Chapter 271 Huge response
《Warm congratulations to director Liu Zhou for winning the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival! 》

"Competition between three major directors, Liu Zhou wins in the end, congratulations to Director Liu Zhou for winning his first Golden Lion Award!"

"Zeng Li won the Venice Film Festival Best Actress Award!"

"Li An won the Grand Jury Award, while Jiang Wen got nothing!"

"Jiang Wen lost in Venice, and his new film suffered a Waterloo!"

"Jiang Wen and Zhang Yimou seem to have fallen out over awards?"

"Shock! Are the three directors Liu Zhou, Li An and Jiang Wen at odds?"

……

Before Liu Zhou and others returned to China, domestic reports on the Venice Film Festival had almost dominated the news.

There are really too many highlights and hot spots in this Venice Film Festival.

Since the announcement of the nomination list, the popularity of this year's Venice Film Festival has increased greatly because three major directors, Liu Zhou, Li An and Jiang Wen, will compete for this year's Golden Lion.

In order to increase popularity, the media also hyped it up, which made everyone have high expectations for this Venice Film Festival.

Fortunately, the Golden Lion did not slip away this time, otherwise the majority of movie fans would have complained wildly, and the media would have turned their guns on Liu Zhou and the other three without a doubt.

But at this Venice Film Festival, Chinese-language films performed unexpectedly well, not only meeting everyone's expectations but even giving them a surprise.

This not only made them happy, but also made them more curious about Liu Zhou and their participating films, and the online discussions became more heated.

"Liu Zhou's new film is amazing! Not only did it win the Golden Lion, it also won Zeng Li the Best Actress award!"

"With this Golden Lion, Liu Zhou's shortcomings in awards have been completely made up."

"The Chinese film industry has won the Venice Golden Lion three times in a row. This place is truly a blessed land for Chinese-language films."

"Yes, Zhang Yimou also won two Golden Lions in Venice, the only time in more than 60 years of the Venice Film Festival."

"The reason why Chinese-language films have performed so well in Venice in recent years is because of the festival's president, Marco Mueller, who has worked and lived in the mainland for several years and is a great advocate of Chinese-language films. Unfortunately, he retired this year."

"There is also a brother who understands."

"He's right. Marco Muller has played a big role."

"Li An is also amazing. He won the Golden Lion two years ago and the Grand Jury Prize this year."

"It's a pity for Jiang Wen. He got nothing."

"What's the pity? We were so excited before we left that we almost opened the champagne in advance."

"Is Zeng Li's winning of the Venice Film Festival Best Actress a piece of cake? Why do we keep discussing those three directors?"

"Yes, I'm a ten-year old fan of Zeng Li and I'm reporting in."

"Zeng Li is pretty, and I've always liked her, but I always feel like there's something fishy going on between her and that old thief Liu Zhou."

"Brother, be more confident and get rid of the feeling!"

……

The achievements made at this Venice Film Festival have not only been hotly discussed online, but have also caused quite a stir in the industry.

First, the Central Academy of Drama, Liu Zhou and Zeng Li’s alma mater, hung two huge banners at the school gate to express congratulations to Liu Zhou and Zeng Li.

This time, the banner was not put up by Liu Zhou's class teacher, Mr. Huang, when Liu Zhou won the short film jury in Cannes, but was advocated by the school.

There is no way around it. The Central Academy of Drama rarely has the opportunity to hang such a banner. In the past, we just watched the Beijing Film Academy across the street showing off.

When was the last time you had a chance to hang a banner?
It has been fifteen years since Gong Li won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award for her role in "Qiu Ju Goes to Court".

As for Jiang Wen, because his relationship with the Central Academy of Drama has always been bad, although he graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, the two sides have almost no contact.

But Liu Zhou and Zeng Li are different. Both of them are graduates of the Central Academy of Drama and have always maintained very good relations with the school.

Not long ago, Liu Zhou donated 100 million yuan to the Central Academy of Drama, which greatly enhanced the reputation of the school.

So now that the two of them have won major awards, the Chinese Academy of Drama must of course celebrate well.

In addition, many celebrities and directors in the circle, regardless of what they thought in their hearts, posted blogs to express their congratulations to Liu Zhou, Zeng Li and Li An.

What no one in the industry expected was that CCTV's evening news also mentioned the Venice award.

Although this is not the Thirty Minutes News, it is a CCTV platform after all, and the cards are indeed given very well.

