Chapter 160: Trip to Cannes

Dominican Republic, in a dilapidated adobe house. Performance

Wu Yuan and Jerry each held a cup of coffee and looked out the window at the gloomy sky.

"Daniel, are you really going?"

"Yes!"

"Can you not go?"

"No!"

"Can we both take a step back and go later?"

"Jerry, there's really nothing I can do."

Jerry leaned weakly on the chair, rubbed his brow with his hand, and sighed helplessly, "Daniel, then you must bring back a big award, which is worth the crew stopping work for ten days."

Jerry was really helpless.

The crew had not finished filming the scenes in the Dominican Republic, but Wu Yuan, the chief director, had to take ten days off.

The Cannes Film Festival is about to begin.

"Love" was shortlisted for the competition unit, and Cannes invited the crew of "Love" to walk the opening red carpet, and the film will also premiere in Cannes.

Wu Yuan had to go to Cannes no matter what, and he had to stay from May 11th to 22nd.

Because he was confident that "Love" would eventually win an award.

For such a large crew of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2", stopping work for ten days was no small matter.

Jerry must have been very unhappy in his heart, but who told him that it was Wu Yuan who made the request, and he was going to Cannes!

The three major European film festivals are extremely influential even in North America, and outstanding directors in North America are also proud to win the highest awards of the three major European festivals.

There is no way, who told him that his own Oscars are notoriously unfair.

This has led to the fact that the gold content of the three major European festivals in North America is also very high (referring to art). Now that directors are asking for these awards, Jerry, the producer, can't stop them.

He can only think positively. If Wu Yuan wins the award, it can be regarded as saving a publicity fee for "Pirates of the Caribbean 2", and rounding it off can also offset the loss of work.

Thinking of this, he felt much better.

"Daniel, I wish you win the Palme d'Or!" Jerry said excitedly.

On May 10, at 8 a.m. local time in Cannes, Wu Yuan arrived in Cannes, a beautiful town on the Mediterranean coast.

As the most commercialized film festival in Europe, Wu Yuan felt the commercial atmosphere as soon as he arrived in Cannes.

The side walls of every building in the town are hung with various movie posters.

These movies are from various countries and regions around the world. Most of them are not here to participate in the exhibition, let alone participate in the award selection of the Cannes Film Festival.

The Cannes Film Festival is the world's largest film trading market, and its trading volume is higher than that of Venice and Berlin combined.

Filmmakers from all over the world have become accustomed to bringing their movies to Cannes to advertise and promote during the opening period of Cannes, and to sell movies to global film producers gathered here.

Wu Yuan saw at least 70 or 80 movie posters just by walking down a street.

Some wealthy producers made giant posters and hung them directly on the top floor of the hotel. They were very eye-catching and could be seen throughout the town.

Small films without money also put in a lot of effort, just like sticking dog skin plasters, posting small posters everywhere in the streets and alleys.

Among the posters hanging high on the upper floors of the hotel, Wu Yuan also saw his own poster of "Love".

On the poster, teacher Wu Yanshu is sitting in a wheelchair with a blanket covering her legs, while teacher You Benchang is standing behind the wheelchair and pushing it.

Wu Yanshu turned around and looked at You Benchang, and both of them showed warm smiles on their old faces.

The design of this poster was decided by Wu Yuan himself, and he was very satisfied.

And the poster can be hung on the top floor of the Cannes Grand Hotel, which is obviously the work of China Film.

Coincidentally, the hotel where the poster is hung is the hotel where the Chinese army is staying.

Wu Yuan and his assistant Xiao Zhang strolled into the hotel.

In the lobby of the hotel, a group of Chinese people were waiting for him.

As soon as they saw Wu Yuan coming, they all stood up from the sofa and greeted him.

"Director Wu!"

The first to come up were the three protagonists of the "Love" crew, Wu Yanshu, You Benchang and Gong Li.

The three of them and Wu Yuan are old acquaintances, so just a little nod and greeting will do.

Wu Yuan mainly dealt with other people from the Chinese army in Cannes this year.

"Yuan'er, you are so great now." Wang Xiaoshuai walked to Wu Yuan in two or three steps, clenched his fist and hit his shoulder hard.

"You are really making progress every year. I am embarrassed to say that I am your senior brother when I go out now. I don't have the face to do that."

Wang Xiaoshuai smacked his lips, his face was complicated and difficult to understand.

He really saw with his own eyes how Wu Yuan jumped from an unknown directing student to an internationally renowned director.

All this happened too fast, making him feel extremely unreal.

In 2000, Wu Yuan was still the male lead in Wang Xiaoshuai's crew. By 2001, he had become a new mainland director with a box office of tens of millions.

