Chapter 1435 1437 [The first person]
In April 1990, "A Romantic Affair" officially started filming.
Director Feng Xiaogang, female protagonist Xu Qing, male protagonists Jiang Wu and Shao Feng, screenwriter Xiang Nan, the lineup can be said to be very good.
In May, good news came from the Cannes Film Festival.
"Raise the Red Lantern", directed by Zhang Yimou, written by Xiang Nan, starring Gong Li, beat David Fincher's "Wild at Heart", Giuseppe Tonadore's "Family Journey", Ke Lint Eastwood's "White Hunter, Black Heart" and other seed works won the Palme d'Or at the 43rd Cannes Film Festival in one fell swoop.
This is the first time that a Chinese-language film has won the highest award, the Palme d'Or, which can be said to be a supreme honor. Gong Li was also shortlisted for the Best Actress nomination at the Cannes Film Festival, which also broke the record in the Chinese film industry.
This point, even Shi Ke, Chen Chong, Liu Xiaoqing and others failed to do it. As a result, Gong Li has become a shining new star in the mainland film industry.
It's a pity that there is no screenwriting award at the Cannes Film Festival, otherwise, Xiang Nan might also have a chance to compete for the award.
At the end of May, the crew of "Raise the Red Lantern" returned from France with great honor and received unanimous welcome from all walks of life.
Especially Zhang Yimou, last year's Golden Bear Award in Berlin, this year's Cannes Palme d'Or...won two awards from the three major European film festivals in one go, which can be said to be the pride of the Chinese film industry.
Because of this, Zhang Yimou has obviously become the number one person in the mainland film industry.
The two works written by Xiang Nan both won awards at international film festivals, making him the number one screenwriter in the world, and his influence is also expanding silently.
…
"Hello, Professor Cheng, I'm Chen Kaige, I believe you must have heard my name?" One day, a middle-aged man with a haughty look came to Xiang Nandao.
Xiang Nan glanced at him, then nodded.
Chen Kaige, he still knows. "Yellow Earth" in 1985 and "The King of Children" in 1987 both created considerable repercussions.
"Professor Cheng, I hope to bring your novel "White Deer Plain" to the screen." He said.
Xiang Nan waved his hand when he heard this, "Forget it."
"What do you mean?" Chen Kaige was taken aback and asked in puzzlement.
"I mean, I don't agree." Xiang Nan said straight to the point.
Although Chen Kaige ranks among the top three mainland directors with Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang, his film art is not as good as Zhang Yimou's, and Feng Xiaogang is not as good as Feng Xiaogang's in terms of business.
Although there are several excellent works such as "The Yellow Earth", "The King of Children", and "Farewell My Concubine", there are also many works that are not up to standard, such as "The Promise", "The Taoist Descending the Mountain", "The Orphan of Zhao" and so on.
And most of his movies did not do well at the box office. "Feng Yue", "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", "The Promise", "The Orphan of Zhao", and "Legend of the Demon Cat" all suffered serious box office losses. Unlike Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang, there are almost no box office failures.
So Xiang Nan didn't even bother to cooperate with him.
Chen Kaige blushed suddenly, and said in surprise, "Why, why don't you agree?"
"You are asking a strange question, why should I agree?" Xiang Nan couldn't help laughing when he heard what he said.
"Don't you think it's your honor to entrust your novel to me?" Chen Kaige said immediately.
Now that Hollywood wants to cooperate with him, they always come to ask him, and they have all the good words. He didn't know where Chen Kaige's self-confidence came from. He thought that it was a kind of gift for him to shoot his own works.
"Does Director Chen have anything else to do? If not, I'll leave first. There's still class later." Xiang Nan got up and said, too lazy to talk nonsense to him.
"Professor Cheng, I hope you will carefully consider my opinion and think twice before acting." Chen Kaige said with a serious face upon seeing this.
Xiang Nan glanced at him speechlessly, thinking that he was out of his mind.
…
In June, Xiang Nan reached a cooperation agreement with Warner, and has the right to recommend Chinese actors to film in Hollywood. The news of cooperating with Steven Spielberg in a super A-level blockbuster was spread out, and it attracted the coveted eyes of countless people. .
In the 1990s, Hollywood was arguably the most desirable place for artists from all over the world. Top Chinese filmmakers like Jackie Chan, Zhou Runfa, and Tsui Hark have reputation, status, and money, and they still try their best to get to Hollywood, let alone ordinary actors.
At that time, anyone who wanted to be able to go to Hollywood to film could boast for a lifetime. Therefore, many artists came to visit Xiang Nan, hoping to get the chance to go to Hollywood.
However, there are only two places.
Xiang Nan would not give it away easily, it depends on sincerity.
"Professor Cheng, I heard that you can send someone to Hollywood?" Xu Qing asked with a smile while making tea.
"It's not that exaggerated." Xiang Nan waved his hand and said, "I just reached an agreement with Warner Pictures, and I can recommend two Chinese actors to participate in the filming of "Jurassic Park."
"Really?! I've read this novel, it's about dinosaurs, it must be a big production." Xu Qing said with a smile.
Xiang Nan nodded, "Well, the production cost is more than 60 million U.S. dollars."
"Wow~" Xu Qing couldn't help but widen her eyes.
Sixty million, in the 1990s, was considered an astronomical figure. Adding a dollar at the end is really scary. With so much money, I'm afraid I won't be able to earn it even if I shoot a movie for a thousand years.
"It's really amazing." She couldn't help admiring, and then asked gossip, "Professor Cheng, I heard that this movie will be directed by Steven Spielberg?"
"Yes, I chose him. I think only he can make this movie well." Xiang Nan nodded.
Hollywood has many directors suitable for making commercial films, but Spielberg is still one of the best. "Jaws", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", and "ET" are all works that exploded at the box office and word of mouth.
Of course, if James Cameron, George Lucas, Chris Columbus ("Home Alone", "The Goonies" would direct), that would be fine.
"Wow, that's a great director." Xu Qing couldn't help sighing.
No matter how ignorant she is, she has heard of Spielberg's name.
"Professor Cheng, tell me, can I go to Hollywood to film?" Xu Qing then asked tentatively.
"Are you going to Hollywood to film?!" Xiang Nan looked at her and said, "No way, the way of filming in Hollywood is very wild, not as conservative as in the mainland, hugging, kissing, and even groping are common things. I'm worried You have a psychological burden, and if you can't let go of your hands and feet at that time, it will be bad if you delay the shooting."
"Don't worry, I don't have any psychological burden, so I can let go." Xu Qing said immediately after hearing this.
"I'd like to believe your words, but the matter is so important, it's better to believe what you hear than to hear." Xiang Nan said in a deep voice.
Xu Qing was taken aback for a moment, then nodded with a smile.
(end of this chapter)