A widower's entertainment

Leslie Cheung won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival!

This is truly an amazing thing!
This is the first Chinese actor to win the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award since Ge You four years ago; it's truly remarkable.

Li An was well aware that Leslie Cheung winning the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival meant that the chances of "Human Wonders" winning the Palme d'Or were slim. After all, there are only a handful of major awards at the three major film festivals, and with the Best Actor award, it was unlikely that the jury would award anything else.

Even so, Li An was still happy for Leslie Cheung, because it was quite an achievement for a film to produce a Cannes Best Actor winner, which was a great affirmation for the film.

"Go up and claim your prize!"

Li An smiled and patted Leslie Cheung on the shoulder, also reminding Leslie Cheung to go up and accept the award.

Leslie Cheung was somewhat dazed because it was all such a wonderful surprise. When he saw the people around him applauding him, he truly knew that he had won an award.

This time it wasn't just a matter of one vote; he actually won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival!
Leslie Cheung was very excited. He stood up and hugged director Li An and Zhang Manyu one by one before walking onto the stage to accept the trophy and certificate presented by the jury.

"Thank you!"

Looking at the trophy and certificate in his hand, Leslie Cheung smiled broadly and said, "Thank you to the jury, thank you to director Li An, thank you to Zhang Manyu, thank you to all the crew members, and a special thank you to screenwriter Lin Youcheng. This award doesn't belong to me alone, it belongs to all of us. I'm very happy to receive this award, and I'm honored to have played the role of Lin Qi. I will continue to work hard in acting, and I hope that Chinese-language films will get better and better. Thank you!"

Leslie Cheung's acceptance speech was very simple, but it was all from his heart.

The guests in the audience naturally applauded Leslie Cheung, and there was no doubt that his performance in the film "Human Tales" was well-deserved of this award.

The audience included not only the cast and crew of "Human Tales" but also those of "Happy Together." Undoubtedly, Lau Tak-wah and Leung Chiu-wai from the "Happy Together" cast had mixed feelings watching Leslie Cheung win the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in "Human Tales." On one hand, they were happy for Leslie Cheung, but on the other hand, they were also deeply envious.

In particular, Tony Leung is a strong contender for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival.

As for Lau Tak-wah, he was deeply envious. He knew very well that director Wong Kar-wai initially wanted to cast Leslie Cheung in the role, but Leslie Cheung declined and went on to star in the movie "Human Tales". Without a doubt, if he had the choice, he would also choose the movie "Human Tales".

He genuinely loved the story of "Strange Tales of the Human World" and very much hoped to collaborate with Lin Youcheng. Unfortunately, Lin Youcheng recommended Leslie Cheung instead.

Liu Dehua can only feel envy now.

Following the Best Actress and Best Actor awards, the Best Director award was given to Wong Kar-wai, director of "Happy Together." The Grand Jury Prize went to "Unexpected Spring," while the Palme d'Or was dramatically awarded to both "The Eel" and "Taste of Cherry."

Undoubtedly, awarding the Palme d'Or to two people was quite unexpected, and it was criticized and highly controversial.

Because this "double yolk" award violates the usual Cannes rules, it is considered to seriously undermine the authority of the Palme d'Or.

Regardless of the awards, some internal controversies surrounding the jury also surfaced afterward. Rumors circulated that Adjani strongly promoted "Unexpected Spring" in the early stages of the selection process, Moretti supported "Taste of Cherry," and most judges favored "The Human Wonder" and "The Eel."

"The Human Reign" was originally a strong contender for the Palme d'Or, but Isabelle Adjani, the film's director, voiced a different opinion, suggesting that the Best Actor award be given to Leslie Cheung, the lead actor. The idea was to remove "The Human Reign," which was ranked number one in the festival's daily publication, from the Palme d'Or race. However, during this process, Moretti persuaded Adjani to agree to a shared Palme d'Or, claiming it would pay tribute to the masters. Adjani mistakenly believed this would help "Unexpected Spring," but after Adjani agreed, Moretti instead supported Shohei Imamura's "The Eel" and Abbas Kiarostami's "Taste of Cherry" to share the Palme d'Or. "Unexpected Spring" only won the Grand Jury Prize, a result that caused Adjani to break down emotionally at the subsequent press conference, even bursting into tears.