A year later, it was even more outrageous. Wu Yuan directly entered Hollywood. "Juno" was a big hit in North America, and "Departures" won the Berlin Best Director Award.

At this time, Wang Xiaoshuai still had some pride in his heart.

After all, although Wu Yuan has entered Hollywood, his awards and achievements are not as high as his. In terms of art, Wang Xiaoshuai is the best.

Then Wu Yuan's "Pirates of the Caribbean 1" came out. This pirate ship grossed more than 700 million US dollars worldwide, which is a box office result that all Chinese directors combined cannot achieve.

When the box office results were so high that ordinary people could not reach them, even if Wang Xiaoshuai claimed to be an artist and did not care about the so-called box office results, he had to admire Wu Yuan.

Not to mention the subsequent "Your Name", the domestic box office was second only to "House of Flying Daggers", and the Asian box office was the first in Asia!

Wang Xiaoshuai said with great emotion: "Yuan'er, you came to Cannes with a big move this time!"

I thought that my junior brother was going to take the commercial route, but I didn't expect that he would turn back to make an art film and easily enter the main competition unit of Cannes.

"I just came to see the world. I haven't been to the Cannes Film Festival yet." Wu Yuan smiled and shook his head, and he was still modest in front of his senior brother.

"Okay, let's not be modest between brothers." Wang Xiaoshuai patted Wu Yuan on the shoulder: "Let me introduce you."

"This is Li Bin, an actor I just discovered, the male lead of "Qinghong". The young man is quite spiritual."

Li Bin, who had been listening to Wang Xiaoshuai and Wu Yuan's conversation, immediately became nervous. He bent down nervously and introduced himself to Wu Yuan: "Hello, Director Wu, I am Li Bin."

Wu Yuan certainly had no opinion on the original male lead of "Seventeen Years Old Bicycle", and even felt a little sorry.

He smiled and shook hands with Li Bin, "It's a good thing to be able to act in my senior brother's movie. Many domestic actors have fought hard to get this opportunity. You are still very lucky."

Li Bin smiled shyly, not knowing what to say. He really felt that he was very lucky.

"Director Wu, long time no see." At this time, a female voice sounded next to him, and a beautiful figure squeezed Li Bin aside and came to Wu Yuan.

The heroine of "Qinghong", Gao Yuanyuan

Looking at Gao Yuanyuan, who was dressed beautifully in front of him, Wu Yuan was a little dazed.

Time really has the magic to change everything.

When filming "17-year-old Bicycle" in 2000, Gao Yuanyuan's impression on Wu Yuan was mostly a shy and blushing girl, clean and tidy.

But now Gao Yuanyuan has an indescribable sense of smoothness in her gestures. She is not only more beautiful, but also more mature.

However, in front of the more mature Zhang Ziyi, Gao Yuanyuan is still a little immature.

Hmm? Why mention Zhang Ziyi?

Because Zhang Ziyi is also on the scene!

Wearing a pair of high heels, Zhang Ziyi came up to greet Wu Yuan with a smile on her face: "Director Wu, you are the last one of our Chinese team to arrive. We are waiting for you."

Seeing Zhang Ziyi appear in Cannes, Wu Yuan was also confused. She didn't have any new works premiering in Cannes this year, right?

It's not the era of carpet stars later. Actresses from all walks of life have the audacity to come to the three major European red carpets without works.

Now, Chinese filmmakers who participate in the three major European awards must bring their works with them, and they still want to save face.

Perhaps seeing the confusion on Wu Yuan's face, Zhang Ziyi took the initiative to explain: "The organizing committee invited me to be the award presenter."

"Sure, Sister Ziyi, you are here to present the awards at Cannes after presenting the Oscars!" Wu Yuan praised slightly exaggeratedly.

Zhang Ziyi was very satisfied with Wu Yuan's "supporting role", and covered her mouth and chuckled: "How can I compare with you, Director Wu? At best, I am an award presenter, but you go to the Oscars and Cannes to receive the awards."

Everyone carries the sedan chair!

Everyone chatted and laughed as they welcomed Wu Yuan upstairs and came to the suite reserved by the "Love" crew.

Halfway, Wu Yuan met Han Dong, the director of China Film, who was leading the team.

"Director Han, where are you going in such a hurry?" Wu Yuan stopped him in confusion.

"Hey, Director Wu, you're here?" Mr. Han was surprised to see Wu Yuan, then sighed and explained, "I'm going to pick them up. Du Qifeng from Hong Kong Island and the crew of "Underworld" have arrived."

"Cannes is so small, do you need Mr. Han to pick them up in person?" Wu Yuan frowned, a little puzzled.

