Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 710 Recall: The Village's Only Hope

After the Cannes premiere of "Marriage Story", there were already twenty or thirty comments on the Douban page in China.

"I saw it at the Cannes premiere, and it was absolutely amazing. Before today, I never thought Li Qiutang could make a film like this. It's in my top 3 of the year!"

"I came to comment after watching the film at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. After today, I retract all my previous doubts about Liu Yifei's acting skills."

"The script and theme were very conventional, but the actors' performances were truly amazing. A few of us friends discussed it privately and unanimously agreed that Liu Yifei had finally figured it out."

"This year's Cannes Film Festival is packed with masters, and the Palme d'Or may be undecided, but I think the Best Actress award should go to Liu Yifei for her perfect performance."

“I could see a very obvious change in Liu Yifei’s acting skills from ‘Be With You’. After watching ‘Marriage Story’, I can say with certainty that Liu Yifei has truly mastered acting.”

"Fans are in for a treat! They can look forward to 'Marriage Story' with great anticipation. Liu Yifei's performance will surely amaze everyone. After watching it, I couldn't even believe that it was Liu Yifei in the role."

It's the morning of the 19th, Saturday, but more than half of the media in the entertainment industry are focused on Cannes.

Will the two Chinese-language films in the main competition be able to achieve any success?

"Can 'Ash Is Purest White' help Tao Jie realize her dream of becoming a Best Actress?"

Will the 2.9-rated Marriage Story magazine in the event program receive a recall call?

The Xiaohongshu platform even had various prediction posts early in the morning, the most popular of which was the probability of "Marriage Story" winning the prize.

"The pressure is on Zhang Zhen; it remains to be seen whether he can wrest the award for Chinese-language films from the hands of the other judges."

What are the chances of Liu Yifei winning Best Actress?

"From the moment 'Marriage Story' was shortlisted for the main competition, Liu Yifei was already the first actress born in the 80s to be considered the most outstanding among them."

"I'm in Cannes, and I'm here to analyze the chances of 'Marriage Story' winning an award!"

Various posts, some true and some false, are flying around!

But it was still early morning in Cannes, and Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei were still sleeping in each other's arms. They didn't get back until very late after finishing the interview, and Li Qiutang kept his wife awake for more than half an hour. In the end, neither of them took a shower and they slept soundly.

"The Cannes tradition is that a favorite is doomed. After the release of 'Marriage Story,' Liu Yifei's performance received unanimous praise from the media and she was regarded as the strongest contender for Best Actress. Now I am actually worried that the jury will go against the media's evaluation."

"That's why we need to see Zhang Zhen's ability to win awards. If either Tao Jie or Yi Fei can win one, it will be a victory for Chinese-language films."

“Zhang Zhen’s English is very good, so communicating with the judges shouldn’t be a problem. It just depends on whether he’s willing to compete with the other judges.”

However, relying on someone else's ability to win awards doesn't seem like a wise choice.

"The awards ceremony will be held in the early hours of the morning in China. Don't wait, just check the news tomorrow morning."

Domestic forums are engaged in heated predictions and discussions about who will win the awards.

Meanwhile, in Cannes, it was already dawn. The two washed up together and then went about their own business.

The film festival closed today, but as a strong contender for the nomination, they still have some interviews to finish.

"I had my assistant calculate it yesterday. Since I arrived in Cannes, I've done 52 interviews and events." This is Li Qiutang's third meeting with reporters from the China Movie Channel in Cannes.

"Marriage Story has passed censorship and received its license. We'll arrange for its release as soon as we get back, but we might go to a few film festivals before that." This is the first time Li Qiutang has revealed news about the film's release in China.

Today, of course, we'll talk about awards. Li Qiutang is very open-minded: "After the premiere, we received some praise from the media and the audience, which is the best reward for us."

After concluding her interview with the movie channel, Li Qiutang's schedule in Cannes was complete.

Liu Yifei still has some interviews and photo shoots to do, so she can't have lunch with him. Even if Liu Yifei isn't there, someone else will.

