Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1571 Roger, Your Dad Won the Award

The Honorary Oscar is an honorary award outside of a host of named awards, and is voted on by the Academy Board of Governors. It is also the award Ronald fought for Roger Corman.

There is no regular pattern in awarding this award. As long as they feel that the Oscars have not given an award to someone before, which is a pity and the time has come to make up for it, they will give out an award.

This year's honorary award was presented to the famous Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni. Born in 80, Antonioni, who is now over years old, is already very old. He needed the support of his young wife Enrica Fico to go on stage to receive the award.

This is also normal. Many honorary awards are given out urgently after the winners are informed of their poor health. Antonioni had suffered a stroke before, which caused slurred speech and difficulty in movement. He held his wife's hand tightly throughout the whole process, as if he would fall down on the spot without her.

The award presenter, the experienced Jack Nicholson, was a little at a loss as to what to do. He handed the trophy to Enrica Fico, but she wanted to support her husband, so she gave the trophy to Nicholson.

Finally, Enrica Fico gave the acceptance speech on behalf of Antonioni. The Italian director, who is famous for shooting "mysterious and complex emotional works", only said "thank you" throughout the whole process.

However, Antonioni is still able to direct movies, and his new work "Days of Love" was released this year. I can only admire him.

As the award ceremony entered the second half, the importance of the awards gradually increased, and the status of the award presenters also increased accordingly.

The presenter for the Best Original Screenplay Award and the Best Adapted Screenplay Award was former Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins.

"The witty remarks that we see in the clips from the actors' mouths were first formed in the screenwriter's script. People who can act are often attracted to people who can write. I am also very honored to be here today to present the Oscar for Best Screenplay.

The Oscar nominees for Best Original Screenplay are:…”

The competition for this year's Best Original Screenplay is quite fierce, with Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway and Richard Curtis' Four Weddings and a Funeral both being highly favored.

"Oscars go to Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery for Pulp Fiction!"

The rhythmic soundtrack of Pulp Fiction, "Misirlou", sounded, and Ronald put on a standard smile and clapped softly. This was an award he couldn't stop because Forrest Gump was competing for the Best Adapted Screenplay Award. In order to prevent the camera from taking a close-up of himself, he had to put on a standard smile to avoid being accused of having no manners.

But the camera had no time to capture Ronald's reaction, because the two screenwriters who won the Best Original Screenplay Award, Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery, were not sitting in the same place.

Quentin sat with the actors and crew of Pulp Fiction, while Roger Avery had a single seat at the very back. The reason for this was the dispute between the two over the script authorship rights.

The two were standing on the left and right, far apart, and the camera was always capturing Roger Avery walking towards them from a distance, without giving any close-ups of Quentin. It seems that those in the film and television industry are also very dissatisfied with Quentin's attempt to snatch the authorship of other people's scripts.

The two did not enter the camera screen until they walked up the stairs and onto the stage in front. Facing the attention of tens of millions of viewers, the two temporarily put aside their previous unhappiness and hugged each other's shoulders.

However, judging from some details, the two still disliked each other. They both wanted to overpower the other, so they put their arms around each other's shoulders and pressed the other under them.

"Ah, thank you..." Quentin Tarantino was a little taller than the other person. He finally won the arm battle and got the microphone first.

"Yeah... yeah..." Roger Avery had no experience and only got to a position facing the camera lens from the side, but he reacted quickly and continued.

Quentin held the microphone tightly, as if afraid that someone would come and snatch it away. "This is a very strange year. You know? I can almost confirm now that this is probably the only award I can get tonight."

"Hmm..." Ronald, who was sitting below, also felt very strange when he heard Quentin say that. Did Harvey Weinstein give him a heads-up in advance? Except for this award that Ronald himself could not be nominated to compete with him, Pulp Fiction had suffered a major failure in all other nominated awards.

"So I thought, should I say everything I can say right now? Like, what have I experienced in the past year? All those accumulated things, just pour them all out..." Quentin Tarantino's special voice, coupled with his exaggerated movements and expressions, made the audience below think he was a little crazy.

"No, no, don't do this..." Roger Avery was indeed less experienced than Quentin, and he immediately objected and shook his head. Because the time for each award speech was limited, if this really happened, he would have no time to say his speech.

"Should I tell you everything? But I won't do that, thank you." Quentin saw the expressions of the audience in the front row nearby, and with his funny "partner" next to him, he tactfully treated this as a humorous joke, and gave the stage to Roger Avery. He didn't even wait for Roger Avery to finish his speech, but walked away with his golden statue in his hand.

The two still had some grudges. Roger Avery was more graceful in comparison. He knew that he didn't have much time, so he only said two sentences, "I want to thank my beautiful wife Gretchen. I love her more than anything else in the world. Also, I really need to go to the bathroom now, thank you."

