I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 332 Well-deserved!

"Director Guo, we have just received the latest news that the total box office of your films has exceeded 100 billion New Taiwan Dollars!"

Wow, that's amazing, 100 billion!

The female host, Yang Qianpei, stood there startled, clapping and speaking to Guo Fan while holding a card.

"..."

Chen Jin turned his head away, suppressing a laugh. He really had no choice but to be dragged along the red carpet by Guo Fan.

Leaving this guy all alone is indeed too lonely, but the female host's sweet and coquettish Taiwanese accent still made Chen Jin feel a little uncomfortable. Doesn't it make you want to laugh?
The crucial point is that Guo Fan could only pretend to listen attentively and smiled, saying, "Thank you!"

"Could you tell us a little about your new work?"

"Um, I haven't decided yet. I'll let everyone know when I have some news!"

"Is this Guo Fan's first time visiting our beautiful island? Are you married?"

"..."

A lot of gossipy questions were thrown at Guo Fan, and he was indeed feeling quite pressured.

Then the host obviously didn't let Chen Jin off the hook: "Hello, Brother Jin! It's great to finally meet you in person today! Wow, you're so handsome!"

Now it was Guo Fan's turn to chuckle to herself, and Chen Jin could only quickly say, "Thank you, you are very beautiful too!"

"Please say hello to our audience here. Actually, many people in Taiwan know you too!"

"what?"

Chen Jin was somewhat unsure: "Really? I don't believe it!"

"Really? Don't believe me? Let me shout it out."

"Ooh ooh ooh~~~"

As Yang Qianpei's voice rose, the fans at the scene obliged and shouted loudly.

Great, I wonder if you'll still be this excited after the Golden Horse Awards are over!
In fact, Chen Jin was quite skeptical, because only "Love is Not Blind" had been shown in Taiwan, and its box office performance was only so-so; the other films either weren't released or couldn't be released.

Forget about "Under the Hawthorn Tree" and "The Founding of a Republic".

So, while the idea of ​​having popularity might fool others, Chen Jin certainly has a clear understanding of her own limitations.

"You're the Venice Film Festival Best Actor!"

Yang Qianpei's words made Chen Jin realize something.

It turned out to be the case.

It seems to be due to the support of the three major European powers.

This award is indeed very prestigious in Taiwan, because art films are currently dominant in Taiwan, and the box office has been impacted by Hollywood, leaving only the art film market. Therefore, the three major film festivals occupy a very important position in Taiwan.

Filmmakers in this region are all striving for the Big Three, just like Seediq Bale's push for this year's Venice Film Festival.

Chen Jin won the award this year, so she naturally received a lot of attention.

"How about it? Isn't it incredibly popular?"

Yang Qianpei smiled, and Chen Jin nodded: "Indeed, it completely exceeded my expectations. Thank you everyone!"

Proper manners must be observed. Yang Qianpei clearly wasn't going to let him off the hook, and continued to ask, "Do you have any new works to bring to everyone next year?"

"There should be... right?"

So even you yourself aren't sure?

"Of course, making a movie isn't something I can decide on my own. Oh, someone's coming from behind!"

Chen Jin pointed to the "The Piano in a Factory" crew walking towards them, and Yang Qianpei had no choice but to let Chen Jin and Yang Qianpei go in first. She actually had a lot of questions she wanted to ask Chen Jin.

Unexpectedly, he interrupted me three times in a row.

This is the first time I've encountered such a difficult artist from mainland China.

Chen Jin clearly didn't want to walk the red carpet anymore, so she left it to Tian Zhuangzhuang and the others!
He then walked into the performance hall of the awards ceremony with Guo Fan.

The mainland filmmakers were mostly seated together. To Chen Jin's left was Guo Fan, and to her right was Tian Zhuangzhuang. In front of them sat a row of directors and actors from Hong Kong, and behind them were crews from relatively unknown mainland productions.

