Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 673 The Only One in History?

The hustle and bustle of Venice will eventually come to an end.

The official dinner following the awards ceremony lasted until the early hours of the next day.

When Wu Chen and Liu Yifei returned to their suite at the Chionia Hotel, Lido Island outside their window was already completely immersed in the tranquil night.

The lights were off in the room.
Only the bright moonlight illuminated all of this.
Outside the window, the gentle waves of the Adriatic Sea lapped softly against the ancient embankment, one after another.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in China, the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

As the first rays of dawn illuminated the streets of Beijing, the entire Chinese internet was already in an uproar over what had happened in Venice just hours earlier.

Unsurprisingly, the headlines were all dominated by content from the Venice Film Festival awards ceremony.

[Chinese-language films triumph! Deanie Ip wins Best Actress for "A Simple Life," Wu Chen takes home Best Director!]

[Wu Chen wins another major award! He takes home the Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival for "30 Days of Warmth"!]

[Liu Yifei may have lost the Best Actress award, but she was the happiest person at the Venice Film Festival closing ceremony! A firsthand look at Wu Chen's romantic "love letter" speech!]

[Just one step away! Wu Chen could become the first person in film history to achieve a "grand slam" of awards for all three major film director categories!]

On Weibo, hashtags such as #WuChenAcceptanceSpeech#, #BestDirectorAtVenice#, #DeanieIpWinsBestActress#, and #BestDirectorGrandSlam# all surged to the top of the trending list within just one hour, followed by a row of bright red "hot" characters.

Meanwhile, Zhang Liangying, who was far away in Los Angeles and had just finished recording all night, smiled when she saw the news, forwarded several media Weibo posts, and added her congratulations.

"Congratulations to my good friends Director Wu and Xixi! I'm so proud of you! I wish you happiness!"

After posting on Weibo, she looked out the window at the sunrise over Los Angeles and couldn't help but wonder when her own love would arrive.

Although Wu Chen and Liu Yifei themselves have not yet made any public statements, the domestic entertainment industry has already been flooded with congratulatory messages.

Of course, amidst the praise, many actresses in the industry breathed a sigh of relief, but their faces were still filled with envy.

"Does she always get all the good things in life?"

"Sigh, why can't a top-tier director like Wu Chen be a little more promiscuous?"

"Damn! She's so lucky! It's a good thing it was Deanie Ip who won the Best Actress award, otherwise, she would have reaped a huge harvest of fame, fortune, and love this time!"

Xing Aina got up early, and after seeing the report and posting a congratulatory Weibo post, she stared straight at Ning Hao with a face full of resentment.

Look at Director Wu!

Ning Hao kept his mouth tightly shut, pulled the blanket up higher, and dared not make a sound.

Damn it, he wants to learn this too, but he just can't.

so tired.
However, among all the hot topics, the media's claim of a "Grand Slam of Best Directors" has attracted the most attention from industry insiders.

As of 2011, three directors in the world film industry had achieved the "grand slam" of the highest awards at the three major film festivals.
They are Henri-Georges Clouzot, the French master of suspense; Michelangelo Antonioni, the Italian master of modernist cinema; and Robert Altman, the standard-bearer of American independent cinema.

However, no director has yet achieved a grand slam of Best Director awards at the three major film festivals.

The closest to achieving this is Martin Scorsese.

In 1986, he won the Best Director Award at Cannes for "After get off work"; and in 1990, he won the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at Venice for "Goodfellas".

Wu Chen won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2006 and 2011 for his films "Buried Alive" and "1939".

Now, he has won the Venice Silver Lion Award for Best Director for "The Warmest Thirty Days of My Life".

One is missing Berlin; the other is missing Cannes. Before long, this news, after being explained by various film influencers and media outlets, soared to the top of the most discussed topics list.

"Holy crap! I was shocked when I saw this! Why didn't Director Wu win Best Director at Cannes back then? Wouldn't it have been better to change that Jury Prize to Best Director?"

"Holy crap! We're only one statue away! What a coincidence!"

"Director Wu! Stop resting! Hurry up and shoot another one, let's go to Cannes and compete for awards! Don't delay any longer!"

"."

Netizens immediately flooded Wu Chen and Starry Night Pictures' Weibo accounts with messages, urging him to hurry up and make history.

The main problem is that it wouldn't be so bad if two statues were missing. But the problem is that they're just missing that one final statue.

What the hell is this!

The media has also keenly noticed that the biggest buzz right now is no longer about Wu Chen winning Best Director or Deanie Ip winning Best Actress, but rather that Wu Chen is just one step away from making a film record.

Immediately, reporters sprang into action, interviewing major directors and actors in the industry.

"Just one more? Good heavens! That's incredible!"

Jiang Wen, who is currently preparing for his new film, appeared more excited than anyone else during an interview.

"We absolutely have to tell Director Wu to go get it right away! I fully support him! Congratulations! If needed, I can even help him out, like being an assistant director or something!"

The reporters listened with great interest.

If Jiang Wen is made assistant director, how can this movie even be directed?
The actors who have worked with Wu Chen also inevitably face a barrage of questions from reporters while filming on set.

"I believe Director Wu has the ability to make history."

"Go, Director Wu! Make another one! If possible, I'd love to act in it too!"

"."

Hu Jing, Zhang Yi, and others also offered their congratulations.

Zhang Yimou, who is currently working on the post-production of "The Flowers of War," also took a break from her busy schedule to give an interview.

"Wu Chen, he has a chance. The Best Director award is often harder to win than the Best Film award. So I hope everyone won't put so much pressure on him."

After saying this, Zhang Yi returned to the post-production room and couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

In fact, he is only missing the Cannes Palme d'Or to complete his "Three Gold Grand Slam".

Unfortunately, he also knew that there was an unwritten rule at the three major film festivals: when a director starts aiming for the "grand finale," the difficulty of winning the award increases exponentially.

When Chen Kaige learned of this news, he seemed somewhat lost and disappointed.

He felt that the Palme d'Or trophy he once took great pride in was becoming worthless in the face of Wu Chen's imminent "Grand Slam of Best Directors".

In the interview, he still expressed his expectations:

"Congratulations to Wu Chen. He has a chance to achieve a grand slam in directing. However, this last one will be extremely difficult. I hope he doesn't become complacent and continues to work hard."

(End of this chapter)