China Entertainment’s rescue plan is hard to come by

Chapter 464 Lou Ye: Listen to me, you can become a movie queen [two-in-one]

The opening film of this year's Cannes International Film Festival is Up.

It is also the first time in the history of the Cannes Film Festival that an animated film has been selected as the opening film.

Fortunately, its main purpose is for publicity and does not participate in the selection of film festival awards. Otherwise, with the quality of this animated film, it will definitely win one or two trophies.

On the night after the opening ceremony, various film crews from China and industry insiders participating in the Cannes Film Festival attended a party at the MAJESTY Hotel, just a few hundred meters away from the Cannes Film Palace.

This is also the norm.

We are all Chinese. When we travel to Europe, we will hold a party like this every time.

The main purpose is to facilitate everyone to communicate with each other.

This kind of gathering is not unfamiliar to Liu Yifei. After all, she has attended many premieres, film festivals, and industry dinners.

Some are for publicity, some are out of sympathy, and some are to cooperate with business activities, but like today, it is really the first time that I have the full authority to represent a crew on such an important occasion as the Cannes Film Festival.

But she had to shoulder this important task, and she also understood that for a film to participate in the awards, film quality is one aspect, but corresponding publicity and recommendations are also indispensable.

At the party, Shu Qi, who was a judge of this film festival, was also present, but in order to avoid suspicion, she only said hello briefly to everyone, stayed for a while and then left.

Liu Yifei originally planned to get some information from Shu Qi, but she didn't expect that her action was stalled before she even started.

As a last resort, I could only turn my attention to some of the seniors present.

After careful observation, Liu Yifei found that even though all filmmakers from China were in the same hall, they still inevitably formed small circles.

For example, most people from the mainland gather together, while those from Hong Kong and Taiwan chat happily on the other side.

Only people like Zhang Ziyi, who have gone abroad and entered the international community, can frequently circle around like a butterfly between the two circles.

Liu Yifei's representative for "The Intouchables" is of course the mainland circle.

"Miss Liu, I will call you Yifei. This is the first time we have met, but it is also a kind of fate to be able to sit on French soil."

Lou Ye seemed to be familiar with it. Holding a glass of juice, he came over and said hello.

Liu Yifei smiled sweetly, nodded and replied: "Hello, Director Lou, please call me Yifei."

"Xiao Sun didn't come?"

"He still has some unfinished filming in China, so he'll come back in a few days."

"Oh" Lou Ye nodded while holding the cup, quietly moved closer to Liu Yifei, lowered his voice, and continued to ask: "Have the screening plans for your movie been arranged?"

Seeing that Lou Ye was a little close, faintly breaking the safe social distance, Liu Yifei raised her eyebrows slightly and felt a little unhappy. However, she did not have an attack. Instead, she replied normally: "The organizer has informed that in Lu Miai Hall, two performances in total.”

"There are only two games, tsk~"

Lou Ye glanced at Liu Yifei, then frowned with a look of regret on his face.

Liu Yifei's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't care about anything else at the moment, so she quickly asked: "Director Lou, do you have any explanation for this?"

Lou Ye pretended to be profound and hesitated for a while, then said to Liu Yifei in an upright manner:

"Yifei, you are the first to participate. You don't know that the Cannes Film Festival is very particular about the screening of shortlisted films. As a senior, I have to make a few remarks."

"Normally, all the films shortlisted for the main competition are screened in the Lumiere Hall, with two screenings in the morning, two in the afternoon and two in the evening. During the ten-day screening period, there will be a total of 60 screenings. This year's film There are 20 shortlisted films, so logically there should be 3 performances for each film.”

"But this is not the way to evaluate and distribute. For some well-known directors and popular works, the film festival will appropriately increase the number of screenings, and even arrange additional screenings in the Debussy Hall."

"The screening time is also very particular. The best is in the evening, followed by the afternoon, and the morning is the worst. For example, my "Spring Breeze Night" has three shows, and one of them is at night. If I guessed correctly If so, the organizer will arrange all the sessions for you in the morning."

Liu Yifei was shocked when she heard this. She had done her homework in advance and knew that the films in the main competition were basically screened in the Lumiere Hall, which is also the largest screening hall in the entire Cannes Film Festival.

Although there are a total of 25 screening halls in the entire Cannes Film Palace, they do not only screen shortlisted films. Many excellent participating films will also be screened at the same time for films from all over the world to watch, and also for film producers from various countries. Learn about film opportunities to trade rights.

But she really didn't know that there was so much emphasis on showing all the shortlisted films in the Lumière Hall. "The Intouchables" was really just like what Lou Ye said.

