Chapter eight hundred and eighty fourth lively film festival
"One Second" was shortlisted for Berlin and then withdrew urgently; "Lyceum" was shortlisted for Venice and faced withdrawal in China; "Southern Station" was shortlisted for Cannes and, uh, struggled to be released domestically. Everyone is well aware of the quality of the harmonious version.
This is reality, a very helpless thing.
He Xin had heard of Cai Shangjun's "A Mountain of People" for a long time. It was adapted from a real social incident that happened in a province in the southwest of China. It tells the story of a brother who chased the murderer thousands of miles after his younger brother was brutally robbed and killed.
After this social news came out, two of Cao Baoping's students were very interested in the incident and wanted to adapt it into a movie script, so they went to Guizhou to interview the news prototype. When they got there, they learned that a director had come to interview him a month ago.
, and this director is none other than Cai Shangjun.
He Xin heard about it from Cao Baoping, and didn't take it seriously at first. Later, he heard from Bald Xu that Xiao Taohong had taken on a play directed by Cai Shangjun, and the script was said to be quite awesome.
The connection between these two things immediately aroused his interest, so he called Cai Shangjun to inquire about it. As a result, they were already preparing to start filming, and the leading actor targeted "Silang" who had just finished filming "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
"Chen Jianbing."
Chen Jianbing was working on dramas with Meng Jinghui, Cai Shangjun, Liu Fendou, etc., and they were all members of a small circle. Of course, He Xin couldn't get involved, and even if he wanted to, he probably wouldn't be able to get involved, so he had to give up.
As a result, the film was successfully shortlisted for the main competition section of this Venice Film Festival not long after it was shot.
Before coming to Venice, He Xin had seen a rough cut of the film in Cai Shangjun's studio. He originally thought that avenging his brother, chasing the murderer thousands of miles away, escaping and hunting could be made into a film like "Hurricane Rescue"
A Hollywood commercial film of personal heroism.
However, in the hands of Lao Cai, he deliberately abandoned the legend and conflict in the story and shot it in a very realistic way. The protagonist Lao Tie, played by Chen Jianbing, left his hometown and traveled to different places, showing a picture of the living environment of the people at the bottom of society, and
Their helplessness, reality, resistance, compromise, betrayal, conscience... are also mixed with Qiu Ju's belief and will to litigate.
It’s just that this realistic shooting technique is doomed to be very boring in terms of visibility. The long shots and fixed camera positions, and the compression of narrative space and other presentation techniques may cause difficulties for the audience to watch and understand the film.
But in terms of photography and composition, the quality of this film is absolutely top-notch.
The key is the content. What the movie shows is that when his legitimate rights and interests cannot be resolved through legal channels, the protagonist can only exercise "justice" alone. The film is full of revenge, crime, self-salvation and a series of controversies that reflect the truth of reality.
The sexual elements have caused many obstacles for the film to be censored. In the end, it was renamed as a Hong Kong film as a last resort.
Obviously, this kind of "saving the country through curves" is not feasible nowadays. Cai Shangjun was also ill and sought medical treatment, thinking that He Xin had participated in film festivals many times, so he must have experience in this area.
He Xin didn't expect the situation to be so serious, so he asked quietly: "What do you think?"
Cai Shangjun shook his head and said, "You've come here, so you can't quit midway, right?"
"Well, quitting midway is of course the best policy, if you still want to release it in China."
"I don't dare to expect a domestic release. Fortunately, my investment in this film is not large. So far, I have negotiated with several film companies, and I estimate that recovering the cost should not be a big problem." Cai Shangjun said with a wry smile.
Then he added: "But after finally getting to Venice, if you ask me to quit, I will definitely not be willing to do it. If it doesn't work, I will give it all."
Speaking of excitement, the fat on Lao Cai's face trembled, which really made the honest man anxious.
He Xin hurriedly advised: "No, Director Cai! Have you forgotten the examples of Jiang Wen and Lou Ye?"
"..."
Of course Cai Shangjun knew that Jiang Wen was banned from directing for five years because of "The Japanese Are Coming" and Lou Ye was banned from directing for five years because of the same situation.
His cute fat face, which usually looked like Maitreya Buddha, was wrinkled and distorted at this moment. He looked at He Xin helplessly, and then murmured for a long time: "Xiao He, you said I just want to
Making a movie, without adding any extravagance, just trying to show the real thing, why is it so difficult?"
well!
