a long time, and his face was very satisfied.

"Du Feng is really good at choosing clothes! "

When Lin Chaoyang was taking off his clothes, Tao Yushu suddenly had an idea, "Hey, when those celebrities come, how about I give them a few sets of clothes each?"

Lin Chaoyang looked a little surprised, and then immediately understood Tao Yushu's thoughts.

Giving clothes is not the purpose, but to let these stars wear these clothes on the opening day.

Lin Chaoyang immediately thought of the frog glasses popularized by "The Man from Atlantic", the windbreaker worn by Ken Takakura in "The Chase", and the red lapel shirt popularized by Liu Xiaoqing on the Spring Festival Gala.

The commercial atmosphere of this era is not as strong as that of later generations. The ability of film and television works and stars to bring goods is a hundred times stronger than those so-called stars and anchors in later generations.

The popularity of a film and television work can often make a fashion item popular throughout China.

He smiled and praised: "Your little brain is quite smart! The same style as the stars, I'm afraid that the people will go crazy to grab them!"

The term "same style as the stars" is unfamiliar to Tao Yushu, but she immediately understood what Lin Chaoyang meant, and said excitedly: "This term is too accurate!"

The more Tao Yushu thought about it, the more she felt that this idea was feasible. There are advertisements in China now, but there is no awareness of inviting stars to be spokespersons. Her method is a disguised way of inviting those stars to be spokespersons, and everyone benefits from each other.

As the couple talked, Lin Chaoyang felt that Tao Yushu's business acumen seemed to be slowly stimulated by him, and he looked more and more like a businessman.

Two days later, Tao Yushu came back and said that she received a call from Shenzhen during the day. It was Xu Anhua who sent the crew to Shenzhen to call her specifically.

Now calls between China and Hong Kong are international long-distance calls. Those foreign companies that have offices in Yanjing Hotel or Minzu Hotel are strong and can enjoy the hotel's international long-distance services.

Asia-Europe Clothing City is just a foreign company's shell. The store is in Xidan Shopping Mall, and the company is in a public housing near Xidan.

Because it is a joint venture company, it can apply for a domestic long-distance telephone line, but it cannot receive international long-distance calls.

Hong Kong and Shenzhen are close to each other. When it is inconvenient to make international long-distance calls, many companies often use Shenzhen as a transit point, so that they only need to make domestic long-distance calls.

The content of Xu Anhua's call was to tell Tao Yushu that the post-production of "The Truman Show" was about to be completed.

Let her go back to Hong Kong when she has time to see the effect of the film. After all, the couple is also one of the investors of the film.

She also mentioned that before the Chinese New Year, Li Hanxiang had approached King Hu to contact the Cannes Film Festival, and that Gilles Jacob, the current selection director of the Cannes Film Festival, might make a special trip to Hong Kong in late March.

The reputation of the Cannes Film Festival today is still a little behind that of later generations, but it does not prevent it from being one of the three major European festivals and having a significant influence in the world film industry.

Every year at the film festival, being nominated is a major hurdle. Hundreds of films from all over the world compete for the qualification to be nominated for more than 20 main competition units each year. The fierce competition is self-evident.

The selection committee of the Cannes Film Festival generally consists of three groups. The first group is responsible for selecting French local films and is composed of local French media workers.

The second group is responsible for selecting those films with potential from a large number of videotapes. Such films are usually created by young filmmakers who are not famous, have no connections, and lack funds.

The last group is responsible for selecting films outside France, and the person in charge is the selection director Gilles Jacob.

In addition, there are three film selectors, whose professions include directors, journalists and film lovers. This group of committees is directly responsible to the president of the film festival.

It can also be seen from the configuration of the film selection group that this last film selection group has the most power in the Cannes Film Festival's film selection process and has the highest chance of being shortlisted.

"The Truman Show" invited Giles Jacob, the film selection director. It cannot be said that being selected into the main competition unit is a foregone conclusion, but it is definitely a high probability event.

This film has been aiming for awards since the beginning of the project. With the endorsement of two great directors, Li Hanxiang and Hu Jinquan, it is not a problem to get the chance to be selected.

But the more critical reason for inviting Giles Jacob, the film selection director of the Cannes Film Festival, is that Golden Harvest is behind "The Truman Show".

Hong Kong films have swept across Asia in recent years. Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest and other film giants have always been frequent visitors to the Cannes Film Festival copyright trading market.

The Cannes Film Festival may not look down on the artistry of Hong Kong films, but they will never ignore the commercial value of Hong Kong films.

After all, if a film festival wants to be successful, in addition to the level of the participating films and the fame of the filmmakers, another very important factor is that the copyright trading market must be active.

And it is undeniable that the influence of Hong Kong films in the Asian film industry has indeed become increasingly greater in recent years.

"After I finish the work of the clothing city, I have to go back to Hong Kong to take a look. I really don't know what the final effect of the movie will be." Tao Yushu said expectantly.

"It shouldn't be too bad."

No one can predict whether a movie will be good or bad in the end, but for those who are deeply involved in it, everyone actually has a feeling.

"The Truman Show" is striving for excellence from investment to script, from actors to costumes and props. Even if it cannot become a classic, the lower limit will definitely not be too low.

Time flies to March. The major universities in Yanjing have just started school. Xie Mian suddenly found Lin Chaoyang's house and said that the May Fourth Literary Society wanted to invite him to attend a symposium.

Xie Mian was a member of the original May Fourth Literary Society. After the May Fourth Literary Society was re-established in 1978, he has been deeply involved in it.

Lin Chaoyang has nothing to do recently, and he is happy to communicate with students.

Early in the morning, he drove to the south gate of Yanda, parked the car on the side of the road, and then walked into the campus.

Although it is still chilly in spring, the night temperature is still around zero degrees, but the rain has passed, and the grass and trees on the Yanda campus are sprouting vitality.

The campus, which has been empty for most of the winter, is now full of youthful and energetic figures. Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but feel a little close to it because he hadn't seen this scene for a long time.

He walked happily to the entrance of the library. Students were coming in and out, and it was very lively, but once he entered the library, the atmosphere was very quiet.

It has been more than a year since he appeared in the library. As soon as Lin Chaoyang appeared, he was immediately spotted by some sharp-eyed old colleagues.

"Chaoyang?" Tu Mansheng, who was at the borrowing desk on the first floor, saw Lin Chaoyang and called him excitedly in a low voice.

Lin Chaoyang walked over, and Tu Mansheng asked happily: "Why did you have time to come back?"

"The May Fourth Youth Society invited me to attend a meeting in the conference room of our building."

Lin Chaoyang chatted with Tu Mansheng for a few words, and soon, a group of colleagues gathered around.

In the past two years, Lin Chaoyang has appeared less and less frequently in the library, and colleagues who were once familiar with him can only learn about him through newspapers, magazines and TV.

When they met again, everyone still talked and laughed, but everyone could feel the sense of distance caused by the change of time, identity and status.

"It's really not easy to see you now!"

Du Rong sighed, with a tone of "not like the young travel" in her voice.