Chapter 256: Holding the Throne High
September 8, 2007, the closing ceremony of the Venice Film Festival.
Prior to this, the country has learned that Li An's "Lust, Caution", Chen Linfeng's "Exploding Drummer", and Jia Zhangke's "Useless", these three works have received notices to participate in the awards ceremony.
This represents China’s harvested works at this Venice Film Festival.
Domestic public opinion is naturally very happy about this, especially for Xiao Chen, who is able to enter the final award ceremony for his first feature film directed by a director.
This is similar to how Jiang Wen created a Venice Best Actor for the first time as a director.
Everyone is wondering whether another talented "Jiang Wen" has appeared.
This means that there are successors to Chinese films.
The sixth generation of directors has just emerged. Xiao Chen, who is much younger than the sixth generation, it is hard to say whether he is the sixth or seventh generation, has already officially appeared on the stage.
In the news center, Chinese reporters occupy a large area.
In addition to the six princesses of CCTV, which were more common in previous years, and Sina, which prefers entertainment news, more media came from China.
They want to receive relevant news about Xiao Chen as soon as possible.
This kind of news has attracted too much attention in China, especially since August has just ended, it can be said to be the national concern.
Chen Linfeng entered the venue with Li Xuejian, Liu Qianqian, Zhou Jielun, Cao Yu and other main creators of the crew.
Everyone is a little excited.
No matter what award you win today, it will basically be a relatively important award for feature films that enter the main competition.
This is different from those unknown awards that were not in the main competition unit back then. The worst one is also the future Golden Lion Award.
It is also commonly known as the "Best Debut Award".
Best Newcomer and Best Screenwriter are the awards that can be won.
The only thing Chen Linfeng is worried about is that he will win the "Future Golden Lion Award". After all, it is really his first time to make a feature film, and it can be regarded as his debut.
At this moment, he saw Liu Qianqian's face and asked involuntarily.
"Why do you look more nervous than me?"
Liu Qianqian said, "I have attended several award ceremonies with you, and we have won the grand prize every time. This time I'm worried that when I go abroad, the law will no longer apply."
Chen Linfeng held her hand and smiled, "It's okay, it has nothing to do with you. If you don't get an important award, it's also my problem."
Liu Qianqian held it back and said seriously, "It doesn't matter, you have done your best."
Zhou Jielun couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth when he saw that this man and woman were still showing off their affection.
He skipped this scene and looked around.
In the past, he often attended music award ceremonies, but this time it was rare because of his movie role, and he suddenly entered the internationally renowned stage.
What a novel experience.
Cao Yu asked Li Xuejian with concern, "Teacher Li, are you okay, are you nervous?"
Li Xuejian saw Cao Yu's trembling hands and wondered who was nervous.
He laughed and said, "Young man, relax. Whether or not you win the award has been decided now. No matter how hard you shake, it won't change the result."
Li Xuejian is an old actor after all. The psychological quality has been developed long ago.
Cao Yu is not good anymore. He nodded. His symptoms are not getting better at all.
How can you not be nervous? The Venice Film Festival has an award for Best Technical Contribution (Photography).
If he wins the award, he can become a big shot in the photography industry.
Who can not be excited at this moment when it is likely to soar into the sky?
Li An glanced at Chen Linfeng's position from a distance, feeling a little complicated in his heart.
I don’t know why, but he felt that among all the works presented, Xiao Chen put the most pressure on him.
Maybe it’s because Xiao Chen is not only good at making movies, but is also good at marketing and public relations. He has heard about some of Xiao Chen’s operations during the film festival.
He really made a big name.
To this day, the media still regards "Explosion Drummer" as a big hit.
Although they are not optimistic about Xiao Chen's ability to win the Golden Lion Award when he is less than 20 years old, a heavyweight award is often considered worthy.
This is already a historic achievement.
Cate Blanchett sat firmly on the spot. She had some expectations for this year's Venice, but not much.
The most popular film of the year, "Elizabeth," lost its Academy Award for Best Actress and is still being reported by the media.
Then, as if possessed by a demon, I would miss out on all the major international awards.
Most of the films he has participated in are of good quality, but he can only be nominated for the highest award. Among them, he has been nominated for the Golden Lion, Golden Bear and Golden Palm at the three major film festivals.
As a leading actress, she can only be nominated for the best award, and has basically never won it. The ones she has really won are either supporting actor awards or lesser-known minor awards.