The influence of the three major European film companies on the mainland film industry is indeed too great.

In addition, Liu Zhou, Zeng Li and Li An are all very well-known filmmakers in mainland China. The combined traffic has caused a sensation and attracted much attention.

For example, last year, Jia Zhangke won the Golden Lion for "Still Life". Although it caused quite a stir, it was not as big as it is now.

The main reason is that Jia Zhangke is not well-known in the mainland. As the leading figure among the sixth largest directors, he has a high reputation and influence in the industry.

But it is also undeniable that the sixth generation directors, including him, are not mainstream filmmakers in the mainland.

Their movies either cannot be released or not many people watch them after they are released. How could anyone possibly know about these people?
While the mainland was bustling with activity, Venice was also very lively.

Overseas media also reported extensively on the final results of the Venice Film Festival.

The most popular one is of course "Room", which won the Golden Lion, and most professional media and film critics gave it extremely high praise.

Liu Zhou and Zeng Li also became popular in the European film industry. After the awards ceremony, they gave several interviews in a row.

In addition, Li An's "Lust, Caution" also received a lot of space.

Westerners don’t have much feeling for the historical background of the movie. What they see is the female stance expressed in Lust, Caution, which resonates with them very much.

As for the scale of the film, is it considered big in the European film industry?
Perhaps the only one who was relatively disappointed was Jiang Wen.

Before the awards ceremony, "The Sun Also Rises" was a hot movie at this year's film festival, but when it ultimately won nothing, no one cared.

At most, it will be mentioned when comparing his movie with "Room" and "Lust, Caution".

This is the reality. If an art film does not win an award, it has no popularity and value, even if the director is Jiang Wen.

After the award ceremony, Jiang Wen returned to China with the main creators in a low-key manner.

Although Jiang Wen failed at the Venice Film Festival, it will not have much impact on his status and influence. At most, he will lose some face during this period.

But Jiang Wen is such a proud person, and he had high hopes for his movie this time, but in the end it ended up being a dismal failure at the film festival, so he must be feeling very angry.

However, Liu Zhou had no idea and didn't care about Jiang Wen's feelings. At that time, he had just finished an exclusive interview with the French "Cahiers du Cinema".

Back in the room, Liu Zhou lay directly on the sofa.

In the past two days, Liu Zhou has been busy dealing with the media and is exhausted both physically and mentally.

You cannot refuse most of these media outlets. This is a sign of honor for winning the Golden Lion, and it is also an obligation.

"Are you tired?" Zeng Li walked forward and sat next to Liu Zhou.

"A little bit. How about you? Are you okay?" "No, it's just an interview. I can handle it."

"That's good. Let's take a rest tonight and go back tomorrow."

"So anxious? Isn't Room currently negotiating copyright deals with major film companies?"

"We don't need to worry about this matter, Jiahe's people will take care of it.

Moreover, there are not too many regions that need to be negotiated for distribution rights. We can handle the Asian region ourselves, and North America can be handed over to Lionsgate. Only the distribution rights for Europe and South America need to be negotiated.

Most importantly, Director Zhang’s Curse of the Golden Flower is about to hold its premiere, and I promised Zhang Weiping that I would attend. ”

"Ok."

"By the way, there will definitely be a lot of interviews and related activities when you return, so you have to take care of your health."

"Don't worry, I will only accept interviews from a few big media outlets. I will reject all others. Popularity is of no use to me anyway."

"As long as you know what's going on."

Just as the two were about to take a break, there was a knock on the door.

Liu Zhou opened the door, only to find out it was Zhang Yimou.

"Director Zhang, why are you here?"

“Now that the festival is over, of course I can come over.”

Zhang Yimou and Liu Zhou were both in Venice before, but because he was the chairman of the jury, the two did not meet to avoid suspicion.

Liu Zhou led Zhang Yimou into the living room of the suite and said with a smile:

"Director Zhang, I'm lucky enough to win the Golden Lion this time. Thank you for your help."

"You make it sound like I was behind the scenes. The decision for you to win the Golden Lion was made by the entire jury, not just me."

Although Zhang Yimou said this, Liu Zhou felt that he must have voted for him, and the chairman of the jury still has a lot of weight.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for a film to win the final award without the recognition and support of the jury chairman.

"You are the chairman of the jury. No matter what, I still want to thank you."

At this time, Zeng Li also walked out of the room and greeted Zhang Yimou.