He Xin shook his head sympathetically. It was because it was too real that it resulted in the current result!
He thought for a while and said: "The only way now is to cancel the public screening due to technical reasons in exchange for understanding from the relevant departments, but at the same time retain the qualification to continue participating."
"Is this possible?" Cai Shangjun said hesitantly.
Although it was a pity to cancel the screening, the last thing he could accept was to withdraw.
"Well, more or less. After all, this is a Hong Kong movie, and some things are not entirely under your control, right?"
"this……"
Cai Shangjun was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was doing, patted his bare forehead, and said with bright eyes: "Yes, Xiao He, your idea is a good one!"
Upon hearing this, He Xin hurriedly said: "Director Cai, no, I didn't say anything!"
"Ah? Oh, yes, yes, we were just chatting casually."
In fact, the matter is not complicated. As long as the film is exported out of the country, there is nothing the relevant departments can do. The so-called punishment is a last resort. As long as you do not show it publicly and do not cause bad effects, everyone can take a step back.
For Cai Shangjun, as long as he doesn't quit, that's the best result. At most, he can just go back and write an inspection and be fined. These are small things.
Cai Shangjun was also in a hurry. This kind of thing is easy to figure out when you calm down. It is nothing more than a matter of choice.
"Teacher He! Director Cai!"
At this time, someone came over to say hello, and a small woman wearing a colorful striped off-shoulder dress came over with a man with a slightly concave face on her arm.
"Hello Holy Clothes! Mr. Yang!"
To be honest, Huang Shengyi is very good-looking. Although he is not tall, his body proportions are very good. But the colorful striped dress he is wearing today is very similar to the color of the lollipop in "Kung Fu".
Before I, Da Jingtian, was born, the person in front of me was considered a well-known resource person in the industry. And the financial backer behind her was Mr. Yang who is standing next to her now.
Although there are many speculations about the relationship between the two, He Xin knows that the two have actually been married for several years. Because this time the distribution of their film "White Snake" was handed over to Bona and China Film, during which He Xin was invited to participate
After two dinners, we are quite familiar with these two people.
He had not found Li Lianlian before, so he couldn't help but ask: "Is it just the two of you?"
"Yes, Brother Jie and Director Cheng won't arrive until tomorrow."
Mr. Yang said, and invited with a smile: "Teacher He, Director Cai, please give me a compliment the day after tomorrow."
"Of course, I'm really looking forward to your movie."
He Xin didn't mean to be polite. I heard Yu Dong say before that the total investment in "White Snake" was as high as 200 million. Although Li Lianlian's salary may account for half of it, the 1,500 special effects shots in the film are currently domestically produced.
It is very rare in movies. Since "Avatar", special effects have become a trend or trend in commercial movies, and he especially wanted to see it.
What's more, the team behind this film is also considered to be at a gold level. In addition to Cui Baozhu, the producer of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Kung Fu", director and action director Cheng Xiaodong, art director Zhang Shuping, and editor Lin An'er are all from Hong Kong
Academy Award winner and director of photography Jiang Guoming has also been nominated for the Academy Awards many times.
At this time, Tong Yali and Cheng Er also came over. They introduced each other and chatted for a while. The colorful striped dress on Huang Shengyi is said to be derived from the design style of Tibetan Buddhism, and she wears a string of different colors around her neck.
The eye-catching necklace is actually made of Dzi beads.
He Xin didn't know much about this kind of thing, but Mr. Yang seemed to be quite knowledgeable. He Xin had heard of Mr. Yang in his previous life, and even in this life, he often saw news about him in the media, with good and bad comments.
Different, he generally has an image of a rich man who admires female celebrities, but after several contacts, I found that this person is not bad, he is not arrogant or arrogant, and he is very warm and low-key in dealing with others.
This year's Venice opening red carpet was pretty average in terms of star quality. Apart from the huge Chinese-speaking corps, the biggest celebrity was probably George Clooney and the crew of "The Ides of March" he led.
George Clooney, the famous old handsome guy in Hollywood, has gradually transformed into a director in recent years and has frequently appeared in three major European film festivals. This time he is the director, producer and star of the film "The Ides of March"
identity. And the film he brought is the opening film tonight.
According to the convention of the three major European festivals, the opening film is the greatest courtesy to a shortlisted film, but winning awards at the same time is generally useless.
