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

Chapter 607 Great Luck

March 2, 2014, the day of the Academy Awards ceremony.

The area around the Dolby Theatre, the main venue for the awards ceremony, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was already packed with people.

The Oscars red carpet has always been a star-studded battleground, and this year, in addition to Hollywood's golden lineup, there was also some brilliance from the East at the Dolby Theatre.

In the past, domestic media reporters would occasionally interview and report on the grand occasion of the Oscars, but they were mostly from a third-party perspective, with a kind of composure as if it were none of their business.

This year is particularly different.

Lu Lingling adjusted the media pass hanging around her neck, her knuckles turning slightly white from nervousness.

I took a deep breath. Well, there wasn't anything sweet about it. The air in the Los Angeles winter was filled with strong perfume, the smell of smoke, and a peculiar mix of other scents.

She was still in university when Zhang Yimou and Chen Yimou won the award, so she missed it. Now it's her turn to win.

"Xiao Lu, over here!" His colleague Wang Lei waved from a short distance away. Behind him was a group of reporters from The Hollywood Reporter, all blond and blue-eyed, walking briskly.

They must have arrived early to interview the fans.

These days, the Oscar battles, which have begun by fans even before the awards ceremony, are quite a big news story around the world.

"Brother Wang, what's the matter?"

"You two take Xiao Zhang and go interview some of Director Chen's fans. Remember to film as much footage as possible."

Lu Lingling was mentally prepared for this; she had long wanted to do something about it.

"Okay, let's go now."

After Lu Lingling and photographer Xiao Zhang left, Wei Wenjie, a senior reporter from Sina Media, came over and clicked his tongue in amazement, "Ten years ago when we came to the Oscars, we never dared to imagine that we would have this scene."

“Who says otherwise?” Wang Lei took out a cigarette, handed one to his colleague, lit it, took a puff, and said, “Brother Wei, you have more experience and you saw this early on. Even if it had been a little later, I wouldn’t have dared to imagine this scene when I was working at NetEase.”

As he spoke, he looked ahead, his gaze sweeping over the huge Joker poster hanging not far away.

"I always feel that Chinese films have been soaring like rockets in recent years, and now they seem poised to sweep the Oscars."

At this point, he casually asked, "By the way, how many awards do you think 'Joker' will win this year?"

This is the current situation in China: people don't even ask if they can get it, they just ask how many they can get.

Wei Wenjie stroked his chin. "I should be a shoo-in for Best Director, and I'm pretty sure I'll win Best Picture too. As for Best Actor, it depends on whether the judges have forgotten about Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll be a runner-up again."

"I think Leonardo has a better chance. I heard that the Americans have been talking about how the Oscars owe Leonardo a Best Actor award recently."

"Isn't everyone saying that this session won't be held hostage? This kind of statement isn't a good thing."

"That's true, but it was only rumored in the early stages, and then it stopped being said that later. It must have been predicted."

"Maybe."

Wei Wenjie remained noncommittal. "By the way, have you heard a rumor that Director Chen is pulling the strings behind the scenes because this Oscar controversy has become so big and even reached China?"

"I have no idea," Wang Lei quickly shook his head.

This topic is taboo in their company.

That's because they're from V2EX.

But it has to be said, the mastermind behind Hollywood's grand themes sounds incredibly exciting.

He actually hoped it was his own boss who did it.

Dozens of meters away, Lu Lingling was randomly interviewing fans on the street.

She also has a knack for finding targets, specifically choosing those who appear to be relatively young and enthusiastic fans.

This makes it more likely that they are fans of their own boss. Many of Leonardo DiCaprio's fans are older, at least in their 30s or 40s.

Now that the director and the male lead's fans of "Joker" have joined forces, it's still necessary to distinguish between them.

Are you a fan of "Joker"?

"Yes, I am."

Do you think Joker has a chance to win an Oscar this time?

"Of course, at least 10 Oscars."

"..."

American fans seem even more arrogant than their domestic counterparts. They should at least have some basic sense of law and order.

Lu Lingling was exasperated after asking several people in a row, only to find they were all extremely optimistic.

Fortunately, the fans were very enthusiastic, and the show still had some entertainment value and news value.

So she began to adjust her strategy, looking for people who didn't look like Europeans or Americans.

This led her to discover a treasure.

Among the group of Asian-looking fans, there were not only Chinese fans, but also fans from Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam. They gathered a little further away from the theater.

Lu Lingling then realized that there were many people like her here.

Only after asking did I learn that they arrived late and missed out on securing a prime area.

Are you all here to support the movie "Joker"?

