""The Truman Show" was a huge hit overseas and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award!"
"Ten years later, the mainland film industry has been nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film again. After ten years of Oscar journey, can Li Qian win back an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film trophy for the mainland film industry?"
"In 2003, the epoch-making blockbuster "Hero" was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for the first time in 11 years since "Ju Dou" in 1992. The 11-year wait finally came to nothing.
Now, ten years later, Li Qian, a new-generation director who has also ushered in the billion-dollar box office era, participated in the Oscar selection for the first time and was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film. We hope that Li Qian can continue his miracle and fill the gap for the best Oscar winner in the mainland film industry.
Blank space for foreign language films!”
"Breaking down the history of Olympic competition in the mainland film industry, after 30 years of competing for the Olympics, mainland filmmakers and Oscars seem to be drifting apart. This is the confusion of Zhang Yimou, who has won international awards but failed to compete for the Olympics eight times. He is also trying to use movies as a
Bridge the confusion of filmmakers who export culture, and now he is nominated again after ten years. Can Li Qian solve this confusion for mainland filmmakers? "
"Ten years later, he is finally nominated, and Li Qian is competing for the Oscars with "The Truman Show"!"
...
The Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film has injected vitality into the mainland film industry, which has been somewhat dormant since the release of "The Truman Show" is coming to an end.
The repeated failures in competing for the Olympics have caused many filmmakers and audiences to lose hope, and basically no longer pay attention to the matter of competing for the Olympics.
Even Optoelectronics did not give any hope. This time it gave the qualification to "The Truman Show" purely because it is Li Qian's movie. As long as the content is not sensitive, it is 100% his.
Although the movie "I'm Not the God of Medicine" made Li Qian appear in the small books of various ministries and commissions, he became the target of special attention.
However, the huge reputation gained by the movie also promoted the medical reform, which also allowed Li Qian to obtain qualifications far beyond his age, so he naturally received the same treatment.
However, as soon as the nominations were announced, a mainland film was nominated again after ten years, which gave everyone, including the Optoelectronics and Cultural Departments, renewed hope.
In the past, there were no nominations, so naturally there was no hope.
But this time, there are five films nominated, and the probability of winning is 20%.
It's like the national football team playing a game with Brazil. There was little hope at the beginning, and the gambling companies didn't even bother to open the market.
But if the opponent is tied within 80 minutes, and as long as they hold on in the last ten minutes, it will be a draw, then even if the players face the Brazilian opponent, they will use their best strength and fight hard to play hard.
Choose one out of five, 20% chance, this is hope.
...
As soon as Han Sanping came out of Optoelectronics, he immediately made an appointment to meet Li Qian at a hotel near Future Pictures.
When Li Qian came, Han Sanping was still obviously a little excited. He sat on the sofa without leaning his back on the backrest.
"Director Han, what's going on?" Li Qian said with a smile.
Seeing that Li Qian was not in a hurry and didn't seem to be excited about the Oscar nomination at all, Han Sanping was also speechless for a while.
After calming down, Han Sanping said succinctly, "The General Administration attaches great importance to this Oscar. I just came back from a meeting. Director Cai asked all levels of departments to fully support "The Truman Show" in competing for the Oscars."
Li Qian asked curiously, "How can you support Fa?"
"Full support!"
"..."
These four words can explain a lot of meanings, but Li Qian doesn't care. Optoelectronics' support does not have much effect on Oscar.
"Director Han, you also know that this has nothing to do with whether optoelectronics support or not." Li Qian shook his head.
"But, do the higher-ups really care that much?"
"In the 1980s, I wouldn't have cared much about it. After all, it was just a regional Hollywood award."
Han Sanping sighed, "Since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2001, Oscars have become the obsession of the entire industry from top to bottom."
He didn't say it in detail, but Li Qian almost understood it.
He has not been through that era, but he probably still understands their feelings.
In the 1980s, domestic films have been lingering outside the Oscars for a long time. Although they have never won the Best Foreign Language Film Award, they are not too eager about it, and the progress of the entire mainland film industry is relatively stable.
Seeking progress.
