Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 477: The design of the action was driven by a surge of passion.
May 14th, the main competition section of the Cannes Film Festival.

During this stage, the Cannes Film Festival organizers will select various awards for films, including the most popular Palme d'Or.

In addition to these, the Cannes Film Festival also has the 'Focus' section, the 'Short Film Competition' section, the 'Directors' Fortnight' section, etc. As for the other projects, they are still in the planning stages and have not yet appeared on stage.

A red carpet stretched from the main entrance of the Grand Theatre to the road. Nowadays, there's no such thing as "crashing the red carpet." Although there were reporters around, they weren't as enthusiastic.

When Gu Ming arrived at the theater in a rented car, he didn't even see many people taking pictures of him.

"Do you feel lonely? It's okay, as long as you win a major award. It was a real shame you weren't in France when you were making 'Kagemusha,' only Akira Kurosawa went up to accept the award."

Kadokawa Haruki lowered his voice and said to Kamiya Akira, "It's okay. If we win the Jury Prize or the Palme d'Or, I can generously let you go up and accept the award—and then I'll go back to Japan to become the president of the film academy!"

Gu Ming couldn't help but think to himself that this was probably an insurmountable hurdle.

However, Haruki Kadokawa is not quite ready to be the chairman of the film academy, as the Kadokawa Group lacks a massive, monopolistic cinema chain like Toei.

Toei encompasses the entire process from filming to distribution, and even owns its own theater chain. Although it cannot compete with Toho in terms of theater chain size, it is still the second largest theater chain in Japan.

From this perspective, even if Haruki Kadokawa were to oust Shigeru Okada, he probably wouldn't be able to serve as the leader of the film academy for many terms.

But that's not something Gu Ming needs to consider.

Since no one was taking pictures, Gu Ming quickened his pace and walked into the theater in front of him.

The show hadn't started yet, and the theater lighting was just right. Someone handed out several cue cards, which were about the various films nominated for this year's awards and the upcoming prizes.

Gu Ming straightened his bow tie slightly. Although he was a little uncomfortable with this kind of attire, he forced himself not to react and eventually sat down with the others.

To Gu Ming's left was Yakushimaru Hiroko, and to his right was Sako—Gu Ming needed her to be his translator.

"Brother." Hiroko Yakushimaru leaned closer and lowered her voice, "When we entered just now, some people's eyes were really annoying."

Gu Ming countered, "How am I annoying?"

"That's right, I can't explain it."

She frowned, as if trying to find the right words to describe the feeling.

But in the end, Hiroko Yakushimaru just shook her head.

In short, it was very annoying; it was an undisguised gaze that seemed to want to devour someone alive.

There are also casual audience members at the Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony, and ticket sales are one of the ways the Cannes Film Festival generates revenue. However, most of these audience members are people with some wealth.

To put it another way, he's a typical older white European man.

Gu Ming couldn't imagine that kind of annoying feeling, so he just comforted Yakushimaru Hiroko with a few words before flipping through his cards.

Among them, the films "The Great Disappearance" and "The Road to Freedom" were prominently listed at the top of the card.

It's clear that these two films are receiving a great deal of attention.

"It's almost all European films, not many American films, but that's normal, Europeans don't include Americans."

Gu Ming flipped through a page of his cards, his gaze moving downwards until it finally settled on a name that seemed vaguely familiar.

The True Story of Ah Q.

Gu Ming raised his head slightly and looked around, but unfortunately, he did not see those familiar faces.

Upon seeing this name, Gu Ming could picture an actor with a face bearing some signs of vicissitude and wrinkles, and a cheerful smile.

Yan Shunkai.

This movie is The True Story of Ah Q, and Yan Shunkai plays the role of Ah Q in the film.

This film was shortlisted for awards at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, but unfortunately it did not win any awards.

It's not that the script wasn't good enough, nor that the actors didn't try hard enough; it's actually a very simple reason.

Without French, foreigners can't understand it.

Although Gu Ming felt a little regretful, he knew that this was not something he could interfere with.

What's more.

He still has his own things to take care of right now.

The theater was getting more and more crowded, the lights were gradually dimming, and the main competition was about to begin.

Gu Ming sat upright with his hands clasped in front of his chest, not daring to relax for a moment.

Although he could say he didn't care, deep down he couldn't help but care.

