China Entertainment: Director’s happiness is so simple

Chapter 237 Pian'er~ Road!

After landing in Venice, we were picked up by Hu Qingquan.

"Why are you here? It doesn't matter if someone else picks you up."

"Idleness is also idleness."

Hu Qingquan took Lu Ping'an's luggage with a smile.

Lu Ping'an was a little surprised after hearing this: "Why, no one is watching?"

"Haha, just the opposite."

Hu Qingquan smiled and explained simply, "It is true that not many people watched it at the beginning, but how can a good movie be buried? Now more and more people are looking for me, and I have asked Xiang Guoqiang and Wu Guohua to handle it."

While talking, Hu Qingquan talked about the situation of "Brokeback Mountain".

"Brokeback Mountain" will be screened on the second day of the opening ceremony.

Not many people watched it on the first day.

The people watching the next day were more reporters who came to take a rest.

Coming to watch a movie but actually having a rest is the norm at European film festivals.

After all, many films in European film festivals are not friendly to ordinary audiences.

But this also formed a small pattern.

That is, if a movie can cheer up reporters who are planning to take a nap while watching the movie.

Then this movie is probably not far away from winning an award.

This small rule cannot really be counted, but it does have some reference significance.

The screening of "Brokeback Mountain" became lively on the second day, and massive attention followed.

In the following days, the popularity of "Brokeback Mountain" grew steadily among film festival professionals.

"Many people now think that you might win the award. Some even say that Best Director is fine. Mark Mueller, the chairman of the film festival, is also very interested in you. He has wanted to meet you for a long time. We can chat together when we are free. Very interesting old man”

Lu Ping'an naturally knows who Mark Mueller is. He studied in China in the 1970s. He is an old friend of the Chinese people and the first person to promote Chinese films to the world. He has benefited from the international award-winning career of Lao Mouzi Kai Ge and others. to him.

"Okay, you can make the arrangements."

"This old man has a good drinking capacity."

"I just like a good drinker."

The two laughed and then talked about "Brokeback Mountain".

Movies are now highly rated.

Hu Qingquan was very happy when he talked about this.

As I said before, Hu Qingquan's expectations for Lu Ping'an's winnings this time are actually not high.

It would be great to achieve a breakthrough of zero feature film awards.

And now, if the best director really wins, it will be a big surprise.

After all, this involves the road to winning prizes in the future. The better the start, the more advantageous it will be.

Lu Ping'an has actually smelled this smell.

In the past few days, "Brokeback Mountain" has been mentioned occasionally in domestic Venice tracking reports.

Said the movie was great, beautiful, etc.

Some reporters also made bold predictions, saying that they were likely to win the award.

But the overall trend is still the same, and it doesn't count if my family is optimistic about it.

So everyone is very rational.

However, after a few days of screening, it can be regarded as refreshing everyone's understanding of Lu Pingan's "artistic attainments".

Everyone feels that Ping An has made great progress!

Of course, Lu Ping'an doesn't care about these.

Now his attitude is still the same: "Keep your mind calm, gain or lose my life."

Hu Qingquan agreed: "Indeed, this is not the Oscars, and the operability is not high. The most important thing is to maintain your mentality."

Hu Qingquan said, and the topic detoured to the Olympics, "It's the same with running for the chief director. You have to calm down and be safe."

Lu Pingan almost rolled his eyes. He was already tired of hearing this.

He sighed slightly and continued to repeat: "Winning or losing my life, keep a calm mind."

In fact, for the Olympic chief director, how could Lu Pingan not know that people around him were deliberately pushing him forward?

There will be many unimaginable interests and honors involved here, and people around you cannot ignore it. Lu Pingping naturally understands this.

It's just that Lu Ping'an also has his own ideas.

He was ready to get away.

Being the chief director, okay, of course.

Can it be controlled? If Lu Ping An is given the power, Lu Ping An will be fully confident.

But "decentralization" is a false proposition.

How is it possible to really delegate power to you?

No matter how good your idea is and how mature it is in execution, you will still encounter inexplicable reasons to change the program or other obstacles.

Lu Ping'an has no doubt about this.

But if the program really needs to be changed, Lu Ping An cannot support the update and replacement.

In the end, the original program was canceled and a not-so-good one was put on, causing the opening ceremony to be worse than the original one.