Chen Jin had never heard of anything like "Nameless Horse," but they were already in place and walked the red carpet before them.

The first few rows were naturally occupied by people from Taiwan's local circle, with a few big names from Hong Kong occasionally sitting with them, such as Andy Lau and Wang Yu.

The Golden Horse Awards are indeed a gamble, a small arena of fame and fortune.

Unlike in mainland China, where seniority is highly valued.

Reputation is the most important thing here.

Jiang Wen was also quite close to the front of the line. Chen Jin actually had a seat in the front row, but he didn't go to sit there.

"Did you just calculate the time for the field interview?"

Guo Fan sat down and asked casually. He was still bothered by the gossip the host of the Avenue of Stars had asked him earlier. He had expected Chen Jin to be asked the same question, but it seemed that he had escaped unscathed.
"I'll have to give you some training on this when we get back!"

Chen Jin spoke to Guo Fan, who was taken aback and asked, "Huh?"

"That's called a rhetorical question!"

"When you don't want to answer a host's question, you can use this seemingly straightforward question to ask a counter-question!"

Guo Fan: "..."

Is he really that cunning?

There are even set patterns to the questions.

"Young man, you should learn more!"

Chen Jin spoke with the air of someone who'd been there all along, and Guo Fan couldn't help but roll her eyes at him twice.

Anyone with eyes can see that you're about a decade younger than me, right?
However, in terms of seniority in the entertainment industry, Chen Jin seems to be more familiar with it than him, a point that Guo Fan acknowledges.

This guy can't be judged by his appearance or age.

Top scorers in the college entrance examination always have something special about them.

Soon, Tian Zhuangzhuang, along with photographer Zhao Fei and screenwriter Acheng, walked in, chatting and laughing.

The final red carpet event, of course, was graced by the cast and crew of "Let the Bullets Fly" and "Seediq Bale," along with the judges.

Jiang Wen glanced at the empty seat next to Chen Jin and waved to him, but Chen Jin didn't go over.

The 48th Golden Horse Awards ceremony officially kicked off at this time.

The hosts were a father-daughter duo, Tseng Chih-wei and Tseng Po-yee.

The two actors took turns on stage, introducing this year's nominated films and the achievements of Hong Kong and Taiwan films over the past year, before beginning the awards ceremony.

It's said that they were chosen to host because Cai Kangyong offended a lot of artists a few years ago.

Not only Andy Lau and Huang Bo were present, but this guy also has over 1000 million followers on Weibo. His "good gay man" persona is very stable in mainland China, and he has many fans.

Whether it's purchased data or something else, this guy is definitely going to disappear completely from mainland China in the future.

His political stance is also highly problematic.

"It seems like the awards are mostly for films from Taiwan?"

After receiving several awards, Guo Fan spoke to Chen Jin in a low voice.

Although the awards given out so far are all minor ones, such as Best Documentary, Best Short Film, Best Sound Effects, Best Editing, not to mention the mainland, they haven't even won one in Hong Kong. It's all just local self-entertainment.

No wonder that later mainland filmmakers said they would give up so easily.

That is indeed the case.

These smaller awards are basically for supporting local films.

Apart from a few major awards that occasionally consider both Hong Kong and mainland Chinese audiences, the other awards are no different from regional awards.

The Hong Kong Film Awards at least specify that they are awards for the Hong Kong region, while the Golden Horse Awards are open to the entire Chinese-speaking world. So, doing it this way really makes no sense.

Even if that incident hadn't happened in the future, it would be normal for the award to decline year after year.

The reason why the three major film festivals have always been authoritative is because they do not favor Europe, which is the reason for their enduring success.

Awards were presented one after another, including Best Original Film Score and Song, until Best Action Choreography.

Chen Jin smiled slightly.

Because all the nominated choreographers are from Hong Kong.

You can't give this to the locals.

Donnie Yen won Best Actress for her role in "Wu Xia".

Then there's the design, art, and so on, which adds to the local charm.

