Huayu: The director just wants to save money

Chapter 855 Cannes Begins

Zhou Mo originally thought that he only needed to stay in seclusion for a few days to arrange a reasonable enough plot for Sima Yi.

But he still hadn't thought it through until the Cannes Film Festival began.

On the morning of the film festival awards ceremony, Zhang Yimou excitedly went to find Zhou Mo. He originally wanted to discuss the interview script with Zhou Mo again, but he saw Zhou Mo sitting at the table with a frown on his face and not saying a word from a distance.

Coincidentally, Da Tiantian just came over with breakfast and Lao Mouzi waved at her.

"Tiantian, Director Zhou is still thinking about Sima Yi?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it for several days."

"Have you come up with any results from your thinking?"

"I've thought about it a little bit. He said he plans to put the story of the Sima family in the Easter egg at the end of the movie... Well, to be precise, it's not an Easter egg, but a small theater. There are three movies, and each movie will have a few minutes at the end. The first one will be Sima Yi, the second one will be Sima Shi, and the last one will be Sima Zhao."

When Lao Mouzi heard this, he nodded immediately.

"Isn't this nice?"

Da Tiantian put down the cup and spread her hands.

"But he hasn't figured out how to arrange the Sima family's camp. The personal experiences of these three people are not suitable for placement there."

Lao Mouzi immediately understood what Da Tiantian meant.

According to Zhou Mo's setting, there are many camps to which characters in "Three Kingdoms" belong:
Some people behave like immortals, such as Yu Ji.

There are people who were born as immortals, but want to destroy the immortals and overthrow the world, such as Zhang Jue.

Some humans, for example, Cao Cao, suppress and cooperate with immortals.
Some were born as humans, but eventually turned to the immortals and coexisted with them, such as Cao Pi. (Nine-Rank System).

Among so many people, none of the three members of the Sima family can be considered as such, and the behaviors of these three men are very different.

Sima Yi, a man of outstanding abilities, from the Langya Bang, lived a long life, was extremely tolerant, and had a very low moral bottom line.

Sima Shi, a hexagonal warrior, secretly raised three thousand loyal soldiers and was the most prominent second-generation leader in the late Three Kingdoms period.

Sima Zhao was cruel and had a lower sense of morality than his father. He didn't care about his reputation and killed the king in the street.

If these three people are divided according to Zhou Mo's setting, they can even be divided into three camps.

When Lao Mouzi thought of this, he blurted out a sentence.

"Then why not divide into three camps? Why must we limit ourselves to these three who are in the same group?"

Da Tiantian was stunned for a few seconds, and then her brows suddenly relaxed.

Yes.

It was not uncommon in ancient times for fathers, sons and brothers to not be in the same camp.

Isn’t a typical example Li Shimin, who fought with two brothers at Xuanwu Gate, and then went to see his own father with the brothers’ heads in his hands.

While crying, she hinted to her father.

"Dad, did you see those two little bastards over there? I really don't want to rebel, and I don't want to hurt anyone, but who made them disobedient..."

In this situation, if they said they were in the same group, Zhao Gou would probably laugh to death.

Da Tiantian has no time to eat breakfast now, so she asks Lao Mouzi to explain his ideas in detail.

Lao Mouzi thought for a moment and slowly said, "My idea is not mature either... I just heard Director Zhou talk about the Sima family several times and I think this is a good arrangement.

Although the Sima family is not a commoner, they are not considered a noble family and are not much different from the Yuan family and the Yang family.

As for Sima Yi's life experience, we can define him as the type who jumps back and forth repeatedly, and he will go to whichever side benefits him the most.

Sima Shi, on the other hand, was capable and well-trained by his father. He could be considered to be of human origin and adopt an attitude of cooperation and suppression towards the immortals.

As for Sima Zhao, he was far less capable than his father and brother and was more likely to compromise. He could be classified as Cao Pi."

Lao Mouzi paused here, and suddenly thought of an idea he had about "a substitute", and continued: "Besides, since Sima Shi died on the way back to the army and Sima Zhao took power, we can also set the plot like this...

The brothers Sima Shi and Sima Zhao were originally one bright and one dark. Sima Zhao was Sima Shi's shadow, helping him deal with some shady things.

As the two grew older and their power increased, Sima Zhao began to have thoughts that he shouldn't have, so he cooperated with the immortals, first cooperating with Sima Shi's wives to prevent Sima Shi from giving birth to a son, so that he could adopt his son to Sima Shi; later, as the power of the Sima family grew, he had the opportunity to usurp the power of Cao Wei, so he joined forces with the immortals and killed Sima Shi together..."