That safe road is the great sinner who transcends the parallel world!

So Lu Ping'an had already thought about what to do next.

That means stopping the next round.

Rejection is a technical job.

When they first approached you during the closing ceremony in Athens, they valued your talent and recognized you.

Lu Ping An also gave good feedback at the beginning. There were mistakes in the plan, but it still received praise.

This is the purpose of Ping An Lu.

He has proven his talent and his lack of experience. It is reasonable for others to eliminate him. Neither party will be embarrassed, and society will understand.

The same goes for what happens next. The key is how to make sure both parties are not embarrassed and how society can understand how to get out of the situation.

Later, he was asked to run for chief director, but he still couldn't refuse it.

Lu Ping'an had no reason to refuse.

Because this involves "great righteousness", it is difficult to refuse for any reason. Because Lu Ping'an is a Chinese, a native of China, a talented and outstanding Chinese director, and taking the initiative to refuse is a loss of righteousness. Ping An cannot do this.

That's the situation now.

Lu Ping An actively participated like everyone else. This is a good comrade.

This is enough.

I believe that other campaign teams most likely have the same mentality.

So Lu Ping An put the plan up intact, and then they said it was good and moved on to the next round.

The next step is to escape.

In the next round, thirteen companies will advance to five, and in the next round, the five companies will choose the last one.

This will involve all aspects except creativity.

This is Lu Ping An’s weak point.

Even if you really want to advance to the next round, the people around you will try their best to make up for these weak points for you.

But there will still be a gap with Lao Mouzi and others.

Being brushed off is very likely to happen.

This is what Lu Ping'an wants, and he can use this to escape, and Hu Qingquan and others will not be disappointed.

But in terms of "talent", it can be perfectly retained, and Lu Pingan is still not inferior to anyone.

It's a cheap way to do it, but it's the only way to go.

As I said before, he must be smarter than the great poet, do something that is consistent with his status as a "great director", and cannot become a joke.

In this way, everyone can still accept it.

What if the boss gets confused by then and still says you can do it and still wants you to do it?

The probability of this happening is extremely low.

Even if it happens, Lu Ping'an still has a backup plan.

That is to say, we must make our attitude clear: the plan cannot be changed.

I tell everyone with an unparalleled attitude that I cannot change a word of my plan because mine is the best! I'll guarantee it with my head.

Don't agree?

The idea is given to you, and anyone can borrow it at will. It can be regarded as my contribution to the Olympics, but I don’t want to do it anyway.

Can the boss agree?

Of course not, so escaping will be very smooth.

If only the superiors agreed to this and could implement it.

That's nonsense.

Just do it!

What else is there to hesitate about?

As for being brushed off and having his ideas borrowed, Lu Pingan was happy because it was not his idea in the first place.

You can also get a good name.

Lending out creativity can also give your own team a chance to participate, which is also an honor.

The team is looking forward to it.

In the end, will you regret not being the chief director?

This is what Lu Ping'an said: "I gain or lose my life."

A clear self-awareness is always the case with Ping An.

. . . . . . .

"What are your expectations for the award? To be honest, I don't have much expectations. I'm very satisfied to be shortlisted."

"Why did you choose such a subject? Is it related to Guorong? I knew you would ask this. There must be some. At that time, the filming of "Source Code" was over. When I went to the United States, I accidentally read the novel, Gay Story. It’s rare to see it. I became interested in reading it only after I got to know Guorong. But at that time, my English was not as good as it is now. I used it more as a learning material. I learned words and sentence patterns while watching and understanding, and then As I watched it, I was attracted by the story and thought about filming it, and that’s how I came up with this movie.”

"The movie is recognized as the most artistic among my works. How was it made? Don't rush, shoot slowly and give the actors more space. That's about it. Shoot based on feeling. I have to thank teachers Hu Qingquan and Tian Zhuangzhuang for this. They gave me a lot of advice.”

"Scarlett complained that the R-rated scenes were filmed so many times to torture her? Is that true? Let me call and ask, Hey Scarlett, there is a reporter here talking about you."

When Lu Pingan arrived at the main venue in Venice, a group of reporters surrounded him.

The microphones of reporters from China and foreign countries were densely packed.

