Huayu: Everyone's been reborn, who's still going to be an actor?

Chapter 114 is another hot topic (12/40)

Han Sanping came before the premiere of "Love".

After the premiere, the copyright negotiations began, but whether it would be sold or not was another matter.

Of course, he wasn't just there for the film copyright issue.

Quite a few people came to the premiere of "Love".

Jury president Stephen Frears is here, and so is Jia Zhangke.

In addition, quite a few directors also came.

Lee Chang-dong and Kim Ki-duk from South Korea, and Naomi Kawase with the red dot.

There's also Quentin Tarantino.

His film "Evidence of Death" was also shortlisted for the main competition.

They were still very curious about Cheng Yuan's movie.

In addition, there are many film critics, film fans, and others.

The theater, which can hold over a thousand people, was packed to capacity.

The film begins soon.

The story is simple, and the relationships between the characters are not complicated.

The male and female protagonists are both well-educated retired music teachers. The female protagonist loses her ability to live independently after suffering a stroke, while the male protagonist has difficulty walking and still has to take care of his wife, maintaining a clean and noble daily life. He keeps his dignity up when his musician students visit and maintains his self-respect when his daughter shows concern.

The female protagonist did not want to continue to suffer from illness and loss of self-esteem, so the male protagonist ultimately smothered her to death with a pillow, thus fulfilling his wife's wish.

Cheng Yuan adopted the same simple, down-to-earth, steady, and powerful style as the original documentary, presenting the elderly couple enjoying the beauty of literature and music together, the warmth of caring for each other during illness, and the fatigue and frustration caused by prolonged illness.

At the end of the film, the police opened the door and found only the old woman's body, but the fate of the male protagonist was not clearly revealed, which is also an open ending left by the film.

"Clap clap clap..."

""

After the movie ended and a moment of silence followed, applause erupted and lasted for a long time.

"It seems your movie was a great success."

Han Sanping smiled and whispered to Cheng Yuan.

This wasn't his first time watching the movie, so it didn't have as much of an impact on him.

Other older filmmakers remained silent.

Perhaps through this film, they saw the fear of old age.

"Director Cheng, you're so young, why would you make a film that uses aging, illness, and death to test marital relationships?"

Some media reporters couldn't resist interviewing Cheng Yuan.

Cheng Yuan's age is no secret; he's only in his twenties, yet he's made a film about companionship in old age.

Of course, the media reporter wasn't questioning whether Cheng Yuan had the ability to create such a film.

Cheng Yuan's reputation as a genius is quite high in Europe.

"The inspiration for this film came from a visit to a relative in the hospital," Cheng Yuan said. "At the time, there was an elderly woman in the bed next to me, and her husband was arguing with her."

"From their argument, I realized that the old man couldn't bear the pain and didn't want to be a burden on his wife, so he wanted to give up treatment, but his wife disagreed. She didn't want him to die, and she didn't want to be all alone," Cheng Yuan said. "When I went back two days later, the person in the next bed had been replaced. I heard from a relative that the old man's wife cried for a long time before going to process his discharge. My relative was going through a divorce at the time, and I was thinking then, what exactly is marriage..."

When Cheng Yuan mentioned his creative inspiration, he said it was all made up; he was more focused on explaining what the film wanted to express.

Of course, some things cannot be said too clearly; those who read them should understand and interpret them for themselves.

"Awesome!"

Quentin walked over to Cheng Yuan, gave him a thumbs up, and said two words.

It's said that Jiang Wen taught him this, but I don't know if it's true or not.

However, Cheng Yuan knew that Jiang Wen and Quentin had a good relationship, and Jiang Wen had even taken him out for drinks with Quentin.

Cheng Yuan even got him drunk to the point of passing out.

Compared to other directors, Cheng Yuan undoubtedly has a better relationship with Quentin Tarantino.

"Jiang is right, you really are a genius," Quentin continued in English. "Remember to come to the premiere of 'Death Certificate' on the 22nd."

"I'll definitely go."

Cheng Yuan nodded and chatted with the other filmmakers.

The premiere of "Amour" was clearly a great success, with a score of 3.4 in the festival's daily publication, which was higher than the original version. The only film that could compare to it was "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," which premiered the day before.

The film's program scores are also extremely high, with some reaching 3.5 points, but most around 3.2.

Overall, the program booklet rating for "Love" is slightly better.

However, both films are strong contenders for this year's Palme d'Or.

In addition, the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" and Béla Tarr's "The Man from London" are both highly regarded by industry insiders.

"Three million isn't as much as 'The Distinguished Citizen,' but they've promised to go all out to win the Palme d'Or," Han Sanping said to Cheng Yuan. "This time, let's try to bring back the gold medal."

"Three million is not bad, we've already made money."

Cheng Yuan smiled and nodded, feeling that he had a better chance of winning Best Actress this time.

Who won the Best Actress award in the original timeline?

Jeon Do-yeon.

In Lee Chang-dong's film "Secret Sunshine," she plays a widow who gradually loses her mind after losing her son.

She fully immersed herself in the film, unable to extricate herself from the grief of losing her child. Her blind faith and questioning, the harm she inflicted on herself and her revenge on those around her, all resonated deeply with the audience.

However, many people believe that she overacted in some scenes, and that the reason she won the Best Actress award at Cannes this year was because there were no strong competitors among the films in competition.

But now she has a formidable adversary.

"If it wins the Palme d'Or, the rights to it in other regions should sell for more than The Distinguished Citizen."

Han Sanping nodded with a smile.

Amity is obviously not as commercially viable as Distinguished Citizen, but the Palme d'Or is the most prestigious of the three European films.

Once you acquire it, the copyright value will definitely be higher than expected.

The cost of "Love" was only a little over ten million, less than twenty million, of which Cheng Yuan's combined salary as screenwriter, director and actor was twelve million.

The European rights sold for three million US dollars, which is more than twenty million, meaning they've already made several million.

The bulk of the revenue clearly comes from copyrights in North America and other regions.

As for the domestic box office?

Cheng Yuan said it was unlikely, and Han Sanping agreed.

However, if it wins the Palme d'Or, then the domestic box office performance is still worth looking forward to.

"The Palme d'Or isn't so easy to win."

Cheng Yuan shook his head. "Love" was a huge hit, just like "Hunting" was back then.

Over the next few days, Cheng Yuan attended many movie premieres.

The response to "Amour" in Cannes also reached back home, causing quite a stir.

They're a strong favorite for the Palme d'Or again.

This has significantly increased domestic attention on the matter.

"Could this kid actually bring home a Palme d'Or?"

Wang Zhonglei was somewhat surprised and indignant when he received the news.

Why should I?

Even someone as brilliant as Zhang Yimou has had times when he came away empty-handed.

Why does this kid always come back with a full load of stuff?

"The Palme d'Or isn't so easy to win," Wang Zhongjun said. "What good would it do? I'm more interested in whether his film 'Taken' will be a box office success."

Wang Zhonglei opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He was actually very conflicted.

Even if "Taken" flops at the box office, it starred Jackie Chan. Whether that film is a global box office success or failure will definitely have an impact on "The Forbidden Kingdom".