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

Chapter 286 A formidable foe! The sun may set, but it will rise again as usual! (Seeking monthly votes)
"Reprinted from the Venice International Film Festival announcement: Under the leadership of Jury President Zhang Yimou, the official list of nominees for the main competition of the 64th Venice International Film Festival has been announced!"

"Warmest congratulations to the three Chinese-language films, 'Dying to Survive,' 'Lust, Caution,' and 'Help Me Eros,' for successfully being shortlisted for the main competition."

"It is a pity that the film 'Mad Detective' directed by Hong Kong director Johnnie To was not selected for this year's Venice International Film Festival."

"Directors Lü Rui, Li An, and Li Kangsheng are about to compete in the Venice International Film Festival. Let's look forward to their outstanding performances..."

The list leaked online shows that there are 21 films nominated for the main competition at this year's Venice Film Festival.

Among them, Chinese-language films accounted for 3 spots, second only to Hollywood films in terms of the number of nominees.

Meanwhile, the contenders for the Golden Lion Award are none other than three renowned art-house film directors in the industry: Lü Rui, Li An, and Li Kangsheng!

It's no exaggeration to say that this lineup is simply a battle of gods!
Let's look at Lü Rui first.

At just 25 years old, he is now the only person in the global film market to have won the Best Director award at all three major European film festivals, making him one of the most dazzling new directors in the global film industry!

Let's look at Li An again.

With "Brokeback Mountain," he had already won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and an Academy Award for Best Director, successfully establishing his international status.

Finally, there is Li Kangsheng.

Although his achievements are slightly less than the previous two, his talent as a Golden Horse Award-winning actor who transitioned to directing and was able to have his self-written, self-directed, and self-acted works successfully shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival is undeniable.

These three are about to compete on the same stage, and the chairman of the jury is Zhang Yimou.

Many industry insiders already have the answer in their minds.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Golden Lion at this year's Venice International Film Festival will almost certainly be won by one of these three.

Among them, the ones with the greatest chance of winning are undoubtedly Li An and Lü Rui!

"Haha, this is going to be good!"

Wang Zhonglei, Wu Kebo, and others who knew about the previous conflict between Lü Rui and Li An immediately adopted a "watch the show" mentality, ready to wait and see how the two would fight back.

There are quite a few people who share the same mindset as them, and some have even planned to place bets.

"I think Li An will definitely win again this time. He has already won the Golden Lion before, and he has a better grasp of the aesthetics of Venice. This time, 'Lust, Caution' has a heavy subject matter, so the probability of him winning another Golden Lion is extremely high!"

“I’m on Lu Rui’s side. He’s won all three silver medals, so it’s about time he got the Golden Lion, right? Besides, I heard that the realistic subject matter of ‘Dying to Survive’ is very impactful and will appeal to the European judges.”

"Li An's storytelling skills are beyond question, even the Oscars have recognized them, so it's reasonable for him to win the Golden Lion at Venice as well, given his strength."

"Lu Rui is only 25 years old and he's already so amazing. He's incredibly talented. If he can win the Golden Lion this time, he'll set a new record for the youngest director to win the Golden Lion. I bet he can make a comeback!"

"..."

Unlike the general public who were just watching the show, Yu Dong from Bona Film Group was extremely nervous and restless.

Even now, "Lust, Caution" still cannot pass censorship in mainland China.

He is now hoping that Li An can bring back the Golden Lion Award and use the momentum of the international award to help the film pass censorship.

"Chairman Jiang, you'll have to put in a lot of effort on your end. This time, it's all up to you."

When it comes to winning awards abroad, Yu Dong is a complete novice.

Even though Bona is currently the top private publishing company in China, it is only good at domestic publishing. Once it goes abroad, it is completely clueless.

In contrast, Jiang Zhiqiang's connections span across mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Hollywood, which would undoubtedly be a great help in the awards race.

"Don't worry, Chairman Yu, I will do my best."

Jiang Zhiqiang responded over the phone.

