America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 502 A Woman's Hatred

Oscar's repeated tragedies prove that when an enemy is stabbing you with a knife, jumping out to argue that the other party is wrong is utterly useless.

The more you try to cover it up, the worse it gets, and you end up being the one who gets hurt the most.

The best way is to take a bigger and sharper knife, stab back more fiercely, and aim straight for the vital points, leaving the opponent with no chance to fight back.

Martin understood Harvey Weinstein's style and had long been prepared and had a plan.

Through the French luxury brand Cartier, he contacted Le Figaro, the most influential newspaper in France. The newspaper's columnist angrily denounced Inglourious Basterds as pure nonsense, making irresponsible jokes about a painful period in French history of invasion, and showing no respect for France whatsoever.

Hollywood's World War II films and TV series have always been known for producing "masterpieces".

The number of Germans who died on various Hollywood film sets was no less than the number of Japanese soldiers who died in Hengdian.

If we're going to use a uniform standard, Inglourious Basterds can be considered a supernatural anti-German film, with a climax that's far more exaggerated than tearing apart Japanese soldiers with bare hands.

But these were merely attempts to draw Harvey's attention and prevent him from noticing the knife that was quietly aimed at his vitals.

The knife Martin prepared was called "Women's Hate"!

A deep-seated hatred that has lasted for thirty years.

In a very ordinary roadside café on the outskirts of Cannes, far from the Palais des Festivals.

Pierre, the entertainment editor of Le Figaro, was waiting for the person he was to meet today.

One male and one female.

Melanie and Bruce, the two of them.

Pierre's wife, who works in the marketing department for Cartier men's watches, facilitated the meeting.

Melanie smiled and said, "Old friend, we meet again."

Pierre gave a forced smile: "I wish I had never met you."

Melanie seemed not to hear and said directly, "Let's have another news story tomorrow, about Harvey Weinstein's great admiration for Isabelle Adjani."

Pierre shook his head: "I'm a journalist. I can't write things without concrete information; it's a matter of professional ethics."

He specifically mentioned today's report: "I promised you that news article, because 'Inglourious Basterds' is truly nonsense; arrogant Americans are arbitrarily altering our glorious struggle against the brittle enemy in World War II!"

Without saying a word, Melanie took out an envelope and pushed it to Pierre.

Bruce also took out an envelope and placed it in front of Pierre.

Pierre opened the first envelope, glanced inside, and felt its thickness. He figured it didn't really matter whether there was any definite news or not, since he could write in an ambiguous style.

His gaze then fell on the second envelope.

Bruce gestured for him to proceed.

Pierre opened the envelope and found more than a dozen photos inside, all of them of Harvey Weinstein and Isabelle Adjani together.

In some of the photos, the two appear to be having an intimate conversation.

Pierre, who has worked in the industry for over twenty years, knows that what you see is not necessarily the truth. A photograph may be real, or it may be taken from a deliberately chosen angle.

Melanie said, "Isn't that enough to prove the news is true?"

Pierre first put away the first envelope, then carefully put away the second, and said, "Very true news."

As soon as he spoke, he realized he had spoken too soon and slapped his forehead: "What happened between them?"

Melanie said very seriously, "Harvey Weinstein greatly admires Isabelle Adjani and plans to invite her to Hollywood to play a significant role in an art film, helping her compete for an Oscar."

Pierre nodded: "I understand."

Melanie said, "Into the papers tomorrow?"

Pierre replied, "No problem."

Melanie and Bruce left quickly.

Pierre didn't leave. He got another cup of coffee, took out a pen and notebook, and, still moved by the first time he saw the photos, wrote a news article with great emotion.

He then returned to the temporary office and immediately sent a fax to the newspaper.

The following morning, news of Harvey Weinstein and Isabelle Adjani appeared prominently in the entertainment section of Le Figaro.

…………

Palais des Festivals, Jury Office.

Isabelle Huppert sat at her desk, deliberating over the list of awards for each competition category.

Elsa Argento, who has been spending a lot of time with her lately, was idly flipping through today's newspaper, looking for media reports about the competition segment videos.

Isabelle Huppert sketched on a piece of paper, and in her eyes, there was only one choice for the Palme d'Or—"The White Ribbon".

In the Best Actor category, both Martin Davis and Christoph Waltz delivered outstanding performances.

However, the media reports in the past few days have somewhat affected Isabelle Huppert, as the character played by Martin involved too much special effects.

As a traditional European filmmaker, Isabelle Huppert was quite averse to Hollywood special effects, and to some extent, she appreciated Waltz's performances more.

Choosing Waltz?

The thought had just crossed her mind when she remembered Mene having late-night snacks the past few days, and suddenly realized that Martin wasn't as bad as the media had reported.

Isabelle Huppert hesitated for a moment, her pen hovering between the two names on the paper.

If all else fails, how about choosing two actors for Best Actor? A tie isn't anything new.

In previous film festivals, when Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai was the chairman of the jury, he caused a situation where five male actors were elected Best Actor and six female actors were elected Best Actress.