This is, after all, the Cannes International Film Festival, which boasts the world's most prestigious film awards.

Even receiving a consolation prize here would be a remarkable honor.

Before that, only Europeans played among themselves.

The lights dimmed, the stage lit up, and the main competition officially began.

Gu Ming couldn't understand a word the host was saying, even though the host used other languages ​​besides French. He could only sit there, maintaining a Buddha-like posture.

The film that won the Jury Prize for Short Films this year is "meow"!

The host pronounced a cat's meow in perfect, clear voice.

Gu Ming was slightly taken aback.

Haruki Kadokawa quickly explained: "It's a Brazilian film, an animated short. It's somewhat interesting, but not very interesting. It's just an appetizer."

Gu Ming nodded and resumed his previous posture.

If it weren't for Shaqin constantly translating beside him, Gu Ming wouldn't have been able to understand what these people were saying.

Her lips moved as she translated rapidly. Although she couldn't do simultaneous interpretation, she could convey the general meaning.

"The next award to be presented is the Technology Award, which is used to reward films that have made technical contributions or outstanding technological breakthroughs in filmmaking."

Gu Mingfang nodded, and then the host slowly uttered a name that was slightly difficult to pronounce in French.

Kadokawa Haruki suddenly sat up straight and slapped Tani Akira's thigh.

"It's us."

"what?"

“It’s us! Go up and accept the award! Is the battle formation director here? If not, you, the lead actor, can go up and accept the award yourself.”

Gu Ming was slightly taken aback, while Sha Qin quickly translated: "Because this film used an unprecedented technique, namely the long corridor shot you created using special effects technology, coupled with the subsequent one-shot running on the windowsill, it deeply attracted their attention. In short, the film won a major technical award."

Gu Ming made an "oh" sound, then belatedly got up, took a few quick steps, and went up to the podium.

At this moment that should have been exciting, Gu Ming felt nothing at all.

Because he was thinking of the Japan Academy Film Prize.

He immediately received a special "killing formation design award," but afterwards he received nothing.

He didn't like this feeling of not being controlled.

When Gu Ming brought Shaqin onto the stage, there was a brief commotion among the audience in the front row, with people pointing and whispering as if they had recognized her.

The host spoke a few words quickly, and Gu Ming listened to the simple translation.

"Unexpectedly, it's another unexpected face, Mr. Furia. It seems your name has also appeared on the stage in Cannes."

Gu Ming nodded solemnly.

of course.

It was the time with the Shadow Warrior, although he didn't come that time.

"I'm sorry, I don't actually speak French yet."

Gu Ming took a deep breath and began to give his acceptance speech in simple English.

“I never imagined that I could appear on the Cannes stage in a second capacity besides being an actor. France is a beautiful country, and it seems that I have some kind of inexplicable connection with it. I am very happy to meet you all on my first trip to France.”

"Just like the effort we put into the film."

Someone in the first row of the audience is speaking.

"Mr. Furia, congratulations on this film winning this special technical award, but what we are more interested in is how you came up with those scene designs?"

Gu Ming raised his finger and pointed to his chest.

The old Frenchman seemed to understand: "Because of love?"

"It wasn't love, it was a surge of passion," Gu Ming said. "When we were designing that shot on the windowsill, I thought, 'Wouldn't it be daring to do it in one take?' Nobody dared to do it, so I said, 'I'll do it myself.'"

"When we needed a special shot to showcase the protagonist's fighting abilities, they said, 'Dude, that's going to be tough.'"

"Then the director, the cinematographer, and I designed that shot, a long corridor shot from an overhead perspective. It was a one-to-one set built to resemble the real Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department corridor."

"So, we really put in a lot of effort in this regard."

Unable to say anything more, Gu Ming simply bowed deeply and, amidst applause, walked off the stage with the framed certificate in his hand.

"A technology award? That's a good omen."

Haruki Kadokawa clicked his tongue in amazement: "I hope the French won't take my money for nothing."

Hiroko Yakushimaru remained silent, clapping along with everyone else, and then watched as Tani Akira walked from the stage back to his seats, his furrowed brows seemingly relaxing.

Even if Gu Ming's words were unpleasant, it was still an important award.

Its prestige far surpasses that of the 'Best Killing Frame Design' award from the Japan Academy Film Prize.

(End of this chapter)