Chapter 344: Dust Settles: Personally Applying Makeup for the Closing Ceremony

Back in the country, the casting for *Resident Evil 5* has officially begun.

But the moment the rules for the non-public auditions were announced, many actresses in the industry fell into a state of collapse.

The actresses who received invitations were practically weeping with joy, while those backed by large companies with guaranteed recommendation spots felt increasingly fortunate.

The actresses were all very clear that as a globally released blockbuster series, *Resident Evil* was the best resource they could possibly access.

And this time, the second female lead was, in terms of plot, equivalent to half a protagonist; although it was unknown how much screen time would remain in the end, it was enough to elevate the actress's status and increase her commercial value.

So, faced with such a resource, no one was willing to miss out.

Regarding who would ultimately land the role, there was much speculation within the circle, and there even appeared situations of people taking sides and placing bets.

Without a doubt, with the four Jin Girls not participating, Zhang Ziyi, Fan Bingbing, and Li Bingbing were the three most favored. ——Since the Venice opening ceremony, a large number of copyrights have been sold and traded here every day.

Although the copyright matters for *The Thieves* were handed over to China Film Group to handle, Wei Jin could not completely refrain from asking about them.

Chen Zhiming was busy with the public relations for *Whiplash* at the moment, so Wei Jin simply went to the exhibition area for *The Thieves* himself to see how things were going, and unexpectedly ran into an old acquaintance.

"Why is it you again?"

"Haha, President Wei, I used to be on the outside buying copyrights, but now I have the chance to be out here selling them; this should count as progress, right?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin had to acknowledge the word "fate"; this was none other than Li Gang, the China Film Group employee who had bought the domestic rights to *The Hunt*.

"Fine, since you are so ambitious, I hope to see you at an industry conference next time, haha."

"I'll take your kind words, President Wei."

After some casual chatting and reminiscing, Wei Jin inquired about the copyright situation.

"Is *The Thieves* being screened?"

"Yes, it is currently screening. Would you like to take a look?"

Wei Jin nodded and followed Li Gang into the exhibition hall.

It had to be said that China Film Group had great influence; normally, it was very difficult for non-competing films to rent a screening hall—hadn't he seen that many film crews had to set up their own tents? But this was not hard to understand; for the Western film industry, China Film Group was considered the largest distributor in Asia, and with the monopoly on imported films in their hands, any film festival had to give them face obediently.

After a round of inspection, Wei Jin had a good idea of the situation.

Since the opening ceremony, *The Thieves* had been screened every other day, and by today, there had already been five screenings, but there were still some distributors in the hall, which only proved that everyone's enthusiasm was very high.

"How is the situation now? What is the intended offer?"

"President Wei, seven contracts have been signed so far, with a transaction price of 24.6 million USD."

Wei Jin was relatively satisfied with this price; after all, it was a purely Chinese commercial film, and the main creative team was entirely Chinese. Being able to sell at this price was mostly because the distributors were looking at his past track record.

"Fine, there are still a few days left; try to round it up. Han Dong should be very satisfied with the number thirty million, right? Haha."

"Good, I'll listen to you, President Wei, and keep working hard, haha."

Li Gang said with a smile. Selling copyrights for Wei Jin's films was truly easy; once his name appeared on the promotional poster, distributors would automatically come seeking him out. Compared to other film crews, it was much easier.

Thinking of this, Li Gang leaned in closer and said.

"President Wei, I heard that Cheng Xiaodong's *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* is quite miserable; almost no one is interested, or the distributors are offering extremely low prices..."

Wei Jin nodded. Cheng Xiaodong was a martial arts choreographer who became a director halfway through his career; distributors weren't fools, so how could they be optimistic?

If it had been Zhang Yimou, Li An, or others, they would likely have been swamped by distributors in minutes.

One could only say that the gap between directors was just that big! Seeing that Wei Jin was interested in this matter, Li Gang continued to add.

"But even so, that Yang Zi from Juli is still bragging in front of the media, saying it sold for a sky-high price. What a blockhead..."

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin couldn't help but shake his head. Regarding Yang Zi's flashy maneuvers, he really didn't know what to say. Could this kind of thing be hidden? Once someone exposed it, the reputation would likely collapse before it was even released in the country. He was indeed a blockhead.