"Congratulations, Zeng Li, you're the second domestic actress to win the Venice Film Festival Best Actress Award!" Zhang Yimou said with a smile.

Speaking of which, there are many domestic works that have won the three major awards in Europe. For example, Zhang Yimou in front of us has won two Golden Lions and one Golden Bear. As for slightly lesser awards like the Jury Prize, there are even more.

However, there are very few people who can win the Best Actor or Best Actress awards in the three major European competitions.

So far, there are only three people who have won the Best Actor Award in Europe, namely Ge You, Xia Yu and Liang Chaowei.

There are only three people who have won the title of the top three queens in Europe.

The first one is Zhang Manyu, who won the Best Actress Award at the Berlin Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. She is also the first Chinese movie star in history to win awards at the three major international film festivals in Europe.

The second one is Gong Li, who won the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1992 for her role in "Qiu Ju Goes to Court".

The third one is Josephine Siao, who won the Berlin Film Festival Award in 1995 for her outstanding performance in Ann Hui’s representative work "A Woman of Forty".

You may not be familiar with this person, but when she was young, she was one of the seven princesses in the Hong Kong film industry, known as the Rose Princess.

However, Josephine Siao is considered a filmmaker of the older generation. She rarely acted in movies in the 1980s and 1990s. The only role that is familiar to everyone is the mother of Jet Li's version of Fong Sai-yuk.

Now, Zeng Li is the fourth Chinese actress to win the top three awards in Europe, and the second Venice Film Festival winner after her predecessor Gong Li.

Even if Zeng Li really gradually retires from the entertainment industry in the future, she will have left a mark in the domestic film history and will not be forgotten so quickly.

"Thank you, Director Zhang." Zeng Li also said with a smile.

"By the way, Director Zhang, I'm a little curious. When the Golden Lion Awards were held, did Lust, Caution get a lot of votes?"

"Why, have you always considered Lust, Caution to be your biggest competitor?"

"Of course, he won the Oscar for Best Director and the Golden Lion two years ago. I believe everyone will regard him as the biggest competitor."

"In fact, during the selection process, the main competition was between you and Li An for Lust, Caution. You know the identities of the judges on the jury this time, right?"

"Of course I know." Liu Zhou nodded.

“This time, all the jury members selected by Marco Mueller are directors. Two of the female judges, Catherine Breillat and Jane Campion, have made outstanding interpretations of films about women.

So they like "Lust, Caution" very much, and they feel that "Lust, Caution" resonates with them more.

Several other judges preferred your work "Room", but the two of them insisted. However, in the end, due to the small number of votes, they had no choice but to give the Jury Prize to "Lust, Caution".

"I see. Which movie did you vote for?"

"What? Are you going to settle the score with me later if I don't vote for you?"

"No, I just want to know whether my work can be recognized by you, Director Zhang." Liu Zhou said with a smile.

He really didn't mean to offend, he was just curious.

“I voted for Room. Although Li An’s Lust, Caution is also very good, as a Chinese, it is impossible for me not to know that period of history.

Although the progressive young woman falling in love with the traitor in his film is based on a prototype and the filming is very artistic, I still feel a little uncomfortable. "

Liu Zhou also understood that the prototype of the heroine in "Lust, Caution" was actually the author of the novel of the same name, but she was definitely not a progressive young woman, she was just in love with a traitor.

Liu Zhou stopped worrying about the selection and asked:
"Director Zhang, what brings you here?"

"Nothing much, I just came to say goodbye to you. I will take a plane back home soon."

"So urgent?"

"Curse of the Golden Flower is about to premiere, and as a director I must rush back as soon as possible. By the way, when are you and Zeng Li leaving?"

"We plan to rest for the night and leave tomorrow."

"You're a bit rushed, I don't know if you can make it to the premiere."

"As long as the flight isn't delayed, we should be able to catch it."

The two chatted briefly for a while and then Zhang Yimou left.

Liu Zhou and Zeng Li felt much better after a night's rest.

The two first rushed to Milan, and then took a flight from Milan to Beijing.

Liu Zhou thought that his trip should be kept secret, but as soon as he walked out of the exit, a group of reporters swarmed over him.

Upon seeing this, Liu Zhou immediately pulled Zeng Li behind him to prevent her from being touched by these excited reporters and affecting the baby in her belly.

At this moment, Liu Zhou really had no mood to be interviewed, and got into the car to go home under the escort of his bodyguards.

(End of this chapter)