Huayu: As a child star, I just want to be famous

Chapter 479 In Venice (6K)

After the opening ceremony, the official work began.

However, the requirements for the judges are relatively relaxed.

Chen Linfeng can freely choose any movie he likes to watch, but the requirement is that all the more than 20 films in the main competition unit must be watched during this period.

He is not in a hurry, there is still plenty of time.

This morning, Sina has organized a round of interviews.

Liu Qianqian was found today, so Chen Linfeng waited on the side.

"Director Chen, why don't you come along? Wouldn't it be better if the two of you could interview together?" the reporter greeted him warmly, his eagerness evident in his words.

Chen Linfeng waved his hand, "You guys should come, I'll talk about it another day."

The reporter didn't dare to say much. It was heard that this person was one of the major shareholders of Sina Weibo and was indirectly his boss.

Chen Linfeng watched Xixi being interviewed from afar with great interest, feeling a strange sense of freshness.

On the bright green lawn, surrounded by unknown green plants, it feels like being in a private courtyard.

The weather was not too hot and there was a gentle breeze. Liu Qianqian sat on a rattan chair, her skirt fluttering slightly, and she looked quite comfortable.

The reporters and crew finished their preparations and began asking questions.

"Excuse me, Liu Xixi, how do you feel about this year's Venice Film Festival? Is it different from the previous times you came here?"

"Well...I came here last year because my work was shortlisted. This year, I came here to accompany Xiaofeng. I just forced myself to come here."

Are you so straightforward?

The beginning was a bit unnerving for the reporter, and this also set the tone for the subsequent interview.

Liu Qianqian’s main idea is to say whatever she thinks.

Reporter: "Have you ever thought about bringing your works?"

Liu Qianqian: "Of course I do, but unfortunately I don't have the chance."

Reporter: "Some people say that you have achieved your current success thanks to Director Chen (here, he glanced at Chen Linfeng unconsciously), what do you think?"

Liu Qianqian: "I think what you said is quite right. His help is indispensable anyway."

Reporter: "Why don't you try to deny it? I think you must have put in a lot of effort in this process."

Liu Qianqian: "It's my own hard work, but there are so many people working hard. Many people don't even have the opportunity to work hard. From this point of view, I am really too lucky."

……

The interview was not long and it was over in a short while.

Liu Qianqian came over holding up her skirt, "Let's go, it's over."

Chen Linfeng asked casually, "What did you ask?"

"Ask me what I think of you." Liu Qianqian lifted her skirt with one hand and held her boyfriend's arm with the other.

"Oh?" Chen Linfeng became interested. "What did you say?"

Liu Qianqian said viciously, "I said you are the most annoying person. You always bully me."

"Haha, talk more, I love to listen."

"..."

The two went back to the hotel to change into casual clothes, and then wandered around the town.

I am usually very busy, but now I have some time to relax and take it as a vacation.

At noon, the two of them found an open-air restaurant and had lunch together.

Prices were very high at this time, but they didn't care about that and really enjoyed their outdoor life as a couple.

Of course, there were many fans coming forward to ask for autographs and take photos with them.

But those who come to participate in the film festival are more sensible.

Besides, there are too many celebrities coming here.

Scarcity makes things valuable, and they become less rare.

In the afternoon, the two of them picked two movies to watch.

Chen Linfeng did not act like a judge. He just walked out after watching the show without making any further comments.

In the evening, when he was invited to attend a cocktail party, he had a brief conversation with several judges he met.

It's a matter of exchanging ideas with each other.

As a rule of thumb, if there is a movie with poor sensory quality, there will still be consensus during this process.

Then this work will most likely be eliminated early and will not participate in the final round of discussion at all.

This way you can watch a movie, go shopping or play with your girlfriend, and then discuss the movie with others in the evening.

As the days went by, Chen Linfeng became more and more reluctant to leave.

On the afternoon of the third day, "The Piano in a Factory" premiered.

Chen Linfeng and Liu Qianqian went together to show their support.

"Director Chen, you're here." Wang Qianyuan was the first to greet him. "Oh, my sister-in-law is here too, welcome."

"Bah, who is your sister-in-law? I told you not to call me that." Liu Qianqian spat.

Last time we had a party in the Arctic Ocean, a bunch of people started to make a fuss and then started shouting like this.

At that time, Chen Linfeng just laughed and didn't try to stop her at all. Her words were of no use.

This time it was the same, Chen Linfeng just blinked and pretended not to hear anything.

Only Liu Qianqian stamped her feet.

Before they knew it, director Zhang Meng arrived.

After a few pleasantries, Chen and Liu came in. They came mainly to watch the movie and didn't really want to socialize.

A father works hard to fulfill his daughter's dream of music. He joins forces with a group of friends to build a piano for his daughter out of steel.

