Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 105 Pioneer Tea Party

Coincidentally, following the demonstration of the white woman just now, another skinny white man came over and showed his press card.

Lu Kuan patted Liu Yifei's forearm, indicating that she should translate for Gong Li.

The purpose of bringing her out was to socialize and get to know her, and Liu Yifei's English was fine, which came in handy at this time.

After all, Gong Li is the chairperson of this year's jury. Even though she is cursing like crazy in her heart, she can only keep smiling.

After seeing off the last reporter, the actress grabbed the wine glass and gulped it down to quench her thirst.

"Yifei, your English is so good, and you look so young?"

The little girl said sweetly, "Sister Gong Li, I've been in the United States for a few years, so I can speak some English."

Lu Kuan added, "She just got admitted to the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy this year and is still in the learning stage."

His own academic results were also released in late July. Thanks to Bingbing's encouragement, he managed to pass the exam.

The two are now classmates.

Although Gong Li was confused, she did not ask any further questions. Everyone turned to talk about the Chinese-language films participating in this competition.

A total of seven Chinese-language films were shortlisted for this year's Venice Film Festival, but only "Whiplash" from the mainland entered the main competition unit.

Tian Zhuangzhuang's "Spring in a Small Town" and Lu Chuan's "Looking for a Gun" were both selected into the "Against the Current" unit.

The other four are from Hong Kong and Macau. This year's Chinese-language films can be said to be in decline.

"Lu Tianmin contacted me. His son Lu Chuan will arrive tomorrow, as well as Wang Xiaolei from Huayi."

Huayi is the investor of "Looking for the Gun" and is now involved in marketing and selling the film.

Tian Zhuangzhuang laughed and said, "I had a big drink with Jiang Wen a few days ago, but he caught a bad cold and couldn't come."

The road is wide and the heart is moved, but the road of enemies is narrow.

Wang Xiaolei had previously devised a vicious plan for the young lord to steal the plot of "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and get his hands on Concubine Liu Yi.

In addition to Lu Changchun's incident, Boss Lu has begun to suspect that it was the dirty guy Liu Zeyu who instigated it.

If you look at a dirty guy, you will know for sure.

If you offend the abbot, you can't leave. If you offend Boss Lu, you will be in trouble!

Tian Zhuangzhuang nodded silently. Of course, he came here to give "Whiplash" more points in front of Gong Li, the chairperson of the jury.

Gong Li mentioned that Lu Tianmin and Huayi also contacted him, although she did not say the next sentence.

But the meaning is self-evident.

As they are all Chinese, she will definitely do her best to help Chinese films go global.

But first of all, she has to do her best. As the chairperson of the jury, she cannot just have the final say, especially now that she is facing such great pressure from public opinion.

As the producer, Tian Zhuangzhuang was able to help collude with Gong Li, which was already contrary to his indifferent character, so he just smiled and didn't mention it anymore.

There is no need for smart people to explain every sentence so clearly, as that would only make everyone embarrassed.

Lu Kuan didn't care. It would be best if he could win an award. Even if he didn't, he wouldn't lose out due to the quality of the film and Jay Chou's popularity.

This does not include advertising revenue and liquidated damages from Nicholas Tse and others!
The film festival will open tomorrow evening, and Gong Li still has a lot of work to do, so the few of them said goodbye politely.

The cool sea breeze blew over the three people who were walking back to the hotel. Lu Kuan put his suit on Liu Yifei and chatted with Tian Zhuangzhuang in a casual manner.

"Xiaolu, actually we can wait until next year's Cannes."

Lu Kuan understood what he meant. He was worried that the tone of "Whiplash" would not be suitable for the film festival.

The three major European countries each have their own style.

Berlin is more political and social, and is called a political correctional institution.

Venice is more artistic and avant-garde, and it is called the Avant-garde Tea Party.

Cannes is a combination of business and art, and is known as a gimmick auction house.

