This director loves making friends.

The bigger and more famous a film critic is, the more they cherish their reputation.

Don't be fooled by their sharp tongues and outspokenness; they've simply seized the opportunity and found a "victim" with no future trouble.

In fact, this is true for most celebrities in any industry.

Would a renowned film critic dare to go against a recognized authority like the Cannes Film Festival?

It's not that I'm afraid, it's that it's unnecessary and not worthwhile.

Are you really going to risk destroying your "authority" and ruining the reputation you've worked so hard to build by doing something so stupid?

That's something only someone like Karami would do to grab attention and stand out.

Even if you disagree with some of the views expressed at Cannes, it's still easy to follow the trend and post comments.

A film that wins an award at Cannes can't be a piece of crap, right? Besides, even if it is a piece of crap, you can always find something to praise by examining its color, shape, and smell.

Therefore, even if some film critics feel that "A Bittersweet Life" lacks artistic merit and leans more towards a commercial narrative, they won't say it outright.

Challenging authority always requires courage and comes at a price.

Moreover, Cannes characterized "A Bittersweet Life" as a stylized, auteur-driven experimental film that sought to balance commercial appeal and artistic merit. Was that wrong?

No one can find fault with it.

At most, I feel that it's a bit unbalanced, leaning more towards commercialization.

Furthermore, "A Bittersweet Life" is an excellent film even as a commercial movie.

The film possesses a tragic core of loneliness and fate; its camerawork and lens employ color metaphors and psychological themes; its visual aesthetics intertwine splendor and cruelty; and its action choreography blends realistic brutality with elegant and freehand style…

Hmm, looking at it from a different perspective, "A Bittersweet Life" is indeed a high-quality movie!

Cannes truly lives up to its name, a city that prioritizes the fusion of commerce and art. They certainly have an eye for talent!

So what are we waiting for? Let's find the right angle and write a film review!

Wasn't Shi Qi's film review published in Ming Pao extremely accurate? No wonder he is Hong Kong's most famous film critic.

As a result, a situation similar to that at Cannes arose, with film critics starting to analyze "A Bittersweet Life" from various angles—there weren't many hot movies released in June, and "A Bittersweet Life" happened to have won a Cannes award, so film critics need to make a living.

These situations were completely unexpected for Qin Keqing. He truly did not anticipate that so many film critics would interpret "A Bittersweet Life" from various angles in different ways.

Most of these comments were praises.

But upon closer reflection, he began to understand.

Just like the award-winning films from mainland China in the three major European countries.

For example, films like "Red Sorghum," "The Story of Qiu Ju," "To Live," "Woman Sesame Oil Maker," and "Farewell My Concubine" have been criticized by many film critics and media in mainland China for deliberately vilifying mainland China in order to cater to the West, but there are almost no criticisms of the films' poor quality.

The three major European cinemas of this period could indeed endorse a film.

The reviews from the media and film critics also exceeded Winsun's expectations.

Yong Sheng did spend money to buy press releases, but how could they buy so many?

And that's how the rhythm started.

This is reflected in the box office figures.

On its second day, "A Bittersweet Life" once again outperformed "Once Upon a Time in China IV" and the second installment of "A Moment of Romance," which premiered on its opening day, earning 238 million at the box office.

"A Moment of Romance 2: Forever and Ever" only garnered 98 views on its opening day.

However, even with a box office of 98, the production company, Yineng Pictures, and director Chen Musheng were very satisfied. With a box office of nearly one million on the first day, if the later trend is normal, the total box office could very likely reach around 1000 million.

It's not that the sequel's box office must be higher than the original; the main issue is that "A Moment of Romance" has a different lead actor.

The original lead role was played by Lau Tak-wah, but now it has been replaced by Aaron Kwok.

At this time, Aaron Kwok was definitely no match for Andy Lau, especially in the film industry, where he couldn't compare in terms of popularity or box office appeal.

Liu Dehua's "A Moment of Romance" only grossed 1200 million at the box office. If this sequel can get around 1000 million, what more could Yineng Pictures and Chen Musheng possibly want?

On the contrary, "Once Upon a Time in China IV" only grossed a little over 1 million on its second day. Neither Golden Harvest nor Tsui Hark were very satisfied. They knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the box office of "Once Upon a Time in China IV" would most likely only be around 10 million.

The investment for this kind of period action film is much larger than that for a modern film. In addition, Taiwan, South Korea and the local media are not buying into the change of the lead actress to Zhao Wenzhuo. It is estimated that there will be no fifth installment.

