Chapter 319: Film Festival Witnessing the History of the Berlin Wall
This year's West Berlin Film Festival has many details that are different from previous years.
First of all, the location of the film festival is no longer limited to West Berlin. All films that are screened or competed will have several screenings in East Berlin.
Countless gaps were made on the Berlin Wall by people from both sides. But the soldiers of East Berlin were still guarding these places, but they no longer blocked the flow of people as strongly as before.
Residents of East Berlin can take a small note and go to West Berlin for shopping and entertainment every day, and then come back that evening. As daytime exchanges increase, many soldiers no longer conduct such strict inspections.
Although the staff of Ronald's Daydream asked Columbia's office in Berlin for help and temporarily printed a number of large posters for Director Xie, the film still received a cold reception from the organizing committee. Today's "Ben Ming Nian"
The media screening was scheduled for nine o'clock in the morning.
But for the young people in East Berlin, it was very happy to see the participating films at the film festival, and the endless stream of audiences still filled the venue.
"Hey, I didn't expect this movie to be quite good..." In the private room on the second floor, Wen Jiang and Director Xie also had a seat.
This is the first time Wen Jiang has seen the finished film of "Ben Ming Nian". Because the quality of the printing of the previous film was not good, this time it was specially sent to Tokyo for printing, so it was also the first time for the actor to see the final version.
"How's it going? Not bad, right?" Director Xie was very happy to see that the subtitles were correct. In the past, many Chinese-language films had problems with subtitles, and when they were screened at film festivals, the effect was very poor.
"I just go by my feelings. If I can't read the script, I won't read it or take it. If I can't stand the movie, I won't watch it. I can watch this movie... NewBee"
"Hahaha, you kid..." Director Xie patted his thigh happily, "Where's the camera? Take it out and let us take some pictures..."
"Hey, don't mention it. I went to ask for help for our film, and Director Luo agreed to help. I got so excited that I forgot about the camera..."
"You guy..."
…
The two main creators upstairs watched with great interest, and the media personnel in the front row downstairs also watched with great interest. I didn't expect that this little-known young film studio could actually produce such a great movie.
"Ben Ming Nian" tells the story of Li Huiquan, a released prisoner who went through labor reform. He returned to the alley where he grew up. His mother, who depended on him for life, has passed away. The company where his mother worked was not profitable, so he could not be replaced by a factory.
Aunt Luo, an old neighbor, took good care of this young man whose parents died. With the help of the policeman Xiao Liu, Li Huiquan chose to make a living by practicing a stall. During this period, he met various religions and nine kinds of people, which made him taste the warmth and coldness of the world. In the karaoke hall, Li Huiquan met the resident singer.
Zhao Yaqiu, he became her escort, but after the singer became famous, she rejected his love...
The story of the whole movie is not complicated, but it creates a very lonely feeling. The media here are all dedicated to movie news, and it is still unclear that this is a Chinese "Taxi Driver"?
The performance of the leading actor Wen Jiang is very restrained, full of details, and makes people feel strong. The media reporters all saw a feeling of Chinese Robert De Niro.
"Beep..."
Twenty minutes into the movie, a large group of spectators from East Berlin suddenly started whistling.
They resonated very much with the protagonist Li Huiquan in the movie. His behavior of sleeping alone in a simple room while holding an illustration of a beautiful woman in a movie magazine had something in common with the young people in East Berlin.
Of course, the people in the media understood the plot. They looked at each other and whispered to each other. The films that China sent to West Berlin for selection in the past, even "Red Sorghum" which won the Golden Bear a few years ago, treated the affairs of men and women very badly.
Implicit.
After the screening, Director Xie and Wen Jiang went to the front desk together to accept interviews from the media. A group of Chinese students also surrounded them and gave them a thumbs up to express their approval of the movie.
Reporters from various countries have many questions to ask about the film "Ben Ming Nian". Many of them have nothing to do with the movie itself and are quite strange.
An Italian reporter came to the rescue and turned the topic back to the movie itself:
"Starting from 'Three Monks' in the early 1980s, Red Sorghum, Evening Bell, Chinese movies have brought us new things every year. This year's Ben Ming Nian can actually show the plot of young men looking at magazine illustrations...
?Have you ever been criticized?"
"Where is it? I don't understand what you are saying?" Director Xie started to pretend to be confused.
The Italian reporter was dissatisfied with Director Xie and asked Wen Jiang:
"Your performance was very touching, but I saw some traces of Hollywood. Are you deeply influenced by Hollywood actors Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro?"
