Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 137 The Highest Praise
Leonardo Dicaprio is a big name, and many celebrities came to the red carpet of "The 11th Hour".

In Cannes, every film premiere can become a red carpet show, big or small, depending on the film's financial strength.

"The 11th Hour" is undoubtedly the one with strong financial resources, although it is not a commercial film at all, nor even an art film, but just an environmental documentary, and losing money is its destiny.

But unfortunately, he is lucky.

With Leo's promotion, no less than three super-rich people invested in this film, so he could hold its premiere in the second largest theater in the Palais des Festivals after the Lumiere Hall, and invited almost all the superstars who came to Cannes.

Chen Nuo and Fan Binbing entered the field in the middle section, and in front of them were Martin Scorsese and his wife.

On the red carpet, Chen Nuo put his arm around Fan Binbing's waist. Facing the numerous spotlights, he felt that Fan Binbing was closer to climax than when she was in the car just now.

In particular, they received more spotlight than Martin Scorsese.

When they saw Chen Nuo, many cameramen immediately moved the long lens away from the face of the Hollywood director.

Because no matter how the media publish film reviews, they will publish them from different perspectives according to their respective positions, political inclinations or countries where they are located.

But here and now in Cannes, no one would disagree with this one thing - this young actor from China has become a strong candidate for this year's Cannes Best Actor.

Fan Binbing's heart was pounding. When had she ever enjoyed such treatment on the red carpet before? It was usually only the media that paid for their time that would focus their cameras on her.

Not like now.

The whole world before my eyes was white.

After accompanying Fan Binbing under the spotlight for a while, Chen Nuo did not forget his business.

Fan Binbing obviously hadn't taken enough photos, but since Chen Nuo asked her to leave, she had no choice but to obey.

The two of them walked up to a black-haired, black-eyed female reporter. Qi Yuntian was standing not far behind her, and there was a cameraman, filming them.

Lu Shang felt like this was a godsend and she almost fainted.

She is just an ordinary reporter for Sina Entertainment in Cannes. The only difference between her and other reporters is that she used to cover domestic news and she has a relative who is a teacher at a film academy.

Lu Shang never imagined that this line would one day allow her to catch such a big fish.

When she saw Chen Nuo and Fan Binbing walking towards her as promised, Lu Shang was so excited that she almost fainted, as if she saw a golden road of promotion and salary increase waving at her.

The next moment, Lu Shang didn't even look at Fan Binbing, and directly poked the microphone into Chen Nuo's chin.

God knows how long it has been since the actor gave an interview to domestic media again.

Come to think of it, the last time was when Channel Six did an exclusive interview with him just after he won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actor Award.

Just this once.

I am the second one.

Lu Shang tried her best to remind herself not to be impulsive or excited, and to forget about Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu. That was all in the past. However, as a fan of The Return of the Condor Heroes, her first question was still: "Hello, Chen Nuo, may I ask you what you said to Liu Yifei that you have always been her best friend? What do you think?"

This question really caught Chen Nuo off guard and confused him for a moment, "Huh?"

Seeing that Chen Nuo seemed to be unaware, Lu Shang quickly added: "Last month, Liu Yifei attended the celebration party for The Condor Heroes directed by Zhang Jizhong. A reporter asked her about the relationship between her and you, and she said this. Is this true? Have you really never been in a relationship before?"

Fuck, didn't I ask you to ask Fan Binbing? Why ask Liu Yifei? Chen Nuo was a little dissatisfied, but he had to answer patiently: "Indeed, they are good friends. She is not wrong. We really have never been in a relationship. That's all nonsense from the media."

Lu Shang sighed secretly. As expected, the sweetness in the drama was all fake. It was impossible to turn the fake drama into something real.

After her hopes were dashed, Lu Chang returned to her professional journalistic identity, doing her job for the money she received. The next question got back to the point: "Excuse me, Chen Nuo, are you and Miss Fan Binbing in love now?"

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "Of course not. Ms. Fan Binbing is now a newly signed artist of my studio. Everyone has misunderstood. Coming to Cannes this time is also a normal work arrangement of our studio."

Lu Shang was really shocked and immediately asked Fan Binbing, "Binbing, is it true? Aren't you working at Huayi? Why did you suddenly come to Chen Nuo's studio?"

Fan Binbing smiled in a typical way and said according to the script: "It's true. The first time I met Chen Nuo was when I went to audition with Director Zhang Yiyi. During the audition, he taught me a lot. At that time, I really hoped that I could continue to learn from him one day. As a result, the opportunity came, and I am very happy."

Lu Shang asked again: "But Binbing, your contract with Huayi should not have expired yet, right?"

