After all of them were reborn, who would still be an actor?

Chapter 703 A Gathering of Heroes, The Golden Palm of Loans
Leonardo DiCaprio felt a sudden tightness in his anus, and inexplicably sensed that someone in the audience was looking at him with ill intent, and it was a man.

He glanced around, wanting to see who was so bold.

He quickly spotted his target: a guy wearing a white T-shirt, sunglasses, chin in hand, and a sly grin.

Li Mingyang from Dongda University!

Little Li recognized Li Mingyang at a glance.

He pays little attention to the stars of Dongda University, but Li Mingyang is an exception. He emerged at the age of 20 and became a billionaire at the age of 24.

Sweeping across the Tokyo and South Korean film markets, the Asian director Hollywood most wants to work with, the Asian box office king targeted by Wall Street capital...

Little Li sincerely envied Li Mingyang.

I envy Li Mingyang for not suffering much, and I envy him for being handsome, young, and rich.

At the same time, they maliciously hoped that Li Mingyang would go to Hollywood as soon as possible and experience all the human tragedies he had gone through.

……

"Mingyang, when you get old, you absolutely must not be like Leonardo DiCaprio. He looks so greasy now. He was so handsome in Titanic!" Jing Tian whispered in Li Mingyang's ear.

"He was even more handsome in Romeo and Juliet."

"Can I take a picture with Leonardo DiCaprio?"

"Give me a break, you already have me, why are you still looking for someone else?"

"Haha, you're jealous."

"I'm worried that something might happen if you take a photo with Leonardo DiCaprio."

"What happened? What's the juicy gossip?" Jing Tian's eyes lit up instantly, filled with a thirst for gossip.

Li Mingyang slapped Jing Tian across the face, pushed her away, then turned to the side, leaning towards Section Chief Jia. His first words were enough to leave Section Chief Jia speechless.

"Director Jia, where's your wife?"

"At the hotel."

"In the room? With whom? Male or female? White or black?"

"Well... junior, can you talk normally for once..." Section Chief Jia didn't dare to lose his temper, so he could only try to maintain a good relationship and avoid talking about wives so that everyone could have a proper conversation.

"I had forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. Director Jia is also from Beijing Film Academy, but I'm not your junior. I'm just a passerby at Beijing Film Academy."

"Junior, we're all on the same side. It's the school, so we have to consider the bigger picture."

"Give me a break. They've never given me anything in return, and now they want to fire me."

"This is indeed unfair... The person who suggested expelling you back then has already been expelled. But then again, you weren't expelled, were you? The school has even prepared a graduate degree certificate for you. When are you going to pick it up?"

"Is there still this?"

"This was specially arranged because you can win the Palme d'Or, that's all," Section Chief Jia said bluntly.

"That's way too realistic."

"This world is very realistic... There's a dinner party tonight, you can ask Third Master, he knows all about it."

"Hmm...can I see my sister-in-law?"

Section Chief Jia felt that Li Mingyang was deliberately mocking him, but he didn't dare to say anything.

He glanced at Zhang Yimou, his senior, who had been full of vigor and talking eloquently on the way here.

After meeting Li Mingyang, all he did was laugh and didn't say a word.

He finally understood why.

Li Mingyang has such a foul mouth...

……

11 p.m., Belle Seri Hotel.

The hotel was booked by the Chinese side.

Li Mingyang and Section Chief Jia entered the hotel arm in arm, followed by Zhang Yimou and Li An.

Logically, as a judge, Li An shouldn't have gone back to the hotel with them.

In China, this would be called cheating.

But foreigners are free and democratic, so how could they possibly restrict personal freedom?

Even when the judges watched and discussed the film together in the villa arranged by the organizers, it was not a closed environment.

Change to do this or that...

Go to the beach and sunbathe with whomever you want.

Tomorrow, he's going to sunbathe on a yacht with Nicole Kidman, who's like a giant white cake.

Making plans with the sun is as casual as making plans to eat out.

If Spielberg and the other judges hadn't been there...

Li Mingyang really thought Nicole was going to do it in broad daylight.

Upon entering the banquet hall, Li Mingyang immediately saw Zuo Shandiao, Wang Changtian, and Jiang Zhiqiang, who were drinking and chatting happily, each one more cheerful than the last.

The three men, including Zuo Shandiao, supported him.

Wang Changtian and Li Mingyang are on the same side, while Jiang Zhiqiang is a big supporter of Zhang Yimou.

Section Chief Jia is only being looked after by China Film Group, which is rather unfortunate.

"Third Master," Li Mingyang greeted Zuo Shandiao warmly.