There was no way, everyone else had done the interviews, and only Lu Ping'an didn't arrive until two days before the closing ceremony. Who would be around him if not him.

It took ten minutes to sort out scattered interviews, and then another half hour to accept exclusive interviews with domestic Sina and Sohu.

After answering the questions, Lu Pingan continued to attend the cocktail party.

As always, awards are one thing, and so are copyright deals.

The current overall asking price for "Brokeback Mountain" has reached around US$4 million.

As usual, there is no rush to close the deal.

Not only will it not be sold after the closing ceremony, but it will also not be sold before it is released in North America in December. It will not be sold until the road to winning awards is over.

Venice is just the first stop, followed by various film festivals such as the Toronto Film Festival, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Oscars.

According to the process of the original time and space, the copyright price of "Brokeback Mountain" will skyrocket. If it is sold after the Oscar results are announced, Dell gave figures and is expected to reach more than 20 million US dollars.

However, Lu Ping An will naturally not choose to sell out.

The global box office of 180 million U.S. dollars is more than 30 million U.S. dollars based on the lowest level of account sharing ratio. It is not cost-effective to sell out.

After "Brokeback Mountain" came "Twenty Again."

Xiang Guoqiang came to report that there was one more interested film studio, one from India, and he had been in contact with Hu Qingquan a long time ago.

After asking, I found out that it was the Indian film producer who wanted to buy the rights to adapt "The Tuner" for US$100,000.

This time I asked, the main purpose was still to buy "The Tuner", and then I heard someone from South Korea talking about "Twenty Again", so I wanted to buy it too.

Of course Lu Ping'an is happy. It's been so many years since "The Tuner", and if it can still create value, of course it can be sold.

"How much do they pay?"

"It's all $500,000."

""The Tuner" can be sold, and then the price is raised. One thing to note is that the full price must be paid first."

Xiang Guoqiang laughed and said: "That's how copyright transactions are."

Lu Pingan shrugged: "India is a special case. It's better to be careful when dealing with them."

Xiang Guoqiang took the order and left.

Continuing with the reception, there are so many Chinese faces at this year’s reception.

The first was John Woo, who looked enthusiastic when he saw Lu Ping An.

Lu Ping'an also knew why he was so enthusiastic. It was not his identity as a colleague that played a role, but his identity as the theater owner.

John Woo is about to shoot "Red Cliff". These days, he has announced that he will make a promotional film for "Red Cliff", and it is expected that big names such as Chao Wei and Yunfa will join the film.

The investment in this movie will be very large, and investors have already contacted various mainland distributors and theaters in advance.

It was very loud and everyone took it seriously.

Lu Ping'an also attaches great importance to it. This is all to send money to his theater.

After a brief chat, Lu Pingan expressed his absolute support, and the other party also wished Lu Pingan to get the award, and then the next one.

Chen Kexin's "If Love" is participating in the exhibition this time, but the lead actor Zhou Gongzi is not here. She is filming in the mainland, and the male lead Takeshi Kaneshiro is here.

There is also "Chang Heng He", which is also shortlisted, and the second male lead Yan Zu is also there today.

When Lu Ping'an met with three handsome men, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Yan Zu, the heroine of "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" Sammi Cheng took out her mobile phone and asked to take a photo together.

Yanzu and Jinchengwu waved their hands very politely, and then invited Lu Ping'an to the C position in a tacit understanding.

If it weren't for Lu Ping'an's good height, these two young men would probably have to bow down.

Then a South Korean director came up to chat, followed by a very familiar actress.

After asking, it turned out that the male director was Park Chan-wook and the female director was Lee Young-ae.

Lee Young-ae is very popular in the Mainland now. "Dae Jang Geum" became a big hit and has become the idol of many people.

This time Venice also had one of her films shortlisted for the main competition, the famous "Dear Gold".

The two came up and were very interested in Lu Ping'an, a top Chinese director.

It's just that Lu Ping'an has no interest in them.

Fortunately, Wattsberg showed up in time, and Lu Pingping was able to ignore him after a brief chat.

Wattsberg came here mainly for "Brokeback Mountain", which was produced by Summit and he had a share in it.

Other than that, just see if there are any leaks that can be picked up.

It's just that now that he's at the top, he doesn't need to pick up leaks in independent movies anymore, so he comes here more as a party. Partying is used to increase his connections. This time Watts met a lot of new people, and he was also attracted by it. I know a lot of people.