Liu Yifei was confused for a moment, so she could only nod her head and replied: "Indeed. It's all in the morning."

Lou Ye smiled proudly, as if he had known it for a long time, and sighed: "Hey, this is Cannes' usual practice. This is the treatment for works that participate in the main competition for the first time. Unless someone helps I’d like to recommend it to the organizers so they can pay more attention to it, but this is also very difficult to do.”

"Hey, let's not mention this. It's extraordinary that Director Xiao Sun was shortlisted for his first feature film application. I think you, Yifei, also contributed a lot. It's a pity. I heard that you were in the movie. You don’t have many roles, but I think with your acting skills, as long as you put in a little effort and cooperate with a script that has depth and content, you will have no problem winning the Best Actress Award.”

Liu Yifei's mind is now full of Lou Ye's words, "Someone can help recommend it to the organizer." Faced with what Lou Ye said about the actress, she could only laugh dryly and replied: "Director Lou, you are joking, how many pounds do I have?" The number is still clear."

Lou Ye waved his hands repeatedly and said regretfully:

"Xiao Fei, don't belittle yourself. In my opinion, your acting skills are adequate. You just need an explosive work and a director who is good at supporting actors. As for Xiao Sun, he is still more commercial. In terms of the connotation of art, we still need to dig deeper, but I believe that if you give him some time, he can still make some achievements."

Lou Ye's words were conclusive and hard to get, and he said them with a sense of righteousness and awe, as if an old man cared about his younger generation.

Liu Yifei didn't respond for a moment and asked directly: "Director Lou, you said you can find someone to help recommend."

Before Xiao Nizi finished speaking, Lou Ye took out a script from his pocket and said to Liu Yifei: "Xiao Fei, this is the script for my next movie. It has been polished for three years. It is a French co-production. I think the heroine is very suitable for you. I think as long as you can play the role, with my help, you will be able to win the best actress."

Oh, it's a movie.

Liu Yifei looked at the script in front of her in astonishment. The title was very short, with only one word, "Flower".

Even if she didn't understand, she probably understood now that Lou Ye wanted to find her to make a movie, and then help find the organizing committee to recommend it.

To put it nicely, we are helping each other and supporting the younger generations.

To put it bluntly, it was just a bare-bones transaction.

It's just that Sun Yi has no qualifications in Cannes. A short film called Palme d'Or a few years ago didn't make any waves in China, let alone here in Cannes.

Although Liu Yifei was impatient, she did not lose her mind. She just replied to Lou Ye that she would wait until she went back to read the script.

That night, the party ended.

Liu Yifei followed Zhang Guoli upstairs.

Don't get me wrong, the hotel arranged by Xingkong for the two of them is right here.

In terms of logistics, Starry Sky is still very impressive.

On the way, Zhang Guoli asked what Lou Ye had said to her.

Liu Yifei trusted her boyfriend's uncle Zhang very much and told Zhang Guoli everything about Lou Ye asking her to make a movie and recommending it to the host committee.

Zhang Guoli suggested to her that no matter what decision she made, it was best to discuss it with Sun Yi, especially emphasizing to Liu Yifei that Lou Ye, as a director, is still very good, but she must be cautious about whether to accept his movies.   There was another thing that was on his mind, but he didn’t say it.

Especially for actresses.

Liu Yifei kept it in mind. After returning to the room, she did not contact Sun Yi immediately for fear of disturbing her brother's filming, so she read the script overnight.

She thought that if it was a similar movie, she would take it, and it wouldn't be a big deal if Director Lou Ye would help with the talking. With Xingkong's current size and her fame, no one in the country could force her to do it. She does things she doesn't want to do.

But what about this script?

It is indeed a drama with a heroine, describing an independent woman who pursues freedom of love. In the past, she might have been really interested, but now, she has no idea at all.

The script describes several relationships of the heroine, as well as a lot of passionate scenes.

Liu Yifei shook her head. It seemed that Lou Ye couldn't point her finger.

The little man at home wouldn't even let her film a kissing scene, let alone a passionate scene.

The next day, the film screening officially began, and the first show was "Inglourious Basterds" directed by Quentin. Obviously, the so-called genius director in Hollywood, with the support of his previous work "Pulp Fiction", this work was even more favored by Cannes. Became the first film to be screened.

Liu Yifei also went to support the film. Here, she also saw Harvey from Weinstein Pictures. After chatting with her, she learned that the film was distributed by Harvey's company and that he also organized it to attend the awards in Cannes.

