director of the millennium

Chapter 325 Premiere in Venice!
Venice Lido Hotel.

Director Han, who was too busy to catch the opening ceremony but still came to the film festival, made an appointment with Wu Yuan to meet at the hotel restaurant.

"Director Wu, when is "A Man Called Li Wen Decided to Die" scheduled to premiere?"

"Tomorrow, the movie palace."

"Oh, up here is the movie palace, high-end." Han Dong said with a smile.

Wu Yuan shrugged: "No matter which one of the three major European universities I attend, I will get this treatment, right?"

He is the youngest director in history to win the Best Director in Berlin and the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes. If his new film cannot even be arranged at the Cinematheque and premieres in other small theaters, it will be equivalent to humiliating him.

"Same." Director Han pointed to the event catalog he just brought on the table.

"Although your new film only has a synopsis and trailer, the local press has already given it a lot of praise."

"They say your movie is the most anticipated film in Venice this year."

"By the way, you have been addicted to commercial films in the past few years, which has made these European filmmakers feel sorry for you. Now that you have finally waited for your new literary film, you can't praise it."

"In just the pre-screening session, the program book gave a predicted high score of 7.8. You are so proud of yourself."

Compared with commercial films, Wu Yuan did not shoot many artistic films, only two in total.

But who told these two films to win awards in Berlin and Cannes?

I don’t know how many European film media and magazines believe that Wu Yuan is the most talented young director of this era (referring to directors under the age of 35).

It's just that he never put his mind on the right path. He was fascinated by the glamorous world of Hollywood and just went to make commercial films.

Now, he has finally stopped being obsessed with commercial films and has returned to making real art films. In the eyes of the European media, he naturally has a "prodigal son turning back" color.

It’s a good thing when the prodigal son turns back!

Never mind whether "A Man Called Li Wen Decides to Die" is really a good feature film. Anyway, let it out first and let everyone show their support for Wu Yuan.

After all, the power of European films is declining these days, and artistic films represented by European culture are being outshone by Hollywood commercial films in the international market.

The film media in Europe naturally hope that there will be more influential directors who can regain the glory of European literary films, especially Wu Yuan, an influential director in Hollywood.

Wu Yuan naturally knew that most of these event publications were just flattery, so he smiled and waved his hand and said: "Director Han, there is no need for my family to use these media reports as an excuse."

"But I do have confidence in this movie and I hope it can win a big award."

Han Sanping's eyes immediately lit up and he asked expectantly: "Can you really win the prize?"

Although the domestic commercial film market is getting bigger and bigger now, and people inside and outside the industry are paying more attention to commercial films and no longer value artistic films as much as before, the influence of the three major European films is still very large.

After all, two or three generations of directors have worked hard for decades to spread the influence of the three major European companies in the mainland. It cannot be eliminated in just a few years.

China now also needs more international glory to embellish the glory of China's rise.

"It's probably close to ten." Wu Yuan said firmly.

He has really studied it. Not to mention Mark Mueller, the film festival chairman who has no way to influence the jury, he said that in this year's jury, several judges prefer non-political themes and prefer movies that focus on humanistic emotions. movie of.

Just look at the films that ended up winning awards on their original trajectory.

"The Wrestler", which won the Golden Lion Award, tells the story of an all-powerful professional wrestler from glory to failure.

"Paper Soldiers", which won the Silver Lion for Best Director, is a complex love triangle, the story of two women who loved him deeply after the death of the male protagonist.

Yes, it is very similar to "July and Ansheng".

Only Dew, which won the Special Jury Prize, was about politics.

Including "Giovanna's Father", which won the Best Actor Award, and "The Other Man", which won the Best Actress Award, are both emotional-themed movies.

From this, Wu Yuan can see the preferences of this year’s judges.

And "A Man Called Li Wen Decides to Die" is exactly what he likes.

The only thing that made him slightly worried was that there was a director from Hong Kong on the jury this time, Du Qifeng.

Although Wu Yuan and Du Qifeng had no contact at all, as far as he knew, Du Qifeng was also in a group with Wu Baige's group.

His movies have always only used Hong Kong actors, and he doesn't like to see filmmakers from the mainland at all.

Fortunately, there are seven judges on the jury, so the impact of his vote is not that big.

"Director Han, you have to come to the premiere tomorrow!" Wu Yuan said with a smile.

"I know, I came to Venice just for you."

The next day, the crew of "A Man Called Li Wen Decides to Die" got busy early in the morning.

This movie is indeed highly anticipated in Venice. Even though it will premiere in the afternoon, the media still seize the time and come to interview the crew early in the morning.

"This is the second time Director Wu and I have collaborated." Li Xuejian, who remained calm in front of foreign media, said in an interview, "But this time the burden on my shoulders is heavier."

"Li Wen is a very complex character."

"He grew up next to the railroad and lost his mother when he was seven and his father when he was sixteen."

"He tried hard to live in this world, but everything went wrong."

"The accident took away my father's life, the car accident took away my wife's legs, unborn child and the right to give birth, and cancer took away my wife's tenacious life."

"After his wife passed away, his world was completely dark, and suicide might be the best choice."

"Suicide is not to say goodbye to this world, but to continue loving her in another world."

"Until the neighbor who moved next door brought him new concerns." "The world-famous philosopher Nietzsche once left this sentence before committing suicide - Those who know why they live can survive."

"And Li Wen in the movie found such an answer, which makes your world full of care and concern, and you will naturally lose the motivation to leave."

