Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 54: Dark Horse Emerges
In the evening of October 3, the opening ceremony of the Sitges Fantastic Film Festival kicked off at the Seaside Theater.

The salty sea breeze blew through the olive trees on both sides of the red carpet, and the shadows of the trees swayed gracefully under the spotlights.

On the edge of the red carpet, reporters held up old Sony cameras, and flashes of light flashed one after another.

Don't underestimate this film festival. As the world's number one fantasy film festival, it has never lacked media and film producers.

Many well-known directors from all over the world, including Quentin, Cameron, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Park Chan-wook, etc., have participated in this film festival.

Wu Chen, wearing a black suit with a slightly open collar, walked calmly into the venue with Zu Feng, Hu Jing and Dong Xuan.

However, there were no media outlets from China. When a few people entered the scene, no one could even call out their names, but the spotlights still gave them face, and a series of clicks rang out.

"Who is he?" a blond reporter frowned and whispered, "Too young!"

"I don't know, maybe a director from the East. I can't remember the name on the poster." Another shrugged and turned the camera to the next group of people.

"Johnnie To is here, I know him!"

When Johnnie To appeared with the leading actors, he obviously caused a greater response than Wu Chen.

"When will we have this much fame?" Hu Jing couldn't help but envy when she heard the media calling out Johnnie To's name.

"Soon!" Wu Chen said with certainty.

After these words were spoken, Dong Xuan turned her beautiful eyes slightly and looked at Wu Chen.

Hu Jing caught sight of her from the corner of her eye, tugged at Dong Xuan's sleeve, and whispered, "Keep your gaze to yourself."

Dong Xuan's cheeks suddenly turned red.

Meeting compatriots in a foreign country makes people feel more at home.

This is not the later times, fraud is rampant, in a foreign country, compatriots meet compatriots, stab each other in the back.
Johnnie To walked over with Richie Ren and Kelly Chen. Wu Chen extended his hand and chuckled, "Hello, Director Du. I've heard a lot about you!"

"No, no, I'm not famous at all. There are only a few media outlets here that can name me. But you, Director Wu, are a true hero from a young age."

Johnnie To responded with a smile.

Wu Chen, a representative of the new generation of photography department of Beijing Film Academy, is almost certain to be one of the decision-makers in the Beijing circle in the future.

Now that a wave of Hong Kong directors is heading north, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get to know them.

As for Richie Jen and Kelly Chen, Wu Chen also greeted them and then started a brief chat.

As a Cantonese native of Foshan, he is very familiar with the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

Wu Chen could talk about a lot of songs, TV series and movies, all of which were classics and he could keep talking about them endlessly.

Because Zu Feng and the other two didn't speak Cantonese, and Kelly Chen and Johnnie To's Mandarin was not very accurate, it was basically Wu Chen who chatted with the others.

"By the way, Director Wu, I see that 'The Dark Side' is scheduled to premiere the day after tomorrow. I must go see this masterpiece then!"

After the opening ceremony, Johnnie To was about to leave with Richie Jen and Kelly Chen, but he did not forget to say something.

"It's not a masterpiece at all. Director Du is welcome to watch the movie!" Wu Chen nodded in response.

"The young guys at IKEA are amazing. They are so popular that they are destined to be at the IKEA Film Festival," Richie Ren sighed as he walked.

"What handsome guys!" Kelly Chen chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Johnnie To remained silent.

On October 4, the first batch of films were screened.

Films in the main competition units, such as the French detective suspense film "Arsene Lupin" and the British romantic suspense film "Rebirth", were unveiled one after another.

It is rare to watch so many suspense and thriller movies at one time, and Wu Chen and his friends watched them all.

The few of them finally saw many overseas Chinese compatriots in the cinema.

As expected, there are Chinese people everywhere.

"Director Wu, are those people back there the film producers?" Hu Jing glanced at a few people in the back row who took out notebooks, but they didn't look like film critics.

“People from small and medium-sized film producers and independent production companies!”

"So many?" Dong Xuan opened her mouth slightly, with a look of surprise in her eyes.

“Because these films sell well.

Suspense, horror, and fantasy films are different from art films. The artistic quality of the latter varies from person to person, and it is difficult to judge whether they are popular or not, but the former are good to watch.

For small and medium-sized film companies and independent production companies, making profits from these films is one of their main sources of profit. Do you think they are serious about it? "

Wu Chen glanced around and spotted a few Asian faces. They were probably from Japanese and Korean companies, as both countries were quite fond of this type of film. The next day, at ten in the morning, "The Dark Side" was about to premiere.

Hu Jing and Dong Xuan both wore dresses specially. One chose a dark red long dress with the hem dragging on the ground like a blood-red rose, and the other chose a simple white dress, which was somewhat in line with the atmosphere of the movie.

