Chapter 340: Making a Fool of Oneself: The Ambition of a Grand Slam

With the arrival of the Venice Film Festival opening ceremony, more and more filmmakers are arriving from all over the world, most of them here to promote films and sell distribution rights.

The film festival's opening ceremony is at 7:30 PM, but as a female star, this is Liu Yifei's first time walking the festival's red carpet, and the brands are being far too enthusiastic.

Just after lunch, the makeup artist came over to apply makeup for Liu Yifei, and the gown and jewelry finalized by the brands had already been delivered.

Looking at the gown, Liu Yifei secretly felt relieved; fortunately, she had been quite disciplined during this period, otherwise, it really would have been a struggle to put it on.

Wei Jin was long prepared for a woman's makeup speed, so he took the opportunity to exchange a few words with other members of the film crew.

The main creators Bai Yu and Wang Jinsong were both a bit excited, especially the latter, who said in his own words that after decades in the industry, he never expected to have the chance to attend Venice, or even hold the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.

That's right, although he is not the lead actor, the European Big Three do not have separate supporting actor awards; as long as the screen time meets a certain standard, regardless of whether one is a lead or supporting actor, they are eligible to compete for Best Actor and Best Actress.

This time, both Bai Yu and Wang Jinsong have a chance, but unfortunately, Liu Yifei's screen time is far too little, failing to meet the standard entirely, otherwise she would have had a chance too.

After chatting with the two of them for a while, Wei Jin went to the room to check on Liu Yifei; sure enough, women's affairs are just troublesome.

Bored while waiting, Wei Jin began browsing domestic news, and he really did see a good show.

The Huabiao Award Award Award Award Award Awards held a few days ago had made headlines on all major entertainment portals.

The audience wasn't attracted by the award winners, but rather had their eyes drawn by Yuan Li's daring outfit.

Tomorrow Will Be Better: "Damn, going commando, awesome, awesome!"

Zhou Xiangyin: "It's simply selling flesh; have you no shame just to stand out? Morality is declining and people aren't what they used to be."

Jimo, Ban Wo: "What is the person above talking about? She is clearly providing a benefit for the vast audience; I actually suggest other female stars learn from her!"

Netizens were discussing it heatedly, and the person involved, Yuan Li, directly posted on Weibo, stating, "Beijing in August is just too hot; at the time, I just wanted to cool off."

Li Bingbing, having had her thunder stolen, directly opened a burner account to mock: "Some people are just TV drama actors; they have no works but insist on crashing the red carpet. They have no shame at all just to stand out."

Unfortunately, internet technology is so advanced nowadays that someone soon tracked the trail and dug it out.

Yuan Li has Bona backing her, so she isn't afraid of Li Bingbing's "Four Dan Double Bing" reputation, and she directly attacked her face-to-face.

"What base methods has Miss Li not used? What dirty deals has she not made? Acting all righteous now? Your skin is truly thick enough."

"Hanging onto foreigners all day, what kind of international style are you pretending to have? Looking down on the TV circle? How much box office appeal do you even have? You're forty years old, yet you still act young and innocent all day; who are you putting on a show for?"

This name-calling outburst from Yuan Li directly reached the Weibo trending list.

Li Bingbing is no pushover either; she immediately started a fight, very directly.

You call me a bitch, I call you a whore.

The war of words kept escalating, letting the audience enjoy the drama to the fullest.

Wei Jin also got to eat plenty of melons; the two of them pulling at each other revealed quite a few bombshells, which was quite spectacular.

A few hours later, Liu Yifei was finally done with her hair and makeup, standing prettily before Wei Jin.

"Brother, does it look good?"

At this moment, Liu Yifei was wearing a solid-colored off-the-shoulder long dress, her slender waist and long, beautiful legs fully revealed, paired with a pair of crystal high heels, looking indescribably elegant and noble.

Coupled with the diamond-shard necklace sponsored by the brand on her swan-like neck, she appeared even more ethereal and fairy-like.

"Of course, north of the Yangtze, Yifei is the most beautiful, but at this moment, no one in the world can compare to you."

Wei Jin's sweet talk came easily, but it wasn't just flattery; as long as this girl didn't fuss with herself, any casual outfit made her stunningly beautiful, and the key was that her shelf life was long—who can you even reason with about that?

"Hee hee, brother, you're so cheesy."

A sweet smile appeared on Liu Yifei's face as she affectionately took Wei Jin's arm.

"But I like it, haha."

Looking at the silly, simple-minded girl, Wei Jin took her small hand.

"Let's go." — As one of the European Big Three, the film festival's standards are very high.

Although the hotel they were staying at was only one hundred meters away, a red carpet limousine was still arranged.