"After playing this movie, the only thing I felt was healing, a double healing from body to soul."

"Director Wu wrote a very, very good script and made a very touching movie."

"I hope this movie will get a good result in Venice. It's not that I'm vain, I just hope that more people will pay attention to this good movie."

Song Dandan, who plays the neighbor's wife, also said in an interview: "Director Wu is one of the best directors in China. I am very honored to be able to work with him. I can guarantee that this movie is the best I have ever shot in my career. The best movie ever.”

"Director Wu is just too serious on the set." Fan Wei joked in the middle: "He has an almost perfect requirement for his work. We are constantly striving for excellence every day, but after the filming, we really It’s great.”

Liu Yifei and Zhu Yawen, the two junior actors who played the roles of young Li Wen and Li Wen's wife Xiaoya, did not even have a chance to speak.

At the end of the interview, the microphone returned to Wu Yuan's hand.

When reporters asked about the screening arrangements, Wu Yuan smiled and said, "It hasn't been decided yet."

"Whether it will be released in China or overseas, the details will have to be discussed after the film festival is over. I believe that it will meet the global audience as soon as possible within the year."

Don't expect this kind of literary film to sell much at the box office.

Even though Wu Yuan's "Gravity" had just set a new box office record in mainland China, making him a well-known director in China and as famous as Zhang Yimou, who had just been awarded the title of National Master, he could not encourage it. The audience went to the cinema to watch such a literary film with a strange title.

This is an out-and-out award-winning movie, with a domestic box office of 3000 to [-] million. If the European rights are sold, it will be enough without losing money. It is impossible to expect to make a lot of money.

It could be a contender for next year's foreign language film Oscar.

In the afternoon, at 14:30 local time, at the entrance of the Venice Cinema Palace.

Wu Yuan and the crew stood at the entrance of the Film Palace to welcome the guests.

As one of the most watched films at this year's Venice Film Festival, the premiere of "A Man Called Li Wen Decided to Die" was naturally huge.

"Love on the River", "Dang Bandits", "Women" and "Cucumber" by the Chinese Legion.

And the crew of "A Perfect Life" by Hong Kong female director Tang Xiaobai, which was urgently announced as a surprise film in the Venice Horizon section just one hour before the opening of the Venice International Film Festival, were not absent from the premiere of Wu Yuan's new film.

The first person to bear the brunt of the incident was Section Chief Jia with his wife.

This time it was Wu Yuan who was the host to greet him.

She hugged Section Chief Jia with a smile on her face, and her wife Zhao Tao also hugged Liu Yifei warmly.

Just like when Wu Yuan went to participate in "Love on the River" before, Wu Yuan was not too polite with Section Chief Jia. He just said hello briefly and sent him into the theater.

Immediately afterwards, the crews of "The Wrestler", "Paper Soldiers", "Dew" and "Giovanna's Father", which are the favorites to win awards in Venice this year, were also very generous. The directors or producers all came to support Wu Yuan in person.

Any ambitious crew would not choose to snub Wu Yuan, the favorite to win the award, not to mention that he is also an influential director in Hollywood.

For example, the American film "The Burning Plain", which was shortlisted for the main competition, even the entire crew came.

The heroine of this film, Charlize Theron, the flower of South Africa, grabbed Wu Yuan's hand and kept saying that she was a fan of Wu Yuan and looked forward to working with Wu Yuan in the future.

However, Wu Yuan's eyes were not focused on this South African flower, one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood, but on a small supporting role in "The Burning Plain".

Jennifer Lawrence, who debuted last year.

My eldest cousin is a good actress. Not only is she good at acting, she is also a model worker.

Her "Hunger Games" series is one of the few blockbuster series in Hollywood that has a leading female protagonist.

Compared to Charlize Theron, Wu Yuan would rather work with Jennifer Lawrence.

Over at Light Era, the "Hunger Games" series has been included in the long-term plan!
"We will work together again if we have the opportunity in the future." Wu Yuan smiled and sent the crew of "The Burning Plain" into the movie palace, and raised his hand to look at his watch.

The movie premiere is almost about to begin, and all the expected guests, film critics, etc. have almost arrived.

Just as he was holding Liu Yifei's little hand and about to turn around and enter the venue, the reporters surrounding the film palace suddenly started to commotion again.

A pure black car belatedly stopped at the end of the red carpet.

Although his hair was completely white, Marco Muller, who was in good spirits, led his wife Duame out of the car.

The reporters on both sides of the red carpet were all shocked and took photos of Marco Muller and his wife.

The chairman of the film festival comes in person, which is not a treatment that every shortlisted film can enjoy.

In fact, in order to make the award selection fair and open, Marco Muller, the chairman of the film festival, generally does not come to see a certain movie in person. After all, this represents his preference as the chairman, which will affect the selection of the jury.

This impact may be good or bad.

After all, it is common for the jury president and the film president to confront each other in the three major European film festivals.

So in most cases, film festival directors will not stand up for shortlisted films.

But today, Marco Muller broke this convention for Wu Yuan.

"Director Wu, you don't mind me coming uninvited, do you?" Marco Muller was very familiar with the idioms.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Wu Yuan put a smile on his face and held Marco Muller's hand: "No, Mr. Chairman, it is an honor for me to come to the premiere."

"Please come in!"

　I wrote it wrong yesterday. Marco Muller's wife Duamei is not Chinese. When I checked just now, I found out that I wrote it wrong and it has been changed.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)