Chapter 763 Hearing the sound of rotten fish again
At six o'clock in Berlin, night has completely fallen.
The limousine drove slowly on the snow-covered streets, making a "crunching" sound.
Looking from a distance, the sky above the Cinema Palace was brilliant, and the entire Potsdamer Platz was packed with movie fans, cheering loudly.
The huge canopy in front of the Film Palace blocked the flying snow, and a red carpet stretched from the street to the entrance of the Film Palace. The staff passage opened next to it was not so lucky. A narrow red carpet had already been
It was covered with snowflakes and turned into a white carpet.
Although this year is the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Film Festival, as in previous years, the opening ceremony red carpet was dimly lit, and there were not a few familiar faces in the waiting area. Most of the guests on the list were European stars, the biggest names.
It may be one of the members of this year's jury, Renée Zellweger, who once won the Oscar for supporting actress.
"Ha, I used to squeeze in the crowd and watch the excitement every time I came here. I never thought that one day I would be able to walk on the red carpet of a film festival."
Zhou Shuhao, who is short in stature and has a slightly roe-like head, rubbed his hands with excitement on his face.
In contrast, Zhang Meng, who was wearing a black Chinese dress, looked obviously nervous.
He Xin was still coaxing his wife: "Okay, don't be angry, I'm joking with you! We're going to walk on the red carpet soon, so be happy!"
Cheng Hao crossed her arms and snorted arrogantly, with an expression that said, "If you hold back what you say, people will still be angry." She knew in her heart that she would definitely not make the headlines tomorrow on the red carpet today, but she could say what she said
It would be too unfriendly to understand so clearly.
The waiting time was not long, and soon it was their turn. Cheng Hao took off his coat, held her husband's arm, and finally stepped onto the red carpet of the Berlin Film Festival.
Maybe it's because of the cold, maybe because of nervousness, He Xin can clearly feel his wife's hands shaking. In Europe, He Xin's face is considered a relatively familiar face among Chinese actors, and he welcomed movie fans as soon as he appeared.
Their cheers:
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
The scattered bits are also mixed with: "Rotten fish!"
"Rotten fish!"
He Xin, who was waving to the fans, suddenly became confused. How come it's been so many years and someone still calls "rotten fish"?
Cheng Hao didn't hear clearly and asked curiously: "What rotten fish? What did they call?"
"Uh, it's Lan Yu."
No way, of all the roles he has played, Lan Yu is probably the one who has the deepest impression on European audiences.
The red carpet in Berlin is the shortest among the three major festivals in Europe, only about 20 meters. It is incomparable with the domestic Golden Rooster, Huabiao, Golden Eagle and the like, but this does not prevent female stars from standing in the cold wind.
The constant concave shape in front of the camera.
There are rumors in later generations that an 18th-tier actress who was said to have been a stand-in for Fan Xiaopang actually spent more than an hour on the red carpet in Berlin. It is really unimaginable. Especially in such a cold weather, this
The actress really can handle it.
Concave modeling is a natural skill for female stars. Cheng Hao, who set foot on the red carpet in Berlin for the first time, was no exception. She kept changing her looks in front of the flashing lights.
The more than 20-meter-long red carpet gave each group about a minute to present. Familiar Chinese shouts kept coming from the press box: "Congratulations, Cheng Hao, come closer, look over here."
He Xin had no choice but to accompany his wife on the red carpet for two or three minutes, until Tilda Swinton, the chairman of the jury of the previous Berlin Film Festival, followed her and her young boyfriend.
Dragging his wife away.
The former British rose with bright blond hair is now almost fifty, and the boyfriend next to her seems to be only in his early twenties. Before leaving, Cheng Hao secretly glanced behind her and whispered to her husband: "Wow
,Foreigners are so open-minded!”
"It's normal for old cows to eat young grass!" He Xin shrugged and said indifferently.
Didn't news just come out not long ago that after the American pop music queen Madonna, who is also in her fifties, divorced Ning Hao's idol Guy Ritchie, she also found a young boyfriend in his early twenties.
"Hey, don't say it so harshly!" Cheng Hao whispered, but he muttered in his own mouth: "Look, they are really mysterious!"
Zhang Meng and Zhou Shuhao, two people who walked behind them at first, were already waiting at the steps of the Film Palace early. They didn't step up the steps together until the couple came over.
"Congratulations, I'm very happy to see you again!"
Dieter Kosrit, the old-school film festival chairman, stood on the steps of the Film Palace to greet the guests. When he saw Congratulations, he opened his arms enthusiastically.