When the black limousine slowly drove and stopped at the designated spot, media reporters from all over the world had already aimed their cameras at the car, even though they didn't know who would appear next.

The car door opened, and Wei Jin first extended a long leg, then used the leverage to step his whole body out.

The media from home were instantly excited; Wei Jin's final shot at conquering the European Big Three had begun.

Wei Jin helped Liu Yifei, who was wearing her gown, out of the car, and the two held hands, fingers interlaced.

At this moment, the man was handsome and the woman was beautiful, appearing perfectly matched.

"Director Wei, Yifei, look over here."

"Here, here."

"Director Wei." — The crew of *Whiplash* was led to the red carpet waiting area, which was also shining with stars.

As soon as Wei Jin's group walked in, they saw many familiar faces.

It was no wonder, as the number of Chinese-language films shortlisted for this year's Venice Film Festival had hit a new high.

The *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* crew led by Cheng Xiaodong, the *Seediq Bale* crew led by Wei Desheng, and others were all here.

However, what was somewhat funny was that Yang Zi had previously promised confidently for a long time that Li Lianjie would come to walk the red carpet, but he was nowhere to be seen now; it seemed he hadn't given him that face.

Additionally, according to information Chen Zhiming had gathered earlier, the *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* crew had arrived in Venice long ago, but Huang Shengyi had almost been unable to enter the country due to an error in her visa date, and only rushed over today; this was truly something else.

Just as Wei Jin was thinking about it, these two had already come over to greet them.

"Yifei, Director Wei, Teacher Wang, long time no see."

Today, Huang Shengyi had her hair put up, making her look mature and poised, but the bright red slim-fit embroidered long dress she chose was truly a bit low-class.

Yang Zi, standing to the side, was much the same; his long face paired with a buzz cut, combined with a black suit—not to say he was ugly, but there was always a somewhat comical feeling; if one had to describe it, he looked a bit like a monkey.

"Shengyi, it has been a long time indeed."

Teacher Wang Jinsong of the crew actually had a good impression of Huang Shengyi, his smile very kind.

Although they didn't want to deal with this couple, they were abroad after all, and due to their alumni relationship, Wei Jin and Liu Yifei both nodded with a smile.

Unexpectedly, this well-intentioned gesture made Huang Shengyi and Yang Zi overjoyed, and they continued to chat, looking as if they wanted to deepen their relationship.

"Yifei, this outfit of yours is truly beautiful."

Huang Shengyi looked at Liu Yifei and offered a compliment, though she felt a bit sour inside; she was only one year ahead of Liu Yifei in school, yet four or five years older, and in terms of status, the gap was like heaven and earth.

"Thank you, Senior, you look very beautiful today too."

Although Liu Yifei was offering praise, Huang Shengyi could feel the sense of distance, so she could only nod with a forced smile.

But Yang Zi, standing to the side, failed to read the room and walked toward Wei Jin with enthusiasm. "President Wei, I've finally managed to see you. I've been to your company several times but always missed you, haha."

"The timing wasn't right, heh heh."

One doesn't hit a smiling face, and Wei Jin couldn't bring himself to chase someone away directly, but he felt his good mood vanish instantly.

"President Wei, the premiere of *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* is set for the 16th. I hope you'll do us the honor of attending, haha."

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin was stunned; this fellow really was thick-skinned, so he shook his head and declined.

"That's truly unfortunate, President Yang. I've already promised Chairman Wang of Enlight Media, so..."

Yang Zi froze at these words, the smile on his face stiffening. He hadn't expected Wang Changtian to move so quickly, so he could only settle for second best.

"Then, I wonder if President Chen would have time to attend?"

"He will likely be here in Venice handling follow-up copyright matters, so as for his schedule, it's hard to say right now."

"Fine, after the event tonight, I will invite President Chen personally." — The European Big Three film festivals are high-class and prestigious, and the management of the opening ceremony red carpet is very strict.

Generally speaking, there are only two types of people who can walk the opening ceremony red carpet.

Either they are officially invited, or they have a film entry in the competition.

Aside from these two types, anyone who sneaks onto the opening red carpet will be immediately driven away once discovered.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, there are rarely "carpet-crashers" coming to mooch off the opening red carpet; after all, being escorted off the scene is truly too embarrassing.

It's just that Wei Jin didn't expect that his first time attending the Venice Film Festival would lead to a new situation.

As the crew of *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* stepped onto the red carpet, Huang Shengyi held Yang Zi's arm, wearing a smile, and waved to the media and reporters on the scene.

They looked poised enough, but damn it, had their feet taken root? The red carpet was only sixty or seventy meters long, and it had been nearly five minutes; the two were still in the middle of the carpet, looking left and right and waving frequently.

