Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 53: It's Hard to Win the Grand Prize

Why did Cao Yang ask people from Sony Classics and MK2 to come and watch the film? The two companies must have known the truth, otherwise Sony Classics would not have invited Mikhalkov.

Two people came from Sony Classics, in addition to Mikhalkov, there was also Bellman, one of the marketing heads.

At this time, Berman and Mikhalkov were in a small conference room, discussing Cao Yang's film.

"Director Mikhalkov, if you were a judge in Venice, and were impartial, what would you say about Cao's film?"

After Berman finished speaking, he emphasized, "Putting aside any biased stance, we need an objective judgment as a reference."

Mikhalkov spread his arms and shrugged his shoulders, saying with the Slavic humor, "My dear Berman, there are only two of us here, there is no need to be so serious.

You should listen to my advice and find an authentic Slavic restaurant, order a bottle of vodka, pair it with red sausage and cold-smoked fish, and preferably some caviar and pickles. It will be more interesting to talk about this topic while eating. "

"Mr. Mikhalkov..."

"Well, well, Mr. Behrman, you really have no sense of humor at all."

Mikhalkov whispered in Russian, "Damn Kraut, what an idiot."

"Mihekov, I am fluent in German, Russian, English, Italian, French and Chinese. I can understand what you are saying." Berman said in Russian with a blank expression.

"what……"

Mikhalkov touched his big nose awkwardly, then laughed to ease the atmosphere and said, "My dear Berman, you are such a learned man."

Then, he smiled and tried to say two more words in broken Chinese: "Stupid!"

Seeing Berman looking at him in confusion, Mikhalkov quickly said, "Okay, man, let's talk about the movie."

Mikhalkov knew that although Berman was an excellent actor, he was not a director after all, so he tried to evaluate the film in words that Berman could understand.

"Cao's film uses a lot of metaphors, and the male and female protagonists don't talk much throughout the film. The plot is driven entirely by their performances, which is not easy.

But unexpectedly, the acting of the male and female protagonists is very wonderful. Even if there are no lines, you can still feel completely in the play and follow their emotions. "

After a pause, Mikhalkov said seriously: "If I were a judge, first of all, the director of this film has put a lot of effort into the camera language, which is worthy of recognition. I would definitely have no objection to nominating him for Best Director.

As for the performances of the male and female protagonists, they can be described as extremely outstanding. I would nominate them for Best Actor and Best Actress, especially the male protagonist, whose role runs through the entire film and drives the development of the plot. Precisely because he has no lines, his acting skills are more highlighted.

If I were on the jury, I would argue for him to be the best actor! "

Berman fell into deep thought. He really didn't expect that Mikhalkov had such a high opinion of the film. The opinion of a Venice Golden Lion winner must be worthy of his attention.

"What if, I mean what if, some off-field factors are taken into consideration? Of course, I mean, without the involvement of Sony Classics." Bellman asked again.

Mikhalkov smiled and pointed upwards.

"Bellman, don't underestimate this academy. Their influence in Europe is not much worse than Sony Classics. What's more, didn't you notice that this movie was shot from a female perspective? You should understand what I mean."

Berman nodded. He had seen some of this before and of course knew that films with female perspectives were more likely to win awards in the three major European cinemas.

Mikhelov sneered and cursed the stupid German inwardly, then said: "Judging from your expression, maybe you only noticed the female perspective of the movie, but you still don't really understand it. Do you know why the male protagonist is invisible?" Berman actually noticed it. It was hard not to notice such a weird plot.

"Is the director using an invisible figure that is impossible to appear in reality to prove that the male protagonist is actually the female protagonist's fantasy and not a real person?"

"Haha, I knew it."

Mikhalkov laughed and said in broken Chinese, "Idiot."

"Hmm? Shaobing?"

"Ha, this is local slang, it means to compliment you on your intelligence."

Mikhalkov hastened to explain.

"My dear Berman, what you can think of is just the surface. You probably don't know much about Buddhist culture. I happen to know a little bit. Many of the protagonist's actions, as well as the eyes he painted on his hands, all involve a god."

Berman's eyes lit up. This time he was really surprised. Women's position, women's dignity, domestic violence, resistance, love, religion...

Based on these, if someone pushes it a little bit from behind, as long as there are no eccentric weirdos on the jury, which judge would dare to oppose it openly?
Even the most commonly used excuse is saying that the quality of the movie is not good - as long as you are not blind, even if you are going against your conscience, you would not be embarrassed to say that the quality of this movie is not good.

An immature idea suddenly popped up in Berman's mind, making his heart beat faster. He suppressed his excitement and asked Mikhelov in a calm tone.

"Director Mikhalkov, do you think that with the help of this academy and the support of our company, is it possible, even a little bit, to touch the Golden Lion of Venice?"

If he can win another Golden Lion, it will be of extraordinary benefit to the company and to him personally, of course, most importantly to him personally.

Mikhalkov was silent. For the winners of Europe's three major awards, the Golden Lion, the Golden Bear and the Palme d'Or, if the quality of the film is good enough, a large part of the consideration is no longer who has better quality, but more off-field factors.

For example, why did Mikhalkov’s film “The Mongolian Spirit” win the Venice Golden Lion in 91?
The general background is that the Northern Giant Bear is no longer viable, and its member states have declared independence one after another, with the only thing left to disintegrate is the final official announcement.

Against this background, from beginning to end in "Mongolian Spirit", the audience did not see the traditional horse racing, wrestling, dancing, etc. as they had imagined, but was instead shrouded in a helpless and sad atmosphere.

The meaning is self-evident.

This kind of movie winning a big award was the biggest political correctness of the year.

Elegy for Empire.

In any other year, I might win a prize, but the possibility of winning the highest prize is very low.

“It’s a little bit possible, but not very likely.”

Mikhalkov shook his head, then smiled and said, "Maybe you can give it a try. Even if you fail in the end, you can show the young director the strength of your company.

Of course, the prerequisite is to see his sincerity first."

　Thanks to the brothers for their monthly votes and recommendation support, and thanks to "时光1979" and "北极无眼泪^yz" for their rewards. I wanted to post the list of brothers who voted for the monthly votes and recommended the book to show my gratitude, but when I looked at it, I saw that 88 brothers voted for the monthly votes and 768 brothers voted for the recommendation. Well, I can only remember the brothers in my heart, thank you, thank you, and be grateful!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)