So this time, she didn't dare to hold out hope anymore, even though "I Wasn't There" received very good reviews and was a hit this year.
...
As time passed, people in the venue gradually arrived.
The host began to give a warm-up speech.
The first to be distributed are the awards from other units.
Jia Zhangke won the Documentary Award in the Horizon section. The last Golden Lion winner did not feel particularly surprised, but just expressed his normal thanks.
After all, I have experienced peaks, except Wushan, it is not Yun.
Subsequently, the Future Golden Lion Award was won by a Mexican film.
Chen Linfeng breathed a sigh of relief, this was a good sign.
After the Best Short Film and Best Newcomer Awards, comes the Best Technical Contribution (Photography) Award.
The award presenter mentioned the name of "Explosive Drummer", the award recipient, Cao Yu.
Cao Yu's hands stopped shaking instantly.
Because his foreign language proficiency was not high, he looked around suspiciously. He was not sure until the people around him started applauding him in surprise.
Just yourself!
On the stage, Cao Yu kept thanking the director, saying that it was him who made him successful.
Chen Linfeng was smiling below, but there was no clue.
Liu Qianqian was visibly disappointed. According to the general rules, once this award is won, it is not certain whether there will be more in the future.
For the next Best Screenplay Award, the award presenter actually read the name "Lust, Caution".
Chen Linfeng was refreshed. This was a completely different development direction from his previous life.
If "Lust, Caution" couldn't get the Golden Lion because of my participation.
Then even if I only win one technology award, it is not unacceptable. At least the original goal has been achieved.
In addition to Zhang Ailing, the original author of "Lust, Caution", there are two people who participated in the adaptation, one is a screenwriter from Bay Island Province, and the other is a beautiful Chinese.
The two went on stage to receive the award. Li An, like Chen Linfeng before him, smiled and applauded in the audience, making it impossible to tell whether he was unhappy.
After that, there are all important prizes.
At this time, Catherine Brea on the stage, as the award presenter, slowly read out the name of the best actress, "Cate Blanchett in "I Wasn't There".
Kate herself covered her mouth in disbelief, with tears in her eyes.
The audience burst into applause.
Everyone still recognizes this actress.
My long-cherished wish finally came true today.
When Kate delivered her speech on stage, she even choked up at one point. Everyone understood it and waited quietly for her speech to end. The subsequent Best Actor award was somewhat difficult to describe, but Brad Pitt actually won the award.
There were some chaotic sounds at the scene.
Obviously, his performance in the film itself is not particularly outstanding. Brad Pitt himself is not an actor known for his acting skills.
Such a result, somewhat Unexpected.
The attitude is like this on the court, but it is much more direct outside the court.
The news center where the news media gathered, where the live broadcast of the stadium has been playing, bursts of boos immediately sounded at this moment.
In any case, the awards have been decided and the awards ceremony in the venue is progressing steadily.
However, the embarrassing thing is that Brad Pitt is promoting a new film in Toronto at this time and is not at the scene at all. Even the trophy was collected by someone else.
The boos in the press center were even louder.
Next, the organizing committee awarded a rather strange award, the Honorary Golden Lion Award.
According to reports, it is said that because there are many outstanding works this year, in order to coordinate the different opinions of the judges, an additional award was added.
Nominally, it is second only to the Golden Lion Award, which was won by "12 Angry Men" (adaptation).
Such special events don’t end there.
The next jury award was a rare double yolk egg.
"I Wasn't There" and "Millet and Mullet" both won awards.
Chen Linfeng still has some vague hopes, but his hopes have all come to nothing.
However, at this moment, it seems that the hope is greater.
The jury award has been determined, and it has been announced that these two works have withdrawn from the supreme competition.
They are all favorites to win the prize with high evaluation in the early stage.
Chen Linfeng thought to himself, it would be okay if he could get the Silver Lion Award later.
However, the Silver Lion Award was won by "Excerpts and Revisions". This film is a political film and was also predicted to be a favorite by the early media.
At this point, almost all popular works have been eliminated early.
The remaining Golden Lion Award...
Chen Linfeng and Li An glanced at each other in unison.
The person who came to the stage at this time was Zhang Yimou, the chairman of the jury.
He calmly opened the letter in his hand and read out the winner of the Golden Lion Award.
"Chen Linfeng, "Exploding Drummer"!"
