Chapter One Hundred and Ten: Gains and Losses

  "Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, hello! I'm delighted to meet you all here." Annie Bancroft walked up to the podium with a smile.

  "Although this award doesn't belong to me, I'm delighted to share the joy with everyone! Mr. Bille just said it very correctly, a good scriptwriter is extremely important for both directors and actors, but we often only focus on those famous directors and actors, rarely paying attention to scriptwriters! Without good scriptwriters, there wouldn't be good movies."

  "Anne Bancroft, indeed a superb actress, I really can't believe the Oscars committee invited Ms. Anne as the presenter for this year's Best Adapted Screenplay award!" Steven said with emotion, looking at the host stage where Anne Bancroft, already in her sixties, was standing.

  After hearing Steven's words, Song Tang looked at Steven beside him with a puzzled expression.

  After seeing Song Tang's puzzled gaze, Steven smiled slightly, but Steven didn't explain the meaning of his words. "Song, 'The Shawshank Redemption' was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at this year's Oscars, wasn't it?"

  "Really!" Song Tang listened to Steven's words and slightly stunned, then sighed.

  "What's wrong? So pessimistic, or is it that you don't have confidence in yourself?" Steven asked curiously upon seeing Song Tang's sentimental expression. In Steven's eyes, Song Tang wasn't this kind of pessimistic person, and for a moment, Steven couldn't help but feel some doubt in his heart.

  "No! Just some feelings! Although 'The Shawshank Redemption' was nominated, compared to the best original screenplay of 'Pulp Fiction', I prefer 'Pulp Fiction'. The Oscars don't really like realistic films!" Song Tang said with a hint of worry.

  "I don't know if that's necessarily true, although there were some good movies in Hollywood last year, like 'Unforgiven', 'Scent of a Woman' and 'Howard's End', which are all pretty good. But compared to those two, the quality of 'The Shawshank Redemption' is much higher, so if it doesn't win this award, who knows what other surprises might be in store," said Steven.

  After listening to Steven's words, Song Tang also found that he was too pessimistic. As for the movie "The Shawshank Redemption", Song Tang confidently knew more about it than Steven, but he had been overly concerned with gains and losses just now!

  "Whatever!" Having thought it through, Song Tang didn't care about the matter anymore and shifted his attention to the stage, waiting for Annie Bancroft to announce the final award results.

  "And the nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are..." Annie announced with a smile, opening the envelope in her hand.

  "Howard's End"

  "April in My Heart"

  "Super Player"

  "The Shawshank Redemption"

  "Smell of Perfume Knows the Lady"

  "And the winner of this year's Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay is..."

  "Congratulations to 'Howard Estate'! Congratulations to the director and screenwriter of 'Howard Estate'!"

  "Oh, God, it's wonderful! Oscar little gold man, he's ours!" James Ivory leapt to his feet as Anne Bancroft announced the winner of Best Adapted Screenplay for "Howards End".

  "Ah, congratulations, director!" Emma Thompson, the female lead of "Howards End", said with a smile to James Ivory.

  "Thanks, thanks! Emma, I wish you a posthumous Oscar!" James replied excitedly.

  After hearing the final result, Song Dang couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he didn't win the Best Adapted Screenplay award. The directors and screenwriters of "April Story", "Super Player" and "The Scent of a Woman" also felt similarly disappointed. However, this is just the way it goes - when one person wins, four others will lose out because the Oscar for this category can't be awarded to two films at the same time.

  "Howards End" is an adaptation of Forster's work, full of British literary flavor, subtly depicting the embarrassment and helplessness of life in implicit human relationships. The actors also have extremely high standards of performance. The story takes place in 20th-century Britain, where sisters Margaret and Helen become acquainted with the wealthy and conservative Wilcox family. Helen develops a brief romance with Paul Wilcox before leaving the Wilcox home, while Margaret establishes a harmonious relationship with Mrs. Wilcox.

  Mrs. Wilcox soon became ill and died, leaving a will that bequeathed the country house, Howards End, to Margaret. The will was discovered by Henry, who hid it. Henry proposed to Margaret and she accepted him. Helen left the Wilcoxes' home and met Leonard Bast, a young clerk, whose life was transformed by her intelligence and passion, but he had an unhappy marriage.