The story is simple, but the spirit of the times and the emotions of the workers it embodies are very touching.

He had seen the original film in his previous life, and when he watched it again in this life, he had different feelings.

While the audience was standing up and applauding, Chen Linfeng and Liu Qianqian left the stage early.

The two walked and talked with their backs to the sunset.

"How is it? Is the movie good?"

"It looks good!" Liu Qianqian said without hesitation.

Then she tilted her head and thought of a question, "Even if that piano is built well, it won't sound very good, right?"

"Who knows."

“So the point is not the result, but the fact that they came together to create a piano, and the emotion that is condensed in that piano?”

"You can understand it that way," Chen Linfeng sighed. "The history of Northeast China is a big topic. A piano contains fatherly love, but it also represents something else. This is the work that reflects the times that I appreciate."

"Oh~" Liu Qianqian tried to understand.

"In fact, the sound of a piano that has been built may not necessarily be bad. In other words, even if it is not good at the beginning, they should be able to adjust it. Don't underestimate the powerful fitters and the working class bosses in the past."

"Huh? It's really fake!"

So Chen Linfeng began to describe some outrageous legends he had heard before about the eighth-level fitter.

Xixi was stunned by what she said, but she was listening with great interest.

The next day, the two watched "Hello! Mr. Tree" together again.

The era elements reflected in this movie are a bit heavy.

Liu Qianqian had never experienced similar rural life, and she didn't quite understand the plot at first.

After Chen Linfeng told her the plot of the movie, he especially taught her how to judge when the protagonist Shu started to go crazy.

She finally understood it completely.

Then she sighed and looked a little depressed.

"This movie is well made, and Wang Baoqiang's performance is even better, but I was not happy after watching it."

"Well, being unhappy is also an emotion. A good movie is one that can make the audience feel different."

In both the past and the future, Wang Baoqiang's acting skills have always been so good.

Especially the energy of smoking in the film, just like his hands that have nowhere to put in the movie, it is really amazing.

Chen Linfeng began to have a headache about how to arrange these two works in the end.

They are both good movies, and the two leading actors both acted very well.

Hi, it feels bad. Why should I recommend them to go to Venice together? It would be better if they were separated.

……

In the evening, there was another cocktail party.

Chen Linfeng chatted with the main creator of a participating film.

In the past, as the main creator of the participating works, he had to find ways to publicize the judges.

Now, it is his turn to be the target of public relations.

He knew the other party's intention, and the other party knew that he knew it.

The two sides chatted tacitly. Whether they could be appreciated depended on the other party's ability and the quality of the movie.

Chen Linfeng has a deeper understanding of the mentality of the judges when he did this.

After chatting, he saw Wang Baoqiang.

"There's still a screening tonight, right? Has it ended?"

"Well, it just ended."

Wang Baoqiang hesitated for a moment, but finally asked, "Director Chen, why did you leave early this afternoon? I was thinking of chatting with you and Xixi after the meeting."

Chen Linfeng understood his concerns and explained, "We both left as soon as the movie was over. This is how we watched movies during the film festival these days."

It turned out to be the case.

Wang Baoqiang breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the other party felt that his movie was not good and left early.

Having said that, he asked the question.

"What does Director Chen think of the movie?"

"Hmm..." Chen Linfeng hesitated.

Wang Baoqiang felt a little disappointed.

“The Golden Lion Award is probably a little difficult.”

"Well, let's keep trying... eh? Golden Lion Award?!"

Wang Baoqiang was so shocked that his voice rose several tones.

He glanced around and lowered his voice again, "I don't dare to think about the Golden Lion Award, but I'll be satisfied if I can get an award at least."

Chen Linfeng was speechless.

You said you didn't say anything bad, so why are you acting so sneaky?

“Winning an award depends not only on the quality of your own work, but also on the strength of your competitors.

Many of the films this year are of very high quality, so I dare not say what the final result will be. "

Wang Baoqiang smiled innocently, "We will do our best and leave the rest to fate."

In the next few days, Chen Linfeng watched several domestic movies.

To be honest, the quality of the Chinese films exhibited this time is surprisingly high, and the works from other countries are not bad either.

It’s probably going to be another New Year.

This can also be seen from his discussions with several other judges.

The jury of the Venice Film Festival will communicate with each other every night.

Every three days, they would gather together for a small meeting of about two hours to exchange ideas.

Everyone agreed that many of the works this year were of good quality.

In particular, several works by Hua Guo have received unanimous recognition.

Chen Linfeng felt more confident when he mentioned these movies.

To be honest, as judges with different identities, it is normal for them to be biased because of their nationality.

But if you want to speak for your compatriots, you always need them to help themselves.

We can't tell lies with our eyes open. We all have to save our dignity.

In the two recent discussions, Chen Linfeng's voice has become increasingly louder.

