Chapter 349 Influence

"Really, the battle was really big. The dinner was arranged in an old castle. The dining standard for each guest was 1,000 euros. I heard that this recommendation meeting alone cost tens of millions!"

Wu Yuchen listened to Jiang Qinqin's description and said with a smile: "Oh, if you put it like that, I'm really losing money because I didn't get this thousand-euro dinner!"

"I see that Director Chen is very high-spirited and even said that he is going to take a newspaper in Hong Kong to court!"

What Wu Yuchen and Jiang Qinqin were talking about was Director Chen Da. Yes, Chen Kaizi also came to Cannes, but the purpose of his visit this time was not to compete, but to sell films. What films are you selling? "The Promise"!

This time, the Cannes film recommendation event for "The Promise" was very large, with 258 top film producers from around the world invited to participate, and the dinner was held at the most prestigious local chateau, Chateau-LANAPoule.

I heard that the crew had flown more than 1,000 kilograms of costumes and props from China to Cannes. The staff put on the costumes of the Red Army and the White Army and opened the door to welcome guests. The castle was surrounded by posters and promotional materials for "The Promise", and a long The red carpet is spread from the beach to the castle.

In fact, Wu Yuchen also received an invitation from Chen Hong, but it's a pity that he doesn't have time!

Alas, he really didn't mean it. He is currently filming "Batman". He didn't even stay in Cannes and is rushing to catch up with the filming schedule. How can he fly there again just for this? However, he did ask Jiang Qinqin to attend.

As for what Jiang Qinqin just said about Chen Kaizi suing a Hong Kong newspaper, it was because Hong Kong's Ming Pao Weekly exposed the "inside story": "It is known that after watching "The Promise", a group of Cannes judges did not like the movie. content, so it was not included in the exhibition.”

Cannes is also the nickname of Cannes, and "Understanding Weekly" is telling you, Chen Kaizi, to stop bragging. Your "The Promise" was not even picked up by the judges, and it was not even shortlisted.

As a result, Kaizi was irritated at this moment. He slapped people without slapping them in the face, scolded people without exposing their shortcomings. How can you expose someone's shortcomings? !

Kaizi is very precious about "The Promise" and will never allow anyone to slander his hard work!

So Kaizi sued "Ming Pao Weekly", saying that it had slandered and spread rumors. The reason why his "The Promise" was not included in the competition was because it had not been edited yet, and it was definitely not because it was not favored by the judges!

Wu Yuchen had heard about this in his previous life. In the end, Kaizi won the lawsuit and Ming Pao Weekly issued a public apology.

But, the more interesting part of this matter is yet to come...

Later, it was rumored that the chairman of Venice was so shocked after seeing the trailer of "The Promise" that he begged Kaizi to invite "The Promise" to participate in the Venice Film Festival and promised to be the opening film. However, Kaizi refused because he did not want to speed up the progress and damage the quality of the film. .

On the eve of the film's release in December at the end of the year, media reported that the Berlin Film Festival highly praised the exploratory spirit of "The Promise" and invited it to participate in the Berlin Film Festival. This time Kaizi had no reason to refuse, so Chen Hong told the public that they had not applied to Berlin at all, but Berlin begged "The Promise" to participate, so "The Promise" was shortlisted for the non-competition section of the Berlin Film Festival. That's right, it's a non-competition unit...

Publicity is publicity, but one thing I have to say is that "The Promise" pulled out all three of them for promotion and marketing, but it was indeed not selected by any of them to compete.

Wu Yuchen smiled when he thought of this, but then sighed.

"The Promise", Kaizi's money was not wasted. This wave of marketing is undoubtedly successful, and the copyright should have been sold a lot. But the quality of "The Promise" put subsequent Chinese costume movies in a trap. Not to mention foreigners, even so many domestic audiences couldn't understand this movie, so the foreign box office was naturally low.

When overseas film studios see what they claim to be the number one Chinese-language costume film, they are so embarrassed, which means that the audience doesn't like watching it, and their enthusiasm for buying Chinese-language costume films will be greatly reduced in the future. It is true that future Chinese costume movies will not be so easy to sell.

Wu Yuchen can't control this kind of thing, so there's no way he can stop Kaizi from selling movies, right?

…

A week later, on May 22, the 58th Cannes Film Festival ushered in the closing ceremony.

