I am a literary giant in Europe

Chapter 410: Award Winner!
"Amos, when does the second part start?"

Tom Rothman asked in a low voice.

Liu Jin glanced at him and immediately understood his thoughts.

They want to get the second movie for free again!

Before Sunrise was a film he made so many cameos in in order to help Eva, Emmanuelle, and Isabelle Adjani.

Otherwise, the fee for just that cameo role would be tens of millions.

This guy might be addicted; does he want to get the second movie for free?

impossible!

Liu Jin knew very well that he didn't have that much influence.

"Let's see how the box office goes first."

"That's right, let's look at the box office results first."

Rossman nodded repeatedly in agreement.

However, his previous thought did not disappear.

……

What was the box office revenue of "Before Sunrise" back then?
not tall!

There seem to be only a little over five million worldwide.

However, there is a problem here. When the original director, Richard Linklater, made this film, although he was not a newcomer, he was not very famous.

In 1988, Richard's directorial debut, "Studying Too Much Is Useless," received no response.

Then, in 1991, his film "Urban Ronin" was nominated for the Jury Prize at the 7th Sundance Film Festival, but did not win.

In 1993, he learned about "Young and Arrogant" and his grades were mediocre.

Milla Jovovich had a role in this film.

"Before" is his fourth film, financed by Columbia Pictures.

Logically speaking, Columbia Pictures' distribution capabilities are not bad.

However, since the company was acquired by Sony in 1989, its management has been in a state of extreme chaos.

At the time, Sony hired Peter Gubel and Jon Peters as co-chairmen.

But these two guys...

It's hard to say.

Finally, Sony could no longer tolerate it and fired the two people at the end of 1994.

"Before" was filmed in 1994, and was based on a contract signed by Goubert and Peters while they were in office.

After the two left, Linklater found himself in an awkward situation.

Firstly, the company was in chaos, and nobody paid attention to him.

After the new chairman took office, he paid even less attention to the movie and released it casually.

As a result, the film grossed over 150 million euros on its opening day in France.

At this pace, breaking ten million will be easy, especially in France alone.

America was never even released.

It was shown for two days before being pulled from theaters and converted into a video rental service.

One can only say that Linklater was very unlucky, completing this film during Columbia Pictures' most chaotic period.

In fact, this turmoil at Columbia Pictures lasted for a long time.

Linklater waited nine long years, starting in 1995, before Sony expressed no interest in a sequel. He then switched to Warner Bros., which led to the second "Before Sunset" film.

What a tragic director.

Liu Jin believes that if Gubel and Peters had been fired a year later, the film might have had a very different fate.

After all, this is a work that won both the Golden Bear and the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Even if America isn't interested, it's enough to be a box office hit in Europe...

In fact, the "scumbag" story is quite popular in America as well.

When Linklater was filming the second "Twilight," he secured a $10 million investment. The fact that a third film followed suggests that the box office performance wasn't too bad.

Liu Jin is not in a hurry for a second part.

It depends on my mood!

Eva will next join the cast of Mission: Impossible 2, playing the role of Kim.

After that, she will join the cast of "Meet the Parents 2" and replace Terry Poirot in "Meet the Parents 1" as Pam Burns.

Perhaps this is very unfair to Terry Polo.

But that's just how reality is in Hollywood.

Leonardo DiCaprio asked Rick Yorn to approach Universal Pictures, and the matter was easily resolved.

However, Liu Jin knew that things wouldn't be easy for Eva once she joined the cast. If she couldn't deliver her best performance, she might face difficulties. After all, Terry Poirot had given a good performance in the film.

And the crew is full of big shots.

Eva didn't seem to care.

She was confident that she could make those people accept her existence.

Therefore, Eva will not be available next year.

And what about Liu Jin?

I also don't have time...

Filming for "Life Is Beautiful" will begin next year.

In short, Liu Jin's plan is to take his time with "Love Before".

As for Rossman... Liu Jin also wanted to take this opportunity to see what resources Searchlight could offer to promote the release of "Before".

Forget about feelings!

In Hollywood, talking about feelings is the most foolish thing to do.

These are David Lynch's exact words to Liu Jin.

Another saying: Those guys in Hollywood are all sluts.

Liu Jin wholeheartedly agreed.

……

The premiere was a great success and received a very positive response.

However, Liu Jin stopped paying attention to it.

Two days later, he attended the premiere of "Love's Landscape".

To be honest, in this movie... Li Miaoxue didn't handle the relationships between the characters well, which made the later part a bit chaotic.

Bland and boring.

The side story design is ingenious.

However, the main plot is somewhat illogical.

Liu Jin didn't offer any advice, but after the event, he sent Zhang Manyu an email expressing his views.

Zhang Manyu has joined the cast of "Clean".

So he didn't reply to Liu Jin until the next day, telling Liu Jin not to worry too much.

Liu Jin then stopped paying attention.

