Chapter 457 The Birth of a Classic
Robert De Niro debuted in the 1960s, but he truly became internationally famous in the 1970s.
"The Godfather Part II" in 1974, "Taxi Driver" in 1976, "New York, New York" in 1977, "The Deer Hunter" in 1978, "Raging Bull" in 1980, "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​in 1984...
Since the 1970s, many of the films he has starred in have achieved great success. He has been a frequent visitor to the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, and he has always been soft on awards.
Such high-quality output also gained him huge international reputation and became an international superstar with strong appeal.
At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Robert De Niro attended with "The War". Naturally, he came to win the best actor title at the Cannes Film Festival.
From this perspective, he can be regarded as Xu Guanwen's competitor, and a very strong competitor.
"Okay, stop reading! You are also a candidate for Best Actor after all. Isn't it embarrassing to go and ask for autographs?"
After Robert De Niro had dinner over there, many people went to take photos with him on the terrace, and he was very gracious and agreed to them all.
Seeing this, Xu Guanwen looked in the direction of Robert De Niro eagerly, and Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but mock him.
Xu Guanwen's face was stern. In order to relieve his embarrassment, his eyes pretended to glance around the terrace.
It was dinner time, and there were many diners in the terrace restaurant, most of them blond foreigners. The two of them, Asian faces with yellow skin and dark eyes, became an eye-catching presence sitting here.
Then he glanced in the direction of Robert De Niro and said with envy: "Hollywood's influence is still strong!"
In Hollywood in the 1980s, although special effects blockbusters had not conquered cities around the world, the United States' economic and military strength had swept the world since World War II, and its cultural output was still unrivaled.
Xu Guanwen is considered a movie star in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, but in Cannes, under the backdrop of Robert De Niro, he can only be regarded as an unknown person.
If there is a BGM at this time, it must be "I was 18 years old, my alma mater dance, standing like a minions".
"Don't be envious. After "The Truman Show" is screened, you will get the same treatment in Cannes!" Lin Chaoyang said to Xu Guanwen.
Xu Guanwen glanced at Lin Chaoyang strangely, wondering where his overwhelming confidence came from.
"Have some confidence in yourself!" Lin Chaoyang said again with firm eyes.
Xu Guanwen took a deep breath. He felt that Chaoyang was right. It didn't matter whether he could win an award or whether he could be so popular. First, he must not lose his momentum and show his confidence.
"What are we going to do now?" he asked confidently.
"Go back to the house and sleep!"
Xu Guanwen:......
It was impossible to sleep. Zou Wenhuai disappeared after landing. He actually went to contact the media for the crew.
On the day when the film festival is about to open, the small town of Cannes has been filled with all kinds of noise since early in the morning, and the media is even more active.
At around eight o'clock in the evening, Lin Chaoyang and his party rushed to the Masu restaurant in the old town of Cannes, where Zou Wenhuai arranged an interview with the crew. The interview media was from France's "Television Survey".
Before and after the film festival, reporters from major media are invited by the crew because the crew needs the momentum of these media.
"Television Survey" is a well-known magazine in France. As you can tell from the name, its original direction was to introduce TV programs.
This magazine was founded in 1947. After nearly 40 years of development, it has gradually developed into a comprehensive cultural magazine integrating literature, film, drama, television and other artistic content.
In terms of professionalism in the field of film and film criticism, it certainly cannot compare with magazines such as Cahiers du Cinema, Featured Films, and French Cinema, and its influence at the Cannes Film Festival is also a little behind.
But there is no way, reporters from these well-known movies and film review magazines are only willing to interview those crews with famous directors and international superstars.
The cast of Golden Harvest and the cast of "The Truman Show" are very popular in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, but they have no reputation at Cannes, a European film festival.
The reporter of "TV Overview" is named Aurelion. Unlike those professional film magazines whose interviews mainly focus on professional fields, his interview questions are more like those of entertainment reporters.
Aurelion didn't know much about "The Truman Show" at first, and he only talked about some interesting things about the movie and the opportunity to participate in the exhibition.
Until he asked director Xu Anhua, "What do you think the chances of this movie winning an award are?"
Xu Anhua said calmly: "Winning a film depends on the taste of the judges, but I think our film deserves a significant award!"
Aurelion was a little surprised when he heard this. Regardless of the interview just now or his previous experience in interviewing Asian filmmakers, these people have always been very humble. He did not expect Anhua Xu to say this with such confidence.
"Can you tell me why you think it deserves a significant award?" Aurelion asked with interest.
Xu Anhua replied calmly: "Because this is France, the birthplace of absurdist drama. If you have seen "The Truman Show" you will know that it is an outstanding absurdist art work."
As a Frenchman, Xu Anhua's compliments naturally made Aurelion feel good about him, and also made him pay more attention to the movie "The Truman Show".
"If it is true as you say, then it does deserve a heavyweight award." Aurelion said with a smile.
His interest in "The Truman Show" was aroused by Xu Anhua's words. In the following interview, he asked many questions about the plot and characters of the movie. The more he listened, the more interesting and fascinated he became.
At the end of the interview, he couldn't help but say: "I am becoming more and more curious about this movie now. I really hope to see it as soon as possible!"
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said to him, "You will see it soon."
The interview lasted for almost two hours. It was already past 11 o'clock in the evening when Lin Chaoyang and his party said goodbye to Aurelion and returned to the hotel.
Several people were about to go upstairs, but were suddenly stopped by two people with Xiangjiang accents.
This time "The Truman Show" was shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival, the Hong Kong press took it very seriously, and several media outlets even sent reporters.
The people who stopped Lin Chaoyang and his party were two reporters from Ming Pao and Ta Kung Pao. One of them was Shen Xicheng who had interviewed Lin Chaoyang.
Shen Xicheng and Shen Xicheng were not journalists invited by the film festival. They came to Cannes at their own expense. There are many reporters like them in Cannes.
Selected films from most small countries and regions will attract some reporters from their own countries and regions to follow up and report.
Lin Chaoyang and others stood in the night and chatted casually with Shen Xicheng for a while. The film festival had not started yet, so there was nothing to cover in the interview. Xu Guanwen made an agreement with them to wait for the screening of "The Truman Show" before they could accept it again. Formal interview.
Then a few people went back to the hotel to rest.
The next morning, Lin Chaoyang and his party gathered together again.
Today is the opening day of the film festival, and they all took a bus to the Palais des Festivals, where the main venue of the film festival is located.
At nine-thirty in the morning in Cannes, the sun was already shining brightly, and rehearsals for the opening ceremony were being prepared at the Palais des Festivals. Media reporters from all over the world gathered together.
Some reporters felt that the organizing committee had neglected them in their arrangements and had been negotiating with the staff of the organizing committee; some reporters opened their eyes wide and looked for celebrities and famous directors in the crowds of people on the streets of Cannes.
Hundreds of reporters and lively movie fans crowded in front of the Festival Palace, and the film festival was already showing great prosperity and excitement even before it opened.
Before 1982, the Cannes Film Festival was held at the Croisette Palace, but it was moved to the newly built Palais des Festivals in recent years.
Although it is not as simple and elegant as the Croisette Palace, the hardware facilities of the Palais des Festivals are much better than those of the Croisette Palace.
Lin Chaoyang and others successfully entered the Film Festival Palace after presenting their invitation letters to the film festival.
There are a total of 22 films from all over the world shortlisted for this year's Cannes Film Festival, which means that 22 crews will appear.
Coupled with the invited guests, reporters and film critics, nearly a thousand people poured into the festival palace.
Throughout the morning, all the film crews and stars participating in the film festival gathered together to meet with reporters. The crew gathered on the stairs for the media to take photos and promote the film.
When famous directors, actors and singers such as Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Tom Waits appeared on stage, the flashes of photographers turned into a dazzling light curtain, which stung people and made them unable to open their eyes. The audience also welcomed them enthusiastically with screams and applause.
When it was the turn of the cast of "The Truman Show" to appear, the light curtain and applause became completely ceremonial, and screams were even less likely to occur.
Feeling this huge gap, Xu Guanwen, Zhong Chuhong and Maggie Cheung couldn't stop eating after they got off the stairs. The theme was naturally the snobbery of the reporters and the audience in Cannes.
After lunch, there was another long process, the judges appeared and gave speeches... It was no different from domestic school activities. Lin Chaoyang couldn't wait and ran outside the Film Festival Palace to get some fresh air.
