Literary Master 1978

Robert De Niro debuted in the 1960s, but he truly became internationally famous in the 1970s.

"The Godfather Part II" in 1974, "Taxi Driver" in 1976, "New York, New York" in 1977, "The Deer Hunter" in 1978, "Raging Bull" in 1980, "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​in 1984...

Since the 1970s, he has starred in many films that have achieved great success. He has been a frequent visitor to the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards, and he is soft on awards.

Such high-quality output also gained him huge international reputation and became an international superstar with strong appeal.

At this year's Cannes Film Festival, Robert De Niro attended with "The War", naturally he came to win the Best Actor title at the Cannes Film Festival.

From this perspective, he can be regarded as Xu Guanwen's competitor, and a very strong competitor.

"Okay, stop reading! You are also a candidate for Best Actor after all. Isn't it embarrassing to go and ask for autographs?"

After Robert De Niro had dinner over there, many people went to take photos with him on the terrace, and he agreed to them all very gracefully.

Seeing this, Xu Guanwen looked in the direction of Robert De Niro eagerly, and Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but make a sarcastic comment to him.

Xu Guanwen's face was stern. In order to relieve his embarrassment, his eyes pretended to glance around the terrace.

It was dinner time, and there were many diners in the terrace restaurant, most of them blond foreigners. The two Asian faces with yellow skin and dark eyes sitting here became an eye-catching presence.

Then he glanced in the direction of Robert De Niro and said with envy: "Hollywood's influence is still strong!"

In Hollywood in the 1980s, although special effects blockbusters had not conquered cities around the world, the United States' economic and military strength had swept the world since World War II, and its cultural output was still unrivaled.

Xu Guanwen is considered a movie star in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, but in Cannes, he can only be regarded as an unknown person under the backdrop of Robert De Niro.

If there is a BGM at this time, it must be "I was 18 years old, at the alma mater dance, standing like a minions."

"Don't be envious. After "The Truman Show" is screened, you will also get this treatment in Cannes!" Lin Chaoyang said to Xu Guanwen.

Xu Guanwen glanced at Lin Chaoyang strangely, wondering where his overwhelming confidence came from.

"Have some confidence in yourself!" Lin Chaoyang said again with firm eyes.

Xu Guanwen took a deep breath. He felt that Chaoyang was right. Regardless of whether he could win an award or whether he could be so popular, he must first not lose his momentum and show his confidence.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked confidently.

"Go back to the house and sleep!"

Xu Guanwen:......

It was impossible to sleep. Zou Wenhuai disappeared after landing. He actually went to contact the media for the crew.

On the day when the film festival is about to open, the small town of Cannes has been filled with all kinds of noise since early in the morning, and the media is even more active.

At around eight o'clock in the evening, Lin Chaoyang and his party rushed to the Masu restaurant in the old town of Cannes, where Zou Wenhuai arranged an interview with the crew. The interview media was from France's "Television Survey".

Before and after the film festival, reporters from major media are invited by the crew because the crew needs these media to build momentum.

"Television Survey" is a well-known magazine in France. As you can tell from its name, its original direction was to introduce TV programs.

This magazine was founded in 1947. After nearly 40 years of development, it has gradually developed into a comprehensive cultural magazine integrating literature, film, drama, television and other artistic contents.

In terms of professionalism in the field of film and film criticism, it certainly cannot be compared with magazines such as Cahiers du Cinema, Feature Film, and French Cinema, and its influence at the Cannes Film Festival is also a little behind.

But there is no other way. The reporters from these well-known movies and film review magazines are only willing to interview those crews with famous directors and international superstars.

Golden Harvest and the cast of "The Truman Show" are very popular in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, but they have no reputation at Cannes, a European film festival.

The reporter of "TV Overview" is named Aurelion. Unlike those professional film magazines whose interviews mainly focus on professional fields, his interview questions are more like an entertainment reporter's method.

Aurelion didn't know much about "The Truman Show" at first and only talked about some interesting things about the film and the opportunity to participate in the exhibition.

Until he asked director Xu Anhua, "What do you think the chances of this movie winning an award are?"

Xu Anhua said calmly: "Winning a film depends on the taste of the judges, but I think our film deserves a significant award!"