Da Tiantian listened to Zhang Yimou's ideas. The first half was normal, but something went wrong from the moment Sima Zhao colluded with Sima Shi's wife.

Da Tiantian inexplicably felt that what Lao Mouzi said was somewhat familiar. After thinking about it for a while, a light bulb went off in her mind.

"Director Zhang, have you told Zhou Mo about this idea?"

Lao Mouzi's face turned red and he couldn't say anything.

"Uh... Tiantian, did Zhou Mo tell you about it?"

"Well, he said that you had taken a fancy to a script that was about the Wu Kingdom, but because you were concentrating on filming Parasite, the plan for that script was temporarily delayed."

Lao Mouzi's heart moved, and he suddenly wanted to know what Da Tiantian thought of his adapted script.

Of course, he wouldn't ask about Zhou Mo.

There is no need to seek excitement from him.

Datiantian is a good one. He is young, polite and speaks nicely.

"Tiantian, now that you know my script, what do you think of my idea?"

The smile on Da Tiantian's face never changed, and she said without hesitation:
"Director Zhang, I think your idea is very unique and your personal style is very strong. I don't think anyone in the industry can write in this style anymore."

These words made Lao Mouzi's mouth almost stretch to his ears.

Let’s not talk about Da Tiantian, but after working with Zhou Mo for so many years, she has a certain level of appreciation for scripts.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to write the script for "Business Tycoon".

Now we can evaluate his work like this.

At least it shows that the quality of his works is not bad.

Lao Mouzi was very pleased.

Da Tiantian looked at Lao Mouzi's excited expression and felt a little embarrassed.

It’s all Zhou Mo’s fault.

She had spent so much time with him over the years that she could even speak coaxing words fluently.

Just at this moment, Zhou Mo came back to his senses from his thoughts, saw Lao Mouzi and Da Tiantian sitting aside, and stood up and walked to them.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought just now. Director Zhang must have something to say."

At this moment, Lao Mouzi was still immersed in Da Tiantian's praise for him, and just waved his hand when he heard it.

"That's fine, that's fine, Director Zhou is thinking about the movie and that's serious business."

Zhou Mo was confused by Lao Mouzi's reaction.

So happy?

Did you know the winning news in advance?
Da Tiantian explained on the side: "Director Zhang wants to discuss the interview with you again."

Zhou Mo said without hesitation: "Let Director Zhang continue with the interview. Wasn't this agreed upon in advance?" The smile on Lao Mouzi's face disappeared, and there was some embarrassment in his eyes.

"Director Zhou, Parasite is your work. It's really unfair to you to always ask me to be interviewed."

The situation in China and abroad regarding the promotion for the Cannes awards is completely different.

As for the domestic news about "Parasite", basically every main creator in the crew has mentioned it, and the most relevant information is about Zhou Mo and Zhang Yimou.

But in Cannes, the promotion of "Parasite" only focused on Zhang Yimou, and Zhou Mo basically never appeared in front of the camera.

The reason for doing this is simple.

Zhou Mo's performance in the past few years was so impressive that there was already a joke saying "Cannes is Zhou Mo's backyard".

After all, Cannes is the top A-level film festival in the world, and the awarding of awards must take into account public opinion and influence.

Zhang Yimou's decades of achievements have made him a natural choice for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It can be said that he has everything going for him, with a very high chance of winning.

But if Zhou Mo also gets involved, it would actually reduce the possibility of "Parasite" winning an award.

So, when Zhou Mo said he came to Cannes to witness the first domestic director to win three Golden Globes, it was really true. He was so low-key that he hardly even went out on weekdays.

Zhou Mo waved his hands, not caring at all about his so-called reputation.

Anyway, being low-key is just for the sake of winning awards, it’s only temporary.

How many audiences across the country don’t know that "Parasite" is his work?

Zhou Mo joked, "Director Zhang, don't worry about these little things. If you really feel bad, you might as well think about it this way.

This time, I, Zhou Mo, hid the information because I wanted to experience the feeling of being the person behind a great director.

It’s like when Director Chen made "Farewell My Concubine", the audience said it was not his movie, but the work of Director Chen.

For this "Parasite", Director Zhang, please be the director in public, and let me be the real director in the gossip for a while."

Zhou Mo's two jokes quickly cleared away the pressure in Lao Mouzi's heart.