In the evening, the opening red carpet of the film festival officially began.
There was a huge crowd in front of the Palais des Festivals, with audiences, tourists and fans gathering on the Croisette and in the square.
The female celebrities competed for their beauty, causing bursts of screams and shouts.
The crew of "The Truman Show" were arranged to walk the red carpet at the front, and they were still a little transparent at the film festival.
At around 7 o'clock in the evening, the opening ceremony reached its climax, with judges meeting, celebrities taking the stage, and program performances. France 4's cameras recorded these scenes in real time.
The cast of "The Truman Show" only received very little live footage during the introduction of selected films.
After the intermission, there was a welcome banquet. The banquet was just like a train station hall during peak hours. The guests spent most of their time socializing instead of eating.
Hugging, exchanging business cards, going out to smoke, during the entire banquet, not a single table was full.
During most of the banquet, Lin Chaoyang stood on the hotel balcony smoking, and occasionally chatted with the crew members who came to him.
With an East Asian face, almost no one came to talk to him, except for a little old man with the same color skin and hair.
"Excuse me, are you Lin Sang?"
English with a strong Baga flavor rang in his ears. Lin Chaoyang turned around and saw Oshima Nagisa's face.
"Hello, Director Oshima."
Nagisa Oshima came to the Cannes Film Festival this year with his new film "Max, My Love". He is a frequent visitor to the Cannes Film Festival and has also won the Best Director Award at the film festival.
Compared with Lin Chaoyang and his party who had just arrived, the courtesy they received was much higher.
Lin Chaoyang didn't know why Oshima Nagisa suddenly came over to greet him, but he couldn't refuse people thousands of miles away when they greeted him with a smile.
The two talked in English. It turned out that Nagisa Oshima and Kenzaburo Oe were very good friends. In February, Kenzaburo Oe recommended him to read the book "Enter Kanto".
After attending a film festival today, I found out that Lin Chaoyang is the author of "Enter Guandong", so I took advantage of the dinner time to come and say hello.
“Such a magnificent work is really eye-opening!
After reading it, I understood why Kenzaburo admired Lin Sang so much."
Nagisa Oshima expressed his appreciation for "Enter Guandong" without hesitation, so Lin Chaoyang naturally had to be polite.
Then the two talked about "The Truman Show". Oshima Nagisa had read the brochure distributed by the film festival and roughly understood the story of "The Truman Show". He was very interested in this absurd story with a curious color.
interested.
Almost every one of Oshima Nagisa's masterpieces, "The World of the Senses", "Love of the Dead" and "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is very bold in style.
The film "Marx, My Love" brought to this film festival is based on the taboo theme of bestiality.
Lin Chaoyang asked himself that the stories told in his novels were relatively orthodox, and he did not expect to be highly appreciated by Nagisa Oshima. He was somewhat uncomfortable with it.
The two chatted for a while, then the opening film started to be shown there, and they followed the flow of people to the Lumiere Cinema.
This year's opening film is Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky's "The Sacrifice."
The seats during the screening of the opening film were very particular. The crew of "The Truman Show" were arranged on the left side of the Lumiere Cinema, while the front row in the center was reserved for a few of the more popular organizers.
A crew that will take it seriously.
For example, the crew of Andrei Tarkovsky's "The Sacrifice", the crew of Martin Scorsese's "After Hours", and the crew of Roland Joffe's "The War".
There are also many well-known European and American movie stars sitting there. The Cannes Film Festival is not only a film festival, but also the largest international advertising festival in the world.
During this period, many celebrities will be invited by advertisers to participate in the film festival even if they have no films to participate in.
There is also a special position in the cinema, which is the booth farthest from the projector, which is the symbol of the highest position in the Cannes ecological chain and where the judges sit.
The movie began to show. "Sacrifice" tells the story of the protagonist Alexander who sacrifices to God to prevent a nuclear explosion in the context of nuclear destruction.
At a time when the Chernobyl nuclear accident just happened last month, using this movie as the opening film is full of political implications.
The tone of the entire movie is somewhat similar to the story in the Bible where Abraham built an altar to offer Isaac to Jehovah.
Due to the religious connotation and the influence of the political environment, Lin Chaoyang is certain that this film will win an award.
