Chapter 402 Leslie Cheung: Please Call Me Mr. Director

After attending the opening ceremony, the film week of this Venice International Film Festival officially began.

Like previous years, Wu Yuan received 25 invitations to premiere in the main competition unit on the opening day.

In the next ten days, these films will premiere on Lido Island one after another, with an average of 2-3 screenings per day!

Although Wu Yuan received invitations from all the films shortlisted for the main competition unit, and even more than that, there were many films that were not shortlisted but came to Venice this year, and they also sent invitations to Wu Yuan in a polite manner.

He received invitations from nearly a hundred crews, big and small.

You know, there are only about 200 crews participating in the Venice International Film Festival every year.

Aside from some pure newcomer films that are too small to invite Wu Yuan, it can be said that any crew with a little fame has sent invitations to Wu Yuan.

Of course, he is too busy to attend so many film screenings.

After much selection, he couldn't even attend all the films shortlisted for the main competition unit. In addition to the two Hong Kong films that he had to attend, he also selected ten films with more famous directors and more likely to win awards, and prepared to attend them.

"What do you mean, do you want to go with me?" Wu Yuan asked Liu Yifei, who was sitting in front of the dressing mirror and doing skin care while making a movie-watching plan for the next ten days.

"Let's watch our own movies." Liu Yifei shook her head and rejected Wu Yuan's invitation.

They are already an old couple, so there is no need to stick together every day.

She and Wu Yuan still have some differences in their movie-watching preferences. There is no need for them to choose some movies that the other party likes but they don't like in order to accommodate each other.

Instead of doing this, it would be more appropriate to choose the movies they want to watch separately.

If there happens to be a movie that both of them want to watch, it won't be too late to go together.

"Yeah, I think so too." Wu Yuan nodded and said without surprise.

Liu Yifei has never been a love-minded person, and she has no idea of ​​tying Wu Yuan to her belt.

Wu Yuan is not the kind of person who lacks a sense of security, and he will not force Liu Yifei to keep pace with him.

The two of them leave a lot of space for each other.

For example, Wu Yuan never cares about Liu Yifei's private gatherings and fun. For example, she often goes to karaoke, parties, or shopping with her best friends such as Wang Jia and Su Chang, and Wu Yuan never interferes.

And Liu Yifei has never been integrated into Wu Yuan's circle. When Wu Yuan occasionally gets together with Chen Kun, Xia Yu and his wife, Liu Ye and others, Liu Yifei usually does not take the initiative to ask to participate.

The two people's social circles are relatively independent.

Although many so-called "love experts" believe that love between men and women is the integration of two circles, and both sides must integrate into each other's circle to be healthy love.

But Wu Yuan sneers at this statement.

There is no need to force integration if the circles are different.

Some of Liu Yifei's girlfriends are actresses in the circle, some are college classmates who chose to change careers after graduation instead of entering the circle, and some are even friends from Jiangcheng who she knew when she was a child.

Wu Yuan has no common topics with these three.

Actors such as Yu Gong and Su Chang are far from Wu Yuan in terms of resources or interpersonal relationships. The topics they study and discuss on weekdays are which TV crew is short of people and which crew has roles suitable for them.

Wu Yuan is thinking about what movies Guangying Times will make this year and next year. The work in the field of TV dramas has even been completely delegated to the company's TV drama department.

Privately, Wu Yuan has even less common topics with Liu Yifei's girlfriends. Even if he forcibly integrates into their circle, it will only be very abrupt and uncomfortable.

In fact, Liu Yifei is quite easy to integrate into Wu Yuan's circle.

After all, they are all actors, although their status is a bit high, and they are often the best actress of the three major films, the best actor of Venice Film Festival, etc. The worst Liu Ye is also the best actor of the Golden Rooster and Golden Horse Film Festival.

But at least they are all actors, and they are essentially no different from Liu Yifei.

It's just that Wu Yuan didn't force himself to integrate into Liu Yifei's circle, so she didn't force it. He and Wu Yuan's friends only exchanged contact information with each other, and they would chat about their recent situation when they met at events.

Maintaining such a social distance, both Liu Yifei and Wu Yuan felt it was just right, and the two of them were very comfortable and at ease.

Liu Xiaoli sometimes joked that they were sticky to death in some aspects, but sometimes they kept a clear enough distance, which gave each other a lot of freedom, and their relationship was very healthy.

The two people who were used to getting along like this didn't need to act the same at the Venice Film Week.

After comparing the movies that they were interested in each other, Wu Yuan only made an appointment with Liu Yifei to watch three screenings together. Every day after that, the two attended the screenings separately.

Of course, the screenings of Along with the Gods and Painted Skin 2 at the Light and Shadow Era were definitely not to be missed.

On the fourth day of the film week, Wu Yuan met up with Liu Yifei and went to a cinema on Lido Island at 2 pm to attend the Venice screening of Along with the Gods.

Entering the cinema from the security passage at the back, Wu Yuan heard a greeting before he got used to the darkness in front of him.

"Director Wu, you're here."