"Thank you, Chairman, sir, I'm very honored too!" He Xin spoke broken English and hugged the old man.
He first introduced Zhang Meng and Zhou Shuhao.
"Welcome young director, we in Berlin are in great need of fresh blood."
The old man first welcomed Zhang Meng, and then heard that Zhou Shuhao spoke fluent German, especially when he heard that the other person was a former student of the Berlin Academy of Arts. He was very surprised and said: "Congratulations on your success!"
Finally, He Xin solemnly introduced his wife.
The old man was very good at talking and said with an exaggerated expression: "Wow, I smell romance."
As Tilda Swinton took her little boyfriend up the steps, He Xin and his party ended their greetings with the old man and entered the movie palace.
"I didn't expect you to be quite good here!"
From the cheers of movie fans to the warm welcome from the festival chairman, Cheng Hao finally witnessed her husband's influence in Europe this time, and was surprised and proud.
"Average, average, third in the world." He Xin patted his wife's hand and said with a smile.
In fact, he knew in his heart that the old man was just being polite. Golden Bear Award winner Wang Quanyu was the one with the best reputation. When Wang Quanyu arrived in Berlin with the crew of "Reunion", the old man went to the airport to greet him in person. It was estimated that two years later,
When the Heavenly Master came, he was treated in the same way.
Walking into the main venue, clips of the shortlisted films were being scrolled on the big screen, and "The Piano" was also among them. It was calm, but when the scene of "Shutter Island" appeared, the handsome DiCaprio appeared on the big screen.
On the scene, there was a burst of exclamation and then applause.
Look, even though no one else is here, he can still attract a lot of attention.
It has to be said that the influence of Hollywood stars is really everywhere.
Not long after I sat down, I saw someone wearing a black Chinese dress and a big red scarf with the "Reunion Apart Together" logo around his neck, like the boss of a black society, walking in with a large group of people. In addition to the previous
I have met Lu Yan and Mo Xiaoqi, as well as screenwriter Jin Na, producers, foreign photographers and other main creatives.
The seats for the crew of "The Piano" were arranged relatively far back, but as the main creator of the opening film, it was natural for him to sit in the front row with the jury and the film festival chairman Dieter Kosrit.
While there were still guests entering the venue one after another, He Xin hurried over to say hello and specially presented an invitation to the premiere of "The Piano" on the 14th.
"Hey, it's so formal! Okay, okay, we will definitely be there when the time comes!"
The more arrogant people are, the more they take themselves seriously. He Xin took the initiative to say hello and solemnly handed over the invitation. Wang Quanyu felt very proud. He stood up and held He Xin's hand enthusiastically.
That settled the matter.
It is said that Wang Quanyu is a person who relies on his talent and arrogance and is difficult to deal with, but after He Xin met him several times, he found that this person is not bad. Apart from his arrogant personality, he has no major problems.
Movies are art and also a business. Although He Xin is low-key, it does not mean that he does not know how to behave. In order to get more attention for his movies, it is not a big problem even if he is low-key. Besides, he
It's not like being a lowly person, it's just a full expression of respect. Because he does have this qualification.
He had just returned to his seat when he saw the film festival chairman Dieter Kosrit walking in accompanied by the members of the jury who had appeared in the finale.
The chairman of the jury of this film festival, Werner Herzog, is a representative figure of German film and one of the most famous directors in the New German Film Movement. The so-called New German Film Movement is a bit like the rise of the sixth generation of directors in China.
This process, and Werner Herzog is roughly equivalent to Chief Jia among the sixth generation of Chinese directors.
The members of this year's jury are from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America, and their skin colors are also different, fully demonstrating their diverse styles.
Yu Nan, who is tall and slender in a black dress, stood out. As she walked, she was still talking and laughing with Renee Zellweger beside her.
"I didn't expect this Renee Zellweger to be so short! Wow, she's quite strong. Look at the muscles on her arms!"
Cheng Hao's eyes naturally fell on Renee Zellweger, the biggest Hollywood star tonight, and he was still mumbling to her husband.
Renee Zellweger can be regarded as an "old friend" of the Chinese people. When the movie "Cold Mountain" was released in China, it set off a small movie-watching craze. Probably many people remember watching this movie.
During the movie, we were all attracted to the fair-looking Nicole Kidman and Jude Bald Law. But after watching the movie, we found that the two big stars were replaced by an unremarkable country girl.
Hanging.
The country girl is played by Renée Zellweger, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her outstanding performance in "Cold Mountain".