Combined with his own status, it was very convincing. On September 9, Liu Qianqian left here ahead of schedule.

"The Walking Dead 2" is about to be aired, and she is going to Hollywood to participate in the pre-airing promotion.

The rest of the crew started a few days earlier.

She should have gone earlier, but the director heard that she was at the Venice Film Festival.

Just put her here in Venice to promote the news that the second season of "The Walking Dead" will be airing.

Recently, whenever Liu Qianqian was interviewed, she would mention that it was like having a vacation and working at the same time.

In fact, Chen Linfeng also mentioned in front of reporters recently the TV version of "Sherlock Holmes 2" which will be aired soon.

It would be a waste if we didn't do something with such a good publicity platform as the Venice Film Festival.

After Xixi left, Chen Linfeng went to the movies more frequently. He planned to finish watching all the participating movies in the next two days.

In recent days, the ratings of the films in each main competition unit have basically come out.

Starting from the third place downwards, domestic films are almost all at the top.

Among them, "Hello! Mr. Tree" scored the highest, reaching 7.6 points (out of 10 points).

Foreign media obviously like this kind of film that combines reality and fiction, and they highly appreciate the semi-crazy narrative in the second half.

Wang Baoqiang's performance was particularly praised, and he became one of the actors with the highest votes for Best Actor.

The second best drama is "A Simple Life", which also received high reviews and scored 7.1 points.

Next came "The Piano in a Factory" and "Crowds of People", which had similar scores.

The lowest score was "Seediq Bale" from Taiwan, which scored 4.8 points, ranking last among all the works.

When the film was shown to the media, it was met with a lot of boos.

The film was considered to have too bloody war scenes, a lengthy story, and poor writing, and was hailed as a "flashy pseudo-epic".

Chen Linfeng's own evaluation is quite similar to the media's evaluation.

Among them, the film about Wandao was one he had seen in his previous life. At that time, it was shown in two parts.

The pace of the first half is pretty good, but the second half is obviously dragging its feet, and all the problems mentioned by the media are present.

At this film festival, the director edited them together, and the effect is simply indescribable.

The movie, which lasts more than 2 hours, is a complete test of one's bladder.

Chen Linfeng's evaluation of this movie is slightly different from that of the media.

Judging from the version edited in the previous life, the quality is not low. From the perspective of film art alone, it is a good movie.

But in terms of ideological theme, it's nothing.

Regarding the personal opinions and ideas contained in the film, he completely holds the attitude of "enjoy your own fun, don't try to cause trouble."

The day before the closing ceremony, during the final discussion session, Chen Linfeng was still thinking about putting some eye drops on it.

As a result, the judges rejected him first.

Several others were worried that Chen would speak for his compatriot's film and took great pains to explain it to him.

He made the decision immediately.

"Guys, I also think this movie is not suitable for the final selection. I agree with your choice. Let's exclude it."

What a death!

Apart from it, other Chinese films are of good quality and have easily passed the first round of screening.

When it came to the award judging session, Chen Linfeng started to micro-manage.

After a few days, he had already understood the tendencies of many judges.

"Darren, I agree with you. 'Faust' is indeed very good, so 'The Killing' can be put aside. We don't need to follow the media's opinion."

"David, I don't think Michael Fassbender's performance is better than Wang Baoqiang's. Let's talk about real acting skills. The performance of two nominated films is not necessarily better than one."

"Yes, Alba, I also think that "The Mediocre" performed well and it deserves the Best Newcomer award."

"..."

During the several hours of discussion, Chen Linfeng fully demonstrated his eloquence.

At the end, Darren Aronofsky didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Chen, I really should ask you to host the next Oscars ceremony."

Chen Linfeng blinked and said, "I don't think the academy can afford this price."

"Haha, you're right."

Although Chen was almost in control of the situation in the end, Darren was surprisingly not in a bad mood.

The other party has enough respect for him, and often shares many similar views with him.

He felt that he had met a soulmate.

What he didn't know was that several other judges thought the same way.

After the voting was over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the past so many days, I have been watching movies, discussing them, and giving reviews, which has consumed a lot of energy.

Chen Linfeng didn’t know what the final result would be, but he guessed it wouldn’t be too bad.

After all, we have tried our best, and the rest depends on God's will.

……

That evening, both Wang Baoqiang and Wang Qianyuan called excitedly and said they had received invitations to attend the closing ceremony the next day.

The signal is very clear, there is a prize to be won.

Chen Linfeng was also happy for them.

As for other Chinese films, he was not very clear.

After all, our relationship is not that good, so I definitely wouldn't notify him specifically.

However, later on, he received another call from the organizing committee, asking him to be the presenter of the Jury Grand Prix tomorrow.

Chen Linfeng was a little unsure for a moment whether this was a hint or a normal process.