Zuo Shandiao looked at Li Mingyang's casual clothes, opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything. Instead, he shook hands with Li Mingyang.

He shook hands with Section Chief Jia, Lao Yizi, and Li An, then waved his hand and said, "Please take your seats."

Li Mingyang and his group were the last group to arrive. Besides the four directors, there were other celebrities and industry insiders who went inside to watch the opening film.

Guided by the staff, Li Mingyang and Jing Tian arrived at a large round table, just a few meters away from the main table.

There were eight people at the table: Section Chief Jia and his wife, and even his older brother Jiang Wen was there.

"Brother, you're amazing!" Jiang Wen exaggeratedly stretched out both hands to shake hands with Li Mingyang.

"I'm just letting things take their course," Li Mingyang said with a smile, extending both hands to shake hands with Jiang Wen.

"Sit down, sit down." Jiang Wen said, pulling Li Mingyang to sit down next to him, and poured him a glass of Moutai. "Director Li, what's your secret to being nominated for the Cannes main competition for two consecutive years?"

"There's no secret to it. It's just that the films I make are artistically successful, so they naturally get nominated," Li Mingyang said without any modesty.

"Haha, I really admire your talent, brother. You didn't use 'Spring in Seoul,' and you've already made a new one, and it's actually been nominated. You're so talented and bold!" Jiang Wen said, taking a swig of Moutai, feeling extremely envious.
Of all the movies Lee Myung-yang has made, only "Seoul Spring" truly suits his taste. The plot is explosive, the dialogue is passionate, and the conflicts are intense.

He was particularly impressed by the line, "Failure is treason, success is revolution!" The core of the entire film is actually this line.

Of course, there are just too many classic lines in it.

He never expected that Li Mingyang, at such a young age, would be so brilliant, combining political intrigue and history to create a very educational political film.

They benefited from the subject matter and the overall environment!
This is outrageous!

"What do you mean by 'high skill breeds daring'? This is just human nature. If I don't make the cut, how will they make money!"

"make money?"

"Buy a prize."

With Li Mingyang at the center, the surroundings suddenly fell silent. These words, which should have been spoken in private, were brought to the forefront by Li Mingyang.

Jiang Wen was already used to his good brother's rebelliousness, and asked curiously, "I've heard a lot about you buying prizes, brother. How much does the Palme d'Or cost?"

"A few hundred million, I guess."

"So cheap?!"

"Beautiful knife."

Jiang Wen's eyes widened in disbelief as he exclaimed, "Over a billion RMB?"

"Yup!"

"Too expensive, too expensive, what's the bottom price?" Jiang Wen asked slyly.

"Is Big Brother interested?"

"Isn't that just bullshit? A gold palm bought with money is still a gold palm! It's probably a double yolk, and a double yolk gold palm is still a gold palm!" Jiang Wen said excitedly, his voice even louder than Li Mingyang's.

They were afraid others wouldn't hear them.

My dear brother, you're really knowledgeable and know how to talk.

Of course! Isn't the Palm Tree we bought a Palm Tree?

"Brother, if you're interested, I can help you negotiate later. But be prepared about the price. I don't care; it's just a few hundred million US dollars. I can earn it back in a few years. You should act within your means!"

"What are you talking about... Okay, compared to you, I am indeed a poor man." Jiang Wen took another big gulp of Moutai, hesitated for a moment, stretched out his left hand, spread his five fingers, and said, "I can still handle this amount, but what if I spend this money and don't win the award?"

"No money if you don't get it!" Li Mingyang laughed heartily.

"This business is still viable," Section Chief Jia said with a smile.

“What’s the point if you can’t win it? It’s no different from those scammers.” Jiang Wen seemed to have learned his lesson and said with certainty, “It’s not easy to get into the main competition at Cannes. Once you’re in, you have to win the Palme d’Or. Winning a second prize is meaningless and not worth spending that much money at all.”

The implication is that they don't care about other awards at all; they only want the Palme d'Or.

Having won a jury prize, he speaks with confidence.

"Big brother is right. If you're not absolutely certain of victory, what's the point of coming to Cannes? Are you just here to be a clown? Cheers!"

"cheers!"

When Jiang Wen heard the word "clown," he clearly had a stress reaction; his smile froze for a moment, but he immediately burst into laughter and clinked glasses with Li Mingyang.

At last year's Hong Kong Film Awards, Jiang Wen was nominated 13 times but won 0. There's no need to be so ashamed of him!

He was made a fool of in front of the entire nation. That night, however, he acted with great composure.

