In the torrent of history, only a small number of people can see the development of history, and then achieve a career that will go down through the ages. But many more people are unable to see the whole picture and the distant future, and are forced to go with the flow.

This was the case at the end of 1998, following the "Independence Day" in 1996 and the "Titanic" in 1997, 1998 ushered in a historical turning point again, and the prototype of the awards season has been shown for the first time. The heads of Hollywood's eight major studios don't have a clear blueprint, but they can already vaguely perceive that after the blockbuster era, the rules of the game for all awards ceremonies will change.

It's just that everyone is crossing the river by feeling the stones, and they can't master a really effective means, so the first real awards season in film history seems very chaotic. This confusion was epitomized in the last week of 1998, when there were 10 new releases, four of which were large-scale reactions.

Robin Williams starred in "Patch. Adams)", Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon teamed up for "Stepmom", the teen film "The Deadly High School". Faculty", a remake of the King Kong movie "Mighty. Joe。 Young)" and so on, and the scale of all the works has reached more than 2,300 theaters.

While these productions are aimed at the Christmas boom, with "Hands True" and "Giant Augese Joyoung" both reaching $90 million, and "Stepmother" costing $50 million as a comedy film, it makes the entire film market seem a little crowded and dazzling.

In addition, there are as many as six works screened in less than 15 theaters!

Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" (The. Thin。 Red。 Line)" set its sights on World War II, and at the time of its internal test screening, it was considered to be comparable to "Saving Private Ryan"; The "Ukiyo-e Men and Women" who allowed Sean Penn to win the title of Best Actor over Hugo at the Venice Film Festival are also on this week's screening list.

Steven Zelian wrote the script again after "Schindler's List" and for the second time as the director of the film, "The Forbidden Truth (A."). Civil。 Action)" is adapted from a focus on a 1979 drinking water contamination incident; Legendary French actress Isabelle Huppert starred in "The Got It All Done." Swindle", and Paul Greengrass. Greengrass) made his directorial debut with The. Theory。 Of。 Flight)" will also be released this week.

Finally, starring Charlize Theron, "The Female" is based on a true story. "The Adversary" also premiered in four theaters this week.

Among these six works, including "Flying Thoughts", they are actually dedicated to impacting the awards of the award ceremony. Although "Flying Thoughts" is only the director's debut, the joining of two powerful actors, Helena Bonham Carter and Kenneth Branagh, coupled with the story of the dream of flying, also makes the movie quite expected.

If the motivation of "Feifen's Thoughts" is not so obvious, then the ideas of the other five works can definitely be said to be "Sima Zhao's heart is known to everyone".

The "thin red line" actually moved Terrence out of the mountain after 20 years of shadowing, investing more than 52 million, and also invited Sean Penn, John Travolta, George Clooney, Nick Knott (Nick. Nolte), John Cusack, Woody Harrelson (Woody). Harrelson), Adrien Brody and other powerful actors. Obviously, the goal is to target the position of best picture and best director, and is determined to compete head-on with "Saving Private Ryan".

The "Forbidden Truth" is a whopping $75 million investment, plus John Travolta, Kathy Bates. Bates), Harry Dane Stanton (Harry. Dean。 Stanton) and other powerful actors, hailed as a combination of "Yihai Xiongfeng" and "Truman's World" - a court case to explore the cruel realities of society, and some even made this work the best performance of John's career.

In addition, "ukiyo-e men and women", "women. "The Devil" is a work whose performance is greater than the whole, and it is an attack on the actor award; "Everything is done" is an attack on the best foreign language film and the best actress.

These six films are undoubtedly typical "award-winning works", and when the film company first invested in the production of these works, it was for the awards of the awards ceremony - including the "thin red line", the grand war film Twentieth Century Fox only invested a little more than 50 million, which is far less than "Saving Private Ryan", and the screening time is also placed near the end of the year. Clearly, Twentieth Century Fox had high hopes for Terrence, and they were even more expecting the film to win at the awards shows, mainly the Oscars.

Such an unprecedented lively scene is new to everyone in Hollywood, but at this time, moviegoers have not really felt the atmosphere of the awards season, but they just feel that the art theaters at the end of the year have suddenly become lively, but for insiders, they can already vaguely touch the model of the awards season, and really feel that the wave is inevitably pouring down.