Fan Binbing said: "Yes, it has not expired yet, there is still about half a year. But the two Mr. Wangs of Huayi also expressed their support for my decision. I am also very grateful to them."

Lu Shang turned the microphone to Chen Nuo: "Chen Nuo, may I ask why you wanted to sign Bin Bing?"

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "It's probably because of the audition. Sometimes people are like this, they hit it off right away. Okay, thank you. The next guests have arrived. It's time for us to go in."

Chen Nuo felt that these answers were similar, neither more nor less. They made things clear, but they were not 100% clear. They still left some room for imagination, which was good.

Just then I saw Julia Roberts taking photos behind me, so I took Fan Binbing and ran away.

Walking up the steps, Leo was neatly dressed and waiting in the autograph area with the host. When he saw Chen Nuo, he came over and hugged him again, and then kissed Fan Binbing's hand.

In front of the Cannes Film Festival Palace, with Chen Nuo on the left and Leonardo Dicaprio on the right, facing countless spotlights, at this moment, Fan Binbing had a trance-like feeling as if she was in a dream, as if her destiny had taken a different path from that day on.

Although many big-name stars came, the 11 seats for "The 1000th Hour" were still not full. Chen Nuo and Fan Binbing watched the entire movie obediently.

To be honest, it's pretty good. What does the name of this film mean? If the history of the earth's existence is compared to 12 hours, then we are now at 11 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, and it is possible that humans cannot survive to the 12th hour.

This calls on everyone to protect the environment and prevent global warming.

Chen Nuo thinks this makes sense. Protecting the environment is indeed everyone's responsibility, but it doesn't make sense for some environmentalists to become obsessed with it after more than a decade.

After watching this environmental film, Chen Nuo and Leo said goodbye.

After coming out, he was originally planning to let Fan Binbing go back first, after all, there was no red carpet to walk on at Li Yang's side.

Unexpectedly, Fan Binbing also said she wanted to go along.

All right, let's go together. Let's just go back to the villa, change clothes, call Wen Yongshan and Xia Yehe, and go watch it together.

As a result, when I returned to the villa, I saw Xia Yehe and Wen Yongshan sitting on the sofa, flipping through some magazines.

"What are you looking at?" Chen Nuo walked over and asked.

It is an English program magazine in Cannes, called "Today's Film". A new issue will be released every day during the film festival, commenting on and rating the films played the previous day.

It is different from "Screen". It does not involve counting numbers or Palme d'Or, nor is it scored by the media. It directly interviews the audience who leave the theater and asks them to give their scores. It is very naked, with the highest score being 4 and the lowest being 1.

Xia Yehe held up the program brochure and said, "Look, many people gave you 3 points, 3.5 points, and some even gave you 4 points. The average score is 3.4. It is said that the score of In the Mood for Love was only 3.2."

"Darling, and look, you're on the cover." Janice Man suddenly stood on the sofa, took the magazine from Xia Yehe's hand, and put the cover in front of Chen Nuo.

Indeed, today's Cannes program actually used a still from My Blueberry Nights as its cover. Chen Nuo's figure in the restaurant window looked like an illusory ghost, while Emma Stone was sitting on the steps in a daze.

I don’t know if it was intentional by the editor, but his figure occupies the center of the picture, while Emma Stone is only in the lower right corner.

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "As a model, you like to be on the cover, right?"

Janice Man snorted in dissatisfaction, "Darling, do you think being a model is easy? You can't eat anything every day, and you have to practice yoga and exercise. You feel guilty if you eat a little. You are lucky to be on the cover."

Xia Yehe exclaimed, "But I see you didn't eat less this time."

Wen Yongshan's expression changed slightly, and he suddenly pounced on Xia Yehe and tickled her armpits, "I told you not to talk nonsense..."

Chen Nuo happily watched them play for a while before telling them that they were going to the movies together in the afternoon. The two girls jumped up and complained to him why he didn't tell them earlier.

Don’t you know that it takes a lot of time for girls to go out?

……

……

Compared with the superstar-studded and glorious "The 11th Hour", Li Yang is so pitiful.

The theater was arranged by the authorities. Although "Blind Mountain" was shortlisted for the "Un Certain Regard" sub-unit competition film, the Cannes officials did not take it seriously at all and did not even allow it to enter the Palais des Festivals. Instead, a theater with a capacity of about 300 people was arranged outside the Palais des Festivals.

The only means of publicity was to hang a few pitiful posters on the streets, which were blown around by the wind and even the name of the movie could not be clearly seen.

As for the reporters?
Anyway, when Chen Nuo and his group went there in batches, they didn't see a single reporter.

When I met Li Yang and his friends, I asked them and found out that the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" was premiering at the Palais des Festivals at that time.

