I'm so charming, there are always men who love me

Chapter 40

It was awards season again, and Margaret was supposed to be having an exceptionally easy year with no starring movie coming out.

Instead, she spent a long time in Italy trying to convince director Giuseppe Tornatore not to miss at least one of Europe's big three this year.

Overseas distributor Fine Line, which had been criticized by many, had to put aside the battle of wills for a while and send the final cut of the film to the festivals.

It was already late January 1999, and The Pianist at Sea had won numerous awards in its native Italy.

However, it was not nominated for the Oscars because it did not belong to the category of films favored by the Oscars, but accidentally won the best soundtrack at the Golden Globe Awards held a few days before.

In Europe, "The Pianist at Sea" will be shown at the 49th Berlin Film Festival on February 10th.

The Cannes Film Festival will be held in mid-May, and although the nominees were only announced in April, the president of the festival has already publicly expressed his love for the film many times, so I think it will be a success.

As for Margaret's "Obsession," which she finished shooting in late December, she worked non-stop for two months to complete the editing.

The film will be screened at European film festivals before its official release in April, and has already been nominated for Best Actress at the Berlin and César festivals.

Inside CAA's Century City headquarters, Brian Lord is placing a cup of coffee in front of Margot, "Rodin's Lover starts shooting in a month, so let's talk about what's next on the schedule."

Rodin's Lover, a movie directed and written by Bruno Nuttan, who was the cinematographer on Bewitched, had many years of cinematography under his belt, but this was undoubtedly his first time as a director.

Notably, it's also Ajani's first time as a producer.

Margot will join forces with French producers Bernard Ardigue and Kristen Fichtner, along with the Weinstein brothers, to produce the romantic biographical historical movie.

With a budget of $16 million, the movie tells the story of Camille Claudel, the "cursed French sculptress".

Camille was only nineteen when she met Rodin, who was already in his middle age.

She became Rodin's student and the love of his life.

Camille was young, beautiful, passionate about sculpture, and so talented that she made Rodin jealous.

During the more than ten years that the two talented sculptors were in love, Camille's beauty and love became a source of inspiration for Rodin, enabling him to create countless outstanding works.

But at the same time, Rodin was also a man with many lovers, there is a more accompanied by many years, but never married Ross Burleigh, Camille could not tolerate Rodin's affair, and even had a miscarriage as a result of the deterioration of the relationship between the two men and eventually went their separate ways.

From then on, she put all her energy into sculpture, but people went so far as to attribute all of Camille's talent to Rodin, and the unfair treatment that she could not get rid of made her more and more impoverished, and she even lived a life of isolation.

In the end, after the death of Camille's father, she was completely defeated by her illness--

She destroys every one of her beloved works and is forced to be put on an insane asylum prison wagon due to her severe schizophrenia.

Inside the Monteverge Asylum, Camille was imprisoned for thirty years until her death.

Rodin, known as one of the "three pillars" of European sculpture, ruined Camille's life, but insisted on exhibiting Camille Claudel's work at the Rodin Museum.

Rodin once said that Camille became the strongest enemy in his life, but also this cursed female sculptor, had inspired his life's greatest passion and source of inspiration.

Even after her death, Camille, who ended up in a madhouse, received the praise she deserved, but more often than not, she was only frivolously referred to as "Rodin's lover".

Director Bruno Nuttan spent years perfecting this story, and while working as cinematographer on Obsession, he was sure he had found his Camille.

But while Adjani had clearly made a name for herself in both Hollywood and French cinema, Bruno Nuttan had never had any directing experience, and inviting Margot to join him on the set was close to impossible.

To Bruno's delight, when he sent the script to Margot, she not only decided to act, but to produce Rodin's Lover.

Miramax Studios, which has a keen eye for Oscar buzz, then invested in the film, and the Weinstein brothers will produce the new director's work with Ajani.

The Weinstein Brothers even cast Jean Reno in the role of Rodin for Rodin's Lover.

The Hispanic-French actor, a classic late-bloomer type of actor -

In his youth, he was recommended by a friend to work in television, and in the 80s he started working with Luc Besson, and at the age of forty-six he made his debut in Hollywood with "This Killer Is Not Too Cold".

Afterwards, he was nominated for the César Award for Best Actor for two consecutive years, and co-starred with Tom Cruise in the Hollywood commercial blockbuster Spy, which was also a great success.

Rodin's Lover runs from March to June, and right now, Brian is busy picking out a new script for Margot -

"The Lord of the Rings, the movie adaptation of British author John Tolkien's epic fantasy book of the same name, is set to begin shooting in October, and New Line Cinema is keeping great anticipation for the movie, and director Peter Jackson has called me several times to see if you'll be able to join in on the movie."