When the judges sat down in the front row, a few of them stared at Wang Quanyu and Yu Nan with special gossip, wanting to see if the two old lovers would interact, but disappointingly, the two barely even made eye contact.
nothing.
At seven o'clock, with a black female singer singing "Happy Birthday", the opening ceremony of the 60th Berlin Film Festival was officially held.
It is similar to the 70th anniversary celebration of the Venice Film Festival a few years ago. It is a retrospective series, looking back on the history of the Berlin Film Festival over the past sixty years, looking back on the previous Golden Bear Award winners, looking back on the previous presidents of the film festival, looking back on the previous juries, etc.
Of course, what made all the Chinese filmmakers familiar and proud were the highlight moments of National Master, Jie Fei, and Wang Quanyu winning the Golden Bear, and the beautiful scenery of Gong Li appearing on the red carpet as the chairman of the jury.
Therefore, although many Chinese filmmakers such as Wang Xiaoshuai, Tsai Ming-liang, Li Yang, Wu Ziniu and others have won more than a dozen Silver Bear trophies here, the one that can be remembered and worth looking back on is always the Golden Bear!
It was also interspersed with classic film songs from various historical periods sung by several European singers. After more than an hour of excitement, the film festival chairman Dieter Kosrit came on stage to deliver a speech. The old man seemed particularly excited today and was interacting with the host.
During the interview, he even forcefully kissed the beautiful female host.
When the jury members were introduced one by one, they were also full of praise for Yu Nan, praising her beauty and calling her the queen of Chinese art films. She had participated in three Berlin Film Festivals and her starring film had won a gold medal.
Bear Award.
Finally, there is the opening movie - "Reunion".
He Xin had no memory of this movie in his previous life.
Like several of Wang Quan's previous works, "Reunion" is another female-themed movie. It tells the story of a Gulf veteran who returns to Shanghai in his later years to find his long-lost wife, but it causes a violent shock to his wife's current family.
story.
The background of the film seems to be very grand, involving the civil war before liberation and the theme of "reunion" across the Taiwan Strait. In fact, the cuts shown in the film are very small, and many scenes take place in small spaces such as the kitchen, living room, dining table, etc., and are fixed.
The camera observes the dialogue between the characters through a large number of long shots, especially the dialogue at the dinner table. In this implicit way, it conveys a history, two relationships and the emotional entanglement between the three old people.
In particular, the entire film uses Shanghai dialect dialogue, which is authentic and full of rich Shanghai style.
The movie "Reunion" is not as obscure as Wang Quan's previous two works. The plot is simple and the story is very strong. He Xin especially liked the scene before the end of the movie: it rained, and Wan played by Bald Lingfeng
The Bay veteran stood awkwardly next to a family to hide from the rain.
There is a feeling of "you are so close but there is still a gap, and even if you are together you can't feel truly complete".
This may be the best opening film he has ever seen in so many film festivals.
After the movie was screened, he went over to express his sincere congratulations to Wang Quanyu.
However, it is regrettable that the evaluations of the three main film festival magazines "Screen", "Variety" and "Hollywood Report" on the second day were not very good.
The general view is that the film "Reunion" is very bland and average. It is simple, warm, and touching, but it also lacks highlights and surprises. It is a standard film festival film.
In the end, the program gave "Reunion" a score of 2.4. Such a score, neither high nor low, can be considered a favor to the former Golden Bear Award winner.
However, compared to the criticisms of "Variety" and "Hollywood Report", "Reunion" seems to have deviated from a larger theme, which is the cross-strait relations between the mainland and the Gulf, and lacks political topics.
"Screen" gave an objective review and pointedly pointed out that the cultural background and concepts contained in this film are incomprehensible to the vast majority of Western audiences.
Especially in the film, although the wife played by Lu Yan deeply loves the ex-husband of the veteran Wanwan, she has no intention of returning to Wanwan with him, and the husband played by Xu Caigen is so happy and is the only one in the whole family who fully supports Lu Yan's departure.
These storylines are difficult for Western audiences with different values to understand.
At the same time, "Screen" only affirmed the performance of the 76-year-old Shanghai Film Studio veteran actor Xu Caigen, who played the husband in this film. It said that he showed "amazing and superb acting skills". In almost every scene, the brilliance of the 82-year-old actor
Lu Yan and 72-year-old Ling Feng were taken away.
The name Xu Caigen is quite unfamiliar, but seeing his face reminds He Xin of the terminally ill Grandpa Song in "An Jia".