His remarks made Xu Anhua and others a little uneasy. Although they had some knowledge of the Cannes Film Festival, as people from Hong Kong, they were not sensitive to politics and beliefs.
Listening to Lin Chaoyang's determined tone, Xu Guanwen couldn't help but ask: "Can it win the Palme d'Or?"
"It's hard to say, there are more than one important awards at the film festival. Besides, there are politically correct films like this every year at the film festival, and they may not always win the award, but the probability is definitely higher than that of ordinary works."
Xu Guanwen felt a little relieved.
The two talked about the treatment issue of "The Truman Show" today, and agreed that Jiahe had a deep misunderstanding of the organizing committee.
Is this also called "valuing"?
After the opening film screening, there was a grand open-air party on Majestic Beach, which was still crowded at midnight.
Several actors in the crew love to join in the fun, even going to participate even if they don't sleep.
It was already midnight after the movie ended. Lin Chaoyang was not in the mood and returned to the hotel room to rest.
Early the next morning, Lin Chaoyang was in good spirits. Compared with him, the energy of the crew was much sluggish. They went back to the room to rest after three o'clock last night and only slept for about four hours.
At 8:30 this morning, the first screening film of the film festival, "After Hours", will be screened in the Lumiere Cinema for media from various countries, participating crews and some industry insiders.
It is not necessary to go to the crew of "The Truman Show", but this movie is Martin Scorsese's new film, and it is also one of the award-winning films that the media was most optimistic about before the film festival. Everyone wants to go and see the quality.
After all, only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you win every battle.
After watching the movie, several people came out of the theater. Xu Anhua looked worried.
Compared with Martin Scorsese's previous works, the style of "After Hours" is not heavy and leans toward black humor, but the technique is so skillful that it has a light-weight and elegant style.
Xu Anhua thinks that in terms of shooting skills, she and Martin Scorsese are probably on a different level, which is not a good thing for "The Truman Show."
Seeing that her mood was a little low, Lin Chaoyang shook his head helplessly.
Less than two days after arriving in Cannes, Xu Anhua and Xu Guanwen were hit hard from time to time. Their emotions were ups and downs, and Lin Chaoyang was too lazy to comfort them.
On the other hand, Zhong Chuhong and Maggie Cheung know that they are not strong enough and have no demands for awards. They have a stable mentality.
In addition to taking beautiful photos, I also study delicious food.
In the afternoon and evening, Xu Anhua and Xu Guanwen continued to go to various theaters and movie theaters to spy on the enemy, while Lin Chaoyang wandered freely on the streets of Cannes.
The premiere of "The Truman Show" in Cannes was scheduled on the morning of the third day of the film festival, at the Debussy Cinema.
Although it is not the Lumiere Cinema with the best reputation in the film festival, it is not too bad either.
"The Truman Show" does not have the opening film treatment of "The Sacrifice", nor does it have the grand red carpet ceremony and enthusiastic audience of the premiere of "After Hours".
The people who came were mainly media and film critics, and there were almost no free audiences. The occupancy rate of the cinema that could accommodate nearly a thousand viewers was less than 20%.
This is also the cruel reality that most unknown films participating in film festivals have to face.
People say that the film and television industry is the most realistic industry, but the same goes for the audience.
There are so many films made by well-known filmmakers at the film festival, so of course the audience must watch those star-studded films first.
Fortunately, the jury was still kind enough to show respect. At the press conference before the screening, Sidney Pollack, chairman of the jury of this year's film festival, brought three judges and film selection director Gilles Jacob to the scene.
When asked by reporters, several people showed great appreciation for "The Truman Show".
Lin Chaoyang and others had seen the performance of these judges at the screening conference two days ago. In almost every press conference, they said the same thing, just praise it and that's it.
With so many of the films being screened carefully selected by the festival, in front of so many reporters, it is impossible for them to make negative comments.
In addition to the people on the jury, there was also a group of guests who came uninvited before the screening of "The Truman Show".
Nagisa Oshima brought the male and female stars of "Max, My Love" Charlotte Rampling and Anthony Higgins to support "The Truman Show".
Nagisa Oshima has a high reputation in the international film industry. His arrival attracted many reporters to film, and it was inevitable that they would have to say a few words.
"...I like Lin Sang's novel "Enter Guandong" very much. "The Truman Show" is his new work. He also talked about this work with me before. I think his idea is very genius, and I am very much looking forward to seeing it.