Because normally, he would most likely be invited to do this.

It’s hard to say whether there are any domestic works that have won this award.

It didn't matter much anyway, so he didn't take it too seriously and went to bed early.

In the first half of the film festival, it was quite relaxing to hang out with Sissi.

But in the next few days, he was really tired from watching movies, discussing them, watching them again, and discussing them again.

It feels much more tiring than filming a movie.

And at the moment when Chen Linfeng fell asleep.

Wang Baoqiang, Wang Qianyuan, Liu Dehua, Ye Dexian and others were all having trouble sleeping.

Especially the first two people, they had almost no mental preparation and had never experienced an award ceremony of this level before.

I almost didn't sleep the whole night.

Because I knew tomorrow's occasion was important, I forced myself to close my eyes and try to sleep, but I ended up becoming even more anxious and unable to sleep.

It was not until near morning that I dozed off for a while.

I get up at noon and think about the clothes and styling, prepare my speech, and what to say at the press conference later.

All kinds of content need to be prepared, and if there is no help from other team members, it will probably be a joke.

At this time, Chen Linfeng also learned the news about several crews participating in the closing ceremony.

A total of four crews received invitations, three of which were competing for the main competition unit.

"Three out of four? Not bad."

Chen Linfeng thought to himself.

Soon it was night and the atmosphere became tense.

On the way to the closing ceremony, you can see a lot of people, rushing in the same direction.

Chen Linfeng did not walk on the red carpet, but entered directly through the inner passage, which was also a different feeling.

The closing ceremony began at around 7:30.

As a member of the jury, he went on stage with his colleagues to pay tribute, and then returned to his special seat.

Seeing the nervous expressions of several domestic crew members instantly reminded him of his own experience that year.

But now, looking at it from the perspective of an outsider, he felt quite happy.

The first awards given are small prizes such as newcomer awards and technical contribution awards, as well as Horizon Unit awards, various local awards, film critics awards, etc.

About half an hour later, the film "Guan Yin Shan" starring Fan Binbin won a special mention award.

Chen Linfeng looked back and saw Fan Binbin standing up happily to celebrate with the director.

That's fine. I guess the media will describe this award as a heavyweight prize in the future.

The award ceremony continued, and after more than twenty minutes, it finally arrived at the main competition section.

The best screenplay award went to the Hong Kong film "A Simple Life".

In his previous life, Chen Linfeng remembered that this movie won the Best Actress award.

Do you want to give up your seat?
He felt something.

The Best Actress Award was then given to an Italian actress.

When it came to the Best Actor Award, Chen Linfeng paid attention.

"Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, Baoqiang Wang, "Hello! Mr. Tree", from China."

Everyone's eyes were focused on Wang Baoqiang, making him a little confused for a moment.

Wang Qianyuan in the front row reminded him with envy, "Brother, you got the award, why don't you go up!"

"what?"

At this time, director Han Jie, producer Jia Zhangke, and several other main actors stood up and hugged him.

Wang Baoqiang finally reacted.

Afterwards, he went on stage and stuttered as he read a speech.

Chen Linfeng clapped softly in the audience, feeling deeply gratified.

Then, the Best Director award went to the Italian film "Inland".

When it was time to receive the Jury Award, Chen Linfeng walked onto the stage.

He opened the envelope with ease.

"Let me see who it is, ha, congratulations to director Zhang Meng for winning the Grand Jury Prize for "The Piano in a Factory". Congratulations."

This time it is the turn of the "The Piano in a Factory" crew to receive the honor and cheers.

The whole audience was a little excited. This was the third time that China had won an award, and they were all big prizes.

Filmmakers and journalists from Greater China applauded and exclaimed in amazement.

"Director Chen, thank you, thank you!"

Zhang Meng gave me a bear hug when he came on stage.

I can’t mention my acceptance speech later, so I can only express my gratitude here.

You’re so awesome, Director Chen. It’s all thanks to you.

In his subsequent acceptance speech, Zhang Meng was somewhat incoherent.

Chen Linfeng clapped quietly on the sidelines, keeping his achievements and fame to himself.

The final grand prize went to "Faust".

This is a work that Darren and the two judges are optimistic about. Movies adapted from Western classics are likely to gain the favor and attention of Western filmmakers.

Chen Linfeng was essentially exchanging it.

I just didn't expect it to be so effective.

The guests in the audience were talking about why the Golden Lion Award was not given to China.

Otherwise, this film festival should be renamed the China Film Festival.

As soon as the award ceremony was over, the media swarmed in.

Who could have expected the result today? Not only did he win the second most important award, but he also won the much-anticipated Best Actor award, and also got the Best Screenplay award.

If it weren’t for the judge Chen Linfeng, everyone would be willing to eat something.

The reporters are very curious about the inside story.

(End of this chapter)