Huayu: As a child star, I just want to be famous

Chapter 542 A Great Success (6K)

Skerrick was a little surprised by Leonardo's statement.

However, it is a common practice in film festivals to focus on one award and give up another, so he would not be too surprised.

Skrick continued to praise Chen Linfeng's new film.

“Joker is the most unique superhero movie I have ever seen. It is very different from all the previous Marvel and DC movies.”

"Chen, how did you come up with this description of the clown?"

Chen Linfeng spread his hands and said, "This story came first, and then one day, I suddenly thought that if the story was set on the clown, it would be more fascinating, so this movie came into being."

This reason he invented evidently pleased Screeker.

"Haha, it's really fascinating. Your words made me imagine what the original story was like."

Chen Linfeng smiled and said nothing.

I thought to myself, I won’t make one up for you.

Seeing that the atmosphere was good, Skrick took the opportunity to invite Chen Linfeng, Leonardo and others to participate in some salon activities during the film festival.

Chen Linfeng naturally agreed.

Then, Skrick casually asked, "Chen, Leo, what do you think of the Berlin Film Festival?"

Chen Linfeng was naturally full of praise.

Praising the Berlin Film Festival for its long history, it is one of the most influential and top international film festivals in the world today.

It was mentioned that so many filmmakers gathered together, which was a rare event.

Although it was a very common compliment, it sounded particularly heartfelt when it came from Chen Linfeng's mouth.

The same goes for Leonardo, just praise him as much as you can. No one would scold a monk as a bald donkey in front of him.

Faced with the praise from the two top stars, Skerrick did not seem very happy after listening to it. Instead, he looked a little depressed.

“What you are praising is the past of the Berlin Film Festival, but it will be very difficult to maintain it in the future and continue to be worthy of such praise.”

He sighed and said, "As you talked about at the beginning, Berlin is a bit cold in the winter, and it is always sandwiched between the Oscars and award season, so it seems a bit deserted in recent years."

This is a bit profound, and doesn't seem like something the president of a film festival should say.

Normally, we should report good news rather than bad news.

Chen Linfeng vaguely understood the main purpose of this person's visit today.

He said tentatively, "The Berlin Film Festival does have some concerns, but in fact, the artistic atmosphere and spirit here in Berlin are still very appealing. I think I will come to bother Mr. Dieter more often in the future."

This is some kind of cryptic offer. Judging from the joy on the other party's face, I think he should be able to understand it.

Chen Linfeng thought about it and felt that he could adjust the wording slightly and add a deadline.

"At least while Mr. Dieter is still the president of the film festival, I will definitely come more often."

He smiled and said, "I naturally get along well with a chairman like Mr. Dieter who is close to Chinese filmmakers."

The smile on Skrick's face became more obvious. "Haha, Chen, I feel the same way. Since we met just now, I feel very happy to chat with you."

"I think it won't be long before we become our own people."

He patted Chen Linfeng's shoulder with a little force.

The opening ceremony couldn't just focus on Chen and Leonardo chatting, so Skrick said a few more words and then left.

Leonardo listened to the whole conversation between the two and was quite amazed.

He naturally understood the subtext of the conversation between both parties and the implied transaction.

In the Western world, this kind of transaction is very normal.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Chen is only missing the Golden Bear Award. This time he came with "Joker" and he only wants the Golden Bear and nothing else.

Normally, if he just hangs on like this, there is a high probability that Chen will have to frequently impact the Berlin Golden Bear in the future.

It's like Cannes is hanging Zhang Yimou.

Of course, hanging Zhang Yimou in Cannes is actually a bit too much.

Leonardo is not a time traveler, so he doesn't know that in his previous life, Zhang Yimou eventually gave up on the Cannes Film Festival and focused all his efforts on the Oscars.

It was Chen Linfeng who changed some things, making the Cannes event a success.

It took 15 years from the time Zhang Yimou first entered the Cannes Film Festival to the time when "Sunset" won the award.

Zhang Yimou made three attempts to attend Cannes, but "Not One Less" had some problems with Cannes and he almost gave up afterwards.

But overall, Cannes has gained a lot from Zhang Yimou in these 15 years.

The country attaches much more importance to Cannes than the other two. It would be a joke to say that Zhang Yimou has no contribution.

And if Skrick also follows Cannes and does the same thing to Chen Linfeng, it will bring huge attention to the Berlin Film Festival.

They had mentioned these in their previous discussions.

This is also what the public relations team believes is the most likely difficulty faced during this year's trip to Berlin.

However, after talking with Scree today, Leonardo suddenly realized that they had missed one thing.

That's Chen's age.

Normally, a director would be at least 40 years old by the time he achieved success, so he could use this method to stay afloat several times.