However, after chatting for a few minutes, he suddenly asked curiously, "Is Chairman Yu familiar with Zhang Yimou? If you can persuade him, our chances of winning the award this time will definitely increase dramatically."

It is well known that the jury president has the greatest influence on a film's chances of winning an award!

In fact, Jiang Zhiqiang himself can also speak with Zhang Yimou, because he was in charge of the distribution of many of Zhang Yimou's films.

However, he collaborated more with Zhang Weiping, who then treated Zhang Yimou like a "private property," keeping him hidden at home and not allowing outside investors to have much contact with him.

That's why Jiang Zhiqiang asked Yu Dong to put in some effort; it would be best if he could get in touch with Zhang Yimou.

However, Yu Dong said somewhat awkwardly upon hearing this, "When 'Curse of the Golden Flower' was released last year, Zhang Weiping and I had some disagreements..."

Jiang Zhiqiang knew immediately that Bona was clearly not going to be of any help.

He didn't press the issue, and after chatting for a bit more, he hung up the phone to contact Miramax.

The investors in "Lust, Caution" include Hollywood capital. If they are willing to help and lobby the American judges on the jury, it might increase the chances of winning an award.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong film industry was shrouded in gloom and despair, as if it had lost its parents.

Lü Rui is a director from mainland China, and all the main actors in "Dying to Survive" are from mainland China.

Lee Kang-sheng is from Taiwan Province.

Although Li An has a Hong Kong background, his work "Lust, Caution" is a co-production between mainland China, Hong Kong, and Hollywood, and is not strictly speaking a purely Hong Kong film.

Johnnie To's "Mad Detective" is the only truly authentic Hong Kong film.

But now, things have turned out differently. The other three have made it into the finals, while Johnnie To has unfortunately failed to make the cut.

Doesn't this mean that Hong Kong cinema is really finished? That it's completely declining?

The vast majority of people who don't care about these things simply don't care about this point at all.

However, some veteran Hong Kong filmmakers were heartbroken and furious when they saw this scene, cursing Zhang Yimou for being a heartless scoundrel!

"This guy clearly doesn't respect Hong Kong films! Such a good film as 'Mad Detective' wasn't nominated; it's obviously an attempt to suppress us!"

"Does the jury chairperson have the right to show regional bias? Does she only care about films from mainland China and Taiwan? Does no one care about Hong Kong films?"

"Is Johnnie To's skill inferior to those others? It's clearly Zhang Yimou settling a personal score to prevent Hong Kong films from gaining a foothold!"

In their view, this was Zhang Yimou carrying out revenge.

After all, Zhang Yimou had previously been nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards for films such as "Hero," "House of Flying Daggers," and "Curse of the Golden Flower," but he did not win any awards despite attending several times.

That's why he retaliated against Hong Kong films during the judging process at this Venice International Film Festival.

This reason makes perfect sense.

Even after they figured out the reasons, they had no intention of changing their ways. Instead, they angrily accused Zhang Yimou of showing favoritism!
When people become selfish to a certain extent, they will not consider others at all, and will only care about whether their own interests are harmed.

But little did they know, Heaven is watching what people do!

Although Zhang Yimou has a good temper, it doesn't mean he has no temper.

Given the right opportunity, he would naturally want to vent his anger.

In stark contrast to Hong Kong media, mainland media and netizens have been praising Zhang Yimou to the skies:
"Director Zhang is amazing! He managed to prepare for the Olympics while also working on the Venice Film Festival, and managed to get three Chinese-language films shortlisted, bringing glory to the country!"

"I used to complain that Zhang Yimou's filmmaking skills had declined significantly, but now it seems that experience still matters."

"Hopefully, with Zhang Yimou involved this time, we can bring another Golden Lion Award back to Chinese-language films!"

"..."

At the same time, the crew of the TV series "Nanjing Photo Studio" was also present.

Lu Rui was standing behind the monitor, watching the actors' performances on the screen while his mind wandered.

Beside him, Jiang Wen, who had come to visit the set, casually leaned against the equipment case, saying in a slightly teasing tone:
"Congratulations, Director Lü! You've been nominated for the main competition at the Venice Film Festival again. With Zhang Yimou on the jury this time, winning the Golden Lion is a piece of cake!"