After Xiao Nizi learned the news, she suddenly had an idea in her mind. During the chat with Harvey, she mentioned "Untouchable" several times in a vague way. The meaning of the words could not be clearer, but Harvey kept talking. Haha, no fuss at all.

Liu Yifei had no choice but to make it clear directly, so she could only leave it at that.

On the entire first day of screening, there was no screening of "The Intouchables". Even Lou Ye's "The Night with the Spring Breeze" was included in a performance in the afternoon, which made Liu Yifei feel a little anxious.

On the third day, in the morning, we finally arrived at the first screening of "The Intouchables".

Liu Yifei, Zhang Guoli, Xiaoting and Zhang Xin arrived at the screening venue early.

However, as Lou Ye said, it was completely different from the first day of screening yesterday. During this time in the morning, movie fans came sparsely. When the filming started, only about half of them were seated, and most of them were in the early hours of the movie. The way he woke up, it was obvious that he had arrived in a hurry after an all-night party.

After the movie was screened, there was indeed a round of applause in the venue. Fans cheered for the creative staff. The applause in the entire theater lasted for a long time. Liu Yifei was deeply affected by the atmosphere at the scene.

I have some ideas in mind, and I think it might be possible to rely on the film's excellent reputation to naturally ferment.

But the next day's Cannes Film Daily gave her a blow.

The Cannes Film News is a report compiled during the Cannes International Film Festival based on the audience's word-of-mouth and film reviews of the films shown. It is regarded as the weathervane of Cannes.

It’s not like there weren’t reports on “The Intouchables.”

It’s just that the length is relatively short, far inferior to Quentin’s “Inglourious Basterds” and French director Jacques Audiard’s “The Prophet”, or even inferior to a retro black and white film “The White Ribbon”. Even Lou Ye There are relatively more "Spring Breeze Night".

The mere few hundred fans at a screening did not help the film achieve a word-of-mouth explosion.

This era is no longer a time when the smell of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley.

The next screening is scheduled for the last two days. If this is the case, Liu Yifei will probably feel disappointed.

She really didn't know what to do.

But she was unwilling to give in. The quality of the movie her brother made was obviously so good, but she would feel guilty if she missed out on the award due to problems with publicity and screening.

This was the first time she had stood up for Sun Yi, and she didn't want to mess it all up.

In this situation, her first thought was Harvey.

As a well-known promoter of the Hollywood Academy Awards, Harvey's influence is also extraordinary among the three major European awards.

Liu Yifei made a special appointment with Harvey.

"Oh, my dear Miss Crystal, long time no see, you are still so beautiful."

Harvey was still the same, laughing and saying the opening remarks.

Liu Yifei smiled shyly, did not go around in circles, and said directly: "Mr. Harvey, I want to trouble you with something. Regarding our movie "The Intouchables", I hope you can help recommend it to the organizing committee and adjust it. Screening times.”

Harvey suppressed his smile, leaned back, crossed his fingers on his protruding belly, and said to Liu Yifei frankly:,

"Crystal, we are old friends. I also believe in Sun's ability as a director. But in terms of business, "Inglourious Basterds" is a film produced by my company and is also chasing awards in Cannes. We can still be considered competitors. Crystal, why do you think I should do this for you?”

"."

Liu Yifei was speechless for a moment. What Harvey said was really right. No one would do anything without profit.

"Or this."

Just when Liu Yifei's heart was about to hit rock bottom, Harvey raised a finger and said instigatingly towards her:
  "For 1000 million U.S. dollars, I will acquire the overseas rights to this film except China."

"This"

"Think about it. If you agree, I will do my best to help you run this movie. The number of screenings will be at least doubled. I also have connections with the media. In this regard, as a partner, please believe that I have credibility."

"let me consider it."

It's really difficult!
  It turns out that there are so many twists and turns in the operation behind a movie.

At night, Liu Yifei was half-lying on the hotel bed, with melodious piano music surrounding the room. It was the theme song "Una Mattina" from "The Intouchables", but she felt a sense of loss in her heart.

She had just finished answering a call from Sun Yi from China. During the conversation, she only talked about what she had seen here, not the difficulties she encountered.

She didn't want Sun Yi to worry about her at home.

Only then did she realize how difficult it was for her brother to get to where he is today step by step, and how many ups and downs he had to go through along the way.

At this moment, she suddenly felt that she was useless and couldn't do anything well.

Tears of grievance welled up in his eyes.

Suddenly, the cell phone next to the bed rang.

Liu Yifei wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, adjusted her mood, then took the phone and picked it up, and then she let out a sweet cry.

"dad!!"

　There will be another chapter to make up for the debt later.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)