A film like "Whiplash" that is both literary and artistic and commercial is undoubtedly the most suitable for Cannes.

Moreover, from the perspective of selling films, Cannes has the world's largest film trading market. Even Venice, as the world's first film festival, is incomparable in this respect.

But obviously Boss Lu had also considered it.

He didn't think that this version of Whiplash, which he had reworked and struck a balance between artistic and commercial appeal, would be completely ineffective. "Teacher Tian, ​​have you noticed a big difference in this Venice International Film Festival?"

"The posters hanging at the entrance of the celebrity hotel we just passed by, and the preview of tomorrow's red carpet, convey a lot of information."

Tian Zhuangzhuang was stunned when he heard this: "You mean?"

"Xiao Liu, let me ask you, which celebrities did you see on the poster just now?"

Liu Yifei hugged Lu Kuan's baggy suit tightly and was still playfully stepping on his shadow under the streetlight. She looked thoughtful when she heard what he said.

"Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Gwyneth, and... I don't know the others very well."

Tian Zhuangzhuang suddenly realized: "Hollywood?"

"That's right!"

Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts need no introduction.

Harrison Ford is the star of Star Wars, Blade Runner, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Gwyneth is the star of "Emma," "Shakespeare in Love," "Iron Man," and "The Avengers."

"Actually, there's one person Xiao Liu hasn't recognized yet, the oldest Italian actress, Sophia Loren."

Concubine Liu Yi was surprised and asked, "Is it her? Italy's eternal goddess?"

"Yes, she is also the first foreign actress to win an Oscar. In other words, she has the Hollywood label."

"Teacher Tian, ​​don't you find it strange?"

Tian Zhuangzhuang laughed and said, "It's quite strange when you say that. When has Venice ever treated people from Hollywood this well?"

Friends who are familiar with movies know that Venice is the most anti-Hollywood among the three major cinemas.

The slogan at Venice in 2001 was "Down with Hollywood Imperialism."

The slogan for the 2003 Venice Film Festival was "60th Anniversary of the War on Hollywood".

What about 2002?

It’s called “accepting diversity.”

The reason is that Harden became the president of the Venice Film Festival in 2002.

It’s not the Harden who was exploited by Kardashian, but the former president of the Berlin Film Festival, De Harden.

He was the first foreigner to serve as president of the Venice Film Festival in its history and implemented a series of bold reform plans.

This includes inviting Gong Li to serve as the chairperson of this year's jury, and also inviting a number of Oscar-winning actors and actresses.

This was certainly part of Boss Lu's plan. After all, the chairman and the jury were announced several months in advance.

Therefore, Lu Kuan has made changes to the narrative art and camera language of "Whiplash", which was originally a literary film.

The reason why they chose Nicholas Tse first and then "traffic" stars like Jay Chou and Liu Yifei to perform was to strike a good balance between business and art.

What's more, the original film was already a favorite of the Sundance and Golden Globe Awards in the United States.

This can be considered a small step forward.

They walked all the way to the hotel where they were staying, and Lu Kuan wanted to send Liu Yifei upstairs first.

Unexpectedly, the little girl insisted on staying and even asked for lemonade for the two of them very obediently. She sat aside with her hands on her cheeks, listening to Lu Kuan's conversation with her big, KISS ME eyes.

Boss Lu doesn't care about her, so it's good for her to see the world.

"I think there's a lot of uncertainty at this Venice International Film Festival. Purely artistic and avant-garde films may not necessarily be popular, so I rushed to catch the last train."

Tian Zhuangzhuang habitually wanted to touch his beard, but forgot that he had already shaved it off himself.

Concubine Liu Yi interrupted: "With Sister Gong Li here, don't we have a good chance?"

Lu Kuan smiled and shook his head: "The chairman of the jury has a say, but it is not as big as you think."

"The rules for the Cannes and Venice awards competitions are similar to the domestic system, although each jury member has one vote."

"What do you mean?"

"democratic centralism!"

(End of this chapter)