This further fueled the controversy surrounding the jury, leading to an emotional breakdown for Adjani. Criticism of the jury's chaotic decision-making and questions about the authority of the Cannes awards have also emerged.

The controversy surrounding the jury escalated afterward, with the Cannes Film Festival issuing a statement in both English and French, directly criticizing Adjani for being capricious. This was a rare public accusation by Cannes against the jury president.

Judge Mike Lee commented that everyone was perfect except for Isabelle Adjani.

Unfortunately, this year's awards have impacted the reputation of the Cannes Film Festival: the joint Palme d'Or winner, along with some internal controversies and accusations from the judges, have raised questions about the fairness and authority of the Cannes jury.

Related news reports followed.

"Unveiling the 'Voting Rashomon' and Chaotic Scene Inside the Cannes Film Festival Jury," "The Regret of the Cannes Palme d'Or: 'The Human Comedy' - The Biggest Missed Opportunity," "Not Just Chaos, But a Joke: Controversy Over This Year's Award Winners, Cannes Film Festival's Credibility Questioned," "Tearing Off Faces! Jury Member Mike Lee Angrily Confronts President Isabelle Adjani: She's Too Chaotic," "Cannes Film Festival Jury Infighting, Double Palme d'Or Controversy," "Cannes Film Festival's Unfair Distribution of Awards, Numerous Internal Conflicts"...

……

It has to be said that the inside story of such news reports has been hyped up quite a bit.

Many news media outlets also expressed their regret over "The Human Exemplars". The film was originally expected to win the Palme d'Or, and most of the judges supported it. Isabelle Adjani gave "The Human Exemplars" the Best Actor award, thinking that it would pave the way for "Unexpected Spring". But who would have thought that Moretti would completely sideline it later?

Of course, regardless of the controversies, the awards for this year's Cannes Film Festival have been finalized.

Leslie Cheung's win for Best Actor at Cannes was well-deserved. Many film critics believed that his portrayal of Lin Qi was brilliant, and this result also made up for the regret of not winning the Best Actor award for "Farewell My Concubine" back then.

As for "Human Wonders" not winning the Palme d'Or for Best Picture, although that's a pity, the film is still showing in the United States and will compete for other film awards. Moreover, the film is currently receiving very high praise, which is undoubtedly very good news.

Leslie Cheung thanked the director and crew for accepting the award, but in his heart, he was most grateful to Lam Yau-shing.

After all, it was Lin Youcheng who recommended him for the role in "Human Wonders," otherwise he wouldn't have had the opportunity to win the Cannes Best Actor award.

Speaking of which, Leslie Cheung and Lam Yau-shing have collaborated twice, and both times they won awards. The first one, "Infernal Affairs 2," earned him the Best Actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and now, "Human Tales" has won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. He's really very lucky.

Leslie Cheung was extremely grateful to Lin Youcheng and immediately informed him of the good news.

Lin Youcheng naturally also learned of the good news that Leslie Cheung had won the Cannes Best Actor award. It can be said that the news was being reported all over the country. There's no other reason than that it's the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award, which is really too rare.

"A Cannes Best Actor!"

This is truly remarkable that Zhang Guorong has become the second Chinese actor to win the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award.

Of course, in Lin Youcheng's opinion, Leslie Cheung's acting skills deserved it. He should have won the Best Actor award back when he starred in "Farewell My Concubine". It was only because the jury did not have strong support that he won the award. Otherwise, how could "The Piano" have won both the Palme d'Or and the Best Actress award at the same time, while "Farewell My Concubine" could not win both the Palme d'Or and the Best Actor award at the same time?

Lin Youcheng felt that Leslie Cheung's acting skills were far more than that; Leslie Cheung was a truly good actor, and he was very happy for Leslie Cheung.

In particular, Leslie Cheung won the award for "Human Tales". It is worth mentioning that the films that were nominated for the three major film festivals before were related to him and eventually won awards. For example, "The Reader" helped Pan Hong win the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress Award, "Love" helped Hou Xiaoxian win the Venice Golden Lion Award, and "Atonement" won the Cannes Best Screenplay Award and the Jury Prize. Now, "Human Tales" has won him the Cannes Best Actor Award.

Every single one of them has won an award!

Lin Youcheng was also very happy.