Chen Jin found it increasingly uninteresting, while many in the audience applauded; to this day, "Let the Bullets Fly" and "Life's Big Events," which were nominated for second and third most awards respectively, have not won a single award. The same goes for "The Piano in a Factory."

On the contrary, Seediq Bale has already won two awards.

By this point, fifteen awards had already been given out, and Chen Jin could see the unpleasant look on Jiang Wen's face.

Tian Zhuangzhuang, who was clapping beside him, now also had a gloomy face.

If you say the original music is inferior, there's nothing to say. Best art direction, editing, and sound effects—aren't both "The Big Events of Life" and "Let the Bullets Fly" masterpieces?!

Is Zhang Shuping bad?
This is Wong Kar-wai's go-to team, a regular at the Oscars and the Big Three, and he's the mastermind behind films like "In the Mood for Love" and "Ashes of Time".

And then the winner was actually "The Swordsman"!
"Haha, I feel it's not as good as the Golden Rooster Awards splitting the prizes equally!"

"This is going too far..."

Guo Fan has been complaining about this all along, but Chen Jin can understand: "Actually, it's a matter of bias!"

This is not Chen Jin trying to whitewash the Golden Horse Awards.

"Because 70% of the judges are from Taiwan, so, you know what I mean!"

If our own people don't vote for their own region, why would they vote for "outsiders"?
"Unless, the director and fame of this film are no longer limited to mainland China!"

For example, let the bullets fly, major life events.

Therefore, these two films still have some chance, which is why many major awards at the Golden Horse Awards ultimately go to films by mainland Chinese and Hong Kong filmmakers—not because of the awards themselves, but because of their fame and public relations.

Either this movie has Taiwanese investment, or it's too famous.

In Huang Bo's year, there happened to be very few judges from Taiwan, so they invited many people from Southeast Asia, Chinese Americans, and Wu Tianming from mainland China, which is why he won the Best Actor award in one go.

Filmmakers in Taiwan tend to stick together a lot and are also quite narrow-minded.

Finally, after Chen Jin and Guo Fan's rambling conversation, "Life's Big Events" won the first award at this year's Golden Horse Awards.

Best photography.

Teacher Hou Yong won the championship.

With four Golden Rooster Awards for Best Cinematography, winning the Golden Horse Award for Best Cinematography is absolutely well-deserved.

It's just that Jiang Wen's complexion looked even worse.

Zhao Fei, the cinematographer of "Let the Bullets Fly," is actually quite talented; he's Zhang Yimou's go-to cinematographer. However, even Zhang Yimou's go-to cinematographers are not quite on par with Zhang Yimou's own roommates.

Fortunately, the next screenplay winner, "Let the Bullets Fly," had the last laugh.

Two mainland Chinese films, considered strong contenders for awards, each won one; while "Seediq Bale" has already won four.

Both movies combined can't compare to this one.

The technical awards were then presented, and all the awards were given out. Next came the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Outstanding Artist of the Year from Taiwan, and so on. After that, the Best New Actor and Best New Director were decided, and as expected, Kuo Fan was just there to be a runner-up.

After Ko Chen-tung won Best Newcomer for "You Are the Apple of My Eye," Wu Er-shan won Best New Director for "The Swordsman."

"I've considered this possibility, do you believe me?"

Guo Fan looked at Chen Jin, who smiled and said, "I believe you. After failing twice, a person isn't so confident about failing a third time!"

"What the hell..."

Guo Fan made his move, and Chen Jin, shrinking back, laughed and said, "To be honest, really, think about it carefully!"

Guo Fan sighed, admitting that what Chen Jin said was indeed true.

After failing to win Best New Director at both the Huabiao Awards and the Golden Rooster Awards, Guo Fan did indeed have great doubts about the awards, so he felt inexplicably at ease not winning this time.

It would be better if he were there, but I wouldn't be sad if he weren't.

"No matter what, I am still the highest-grossing director in China, bar none!"

Guo Fan now has plenty of confidence.

