Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 342 La La Land Makes a Stunning Opening at the Venice Film Festival

However, even though construction is still underway around the film festival, it cannot diminish the festival's appeal to the outside world. This year, the number of media outlets applying to attend exceeded one thousand for the first time.

Gu Bei and Liu Yifei were spotted by the live broadcast host in the waiting area on the opening ceremony's red carpet.

"Bruce, welcome to Lido Island. What would you like to say about the changes that have taken place on Lido Island this year?" The host placed the microphone in front of Gu Bei.

That expression clearly screams "I want praise!"
Gu Bei was very accommodating: "Absolutely stunning! Venice is the oldest international film festival, but it continues to seek change, just like the entire film industry, moving in a better direction."

"Thank you!" the host continued, "So what are your thoughts on your film La La Land being the opening film? What kind of film is it?"

Can I say I'm unhappy?
Venice has a tradition of 'not capturing the lion at the opening'.

Basically, if a film is selected as the opening film, it is destined to miss out on the Golden Lion Award.

Gu Bei inwardly grumbled, but still said with a smile, "It's such an honor. 66 has a very auspicious meaning in China!"
As for La La Land, it's a story about dreams, and also a story about Los Angeles. I hope everyone who pursues their dreams can ultimately achieve their own success!

"Thank you!"

The host was ready to wrap up and go find the next interviewee.

She suddenly noticed Liu Yifei standing next to Gu Bei, and her gaze was immediately drawn to her: "Liu, welcome to Venice, how are you feeling now?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei's expression faltered slightly.

She couldn't understand Italian, but the host's pronunciation of "Liu" was quite standard, clearly indicating that he was asking her a question.

After Gu Bei translated it for her,
Liu Yifei pondered for a moment seriously: "I am very happy to be able to join the Venice Film Festival, but I hope even more that next time I come to Venice, I will come with my own work."

Upon hearing Liu Yifei's words, the host's eyes revealed approval: "I hope you can achieve your wish and bring your own performance to Venice next time."

This live interview allowed many people who fell in love with Liu Yifei because of Heather to discover that she is more resilient and proactive than Heather.

Especially when she and Gu Bei walked down the red carpet together,
She wore a light gray dress made of tulle fabric with a hazy, ethereal beauty.

The skirt is covered with feather-like or scale-like decorations, which not only adds to the layering of the garment but also gives it a free and unrestrained, heroic feel.

The shimmering floral pattern extending from the shoulders to the skirt is delicate and exquisite, exuding a touch of heroism amidst its femininity.

Coupled with Liu Yifei's bright and determined gaze,

It exudes confidence and composure, showcasing a heroic beauty to the fullest.
The photographers in the shooting area had a completely different feeling about her, discovering that she was not entirely like Heather from Starship Troopers, but also possessed a stronger and more confident quality.

After the red carpet event, the opening ceremony began.

First, Marco Müller, the president of the Venice International Film Festival, spoke.

Then, the chairman of this year's jury, Li An, gave a speech.
During the process,
Finally, it was time for the opening film to be shown.

"nervous?"

Liu Yifei's little hand reached up.

She blinked in the darkness and asked curiously.

The opening film of a film festival often receives more criticism.
Because both the media and film fans come to the film festival with high expectations, they often hold high standards to critique the first film they see at the festival.

Moreover, since the opening film was the first film we saw...
One new film after another appeared, like wildflowers by the roadside, constantly tempting the jury members and challenging the opening film's popularity among them.

If the opening film is not of high quality and does not leave a deep enough impression on the jury members, it will be difficult to win an award from among the twenty-five films.

Venice's tradition of not capturing a lion at the opening ceremony is the best proof of this!

"not nervous!"

Gu Bei grabbed Liu Yifei's hand and said with a smile, "The later challengers were like clay chickens and earthenware dogs, utterly vulnerable!"

"Arrogant devil!"

Liu Yifei muttered something to herself.

Subsequently,

She looked at the screen.

I began to appreciate Gu Bei's "La La Land".

Following the logo of the distributor, Sony Classics, is the logo of Rose Pictures.