Aurelion was a little surprised when he heard this. Whether it was the interview just now or his previous experience in interviewing Asian filmmakers, these people have always been very humble. He did not expect Anhua Xu to say this with such confidence.

"Can you tell me why you think it deserves a significant award?" Aurelion asked with interest.

Xu Anhua replied calmly: "Because this is France, the birthplace of absurdist drama. If you have watched "The Truman Show" you will know that it is an outstanding absurdist art work."

As a Frenchman, Xu Anhua's compliments naturally made Aurelion feel good about him, and also made him pay more attention to the movie "The Truman Show".

"If it's true as you said, then it really deserves a heavyweight award." Aurelien said with a smile.

He was aroused by Ann Hui's words about "The Truman Show". In the following interview, he asked a lot of questions about the plot and characters of the movie. The more he listened, the more interesting and fascinating he found it.

At the end of the interview, he couldn't help but say: "I am getting more and more curious about this movie now. I really hope to see it soon!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said to him, "You will see it soon."

The interview lasted for almost two hours. Lin Chaoyang and his party said goodbye to Aurelien. It was already past 11 o'clock in the evening when they returned to the hotel entrance.

Several people were about to go upstairs, but were suddenly stopped by two Hong Kong accents.

This time, "The Truman Show" was shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival. The Hong Kong press attaches great importance to it. Several media have even sent reporters.

The two reporters who stopped Lin Chaoyang and his party were from Ming Pao and Ta Kung Pao. One of them was Shen Xicheng, who had interviewed Lin Chaoyang before.

Shen Xicheng and his partner were not invited by the film festival as reporters. They came to Cannes at their own expense. There were many reporters like them in Cannes.

Most of the selected films from small countries and regions will attract some reporters from their own country or region to follow up and report.

Lin Chaoyang and his team chatted casually with Shen Xicheng and his partner in the night. The film festival had not yet opened, and there was nothing to interview. Xu Guanwen agreed with them to wait until "The Truman Show" was screened before accepting a formal interview.

Then they went back to the hotel to rest.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang and his team gathered together again.

Today was the opening day of the film festival. They took a car to the Palais des Festivals, where the main venue of the film festival was located.

At 9:30 in the morning in Cannes, the sun was already bright and dazzling. The Palais des Festivals was preparing for the rehearsal of the opening ceremony, and media reporters from all over the world gathered together.

Some reporters thought that the organizing committee had neglected their arrangements and had been negotiating with the staff of the organizing committee; some reporters opened their eyes wide and looked for stars and famous directors in the crowded streets of Cannes.

Hundreds of reporters and fans gathered in front of the Palais des Festivals. The festival was already very prosperous and lively before it even opened.

Before 1982, the Cannes Film Festival was held at the Palais de la Croisette. It was only in recent years that it moved to the newly built Palais des Festivals.

Although it does not have the simplicity and elegance of the Palais de la Croisette, the hardware facilities of the Palais des Festivals are much better than those of the Palais de la Croisette.

After showing the invitation letter of the film festival, Lin Chaoyang and others successfully entered the Palais des Festivals.

A total of 22 films from all over the world were shortlisted for this year's Cannes Film Festival, which means that 22 crews will appear.

Together with the invited guests, reporters and film critics, nearly a thousand people suddenly poured into the Palais des Festivals.

Throughout the morning, all the crews and stars participating in the film festival gathered together to meet with reporters, and the crews gathered on the stairs for the media to take pictures.

When famous directors, actors and singers such as Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Tom Waits appeared, the photographers' flashes became a dazzling curtain of light, which made people unable to open their eyes. The audience also welcomed them enthusiastically with screams and applause.

When it was the turn of the crew of "The Truman Show" to appear, the curtain of light and applause became completely polite, and screams were even more impossible.

Feeling this huge gap, Xu Guanwen, Cherie Chung and Maggie Cheung kept chirping after going down the stairs. The theme was naturally the snobbery of the reporters and audiences in Cannes.

After lunch, there was another lengthy procedure, with the judges appearing and giving speeches... It was no different from the activities held by domestic schools. Lin Chaoyang couldn't wait to run outside the Film Festival Palace to get some fresh air.