Peter Jackson has been preparing for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy since as early as 1996.

The Lord of the Rings movie script, which took three years to write, is largely the same as the original, a magical tale that revolves around the supreme ring, majestic and possessing a convincing sense of epicness.

Margot, who has read the original, is unfolding the script, "I'm afraid this movie is more heavily weighted towards male characters, and not even much of a prominent female role."

"How about the elf princess Alwyn?" Brian tried to convince her, "Alwyn has long dark hair, whereas the other female characters, basically, are all dazzling blondes."

Alwyn was the daughter of King Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell in the Misty Mountains, and the long-haired star in the hearts of the people.

Later, she fell in love with the Emperor of Men, Aragorn, and voluntarily gave up the immortal life of the Elves to stay in Middle-earth and become the Queen of Gondor.

It took Margot some time to read the script, "In the original it was Aragorn who fell in love with Arwen at first sight, and somehow took the path to becoming the King of Men in order to marry her, but in this script it's rather as if Arwen is more proactive."

In the original, King Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, had even said to Aragorn himself, "Alwyn is the Changeling Star in the hearts of the people, her lineage is far more noble than yours, and compared to her, you are but a sapling growing beside a young birch tree that has survived the spring and fall."

Aragorn not only likes to sing the song of the mortal Beren falling in love with the elf Lucien, but also refers to Arwen as "the precious jewel of his heart," but the movie's screenplay has very little to say about the female characters, and the relationship between the two is a bit ambiguous.

When Brian sees Margot's willingness to talk about it, he knows she's got something in mind for the role.

Otherwise, she'd just put the script aside and talk to him about how she'd like steamed mussels for dinner.

I'm sure New Line Cinema would be more than willing to change a few scenes in exchange for Ajani's inclusion; after all, this $93 million commercial epic masterpiece is lacking in young movie actors with enough name recognition.

And Margaret, who made "The Pianist at Sea" a box office hit just before with her own influence, is obviously an actress that all movie studios want to compete for.

With Margo, there was the attention of teenagers all over America.

And the moviegoing demographic that "Lord of the Rings" is trying to appeal to, in addition to fans of the original books, is certainly just as important as the young demographic that loves the extraordinary special effects in the movie.

Brian explains the details, "Since this is a mammoth magical movie, the film will be shot using a variety of traditional methods and computer special effects, so the shooting cycle is very long, from October this year to December the following year, and New Line is currently projecting a schedule for the summer of 2001."

He went on to add, "But with Alwyn's current scenes, I'm afraid you'll be done with filming in less than a month, so don't worry, this movie definitely won't affect your shooting schedule for the following year."

"Of course, you're the best gold agent in all of Hollywood." Margo lifted her coffee and took a sip, "As Brian Lord's client, I'm afraid I have nothing to worry about."

Brian raised an eyebrow, "You're really good at coaxing people around, how about dinner? The French restaurant in Pasadena in Old Town LA is very good."

Margo looked intrigued, "It's nice to indulge in some good food without being involved in Hollywood awards season."

Brian walked out of the office with her, "You mustn't forget the Berlin Film Festival in a few days, I'm afraid the PR team will be so mad they'll go jumping in the sea if the press takes pictures of your puffy face when you collect your Silver Bear."

Jumping into the sea or not was a matter for later, at least today's dinner had made Margaret very happy.

Pasadena used to be a wealthy neighborhood in Los Angeles, beautiful and sophisticated.

The French restaurants in Old Town have great food and a quiet, pleasant mood, but they are all tables for two, not even a slightly larger table for four.

It specializes more in classical French cuisine, and the chef is a master of his craft, with lobster and oysters being particularly well prepared.

The excellent brandy was also very satisfying to Margo, and she was lifting her glass to her lips when she heard a slightly familiar voice from behind her, "Miss Ajani, you don't seem to be twenty-one yet."

Saying that, the owner of the voice had already walked up to Margo's side-

It was Mr. Bruce-poor-will Wayne.

Beside him stood a hot blonde girl who appeared to be his date for the evening.

Bruce spoke again, looking at Margo and her agent, "What a coincidence, maybe we can put two tables together for dinner?"

Being a professional agent, Brian Lord thoughtfully declined on Margo's behalf, "I'm sorry, that's never allowed here."

As an upscale French restaurant, this place is expensive and at the same time difficult to book, even the most famous Hollywood superstars come here, they have to follow the rules.

And at that moment, Bruce Wayne looks very charming as he unfolds a smile at Margo -

"Oh, they'll allow it, I run this place."

Margaret: Mr. Bruce Wayne seems to be showing off his wealth to her?