"I'm here to support Teacher Qilin."

"Support Kirin Oppa".

“I really like Director Chen. He is the pride of us East Asians.”

Lu Lingling squinted at the Annan fan in front of her and said, "Hey, you guys are from Southeast Asia, aren't you?"

These fans were even more enthusiastic than those I'd encountered before, and they answered almost every question.

And almost all of them were Chen Linfeng's fans, praising him endlessly.

They even extended their affection to the country of China.

This made Lu Lingling's interview go much more smoothly, and she thought that the post-production would be much easier now.

Time flies, the sun sets in the west, and the sky gradually darkens.

The red carpet ceremony began at 5 p.m.

Although it wasn't completely dark yet, the flashes from the cameras on both sides of the red carpet were already lit up, turning the night sky into daylight like a cascading galaxy.

CCTV special correspondent Lin Xiaoyu gripped the microphone tightly, her palms damp with sweat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am currently at the venue of the 86th Academy Awards ceremony!"

Lin Xiaoyu's voice trembled slightly with excitement, "The film 'Joker,' directed by Chinese director Chen Linfeng, received 11 nominations, making history for Asian filmmakers at the Oscars."

This is a milestone moment for the Chinese film industry to go global…

Following Lin Xiaoyu's words, the photographer directly opposite her gradually shifted the camera's focus to the tightly packed fans and audience around her, and then to the red carpet area.

Celebrities have started to appear there.

Turning our attention back to China, it was 8 a.m.

The footage transmitted by Lin Xiaoyu and her team is being broadcast in the studio of CCTV-1.

Unlike previous years when the broadcast was handled by six channels, this year CCTV gave it significant attention and broadcast it directly on channel one.

As a result, even the original "Morning News" program moved its time earlier.

Moreover, they announced this a week in advance.

In addition, previous Oscars ceremonies have all been broadcast with varying degrees of delay.

Sometimes the delay can exceed 3 hours.

This time, only three minutes were allotted, which was almost the same as a live stream.

The plan is to temporarily switch the camera back to the studio or play commercials only in special circumstances.

At this time, the main character that the country was most concerned about had not yet appeared, so the footage from the front was only being broadcast intermittently.

What viewers see most of are the guests in the studio.

The invited guests were also very high-profile, including Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.

At this moment, the two are talking about their past experiences attending the Oscars.

Chen Kaige said, "The first time I went there, I knew almost nothing. I had no idea there was such a thing as pre-hoc public relations. If only I had known earlier..." "Ahem~"

The host coughed twice, almost imperceptibly.

"Oh, back then, the Oscars ceremony was quite mysterious to me. As far as I remember, my year was the first time that several Asian films were nominated."

After saying that, Chen Kaige was still not quite sure, so he asked the other two with certainty, "If I remember correctly, it should be..."

"Director Kaige, you remember correctly," host Xiao Sa confirmed.

"Director Zhang, what are your impressions of attending the Oscars several times?"

Zhang Yimou remarked with some emotion, "In earlier years, we didn't take it too seriously. Back then, the focus in China was on the three major European countries."

"After 00, people started to pay attention, but after several attempts, there were still no results. To be honest, I was a little discouraged at the time. Fortunately, I later collaborated with Xiao Chen, otherwise I might still be regretting it now..."

Hearing this, Chen Kaige couldn't hold back anymore, "Yi Mou, you really are lucky. You just happened to be looking for Xiao Chen, and you've already won both Cannes and an Oscar."

"It can't be called luck, can it? Why did Xiao Chen specifically find me? He must have something he's good at."

Since winning the Grand Slam, Zhang Yimou has been much more composed when facing Chen Kaige.

"Hey, look at the scene ahead, Director Feng is about to appear."

Xiao Sa quickly interrupted the two directors to prevent them from arguing on the show.

On the red carpet, Feng Xiaogang, arm in arm with his wife Xu Fan, appeared alongside Zhang Guoli, Chen Daoming, and others.

"Back to 1942" was released in China relatively early, but it was released in North America last year, which is why it meets the criteria for this year's Oscars.

Joker was submitted to the Oscars as a Warner Bros. project and did not take up any of the mainland China's submission quota, so the quota was given to Director Feng's film.

It must be said that history has changed here.

He actually managed to get a nomination for a foreign language film.

Perhaps influenced by Chen Linfeng, domestic companies have improved their public relations skills in Hollywood, and Gangzi was not stopped at the nomination stage.

However, there is basically no hope for this in China.

The current version of "1942" has no Western priests or American journalists.

It was merely a national tragedy, and one that, to some extent, revealed the resilience of the Chinese people.