Middle-aged people don’t have much temper, so they can be coerced at will.

But when it comes to Chen, it’s different.

Young people are arrogant and can easily fail if they are not careful.

What if they feel they have been treated unfairly and simply refuse to participate in the Berlin Film Festival?

Chen is not without precedent.

Obviously, Scree noticed this problem and made the deal just now.

Chen Linfeng also decisively accepted the olive branch and made this dirty deal.

"Of course, there may also be the factor that the quality of "Joker" is very good. The blatant display of suppression will have a great impact on the credibility of the film festival." Leonardo thought to himself.

Skrick actually wanted to ask him the same question just now, but Leonardo didn't respond.

This old guy is too imaginative.

He has already made it clear that he doesn't want to receive the acting award this time, so why would he want to make a deal with him?

Leonardo had a lot of thoughts in his mind. Thinking of the additional conditions that Chen Linfeng had added to the deal, he asked,
"Why do you have to add a time limit later? Aren't you worried that something might go wrong at the end?"

Chen Linfeng smiled and said, "When I say that, it makes it seem like Mr. Skrick has done a good job."

Now that the person has resigned, why should he care whether there are any big stars coming to the film festival?

Rather, when there are fewer people, Mr. Slick will appear more popular.

Leonardo thought about Screech's reaction at that time.

Indeed, Chen seemed to have guessed it right.

He couldn't help but marvel at the quick reaction.

Chen Linfeng felt relaxed all over, the biggest hurdle was removed.

The president of a film festival and the president of the jury are not the same thing, but there is no doubt that the president of a film festival will have a huge influence on the final outcome of the awards.

Now Skrick has no problem, and may even have considerable help. It all depends on whether the judges will give him face.

He knew in his heart that although there was such an implicit agreement, whether he could win the award would still depend on the quality of other works in this film festival.

When you are in a good mood, everything seems good.

Even this year's opening ceremony seemed much more lively and lovely.

At the opening ceremony, German President Joachim Gauck also gave a speech on stage.

This shows the difference between the Berlin Film Festival and the other two. Being located in the capital of Germany, it is inevitably more closely connected with politics.

Of course, the German president is not the chancellor after all. In this country, the chancellor is still in charge, and the president is more of a mascot.

After the opening ceremony, everyone watched the opening film together.

The Grandmaster by Wang Jiawei.

Overall, Director Wang's film is pretty good. As a martial arts film about the martial arts world of the Republic of China, it is even very restrained in the beginning and not too revealing.

It was not until the second half that the traditional Wang Jiawei style was clearly revealed.

The whole movie is said to be about Ip Man, but it looks more like "The Legend of Gong Er" no matter how you look at it.

Apart from anything else, Zhang Ziyi is really outstanding when she performs a role that suits her.

Just like Gong Er and Gong Ruomei in this movie.

Wang Jiawei also did a good job in character creation.

For a person who is open and honest, when she believes something is right, no matter how others try to persuade her, it will be useless.

No wonder Zhang Ziyi was able to cover up the impact of the Ink-Throwing Incident with this movie.

It is the case that a dead chess piece is brought back to life.

When the movie ended, Chen Linfeng applauded in amazement.

Many foreigners at the scene had trouble understanding the story, including Leonardo. After the movie ended, he kept asking about the parts of the plot that he didn't understand.

He really wanted to learn something about Chinese culture.

This was also influenced by Chen Linfeng.

After the opening ceremony, Chen Linfeng also accepted interviews from several media outlets.

In addition to the six domestic princesses, there are also media with their own v-stations, Sina and Penguin, with whom we cooperate more frequently.

The rest are some foreign media, such as "Film Art" and "The Hollywood Reporter", as well as mainstream media from various countries and even some media from third world countries.

Although most of them are routine questions, such as talking about one's next plans, discussing whether one can win an award, revealing some information about new movies, etc.

In addition, comments on other film works or evaluations of filmmakers from other countries are also key inquiries from these media.

If a world-renowned director can give a positive evaluation of a certain filmmaker from his country, it may be good news.

Many foreign media think so.

Fortunately, Chen Linfeng has watched a lot of movies and has a good memory.

He can usually tell a thing or two about some of the works and filmmakers asked by foreign media.

Overall, the comments are definitely mostly positive. If he really encounters something he doesn't like, Chen Linfeng doesn't mind giving some condescending advice.

Reporters from the other media often take note of it and say they will report their comments back home.

He looked very serious.

When he was just 25 years old, Chen Linfeng had already begun to enjoy the status of a famous director.

Domestic media are relatively less sophisticated. If they really want to comment, people would have done it in China. Why come here to ask? It's a waste of time.

Moreover, Chen Linfeng's praise for "Lost in Thailand" and "Knife of the Assassin" last year was, to some extent, this kind of behavior.

