Chapter 676: Gathering in a Foreign Country
They met each other by chance in Rome, so they greeted each other when they met, and Fang Minghua naturally wanted to congratulate them in advance.
"Teacher Minghua, this is a compliment. You have also watched the shortlisted films for this film festival. Each one is simply better than the last." Jiang Wen sounded a little unconfident.
In 1994, not only the Venice Film Festival, but also the entire world film industry was filled with great films.
"The Shawshank Redemption", "Schindler's List", "Pulp Fiction" and "Natural Born Killers". Chinese-language films also include classics such as "Ashes of Time" and "On a Bright Day".
Why were there so many great movies produced in this year?
Some people say that from the time when the Lumiere brothers, the "fathers of modern cinema," invented the film and the film projector, 1994 happened to be the 100th birthday of world cinema, and this was a great gift from filmmakers for this birthday.
This statement is inevitably a bit far-fetched. Fang Minghua would rather believe in another reason:
In this year, movie special effects were not as popular as in later generations. Directors focused more on storytelling skills, thus the birth of It has produced such a batch of excellent films that appeal to both refined and popular tastes and are loved by audiences all over the world.
This Venice Film Festival alone has films such as "Natural Born Killers", "Long Live Love" and "Breasts and the Moon".
As Jiang Wen's first time directing a film, she was inevitably a little nervous.
Fang Minghua smiled after hearing this.
“Don’t worry, you will definitely not leave empty-handed, not just you, but also our Chinese-language films.”
This time, three Chinese-language films have been shortlisted for the Venice Film Festival, from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. !
“Have you met Wong Kar-wai from Hong Kong and Tsai Ming-liang from Taiwan?” Fang Minghua asked.
"Yes, I also said that when the award ceremony is over, you are going to treat me to congratulations." Jiang Wen said with a smile.
"That's good, the time is set at six o'clock tomorrow afternoon. The location, even the Hotel Danieli where we are staying is good. There is a buffet barbecue restaurant there. How about we have barbecue together? I'll go back in the evening Just make a reservation," Fang Minghua said.
"Don't worry, I would be so embarrassed if you didn't win the prize." Jiang Wen said quickly.
“I said, I will definitely win the award.” Fang Minghua laughed.
Sure enough, at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Chinese films won a great victory.
Not only were three films nominated, but they also won awards:
"Long Live Love": Golden Lion Award for Best Film! International Society of Film Critics Award!
"Sunny Days": Best Actor (Volpi Cup) Xia Yu
"Ashes of Time": Outstanding Artistic Contribution Award (Best Photography Award) Du Kefeng, Liu Weiqiang and Chen Yuanjia.
Filmmakers from major Eastern countries appeared on the podium again and again.
At six o'clock in the afternoon the next day, Fang Minghua invited guests. Everyone came as promised and invited three film creation teams to the hotel's buffet barbecue restaurant.
There were more than ten people in total, and everyone gathered around a big table to eat and drink on the open-air balcony nearby.
Venice has a Mediterranean climate and is relatively hot in summer, but now that it is September, it is cooler at night, especially when the sea breeze blows, making everyone feel particularly cool.
In a small foreign town, eating Korean barbecue and drinking local Palatine ice beer. Although we didn’t know each other at first, the same language and writing and the movies we both loved brought us closer together. .
Wong Kar-Wai wears sunglasses and still looks cool.
He picked up the beer glass and said to Fang Minghua: "Mr. Fang, here's a toast to you. Thank you for writing such a good script for me. I almost threw it to Tsui Hark, but now I'm at a huge loss."
"Director Wang, you gave away such a good script?!" The speaker was Tsai Ming-liang, a Taiwanese director. He had gone to Hong Kong to make a film and met Wong Kar-Wai, so he spoke more casually.
"You don't know, Mr. Fang set a trap in my script, and I almost fell for it!" Wong Kar-wai explained.
"What's going on? Tell me." Everyone suddenly became interested.