"Blind Mountain" just collided with it.

That must be a hard death.

Chen Nuo then realized what movie Leo had invited him to watch. It turned out to be this high-scoring masterpiece that will win four awards at the Oscars next year, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor.

Li Yang is a well-mannered middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He is in his 40s and his long hair is already a little gray. Although there are many wrinkles on his face, he still looks quite handsome.

Li Yang studied film in Germany for 13 years when he was young, so he was very well-versed in Western etiquette. He hugged Chen Nuo as soon as he came up.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming, thank you so much."

Director Li, who had previously made "Blind Shaft" and had written a significant contribution to the history of Chinese art films, now had a look of regret on his face.

After the hug, he held Chen Nuo's hand and didn't let go. "When we contacted your agent, we really just held out hope. I really didn't expect you to be willing to come. Really, when your agent replied to us, I couldn't believe my ears."

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit tense, Chen Nuo immediately made a joke and said, "Director Li, I'm just going to Hollywood to film, and I'm not planning to immigrate yet. You and I are both Chinese, so we must come to support each other."

Li Yang sighed and said, "We are all Chinese. It's easy to say, but how many people can really do it? To be honest, we also contacted other actors in Cannes, but except for you, no one even responded. Maybe they are afraid that poor brothers like us will embarrass them, haha."

What Li Yang said was truly...tragic.

Chen Nuo felt a little sad when he heard this, and quickly changed the subject: "Director Li, come, let me introduce you. This is Fan Binbing, do you know her? She is now an artist in my studio."

If it was someone else who introduced them, although Li Yang was poor, he really looked down on Fan Binbing, who was embroiled in scandal. But now, he showed 120% enthusiasm and shook hands with Fan Binbing.

This made Fan Binbing feel a little flattered.

After that, Qi Yuntian, Wen Yongshan and Xia Yehe also arrived, and the two sides introduced themselves to each other again. Chen Nuo said that the two girls were his friends, and Li Yang did not ask any more questions, but happily invited them to come in together.

When we all walked in, we found that the entire theater was only one-tenth full at most.

Li Yang sighed and shook his head, "Although I didn't make this movie for the purpose of making money, it still makes me feel bad to see the situation now."

Chen Nuo didn't know what to say, so he asked, "I heard from my agent that Director Li, did you finance this movie yourself?"

Li Yang smiled, with a hint of pride on his face, and nodded, "Well, I mortgaged my house and raised 400 million to finish the film."

Fan Binbing interrupted and asked, "Can you make it back?"

Li Yang chuckled and said, "God knows, but since last year, a group in France has sponsored Cannes. As long as we win an award in this category, no matter what award it is, we will get 3 euros. Whether we can sell it or not, at least we will have the money to go to Croatia."

Fan Binbing was surprised and asked, "You guys are going to Croatia too?"

Li Yang said: "Yes, I will attend the Motovun Film Festival, also known as the Paradise Film Festival. I will go there at the end of July and try my luck. I will see if I can gain something and let me lose less."

Fan Binbing shook her head in disbelief, looking very confused.

To be honest, Chen Nuo couldn't understand it either. Just like he couldn't understand Zhang Yiyi at the beginning, he couldn't understand Li Yang either.

He is actually a realist at heart. Although he sometimes has brain cramps, such as going into hiding and being a clown for three months, he is really not a literary youth.

However, this did not prevent him from admiring people like Li Yang.

As for idealists, you can say they are idiots, but there are not many people who really hate them.

After chatting for a while in the theater, the movie started.

The whole movie is the same as Blind Well, which is a film that exposes the dark side of society. People with weak psychological endurance, like Janice Man, usually can't stand it after watching half of it.

It's not that I want to cry, but I feel depressed.

But several other people who had gone through the test of "The Dumb House" said it was okay.

After the movie, Li Yang first sent the audience away, then came back and politely asked them to sit for a while because the reporters he had invited had not arrived yet.

When Fan Binbing heard about the reporter, she became a little excited and asked, "Director Li, what kind of reporter?"

Li Yang gave a brief introduction.

It turned out that he spent 2000 euros to buy a tofu block advertisement in "Today's Film". A reporter would come to interview him later. In other words, he would come to ask him for the promotional words.

2000 Euros, this is all of Li Yang’s publicity expenses, all invested in this.

The poor Xia Yehe screamed, "This Today's Movie actually charges money?"

Li Yang was also quite surprised. "Don't you have to pay for the Cannes program brochure? It's full of advertisements. The one I bought is the cheapest. If you want to buy the first few editions, it will cost tens of thousands of Euros. It's very expensive."