"Director, this is Wang Yuan. He likes you a lot." Li Qiutang had just ordered her food and was flipping through the program from the previous day when someone came up to greet her.

Li Qiutang looked up and said, "You're asking him to say it himself; he's not a child anymore."

Wang Yuan generously introduced himself to Li Qiutang, saying that he had just finished watching the second screening of "Marriage Story" and didn't expect to meet her here.

In fact, many celebrities don't have any real business in Cannes. Often, they just run into some big shot, introduce themselves, sit down and chat for a bit, take a couple of photos, and send them back as a form of publicity.

Naza was like that yesterday, and Wang Yuan is like that today.

Li Qiutang understood this approach and was willing to cooperate as long as it didn't interfere with his own business.

Wang Yuan ordered a coffee and chatted with Li Qiutang for a bit.

He's acting now, saying he plays a rebellious kid in Wang Xiaoshuai's "So Long, My Son". He's currently filming "The Great Ruler", but he won't mention it to Li Qiutang.

Li Qiutang doesn't look down on any young actors. His consistent view is that everyone is welcome to act, because only in this way can the industry grow. It doesn't matter if you don't know how to act now, as long as you have the right attitude and are willing to learn and practice, you can always improve your skills.

As a senior figure in the industry, he offered Wang Yuan a few words of encouragement as usual, sharing some acting tips and techniques. After the photographer finished taking the pictures and he finished his coffee, he didn't bother him any longer.

At 4 p.m. (10 p.m. in China), the hashtag "#MarriageStoryFilmCreationRecalled" suddenly appeared on Weibo as a trending topic.

"The 12-day Cannes Film Festival is about to come to a close. According to sources, the crew of 'Marriage Story,' directed by Li Qiutang and starring Qin Hao and Liu Yifei, has received a recall notice from the festival organizing committee and has confirmed their attendance at tonight's awards ceremony. This indicates that 'Marriage Story' has a high probability of winning an award. Our reporters will continue to follow this story."

No, the news from China is spreading way too fast!

Just half an hour ago, Li Qiutang received an email from the organizing committee asking him to attend the closing ceremony on time, and it immediately became a trending topic on Chinese social media.

Cannes does have a recall system, but "Marriage Story" was not recalled.

The crew of "Marriage Story" stayed in Cannes for 12 days without leaving, so why would they need to be recalled?
When "Marriage Story" was selected for the main competition, the official invitation clearly required the crew to attend all official events, including the awards ceremony.

This email confirmation is a double safeguard.

But saying that there is "a high probability of winning" doesn't seem wrong either.

Meanwhile, reports from China indicate that director Jia Zhangke's film crew for "Ash Is Purest White" has left Cannes, seemingly ending their Cannes trip ahead of schedule.

"Marriage Story" became the village's only hope.

"Tonight, all actresses in China will be sleepless. Whether Liu Yifei can make up for the only shortcoming in her acting career will be decided tonight."

Why is all the attention focused on Liu Yifei? Can't "Marriage Story" win other awards?
At 6 p.m. local time (midnight in China), the closing ceremony's red carpet officially began.

At 6:30, Liu Yifei, wearing a white Dior haute couture gown from the current season, appeared on the red carpet arm in arm with her husband, beaming with smiles.

She disliked Dior's clothes this season and wanted to wear Elie Saab, but Dior disagreed. It might be one thing for other occasions, but for their own ambassador to wear something else at the Cannes closing ceremony would damage Dior's reputation. After much deliberation, she finally chose this one that wasn't so bad.

"Liu Liu Liu, look here." Liu Yifei's international influence should not be underestimated. She was already quite famous, and "Mulan" gave her another boost.

Liu Yifei linked arms with Li Qiutang and waved to the media with the other hand.

After shaking his head, he instinctively reached for his pocket, but after three attempts, he realized his clothes didn't have any pockets. Embarrassed yet polite, he continued waving to the reporter.

"Can we hurry up? I need to pee." Liu Yifei kept smiling, her lips slightly moving as she squeezed out a voice to tell her husband.

(End of this chapter)