Chapter 61: The Chinese Legion (Please Read On!!)

After confirming the itinerary for Berlin with Director Han, Wu Yuan said goodbye and left China Film, preparing to go home and pack some luggage.

As soon as he got home, before he could take a breath, Wu Yuan's phone started ringing.

The first person to call was Zhang Guorong.

"Director Wu, is our film really shortlisted for Berlin?"

"How can this be fake?" Wu Yuan responded funny.

"I haven't been to the Berlin Film Festival yet!" Zhang Guorong's tone was full of joy.

Among the three major European film festivals, he has only been to the Cannes Film Festival. That year, "Farewell My Concubine" was nominated for Best Film and Best Actor, and eventually won the Palme d'Or.

"Zhang Sheng, I told you at that time that as long as we make this movie well, I will definitely take you to Europe, and I may even bring you a Best Actor trophy."

Wu Yuan also said with a smile: "I never lie to others."

"Haha, I definitely believe what Director Wu said." Zhang Guorong agreed with it.

"Yes." Wu Yuan nodded: "We will leave for Berlin on February 4th, and the next half month will be free."

"By the way, hurry up and order the dress. As the leading actor of our crew, you have to dress up properly for this Berlin appearance."

"No problem!" Zhang Guorong patted his chest and assured: "I have temporarily stopped the preparations for "Stealing Hearts". I have also contacted LV. They will have a dedicated stylist with a dress by then. Come to Berlin and do my makeup!”

Come on, Wu Yuan was a little envious. He, a "big" director in Hollywood, didn't even provide a dress from a luxury brand, so he had to spend his own money to buy it.

"Okay, let's do this for now and see you in the capital later.

After hanging up the phone, Wu Yuan notified all the other actors in the cast of "The Embalmer" one by one, from Chen Hong, Li Xuejian to Teacher Wu Yanshu, and even Sun Li, who could only be regarded as a minor supporting role, also notified them.

Anyway, Director Han said, bring all the main actors!

Wu Yuan also felt once again how much the domestic film industry attaches great importance to European film festivals these days.

Teacher Wu Yanshu is about to retire in two years. When she heard that she could go to Berlin to participate in the Berlin Film Festival, she agreed without hesitation and was not afraid of the discomfort of long-distance flights.

Sun Li and Li Xuejian were so excited that they couldn't speak at all.

Even Chen Hong, whose husband had won the Palme d'Or, was very happy when she heard that she could go to the Berlin International Film Festival as a heroine. Even Wu Yuan vaguely heard Director Kego's laughter on the phone!

After notifying the actors on the set, Wu Yuan's cell phone still didn't stop. He kept receiving congratulatory calls from friends all afternoon. Chen Kun, Zeng Li, and Qin Hailu all called to congratulate them immediately.

Even the international Zhang, who had only exchanged contact information, called, and Brother Cheng Long also sent a polite text message of congratulations.

Throughout the whole day, he was busy replying and thanking these relatives and friends.

A few days later, February 4th.

Wu Yuan took the assembled crew of "The Embalmer" to the Beijing International Airport and prepared to fly to Berlin.

In addition to the actors and actresses, there are also producer Chen Yuan and two specially hired translators.

Wu Yuan lamented that the treatment was indeed different. As soon as he entered the airport VIP lounge, he saw other Chinese film crews who were also going to Berlin for the screening.

"Oh, Director Wu, I've known you for a long time, now I finally meet you."

Feng Xiaogang, who was smiling like a chrysanthemum, saw the crew of "The Embalmer" coming in. He immediately greeted him enthusiastically and hugged Wu Yuan.

While hugging me, he also said: "Director Wu, you don't know, Director Han has been talking about you in my ears every day for the past two years, and he has praised you to the extreme."

"But you are really good. Are you, a director with a professional background, so good at making movies?"

"The rights to make a low-budget film can sell for millions of dollars. One shot in the United States can earn $200 million at the box office. Now I'm making a literary film and it was shortlisted for Berlin. What a young genius!"

Feng Pants was really jealous, almost going crazy with jealousy.

Is the difference between those who have gone to college so big?

Among the four major directors in the Mainland, Feng Xiaogang is the only one who has never attended an art college, or even a university.

This is one of the reasons why many old men disdain Feng Pants.

In the past, he didn't take it seriously that he didn't go to college. He didn't care.

I didn’t study in a professional school, but I still made a movie that topped the box office in the Mainland!

