It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 210 Jiang Wen is pushed to the limit, Lu Chuan breaks down in tears again, a crazy battle between morality and humor! (Seeking monthly votes)

"This year's Cannes International Film Festival awarded a record-breaking six-way tie for Best Actress and four-way tie for Best Actor, setting a new record for awards at an A-list film festival!"

"Some netizens have questioned whether the Cannes International Film Festival is now less prestigious than the Berlin and Venice Film Festivals."

"Wang Jiawei is jokingly called an 'award-making machine.' In his first term as president of an international film festival, he created a milestone in the Cannes Film Festival's awards ceremony..."

Lu Rui stared at the news feed on his computer and finally understood the origin of Jiang Wen's complaints.

As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Win-win or even multi-win outcomes have never been the norm for film festival awards ceremonies.

If an award is shared by multiple people, it will inevitably become a "wholesale award," directly lowering the value of the award.

There are precedents for this, such as the film "Eight Beauties", which featured eight women receiving awards together at the Berlin Film Festival.

As a result, the Berlin Film Festival's prestige plummeted after that, and it was widely criticized online for its "obvious pie-sharing tactics"!
Now, Wang Jiawei has gone too far, putting on a show at Cannes with "six Best Actresses and four Best Actor winners on the same stage," turning the prestigious Cannes Film Festival into a wholesale market for awards.

The internet was flooded with ridicule.

Chinese netizens didn't hold back either, making fun of the situation:
"There are more Best Actor and Best Actress winners at Cannes this year than there are cabbages at the market."

"Haha, the Cannes organizing committee must be totally confused right now. Did we invite the jury president or a vegetable vendor from the market?"

"No matter what, we still have to thank him for giving us the only film from our country to participate in an award, and he even brought back a jury grand prize."

Wang Jiawei's actions earned him a lot of goodwill, but at the cost of completely ruining his reputation.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it's unlikely that any film festival will dare to invite him to be the jury president in the future.

This incident has severely damaged Cannes' reputation and authority, and it will take at least two or three years to recover.

Other A-list film festivals are even more eager to avoid it, and they'll probably have to include "refusing to share awards with multiple people" in their judging rules, for fear of following in Cannes' footsteps.

"This guy really knows how to navigate social situations, but he messed things up for Cannes." Lu Rui shook his head and laughed at Jiang Wen on the other end of the phone, "But at least you won the Jury Prize, so it wasn't a wasted trip."

Jiang Wen sighed: "That's all I have to hope for, but unfortunately the prestige of this award has been significantly reduced."

Will it affect the sale of copyrights?

“No, not at all.” Jiang Wen chuckled. “Before winning the award, the highest bidder was $270 million, but now it has more than doubled to $650 million.”

Currently, the USD/CNY exchange rate has shown a continuous downward trend, while the RMB as a whole is appreciating.

According to data from the China Foreign Exchange Trading Center, the current exchange rate is 7.9991 yuan to 1 US dollar.

If it sells for $650 million, then "The Sun Also Rises" would earn 5199 million RMB.

The film's initial investment was 6000 million, which means that the copyright alone was almost enough to cover the costs.

Once they return and are scheduled for release, they'll rake in another wave of box office revenue—a sure-fire way to make money!
No wonder Jiang Wen's tone on the phone was filled with undisguised excitement.

"Haha, congratulations Director Jiang."

"Congratulations! Your company must have made a fortune this year too!"

Although Jiang Wen was abroad, he still kept track of what was happening in China.

"Sunny Sisters" has successfully surpassed 2 million yuan at the box office, becoming the fourth domestic film to break the 2 million yuan mark, following "Hero", "The Prestige" and "Taken".

Vision shines brightly once again!
In terms of box office revenue, New Pictures, once the top dog, has now become the second largest.

After a brief chat, Lü Rui ended the call on his own initiative and did not disturb him further.

At this point, many people will surely call Jiang Wen to share the good news. If they want to chat, there will be plenty of time at the celebration banquet when they return.

It's obvious that Yinghuang wouldn't pass up this opportunity to hold a celebratory banquet to bring good fortune and make a name for themselves.

However, the very next second after hanging up the phone, the system notification tone, silent for three months, suddenly sounded:
[Ding! Congratulations, host! Filming and post-production work for "Dying to Survive" (Dallas Buyers Club fusion version) has been completed, and the finished film has been officially submitted for review.]

[Reward upon completion of the mission: S-rank talent "Scriptwriting and adaptation skills for religious/documentary/music/past/historical/martial arts/historical/biographical themes".]

[Friendly reminder: The host has now successfully collected all scriptwriting and adaptation techniques for film and television dramas.]

[Ding! New mission issued: Please translate/adapt a Hollywood movie and pass the Film Bureau's review.]

[Reward upon completion of the mission: ...]

"Have I mastered all the screenwriting and adaptation techniques for every genre?"