Even more exaggerated, Wei Jin, standing in the red carpet waiting area, could hear the staff urging them to hurry up.

Yet these two acted as if they couldn't hear a thing, completely ignoring them.

One must know that red carpet time is planned in advance; if someone delays for a few extra minutes, it means another crew might not be able to enjoy their red carpet time, and the organizing committee would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen.

"They are about to make a huge fool of themselves."

Sure enough, just as Wei Jin finished speaking, several security guards stepped onto the red carpet and politely "accompanied" them to keep moving forward.

This made the media on the scene incredibly excited; the cameras in their hands clicked non-stop—this was guaranteed sales, damn it.

The subsequent crews didn't cause any trouble, and things proceeded very smoothly.

Soon, a staff member came over to remind Wei Jin and his group that it was their turn.

"Let's go."

Wei Jin took Liu Yifei's hand and walked in front, with Bai Yu and Wang Jinsong following behind.

The host had already begun the introduction.

"Now walking toward us is the creative team of the Main Competition Section entry *Whiplash*, Director Wei Jin and actors Crystal, Bai Yu, and Wang Jinsong.

Director Wei Jin holds a Cannes Palme d'Or and a Berlin Golden Bear, and is also a globally renowned Oscar Best Director; Crystal is a top-tier female star of Chinese descent, who once appeared in *Inception*..."

It must be said that the host's introduction was very professional, and media on both sides scrambled to press their camera shutters.

After chatting briefly with the host, Wei Jin's fluent Italian surprised the host greatly.

After showing off a bit, Wei Jin led the crew into the Film Palace—Wei Jin had attended many film festivals, but only that one time in Cannes had he attended the opening ceremony.

The main reason was that opening ceremonies were truly boring; if not for the young lady wanting to walk the red carpet, Wei Jin might not have even attended such an occasion.

After the host's opening remarks, the film festival chairman Marco Mueller, a bald white man of about fifty, took the stage to give an opening speech, after which all the jury members appeared in turn.

Subsequently, the host introduced the twenty-four films shortlisted for this year's Main Competition Section.

On the big screen, film clips played one after another, and the slightly dull opening ceremony ended just like that.

After the dry and tedious proceedings came the boring cocktail party, which Wei Jin wasn't very interested in.

But while he wasn't interested, someone was very interested in him.

The film festival chairman Marco Mueller walked over with a smile and gave Wei Jin a big bear hug.

"Hey, Wei, my friend, welcome to the Venice Film Festival, haha."

"Mr. Chairman, hello. Your enthusiasm is a bit much for me to handle; does this mean my chances of winning this time are very high?"

Wei Jin really didn't care for the European custom of hugging, so he teased a bit, showing his humor.

"Haha, Wei, whether you win or not is up to the Pingshutuan; I can't make that decision. I'm just an old man handling mundane affairs."

Marco Mueller laughed at himself, then continued with a smile.

"But personally, I hope you win. In fact, since Berlin the year before last, Venice and I have been waiting for you. We are also looking forward to the appearance of a director from the East who achieves the Grand Slam."

The Grand Slam refers to the supreme Grand Slam of the European Big Three.

Since the establishment of the European Big Three, for over 60 years, it is industry-recognized that only 2.5 directors have achieved the Grand Slam.

The first was the Italian film master Michelangelo Antonioni, who achieved the Grand Slam in just 6 years.

The second Grand Slam winner was the North American independent film master Robert Altman; the old man had superb control and mastery over ensemble dramas.

As for that "half," the current industry consensus is also quite interesting.

As everyone knows, if a film participates in one of the European Big Three film festivals, it cannot participate in the remaining two.

This is a strict but unwritten rule, but in the early years when the film festivals were just founded, there were no such restrictions.

Therefore, Henri-Georges Clouzot's *The Wages of Fear* participated in both the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival in 1953, winning the top prize at both; coupled with his 1949 Golden Lion win at Venice for *Manon*, he also achieved the feat of a Grand Slam.

But the industry generally believes that his Grand Slam benefited from the policy; after all, if one could participate in film festivals repeatedly, perhaps many works would have had a chance, so Henri-Georges Clouzot's Grand Slam is not particularly recognized, and he is counted as half.

So, wanting the European Three Major Film Festivals Grand Slam is not just ordinarily difficult.

But that is exactly what makes it interesting, isn't it?

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Wei Jin's face.

"Mr. Chairman, I hope that during your term, I can accomplish this feat."

"Haha, Wei, I like your confidence; I sincerely look forward to this day coming sooner."

The second update today (End of this chapter)