In Jiang Wen's view, Zhang Yimou, as the chairman of the jury, would inevitably favor Chinese-language films.

Moreover, he had previously seen the finished film of "Dying to Survive" and highly praised its depth of reality and narrative pacing, firmly believing that the film absolutely deserved a Golden Lion Award.

"It's not that easy. 'Lust, Caution' is no joke."

Lu Rui shook his head slightly, his face showing little joy.

Although he despised Li An's various outrageous actions, he had to admit that the guy's directing skills were indeed top-notch.

Lust, Caution will definitely be the biggest rival of Dying to Survive!
It's no surprise that a fierce battle over awards public relations is inevitable during this trip to Venice.

The biggest problem right now is that the overseas distributor of "Lust, Caution" is Miramax Films, which was acquired by Disney and was founded by Harvey Weinstein.

Although Harvey no longer works for the company, his PR team remains, and with Disney backing him up...

It won't be easy to beat them!
At this moment, Lü Rui's mind was racing, trying to figure out what method to use to deal with Miramax.
Which other Hollywood company can rival Miramax in public relations capabilities?
"Why think so much?" Jiang Wen patted his shoulder to comfort him when she saw his furrowed brows. "The opening ceremony isn't until the end of next month, there's still plenty of time, don't get so caught up in the details."

"Ok, I know."

Lu Rui's brows relaxed slightly.

there's always a solution to any problem.

Thinking too much about it now is pointless. It's not too late to think about it when we get back. There will always be a suitable solution.

Once he calmed down, he turned to look at Jiang Wen with curiosity: "By the way, aren't you preparing for a new movie? How come you have time to run around everywhere and even visit the set of 'Nanjing Photo Studio'?"
However, it would have been better if he hadn't brought it up. The moment he did, Jiang Wen's expression turned resentful, and his tone became laced with sarcasm:

"It's all because someone's been nowhere to be found every day, so my storyboard for 'Let the Bullets Fly' just can't get any progress..."

This is not true.

After all, Lü Rui had promised to draw storyboards for him, but he was so busy that he didn't have time to spare.

They either shuttle between different film sets to visit each other, or fly directly to Hollywood, often not returning for ten days or half a month at a time.

Jiang Wen was full of anticipation, but she could never catch him.

He can draw stick figures himself, but that doesn't inspire him!
"Ahem, I almost forgot." Lu Rui looked away somewhat awkwardly.

Then, he turned around, took his bag from his assistant, and said while rummaging through it:
"While I was in Hollywood overseeing projects, I took some time to draw some storyboards. They're all based on the plot fragments you described earlier. Take a look..." "Really?! Oh! Thank you so much! Let me see them!"

Jiang Wen's eyes lit up instantly, the resentment on his face vanished, and his attitude made a complete 180-degree turn, his tone full of surprise.

Lü Rui smiled and took out a stack of drawing paper from his bag, handing it over.

Jiang Wen eagerly took them and carefully examined each one, his eyes growing brighter and brighter!
The composition and camera movement on the drawing paper perfectly matched his vision, and the details were full of ingenuity, making it even more wonderful than the picture he had imagined.

"Absolutely amazing! The storyboard is so well done, you're like a mind reader!"

Jiang Wen became more and more excited as he looked at it, praising it repeatedly. His resentment from before had long since vanished, and he was full of energy.

But what outsiders don't know is that sometimes he's actually quite puzzled.

He didn't know when it started, but he always felt that he was living in Lü Rui's "shadow".

Whenever an idea pops into his mind, before he can even capture and refine it, Lü Rui has already preemptively thrown out a more mature idea.

If it only happened once or twice, it could be described as a coincidence.

But after it happened several times, he started to feel uncomfortable, and then subconsciously began to find reasons to comfort himself:

"It must be because our souls are so in sync that the inspirations that come to mind are similar. He's young and quick-witted, while I'm old and slow-witted, so he always manages to bring his inspirations to life before I do..."

He couldn't think of any other explanation.