In the evening, the opening red carpet of the film festival officially began.

There was a surging crowd in front of the Film Festival Palace, and the audience, tourists and Guangre's fans gathered on the Cross Avenue and the Square.

The female stars competed with each other for beauty, causing waves of screams and shouts.

The crew of "The Truman Show" was arranged to walk the red carpet in front, still a little transparent at the film festival.

At around 7 o'clock in the evening, the opening ceremony reached its climax, with judges meeting, stars on stage, and performances. The cameras of France TV Four recorded these scenes in real time.

The crew of "The Truman Show" only got a few live shots when the selected films were introduced.

After the intermission, there was a welcome banquet. The banquet was like a train station hall during peak hours. The guests were more often not eating, but socializing with each other.

Hugs, exchanging business cards, going out to smoke, during the entire banquet, no table was full of guests.

For most of the banquet, Lin Chaoyang stood on the balcony of the hotel to smoke, and occasionally chatted with the crew members who came to him.

With an East Asian face, almost no one came to talk to him, except for a little old man with the same skin and hair color.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Lin?"

Lin Chaoyang turned around and saw the face of Nagisa Oshima, as English with a strong accent rang in his ears.

"Hello, Director Oshima."

Nagisa Oshima came to the Cannes Film Festival this year with his new work "Max, My Love". He is a frequent visitor to the Cannes Film Festival and has won the Best Director Award at the festival.

Compared with Lin Chaoyang and his group who had just arrived, they were treated much better.

Lin Chaoyang didn't know why Oshima Nagisa suddenly came over to say hello to him, but he couldn't keep her away since she was smiling.

The two talked in English. It turned out that Oshima Nagisa and Oe Kenzaburo were good friends. In February, Oe Kenzaburo recommended him to read the book "Crossing Guandong".

I attended a day of film festival activities today and found out that Lin Chaoyang was the author of "Crossing Guandong", so I took the opportunity to come and say hello during the dinner.

"Such a grand work is really eye-opening!

After reading it, I understand why Kenzaburo admires Lin so much."

Oshima Nagisa expressed his appreciation for "Crossing Guandong" without hesitation, so Lin Chaoyang naturally had to be polite.

Then the two talked about "The Truman Show". Oshima Nagisa had read the manual distributed by the film festival and had a general understanding of the story of "The Truman Show". He was very interested in this absurd story with a sense of curiosity.

Almost every one of Nagisa Oshima's representative works, such as "In the Realm of the Senses", "The Dead of Love", and "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence", is very bold in style.

"Marx, My Love" brought by this year's film festival is based on the taboo of human-animal love.

Lin Chaoyang asked himself that the stories told in his novels were relatively orthodox, and he did not expect to be highly appreciated by Nagisa Oshima. He was more or less not used to it.

The two chatted for a long time, and the opening film began to be shown there, so they followed the crowd to the Lumiere Cinema.

This year's opening film was "Sacrifice" by Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky.

The seats for the opening film screening were very particular. The crew of "The Truman Show" was arranged on the left side of the Lumiere Cinema, while the front row in the center was reserved for several crews that were more valued by the organizing committee.

For example, the crew of Andrei Tarkovsky's "Sacrifice", the crew of Martin Scorsese's "After Hours", and the crew of Roland Joffe's "Life in War".

There were also many well-known European and American movie stars sitting there. The Cannes Film Festival is not only a film festival, but also the world's largest international advertising festival.

During this period, many stars were invited by advertisers to attend the film festival even if they did not have films to participate in the exhibition.

And there is a special position in the theater, that is, the booth farthest from the projector, which is the symbol of the highest position in the Cannes ecological chain, and the seat of the judges.

The movie began to be shown. "Sacrifice" tells the story of the protagonist Alexander who stopped the nuclear explosion by offering sacrifices to God under the background of nuclear destruction.

At the moment when the Chernobyl nuclear accident just happened last month, taking this movie as the opening film is full of political implications.

The tone of the whole movie is similar to the Bible in which Abraham built an altar to sacrifice Isaac to Jehovah.

The religious meaning, coupled with the influence of the political environment, Lin Chaoyang is sure that this movie will definitely win an award.

