1446 [Promise you a queen]
In the summer of 1992, "Yenjing Man in New York" was officially completed.
In August 1992, Zhang Yimou participated in the Venice Film Festival with "Farewell My Concubine".
This time, his dream of winning the top awards at the three major European film festivals was indeed fulfilled.
"Farewell My Concubine" won the Golden Lion Award and the Best Actor Award in one fell swoop, and Gong Li was also successfully shortlisted for the Best Actress Award.
It's a pity that Leslie Cheung's brilliance was too great in the movie. Although the Juxian played by Gong Li was already very good, it was still not outstanding compared to Cheng Dieyi, so it was a pity that he lost.
This made her very sad, and after returning home, she cried to Xiang Nan.
"Okay, don't cry. I promise you that I will help you win the Best Actress Award from the three major European film festivals." Xiang Nan advised her.
"Keep your word." Gong Li looked at him and said.
"A gentleman's words are followed by a swift whip." Xiang Nan said solemnly.
Gong Li nodded.
…
Xiang Nan then found Zhang Yimou and handed him a script, "Director Zhang, this is a script I just wrote. Please see if it works."
Zhang Yimou took it and took a look, and he was so shocked that he broke into a cold sweat.
Xiang Nan's script was a bit too bold, and he was quite surprised after reading it.
It turns out that the name of this script is "To Live", which tells the story of the protagonist Fugui's ups and downs in his life and reflects the fate of a generation of Chinese people.
This script was written bolder, more powerful, and more poignant than "Farewell My Concubine". It made him feel so heavy after reading it that he was speechless for a long time.
"Professor Cheng, this script..." He didn't know how to evaluate it.
Bold is really bold, but good is also really good, which gave him a strong creative impulse.
"Director Zhang, I think you are the only one in China who can film this script." Xiang Nan said with a slight smile.
Zhang Yimou nodded.
Such a script is a bit taboo. If it is not a famous director like him, it will be easily blocked after filming.
In fact, although his film "Farewell My Concubine" won awards abroad, it is now almost impossible to be released in China.
"I don't know, do you dare to challenge it?" Xiang Nan asked.
After Zhang Yimou hesitated for a moment, he finally nodded.
Although with his current fame, he can make some movies and sell good box office. However, compared to salary and bonus, he is more willing to challenge art.
Although the script "Alive" seems taboo, its core is actually upward. It shows a spirit of the Chinese people - insisting on living no matter how much suffering they suffer.
This is also the reason why the land of China has endured countless natural and man-made disasters, floods, droughts, earthquakes, plagues, and foreign invasions for five thousand years, but it still continues to this day.
Therefore, he is willing to make such a work.
"Then it's settled." Xiang Nan said with a slight smile.
…
In September, "Yenjing People in New York" was officially broadcast on Yanjing TV Station.
As soon as this TV series was launched, it received a lot of response.
After the country opened its door to the outside world in the 1970s, many Chinese people were eager to go abroad. For this reason, they studied foreign languages hard, practiced exam-taking skills, and even offered various favors to foreigners in order to go abroad.
"Yenjing Man in New York" just illustrates this theme.
Cellist Wang Qiming and his wife Guo Yan tried their best and gave up their reputation, status and jobs in the Mainland to go to the United States to join their wife's aunt. As a result, after they left, they had no jobs and could only start by washing dishes.
Although they made money through business, the relationship between the couple had broken down. When their children came to the United States, they did not adapt to the life here and quickly fell into decline.
In the end, the whole family was lost in the bustling streets of New York, not knowing where the road ahead was...
"Yanjing Man in New York" is quite realistic. The moon abroad is not rounder.
In fact, unless the Chinese who went abroad in the 1980s and 1990s were really capable, very few of them could make a fortune abroad.
In the world of "Little Shed", Xiang Nan lived in Hawaii for twenty years and had contact with the local Chinese. After most Chinese came to Hawaii, they basically started as low-level workers.
Because mainland academic qualifications are not recognized at all in the United States, it is difficult to find a good job. Therefore, it often takes two to three generations of hard work to gain a foothold in the United States.
But the price paid is also huge. The biggest price is that the younger generations lack a sense of belonging. They are not Chinese and will be rejected by others if they call themselves Americans.
And if people lack a sense of belonging, their souls have no support. They are like abandoned orphans who have been searching for their roots all their lives.
Therefore, unless you are sure that you can get a better life abroad, Xiang Nan still does not recommend blindly going abroad. The outside world is very exciting, but the outside world is also very helpless.
…
The popularity of "Yanjing People in New York" has greatly increased the popularity of the leading actors Jiang Wen, Zhu Lin, Wang Ji and others.
Especially Zhu Lin, she took a break for nearly two years after filming "The Story of the Editorial Department", and her popularity was originally on the decline.
Now through the movie "Yanjing People in New York", she immediately returned to the front line. The role she plays as Guo Yan is beautiful and dignified, hard-working, kind and passionate, which really fascinated many viewers.
Moreover, she is already forty years old this year, nearly ten years older than Jiang Wen, but she is still beautiful. Playing the role of husband and wife in the play is not out of the ordinary at all.
Even at first glance, Jiang Wen looked older than her, which made him feel uneasy for a while.
The success of "Yanjing Man in New York" further consolidated Feng Xiaogang's status. Moreover, this trip to the United States really opened his eyes a lot.
He told Xiang Nan that he felt like he had been reborn.
…
In 1993, Xiang Nan released a new novel - "The Matrix".
At that time, this movie was a global sensation and became one of the highest-grossing series in the United States.
In addition, Xiang Nan's previous scripts such as "Basic Instinct", "The Fugitive", "Speed", "True Lies", and "Home Alone 2" have also been made into movies one after another in the past two years, and have successively won awards. Very good box office.
In particular, "True Lies" was selected by the great director James Cameron. After it was released in 1992, it took in nearly 500 million U.S. dollars at the box office. It was extremely popular and topped the box office in 1992.
It is precisely because of this that Xiang Nan's reputation in Hollywood is at its peak. Therefore, as soon as the novel "The Matrix" was published, many film companies immediately offered olive branches, hoping to obtain the rights to film and television adaptations.
However, Xiang Nan still rejected them all. He only sold the animation, comic, and game adaptation rights of the novel.
Because he knew that "The Matrix" required a lot of computer special effects, and with the current level of technology, it would be very difficult to film it well. In this case, he simply refused to give it.
However, he still took out several scripts in exchange for money, namely "The Detective", "Dumb and Dumber", "Jumanji", "Seven Deadly Sins", "Heavenly Tribulation", "The Island of the Dead"
Chapter completed!