The Cannes Film Festival has always attracted the most attention among the three major film festivals. There are many Chinese-language films participating in this year's Cannes Film Festival, among which is Wu Yuchen's "The Embalmer", which has attracted the attention of various domestic media.

Mainland China's "China Film News", Six Princesses, Sina, NetEase, Sohu, Hong Kong's "Film Biweekly", "Sing Tao Daily" and entertainment media in the Bay Area are all gathered around the Cannes red carpet at this time. Crouched on both sides.

"Wang Luodan, look over here!"

Mainland reporters shouted, and when they saw Wang Luodan approaching, they kept taking pictures of her. Being able to walk on the red carpet means that the film will most likely win awards in the end, so reporters are also willing to take more photos of Wang Luodan.

After the crew of "Green and Red" walked over, these Chinese-speaking reporters gathered together and chatted again: "Oh, I heard that "Underworld" has gone home. Sir Du didn't even come to the red carpet for the closing ceremony this time. The red carpet for the opening ceremony was very ambitious at first, but now it must be extremely disappointing!”

Another reporter said: "'Underworld' is still not to the taste of Cannes, and it made a local old lady vomit on the first day. This is not a good reputation."

“I don’t know what awards our Chinese-language films can win at Cannes this year.”

"Okay, okay, Director Wu is here this year, so I won't leave empty-handed!"

"Hehe, that's true. Director Wu's willingness to come to Cannes can be considered as a favor to Cannes. Cannes has always understood the ways of the world in this regard~" Obviously, some reporters who have been traveling to the three major universities all year round also know some of the truth.

"Don't mention that Director Wu has become famous all over the world just by relying on his reputation. For the movie "The Encoffiant", even if it only relies on the quality of the movie, he can win an award in the main competition section."

"Yes, Director Wu's skills are not just for boasting. When I went to see him, many foreigners cried!"

"I have to say that Director Wu chose a really good angle. Although the film was about our Oriental encoffining ceremony, it was able to captivate a large number of foreigners."

"The film was about an encoffining, but actually it was about life. Foreigners also have to experience death!"

"The score given to "The Embalmer" in this program is not low, probably ranking second, but I don't know what the award will be in the end."

A bunch of reporters were talking about it, and they all took pictures when big names walked by. After a while, only one person said: "It's coming, it's coming!"

Immediately, a group of reporters stopped chatting. They all cheered up and moved closer involuntarily with their cameras. They saw Wu Yuchen walking on the red carpet, taking Jiang Qinqin and others with him in the courtyard. Walking leisurely.

On both sides of the red carpet, fans were constantly cheering for Wu Yuchen, while Wu Yuchen waved to the fans in a relaxed and comfortable manner.

"Director Wu! Here, here!"

Hearing the shouts, Wu Yuchen looked at the press box, then smiled and led Jiang Qinqin and others towards this side, allowing them to take pictures.

"Director Wu, what is your goal today?"

"Director Wu, are you confident about winning the Palme d'Or?"

"Director Wu, will "The Embalmer" still participate in the Oscars?"

"Director Wu, foreign audiences love the oriental-style "The Embalmer" very much. Can you talk about it?"

Listening to the reporters' questions, Wu Yuchen also smiled and replied:

"I'm very happy to be able to attend this year's Cannes Film Festival, communicate with many colleagues, and see so many excellent films. As for the awards, these are additional rewards, and I don't insist on them."

"As for "The Embalmer" being loved by foreign audiences, I am also very happy about this. Facts have proved that as long as the emotions in your work are sincere, national boundaries and skin color are no obstacles."

Having said this, Wu Yuchen paused for a moment, then said with a smile: "What belongs to the nation belongs to the world!"

After speaking, Wu Yuchen said no more, nodded to the reporters, and then gave the interview opportunity to Jiang Qinqin, Zhao Wenxuan and others around him.

The reporters were also aware of the interest and hurriedly took the time to ask questions:

"Qinqin, are you confident that you will win the Best Actress Award?"

"Qinqin, how do you feel about this trip to Cannes?"

"Zhao Wenxuan, how do you feel about working with Director Wu?"

You can't stay on the red carpet for a long time, so after Wu Yuchen saw that it was almost done, he took everyone Shi Shiran and left.

After watching Wu Yuchen's back move away, the reporters also stopped taking pictures, and then sighed: "As expected of Director Wu!"