NT$100 billion, nearly RMB24 billion in box office revenue, and that's only temporary. Who wouldn't be arrogant with that kind of achievement?!

"That's right, that's how it should be!"

"Box office revenue is what really matters!"

This is exactly the effect Chen Jin wanted. She didn't want him to be like Feng Xiaogang, who, after achieving box office success, wanted to make art films to win awards and prove himself.

Finally, they even forgot how to make commercial Lunar New Year films, which is what they are best at.

This is called putting the cart before the horse.

The winner of the 48th Best Actress award is—

Holding the letter announcing the winners, Liu Jialing exclaimed, "A Simple Life, by Yip Tak-han!"

There was no controversy surrounding this award; the Venice Film Festival Best Actress winner is more than qualified to win the Golden Horse Best Actress award. The Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards were just given to Tang Qun for "600 Miles to Fuyang" and Xu Yifan for "Seediq Bale," respectively.

The upcoming awards ceremony had already made many people in the audience sit up straight.

Best Actor.

There are five people in total who made the shortlist.

Peng Yu-Yan's "Roll, Ashin!"
Ge You's "Let the Bullets Fly"!
Andy Lau's "A Simple Life"!
Wang Qianyuan's "The Piano in a Factory"!
Chen Jin's "Major Events in Life"!
……

Of the five shortlisted candidates, all but the one ranked first were likely to win.

They are all highly capable.

Ge You goes without saying; he is one of only two Cannes Film Festival Best Actor winners from China, the other being Liang, who is socially awkward.

Wang Qianyuan, Tokyo Film Festival Best Actor.

Andy Lau, winner of the Hong Kong Film Award and the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor.

Chen Jin also has the Best Actor awards from Venice and Golden Rooster Awards.

Therefore, the competition for the Golden Horse Best Actor award this year is extremely fierce. Apart from Peng Yuyan, everyone would be convinced that the award is right for anyone else!

"Wow, I'm so nervous!"

The award was presented by renowned Hong Kong director Johnnie To, along with Zhang Ziyi.

Both of them are frequent attendees at the Golden Horse Awards.

"Ziyi, why don't you present it?"

Johnnie To handed the award letter to Zhang Ziyi. Zhang Ziyi smiled slightly, took it but didn't open it: "Director, actually I'm also in a dilemma. In my heart, I definitely hope that Hua Zai wins!"

"But he's already won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor!"

"Ha ha!"

Everyone in the audience burst into laughter, including Andy Lau.

"So putting him aside, I definitely hope that Teacher Ge wins this award, because I worked with him on The Banquet, where he played my husband!"

"Oh~~~"

Many people in the audience were already whistling.

"Alright, alright, stop introducing them. Give the young people a chance!"

The host, Zeng Zhiwei, interrupted in time.

"All right!"

Zhang Ziyi then slowly opened the envelope, glanced at it, and quickly handed it to Johnnie To beside her: "Director To, please do it!"

shhhhh--

On the large screen behind the two people, the real-time status of the five Best Actor nominees was immediately displayed.

Andy Lau held his hands together with his fingers spread, staring intently at the big screen; Ge You seemed very calm and even had time to act silly.

Wang Qianyuan was smiling slightly, Peng Yuyan was showing off, but Chen Jin was sitting there... expressionless!
There wasn't a single expression on his face.

Actually, judging from these few people alone, Hua Zai is the one who wants it the most.

He was really looking forward to it.

He believes his performance in "A Simple Life" was quite good, a natural portrayal that has been recognized by many in the industry.

The winner of the Best Actor award at the 48th Golden Horse Awards is—

Johnnie To held the envelope in his hand, and said it word by word, finally speaking in somewhat broken Mandarin: "Chen Jin, 'Major Events in Life'!"

boom!
The entire stadium erupted in cheers.

And then there's Chen Jin, who remained calm and composed throughout.

Winning so many awards has changed my mindset...

(End of this chapter)