Roger Avery's nervous performance and his speech together made the image of a very sincere screenwriter come to life on the page. The audience burst into laughter and applauded him. Compared with Quentin's old-fashioned image, he looked more pleasing to the eye.

Anthony Hopkins returned to the stage and put on his glasses. "Students often debate whether it is more difficult to write a new script or to adapt a script based on someone else's work. Anyway, the nominees for this year's Best Adapted Screenplay are..."

"Ahem..." Ronald cleared his throat gently. He was starting to get a little nervous.

Of the five nominated scripts mentioned by Anthony Hopkins, only Forrest Gump by Eric Roth and The Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont received applause and cheers far above average.

This also shows that the works of these two screenwriters have their own fans. Ronald privately speculated that it might be because these two adapted scripts using classic Hollywood narrative methods, which made them look better and more like traditional feature films, with a complete story and a happy ending.

"The Oscar goes to... Eric Roth, Forrest Gump..."

"Huh..." Ronald breathed a sigh of relief. No surprise! He stood up and hugged Eric Ross across the aisle. Eric Ross looked very nervous. Ross didn't seem to hear the congratulations from Tom Hanks and Sally Field, and walked straight onto the stage.

"I shortened my acceptance speech to a piece of paper..." Eric Ross happily began his speech while holding the little golden man.

"I am a lucky man, lucky to have a great agent like James Anderle. Lucky to work for Paramount, lucky to have Tom Hanks play Forrest Gump and give him soul, an unforgettable voice, and a very great sense of dignity.

I am also lucky to have such an outstanding director as Ronald Lee, who gave Forrest Gump a dry and sarcastic sense of humor and a simple but elegant style. ... I am also lucky to have my beautiful blue-eyed wife and children...

Finally, I would like to borrow the words of Forrest Gump: When I see a beautiful thing, I know its value. I may not be the smartest person, but I know what love is.

"Hua Hua Hua..."

The audience below the stage were all very happy. Finally, there was a winner who read out his or her acceptance speech in a relatively normal manner.

Then, Schwarzenegger presented the third honorary award of the day, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which is given to producers who are committed to making films that will be passed down to future generations.

This year's winner is Clint Eastwood, who has made 30 films over the past 35 years, including blockbuster franchises like Dirty Harry and unique Westerns like the Oscar-winning Unforgiven.

……

After Clint Eastwood received his award, the official arranged song and dance performance began. At this time, Tom Hanks had already left for the backstage. As last year's best actor, he was going to present the award to this year's best actress.

"From clear and sophisticated lines to incoherence, from free-spirited personality to repression, from romantic past to sharp social contradictions, these five actresses brought us unforgettable performances..."

Ronald knew that this year's Best Actress award was a bit uncertain. Because of the scandal of Robin Wright, the heroine of Forrest Gump, she could not be nominated, so the actresses nominated for Best Actress and the movies they starred in did not receive many nominations.

Including Winona Ryder in Little Women, Jodie Foster who directed and starred in the film, Susan Sarandon, Miranda Richardson, and Jessica Lange. Not many resources were invested in public relations for this award, so it can reflect the true preferences of the judges in a relatively normal way.

"The Oscar goes to...Jessica Lange, Blue Sky."

Jessica Lange received the Oscar from Tom Hanks. She was very excited. She had been nominated for Best Actress four times before finally winning the Best Actress award this year. Although she also won an Oscar for "Tootsie" in 1982, it was for Best Supporting Actress, which is of course not comparable to Best Actress.

Jessica Lange began by thanking the late director Tony Richardson and the many people who helped make this film, which was shelved for five years, possible...

Tom Hanks, who had just handed the golden statue to Lange, left the stage quickly. He was nominated for the next Best Actor award this year and has a great chance of winning it… He was just presenting an award to someone else, and if he wins it next, he will become a legend.

"Among the many memorable performances, here are five Best Actor Oscar nominees..."

Last year's Best Actress, Holly Hunter, wore a light pink gown and announced the nominations in her distinctive Southern accent.

"Hahaha, I was so excited that I almost opened the envelope in advance... The five nominees are Morgan Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption; Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump..."

The camera gave each nominee a two-second close-up. When Tom Hanks' name was called, he was a little embarrassed and lowered his head to hide the fact that he was swallowing because he was too nervous.

Ronald turned his neck. He didn't expect that someone like Hanks, who was used to big scenes, would feel nervous...

"The Oscar goes to Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump..."

At this moment, the broadcast camera just happened to show close-ups of the five nominated male actors.

Among the few people, only John Travolta from Pulp Fiction expressed his disappointment, which was very real. The others all put on an expression of "Tom Hanks is the popular choice, I am happy for him."