He has been writing very smoothly lately. With the closing ceremony approaching, he had already completed two-thirds of it.

The book has a total of thirty-eight chapters, and he wrote up to the thirtieth.

According to his calculations, he could finish the entire book before the start of the school term.

The following day, Emmanuel received a call from the organizing committee, indicating that "Before Sunrise" would win an award.

Liu Jin calculated the time and realized there was still time.

I decided to take a day off and relax.

Writing during this period has indeed been quite challenging, almost like writing online novels in my previous life, producing 20,000 to 30,000 words a day.

The closing ceremony will take place on September 6th.

Liu Jin walked the red carpet again with the film crew.

This time, however, no one dared to provoke him.

The South Korean film "The Family Affair" was completely shut down.

The reason... if Liu Jin hadn't brought up the World Cup topic again at the opening ceremony, he might have been nominated.

But now...

Italians are bringing up old grudges again, and have been discussing the events of that year.

Since ancient times, literature and art have been inseparable.

Even the film industry needs to consider this issue.

After receiving the news, Liu Jin secretly chuckled.

……

"At this year's film festival, after discussions between the organizing committee and the jury, a Best Kiss Scene Award has been added..."

This award is intended to pay tribute to beautiful love.

Films nominated for Best Kiss Scene include: Love in the City, Love at First Sight, Dreams of Argentina, and Love Before Sunrise.

The award presenters were Bertolucci and Monica Bellucci, Italy's national treasure and beauty.

On the screen, romantic kissing scenes from four movies flashed continuously.

Liu Jin stared wide-eyed, looking somewhat at a loss.

I have a vague, bad feeling about this.

It is quite common for film festivals to add awards at the last minute.

But what does "Best Kiss Scene Award" mean?
You're one of the top three European universities, so giving out such an unconventional award makes you seem a bit frivolous.

"Ms. Bellucci, in all the films you've made, which is the most unforgettable and memorable kissing scene?"

Bellucci chuckled.

"I'm sorry, most of my kissing partners weren't very good enough, so it's hard for me to say which film had the most unforgettable kissing scene."

But today's winners, their kissing scenes were so natural.

I could see the love in their eyes…it made me very sad and envious.”

"So, the winner is..."

Bellucci took the card out of the envelope.

She smiled and glanced at the audience.

"The winners are Amos Liu and Eva Green, for *Before Sunrise*!"

It seems many people already guessed this result.

So much so that when Bellucci announced the award, laughter, whistles, and applause echoed throughout the auditorium.

"Go and claim your award; you deserve it."

Adjani and Emmanuelle, barely suppressing their laughter, nudged Liu Jin and Eva.

You know, if it were Best Actor or Best Actress... I would definitely go up and accept the award without hesitation.

But this is supposed to be a Best Kiss Scene award...

Liu Jin glanced at Eva, smiled helplessly, and pulled her hand to stand up.

Applause erupted once again.

Eva Green seemed a little uncomfortable and somewhat shy.

Liu Jin, shameless as ever, held Eva's hand as they walked onto the podium.

"You're behind this?"

"Haha, what a surprise!"

I knew it was related to him.

But why are you getting involved, Bellucci?

Liu Jin took a trophy from Bellucci depicting a man and woman kissing, stood in front of the microphone, and then sighed.

"President Barbara, are you sure this is an award from the Venice Film Festival?"

Liu Jin raised the trophy. "May I ask you for royalties?"

This trophy is designed to resemble the final scene of love, when Liu Jin and Eva kiss goodbye.

Alberto laughed heartily in the audience.

Marco Müller laughed so hard he clutched his stomach.

"I believe it was a good-natured joke, though Mr. Bertolucci might not be so sure, since I stole his leading lady."

Laughter filled the auditorium once again.

Bertolucci stood to the side and shrugged.

"This award came as a complete surprise."

But then again, it doesn't seem so sudden.

Love is the most beautiful and pure emotion in human history, and it deserves our praise and celebration...

I'm glad the jury agreed with my point of view.

Look, they designed a statue especially for me.

I dislike twisted, even disgusting, forms of love; they are not love, but rather the desires and instincts of beasts.

Today, I feel that love has returned to its original form.

Thank you to the jury, thank you to the organizing committee, thank you to Ms. Emmanuelle Béart, thank you to director Isabelle Adjani, and thank you to those guys who kept nitpicking and making me do retakes during the filming of this scene… um, I'm talking about those guys. Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio, you are the person I regret meeting most in my life.”

Laughter filled the auditorium.

"Finally, thank you, Eva."

You suffered so much... I remember how many takes we had to do for this scene?

"38 times!"

Offstage, Adjani answered with a smile.

This sparked another burst of cheerful laughter.

Eva blushed and gently slapped Liu Jin.

"I hope that love will reap even greater rewards tonight, before dawn breaks!"

……

(End of this chapter)