"People from Hong Kong Island just like this face." Mr. Han said helplessly.

Du Qifeng, Wu Yuan went over this name in his stomach.

I remembered that this is a very "determined" Hong Kong Island director. When many Hong Kong Island directors went north to make money on a large scale, he did not choose to go north to make money, but continued to work hard on gangster and crime-themed movies in Hong Kong Island.

He can be regarded as a director who supports the last bit of Hong Kong Island movies. A "Drug War" opened up various "X-War" series movies in Hong Kong Island in the next ten years.

This year's Cannes is a big year for China. A total of four movies from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Taiwan were shortlisted for the main competition unit.

"Qinghong" and "Love" from the mainland, "Black Society" from Hong Kong, and "The Best Time" from Taiwan, four Chinese films competed for the final award.

And there was also a Chinese judge in the jury, Wu Baige from Taiwan.

Since he couldn't make it in Hollywood, Wu Baige turned around and picked up his own literary and artistic route, and got in close contact with the three major European cinemas again. This year, he even became a judge in Cannes.

Fortunately, he was not the chairman of the jury, but just a member of the jury, and he couldn't influence the final award result.

"Has the crew of "The Best Time" arrived?" Wu Yuan asked casually while taking the elevator upstairs.

"Here they are." The most well-informed international Zhang immediately answered.

Wu Yuan was silent for a few seconds, "Director Hou is here too?"

"Here they are." International Zhang understood why Wu Yuan asked this.

When you are away from home, especially when you are representing your country, there are some small details that need to be paid attention to.

For example, when Wu Yuan, who represents the mainland film industry, and Hou Hsiao-hsien, who represents the Taiwanese film industry, are both in Cannes, who should take the initiative to visit the other?

According to common sense, Hou Hsiao-hsien is a senior, so Wu Yuan, the junior, should take the initiative to visit him.

But although Wu Yuan is young, his status in the circle is not low.

Zhang Yimou did not come to Cannes this time, and Wu Yuan was the leader of the mainland army. His status was put on the stage. It was not appropriate for him to rush to visit Hou Hsiao-hsien, but it would be impolite not to go.

Fortunately, this embarrassment did not last long.

Just after Wu Yuan returned to the room with his assistant Xiao Zhang, a few minutes later, a staff member of "The Best Time" with a Taiwanese accent came to the door and delivered two invitations.

Invited Wu Yuan to attend the Cannes premiere of "The Best Time" on May 12.

His first formal meeting with Hou Hsiao-hsien could be held at the premiere. Hou Hsiao-hsien was the host and he was the guest who came to watch the movie.

"No problem, I'll be there by then." Wu Yuan smiled and said goodbye to the staff member who passed the message.

"Xiao Zhang, pack up and have a good sleep, because you'll be walking on the red carpet tomorrow."

On May 11, 2005, the 58th Cannes International Film Festival officially opened.

On that day, the Cannes Film Festival held a grand opening red carpet show, and stars, producers, and directors from all over the world attended the opening red carpet in their best attire.

Wu Yuan's "Love" crew, of course, could not be absent.

On that day, Gong Li, wearing a Bulgari haute couture robe and a bunch of high-end jewelry, took Wu Yuan's hand and walked on the red carpet together.

Whether it is Gong Li or Wu Yuan, they are both well-known figures in Cannes.

One is the darling of the three major European cinemas, praised by European media as the Queen of the East.

The other is a direct descendant of the Berlin Film Festival, a talented director who was famous in Europe before the age of 20.

As soon as they appeared, all the reporters on both sides of the red carpet became agitated, constantly snapping and shouting their names, wishing to use all the film in the camera on them.

On the contrary, Wu Yanshu and You Benchang, who walked the red carpet with the two, were somewhat ignored.

Fortunately, they have lived for most of their lives, and have long seen through many things, and no longer care about fame and fortune.

Instead, they looked at the media on the scene chasing Gong Li and Wu Yuan, and smiled.

It's great that Chinese actors and directors can be so warmly welcomed and sought after in foreign countries!

The announcement of the host outside the field sounded belatedly at the scene.

"Now walking on the red carpet is the crew of "Love"!"

"Director Daniel Wu and the actors of the crew are enjoying the thunderous cheers from the scene!"

"Daniel, who is less than 23 years old this year, is charging towards Cannes with his new movie!"

"So, can he win a big prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival?"

"Let's wait and see!"

I woke up with a fever today, and I feel weak all over and dizzy until now. I really can't keep updating normally. I need to sleep and relax.

I'll just take it as a chapter I owe today.

And then thank the leader for the reward. The leader's reward will add three chapters, which means I owe a total of 4 chapters now.

I will add these four chapters in the next ten days!