Huayu: Director started with art films

Li Yishu was sitting on the plane, looking through the window at the water city of Venice which seemed so close in front of her, and began to look forward to this trip to Venice.

This is Li Yishu's third visit to Venice.

The first time he won the Golden Lion Award, the second time he won the Silver Lion Award, and I don’t know what award he will win the third time?

Although I am very satisfied with the quality of the movie "Fireworks", and the film "Original Time and Space" also won the Venice Golden Lion Award, it is hard to say whether Lee Yi-su can win the Golden Lion Award now that it is his turn as the director.

The main reason is that he just won a Golden Leopard Award not long ago. If he wins another Golden Lion Award, that would be 5 gold awards.

These foreigners may not agree.

When the passenger plane landed on the runway of Venice Airport, Li Yishu got off the plane with her suitcase.

He returned to China in a hurry this time and did not bring his previous assistants with him, but asked them to wait for Takeshi Kitano and others in Venice.

Now I have no choice but to fly to Italy from China alone.

When Li Yishu walked out of the security check passage, she saw a lot of people standing at the exit.

Kitano Takeshi was the first to shout: "Director Li!!"

As soon as she came out, Li Yishu handed the suitcase to the assistant who came over, and shook hands with Kitano Takeshi with a smile: "Long time no see, Kitano."

Kitano Takeshi quickly stretched out his hands and said solemnly: "Yes, Director Li, long time no see!"

"Thank you for your hard work in post-production editing and coming to Venice this time."

"It's not hard, Director Li. This is what I should do."

Li Yishu smiled and said nothing, but patted Kitano Takeshi on the shoulder to show her approval.

Kitano Takeshi himself has the qualities of a great director, and he was responsible for all the post-production editing of "Fireworks".

It can be said that the degree of completion is very good, and the scenes that Li Yishu wanted to create were almost perfectly edited out.

After chatting with Kitano Takeshi for a few words, Li Yishu looked at Sakai Izumizu. Seeing her smiling face, he couldn't help but hug her and said, "How is it? How do you feel about coming to Venice for the first time?"

"Pretty, pretty good."

Izumi Sakai's face was a little red, and she was still a little uncomfortable in front of outsiders.

Li Yishu knew her personality and didn't hug her too much. After letting her go, he looked at the main creators of "Fireworks". Almost all the male and female supporting actors were there. He said, "Kishimoto, Terajima, long time no see. I hope we can win the award together this time!"

"Director Li, it will definitely work!"

All the main creators looked at this four-time Grand Slam director excitedly.

When Lee Yi-su won the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival, they were still in Japan and knew what a great feat Lee Yi-su had accomplished.

As the first director in the world to complete the four-gold Grand Slam, the gold content is simply too high.

They were able to work with Lee Ye-su on a movie, which would be enough for them to brag about when they go out with their friends in the future.

"Okay, this is not the place to talk, let's go back to the hotel first."

Li Yishu waved his hand and led everyone out of the airport, preparing to take a boat to the water city of Venice.

Smelling the faint fishy smell of seawater, Li Yishu looked at Izumi Sakai who was sitting next to her and asked with a smile, "Have you settled everything at the company?"

"Uh-huh."

Izumi Sakai nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Li, the work has been completed. All we need to do in the Red and White Song Festival in the second half of the year is participate in it."

This year is the best year for Izumi Sakai's career. The album "Forever You" released in March has now sold over 3 million copies and is expected to exceed 140 million copies before the end of the year. It can be said to be her best-selling and most popular album in recent years.

However, Li Yishu did not want her to be so tired from attending book signings and running around for promotional activities, so she asked the person in charge of Music Times to stop her work in the second half of the year.

Izumi Sakai had no objection to this and was very happy that Li Yishu cared about her.

Although Izumi Sakai is a rock singer, she is actually a traditional Japanese woman at heart, and she puts family first.

Quite a number of Japanese female artists retired from the film industry after getting married at the peak of their careers.

Because in the eyes of many Japanese women, making money after marriage is the husband's responsibility, and they only need to take care of the family.

Even after a decade of rapid development of magical feminism, Japan still has a considerable number of such women.

Hearing this, Li Yishu asked hesitantly, "Quanshui, will you blame me for stopping your work?"

"No, Li Jun."