Lu Rui stared at the prompt and muttered to himself, then closed his eyes and recalled for a moment... When he opened his eyes again, he could not hide his shock and excitement.

Unbeknownst to him, the system had already provided him with scriptwriting and adaptation techniques for more than 30 different film and television genres.

This means that once he has mastered all of these techniques, he will be able to write and adapt scripts of any genre.

The power of the system's cheat code was perfectly demonstrated at this moment!

"call!"

After letting out a long sigh of relief, Lü Rui went to the restroom to wash up and then planned to take a walk around the company.

May is coming to an end, and there are still many documents that need his approval at the end of the month.

Once these next few days are over, the new project should be launched.

A new task has been issued, and it's still about translating Hollywood movies into Chinese.

He already has a goal in mind.

Come out, Pacific Rim!
He was quite curious: now that he had mastered the screenwriting and adaptation skills, what good things would the next S-level reward bring?
However, on his way to the company, Nortel called him to invite him to this year’s graduation ceremony.

This is considered an annual tradition at the Beijing Film Academy.

Alternatively, invite accomplished alumni to return to campus to share their experiences and offer encouragement to the new graduates.

Alternatively, they could invite executives from film and television companies or talent agencies to conduct summer campus recruitment events.

Or perhaps they would invite some big-name directors to come back and lend their support.

Since it was Xie Xiaojing, the head of the directing department, who called personally, Lü Rui didn't refuse and readily agreed.

"And bring Zhao Peng and Shen Ao back with you too," Xie Xiaojing said cheerfully.

These individuals are the "pride" of the Beijing Film Academy's directing department, and he, as the head of the department, always feels a sense of pride when he mentions them.

"OK, no problem."

Lu Rui would naturally not refuse to give him this face.

Since everyone's work has come to a close recently, let's go back to the school together and take a stroll.

I'll just go check in again and take the opportunity to request leave for the rest of the year.

Lü Rui had almost forgotten that he was still a graduate student.

While he was busy with this, in Cannes, Jiang Wen had already sold the rights to "The Sun Also Rises" to Harvey Weinstein for $680 million.

The Weinstein Company was just founded last year.

Harvey, along with his old crew, left Miramax and Disney, ready to venture out on his own.

The company was founded less than six months ago, and now is the time when it needs a large number of film and television works to expand its market.

Since "The Sun Also Rises" won an award at Cannes, Harvey felt it had the potential to make money, so he proactively raised the price and secured the copyright operation rights.

However, to his great regret, he hadn't been able to acquire the film rights that Lü Rui had previously offered for. Otherwise, the company could have made a fortune!
Looking at movies like "The Prestige," "The Pursuit of Happyness," and "Mystic River," he felt as if he had missed out on mountains of gold and silver!

What pained him even more was that he also missed out on the Twilight IP.

Sometimes he also reflects on whether he has been too presumptuous.

Always trying to get something for nothing might work once or twice, but if it happens too often, people aren't stupid, so who would want to cooperate with him?

He always silently prayed to God, wanting to earn more money, but God seemed to only give him half each time.

Many of his colleagues say he's particularly "shameless," which is probably God's answer to him...

"Sigh, I hope this movie can make a lot of money."

Harvey boarded a flight back to Hollywood with a copy of the copyright for "The Sun Also Rises".

He had no idea that the film's award-winning success was largely due to Wong Ka-wai's extensive network of connections.

Anyway, even Wong Ka-wai himself didn't quite understand the movie, because the plot was too damn profound!

He himself follows the stream of consciousness school, so to understand Jiang Wen's consciousness, one must resonate with him.

But he's someone who's been in the Hong Kong film industry since he was a child, and his creative context is completely different from that of mainland filmmakers. How could he possibly understand the sun in Jiang Wen's mind?

The jury prize was only given out of respect for Yinghuang; whether Harvey would be ripped off and lose everything was none of his business.

Meanwhile, after receiving the payment, Jiang Wen did not linger in Cannes but went straight to the airport and boarded a plane back to China.

He originally planned to visit his ex-wife and daughter, but Zhou Yun said she wasn't feeling well lately.

When faced with two benefits, choose the greater one; when faced with two harms, choose the lesser one.

In the end, an ex can never compare to a current partner, otherwise they wouldn't become exes.

However, the frustrating thing is that as soon as he landed at the domestic airport, he was surrounded by reporters at the exit.

"Director Jiang, congratulations on winning the award! This is a sign of your return to the top!"

"The Jury Prize is well-deserved; your work has never disappointed!"

"I'm sure I can win the Palme d'Or next time..."

The barrage of compliments warmed Jiang Wen's heart, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face; he even felt a little smug.

But the next second, the reporters abruptly changed their tone: "Director Jiang, what are your thoughts on Lu Chuan's loss in the second instance of the plagiarism case for 'Kekexili'?"