His remarks made Ann Hui and others a little nervous. Although they have some understanding of the Cannes Film Festival, as Hong Kong people, they are not sensitive to politics and faith.

Hearing Lin Chaoyang's confident tone, Xu Guanwen couldn't help asking, "Can it win the Palme d'Or?"

"It's hard to say. There are more than one important awards at the film festival. Besides, there are such politically correct films at the film festival every year. It's not certain that they can win awards, but the probability is definitely higher than that of ordinary works."

Xu Guanwen breathed a sigh of relief.

The two talked about the treatment of "The Truman Show" today, and agreed that Golden Harvest had a deep misunderstanding of the organizing committee.

This is also called "valuing"?

After the opening film was screened, there was a large-scale open-air banquet on Majestic Beach, which was still crowded at midnight.

Several actors in the crew like to join in the fun and go to participate even if they don't sleep.

It was already the second half of the night when the movie ended. Lin Chaoyang didn't have the elegance and went back to the hotel room to rest.

The next morning, Lin Chaoyang was in good spirits. Compared with him, the spirits of the crew were much more sluggish. They didn't go back to the room to rest until after three o'clock last night, and they only slept for about four hours.

At 8:30 this morning, the first film of the film festival, After Hours, will be screened in the Lumiere Theater for media from all over the world, participating crews and some industry insiders.

The crew of The Truman Show didn't have to go, but this movie is Martin Scorsese's new work and one of the most promising award-winning films by the media before the film festival, so everyone wanted to see its quality.

After all, knowing yourself and the enemy will ensure victory in all battles.

After watching the movie, several people came out of the theater, and Ann Hui looked worried.

Compared with Martin Scorsese's previous works, the style of After Hours is not heavy, but tends to be black humor, but the skills are too sophisticated, with a style of lightness and great ingenuity.

Ann Hui thought to herself that she might be a level behind Martin Scorsese in shooting skills, which is not a good thing for The Truman Show.

Seeing her depressed, Lin Chaoyang shook his head helplessly.

Less than two days after arriving in Cannes, Ann Hui and Xu Guanwen were often hit, their emotions were up and down, and Lin Chaoyang was too lazy to comfort them.

On the other hand, Cherie Chung and Maggie Cheung knew that they were not good enough, and they had no desire for awards, so their mentality was very stable.

In addition to taking beautiful photos, they also studied food.

In the afternoon and evening, Ann Hui and Xu Guanwen continued to go to various cinemas and theaters to spy on the enemy like crazy, while Lin Chaoyang wandered freely on the streets of Cannes.

The premiere of "The Truman Show" in Cannes was scheduled on the morning of the third day of the film festival, at the Debussy Theater.

Although it is not the most prestigious Lumiere Theater of the film festival, it is not too bad.

"The Truman Show" did not receive the opening film treatment of "The Sacrifice" nor the grand red carpet ceremony and enthusiastic audience of the premiere of "After Hours".

The people who came were mainly media people and film critics, and there were almost no free audiences. The cinema that could accommodate nearly a thousand audiences had an attendance rate of less than 20% at this time.

This is also the cruel reality that most obscure films participating in the film festival must face.

People say that the film and television industry is the most realistic industry, and in fact, the audience is the same.

There are so many films made by well-known filmmakers at the film festival, and of course the audience must watch those star-studded films first.

Fortunately, the jury was quite respectful. At the press conference before the screening, Sidney Pollack, the chairman of the jury of this year's film festival, brought three judges and the film selection director Giles Jacob to the scene.

When facing reporters' questions, several people showed great appreciation for "The Truman Show".

Lin Chaoyang and others had seen the performance of these judges at the screening press conference two days ago. Their words were almost the same at almost every press conference, and they just praised it.

So many screening films were carefully selected by the film festival. In front of so many reporters, they couldn't say something negative.

In addition to the jury, there was a group of guests who came uninvited before the screening of "The Truman Show".

Nagisa Oshima brought Charlotte Rampling and Anthony Higgins, the male and female protagonists of "Max, My Love", to support "The Truman Show".

Nagisa Oshima has a high reputation in the international film industry. His arrival attracted a lot of reporters' films, and he couldn't help but say a few words.