For example, now he brings Robert Downey Jr.

"Lu, I'd like to recommend someone to you."

"Hello Lu, I am Robert Downey Jr., you can call me Downey, I am a professional actor."

Robert Downey Jr.'s face was full of sincerity, and Lu Ping'an responded with a smile: "I know you, you came to introduce yourself last time."

Before filming "Chainsaw 2" began, Robert Downey Jr. sent in his resume.

It's just that Lu Ping'an ignored it at the time. After all, "Chainsaw 2" was a low-budget movie and didn't need such a star.

And Robert Downey Jr. is undeterred.

In fact, "Chainsaw 2" is just one of his wide nets.

He soon got an opportunity.

For example, there is a movie he starred in at this Venice Film Festival, and it is also the top prize winner, George Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck."

However, he is only a supporting actor, and the bonus is not much, so it does not affect him from continuing to recommend himself to Hollywood business directors like Lu Ping'an.

"Lu, I know you have plans to make a movie called "District 9". I have read the brief script and I like it very much. I think I am qualified to play the protagonist. There is no one more suitable than me. My experience with the protagonist Very similar, I would like to ask you to give me a chance to audition, I will definitely satisfy you."

Robert Downey Jr.'s words are sincere and his eyes are full of hope.

He had just quit taking drugs and was still at a low point in his life. He didn't want to miss any good opportunity.

Lu Ping'an did not ignore his thoughts at all.

After all, this man has a great future, and he doesn't want to become a clown in Iron Man's life.

"It will take a long time for the movie to start shooting. It's a bit early to say this now, but I will send you an audition invitation when the project is approved."

"Thanks!"

Donnie happily expressed his thanks, then apologized neatly and neatly, and left alone without disturbing the bosses' chat.

After he left, Wattsberg sighed: "He was not like this before."

"He's also in Hollywood."

Lu Ping'an also sighed in his heart.

Watts continued, "Have you read your emails these days?"

"Looking at it, no one is interested."

"I have a new one here that might interest you."

"What."

"Marvel's Iron Man is also an IP that is dying."

"Can I buy it?"

"I'll go have a chat and I'll tell you some news later."

"good."

Looking at Robert Downey Jr., who was sitting alone by the pool in the distance, Lu Pingan once again felt that fate was really magical.

"looking at what?"

At this time, a voice sounded from behind Lu Ping'an.

It turned out to be the widowed sister.

When the widowed sister arrives, the creators of "Brokeback Mountain" should also arrive.

Sure enough, Lu Pingan looked back and saw the two protagonists walking in outside.

"nothing."

"Thinking about awards?"

The graceful widowed sister leaned forward and said, "Goddess of Luck is here, can the prize be far behind?"

After the last short film Grand Slam, the widowed sister claimed to be the goddess of luck to Lu Ping An.

Lu Ping'an didn't care and joked: "Then I hope the goddess will visit again this time."

"But you haven't contacted Lady Luck for almost a year, and she's a little angry."

"Ah, yes, haha, maybe the signal is not good."

The widowed sister rolled her eyes and then handed Lu Ping'an a room card.

Then Mark Muller arrived belatedly.

The first impression was good.

The old man is indeed a China expert.

Mandarin is very good.

"Lu Ping'an, I've wanted to see you for a long time, you can call me Lao Ma."

"Hello, old horse. I've seen you for a long time."

"Hey, you're welcome."

He is truly a master of China!

He speaks Mandarin with a clear accent.

Even more powerful than Cao Cao now.

Lu Ping'an admired him in his heart.

Lao Ma also has a very good personality. Even though he is old, he still looks young.

In short, Lu Ping'an has a good impression of him.

But the two only chatted for a while before Mark Muller left.

He said, "It's a game. There's a quarrel inside. It's serious. Let's get together after the awards are over."

Well, my Beijing accent is pretty good.

He is indeed a very interesting old man.

At noon the next day, when Lu Pingan returned to his suite, Hu Qingquan told him: "I received an invitation to the closing ceremony."

"It's so fast, doesn't it have to be at night?"

Tomorrow is the closing ceremony, and according to the unspoken rules, the announcement will be made in the evening.