Jiang Wen's smile froze instantly, and his brows furrowed.

He didn't want to have anything to do with Lu Chuan at all. The thought of that guy once calling himself his "disciple" made him feel disgusted.

His good reputation was ruined by this guy, leaving a huge stain on it.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried to keep quiet, the reporters seemed to have him cornered.

Whenever Lu Chuan makes any new moves, he is always the first person interviewed.

"How do you see? Just look with your eyes." He rolled his eyes, his tone dismissive, trying to brush it off quickly.

But the reporters were clearly prepared and wouldn't let him off easily: "After 'Looking for a Gun' was filmed, Lu Chuan said he learned a lot from you and called you his mentor."

His second work was subsequently accused of plagiarism. Could this be related to your teaching?

The provocative intent in those words was blatantly obvious! It was clearly meant to provoke Jiang Wen into getting angry so they could create a stir.

Since Dou Wei burned Zhuo Wei's car, domestic media have gradually gone astray, focusing on deliberately stirring up trouble and engaging in malicious hype.

Someone nearby immediately followed up with, "Is it because you taught him that 'art can be borrowed' that he didn't grasp the appropriate level of restraint?"

"As a senior, didn't you ever check your apprentices' work?"

Jiang Wen was enraged by the question and sneered, "I only worked with him on one film, I'm not his biological father, what does his plagiarism have to do with me?"

He took two steps forward, trying to break through the encirclement.

But the reporters persisted: "But he has always considered himself your 'disciple'!"

Jiang Wen suddenly stopped and his sharp eyes swept across the crowd.

He didn't want to get involved in this kind of trouble, so he immediately said vehemently, "When you speak, you must distinguish the facts and not just parrot what others say. You must learn to seek the truth."

Otherwise, it would be as absurd as comparing the Magdeburg hemispheres experiment with Shang Yang's dismemberment by five horses and concluding that Shang Yang's airtightness was poor!
"If he tries to get close to me, am I supposed to sew his mouth shut?"

"So, apart from working with him on one film, you have no other relationship with him?"

"no!"

Jiang Wen practically shouted those two words.

Upon hearing Lu Chuan's name, he felt a sense of helplessness, like an eighty-year-old left-behind elderly person carrying sixty buckets of water under the scorching sun to water vegetable seedlings at the village entrance, only to find out in the end that they were watering someone else's land.

Getting involved with Lu Chuan is the biggest pain of his life!

The reporters wanted to continue asking questions, but Jiang Wen had already taken the opportunity to push through the crowd and quickly left under the escort of airport security.

The news quickly went online.

Lu Rui only glanced at it, and his inner moral compass and sense of humor began to clash fiercely!
He used the Magdeburg hemispheres experiment and the story of Shang Yang being torn apart by five horses to illustrate his relationship with Lu Chuan.

Jiang Wen was truly driven to desperation; otherwise, he would never have said something so outrageous.

Meanwhile, Lu Chuan, who was hiding from the media at home after losing her second trial, burst into tears upon seeing the news.

He never expected that Jiang Wen, with whom he had filmed "Looking for a Gun" and whom he had publicly "confessed" to as his mentor at an awards ceremony, would say such harsh words in front of the media in an attempt to sever ties.

Overwhelmed with grief, he logged onto his blog and typed: "The ocean never dries up because of the wind and waves; on the contrary, it becomes more vast by embracing all rivers."

I am now standing on the crest of a wave, letting the rumors pound against me, but I know the storm will eventually subside and the sun will always shine brightly!

Although he lost the lawsuit, his career as a director will not stop there.

In the words of his teacher, Professor Jiang, this was just a rough patch on the road.

After the Special Olympics work was over, Lu Chuan planned to return to the Nanjing Military Academy to devote herself to creative work.

Back in 03, when he was filming "Kekexili", he wanted to make a movie about the Nanjing Massacre, and the school promised to give him its full support.

This time, he is prepared to tell this story from a completely new perspective.

Focusing on the Chinese people's will to resist and the mental struggle of an ordinary Japanese soldier, the film presents a Nanjing that differs from previous historical narratives.

He wanted to prove that this incident was not just a simple case of violence and victimization, but a shared disaster for both nations!
Just then, my computer suddenly beeped, and a blog reply popped up.

Lu Chuan thought it was a comforting message from a supporter, but after clicking on it, she was so angry that her face turned red and her neck bulged!

"The ocean is indeed a wonderful thing. You can look at it when you're in a good mood, and jump in when you're in a bad mood... You can even go swimming when you're broke. I wish you success in your swim."

"Who! Who sent this! Damn it!"

Lu Chuan slammed her hand on the table, furious.

In the office of Rui Vision, Lü Rui looked at the comments he had posted using his alternate account and Lu Chuan's furious reply, laughing so hard he almost fell over...

(End of this chapter)