Izumi Sakai shook her head repeatedly and said with a smile: "Actually, I'm very happy that Mr. Li cares about me so much. I've also thought about it. I do like singing very much, but singing is only a part of my life. Kuroda..."

At this point, Izumi Sakai's face darkened a little as he said, "Mr. Kuroda once told me that his biggest dream was to make enough money to spend time with his family and children, but he..."

The death of Kuroda's agent was a big blow to Izumi Sakai, because when she was not very popular, it was Kuroda's agent who helped her run around.

And in a sense, Manager Kuroda can be considered as the matchmaker between her and Lee Yi-su.

But who could have imagined that Kuroda's agent would choose such an extreme method as jumping off a building because of his failure in stock trading and the bursting of the economic bubble.

Feeling Sakai Izumi's sadness, Li Yishu hugged her waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

Looking at the approaching Venice Water City in the distance, he said calmly: "Tomorrow and the accident, no one knows which will come first, so we have to take every day seriously."

Izumi Sakai snuggled in his arms, looking at the water city of Venice getting closer and closer, feeling unprecedented peace and happiness.

After Li Yishu arrived in Venice, she changed into a cool summer outfit in the hotel because she needed to adjust her schedule. Then she took Izumi Sakai and several assistants and started to travel around the water city in a local canoe.

He has been to Venice several times, so he can't say he is very familiar with it, but he has visited all the places that should be visited and appreciated all the things that should be appreciated. He is not very interested in it anymore. However, this is the first time for Izumi Sakai to come here, so Li Yishu naturally has to take her to have a good look and have fun around.

What about the Bridge of Sighs, the Golden Palace, the Colorful Island, the Governor's Palace and so on...

Among them, Li Yishu thinks that the most worth visiting place is probably St. Mark's Square.

St. Mark's Square was built in 829 and rebuilt between 1043 and 1071 AD. It was once the largest church in medieval Europe and a classic work of Venetian architectural art.

The St. Mark's Basilica on the square combines Eastern and Western architectural features. It was originally a Byzantine building, and Gothic decorations were added in the 15th century. It can be said that its shape is extremely unique.

"Mr. Li, look at me!"

Izumi Sakai smiled and took out her camera to take a picture of Li Yishu standing at the door of the cathedral.

"Let's take a photo together."

Li Yishu handed the camera to her assistant and asked her to take a photo of the two of them. They played and joked until around seven in the evening, when they returned to the hotel for dinner.

Since all the crew members of "Fireworks" were Japanese, Li Yishu did not need to avoid suspicion and asked Izumi Sakai to move in with her that night.

the next morning.

Li Yishu led the team to the Venice Film Palace to arrange the film exhibition and premiere.

He is already familiar with this.

Kitano Takeshi had also been to Venice once and was familiar with these steps, so Li Yishu handed over full responsibility to him, while he himself began to learn about today's Venice Film Festival shortlist.

There are not many films nominated this year. Including Lee Yi-su's "Fireworks", there are only 19 films nominated in total.

It is a pity that no Chinese-language film was shortlisted this year.

This also seems to indicate that the three major European film festivals are gradually losing their former favor and optimism towards Chinese films.

The Film Palace handles the exhibition hall registration office.

Kitano Takeshi took people to register for the exhibition hall. As a well-known director, Li Yishu naturally enjoyed extremely high treatment. The exhibition halls were the best, largest and most fully equipped in the entire film palace.

"Director Li?"

Suddenly someone called him in Mandarin. Li Yishu was stunned for a moment, and quickly turned around to look. After seeing who it was, he couldn't help but frowned.

Liang Chaowei!
Liang Chaowei strode over happily and said, "Just now I was not sure if it was Director Li, so I called out, but I didn't expect it was really you."

Although she didn't like Liang Chaowei very much, she was now abroad, so she naturally wanted to maintain unity. Li Yishu smiled and said, "Wei Zai, why are you here? I remember that Wang Jiawei didn't seem to have any movies participating in the exhibition this year, right?"

Liang Chaowei is the actor that Wang family uses most and has acted in many of his movies. So Liang Chaowei just thought it was a joke from Li Yishu and said with a smile, "Director Wang is busy with the premiere of Fallen Angels in Hong Kong recently and has no plans for a new movie for now. I came here mainly because another movie of mine was nominated."

"Haha, I know, 'The Rickshaw Man', right?"