"Female. At the screening ceremony of "The Devil", there was not too grand and cumbersome links, but the appearance of Steven Spielberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman and others still attracted the focus of countless reporters.

Steven waited left and right, never waiting for Hugo's figure, hesitated again and again but still didn't hold back, walked to Charlize and Leonardo's side, pretended to be relaxed and asked, "Why didn't Hugo come today?" ”

"Hugo went home, it's rare that he doesn't need to work this year, he went back to accompany Adam." Charlize explained with a smile, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Didn't Hugo call you this morning?" ”

"I was busy handing out gifts, and the call was answered by Kate, and I received his greetings." Steven originally thought that he would definitely see Hugo tonight, so he didn't worry, he didn't expect Hugo to call from Lanches. "I thought he would show up today, but it looks like I made a mistake."

"And the big crowd out there." Leonardo pointed to the lively crowd at the door, which looked like there were about a hundred people, which was a rare sight for a film without any publicity and without a premiere. The more than 100 people were all journalists – the audience had already entered the room to watch the film, and they were all expecting to catch Hugo here, but now they were clearly disappointed.

Leonardo's words made Charlize chuckle, but Steven seemed preoccupied, Leonardo noticed it, and couldn't help but say, "What, do you want to find Hugo too?" ”

If it was usual, Leonardo's joke would probably be scolded, but today Steven was obviously a little absent-minded, he looked at Leonardo, hesitated, and still asked, "I do have something I want to talk to Hugo, but it's not convenient on the phone." Steven looked at the others around him—everyone was talking in twos and threes, no one approaching them, and he paused to look at Charlize and Leonardo, "Has Hugo mentioned anything unusual about the film market lately?" ”

Charlize and Leonardo both looked at Steven in confusion, obviously not understanding what was going on with these brainless words, Steven had to reorganize his language, "That's why there have been so many screenings recently, and the number of internal screenings has skyrocketed, six movies have been screened in art theaters in one day today, and there are countless parties......"

As Steven spoke, he looked at the expressions of Charlize and Leonardo, but found that neither of them understood quite well, which made Steven a little discouraged. Indeed, the situation he mentioned can be seen throughout Hollywood, and many people feel the difference, which directly triggers the major studios to follow suit - more and more internal screenings, more and more intensive local films, and more and more exaggerated parties...... Everyone noticed the anomaly, but they didn't know why, so they could only blindly follow it, lest they miss the point.

Even someone like Steven, who can vaguely sense that something is wrong, can grasp some context, but they can't say why. The Weinstein brothers, for example, just follow their instincts, but if they were really asked to say a theory or something, they wouldn't be able to articulate it.

Steven knew even less than the Weinstein brothers - his keen sense of business was never in the distribution or social aspects. He and David Geffen both wanted to make a difference, but they always felt that they didn't have a focus, and that was a terrible feeling, so he wanted to talk to Hugo.

Unexpectedly, Hugo didn't come at all today, and Steven couldn't help but think, "Are you going to Lanches tomorrow?" ”

At this time, Leonardo's eyes suddenly appeared, "Oh, are you talking about awards season?" Steven and Charlize both looked at him in surprise, but he patted Charlize on the arm, "Don't you remember?" Before Hugo left for Lanches, it wasn't that the awards season was getting more and more lively, and it was expected that Los Angeles would be more crowded at the end of the year. ”

Charlize also recalled at this time, "I know, but is what Hugo said the same thing as Steven?" ”

Steven pursed his lips slightly, "What did Hugo say, you tell me in detail." ”

Charlize looked at Leonardo, and he explained without hesitation, "Hugo said that the Oscars are becoming more and more commercialized, and more and more works will be released in November and December in order to impact the Oscars, hoping to leave a deeper impression on the judges." And because of the 'Oscar-winning movie' released during this time......" Speaking of this, Leon Andor also gestured with his finger to compare quotation marks and showed a playful smile, "There are more and more, so there are more and more publicity activities and public relations activities for the judges, and the whole Los Angeles will be extremely lively." By the end ......"

Leonardo gave Charlize a look, and Charlize added, "In the end, the original winter season will be divided into two parts, the holiday season and the winter season, and the overlapping part is the awards season." ”