Buzz!
The whole place was in an uproar.
Although there were predictions, these people at the scene really didn't expect that this year's jury would dare to make such a big breakthrough and actually hand over the Golden Lion Award to a young man who is less than 20 years old.
No, based on the general age of directors, a 20-year-old is still just a teenager.
Li An's body stiffened for a moment, and huge disappointment came over him.
Then he forced a smile to celebrate his compatriot's award.
Compared with the shock inside the venue, the feedback from the off-site press center was much better this time.
Most media have previously predicted that "Exploding Drummer" would be one of the hottest candidates this year.
Moreover, compared to the previous award for Best Actor, which was given to Brad Pitt, chen's "Cracking Drummer" is at least qualified in terms of quality.
As for age, there are no professionals in the media industry who feel the same way. They have seen too many young talents from all walks of life, so they don't take it seriously.
Liu Qianqian almost jumped with excitement, her palms turned red but she didn't notice it.
Chen Linfeng stood up and hugged her first, and then hugged and celebrated with the people around him one by one.
When he came to the stage, Zhang Yimou handed him the trophy and said, "Congratulations, you won the Golden Lion Award."
"Director Zhang, thank you." He The words are particularly sincere.
I originally thought it would be good to win a Best Actor for Li Xuejian, or win the Jury Award, or at most the Silver Lion.
Chen Linfeng really didn't expect that this person was so top-notch that he would be promoted to such a high level as the Golden Lion Award.
In fact, Zhang Yimou originally considered this. When he made the promise, he did not expect to push Xiao Chen to win the Golden Lion Award.
However, the situation has changed like this. The situation of the Venice Film Festival this year is indeed too complicated.
Not only is there a strong invasion from Hollywood, excluding the Golden Lion Award, the next four major awards, including the Silver Lion, Grand Jury Prize, and Best Actor and Actor, are all Hollywood works.
In this case, the Golden Lion Award was tacitly accepted by the organizing committee and must not be given to Emily Ken again.
In addition, no one particularly outstanding work suppressed the others, resulting in serious differences among the judges.
The weight of Chairman Zhang Yimou has increased.
Agado-Gonzalez’s push to promote Brad Pitt caused dissatisfaction among many judges.
The tit-for-tat situation gave Zhang Yimou room to persuade others,
Between "Lust, Caution" and "Exploding Drummer", Zhang Yimou chose the latter.
The main reason is that two judges have already expressed support, so it will be much easier to recommend it.
"The Sun" was also abandoned because of this.
It can only be said that the early public relations really played a key role at the important moment of balance.
Although Chen Linfeng guessed that his public relations may have played a big role, he was still very grateful to Zhang Yimou.
After all, this person’s recommendation is the key to success.
But it’s good to keep this kind of favor in mind. When delivering his speech, he just expressed his gratitude briefly and didn’t say much.
If you talk too much, it will cause trouble for people.
Chen Linfeng could no longer restrain his joy on the stage.
After thanking the organizing committee and the jury, he continued.
"I originally thought that I was still too young, which would give me a disadvantage.
But now I find that at my age, I still have a bit of an advantage, because it will give me, Receive more honors than the award itself.
Whenever people break through some obstacles, they will find that what awaits them is often a reward.
Thank you again to the Venice Film Festival. Thank you to my country, parents, school, and all the crew for giving me the opportunity to perform. Their performance is also very good.
In my opinion, Mr. Li deserves a best actor, Cao Yu. Already got what he deserved.
Sissi...
Well, no one would give up a beautiful girl like you for the excuse of art. You are the most beautiful. ”
Liu Qianqian in the audience burst into laughter, and other audience members also smiled to show their respect.
In "The Exploding Drummer", the male protagonist gave up his beautiful girlfriend to play the drums, which is indeed very interesting. A weird plot.
Finally, Chen Linfeng looked at the trophy in his hand.
The Golden Lion Award looks a bit like the ancient Chinese seal, with a golden winged lion on top and a square base below.
He held the trophy high to express his joy after winning the first prize.
Subsequently, this photo was spread around the world, announcing the birth of a new king in the director world.
There has never been such a young outstanding director, pushing the age record forward by more than ten years in one fell swoop.
Even if all three major awards are included, it will still be at least 7 years.
The caliber of all media is very consistent. As long as the form of film and television production does not undergo major changes, there will never be any younger directors.
(End of this chapter)