Global Film Emperor

Chapter 296 The End
The familiar applause rang out again, but this time it wasn't Lu Ze who enjoyed the spotlight. This feeling wasn't particularly difficult for Lu Ze to accept.

However, Zhuang Yu and Wang Zhen looked a little surprised. They seemed to have gotten used to Lu Ze's dominance in domestic awards, but they never expected that he would miss out on an award on his first international competition. This sense of disappointment left them speechless for a moment.

Zhang Weiyu's expression carried a hint of regret. He didn't understand Zhuang Yu and Wang Zhen's feelings about Lu Ze winning awards time and time again. He just felt that Lu Ze was quite strong and was simply disappointed that an excellent actor was not selected. But now that the award was for his male actor, he couldn't keep his regret on his face for too long. He could only get up and congratulate Taylor.

"It's okay, we'll try harder next time. It's not a big deal, right? Don't worry about it. Let's find a good notebook and keep pushing forward. It's not like we won't do it next year."

Lu Ze felt a warmth in his heart as he saw the two comforting him, but that's how awards are. As long as there's competition, it's not necessarily yours. Even if you're at the peak of your career, there's still a chance of an upset.

To say that Lu Ze didn't care would be pure nonsense. After all, this was the first Best Actor nomination he had ever received at one of the world's three major film festivals. For him, acting was no longer just a simple job to make a living, but a major hobby.

Money is no longer an urgent need for him, but one must always pursue something in life. He has already achieved his goal of making money, so what Lu Ze feels he lacks now is fame.

He enjoys the exhilaration of receiving honors, the immense satisfaction of breaking personal or historical records and being written into film history, which is the driving force that propels him forward through periods of burnout.

He might have gritted his teeth and persevered before because of the system's existence, but now that pushing himself has become a habit, the system is no longer the sword behind him, but rather a dumbbell that makes him stronger.

But he was numb from winning, truly numb. When he stepped onto the stage and received all sorts of trophies, he lost his excitement and enjoyed it all with a blank expression. But these were not the awards he wanted.

What he wanted was the kind of honor that would excite him so much that he couldn't help but smile and wanted to kiss it. So, losing once was fine, because that way, his greed for the Palme d'Or would be magnified infinitely.

Taylor, who was not far from him, stood up amidst the cheers of the crowd and ran towards the stage. In fact, those who can win this kind of award are all older, with Lu Ze being the only exception, being able to win so many honors at the age of thirty.

Most of the remaining people, unless they are lucky enough to get a good notebook and study hard, can soar to the top and win this trophy when they are young. Otherwise, they have to go through the accumulation and polishing of time and only in middle age can they be fortunate enough to come into contact with the highest honor in life.

Lu Ze felt no hostility or jealousy towards the 43-year-old actor, only a gentle sense of relief and heartfelt congratulations to the actor who won the Best Actor award for the first time.

The camera then panned to Lu Ze, who raised his hands above his head and clapped his hands diagonally above his forehead. On the big screen, this sincere expression of blessing naturally won the favor of countless people, so the protagonist who enjoyed this applause became Lu Ze, as it was a consolation from the guests present.

"Thank you! Thank you, Lu, you're amazing, really amazing! I'm so excited right now, my mom's right here in the audience, my... Mom, I did it!"

After the Best Actor award was announced, there was really nothing more for Lu Ze to do. He simply watched Zhuang Yu raise the trophy high on the stage and once again offered his applause. Yes, Zhuang Yu had won the Best Director award at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

This was not unexpected for Lu Ze. Just like the Golden Horse Awards, Wang Zhen was eliminated so that he could win the award. Now, he was eliminated so that Zhuang Yu could win the award.

In reality, Cannes is far less fair than it appears on the surface. Lu Ze knew that Zhuang Yu had done a lot of public relations work before the film festival started, whether it was due to Zhuang Yu's personal wishes or Tiancheng's strong support. In any case, he had done a lot of activities.