The reporter's feeling is very accurate. Of course, Marlon Brando's scene opposite Ava Marie Saint in "On the Waterfront" and Robert De Niro's secret love for Sybil Shepherd in "Taxi Driver" are both
It is very similar to the scene between Wen Jiang and the heroine Cheng Lin in Ben Ming Nian.
"No, I haven't seen many of their movies." After hearing the translation, Wen Jiang stiffened his neck and tried to save his face. This was a movie for competition. If he said that he imitated the performances of Brando and De Niro, he would definitely
fell shame.
Director Xie smiled next to him. A few years ago, Wen Jiang had borrowed the "Raging Bull" video from himself when he was in film school. It is understandable that young people are eager to live abroad.
"What, journalist friends, can you take a group photo for us?" After the interview, the reporters dispersed. Wen Jiang wanted to ask reporters on the stage to help take a photo, but no one paid him any attention.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Wen Jiang, who was embarrassed at his appearance at the West Berlin Film Festival and did not take a photo with Director Xie, suddenly heard a very beautiful blond woman named
He said in English:
"Wen Jiang, Ronald asked me to deliver something. He said you forgot it at his place."
"Ah, thank you. Who is this beautiful lady?" Wen Jiang saw that this woman was wearing a beige coat similar to that of the reporter. She was very beautiful and very suitable for filming. He immediately responded in English with a Beijing accent.
"Director Luo asked me to bring it to you. Take a look to see if it is right..." The beauty seemed to have seen many actors in the film industry and did not show any interest in Wen Jiang. She put the bag with the things in it and turned around.
gone.
Wen Jiang opened the bag and found a brand new Nikon SLR camera lying there, along with several rolls of Kodak film.
Director Xie looked over and said, "Hey, has the shotgun been replaced with a cannon?"
"Hi, Director Luo, a Hollywood capitalist from NewBee, my friend..." Wen Jiang is still obsessed with that beauty. I wonder if she is Director Luo's girlfriend?
…
"This movie is just a copycat of Hollywood's 'Taxi Driver' from ten years ago. I don't think there is any breakthrough. The West Berlin Film Festival needs to be more in-depth about exposing... works, not Hollywood copies."
At the same time, the jury also watched "The Year of Our Lives," a film whose Soviet Union director Abdrahitov, who was on the jury and whose last year's "The Servant" won the West Berlin Bauer Special Prize, scorned such films.
On the one hand, he is full of hostility to Hollywood's commercial films, and on the other hand, he is dissatisfied with the relatively harmonious relationship between the two of them when the film police helped Li Huiquan obtain an individual license in the year of his birth, and he feels that it is not enough to expose the dark side of society.
"This is a very good realistic comedy, you don't understand what a movie is at all..." Roberto Benigni liked the implicitness of this movie very much, and its alienated attitude towards life, and the judges from Eastern Europe and the Alliance
was very dissatisfied with the criticism and shouted in Italian on the spot.
Fortunately, another judge, Margaret, a Chinese producer, helped him translate, otherwise Ronald could only roughly understand what he meant through Bernini's gestures.
"I think this is a theme that transcends countries and cultures. In which country's young people don't have this kind of depression? Moreover, the special background of the protagonist and the collision of various values caused by the rapid changes in society, I think it is a good movie.
masterpiece."
Ronald also spoke in support of "Ben Ming Nian". Movies originally need to learn from good films in film history. How can a director shut himself up and invent his own lens language? For similar scenes, learn from the most outstanding films in film history.
It’s inevitable that a movie will be directed by someone else.
For example, of all the courtroom dramas nowadays, which one does not refer to Billy Wilder's "Prosecution Witness"? Those judges think too much about things other than movies. Just based on the movie itself, this
"Ben Ming Nian" is a rare masterpiece. It also tells the current story of China, which made Ronald like it more than the previous "Red Sorghum".
"I think from the perspective of resisting the establishment, this movie is very weak, and it is very different from Czechoslovakia's 'The Lost Wings'", another Hungarian reviewer began to disparage Benmingnian.
The "Sparrow with Lost Wings" he was talking about was actually filmed by the director in 1968. Due to the special circumstances of that year, West Berlin was not allowed to participate in the competition until this year. The judges from Eastern Europe and West Germany wanted to
The film became the winner of the Golden Bear Award, just as Ben Ming Nian was a threatening competitor.
"Oh God...oh..." Roberto Bernini was almost mad. You said that the technique of "Ben Ming Nian" is too old and that it imitates "Taxi Driver" seriously, and then you backhandedly praised a movie.