"What belongs to the nation belongs to the world! That's so well said!"

"Damn! Great directors are really good!"

After walking the red carpet and entering the auditorium, Jiang Qinqin also looked at Wu Yuchen with admiration: "Husband, what you just said was so good! I can't say such words!"

Wu Yuchen laughed: "I am a creative person after all!"

Wu Yuchen then looked around in the auditorium and did not see Chen Kaizi. To be honest, as Chen Kaizi, if he wanted to watch the awards ceremony as a guest, he would definitely be able to get tickets. But depending on the situation, he didn't come.

He didn't know if Chen Kaizi had left, but there was a time for negotiation when selling the copyright, so he probably hadn't left yet.

Wu Yuchen is not worried about the copyright issue of "The Embalmer". Even if he receives nothing from the Cannes Film Festival, there is no need to worry at all. Now his name, Wu Yuchen, is a golden sign. As long as he shows it, distributors will cry and beg him to sell movies! He is not in a hurry now. He will wait until after the Oscars next year to sell overseas rights.

Therefore, he really doesn't care much about what award he can win this time. Anyway, he will definitely be given an important award. He can accept it from any jury, best director, or best actor and best actress.

At the beginning, some small awards were awarded, such as a special attention unit, Directors' Fortnight unit and so on.

"International Alliance Art Film Award..."Blue and Red"!"

After Wang Xiaoshuai heard this, he sighed in his heart. Originally, he hoped to win a bigger award, but in the end it was just a small award. But after all, it’s good to have prizes. How much copyright can be worth more?

Wu Yuchen looked at Wang Xiaoshuai who came on stage to receive the award. While applauding, he was thinking that in his previous life, "Green Red" won the Jury Prize. Although it was not the second-largest Jury Prize after the Palme d'Or, it was still better than the Jury Prize. This one has a lot more weight now. Is this affected by his butterfly effect?

He didn't know that in his previous life, without his participation, Wu Baige ignored Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Finest Time" in order to return to the mainland to film "Red Cliff" smoothly, and supported the mainland film in the review. "Green Red" was able to win the Jury Prize for "Green Red".

But now, with Wu Yuchen's "The Embalmer" here, how can Wu Baige care about "Qinghong"? Therefore, it would be good if "Green Red" could win a small award this time.

"Best Actor Award...Tommy Lee Jones!"

Clap, clap, clap, Wu Yuchen applauded. Wu Yuchen admired "The Three Burials of Escada" directed and acted by Tommy. He went to watch it before and had a discussion with Tommy. This movie not only won the Best Actor Award, but also won the Best Screenplay Award.

This movie tells the story of an American farm steward who took his friend's body on a dangerous journey to his hometown in Mexico in order to fulfill his friend's last wish to return to his hometown.

Many people who have seen this movie will think of a domestic movie, "Returning to the Roots" starring Mr. Benshan. This movie will probably be filmed next year and released the year after. It tells the story of a migrant worker, Lao Zhao, who went through hardships along the way to transport Lao Liu's body back to his hometown in order to make his friend Lao Liu "return to his roots" after his death.

Does it seem similar? In addition, the filming time was later than "The Three Burials of Escada", so many people in China said that "Returning to the Roots" was plagiarized by the former.

However, it is not true, because just this year, Southern Weekend had a report about a migrant worker who carried a corpse for thousands of miles and transported his companion's corpse back to his hometown for burial. This is a true story. The prototype story of "Fallen Leaves Return to Roots" is based on this, and the content of the movie is also quite different from "The Three Burials of Eskada".

Sometimes it may be some coincidences. To be honest, "Fallen Leaves Return to Roots" is really a good product among domestic films, and Mr. Benshan's acting is really good.

"Best Actress... "Free Zone", Hannah Laszlo!"

Hearing this result, Jiang Qinqin's eyes flashed with an imperceptible disappointment. Although she knew that her role was not important and her hope of winning the Best Actress was very slim, since she was here, how could she not fantasize? Now the fantasy has been punctured.

As if he had noticed Jiang Qinqin's mood, Wu Yuchen reached out and held her hand and squeezed it, smiling at her and said, "There will be a time when you will win the award~"

Jiang Qinqin's heart warmed when she heard Wu Yuchen's words, and she nodded and smiled at him slightly.

After the Best Actor and Best Actress awards were presented, there were only three awards left.

"The winner of Best Director is..."