Until the 73rd Oscars in 2001, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" had already been selected as a film by Hong Kong, so it was finally nominated for Baodao and won many awards including Best Foreign Language Film.
At that year's Oscar ceremony, when the film was introduced, they would only say that it was a Treasure Island movie.
Although the vast majority of viewers are proud of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", in the final analysis, this movie cannot be regarded as a victory for domestic films. After all, it is a product of Sino-US cooperation, and from the overall content
Look, this is also a very successful work that wraps Western values with Eastern culture.
After going around in circles for so many years, countless domestic directors have finally achieved the Oscar in this way, but they are still unwilling to do so. It can be said that it has completely affected the film industry's mentality towards the Oscars.
Not only the Oscars, but also the film industry, which is striving for steady progress, has begun radical development.
In the 1990s, movies with an investment of 10 million were all large-scale productions. However, after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", real domestic large-scale productions finally appeared.
"Hero" is an epoch-making blockbuster and a milestone for domestic films to officially integrate with international standards.
It was scolded badly at the time. It was completely different from the previous realism-oriented movie environment in China, which made everyone feel indigestion. Even at that time, many people knew that the scenes of this movie were gorgeous, but they had no idea what it was about.
Although it was very popular overseas, and the Oscar judges also praised "Heroes", it was too purposeful, and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" came before it, but it was only nominated but did not win an award.
Subsequent movies such as "House of Flying Daggers", "The Promise", and "The Night Banquet" were almost all costume blockbusters with all-star casts and overwhelming publicity, similar formulas, similar tastes, and full of ambition and fighting spirit. At that time,
During this period, domestic directors were still very obsessed with Oscars.
The intentions of these movies are relatively obvious, and many people in the industry are also trying to produce the types of Chinese movies that they think the Oscar jury will like. Unfortunately, these routines do not work in the end.
Half of the purpose of these movies, and it can even be said that the biggest goal is to win the Olympics and replicate the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
However, these blockbusters all failed, and after being hit, their thoughts on competing for the Olympics faded away.
"Originally, "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins" was considered a last ditch effort. After the failure, I didn't have much ideas, including the above."
Han Sanping was embarrassed to say that Optoelectronics chose "The Truman Show" with no intention of winning the award. It just gave Li Qian a spot that was worthy of his status. It didn't matter anymore.
Han Sanping also became slightly excited as he spoke, and continued, "But this time "The World Out" was nominated, and Hollywood's evaluation of the film was not low, the General Administration has rekindled hope!"
"The Thirteen Hairpins" was indeed the last hope before. The whole film is not only rooted in China's tragic history, but also described from the perspective of foreign missionaries. Not only does it have more practical significance than the previous costume blockbusters, it also has a realistic meaning.
At the same time, it also has the added convenience of combining Chinese and Western styles.
It is also a film that is competing for the Olympics. Because of this, when Zhang Weiping scolded Han Sanping for his mountain eagle during the Lunar New Year festival, Han Sanping had no reaction at all. The theater chain under China Film Group still gave it its full support.
In other words, the hope that photovoltaics had finally extinguished was rekindled by Li Qian.
Li Qian could only spread his hands, "But this is not something I can decide. One million US dollars in public relations fees have been handed over to Warner, and they have done what they should do. Thousands of judges, unless it is overwhelming
advantages, otherwise we can only wait.”
This advantage of the Oscar is unmatched by other awards. Thousands of judges mean that unless it is an absolute advantage or some special movies, it can be said to be almost absolutely fair compared to other awards.
"One million US dollars? If you really want to win a statuette, all the public relations expenses will be reimbursed for you, and there will be an extra bonus!" Han Sanping said.
"..."
Li Qian was speechless. What was going on? It was like telling a child that you would be rewarded with ten yuan based on one hundred anger points.
The exam depends on your own level. The main thing is to study hard, not be stupid, and work hard enough. After all, there are fixed standard answers, but Oscar is different.
However, when it came down to this, Li Qian could only express his best efforts.
"Then I will spend an additional one million US dollars in public relations expenses to roll out outdoor billboards in Southern California and New York, the two places where Oscar judges gather."