This is an excellent film.”
The reporters and film critics present thought that Nagisa Oshima was invited by the film studio or the director or the starring role. Unexpectedly, he came because of the screenwriter of "The Truman Show".
It sounds like he came here on his own initiative because of the reputation of screenwriter Lin Chaoyang, which made these reporters and film critics couldn't help but cast curious glances at Lin Chaoyang, a screenwriter who has always been silent.
At the same time, they also looked forward to "The Truman Show" a little more. When the movie started to show, the Debussy Theater became quiet.
The projector's beam hit the screen, and Bao Fang's face full of stories appeared first on it.
Films participating in the Cannes Film Festival are required to use the actors' original voices. In order for the audience to understand the content of the film, these films are equipped with English subtitles.
At this time, Bao Fang's excellent voice condition and line skills became a bonus, and he immediately attracted the attention of many people present.
Truman has been living in a small town called Taoyuan Island since he was a child. He is an agent of an insurance company in this small town.
He seemed to be living exactly the same life as ordinary people, but he didn't know that there were thousands of cameras watching him every second of his life.
The whole world is watching him every moment, not to mention that everyone around him, including his wife and friends, are actors in a reality show...
The story of "The Truman Show" is set in 1986. It is absolutely very creative and can even be called bizarre and absurd.
But it is precisely because of its weirdness and absurdity that the audience quickly became addicted to it after learning about the story setting through interviews with the director and actors at the beginning of the movie.
When a person is born, everything has been preset, when a person is destined to spend his whole life in falsehood, when a person is born into a prison from which he cannot escape.
Such a strong plot setting locked the audience's eyes firmly on the screen. They felt sad for Truman's situation and worried for him.
They hope that Truman can discover the illusion of life, hope that Truman can bravely resist the established destiny, and hope that Truman can escape from the prison.
But when Truman finally stood in front of the door leading to freedom, the director's voice sounded.
"They are all fake, but you are real. Truman, you are real.
The world outside is just as false as here, with the same lies and deceit.
But in this world, you don’t have to be afraid of anything, no one will hurt you.”
Bao Fang's voice passed through the loudspeakers in the movie and the audio equipment in the theater and was severely distorted, but it carried a sense of compassion and love.
On the screen, Truman, played by Xu Guanwen, had flashing eyes and furrowed brows, and every breath he took seemed so rapid and heavy.
Every beat of his heart seemed to be beating against his chest, as if there were two voices in sharp opposition in his mind.
After a long time, his face gradually calmed down, he felt relieved, and showed a relaxed and unrestrained smile.
"If I never see you again, I wish you good morning, good afternoon, and good night!"
He bowed slightly, put one hand behind his back and put the other on his chest, and bowed gracefully.
The screening of "The Truman Show" has ended, and the closing credits are rolling, but there is silence in the Debussy Theater.
Xu Guanwen sat next to Lin Chaoyang. Looking at this situation, he was filled with anxiety and nervousness. He asked in a low voice: "Chaoyang, what's going on? Did we mess up?"
Not only him, but also several other members of the crew thought the same way.
In the past few days, they have gone to other film screenings, and no film has been filled with applause after screening. Even if the quality of the work is not satisfactory, the audience will not hesitate to give encouraging applause.
But the current situation of "The Truman Show" has left everyone confused. Even if they think it doesn't look good, there has to be some symbolic applause, right?
They don’t believe that the movies they worked so hard to make are not worthy of even a little compliment!
"Don't be impatient!"
There was calmness in Lin Chaoyang's voice, and through the dim light in the Debussy Cinema Hall, Xu Guanwen saw the calmness and certainty of victory on his face.
Suddenly, a sudden burst of applause sounded, as if sending some kind of signal, and a few seconds later, thunderous applause erupted in the Debussy Cinema Hall.
There were obviously only one or two hundred journalists and film critics as the main audience, but they managed to create a momentum as big as a mountain or a sea.
"Bravo!"
"Amazing!"
At this moment, there are no journalists or film critics in the Debussy Cinema, they are all audiences.
Everyone stood up spontaneously and shouted loudly to express their unparalleled love for this movie.
Everyone had a premonition that they seemed to have witnessed the birth of a classic film!
Chapter completed!