"When Mr. Fang gave me the script for "Ashes of Time", it was written strictly according to the passage of time. As a result, the whole script became a bland running account. This is not my Wong Kar-wai style of making films. Tsui Hark happened to come to my house that day, and I gave him the script: Don’t you also like to make martial arts movies? This script is for you.”
"In the end, Tsui Hark discovered the clues and re-adjusted the timeline of the plot in the script. It immediately became exciting, and I quickly snatched it back."
After listening to Wong Kar-wai's narration, everyone was excited When I laughed, I didn't expect that an alternative martial arts film would have this experience.
Fang Minghua picked up the wine glass and the two clinked it, and of course explained: "Director Wang, I don't want to dig a hole for you. I only provide you with the most basic materials. You are the director, how do you want to shoot it? Just shoot how you want."
"Brother-in-law, you just want to dig a hole for me," Li Li, who was sitting next to Fang Minghua, said softly in his ear.
As a result, Fang Minghua glared at her. Honest boy! Why do you say that to your brother-in-law?
"Mr. Fang, can we continue to cooperate in making movies in the future?" Wong Kar-wai said.
“Yes.” Fang Minghua agreed happily.
Although the King of Sunglasses likes to show off and the things he takes are a bit hazy, the artistry is still quite high.
Chinese-language films can’t always be purely commercial films, right? That's too monotonous.
Jiang Wen, who was sitting on the other side, felt excited when she heard this.
He also wanted Fang Minghua to help him write the script.
Known as the number one screenwriter in Mainland China, he is now starting to shine in Hong Kong. Which director wouldn’t want to get close to him?
So while everyone was chatting and drinking, Jiang Wen also came over and toasted Fang Minghua with a beer glass.
"Teacher Fang, can you also write a script for me?"
"What, what else do you want to make?"
"Teacher Fang, to be honest, I've fallen in love with one of your novels and want to make it into a movie, but I feel like I can't grasp the essence of that novel yet. , I'm afraid it won't work well."
"Is it "The Sun Also Rises"?"
"Yes, that's the novel! No."
Fang Minghua smiled slightly: "It doesn't matter, I'll keep it for you. You can come and take pictures with me whenever you want."
"Thank you so much! Teacher Fang, let me toast you again!"
The party ended at ten o'clock in the evening, and then everyone dispersed.
Fang Minghua and Li Li sent Jiang Wen and the others away and returned to their hotel.
"Hey, brother-in-law, Wong Kar-wai and Jiang Wen both want to cooperate with you. Why doesn't Tsai Ming-liang want you to write the script?" Li Li asked curiously.
“You can’t write the movies he made.” Fang Minghua said with a smile.
"Why?"
"His movie is just like the award-winning "Long Live Love". It contains gay elements, which I can't accept." Fang Minghua explained.
Hearing this, Li Li's happy expression suddenly changed.
"Lili, I'm sorry." Fang Minghao realized that his words had unintentionally touched Li Li's sadness and apologized quickly.
“It’s nothing, brother-in-law, rest, we have to rush to Rome tomorrow.”
There are no direct flights from Venice to Yanjing or San Francisco, so both of them have to fly to Rome.
Early the next morning, the two took a train to Rome to end their trip to Italy.
Li Li’s flight to San Francisco was ahead, and Fang Minghua sent her to the customs channel. .
"Brother-in-law, don't forget to write a novel for me." Li Li warned.
“I’ll never forget it, I’ll see you when you return home during the winter vacation.”
"I can't wait to come back from the winter vacation."
"Okay, I'll write it when I get back, and I'll send it to you in the United States. Is that okay?"
"Thank you, brother-in-law, I'm leaving. Come on," Li Li waved happily, dragging her luggage and taking just two steps, she suddenly turned her head and looked at Fang Minghua.
"Brother-in-law, after I return to San Francisco, I plan to divorce Chen Jian."
(End of this chapter)