A knock came at the door, and Elsa Argento went to open it.

Isabelle Huppert's assistant brought in a copy of the Figaro newspaper, placed it on the desk, and glanced at Elsa.

"It's alright, go ahead and speak," Huppert nodded.

The assistant flipped to the entertainment section of the newspaper: "Madam, you asked me to keep an eye on Isabelle Adjani's activities; here's the latest news about her."

The work at hand was clearly not as important as his arch-rival, so Huppert put down his pen and picked up the newspaper to read.

The first thing she saw were three photos of Harvey Weinstein talking to Isabelle Adjani, and they seemed to be having a very pleasant conversation.

Isabelle Huppert looked rather grim.

Below the photo is a news headline.

Hollywood independent producer Harvey Weinstein has invited Isabelle Adjani to star in his next film!

This made Isabelle Huppert's expression even more unpleasant.

"This newspaper has obtained exclusive information that Harvey Weinstein, the investor and producer of 'Inglourious Basterds,' has met multiple times with Isabelle Adjani, who is staying at the same hotel, to discuss future collaborations. Weinstein believes that Adjani still has the potential to win an Oscar for acting..."

Isabelle Huppert subconsciously touched the top of her head, where there was a small scar beneath her hair—a masterpiece by Isabelle Adjani thirty years ago.

Thirty years of mortal enemies!

Isabelle Huppert finally managed to overshadow Isabelle Adjani, and in the last five years, she has led the French to believe that there is only one Isabelle Huppert in the French film industry.

She looked up and asked casually, "Elsa, who do you think is more suitable for Best Actor?"

Aisha Argento said without hesitation, "If I had to choose, I would choose Martin Davis. Harvey Weinstein is someone who doesn't know how to respect female actors at all."

Isabelle Huppert nodded, her heart pounding when it came to Adjani: "Martin is indeed very good."

The assistant knew that Inglourious Basterds was going to be cancelled as soon as he saw the news.

"All the films in the competition have now been screened, and the closing ceremony is just a few days away," Isabelle Huppert said to her assistant. "Inform the other jury members that there will be an awards meeting this afternoon, and everyone must attend."

The assistant was getting ready to go out and distribute the notice.

Isabelle Huppert added, "Any news from Harvey Weinstein should be directed to you. Don't inform me, don't tell me. I have absolutely no interest in them!"

"Yes, ma'am." The assistant could tell that Isabelle Huppert was very angry because of Isabelle Adjani.

Elsa Argento, thinking of Xavier, that faithless fat man, added fuel to the fire: "That Inglourious Basterds film makes fun of France's history of invasion; it shouldn't have won any awards!"

Isabelle Huppert didn't respond, but she felt that Elsa's words made a lot of sense.

Just ten minutes ago, she was still considering whether Waltz and Martin would share the Best Actor award, but that's all in the past now.

The film "Inglourious Basterds" automatically disappeared from Isabelle Huppert's mind.

Shortly after noon, the judging panel held a closed-door internal meeting.

The meeting was chaired by the current president, Huppert.

With the film festival closing soon, it is essential to reach a consensus among the jury on the nominees for some awards.

Isabelle Huppert said, "At the last meeting, regarding the Best Actor award, our consensus was that Martin and Waltz were the best. Now that all the films in competition have been released, the other actors are clearly inferior. I think it's time to determine the Best Actor winner."

Tagore from India was the first to speak up: "I think Waltz is the most suitable."

He had barely finished speaking when the screenwriter Hanif, sitting opposite him, retorted, "Martin's role was more challenging, and he performed it better!"

The two glared at each other angrily!

They don't care who's who; if you agree, they'll disagree.

Shu Qi raised her hand: "I think Martin Davis is suitable."

Lee Chang-dong chimed in: "Martin Davis is clearly the better player."

Seeing these people blatantly lying, Tagore was so angry that he stopped talking.

Aisha Argento said, "I choose Martin Davis!"

James Gray smiled and said, "Martin!"

"Ahem..." John Travolta coughed, drawing everyone's attention.

Those in the audience who are familiar with Hollywood know that he has close ties with Harvey Weinstein and Quentin Tarantino, and assumed he was going to refute it.

Every year when the judging panel decides to award prizes, there's a huge internal argument.

The atmosphere was particularly harmonious during the term when that director from Hong Kong was the chairman.

Travolta smiled and said directly, "It's obvious that Martin performed better."

Including Isabelle Huppert, the jury has nine members, and six of them have already expressed their support for Martin.

Unless the jury chairperson objects.

Huppert didn't keep anyone waiting, stating directly: "I support Martin Davis!"

Turkish director Ceylan, who had remained silent until now, declared, seeing that the tide had turned, "I also support Martin!"

With eight people supporting and one person opposing, the Best Actor award is practically uncontroversial.

The meeting was officially recorded and a resolution was formed.

The Best Actor result has been shelved and will not be discussed again.

(End of this chapter)