"What do you think?"

As Du Qifeng, the producer of "A Moment of Romance 2: Forever and Ever," and director Chen Musheng came out of the theater, Du Qifeng spoke first.

"The action incorporates concepts from mixed martial arts, based on military and police Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), resulting in extremely powerful movements that give the audience a real sense of 'pain.' This is definitely a new style of action fighting that can lead to a new generation of action combat—it's fantastic!"

With a face full of enthusiasm, Chen Musheng turned to his "mentor" Du Qifeng and emphasized again, "Absolutely fantastic!"

He was trained by Du Qifeng and worked for Du Qifeng all along, so he can be considered Du Qifeng's apprentice.

Du Qifeng clicked his tongue, gave a wry smile, and shook his head. He knew Chen Musheng well and knew that his apprentice would be extremely fond of this style of film.

Seeing his apprentice's excited expression, as if he had become a fan of Qin Keqing, he wanted to remind him, "You rascal, the sequel to 'If Heaven Has Feelings' that you're directing is going up against someone else. Is this appropriate?"

However, Qin Keqing, who came from the mainland, did indeed design a very impressive style.

"Where did this Qin Keqing come from? Do you know him?"

Xu Ke's desk was cluttered with newspapers. After reading the film review column of Ming Pao, he casually tossed the newspaper onto the desk and looked up to ask Zhao Wenzhuo, who was sitting quietly next to him.

They're going to promote their movie today.

However, what frustrated Tsui Hark was that this was Wong Fei-hung, the fourth Wong Fei-hung film, yet judging from the newspapers on the market, it seemed to have barely made a ripple, with very little discussion and few reviews.

Zhao Wenzhuo shook his head and said, "I don't know him, I've never heard of him."

"Didn't you all come to Hong Kong from Beijing last year? I've seen the media reports; he was the assistant director of 'Woman Sesame Oil Maker' and also the assistant director of 'King of Beggars,' which proves he should also be from Beijing. Aren't you also studying at a sports university in Beijing? How come I don't know him?"

Given Zhao Wenzhuo's usual temperament, he would definitely make a few sarcastic remarks and then talk back.

"That's a ridiculous question. Beijing is so big; any district there is about the size of Hong Kong. Does that mean two people living in Hong Kong are bound to know each other? Besides, in a city as big as Beijing, how could I possibly know anyone?"

Unfortunately, this is Tsui Hark, a renowned director who has long been famous in Hong Kong.

Zhao Wenzhuo is a bit straightforward, but she's not stupid. How could she possibly offend a big director like Tsui Hark when she first came to Hong Kong to develop her career?

So he smiled and shook his head again, "I really don't know him. I used to be in the sports world, and he's in the film industry. The two circles don't overlap much."

"That's strange. Hasn't he ever been involved in the martial arts world? How could he film such sharp and cold-blooded movements if he's never practiced martial arts or been involved in the martial arts world?"

Xu Ke leaned back in the boss's chair, his hands behind his head, his legs propped up on the desk, and muttered to himself.

Zhao Wenzhu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Weren't the action designers for 'A Bittersweet Life' Lu Huiguang, Yang Sheng, and Lin Guobin? I heard they all came from Jackie Chan's stunt team, so it's normal for them to design these kinds of action sequences, right?"

"normal?"

Xu Ke scoffed, a slight smirk playing on his lips, and said with a hint of disdain, "It's abnormal precisely because they come from the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. The Jackie Chan Stunt Team's style is too obvious. Those martial arts instructors are only thinking about 'techniques' and 'tricks' all day long; they're already useless."

He paused for a moment, then added, "If the Yuan Clan could produce these real fight scenes without wire work or fancy editing, I could barely accept it. Qin Keqing... are you sure he's not from the martial arts world?"

Zhao Wenzhuo thought about it carefully again. The martial arts circle is actually not very big. He considered himself to be quite familiar with this circle, and he had indeed never heard of Qin Keqing in the martial arts circle.

"no."

After hearing Zhao Wenzhuo's words, Xu Ke couldn't help but sigh. With Zhang Yimou in the past and Chen Kaige and Qin Keqing in the future, the mainland is indeed full of talented people!

He put Qin Keqing alongside Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige because he believed that Qin Keqing's "elegant violent aesthetics" style would definitely become one of the mainstream styles of action films.

But the fact that this came from an art film director is truly...

"Hey!"

Words cannot express it!