  Emotionally battered, Bast and Helen spent the night together. The next day, Helen left for the estate without a word. Margaret, now married, had always wanted to bring the two families closer together. She arranged for Helen to come to Howard Estate on holiday, only to discover she was pregnant with Bast's child. Charles Wilcox, the eldest son of the Wilcox family, considered this a loss of dignity and got into an argument with Bast, killing him in the process, and ending up in prison himself. Margaret took over Howard Estate and moved in with Henry, Helen, and her son, thus fulfilling Mrs. Wilcox's will, and the barriers between the two families disappeared.

  Compared to this, perhaps the film is not better than "The Shawshank Redemption", but in the end, "Howards End" won Best Adapted Screenplay, it seems that after all, "The Shawshank Redemption" does not have much advantage in terms of subject matter! Song Tang thought secretly. However, although Song Tang was a little disappointed, he didn't show it, and facing the comfort of Steven, Monica, Charlie and others, Song Tang just smiled slightly.

  After Anne Bancroft presented the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Howard's End", she didn't leave the stage as everyone expected, but instead pulled out two more sealed envelopes and took the microphone, smiling at the audience below.

  "Heh heh, everyone present here, haven't you all wondered why I went down just now? Well, the next Best Original Screenplay award will still be presented by me! Compared to the Best Adapted Screenplay, perhaps this Best Original Screenplay is a bit more eye-catching, after all it's an original work. However, if everyone thinks that way, then I think you're all greatly mistaken."

  Anne Bancroft paused here, then continued in her rich, magnetic voice: "It's common knowledge that a good original screenplay can be written with ease if there's good inspiration. However, when it comes to adapting a script, it's not just about having good inspiration and outstanding logic; more importantly, one needs to grasp the emotions of the original author, consider the ideas in their book, and so on. Of course, many people may disagree with me, but that doesn't matter - these are just my personal views. In Hollywood and the film industry, there are countless directors and screenwriters who I believe have more authority than I do."

  Anne Bancroft struck a nonchalant pose, then tore open the envelope containing the Best Original Screenplay nomination and said: "Alright, you guys, I know some of you may be thinking I'm long-winded, but I think you should consider that an older person is generally more...long-winded!"

  "Hahaha~~~" Many people were shocked after hearing Anne Bancroft's words. Although Anne Bancroft is already over sixty years old this year, from her appearance and figure, few people would believe that Anne Bancroft is a woman in her sixties, and now she still frequently appears on the big screen.

  Everyone was very much in tune with each other and took Anne Bancroft's words as a joke, which they actually were!

  "And the nomination for Best Original Screenplay at the 65th Academy Awards goes to!" Annie Bancroft paused, looked around, and then read out loud under everyone's expectant gaze.

  "Crying Game"

  "Vulgarity"

  "Lorenzo's Oil"

  "The Libertine"

  "Unforgiven"

  "And the award for Best Original Screenplay goes to..."

  "Bravo, bravo! Congratulations to our brilliant director, Mr. Tang Song!" Annie Bancroft led the applause as soon as she finished announcing the winner's list.

  "Congratulations, Song, on winning the 65th Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay!"

  "Congratulations, Tang!"

  “。。。”

  Looking around at the people congratulating him, Song Tang was also very excited. "Vulgarity" was his first film as a director, and now it had won the award for Best Original Screenplay. Song Tang was indeed thrilled and excited! At the same time, he nodded in response to the congratulations from the people around him.

  "Thank you, Steven!"

  "Thanks Samuel, Uma, and also Dennis, Monica, Sophie..." After hugging the people around him, Song Tang walked towards the stage.

  Los Angeles, Song family, at this time Liu Ying and Jessica were watching the live broadcast of the Oscars ceremony. When they saw Annie read out the final list of winners, their tense mood suddenly became excited, and the two jumped up excitedly, hugged each other deeply, and shouted: "Sweetheart, my son won!"

  "Yes, Tang is the best!" Jessica waved her fist and stared at Song Tang on the TV screen with determination.

  New York, taxi driver Kahn (38th) and his 8-year-old daughter Mary stared at the TV screen with a tense expression, and when they finally learned that Song Dang won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, they also jumped up excitedly.

  "Hey, Dad, I knew it! Song is the best director ever! Right, Dad?" Mary looked at her father with a tense expression and asked curiously.

  "Yes, dear! Unfortunately, this is not the Best Director award. The Oscars' judges must have had their eyes eaten by dogs. Song is such an excellent director, why hasn't he been awarded the Best Director award yet?" Taxi driver Kahn said with a resentful face.

  Thank you very much for your comments and support, dear book friends! Your support is the greatest motivation in the dark night. Also, I'd like to ask for recommendations, collections, and rewards!!!