Wen Yongshan couldn't help but ask, "What about the cover?"

Li Yang laughed and said, "I didn't dare to ask about the cover, but I guess it's at least 100 or 200 thousand Euros."

Wen Yongshan exclaimed, "Ah!" and said to Chen Nuo, "Darling, how much did director Wang Jiawei spend on your cover? "

Li Yang finally understood what the two girls meant by asking and couldn't help but smile: "Today's Blueberry Night cover is definitely free."

Xia Yehe asked in confusion, "Is it because it's Director Wang's film that they don't charge money?"

Li Yang was stunned and said, "One of the reasons... I say, don't you know?"

Several people looked at each other blankly and shook their heads in unison.

what do you know?
Whatever, they don't know.

Because including Chen Nuo, several people are all newcomers to the Cannes Film Festival. Apart from reading media news every day, which must be the English version, they are completely ignorant of other news.

Especially since Li Yang was talking about some things in the lower circles of Cannes.

There are an average of more than 500 exhibitors coming to Cannes from all over the world every year. Among them, except for a dozen films that have squeezed into the main competition unit, the other films can be said to be even worse than Li Yang.

Selling movies is no different from selling vegetables in the market. You both have to shout as loudly as you can to attract customers and sell them immediately if the price is right.

They do not exist in newspapers, on TV news, or even in people's minds.

But in fact, these talents are the silent majority. In a sense, they are the ones who truly represent the Cannes Film Festival, not those glamorous international superstars.

These people were eligible for free tickets to yesterday's screening of "My Blueberry Nights," and many of them went to watch it.

Chen Nuo was sitting in the high and mighty box in the middle yesterday, and saw that half of the audience below were applauding...

That's them.

Those who did not applaud are ordinary audiences.

Li Yang shook his head and said, "No matter what the films they make are like, they all understand movies. These people have really good things to say about you. Of course, Emma, ​​who plays opposite you, is not bad either."

"When I went to our film booth in the morning, I heard those directors and producers chatting about your performance. I thought you were Marlon Brando. Later I talked about this with several Arab directors, and they said that the texture of your acting was like nuggets of gold in the desert."

This metaphor made everyone laugh.

Chen Nuo laughed and said, "Director Li, you are exaggerating."

Li Yang smiled and said, "I'm not exaggerating. Let's put it this way, have you read today's newspapers? The World is okay, but the Liberation was badly criticized by those directors. People who didn't know thought Darius Congee was the male lead, but after a closer look, they realized he was just a photographer. In the words of a German director, the editors of Liberation are simply fascists. If they could, they would send everyone except the Gauls to concentration camps."

The experienced Li Yang is good at chatting and his language is witty and humorous, which once again made everyone laugh.

Li Yang also laughed for a while, and then said: "There is also the American "Hollywood Reporter". Oh, don't mention it. At lunch, I heard Americans at the table next to me cursing that this issue of "Hollywood Reporter" was too ugly and it was a disgrace to Hollywood. It was completely a gathering place for the KKK. But "Time" magazine was quite friendly to you this time..."

As he spoke, Li Yang's expression became a little serious. He looked at Chen Nuo and said seriously, "I used to come to Cannes quite often. After all these years, this is the first time I heard of a Chinese actor being praised so highly by these people. It was too early for Ge You and Jiang Wen, so I don't know, but at least it didn't happen when Tony Leung Chiu Wai won the Best Actor trophy."

"I have listened to all their words today, and now I tell them to you, it seems like a joke. However, every time I hear them, I really can't explain the feeling in my heart. To sum it up, it may still be two common words: moved."

"For years. At the Riviera, in Cannes, I've heard them raving about Sean Penn in She's So Lovely, and Yuya Yagira in Nobody Knows. And Tommy Lee Jones, whom they loved as much as they loved God. And Olivier Gourmet, Muzafi Odmer, and so many more."

"There may not be such a person in every session, but once such a person appears, I really hope that he is Chinese."

Li Yang was completely moved, his eyes were red, "People say that I am a director who worships foreign things and only films the bad side of our country to show to foreigners. No, it's really not true. What son doesn't want his mother to be healthy and graceful..."

"Hey, no more talking."

Li Yang wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and forced a smile that showed his wrinkles: "Chen Nuo, let me speak from the bottom of my heart. No matter what the foreign media say, no matter what these foreigners say, I want you to know that at least this year, you made me, a Chinese director who is nothing, stand up straight and raise my head in Cannes."

"I am no longer afraid of my colleagues asking me what good Chinese films are participating in the exhibition this year, or whether there are any good actors."

"Because when they asked me, I could tell them that the Nuo Chen you were talking about was a Chinese."

(End of this chapter)