Of course, Leslie Cheung himself was even happier. He was very grateful for Lam Yau-shing's recommendation and even made a special trip to Beijing to thank Lam Yau-shing in person.

With a smile, Leslie Cheung said, "Brother Lin, I really want to thank you for recommending me for the role of Lin Qi, otherwise I wouldn't have had the opportunity to win this award."

These are Leslie Cheung's honest thoughts.

He knew very well that he was cast in this role because of Lin Youcheng; otherwise, he would have gone to "Happy Together." He had heard that Liu Dehua had been tortured quite a bit, and there was also a lot of hype surrounding news about people with the same surname.

This made Leslie Cheung feel very fortunate.

Lin Youcheng smiled when he heard Zhang Guorong's words and said, "You were able to win this award because of your excellent performance. I also want to thank you for bringing the character of Lin Qi to life."

Leslie Cheung genuinely loves the character Lin Qi, especially since playing Lin Qi felt like experiencing Lin Qi's extraordinary life firsthand, which gave him a different perspective on life and changed his entire way of thinking. He said with a smile, "I want to thank the character Lin Qi; he has really had a great influence on me."

Lin Youcheng smiled. He naturally hoped that the character of Lin Qi would have a positive influence on Leslie Cheung, and he also hoped that Lin Youcheng would not make such a decision.

Leslie Cheung and Lam Yau-shing naturally talked about the Cannes Film Festival. When Lam Yau-shing heard Leslie Cheung's words, he couldn't help but find it a little funny. The butterfly effect does exist, but some butterfly effects have not changed. Isabelle Adjani still caused a big commotion at the Cannes Film Festival and was considered the most unsuccessful jury president.

It must be said that Moratti's methods were too strong, and Adjani was no match for him.

It's a pity that "Humanity's Wonders" didn't win the Palme d'Or, but the Best Actor award at Cannes is still good, better than countless awards.

Lin Youcheng looked at Leslie Cheung and said with a smile, "Director Li An will have many more opportunities to make movies in the future, and he will have another chance to win the Palme d'Or."

It's truly a pity that director Li An won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in another timeline, but he never won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

When Leslie Cheung heard what Lam Yau-shing said, he smiled and nodded. Although he was also disappointed that "Humanity's Strange Tales" did not win the Palme d'Or, he did win the Best Actor award, so it was a good thing no matter what.

"Brother Lin, I hope we'll have the opportunity to work together again."

Upon hearing Zhang Guorong's words, Lin Youcheng raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Of course it would be great."

"I happen to have a role I'd like you to play in, just two scenes. Is that okay?"

When Leslie Cheung heard Lin Youcheng say this, he was surprised, but naturally had no problem and immediately replied, "Of course, no problem."

Not to mention, he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for "Human Wonders". Even if he didn't win the award, as long as Lam Yau-shing asks him to make a cameo appearance, Leslie Cheung will naturally have no more problems.

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "Then thank you."

Lin Youcheng also wanted Leslie Cheung to make a cameo appearance in "Our Millionaire" as Xu Qingshan's father when he was a child. The role was very small, just a cameo. In fact, this was also for the sake of his daughter, Lin Zhaomei, and he naturally hoped that Lin Zhaomei's feature film debut would have a stronger cast.

This scene depicts Xu Qingshan helping a woman bought by a monster to send a letter when he was a child. After being discovered, the father and son were targeted and driven out of the village. Later, Xu Qingshan's father went out to find work but disappeared without a trace.

When Leslie Cheung heard Lin Youcheng talk about the role of Xu Qingshan's father in "Our Millionaire," he was astonished. He hadn't expected Lin Youcheng's script to be so brilliant and unbelievable. He exclaimed in shock, "Brother Lin, your script is truly remarkable!"

Leslie Cheung genuinely admired Lam Yau-shing for writing such a script. Originally, he was probably grateful to Lam Yau-shing for his cameo appearance, but now he was truly willing to participate in the story, even if it was just as a cameo role.

He genuinely loves acting and didn't care about the size of his role, especially since the script was written by Lin Youcheng.

Lin Youcheng was also very happy that Leslie Cheung was willing to make a cameo appearance.

His daughter, Lam Siu-mei's, film even features a cameo appearance by newly crowned Cannes Best Actor Leslie Cheung! With such a cast, who else could possibly be there?! (End of Chapter)