This is probably because John Travolta and the producers of Pulp Fiction invested too much public relations resources in the film's award. The others did not have so many expectations, so they were not so disappointed.

It was hard to tell what expression was on Tom Hanks' face, but his wife Rita Wilson, who was standing next to him, looked in disbelief. She covered her face with her hands and was so excited that she was almost crying.

Tom Hanks kissed his wife deeply, then stood up and turned around, pointing his index finger at Ronald who was sitting behind him. Ronald knew that this was an early blessing, so he also pointed his finger back at Hanks.

"Ahem... Thank you everyone. I stand here to represent all the other actors who are as qualified as me to receive this award, if not more qualified..."

Tom Hanks is not as intense as he was last year when he even got his high school teacher out as gay. This year he is obviously much more nervous than last year.

"I am able to stand here thanks to the woman who lives with me. She is like Forrest Gump and taught me what love is."

Hanks came up and thanked his wife Rita Wilson first. The camera turned to her appropriately. In the close-up, Rita Wilson had tears in her eyes. It seemed that the two of them were really in love.

"I also want to thank the director of Forrest Gump, Ronald Lee. He set a very tight shooting schedule (laughs)... But he also took on much harder work than me and much greater risks than us..."

The camera turned to Ronald again at the right time. He was slightly better than Rita Wilson and seemed to be able to keep smiling...

"I am standing here, and only two words can express my feelings at this moment: thank you! God bless you and everyone present here."

Diane also held Ronald's hand tightly at this time, and the next award was the Best Director Award.

After the song and dance performance, Spielberg took the stage. He was the winner of the award last year and he announced this year's winner.

Spielberg seemed nervous and not used to such occasions. "This year's nominees have handled a variety of different subjects with great skill and creativity... They are:

Woody Allen, Bullets Over Broadway;

Ronald Lee, Forrest Gump;
Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction;
Robert Redford, The Quiz Show;

Krzysztof Keślovsky, the primary color red..."

As per convention, each director nominated has a few seconds of working video, which is very different from other awards that use stills.

Ronald felt his neck had stiffened, as if he had forgotten to breathe. The entire hall fell into silence at this moment. Thousands of audience members were waiting for Spielberg to announce the result.

Spielberg was particularly slow in opening the envelope, as if he couldn't find where to open the wax seal.

Ronald felt as if all the blood had left his limbs, and he was so nervous that he couldn't move. Diane noticed something was wrong with Ronald, and the cold touch on her palm made her nervous as well.

But she didn't turn around to look at Ronald's situation. Diane's nervousness was not much better than Ronald's.

Helen, who was sitting in the back, was too nervous to look, so she had to grab her father Gerald's hand and hide behind his shoulder. Gerald had to pat her hand gently to comfort her.

As everyone waited anxiously, Spielberg finally opened the damn wax seal and took out the letter with the winner's name written on it.

"Hmph..." Spielberg satisfied his curiosity first, then raised his head, looked down, and spoke:
"Roger..."

"Ok??"

All the audience had questions in their minds. Among the five nominees, there was no one named Roger? Could it be the Polish director Krzysztof Keślowski? Does Krzysztof mean Roger in Polish?
"Your dad just won the Oscar for Best Director, Ronald V. Lee, Forrest Gump!"

"Wow..." Everyone realized that Spielberg and Ronald were close friends, the kind that could joke with their nephew! Everyone also knew that Ronald's eldest son's name was Roger.

"Oh..." When Ronald heard the word Roger, he almost guessed what Spielberg meant. Suddenly, all the blood returned to normal, and his hearing, vision, and other five senses also returned to normal.

Moreover, Ronald felt a deep joy he had never felt before. His senses seemed to be magnified many times. The appearance of everyone in the hall came into his sight. Diane's ecstasy, the happiness of the crew members, and even the appearance of Helen many rows behind. It was as if there was a TV in his mind watching the live broadcast, and whoever he wanted to cut to could see his close-up.

But Ronald waited until Spielberg officially announced his award before he stood up. The first thing he did was turn around and give Diane a deep kiss.

Then he turned around again, kissed his mouth with his hand, gestured to the back, and blew a kiss.

Sally Field, Robin Wright, and many crew members who were sitting behind him thought that Ronald was greeting them. They all felt that Ronald was a very gentle and elegant man who could still remember them at a time like this. He was better at calming the situation than Tom Hanks!
Of course, Helen Slater also saw this scene from behind, and her heart was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes.

Ronald quickly jumped onto the stage and took the trophy from Spielberg. He felt an incomparable peace in his heart.
"I think it's only fitting that Steven handed me this great trophy today. I got the directorship of my first film with Steven's help. It's really amazing..."

(End of this chapter)