Li Yishu actually knew that Liang Chaowei had a movie shortlisted for Venice this year, and she was just teasing him just now.

Liang Chaowei said, "Yes, Director Li. The movie "Tricycle Driver" was made by a Vietnamese director. Director Li, have you seen it?"

Not to mention watching it, I can even write a review after watching it.

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Not yet, but I'm quite interested. I heard that you, Tony, didn't say a word in the whole movie?"

"Yes, Director Li." Liang Chaowei said with a smile: "When I went there to film, I couldn't understand a word other people said except for the translator. The director simply deleted my lines and asked me not to speak at all. I only used smoking and facial expressions to replace words."

"Then I'd like to take a closer look at Wei Zai's acting skills."

Li Yishu smiled and said, “Remember to notify me when the premiere comes.”

"No problem, Director Li!" Liang Chaowei agreed readily. He glanced at someone not far away and seemed to see someone. He said hurriedly, "Director Li, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first. Director Chen will come to see you later. He is also your fan."

"Okay!"

Li Yishu smiled, and after watching the other party leave, her expression gradually became solemn.

It seems that the probability of winning another Golden Lion Award at this year's Venice Film Festival is very low.

Because he remembered that "The Rickshaw Man", which participated in the competition this year, was the first Vietnamese film to win the Golden Lion Award!
This incident caused quite a stir in the domestic film industry at the time, because the Vietnamese film market in the 90s could almost be described as a desert.

The sudden victory of the Golden Lion Award, including by a well-known Hong Kong actor, naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Li Yishu also watched it at the Beijing Film Studio that year. The film won the Golden Lion Award, so it must be well made.

However, like most films produced in Asian countries today, the theme of this film is to expose some domestic issues.

The story of "The Rickshaw Driver" is very simple.
An 18-year-old tricycle driver who makes a living in Ho Chi Minh City. After his parents died, he lives in a slum with his grandfather and two sisters.

One day, his car was stolen on the street, and he took a risk to repay the debt.
A gang leader started a criminal activity with a driver, and he started smuggling drugs.

The coachman's sister also became a prostitute.

This film adopts a realistic approach and almost restores Vietnam in the 90s. If you want to have enough food, you can only engage in some illegal and criminal activities.

Such a critical film itself is to the taste of the judges, not to mention that Vietnam is still a film desert.

As the Chinese market begins to lean towards Hollywood, it is natural for the European Film Festival to change direction.

Vietnam is a good choice. With a population of over 100 million and an almost desert-like film market, it is worthy of being courted by European film festivals.

Li Yishu couldn't help but smile bitterly. The buffs of this movie are fully stacked. It's simply invincible!
Thinking of this, he began to consider, if he was not aiming for the Golden Lion Award, should he choose the Silver Lion Award for the Grand Jury Prize or the Silver Lion Award for Best Director for public relations?

After half an hour.

Kitano Takeshi and his team finished all the formalities in the exhibition hall and were about to leave when a staff member suddenly called him, "Excuse me, is Director Li here?"

After the translator next to him said this, Kitano Takeshi nodded and asked, "Yes, what's wrong?"

The staff member said: "Mr. Abraham, the chairman of the Film Critics Weekly Unit, is on his way..."

When he heard that it was Chairman Abraham, Takeshi Kitano was slightly surprised, but he didn't think much about it. He nodded and said that he would tell Director Li.

When he came out, he found Li Yishu and talked about Abraham.

The person who came here is not kind...

Li Yishu's eyes flickered. He had just arrived in Venice yesterday afternoon and had not yet mentioned it to anyone except the crew.

When he came early this morning, Takeshi Kitano was informed by the staff that Abraham had already told them to call him once he arrived.

Ten minutes later.

Inside a restaurant near the Palace of Cinemas.

"Li, when I first met you in Venice, I knew you had the potential to be an excellent director."

Abraham looked at the now famous Lee Yi-su and recalled the first time he attended the premiere of her movie, which was at the invitation of Zhang Yimou.

Now thinking about it, it was a wise move for him to participate in the film of the new director Li.

Missing the past is not a good thing. Li Yishu had expected this and said with a smile, "Yes, I was able to win the Golden Lion Award that year thanks to Chairman Abraham's help and a few good words."

"It's mainly because your movie is so touching."

Abraham said with emotion: "I still remember what you said to me after watching the movie. Everyone has a hometown in their heart..." (End of this chapter)