Southern California is the southern part of California. The Bay Area with San Francisco as its core is usually called Northern California, while the Los Angeles metropolitan area is called Southern California.
Southern California and New York are gathering places for filmmakers, and many of the thousands of Oscar judges live in these two areas.
Although it is a bit traditional, it is still effective. Another public relations method in the Internet era is to build a website and mobile APP specifically for the movie to canvass votes for itself. However, for foreign language films, the significance is relatively small.
Seeing that Li Qian also became serious, Han Sanping was relieved, but he still kept reminding him, "Winning the Little Golden Man is more important to you and your company than anything else at the moment.
Moreover, Director Cai has just taken office, so you can control the interests yourself, put down everything you are doing, and go all out!"
"I see."
Li Qian nodded, watched Han Sanping leave, and lay down on the sofa.
"Why..."
From the beginning to the end, Li Qian behaved very casually about Oscars.
However, as the highest award in the world film industry, no director would not want to stand on the podium and win the statuette.
The reason why it seems like it doesn't matter, especially when facing anyone or any interview, is just to not give others too much expectations.
The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment will be if we don’t win the prize. God knows what kind of noise will come out.
Now it seems that after the General Administration learned of the nomination, it held a meeting immediately to fully support "The Truman Show" in the Olympics.
As soon as Han Sanping finished the meeting, he eagerly asked himself out.
No need for Li Qian to say anything, their expectations for themselves were already higher than expected.
Li Qian is a little helpless. He is not a person who likes to let others down. He has been like this since he was a child.
Although Optoelectronics, Han Sanping or whoever they are are not their own, they are the ones who represent mainland movies after all.
I have no choice but to shoulder this expectation and responsibility myself.
I took out my mobile phone and made an overseas call. I added a US$1 million public relations budget to Warner Bros. and launched outdoor advertising in movie-makers gathering places in Southern California and New York.
After thinking for a while, I turned on the computer and read the news.
Most of the entertainment news is related to "The Truman Show" being nominated for Oscars. After all, there are no new movies released now, and there haven't even been any new movies in the past half month.
Netizens are also very interested in "The Truman Show" being nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
"Li Qian is awesome. He was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film in his first Oscar appearance, and he even brought back the statuette in one go!"
"We are competing for the Olympics again, shouting every year, running with us every year, what's the point? The Oscars are clearly discriminating against domestic films!"
"I think "The Truman Show" has hope. The fifth generation of directors can't keep up with the times. They make the same old movies. Li Qian is different. "The Truman Show" is still about people pursuing freedom and exploring their true nature.
, Westerners should accept this."
"But this is a comedy. Doesn't Hollywood just ignore comedy?"
"It's not that we don't take it seriously, that's discrimination, okay? At the first Oscars, Chaplin's "The Circus" was nominated for best actor and best director, but it was withdrawn by the Oscars and changed to a special award."
"I'm curious, what is the special award?"
"A special award is a special award, just these three words."
"After being nominated, you can still withdraw it. Sure enough, the freedom of rice and rice is so delicious."
"Then if you say that, wouldn't it be a suspense?"
"Stop guessing. "The Truman Show" is just a comedy on the surface, and it's not a laugh-out-loud comedy. Have you ever seen a scary comedy? This should be a realistic movie!"
"It's just the best foreign language film. It can't be justified if I don't win it. The Douban score is stable at 9.3!"
"Li Qian just made "The Truman Show" much more beautiful. It can definitely be made into an art film."
"Li Qianchong duck, no domestic film has won the best foreign language film!"
"If Li Qian can't get it, then who can we expect? Those underground directors will definitely not be able to count on it. Among the new generation, in terms of artistry and connotation, those directors who make literary films are not as good as Li Qian!"
"I would trade my three roommates and three years of being single in exchange for The Truman Show winning the Best Foreign Language Film."
.....
Seeing the lively discussion among netizens, they all have great expectations for "The Truman Show".
Li Qian is tired. It is not comfortable to have everyone's expectations on his shoulders.