Hu Qingquan replied: "So not necessarily. I think the main reason for inviting us this time is because of our reputation."

Too.

When Lu Ping An participated in the top three European universities, he was indeed not well-known internationally.

The short film is great, but after all, the short film is not good enough to invite people to personally invite it.

Later, the short film won the Grand Slam and he became famous, but he never went to the top three in Europe.

Now that they are more famous, it is normal for them to encounter this kind of situation, but it is new for Lu Ping'an.

Lu Ping'an asked: "What didn't Lao Ma reveal?"

Hu Qingquan replied: "How could he reveal it? He hasn't seen anyone since he left that night."

Tian Zhuangzhuang, who had just arrived at the side, also nodded: "This old boy is still very principled."

It’s okay now, I feel unsure.

Hu Qingquan frowned.

If you go to participate, you will still come back empty-handed, which is very confusing.

Tian Zhuangzhuang also comforted Lu Pingan: "It's okay. The fact that the other party can call the hotel already shows the problem."

It didn't matter that he had a safe journey, although he was also a little unsure in his heart. After all, who knows whether time and space will change.

But overall he is relatively calm.

And at this moment, he was still thinking, how about copying Li An's work in the original time and space?

In the original time and space, Li An had no hope for the Golden Lion Award.

Despite numerous positive reviews, Li An still flew to Toronto more than ten hours before the awards ceremony began, planning to fully prepare for the screening of "Brokeback Mountain" at the Toronto Film Festival, which is the best-selling film festival.

As a result, as soon as I landed, I was stuffed with two return tickets booked by the organizing committee.

Then when I flew back to Italy, all customs and passport procedures were simplified, and then I was "escorted" by people arranged by the organizing committee all the way back to the award ceremony to receive the award.

When Li An found out he had won the award, he also shouted "ridiculous". Coupled with the courtesy from Venice, this was simply a pretense in the international community.

So do you want to learn?

After thinking about it, Lu Ping'an decided to forget it.

After all, Li An’s situation at that time could not be replicated. Venice and Toronto were competing. Li An was betting on both sides at that time, but Lu Ping An was not. Venice was his target from the beginning.

So there is really no need to mess around.

Having made a decision in his heart, Lu Ping'an settled down with peace of mind.

The red carpet arrived at the closing ceremony the next day.

After Lu Ping An arrived at the scene, he was immediately told by the staff: Lu Ping An would be the last one to go on the red carpet.

After hearing this, Hu Qingquan and the other creators' eyes lit up.

This is definitely not something Lu Ping An can achieve with his fame.

Tian Zhuangzhuang, who looked calm and taciturn, also breathed a sigh of relief, and then put his hands behind his back, looking much more relaxed.

"Calm down!"

Hu Qingquan reminded, and then he took a deep breath.

The old man is a little obsessed.

But it is true, after all, this award is not just a single award in the current public relations process.

This will affect subsequent bonus plans.

The louder the first shot, the smoother the follow-up will be.

Hu Qingquan always said he should be normal, but when things came to a head, thinking about the chain reaction of subsequent awards, he couldn't calm down for a while.

After all, the Golden Lion Award is not unusual, but what if it won an Oscar for a feature film?

This is another breakthrough in the mainland film industry!

There is a huge difference in meaning between feature films and short films!

And if the road is safe, you will reach a higher peak.

At this time, Hu Qingquan, who was both prosperous with Lu Pingan, and already regarded Lu Pingan as half a son, could not be excited when he thought about this.

Lu Pingan was moved and rubbed his back. The old man turned around and helped Lu Pingan organize his clothes.

Then with a look of regret on his face: "I should have used a red bow tie!"

Lu Pingan laughed: "It's not like getting married."

Hu Qingquan's face returned to seriousness, "I won't wear a suit when I get married, I'll wear a Tang suit!"

"Okay, okay."

"Stop laughing and pay attention to your manners. Those who didn't know better thought you got carried away in advance. So what? Have you written your acceptance speech?"

"Write it, write it."

"Tell me and I'll listen."

"..."

The red carpet begins.

The exciting scene reappears.

The best player in the game, or the one who received the most attention, was Monica Bellucci.

The likes of Kristen Dunst, Lena Headey and Sofia Vergira are indeed a bit worse in front of her.