But later, the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

Tian Tian's favorite thing to do is to find out how badly those people were beaten, which is very satisfying.

"Brother, tell me the truth, did you really buy the Golden Palm? You won't go back on your word, will you... It's not that I don't believe you, but you can't really say for sure about these things! There's so much fake news!"

"Haha, I made a deal with the organizers, how could it be fake? It's true, would I lie about something like this? It's hundreds of millions of US dollars, not tens of millions. Everyone who made it into the main competition is a bunch of poor people, only I can afford this money, right, Lao Jia?"

Jia Zhangke was internally cursing, "Why is this bringing me up again?" "Yes, yes, compared to Director Li, I really am a poor wretch..."

"The Palme d'Or still depends on the level of skill..."

"Being shortlisted speaks volumes!"

This remark left Jiang Wen speechless! Only Du Kang (a legendary figure associated with wine) could refute it!
"cheers!"

"cheers!"

After confirming repeatedly that Li Mingyang could really buy the prize, Jiang Wen's mind immediately started working.

Zhang Yimou wants to assemble the three major European teams, and Jiang Wen wants to too!
Even if you can't gather all the money, winning the Palme d'Or is still a very prestigious thing, an achievement you can brag about for a lifetime!

Oscars.

Zhang Yimou risked his life and proved with his strength that this path is not easy to walk, and that kneeling or not kneeling makes no difference!
Kneeling is not an option, nor is not kneeling!

The Palme d'Or is arguably the most promising, given that a loophole has already been opened.

"Brother, is this settled then?" Jiang Wen smiled brightly as he poured wine for Li Mingyang.

"What's settled?"

Jiang Wen clicked his tongue twice, stretched out his left hand, and spread his five fingers.

Li Mingyang pushed Jiang Wen away and said, "Brother, this Palme d'Or isn't something you can just win with money. If that were the case, Zhang Yimou would have won it long ago. Why wait until now?"

Zhang Yimou and Jiang Zhiqiang were sitting at the main table, not far apart, and could hear everything clearly.

Everyone at the table heard it clearly and looked at Zhang Yimou without prior arrangement.

What could Zhang Yimou do but laugh it off, raise his glass, and drink it all down?

"Brother, what do you mean by this! You just said you'd buy it for me, and now you're saying it's not enough to just have money." Jiang Wen's expression darkened, and his tone changed.

“Brother, if I had money, why would I go to South Korea to make movies?” Li Mingyang patted Jiang Wen on the shoulder. “I told you a long time ago that it’s hard to win awards in China, you have to win them from abroad. Now you see, I just made a movie called ‘The Prostitute’ and won the Palme d’Or.”

"You mean you want me to leave?"

"of course."

Jiang Wen stroked his chin, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes began to wander.

Last year, Li Mingyang tried to persuade him to go to South Korea to make a movie, but he felt it was a joke.

He's doing just fine in China, why would he go to South Korea? South Korea doesn't have the leverage to win the Palme d'Or.

Li Mingyang has been subjected to intense public criticism due to his political stance.

The idea of ​​tricking him into going to Korea is just a way to find a scapegoat and whitewash oneself.

He refused outright and advised Li Mingyang not to have unrealistic expectations, to enjoy life, and not to be so hard on himself.

Who would have thought that in less than a year, Li Mingyang would win the Palme d'Or in South Korea!

Using the resources of the Koreans, he won an incredible prize for himself!
Jiang Wen stopped acting and said with a wicked smile, "With your standards, I can do a Sino-Korean co-production."

"The Koreans are no good. This Palme d'Or has exhausted the luck of Korean films. It's impossible for the Koreans to win the Palme d'Or again in the short term."

Jiang Wen was very annoyed. That's just how people are; when there's no opportunity, they become extremely indifferent.

Once the opportunity arises, once the beast of desire is unleashed, it is very difficult to pull it back; the more it is suppressed, the harder it is to quell.

"If the Koreans don't work, you can go to a less desirable place!"

Jiang Wen was stunned for a moment.

But there was no rebuttal.

Li Mingyang urged, "Brother, you know my next step is to conquer the Japanese film market. If we join forces, we can achieve great things!"

"I'm not familiar with the scripted film market."

You're being modest, brother. You're one of the few experts in the Japanese film market in China.

Jiang Wen has quite a few connections in the Japanese film industry.

Because his two sons were named Jiang Taro and Jiang Jiro respectively, the exposure of the two names brought a barrage of accusations of "favoring the Japanese" and "traitors." Faced with the criticism, Jiang Wen only said, "If you have time, read more books."

Jiang Wen is a true intellectual... He understands history, and is familiar with both Chinese history and Japanese history.

Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you know when the Japanese devils come.

He is also one of the few directors in China who have participated in Sino-Japanese co-productions, and he was able to get Joe Hisaishi, Miyazaki Hayao's go-to composer, to participate.

There aren't many Japanese writers with a conscience who are genuinely anti-war and truly reflective.

Hayao Miyazaki and Akira Toriyama are among the few exceptions.

“Brother, Japan has won the Palme d'Or four times. The last time was in 97, so it’s been a long time since they won it. As the saying goes, after the worst comes the best. Japan has great potential, and this is a great opportunity!” Li Mingyang said.

"It has a different meaning... You're trying to trick me!"

“How could I betray my brother? He has always treated me with sincerity. If I were to betray you, would I even be human? If the Sino-Japanese co-production doesn’t work out, the two of us brothers can work together to achieve great things. I have connections in Japan. Sony and SoftBank are both companies we can cooperate with. Maybe you won’t even have to pay for it.”

Li Mingyang is bragging.

However, Li Mingyang's greatest strength is that when others think he's bragging, he always manages to deliver on his promises.

Last year, Jiang Wen missed one.

this time……

"Brother, let's not talk about it anymore, it's all in the wine, let's drink."

Jiang Wen pressed on Li Mingyang's shoulder, smiled, raised his glass, clinked glasses, and took a sip of Moutai with relish.

Seeing his exhilarating appearance, everyone who saw it knew that Jiang Wen was already smitten, but he didn't say it outright because of the others.

Li Mingyang was bragging to Jiang Wen over here.

Meanwhile, Wang Changtian began his performance, sitting at the main table and making grand promises to the group of leaders.

The film "Miss" followed the Korean film process to win the Palme d'Or, but it is undoubtedly a Sino-Korean co-production.

Li Mingyang will not keep this honor to himself.

We hope that the leaders can give Li Mingyang the opportunity to promote this remarkable Sino-Korean co-production.

Zuo Shandiao was happy to see this happen; it was exactly the kind of achievement he wanted.

But not everyone was happy that Li Mingyang won the Palme d'Or; they would have preferred someone they trusted, like Zhang Yimou or Jia Zhangke, to win it.

"Director Li, is what Li Mingyang said true?"

Li An smiled憨厚ly, then shook his head.

Just when everyone thought Li Mingyang was bragging, Li An subconsciously glanced at Li Mingyang and saw that the other party was looking at him, his ears were unusually sharp.

"I've just arrived, so I don't know the specifics, but... Mr. Spielberg really likes Li Mingyang..."

It's perfectly normal to like someone!

Li Meijin is a shareholder of DreamWorks and a good friend of the three founders of DreamWorks.

There were even rumors that Spielberg originally did not want to be the president of the Cannes jury, and that it was Li Meijin who intervened and Spielberg reluctantly agreed to take on the role.

With Spielberg's help, Li Mingyang's chances are much higher than those of Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke, if not absolutely certain.

Li An's words caused the mainland leaders present to waver wildly in their convictions.

Li Mingyang's talent is beyond doubt!

The Palme d'Or award was a tremendous boost to Li Mingyang's career; it would be an understatement to say it propelled him to new heights.

A top director in mainland China with two billion-dollar box office hits, the king of Korean films, and a Cannes Palme d'Or winner, he is a model of the perfect combination of commerce and art.

This is enough to claim that he's Asia's number one director, and who dares to disagree?

The veteran politician and Li An present at the event were no less accomplished than Li Mingyang, and perhaps even more so, but they dared not say anything...

Li Mingyang is only twenty-four years old...

"Come on, let's all have a toast. Now that Director Li has won the Palme d'Or, his first stop will definitely not be South Korea. He will definitely come back to China with everyone."

"We need to reserve a spot for Director Li at this year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala."

"That is required!"

"Come, everyone! Drink this cup to the brim."

"Director Li, come on, let's have a drink together," Zuo Shandiao called out.

"Oh, here it comes!"

Li Mingyang arrived with a wine glass, but Zuo Shandiao, finding the glass too small, shoved half a bottle of Moutai into his hand.

"Third Master, are you trying to get me drunk?!"

"You little rascal, I've never seen you drunk before. Come on, cheers! Our Dongda University has gained another Palme d'Or-winning director!"

Li Mingyang clinked glasses with everyone in the air and laughed heartily, as if he had already won the Palme d'Or.

In reality... there's only a 50% chance.

However, thanks to Li Mingyang's self-promotion, even the skeptical Jiang Wen believed it to be true!
……

(End of this chapter)