While the domestic word-of-mouth and box office have certainly improved, the actual reviews from Europeans and Americans are unlikely to be very high.

It would be difficult to win an award if the issue is not universal.

However, for Feng Xiaogang himself, being able to make a legitimate trip is a huge success.

In particular, they also capitalized on Xiao Chen's popularity.

It's being broadcast on CCTV-1.

Director Feng beamed with joy as he posed for photos in the photography area.

"Director Feng benefited from Xiao Chen's influence. Xiao Chen gave him a lot of suggestions on his script back then."

Chen Kaige found it particularly distasteful to see these directors who were rapidly making progress by clinging to Chen Kaige's coattails.

You guys need to be a little more lenient with me.

"Didn't your 'Chang'an 30,000 Miles' this year also have Xiao Chen's ideas?"

Zhang Yimou seems to have found enjoyment in criticizing Chen Kaige.

"That's not the same!"

We were one family five hundred years ago!
"Wow, the organizers designed this cleverly. Director Feng is followed by Director Wang Jiawei."

It was Xiao Sa who interrupted the spellcasting again.

Wong Kar-wai's signature sunglasses gleamed under the flashlight, and he quickly withdrew a slight smirk.

It's normal that "The Grandmaster," an action film, didn't receive a foreign language film nomination.

But Feng Xiaogang got it, which is very unpleasant.

Can't directors have some backbone? Stop trying to emulate Chen Linfeng's feng shui.

Indeed, in the eyes of a group of Hong Kong and Taiwan filmmakers, Xiao Chen is a sinister person, and his ancestral graves must be smoking every day.

As I walked past the interview area, I saw Feng Xiaogang, who seemed to be waiting for me.

He waved to let the others go in first.

Seeing that the two directors had something to say, the people surrounding Feng Xiaogang tactfully went in first.

"Congratulations, Director Feng."

Wang Jiawei's consistently serious face made it difficult to discern anything from his expression.

“Hey,” Feng Xiaogang waved his hand, “I’m just here to keep you company.”

[If you know you're just a runner-up, can you at least tone down your attitude?]

"No way, maybe Director Feng will go all out."

"Oh, no way, no way, haha."

Seemingly aware that talking too much would annoy people, Feng Xiaogang smoothly changed the subject.

"Director Wang, do you think Chen has a chance this year? He seems to be making a lot of noise, but would the Americans be so kind as to give him the award?"

To avoid any misunderstanding, he immediately added, "It's not that I don't believe in Director Chen's abilities, but from the academy's perspective, it's difficult to award another prize after only a few years."

This is also what pessimists in China are most worried about now: Hollywood has filmmakers who have won two Oscars.

However, it often takes a long time for Chen Linfeng to receive the Best Director award. It was only a few years ago, so it's understandable that he wasn't awarded it.

“What you said makes some sense, but looking at the other nominees, Director Chen really does seem to be the most likely to win.”

Everyone knows the unspoken rules, but among the films nominated for Best Director this year, excluding "Joker," only Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" remains.

To be honest, the other two films were clearly just there to make up the numbers.

As for Chen and Martin, both of them have won the Best Director Oscar in the last decade.

In terms of unspoken rules, they have no advantage.

This is also why Wang Jiawei agrees with what everyone says: "Director Chen has an innate great fortune."

He originally had no chance of winning Best Director, but the situation of his competitors this year left many possibilities open.

Considering the preferences of the Academy judges, Joker is still the most likely winner.

Who can I ask to explain this?

"Yes, Director Chen really manages to do everything perfectly. Not only did the movie gross so much at the box office, but he also has a chance to win an Oscar. It's outrageous."

"He's found a balance. Looking at his past films, they're all like this: entertaining, yet with a certain depth, and the use of camera language and color is excellent..."

At this point, Wang Jiawei couldn't help but grin, "Listen to that, they've all been grouped together."

How did a young man develop such skills?

Yet it makes perfect sense.

When a normal person's overall level improves, they also get older, and at this point, they have to face the problem of their aesthetic sense being out of touch with the times.

But Chen Linfeng is a monster; he grows up too fast. He acquired these talents at the prime of his life and is not short of money.

This must be one of the outward manifestations of his great fortune.

The two were chatting enthusiastically when they were interrupted by a burst of cheers.

Looking up, one could see Chen Linfeng and Liu Qianqian standing in the center of the red carpet, turning to face the media area.

"Director Chen! Look this way!"

"Mr. Chen! Here please!"

"Sissi! To your right!"

A person of great destiny has arrived!

(End of this chapter)