Zu Feng and Wu Chen were much simpler, both wearing black suits wherever they went.

The 200-seat screening room was already 50% full, with Chinese compatriots, media reporters, and film distributors mixed in.

Johnnie To arrived with Richie Jen and Kelly Chen two minutes before the show started. They nodded to Wu Chen in the first row and then sat down in the middle row.

"Director Wu, do you think these foreigners will like our movie?" Hu Jing's eyes were filled with uneasiness. Most of the people here were blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners. After all, this was not their home turf.

Dong Xuan and Zu Feng also looked at Wu Chen, their nerves tense.

"I believe that good stories are popular everywhere." Wu Chen chuckled, indicating that the movie was about to begin.

The lights dimmed, the screen lit up, and the title information slowly emerged:

Producers: Wu Chen; Mu Deyuan;

Director: Wu Chen;
Screenwriter: Wu Chen;
Starring: Zu Feng, Hu Jing, Dong Xuan.
Director of Photography: Wu Chen;
A series of "Wu Chen's" names appeared on the screen, and the film producers and audiences in the back row were all stunned.

"What?" someone whispered.

It is not uncommon for an actor to have multiple roles, but it is incredible that such a young director takes on almost everything. At least in this session, Sitges is the first one so far.

The movie information flashed by and the movie began.

The opening scene shows the protagonist sitting on the floor of his villa, weeping uncontrollably while holding a video clip left by his ex-girlfriend, Su Bei (Dong Xuan). On a rainy night, the protagonist drives to a bar, orders a glass of wine, and tears flow down his face.

The female protagonist Xiao Fa (Hu Jing) appears as a waitress and tells the male protagonist that the bar is closing. Fearing that he might get drunk and get into trouble, she sends him home. As time goes by, they naturally establish a romantic relationship, and their relationship heats up, with them cuddling in front of a mirror.
"What a handsome guy, he knows how to take photos." Kelly Chen looked at Hu Jing in the movie and admired in a low voice.

European and American audiences began to seem a little excited. Compared with the more direct plot, Wu Chen's feeling of wanting to refuse but also to accept was more able to catch everyone's appetite. The perfect interruption caused a lot of murmurs.

Wu Chen couldn't help but smile when he heard the discussion behind him.

The plot takes a sudden turn, and strange things happen frequently after the heroine Xiaofa moves in.

The ex-girlfriend behind the secret room, the male protagonist's infidelity, the landlord's secret, the double pictures inside and outside the mirror progress layer by layer, and the reversal is as sharp as a knife.

The sudden and thrilling shots during the passionate scenes made the audience scream and shout “Crazy!” one after another.

Wu Chen was not surprised by this at all. This was originally an adaptation of a low-budget suspense masterpiece from Spain, which suited the taste of these audiences.

In the last scene, when the heroine Xiaofa opened the secret room and went closer to check whether Su Bei was still alive, the reversal happened again. Su Bei suddenly opened his eyes and smashed the wine bottle on the heroine's head.

The heroine was knocked to the ground, fainted, and was locked in a secret room.

The end of the film is the desperate back of the heroine in the mirror
The whole audience was silent for three seconds, then thunderous applause broke out and the audience stood up and applauded for a long time.

Johnnie To's eyes were full of solemnity at this moment. Before he came to watch this movie, he had never imagined that the plot of this movie would be so confusing. He looked at Wu Chen deeply.

The structural completeness of "The Dark Side" is even higher than that of his "Big Event".

Fortunately, his movie is an action movie, and the two are not of the same genre, otherwise they would have to be compared and evaluated by the media.

These foreign reporters will not talk to him about the ways of the world, and he might end up embarrassing himself abroad.

"This is a suspense film made by our compatriots. It's good. Really, I haven't seen such a good suspense film in a long time. In comparison, the ones I saw before were instantly crushed to pieces." A Chinese audience roared excitedly.

"Wu, I will remember you. You should make more movies!" the blond fan shouted.

"It's a great movie, I love it and I will recommend it to my friends!"

"."

The media reporters' eyes lit up and their notebooks flipped through the pages.

To judge whether suspense, thriller, or horror movies are good or not, you don’t need to look at the audience’s reaction after the screening. You can usually tell just by watching the movie.

Before this, Wu Chen was unknown, and they didn't even know the director's name;

But wouldn’t it be the best news if the film could become a dark horse in Sitges?

They even had a title in mind:

Who is Chen Wu? This talented 21-year-old Chinese director has captivated Sitges with a suspenseful masterpiece!

It has to be said that "The Dark Side" is very popular in Sitges.

Post-screening ratings are out: media impression score 8.0, audience score 8.7, comprehensive score 8.3, instantly topping the premiere list of the main competition unit.

(End of this chapter)