But it's pointless to delve into the details. Didn't Lu Ze also steal Wang Zhen's honor back then? If he were to have such petty thoughts again, it would be a bit narrow-minded of him. That's not his personality; he wouldn't do such a thing.

He could only reach out and take the trophy from Zhuang Yu, touch the metallic palm leaf on the trophy, and watch as "The Gunman" won Best Picture.

Overall, "The Gunman" is no less popular than other hit films, but the casting of the male lead might be the problem. His acting is fine, but he just feels like something is missing.

It was also due to the weak performance of the male lead that "The Gunman" didn't win the Best Actor award; the nomination was just a consolation prize. A major, and perhaps most important, reason for winning Best Film was probably because "The Gunman" is a French film. There's not much to say about that; a little favoritism towards one's own country isn't wrong, and it's not exactly a conspiracy, given the film's quality. Finally, there were several honorary achievement awards. Several elderly people who had made significant contributions to the film industry went on stage to accept their awards, receiving respect from the entire film industry. Seeing these elderly people smiling so brightly, perhaps dedicating their lives to film was the happiest thing for them.

As I said before, the commercialization of film is inevitable due to changes in the economic situation. However, many filmmakers present here are still working hard to defend this last piece of pure land in the film industry. This includes the veterans on stage, Zhuang Yu, Lu Ze, and Mickey, who are all working together to present the purest film art to the audience.

Many of them cannot be called masters or artists, but they are certainly defenders of art films, still pursuing the purest spiritual core of cinema.

Here's the room key, thank you.

"Where are you staying tonight? I came here by myself, and there's a guest room that's empty. If you don't mind, you can sleep in my room for the night. If you're worried that I'm gay, then forget it."

"Then let's forget about it, it's Britain, right?"

"Kid, do you have some kind of prejudice against the British?"

Lu Ze took out a room key from his suit jacket and handed it to Zhang Weiyu. The two made a joke about the UK.

You can't force a mixed-race child of Chinese descent born and raised in the UK to have a sense of belonging to China, even if he has no problem communicating in standard Mandarin. Lu Ze didn't care about that. He just leaned against the car door and took a sip of mineral water while the reporters were taking pictures.

"It's good that you have a place to stay tonight. I was just worried that a big Chinese star like you would be sleeping on the streets of France. But actually, I'm sure there are plenty of French girls who would love to spend the night with you. Sigh, we're both losers tonight. How about a Godfather's drink? Losers always need a hangover to ease their sorrows."

"Forget it, my flight is at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, and I have to get up at six. I'm still not quite adjusted to the time difference, so I'd better go back to sleep early."

"Alright then, this is the second time you've turned down my invitation. You really have absolutely no interest? Cannes, nightclubs, alcohol, dance music, hot girls, extravagant spending, hangovers—a triple whammy, BOOM! It'll blow your brain out. The next day, a bath to flush out the alcohol, two aspirin pills, plane, whoosh—home. How about that?"

"Forget it, this kind of life isn't for me. Okay, I'll get on the bus right away."

Lu Ze tossed the water bottle into the car, shook his head at Mickey, and when he saw Zhuang Yu greeting him, he responded. Zhuang Yu had also booked a deluxe business room with an empty bed, so Lu Ze would stay there tonight.

"Okay, remember to call me when you get to England, and I'll show you the three best things about England: whisky, sexy girls, and football. Oh, and if you like Manchester City, let's not contact each other anymore, or I'll kill you."

"No, I'm a Shenhua fan. If you come to Hebei China Fortune, I'll take you to eat chicken feet and drink beer. That's it, I'm leaving."

Lu Ze opened the car door, waved to the bewildered Mickey, and suddenly turned to look at the theater behind him. He stared at it for a long time before turning back and closing his eyes.

Let's set a small goal: next time we come to Cannes, the Best Actor award is going to be ours, Lu Ze.

"."

(End of this chapter)