The leading actors of the crew of "Along with the Gods" who had arrived long ago, led by director Zhang Guorong, greeted Wu Yuan and Liu Yifei.

Wu Yuan smiled and hugged Zhang Guorong. He looked him up and down and said with emotion: "Leslie, you are getting younger and younger."

"It seems that you have been more relaxed after the transition to being a director in the past two years."

Zhang Guorong, who was standing in front of Wu Yuan at this moment, looked even younger and more energetic than when Wu Yuan asked him to meet to talk about the movie "Departures".

Calculating, Zhang Guorong is already in his early fifties this year, but Wu Yuan feels that he is only in his thirties or forties.

It can be proudly said that in this time and space, the one whose fate has changed the most is Zhang Guorong, even more than Sandra Bullock, who was unlucky and had three roles taken away.

Zhang Guorong, whose life would have stopped at the leap in 2003, is not only alive and well, but also getting younger and younger.

He no longer stars in movies and hasn't released any records for a long time. He has completely transformed himself into a behind-the-scenes director.

And Zhang Guorong is indeed quite talented in directing.

He was able to make a smoking cessation propaganda film so well that it became the leader of public welfare films in Hong Kong Island. After Wu Yuan's full cultivation, he, who had no chance to realize his talent as a director, finally blossomed with his brilliant talent as a director in this time and space.

To be honest, Wu Yuan's so-called full cultivation means providing him with a good script and sufficient filming funds.

But for Zhang Guorong, who has enough talent, this is enough.

"Director Wu, you haven't seen the finished film of Along with the Gods yet, right?"

"Come on, I've prepared the best viewing seat for you, come and take a look."

"You are an authority among domestic directors in fantasy and magic movies!"

"I don't expect to be better than Director Kaige, but I am still quite satisfied with it."

The next door "Painted Skin 2" will not be screened until tomorrow, and the director of this movie is Chen Kaige.

Zhang Guorong knows Chen Kaige's directing level very well. He thinks he is still not as good as Chen Kaige, but he also thinks that he has given 100% of his level this time and should be able to get good results.

Wu Yuan smiled and nodded: "Leslie, your current directing level is already very good, I believe in you."

"I'm ready to enjoy a fantasy movie adventure."

Wu Yuan raised his head and looked around the scene in the screening room, and then he found that the large screening room that can accommodate nearly 500 people was already full.

And almost all of them are foreigners, and less than 20% of them are Chinese or Asians with yellow skin and black hair.

Logically speaking, as a new director who came to Venice for the first time, Zhang Guorong should not have received such high attention and caused such a good screening effect.

But Wu Yuan immediately figured out why "Along with the Gods" attracted so many people to watch the screening.

Zhang Guorong shot "Farewell My Concubine" under Chen Kaige, which is regarded as a classic in the European film industry. This is a movie that has entered the top 100 in film history. In terms of the international status of Chinese-language films, it is on par with "In the Mood for Love" by Sunglass King, and both are representative works of Chinese-language films in the world.

Although Zhang Guorong did not star in "In the Mood for Love", Sunglass King's other work "Happy Together" won the Best Director Award in Cannes, and Zhang Guorong was also the male lead.

In addition, Wu Yuan's "Departures" made Zhang Guorong win the Berlin Film Emperor Award.

There is no doubt that Zhang Guorong is very well-known in Europe, especially in the circle of the three major European filmmakers. He is regarded as the top Chinese actor overseas, even more famous than Gong Li.

In this case, even if Zhang Guorong came to Venice not as an actor this time, but as a director to bring a movie to Venice for screening, the local audiences and film critics in Venice would give him face and come to watch.

This is the minimum respect that a top Chinese filmmaker should get.

Of course, if Zhang Guorong's movie is not well made, he will still be scolded.

Even Wu Yuan can't get the treatment of being exempted from criticism.

"Okay, today is your home court, I won't steal the show."

After looking around the situation in the screening room, Wu Yuan took Liu Yifei and came to the seat reserved for them in advance in a very low-key manner, and sat down quietly, waiting for the movie to be screened.

As he said, today is Zhang Guorong's home court.

After confirming that all the guests who came to watch the screening were present, Zhang Guorong walked to the big screen with a microphone in high spirits.

In his early fifties, he still has the vigor and spirit of a young man.

"Dear film critics, guests and friends, welcome to the Venice premiere of my new film "Along with the Gods"!"

"I know that most people here know me and know that I am an actor."

"But please forget my identity as an actor for the next two hours."

"I hope that after today, you will have a new label for me in your hearts."

"I am not only an excellent actor, I will also be an excellent director, and I am full of confidence in this!"

Looking at Zhang Guorong who was in high spirits at the front desk and wanted to refresh the impression of everyone present and remember his new identity as a director, Wu Yuan smiled and was the first to applaud.

He sincerely felt happy and relieved for the man whose fate he had changed.

Ever since he invited Zhang Guorong to film "Departures" and changed Zhang Guorong's original fate, Wu Yuan had been a little uneasy, but now he finally let it go.

At least the flapping of his butterfly wings ultimately led to a good result, didn't it? (End of this chapter)