But this trip to Berlin really hit him.

Xu Anhua is not a mainland director. "Man 40" is a Hong Kong film, so it does not start from the capital.

The remaining four directors are all in this lounge now. It turns out that Wu Yuan, Zhang Yimou, and Li Xin all came from film schools, and Feng Xiaogang was the only one who never even went to college.

Moreover, Wu Yuan has not even graduated yet, and he has already surpassed Feng Xiaogang in terms of artistic achievements. Feng Xiaogang has not yet been shortlisted for the top three in Europe.

If you include the box office of "Juno", he can even beat all mainland directors in terms of box office.

He couldn't compare in terms of artistic achievements and couldn't win at the box office. When Feng Xiaogang faced Wu Yuan, he really felt a little inferior. He also began to doubt whether he should enroll in a training class at a film school and then go back to study. .

"No, director Feng's Lunar New Year movies are also very good, and they all sell well at the box office." Wu Yuan responded with a smile. Naturally, he would not belittle Feng Xiaogang for nothing.

In fact, he is not like the fifth-generation directors who always look down on Feng Xiaogang.

If there is no Feng Xiaogang, the era of commercial films in Chinese-language films may come ten years later.

Without Feng Xiaogang's "Party A and Party B" opening the era of commercial films in the mainland and giving the market confidence, there would be no "Hero" directed by Zhang Yimou opening the era of blockbusters!

You know, in the 1990s, the enthusiasm of the people for watching movies dropped to the freezing point.

First of all, because of the changes in the upper-level policies, the main theme movies became the mainstream.

But the main theme movies at that time were basically the routines of early red movies, and compared with foreign movies of the same period, they were three generations behind.

At that time, it could only be summed up in one word: ugly.

As for art films, they also encountered the most stringent period. The sixth-generation directors who had just emerged were testing the edge of not passing the review and being banned every day. They did not care about the mainland market and relied on a large number of overseas distribution to recover their costs.

Although there was a brief craze among mainland moviegoers when Titanic was released in 1998, it was only a flash in the pan, and it made mainland audiences even less willing to go to the cinema to watch domestic films.

It was at this time that Feng Xiaogang appeared and changed the mainland film environment.

Although his early commercial films were not much different from sitcoms, they attracted mainland audiences back to the cinema and rekindled their enthusiasm for watching movies.

It was he who cultivated the first batch of mainland commercial film audiences, and it was he who lowered "movies" from the art level that was too high to the level of entertainment that ordinary people could accept and love!

More than a hundred years later, Feng Xiaogang is a director who can be written into the history of mainland movies!

"Director Feng's "Big Shot" has the same theme as mine, and the theme is funeral, but yours is a comedy."

"Haha, I'm just making a satirical comedy to make people laugh, I can't compare with you."

"No, no."

After chatting with Feng Xiaogang for a few times and talking about each other's movies, Wu Yuan looked at Director Zhang Yimou who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the lounge.

"Director Yimou, nice to meet you. I'm Wu Yuan, a 1998 graduate of the Film Academy."

"Hello, I've seen your movie, The Night the Comet Came. It's very interesting."

Wu Yuan deliberately ignored Zhang Weiping, who was sitting next to Zhang Yimou, and chatted with Director Zhang Yimou enthusiastically.

Director Yimou is shy and introverted, and speaks softly and slowly. He has a very simple temperament, and it's very comfortable to chat with him.

Both of them studied at the Film Academy, and although Director Yimou is shy, he is also easy to talk to, especially when talking about movies, he will be able to talk.

Wu Yuan, who wanted to have more contact with Director Zhang Yimou, soon chatted with him, and Li Xin and Feng Xiaogang also came up and interjected from time to time.

Their topic mainly revolved around the movie "Hero". No director was not curious about the first commercial blockbuster in China.

Director Zhang Yimou also invited Wu Yuan to attend the premiere of "Hero" at that time.

How could Wu Yuan miss such an opportunity to witness a "epoch-making" event? He readily agreed on the spot.

Directors have their own circles, and actors naturally have their own circles.

The actors of the four film crews knew or were familiar with each other to some extent, and they also chatted in the lounge.

Everyone chatted while waiting for the flight to take off.

I urgently need the support of my brothers. I am 200 points short of PK Sanjiang. Next week is the last chance. Everyone should try to read it every day before next Thursday. ORZ thank you so much!!!