To match the vibrant colors of La La Land's visual style, Rose Pictures changed its logo to a more three-dimensional font, creating a strong visual impact and a sense of space.

The music started at this moment.
Amidst the sound of horns, the scene begins to transition into an empty shot of the sky.

"The temperature in downtown Los Angeles is 84 degrees Fahrenheit today, and it will drop to..."

The camera slowly pans down from an empty shot.

To immerse everyone in the cinema palace in a realistic scenario.
That's the scene of traffic jams on the Interstate 10 during rush hour that Los Angeles residents experience almost every day.

This opening,
This immediately surprised everyone inside the movie theater.
The opening sets the tone.

Especially for an opening film of the Venice International Film Festival,
The opening of the movie is absolutely consistent with the rest of the film.
As a musical, Gu Bei's opening scene is really a bit strange!

After all, musicals are all about romance, and they use song and dance performances to give characters the ability to express their inner feelings. So they usually narrate the story around the creative process of musical theater or musical film practitioners.

This type of backstage musical narrative has been very popular since the Golden Age, as exemplified by the classic Singin' in the Rain.

However, Gu Bei's *La La Land* completely broke free from this type of narrative.
The film immediately presents the audience with realistic elements such as dense traffic, stagnant traffic, and incessant honking.
Using the most realistic techniques to set the tone for the most romantic musical film's opening.

That's really quite bold!

Just as everyone was marveling at Gu Bei's bold methods,
A piece of music that blends the liveliness of jazz, the brightness of pop, and the passion of Latin rhythms begins to unfold slowly, the rhythm gradually becoming more lively, piercing through the silent reality.

"coming soon!"

We are all filmmakers.
I know very well what will happen next.

really,

What follows is a full five-minute long take.

People who were stuck in traffic gradually emerged and began to dance to the tune of "Another Sunny Day".

The entire opening,
The drumbeats shift from suppression to release.

The scene transitions from stillness to revelry.

Symbolizing the transition from reality to hope,

What's even more amazing is that the opening six-minute long take was done in one continuous shot, with the camera movement highly synchronized with the rhythm of the music, captivating everyone in the audience.

As the traffic jam ended and reality returned, the title of La La Land slowly appeared on the big screen.

"How about it?"

Marco Müller looked at Li An beside him. "Stunning!"

Li An sighed.

The opening scene of La La Land is enough to demonstrate the director's skill.

From the outside, whether it's the quality of the visuals, the camera work, or the unique handheld shooting technique that synchronizes music and camera shots, it all demonstrates Gu Bei's directorial skills, which are already close to those of a master.

But looking at it from a deeper perspective,

It was just a six-minute opening sequence.
Gu Bei had already finished telling a story that started with traffic jams symbolizing the constraints of reality, then moved to a song and dance segment symbolizing breaking free from those constraints with dreams, and finally ended with the traffic restarting as a symbol of returning to reality.

The theme and story of the entire movie are already laid out in the open, making it a perfect opening!
"I think so too, which is why I chose this film as the opening film. It's just so suitable for us filmmakers to watch."

Marco Müller nodded in agreement with Li An's point of view.

Li An remained silent.

Continue watching the movie intently.

The film unfolds according to the tone set in the opening, featuring stunning long shots of a rooftop duet dance that immerse everyone in the cinema palace in the story.

When the male protagonist of the club and the female protagonist in the audience made eye contact,
Everyone at the cinema thought the movie was about to end.
After all, the whole story is already quite complete, and ending it here is satisfying enough.

then,

An eight-minute dreamlike montage begins.

Compared to the realistic style of the opening scene,
This dreamlike montage is as romantic and dreamlike as you want it to be.

If it skillfully incorporates various modern and retro elements, as well as a wide range of art forms,
With the most immersive sensory experience, it allows the audience to experience another possibility in a parallel world.
Yet, every scene is imbued with a romantic and dreamlike quality.

Tell the audience that it's all fake.

It still follows the structure of reality-breaking reality-returning to reality, which perfectly echoes the opening scene. In the end, the movie ends with the male and female protagonists exchanging a smile, in which all emotions are extinguished.

"Clap clap clap!"

The moment the cinema palace lit up,

The entire audience immediately erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Everyone in the cinema stood up, giving Gu Bei and the La La Land crew the most enthusiastic encouragement, to release the lingering emotions from watching the movie.

"How about it?"

Gu Bei smiled and looked at Liu Yifei beside him.

"A perfect movie!"

Liu Yifei commented.

Then, she nudged Gu Bei: "Aren't you going up on stage yet?"

Gu Bei nodded to Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, who were watching him from a short distance away.

He calmly replied, "It's alright, it's still early."

The purpose of the film festival itself is to encourage everyone to create films, so long applause is a tradition of the film festival.

The better the movie, the longer the applause will last.

Judging from the reaction to La La Land, the applause won't stop anytime soon.

Gu Bei reunited with the cast and crew of La La Land, and they all stood on the stage to receive applause from the crowd, which lasted for a full sixteen minutes before stopping.

As the opening film
La La Land perfectly accomplished its mission.

It kicked off the 66th Venice International Film Festival.
The atmosphere of the entire film festival was instantly ignited.

[The La La Land grand opening received a stunning 16-minute standing ovation; Gu Bei once again makes a powerful appearance in Venice!]

Venice is six hours behind China time.

When news of the opening of La La Land reached China, it coincided with the first wave of office workers taking a break from work.
Therefore, the comments section under this news article became exceptionally lively.

"Why is Gu Bei in Venice again? Didn't he just go to Venice last year? Surely Venice won't give him the Golden Lion again this time?"

"Theoretically, it's possible, but practically it's probably impossible. However, according to the news, it seems that this film is even better than last year's 'Artist'!"

"The news from the front lines in Venice is that this year's La La Land is absolutely stunning. In terms of its completion, even knowing that it's Gu Bei, it still reaches an amazing level!"

"No way, is it possible that Gu Bei will win an award again today?"

"Anyway, we can't rely on Gu Bei, and we can't rely on anyone else. This year, no one from mainland China was shortlisted for the main competition at Venice, but Hong Kong and Taiwan each have one."

"I'm only concerned about when this movie will be released in China. I hope it won't be delayed again."

Film festivals are still somewhat distant from most people, and no one realizes the sensational effect of La La Land.

On Lido Island,

The first group of visitors at yesterday's opening ceremony have already generated positive word-of-mouth.
This morning, long lines had already formed at the La La Land screening venue, with everyone eager to see what kind of movie this film, hailed by critics as the best musical of the 21st century, was all about!

Too few viewers have seen it, so the audience hasn't started arguing yet, but the film critics have already started arguing.

La La Land received a 3.9 rating in the event's daily program.

Although the film critics are different every year, so are the rating criteria.

However, with a maximum score of five, a score of 3.9 is high enough to secure the top spot in the event's daily ratings in most years.

However, Italian film critics and international film critics have shown polarized opinions on the matter.

International film critics have accused Italian film critics of giving the films too low scores.
Because La La Land, as a North American film, took the opening film spot, Italian film critics used this opportunity to express their dissatisfaction.

What international film critics are saying is that you're not professional!
Italian film critics, on the other hand, directly refuted the claims.
The film festival has just begun, so the scoring should naturally be approached with caution.
If everyone gives five stars like international film critics, wouldn't there be no distinction when even better movies come along?

What the Italian film critics are saying is that you're ignorant!

of course,

They also have their own pride.

Because there are quite a few big-name European directors at this year's Venice Film Festival.

For example, the legendary Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore has brought us a film called Bararia. Tornatore, who has directed films such as Cinema Paradiso, The Legend of 1900, and Malèna, is certainly worth looking forward to.

There's also the great German director Werner Herzog, who had two films, "Bad Lieutenant" and "What Did You Do, Son?", both nominated for the main competition, meaning he took up two nominations.

Not to mention Jacques Rivette, one of the most subversive directors of the French New Wave, who will be visiting Venice at the age of 81, which is also something to look forward to.

(End of this chapter)