"...I like Lin Sang's novel "Crossing Guandong" very much. "The Truman Show" is his new work. He talked to me about this work before. I think his idea is very genius. I am also looking forward to seeing this excellent film."

The reporters and film critics present thought that Nagisa Oshima was invited by the film company or the director or the leading actor, but they didn't expect that he came because of the screenwriter of "The Truman Show".

It seems that he came on his own initiative because of the reputation of Lin Chaoyang, the screenwriter, which made these reporters and film critics cast curious eyes on Lin Chaoyang, the screenwriter who has been silent all the time.

At the same time, they also had more expectations for "The Truman Show". When the movie started, the Debussy Theater became quiet.

The beam of the projector hit the screen, and Bao Fang's face full of stories appeared on it first.

The films participating in the Cannes Film Festival must use the original voice of the actors. In order for the audience to understand the content of the film, these films are all subtitled in English.

At this time, Bao Fang's excellent voice and dialogue skills became a plus point, and immediately attracted the attention of many people present.

Truman has lived in a small town called Taoyuan Island since he was a child. He is a broker of an insurance company in this small town.

He seems to live a life exactly the same as ordinary people, but he doesn't know that there are thousands of cameras facing him every second of his life.

The whole world is watching him every moment, and he doesn't know that everyone around him, including his wife and friends, is an actor in a reality show...

The story setting of "The Truman Show" is set in 1986, which is absolutely creative, and can even be called bizarre and absurd.

But it is precisely because of its bizarreness and absurdity that the audience quickly became addicted to it after learning about the story setting through the interview footage of the director and actors at the beginning of the movie.

When a person has been preset everything since birth, when a person is destined to spend his whole life in falsehood since birth, when a person has stepped into an inescapable cage since birth.

Such a strong plot setting locks the audience's eyes firmly on the screen. They feel sad for Truman's situation and worry about him.

They hope that Truman can discover the illusion of life, hope that Truman can bravely resist the established fate, and hope that Truman can escape from the cage.

But when Truman finally stood in front of the door to freedom, when the director's voice sounded.

"They are all fake, but you are real. Truman, you are real.

The outside world is as fake as here, with the same lies and the same fraud.

But in this world, you don't have to be afraid of anything, and no one will hurt you."

Bao Fang's voice passed through the loudspeakers in the movie and the sound equipment in the theater, which was seriously distorted, but with a sense of compassion and kindness.

On the screen, Truman, played by Xu Guanwen, had flickering eyes and frowned, and every breath he took seemed so rapid and heavy.

Every beat of his heart seemed to be beating his chest, as if there were two voices in his mind that were sharply opposing each other.

After a long time, his face gradually calmed down, he was relieved, and showed a relaxed and unrestrained smile.

"If I never see you again, I wish you good morning, good afternoon, and good night!"

He bowed gently, one hand behind his back, and the other hand on his chest, and bowed gracefully.

The screening of "The Truman Show" ended, and the end credits were rolling, but there was complete silence in the Debussy Theater.

Xu Guanwen sat next to Lin Chaoyang. He looked at the situation with a feeling of uneasiness and nervousness, and whispered: "Chaoyang, what's going on? Did we mess up?"

Not only him, but also several other members of the crew thought so.

These days, they went to other movie screenings, and every movie was full of applause after the screening. Even if the quality of the work was not satisfactory, the audience would not be stingy with the applause of encouragement.

But the current situation of "The Truman Show" made everyone confused. Even if they thought it was not good, there should be some symbolic applause, right?

They didn't believe that the movie they had worked hard to shoot was so bad that it was not worth even a little compliment!

"Don't be impatient!"

Lin Chaoyang's voice was calm. Through the dim light in the Debussy Theater, Xu Guanwen saw the calmness and confidence on his face.

Suddenly, a sudden applause sounded, as if sending out some kind of signal. A few seconds later, the Debussy Theater was filled with thunderous applause.

The audience, which was mainly composed of only one or two hundred journalists and film critics, was so full of momentum.

"Bravo!"

"Amazing!"

At this moment, there was no distinction between journalists and film critics in the Debussy Theater. They were all audiences.

Everyone stood up spontaneously, shouting loudly to express their incomparable love for the movie.

Everyone had a hunch that they seemed to have witnessed the birth of a classic film!