The process of the opening ceremony was still the same as before. The chairman of the film festival, Ma Ma, took the stage to give a speech, and then introduced the jury. The judges of this film festival are all from the United States and Europe, which is rare in previous editions.
The only Asian element is the chairman of the jury of the Horizon section, Chief Jia, who also has a long list of titles in front of his name: Chinese director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and writer.
He Xin's impression of George Clooney is average. He feels that although he is a lot older, he still seems to be an idol rather than an actor. But this time he brought the opening film of "March 15th"
, may be the best opening film that He Xin has participated in so many film festivals.
This is a political comedy about the US presidential election, with a bit of Zhou Xingchi's nonsensical style. The most important thing is that the starring role of this film is Philip Hoffman, an American actor whom He Xin admires very much, the same one from "Mission: Impossible 3"
The guy who plays the evil boss behind the scenes.
He is the type of actor who can act in both comedies and dramas, and can play both good and bad actors at the same time. He often appears as a golden actor in some commercial blockbusters.
…
As a promoter of the "Venice Day" competition unit, He Xin is very busy. On September 1st alone, he attended the premiere of four movies. Speaking of which, most of the films shortlisted for the "Venice Day" unit are low-budget.
Independent films are not easy for everyone after all.
For He Xin, who had experienced being put up posters in the middle of the night in Berlin to save money and was almost arrested by the police, he was very sympathetic in this regard, so he was able to help. He tried his best to help stand on the platform.
I went out early in the morning and returned to my hotel exhausted just as night was about to fall. As soon as I walked to the door, I saw a large group of people gathered in the lobby.
"Brother Dong! Sister Hailu! Have you just arrived?"
"Forget it, the flight was delayed when we were connecting in Rome. We had to wait for more than five hours. We just arrived!" Yu Dong also looked listless.
The shortlisted "Sister Tao" this time was produced by Bona. The investment in this film was as high as 30 million. It is said that Xu Anhua could not find investment at the beginning. In the end, Andy Lau came forward and Yu Dongcai invested. Originally, this film was not Bona
Among the movies we are highlighting today, in addition to "Overheard 2" which sold 200 million in the first half of the year, Bona also has two blockbusters on hand, "The Magician" and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate".
I just didn't expect that "Sister Tao" would be shortlisted for the Venice Film Festival this time, which was an unexpected surprise for Yu Dong.
This year has definitely been smooth sailing for Dong Ge. His company went public, he got divorced, and his company's business is booming. Perhaps except for actor management, Bona is now on par with Huayi Brothers.
"Xiao He, you are very busy!" Qin Hailu also walked over to say hello with a smile.
The two of them won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor and Best Actress together. They became famous almost at the same time, and they have a long history.
"I'm just busy."
He Xin shook hands with her, and then said: "Sister Hailu, congratulations!"
"Why are you congratulating me? I've never been to Venice, I just came to join in the fun."
After so many years, Qin Hailu is still so fast-talking and has not changed at all. Although everyone is in the capital, they actually meet very rarely. Occasionally they may meet in large public places and they can't chat for a few words.
Seeing the smile on He Xin's face, Qin Hailu showed her aggression: "What are you smiling at? Are you laughing at me?"
If you are not familiar with her, you may not be used to her style and feel that this woman is difficult to deal with, but He Xin knows that this is just her appearance.
"Oh, no, how dare I! What have you been busy with lately?"
"Just filming."
"Very good, what kind of show is this?"
"TV series! You, the Best Actor He Da, will definitely not like it. It is the kind of anti-Japanese drama you call. There is no other way, I have to eat."
"Look what you said, as long as you, Sister Hailu, are involved, it will definitely not be an anti-Japanese drama. The last time you, Li Guangjie and Liao Fan starred in "The Bourne Supremacy", it was so good that I bought the CD."
When it comes to a woman like Qin Hailu, you can only praise her. Of course, she is one of the few actresses in the country who has excellent acting skills.
After saying that, He Xin asked casually: "Who are you cooperating with this time?"
"Wang Xinjun, do you know him? He is the originator of the anti-Japanese drama..."
Even Qin Hailu herself laughed during the middle of the sentence.
The term "anti-Japanese drama" comes from a TV series called "Anti-Japanese Heroes", in which the scene of tearing up Japanese soldiers with hands is heart-wrenching. The male lead in this TV series is Wang Xinjun, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes.