Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 178 Rank Rises Rapidly

Just like in the original timeline, this year's Cannes Film Festival produced a tie for Best Director.

The subsequent Jury Prize and Palme d'Or awards were the same as in the original timeline.

"The Pianist" won the Palme d'Or, becoming the biggest dark horse at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

However, the media reporters did not forget another dark horse, "The Lobster".

The fact that both of the two films that were initially considered the least favored and received the "worst" treatment at this year's Cannes Film Festival won major awards is quite a topic of discussion for some media outlets.

On this basis, Lu Jiang is also the first director in the history of Cannes, or the three major European film festivals, to win both feature film and short film awards in the same year, and his popularity is no less than that of the Palme d'Or winner.

So after the awards ceremony, some reporters even specifically asked Lu Jiang and Roman Polanski, the director of "The Pianist," to take a photo together, making it seem as if the two of them had jointly won the Palme d'Or.

The facts are indeed quite misleading.

News and photos from Cannes were sent back to China.

Having just woken up and unaware of the truth, the great poet Chen saw a photo of Lu Jiang and Roman Polanski posing together, each with a Palme d'Or trophy. The great poet felt a sudden tightness in his anus, instantly transported back to 93, when he and Jane Campion's "The Piano" shared the Palme d'Or.

So, now there's another Palme d'Or winner in China?

And they're both double-yolk eggs?

Looking at the movie titles again, wow, even the names of the two teammates are so similar: one is "The Piano" and the other is "The Pianist".

The great poet felt increasingly awkward the more he thought about it, but he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.

Fortunately, Chen Hong quickly explained it to him.

After regaining his senses and understanding the whole story, the great poet breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that it's not the Palme d'Or, hahaha!
After confirming that the alarm had been lifted, the great poet's attitude underwent a complete 180-degree turn.

Then I immediately asked someone for Lu Jiang's phone number.

This young man is promising; we should give him some care and attention as an elder brother.
When the great poet asked someone for his phone number, the mainland media was already in an uproar.

Various media outlets rushed to report on the Cannes news.

The focus was on the historical significance of Lu Jiang's victory.

First, there was the "Best Director" award, just as Han Sanpin and his team had predicted.

Being the first director from mainland China to receive this honor greatly enhanced Lu Jiang's personal reputation compared to the jury's grand prize.

In addition, the fact that both of Lu Jiang's feature films and short films won awards was also highlighted.

Of course, some people questioned whether it was improper for a director to have two works submitted for consideration at the same time, and whether it broke the rules.
Some "experts" even directly asked, "If you do this, won't foreigners think that Chinese people are obsessed with awards?"
This tendency to immediately pour cold water on the honors achieved by Chinese people is a characteristic of the present day, or rather, one of the characteristics of the Chinese people.

However, Lu Jiang truly deserved this honor fair and square.

Soon, official media outlets provided detailed explanations.

First, let's explain the rules.

The three major European film festivals do not restrict a director from submitting both a feature film and a short film to the same festival.

Therefore, similar situations have occurred in previous European three major tournaments.

For example, at the 1962 Venice Film Festival, the short film "The Steamroller and the Violin" by Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky was selected for the non-competitive screening section, and his feature film "Ivan's Childhood" won the Golden Lion that year.

At the 1965 Berlin Film Festival, Roman Polanski's feature film "In Cold Blood" won the Jury Special Prize, while his short film "The Fat Man and the Thin Man" was selected for screening.

Also, in 2002, Michel Gundre, a French director who was in the same cohort as Lu Jiang this year, had his feature film "Humanity" selected for the Un Certain Regard section, and his short film "The Rolling Stones: Let Me Hold You" screened at the Directors' Fortnight.

Lu Jiang is not an exception.

Moreover, none of these directors have ever had two films win awards.

Either the feature film wins an award, or the short film wins an award, or neither wins an award at all.

This makes Lu Jiang's honor even more valuable.

It is a true "history-making" achievement!
It not only made history as one of the three major European filmmakers, but also as a history for Chinese filmmakers! With the support of official media, the overall public opinion has become even more favorable.

Lu Jiang Makes Cannes History

"Lu Jiang has won awards for both his feature and short films, becoming the first person in world film history to do so."

Lu Jiang becomes the first mainland Chinese director to win Best Director.

"The first director to win one of the three major European film awards for his debut film"

"The world's first director to win awards for both a feature film and a short film."

"To date, all three of Lu Jiang's films have won awards."

"Lu Jiang accidentally made history; he's just one film away from achieving the grand slam of short films."

"."

Various reports, revolving around this topic, have caused Lu Jiang's reputation to rise steadily.

Its biggest advantage is that it has broken Lu Jiang's "idol" labels, such as idol drama actor, idol drama director, and idol singer.

This instantly made him a "noble" movie star, and of extremely high status.

After all, he's the first director from mainland China to win the Cannes Best Director award.

To put it more broadly, he is a film director on par with Zhang Yimou, Jiang Wen, Wong Kar-wai, and others.

Leaving aside the other hidden benefits that this brings,

Recently, the expected box office of "The Lobster" has been soaring.

Han Sanpin said that cinemas in mainland China have given the green light to the premiere, which is scheduled for July 10.

Unlike in the past, modern cinemas no longer have the same control over which movies they show.

The current situation is that if you want more theaters to show your movie, you have to negotiate with them one by one!

Many times, it's caused by drinking.

The key point is that drinking alcohol often doesn't help much.

When Han Sanpin was handling the nationwide screening of "The Lobster".

With his involvement and Lu Jiang's popularity boosting the sales, it's estimated that around 50 copies will be sold nationwide. The results aren't particularly good, but they're still considered above average at the moment.

Things are different now. With the Cannes awards announced, Lu Jiang's status has risen significantly, and his fans' spending has increased dramatically.

This has greatly boosted the confidence of cinema owners.

The number of copies ordered increased by 40 in one day!
Han Sanpin said that they might eventually be able to sell more than 150 copies.

This is already comparable to the performance of Feng Xiaogang's previous Lunar New Year films. In other words, judging by the number of copies, Lu Jiang's commercial value as a director has already caught up with that of Feng Xiaogang, the number one commercial film director in China.

Of course, the final box office results cannot be calculated based on the number of copies. The box office results ultimately depend on the publicity and distribution, as well as the film's genre and quality.

With the same number of copies, it's unlikely that "The Lobster," as an art film, will achieve the same success as Feng Xiaogang's commercial New Year's films.

However, this was already enough for Lu Jiang to establish popularity and a commercial foundation.

Next, he'll make a commercial film.

"The box office is guaranteed to be good!" Han Sanpin declared confidently.

Lu Jiang could clearly see the allure in his eyes.

Lu Jiang smiled but did not answer.

Take your time.

Commercial films are just around the corner.
(End of this chapter)