Movies from twenty years ago...do they have a bit of a double standard?
Ballhaus, the chairman of the jury, had no choice but to say hello to Ronald. This West Berlin Film Festival happened to encounter the Berlin Wall. The entire organizing committee deliberately linked the film festival with the hottest news topics at the moment.
East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland all have the same historical sentiments. The judges from these countries just want to submit the banned "The Lost Wings".
And "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Driving Miss Daisy" from Hollywood are both from America. The two presidents of this country both made famous speeches under the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.
speech.
The timing is good this year. The organizing committee has also been under a lot of influence and pressure. It would be best to select a film from America to win the award.
However, this year's jury is still mostly from Europe. Ronald knows that those two Hollywood movies are essentially commercial films that cater to the popular tastes of the audience. Europe's inexplicable aversion to the commercial nature of movies may be affecting the awards.
There will still be some twists and turns.
The judges have started the award process. For the sake of fairness, they can no longer communicate with the creators of the participating films.
However, the Europeans do not abide by this rule very strictly. You can still make phone calls as long as you stay in the hotel arranged by the organizing committee.
Ronald also returned to the hotel, and after a while, there was a knock on the door.
"Hi... beauty..." Ronald opened the door, and as expected, the beauty he was expecting came knocking on the door.
"Hi, Ronnie..."
The person standing outside the door was the one who had just delivered the camera to Wen Jiang. The beautiful woman dressed as a reporter was none other than Helen Slater.
"Well..." Ronald pulled Helen into the room, and the two began to kiss passionately.
Helen Slater's father Gerald, who worked for the PBS television station, was coming to Berlin to film a documentary about the Berlin Wall.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! It just so happened that Helen had also been influenced by her mother, an anti-nuclear war and anti-Cold War lawyer, since she was a child. She was somewhat interested in this kind of thing. Plus, she missed Ronald.
Came to West Berlin to help the film crew do something.
In the past few days, I have been coming here at night to meet Ronald.
"That movie is really interesting, I quite like it. Will they win an award?" Helen Slater had a good impression of "Ben Ming Nian" and said to Ronald.
"It's difficult. In this year's film festival, I see political factors much more than the film itself..." Ronald shared some of the judges' opinions.
"Well, it's actually a very good movie. It would be a pity not to win an award. However, some details in the movie are a bit unrealistic."
Helen Slater talked about seeing a released prisoner who, with a street vendor's license, could pick up a singer as his girlfriend. She felt that the treatment here was too hasty and the symbolic plot made the audience somewhat divorced from reality. Streetside
How can a stall owner have the ability to support a singer who is a resident singer at a performance venue?
"Hahaha, that's not a street vendor selling hot dogs in Manhattan..."
Ronald recalled the time when they visited the Museum of Modern Art and ate hot dogs at a roadside stall. He smiled and explained to Helen that in the past few years in China, people who set up stalls had made a small fortune.
"Oh..." Helen seemed to understand, turned over, and lay next to Ronald's ear, "Shall we go out to find a roadside stall for something to eat in the evening?"
"Okay, let's go!" Ronald also became interested. He sneaked out of the hotel with Helen and started shopping along the road.
When the Berlin Wall opened, young people on both sides sang and danced on both sides of the wall all night long, regardless of nationality and background, and regardless of the cold weather. There were also people wearing thin T-shirts wearing David Hasse.
Dancing to Erhoff's songs.
Ronald saw on both sides of the Berlin Wall, many East Berliners came to set up small shops grilling sausages, accompanied by beer produced in West Berlin. In some places, there were also some barbecue stalls opened by Turks.
Ronald and Helen wore warm hats and walked hand in hand in these small shops. They ate a lot of delicious food and felt very comfortable.
"There seems to be a movie over there?"
The two wandered near the Brandenburg Gate, where the two generals gave speeches and where the first checkpoint was sealed when the Berlin Wall was built.
A former East Berlin movie theater is now showing movies.
Ronald looked at the title of the movie, and it was Billy Wilder's "Owo Three." This movie happened to be about a comedy that happened in West Berlin after the Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin.
"Shall we go and have a look?" Ronald pulled Helen to buy a ticket and go in.
"Your Coke..." The conductor gave Helen the ticket and handed over two cans of Coca-Cola.
"What is this?" Helen didn't understand. Is it a gift of Coke for buying a ticket?
"Haha, this is the plot of the beautiful girl's romance. People in East Berlin learned about advertising and marketing very quickly..."