Speaking of this, the domestic media told Chen Linfeng some news about the Spring Festival period, although he already knew about it.

For example, marketing such as “I owe XX a movie ticket” has already appeared in the country.

It seems that the pressure from Zhang Yimou and Wang Jiawei was really great, so nuclear weapons were used so early.

Chen Linfeng didn't have any comment on this. It's okay to use this kind of thing once, but if you use it too much, you will definitely fail in the future.

The key competitor is not there to do nothing. Once you use this marketing term, if it appears again in the future, you can’t tell which party spread it.

I can't explain it even if I have a mouth full of it.

In fact, it shouldn’t be marketed this way.

Then, Zhang Yimou's new movie was also mentioned. The scenes in the trailer were grand, and unlike "Hero" or "Curse of the Golden Flower", they were so neat and tidy that they didn't look like real historical war scenes.

This time it looks like there are a lot.

And, once again, I emphasize:
The scene is grand!

This is indeed Zhang Yimou's strong point. Since the Olympics, his skills in this area have further improved.

Chen Linfeng was really interested in what kind of results he could achieve this time.

He also felt a little regretful. If only "Joker" could be released during the Spring Festival, it would have been a great opportunity for him to compete with them.

But then I thought again, I don’t know whether my movie can be released in China.

It would be better to try to win the award first, and then find a way to get the approval of the higher-ups to introduce it.

Fortunately, he didn't think of making the movie a co-production, otherwise the script would have been difficult to pass review.

In the next few days, he focused on several films shortlisted for the main competition unit of this film festival.

The films "Infant Style" and "A Page of Life", which he had more impressions of in his previous life, were screened later, on the 16th and 13th respectively.

There is a road movie from the United States called "Prince Avalanche" which is quite interesting.

The plot is joyful.

It seems a bit out of place at an occasion like the European Film Festival.

Then there is "The Croods", in which Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone voiced the male and female protagonists and also came to Berlin to promote the film.

These two are also the two biggest international stars at this film festival besides Chen Linfeng and Leonardo.

Chen Linfeng went to the movie premiere to join in the fun.

As a courtesy, Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone will also attend the premiere of "Joker".

In addition, Zhang Yimou’s new movie also premiered in the next few days.

Naturally, Chen Linfeng wanted to join in the fun.

Let’s not talk about this movie for now.

However, it must be said that the audience, film critics and media gave the film very good reviews.

The Song-Mongol War had a profound impact on European history. Both movie fans and filmmakers in Europe are very interested in it.

In the following days, there was a lot of media coverage of this.

Zhang Yimou's purpose of coming here for the premiere has been achieved.

The organizing committee scheduled the film to be screened on the 14th, which is the fifth day of the Chinese New Year.

It almost means we have avoided the most important days of the Chinese New Year.

Of course, Chen Linfeng wouldn't go back just to celebrate the Spring Festival.

It's just that Sissi came to Berlin in the past two days to celebrate the New Year with him.

Then, on New Year's Eve in the country, the two of them video-called their families all night long.

There are also Chinese communities in Germany that celebrate the New Year.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, Chen Linfeng and his wife did not go to the movies, but instead strolled around Berlin's Chinatown for a long time.

After that, I took her to watch movies at film festivals.

Since she was already here, and it was so close to the premiere of his movie, Liu Qianqian would naturally stay and participate in the premiere tomorrow.

The crew of "The Walking Dead" was very considerate and approved several days of leave.

With the new attention and exposure that Sissi's current fame has brought, it will surely make Skeric happy.

Chen Linfeng's film hardly needs any promotion. It is the biggest gimmick of this year's Berlin Film Festival and is also the favorite to win an award in the eyes of the media.

Everyone is paying attention to what Chen's new film will be like after "Inception".

That evening, a large number of media reporters, celebrity guests, and movie fans flocked to the door of the screening room.

All the domestic stars who came to Berlin came to show their support.

Han Shanping, Zhang Yimou, Wang Jiawei, Liang Chaowei, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Weiping, etc.

The situation in Europe and the United States is even more exaggerated. Many stars who had not attended the opening of the Berlin Film Festival before took time out to attend the premiere of "Joker".

Like Martin Freeman, Frank Grillo, Famke Janssen, Emma Watson, Samuel L Jackson, Benedict, Scarlett Johansson...

These people either had a good relationship with Chen Linfeng before, or had cooperated with him before. As long as they could spare some time, they would basically come to show their support.

I just don't have time, so I may have to put other things off.

To some extent, Director Chen can be said to have further lifted them to a higher position.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a benefactor.

Well, after "Inception", this favor seems even more profound.

Many of the people mentioned above often talk about their deep friendship with Chen when facing the media.