Monica, now 41 years old, still has her charm.

Many men present had hooks in their eyes.

Lu Ping'an was very calm because he didn't like strong people very much.

The Monica in front of her has gained some weight and is still very strong, which is not interesting.

The red carpet continued, and the creators of "Brokeback Mountain" were put in the backstage.

The widowed sister who originally wanted to be Lu Ping'an's female companion finally had to go with Hu Qingquan.

I wonder if Hu Qingquan will kneel on the washboard after he returns.

When it was Safe Road's turn, the organizers arranged for him to go with George Clooney.

Also drunk.

The two handsome guys are indeed eye-catching.

But the purpose of creating suspense is too obvious.

Reporters and commentators with keen sense of smell reacted immediately.

The Golden Lion Award, or Best Director, is likely to be decided between these two.

Giorgio Belluni's "Good Night and Good Luck" is this year's number one hit.

Lu Ping'an's "Brokeback Mountain" received rave reviews.

As for the difference, there is still some difference between the two.

It’s just that the former is more political and the latter is more artistic.

According to Venetian urine, of course I choose art.

But same-sex themes are indeed controversial.

Of course, the political overtones of "Good Night and Good Luck" are also unacceptable in Venice.

So everyone quickly understood at this moment that it is currently unknown who will win in the end, but one thing is certain, neither of them will leave empty-handed.

This is indeed the case.

Regardless of whether it is the original time and space or now, whoever wins the Golden Lion Award for the two movies is only one vote away.

As the last two protagonists of tonight entered the venue, the award ceremony began.

First up is the Short Film Award.

Then there are the other small prizes.

Guan Jinpeng's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" won the "European Art Exchange Award".

"Friendly Gold" won the Giovanni Award for New Film.

More than an hour later, it was the grand prize winners of the main competition unit.

First, there is the Special Golden Lion Award, and then there is the Best Technical Contribution Award.

After the two smaller ones, the award for best screenplay is awarded.

“The Best Screenplay winner goes to Good Night and Good Luck, congratulations to George Clooney and Grant Heszhof!”

Suddenly, applause came to mind.

Hu Qingquan and Tian Zhuangzhuang clenched their fists and were extremely excited.

George Clooney won the small prize, and from these few books it can be concluded that in the end the big prize was not him.

In the history of Venice film, there are very few people who have won the Golden Lion and also won other minor awards.

However, the two of them still told Lu Pingan immediately: "Calm down!"

Lu Ping'an was wandering in the sky, his thigh was pinched by Hu Qingquan and it hurt.

Forget it, today's situation is special, so I don't care about it with him.

The awards continued, followed by Best Screenplay, Best Actress, and then Best Actor.

In the Best Actor category, George Clooney won again for Good Night and Good Luck.

This time, it is even more clear that the grand prize has no chance for him.

Lu Ping'an immediately opened his thighs and let Hu Qingquan squeeze his legs. However, Hu Qingquan didn't care at all and forced himself to take a deep breath.

The widowed sister one seat away was very happy and blinked at Lu Ping'an.

I pretended I didn't see Lu Ping'an.

This was followed by the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Second Prize Special Jury Prize.

Neither Lu Pingan nor George Clooney were called by name.

At this time, everyone has basically guessed the result.

Or George Clooney sets the most powerful record in Venice film history and wins three awards in one session.

Or it's a safe road and victory!

The audience is waiting, the guests are looking forward to it, and the mainland reporters are nervous.

Principal Zhang and his relatives and friends who are far away in the capital are also waiting for news.

The wall at the Nortel gate is also looking forward to the return of the safe road that has not been seen in the past two years.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The scene slowly fell into silence.

Subsequently.

When Mark Muller, chairman of this year's film festival and presenter of the Golden Lion Award, stepped onto the stage.

There was applause.

Then, a lot of Italian was spoken.

Lu Ping'an didn't understand anything.

But he understood the last sentence.

Mark Muller speaks Mandarin with a clear accent:

"The young director from China, Lu Ping'an, Pian'er~Lu, and his "Brokeback Mountain", congratulations!!!"

Wow.

There was applause.

Hu Qingquan even jumped up.

Lu Ping'an's face was full of black lines.

If the road is safe, the road will be safe. Why add a little more road?

This old man must have done it on purpose!