You can't exactly say that Lü Rui was reborn from the future, can you?
After reviewing all the storyboard images, Jiang Wen felt his inspiration was overflowing, and all sorts of wonderful ideas kept popping into his mind.

His old habit instantly kicked in again. Pointing to one of the pages, he said, "I think this part can be changed. Let's zoom out a bit more to emphasize the oppressive atmosphere..."

For him, the key to making movies is "revision".

He will not rest until he has completely altered the script and storyboards!

"Stop, stop!" Lu Rui quickly stopped him. "After we get back to the capital, either you come to my company, or I come to you. We can sit down and talk about the revisions. Let's get the set visit sorted out today so as not to delay the filming."

He knew Jiang Wen's temperament all too well; if he were to start now, it would go on for at least three to five hours.

"Are you sure? Don't wait until I go back to look for you and find that I can't catch you again, just like always."

Jiang Wen's eyes were full of suspicion.

"I'm sure." Lu Rui patted his chest to assure him, but secretly added in his mind: In addition to keeping up with the preparation progress of "Reversal of Life" and "The Witch".

"I'm just wondering, we're all directors, how come you're so busy every day?"

Jiang Wen carefully put away the storyboard artwork, and while complaining, he began his brainwashing mode:

“Look at other young people. When they were your age, they were either dating or on their way to dating, enjoying their prime years. But you, you're always immersed in projects and work. You can't go on like this if you don't know how to enjoy life…”

"Okay, okay, I'll go find someone to date when I have time..."

Lu Rui gave a perfunctory reply, but inwardly he was somewhat unconvinced.

At that moment, he finally understood Liu Yifei's feelings.

Being lectured incessantly is really annoying.

Love? Even a dog wouldn't...

Wait a minute! Something's not right!

He suddenly remembered that he had a girlfriend who was beautiful, considerate, sensible, cute, sweet, and sassy all at once.

Unlike some people, I'm a single dog.

"Brother Rui."

Shen Ao's voice suddenly rang in Lü Rui's ears, interrupting their casual conversation.

He instinctively turned his head: "What's wrong?"

"Can you keep an eye on this shot for me? The extras just can't seem to get into character. I'll go and give them some pointers."

As Shen Ao spoke, he pointed to the noisy crowd not far away.

"Okay, you go ahead, I'll take care of things here."

Lü Rui nodded in agreement, took a few steps forward, and sat down directly in the director's chair.

The film "Nanjing Photo Studio" features many large-scale scenes, so a large number of extras were required to support them.

Currently, most of the extras in the film crew are college students on summer vacation.

They don't demand high salaries, and they are exceptionally efficient and obedient.

Because making movies is a very rare thing for them.

So when the production team promoted the film at several universities in the surrounding area, many people immediately signed up, expressing their willingness to take the summer job.

You can see so many stars like Huang Xiaoming and Shu Chang. Not only do they get paid for their roles, but some even said they would pay out of their own pockets to participate!

It's worth mentioning that since most of the attendees were students from universities like Fudan, Tongji, Jiaotong, and Foreign Languages, quite a few of them could speak Japanese.

This resulted in many people being dressed in Japanese military uniforms and forced to play the role of Japanese soldiers as soon as they arrived.

Full of energy, they would even carry prop guns and run around the set during breaks, having a great time.

The crew, from the director to the actors, are mostly young people. Not only do we not mind, but we also often interact with them, which makes the atmosphere on set exceptionally relaxed and harmonious.

Shen Ao even learned to speak Japanese through constant exposure.

It has to be said that the environment plays a significant role. With more people around you speaking Japanese, you naturally become more fluent, which is much faster than learning Japanese from adult movies.

After explaining the scene to the extras, Shen Ao immediately went to Huang Xiaoming to discuss the scene with him.

The attribute of "becoming stronger when facing stronger opponents" is no joke!

Surrounded by veteran actors and top university students, Shen Ao only needed to say a few words for Huang Xiaoming to know how to perform next.

It's crystal clear!
This is the power of a true acting talent!