Or they always regard themselves as disciples, just like Leonardo DiCaprio to Martin Scorsese.

It was so sincere and heartfelt.

Sometimes, Chen Linfeng, who saw the reports, would even wonder, were their relationship really so good in the past?
His memory is obviously flawed, so he shouldn't be making a mistake.

In addition, A-list stars such as Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Gosling, Tom Hardy, and Chris Hemsworth also came to join in the fun.

It can be said to be a galaxy of stars.

With the addition of these people’s fans, more and more people gathered.

The scale of the entire premiere seemed even bigger than the opening ceremony of the film festival.

Fortunately, the organizing committee had anticipated this situation and held the premiere at the main venue, the Berlin Film Festival, which made it less crowded.

Zhang Yimou and several actors from the crew walked the red carpet.

Zhang Weiping curled his lips, "It's just a premiere, but they made it so big. Aren't they afraid of stealing the show?"

A few days ago, "The Song-Mongol War" just had its premiere, and the actors all returned to China for a roadshow promotion.

The two of them came back specially to help and support the event.

Chen Linfeng helped a lot before and after the movie, so we must give him some face.

But Zhang Weiping still couldn't suppress the sour feeling in his heart.

Zhang Yimou laughed and said, "Xiao Chen has a lot of face in Europe and America, you know that."

"It's too big. What if the movie doesn't turn out well? We have to consider this."

Young people are still unreliable.

Zhang Weiping sighed and looked very worried.

Zhang Yimou looked at him strangely. They had been together for such a long time, but when had Zhang Weiping ever mentioned that others were worried?

I still feel a little sad.

"Don't worry, I've seen Xiao Chen's new movie before, nothing will go wrong."

"Really?" Zhang Weiping asked, "What level exactly?"

Zhang Yimou thought about it and said, "It's hard to say, but the quality is pretty high anyway."

“To the extent of Whiplash?”

"Hmm..." Zhang Yimou hesitated for a moment and nodded, "Higher."

“It won’t be on the level of Sunset, will it?”

Zhang Yimou was a little embarrassed. "The film genre is different. From the artistic point of view, it is definitely not as good as "Sunset", but the emotional appeal is stronger."

Zhang Weiping took a breath of cold air.

Isn't this an enhanced version?

In his opinion, artistry is nonsense, and box office is what is real.

Emotional appeal is more important than artistry.

"Isn't this another Inception?" he thought to himself.

"Inception" is shocking and has a strong emotional appeal.

But after thinking about it, he shook his head again, definitely not.

After all, this is a work that is intended to win awards.

Xiao Chen's level is indeed very high, he admits that.

But there is still a huge gap between art films and commercial films, and even Xiao Chen finds it difficult to break out of this rut.

Well, I'll have to take a closer look at the movie later.

Zhang Weiping, who was thinking of conquering the universe and swallowing up the world this year, immediately took it seriously.

Sure enough, the real opponent is Xiao Chen.

In the screening room, Wang Jiawei was also thinking about Chen Linfeng's new movie.

He is somewhat famous among professional filmmakers in Europe and the United States, well-informed, and is also the chairman of this year's jury.

So I heard some news in advance.

I heard that Xiao Chen’s new movie is a magical movie.

Considering that the movie is called "Joker", Wang Jiawei, who knew the character of the Joker, immediately became curious.

I want to know how Chen Linfeng interprets the clown story.

"It must be very innovative." Wang Jiawei thought.

It is easy to imagine that Chen Linfeng's works, whether novels or movies, are always very innovative.

Whether it’s the marketing model or the story itself, he always likes to come up with something new.

As the lights dimmed, the entire theater became dark.

Wang Jiawei noticed that no glasses were prepared, so it seemed to be a 2D movie.

“It’s really rare.”

He took a deep breath and immersed himself in the movie.

Two hours later, Wang Jiawei was silent.

He remembered the comments he had heard before.

It's really a magical movie!
He turned his head and looked around. Almost all the audience were foreigners, and they were obviously shocked.

Still immersed in a certain afterglow, unable to extricate myself.

"It seems that this movie is more lethal to European and American audiences."

Wang Jiawei is very observant and he can clearly sense the emotions stirring in the hearts of these European and American audiences.

Including the two judges next to him, the three of them came to watch the movie together.

After a brief silence in the cinema.

Then, the audience seemed to come to their senses and burst into thunderous applause.

The audience stood up at the same time and cheered continuously.

Zhang Yimou followed the actions of the audience around him and stood up.

Zhang Weiping didn't want to get up, but he was the only one sitting there and it would be too conspicuous.

Therefore, they could only stand up and applaud reluctantly.

The premiere of Joker was a huge success!
(End of this chapter)