He nodded and said solemnly, "Okay, then I'll take advantage of Director Zhou this time and be the director in public."

The time soon came to night.

The Cannes awards ceremony officially begins.

Zhou Mo still did not go to the scene, but stayed in the hotel to watch the live broadcast.

To be honest, if it weren't for the purpose of presenting the awards in person, it would be more comfortable to stay in the hotel and watch the live broadcast than to go to the scene to participate in the awards ceremony.

A large group of people were gathered in a meeting room, standing up and clapping, cheering loudly, and even talking for a few minutes...

To be honest, Zhou Mo actually prefers a quiet room.

And the young lady’s gentle heart.

"Tiantian, you don't have to stay in the room with me." Zhou Mo suddenly said.

Da Tiantian looked at Zhou Mo, who was resting his head on her thighs, with a look of disdain.

I don't know who it was, but before the award ceremony, he kept asking her not to leave, leaving her alone in the room.

"Before you say these words, can you please get off my legs first?"

"No, I've been staying up too late these past two days, and my spine is not feeling well. Only the sweet thighs can make me feel comfortable for a while."

Da Tiantian pinched Zhou Mo's face and asked, "What do you think of what Director Zhang said about Sima Yi this afternoon?"

"Are you talking about the first half or the second half?"

Da Tiantian said unhappily: "Of course it's the first half. Does the second half make sense? Classic family ethics, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, too boring..."

Zhou Mo laughed. In his mind appeared the scene of this afternoon when Lao Mouzi introduced his ideas about the three people from the Sima family to Zhou Mo and added, "Tiantian also thinks it's a good idea." Then he saw the strange look on Tiantian's face.

"Tiantian, you are getting better and better at speaking." Zhou Mo sighed.

"You're still laughing?!" Da Tiantian said, and was about to reach out her hand.

Zhou Mo coughed lightly and said, "To be honest, the first half of the sentence is actually quite good. The changes in the three generations of the Sima family's leaders can also symbolize the changes in the immortals in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

I will think about it in the next two days and see how to optimize the details, and then it can basically be written into a script and filmed.”

"If each of the three people shoots some scenes, the total plot will be about 10 to 20 minutes. Will it have a negative impact on the viewing experience of the movie?" Da Tiantian asked.

Zhou Mo sighed, "There's nothing I can do. There are too many characters and events in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms. Compressing the ending of the Sima family into 20 minutes is already the limit. If it's any less, it will be difficult to tell the complete story."

Datiantian nodded. She also understood the difficulty of adapting the "Three Kingdoms" series.

At this moment, she saw a figure flash by on the stage.

"Eh? Is this Sylvester Stallone?"

"Well, he is the award presenter this year." Zhou Mo said casually.

Under normal circumstances, Zhang Ziyi should have been the award presenter this year, but because of "Parasite", she walked off the stage.

However, compared with the award presenter, Zhou Mo feels that Zhang Ziyi should like the award recipient more.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence, but just when Zhou Mo had this thought, the camera happened to pass over the face of Zhang Ziyi.

Da Tiantian suddenly said: "Zhang Guoji's shot just now was so elegant."

Zhou Mo nodded.

"Yes, it has a strong attacking power."

Da Tiantian was speechless, and then said: "Speaking of which, it's a pity for Zhang Ziyi this time that she didn't make it into the nomination for Best Actress."

From the very beginning, "Parasite" was aiming for the Palme d'Or.

As for the rest, don't pursue them at all.

The reason is naturally to divide the pork.

If other awards are won, the probability of winning the Palme d'Or will naturally decrease.

However, Zhou Mo and Lao Mouzi do not stop others from having the idea of ​​​​winning the award. They can pay for the operation themselves, and Zhou Mo and Lao Mouzi have no objection.

The result is without a doubt: neither Chen Daoming nor Zhang Ziyi participated in the operation of the award in the end.

"The benefits of a best role are too small for them. There is no need to take the risk. Even if they get it, they won't make any money."

Da Tiantian raised her eyebrows and asked, "If they want to impact, how much money do they need?"

"As for RMB, nine figures should be a safe bet. Competition for individual role awards is not that fierce, so money plays a bigger role." Zhou Mo suddenly glanced at Da Tiantian: "Why, do you want to compete for the Best Actress award?"

Da Tiantian shook her head.

At this time, the live broadcast gradually came to an end.

The Jury Grand Prize is about to be announced.

(End of this chapter)