But if it were a face-changing monster with absolutely no acting skills, and no talent or effort whatsoever, you could torment her for three days and three nights, and she would just blink her innocent big eyes and stare blankly until you drove her crazy!
Before we knew it, it was noon. Filming had come to an end, and the crew began to have lunch.

The college student extras were exceptionally well-behaved, spontaneously forming an orderly queue and stepping forward to receive their boxed meals.

Seeing this scene, Lü Rui couldn't help but smile knowingly.

A person's character can be seen in small things.

The discipline and good manners of these young people gave him hope.

Today's young people will definitely get better and better. Whether it is knowledge or character, they will continue to improve in the process of inheritance. The future is promising!
After receiving their boxed lunches, everyone obediently sat down and ate their meals.

Lu Rui came to visit the set today, and of course he didn't come empty-handed.

He specially brought several truckloads of watermelons and, during this break, had the staff help cut them open and distribute them to everyone.

When he walked into the area for extras, the students instantly became excited and surrounded him, chattering excitedly.
"Hello, Director Lü!"

"I absolutely love your Taken! Is there a sequel?"

"Director Lü, could you please sign your autograph?"

However, amidst the lively chatter, someone in the crowd suddenly spoke up and asked:
"Director Lü, I'm very curious, why do we want to make anti-war films? What is the significance of making this type of film?"

The crowd suddenly fell silent, and all eyes were focused on Lü Rui.

He looked up at the innocent and pure eyes in front of him, and his heart was filled with emotion.

Although schools teach students knowledge, there is still a long way to go in terms of their thoughts and moral character!

He took a deep breath, met everyone's gaze, and slowly said:

"First of all, we need to make it clear that the anti-war films we make are completely different from the anti-war films of everyday life."

Their anti-war sentiment was more about opposing defeat; it was about complaining about their own loss and saying that their Emperor's choice to surrender was a mistake.

Our anti-war stance is fundamentally about remembering that history, remembering the suffering endured by our ancestors, remaining vigilant at all times, and being prepared to fight back against any aggression.

The significance of the film "Nanjing Photo Studio" is to restore the true face of history, record that dark period, and let future generations remember it forever!
We don't need to analyze whether the Japanese invaders were human, nor do we need to explore their grievances. What we need to do is simply express our condemnation of the invaders and our remembrance of our compatriots who perished.

Anyone who dares to easily mention forgiveness, let him go and talk to those 30 victims, and see if his spittle can drown him!
We must remember the hatred towards aggressors in order to prevent history from repeating itself.

A single spark can start a prairie fire!
Perhaps a single anti-war film cannot solve all problems, but it can act as a spark, igniting patriotism in people's hearts and helping more people understand the preciousness of peace and the responsibility to protect their country. That is its significance!

As soon as he finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted throughout the hall!
Not far away, Jiang Wen, who was eating his lunchbox, stopped eating and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

He knew then that he hadn't misjudged Lü Rui!

The two shared a deep connection, particularly in their attitudes toward history and their country!
What struck him even more was that when he chatted with people in his circle, there were always people shaking their heads and sighing, saying that the post-80s and post-90s generations were a ruined generation, that they were spoiled and lacked responsibility, and that they had long forgotten the suffering of their predecessors.

But now, looking at the determination and emotion in the eyes of these college student extras, he realized that his previous understanding might have been somewhat biased.

This generation has not forgotten national and personal grievances; on the contrary, they have a deeper and clearer understanding of history!
They can distinguish right from wrong and know exactly what path to take next.

On the contrary, the older generation, having personally experienced hardship and deeply remembered the pain, also felt a strange envy and longing for foreign countries because of their past backwardness.

Some people, in pursuit of so-called "progress," have even lowered themselves to fawn over everything foreign, gradually losing their national pride and self-confidence...

This is clearly wrong, but many people are powerless to change it.

But now, the spark that ignites a prairie fire has appeared!
Looking at Lü Rui, who stood confidently in front of the college students in the distance, Jiang Wen subconsciously muttered to himself:
"The sun may set, but it will rise again as usual..."

(End of this chapter)