Perhaps because he had attended many film festivals and had also won the Palme d'Or and the Golden Bear, Wei Jin's state of mind regarding this Venice festival was exceptionally calm.

During the final few days of waiting for the closing ceremony, Wei Jin accompanied Yifei to watch films, without a hint of anxiety.

It was just that Wei Jin had a bit of a headache regarding the young girl's love for art films; he wasn't a literary youth at heart and really didn't have a taste for them.

What's more, apart from a few classic art films, most didn't even bother with basic plot logic, and they were always about stream of consciousness or the director's self-expression; he simply couldn't empathize with them.

After watching several art films in a row, Wei Jin planned to change his palate today.

"Yifei, don't always fixate on art films. If you want to improve your acting, you have to dabble in all kinds of films."

"Then what are we watching today?" Yifei asked, tilting her head.

"Let's go see Cai Shangjun's *People Mountain People Sea*, a film with a realistic theme."

The two entered the screening hall, where there were very few people, just seven or eight foreigners. Wei Jin could well understand this; the preferences of Venice audiences truly did not favor realistic themes.

This film was adapted from a real social news event in the Southwest, telling the story of an older brother pursuing the murderer for thousands of miles after his younger brother was tragically robbed and killed.

The premiere of this film was also on the 6th, so Wei Jin hadn't been able to go and show his support that day; this was his first time watching it as well.

It had to be said that the director was very capable, and the acting of Chen Jianbing, Xiao Taohong, Wu Xiubo, and others was also very good. This time in Venice, they might truly become rivals.

While he was deep in thought, Wei Jin noticed his phone vibrating.

"Yifei, I'm going out to take a call."

After Wei Jin finished speaking, he stood up and walked out, but unexpectedly, Yifei also grabbed her bag and followed him out. It seemed the young girl really didn't care for this type of film.

Looking at the caller ID on his phone, a ripple stirred in Wei Jin's heart, because it was a local number.

"Hello, who is this? Uh-huh, yes, it's me. Good, I understand. Thank you."

Hanging up the phone, Wei Jin turned around, took Yifei's hand, and placed it on his face.

"What's wrong, Brother?" Yifei asked suspiciously.

Looking at the young girl's charming and naive appearance, a smile appeared on the corner of Wei Jin's mouth as he pulled her into his arms.

"Yifei, you can guess now what award we might get..."

"Really? That's great, Brother! Let's go back quickly; I need to prepare my clothes properly."

Yifei broke free from Wei Jin's embrace, full of excitement. The red carpet for the closing ceremony was even more important than the opening ceremony; she wanted to leave behind her most beautiful silhouette.

"Don't. Leave this kind of thing to the team. The more carefully you pick, the less at ease I am."

Wei Jin criticized the young girl's aesthetic without reservation; this was something he absolutely could not indulge. He had already spotted the signs; several times, this girl had actually wanted to buy clothes for him and lead his aesthetic astray, which Wei Jin would never allow!

Sensing the man's firm attitude, Liu Yifei pouted her crimson lips, having no choice but to face reality.

"Fine, I'll listen to you this time" — ever since the opening ceremony, what everyone had been waiting for was the closing ceremony.

Wei Jin did not hide the news that *Whiplash* had been invited to attend the closing ceremony, and it had spread early on.

His mentor Tian Zhuangzhuang made a rare phone call, urging him to keep a level head and not be too concerned with gains or losses.

Wei Jin naturally understood his mentor's good intentions; the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

Especially with this final hurdle of the European Three Major Film Festivals Grand Slam, if one were to fail unexpectedly, an ordinary person would likely suffer a severe mental blow.

But Wei Jin was different; he had long since built up his psychological defenses, and had even prepared for the next, and the next, award-chasing films, so there was absolutely no need to worry.

According to his mentor, the Beijing Film Academy had maintained its consistent tradition, only this time they had made three banners; whether it was the Golden Lion, the Jury Grand Prix Silver Lion, or the Best Director Silver Lion, they had them all.

Hanging up the phone, Wei Jin picked up the young woman who was in the middle of washing up.

"Brother, what are you doing? The makeup artist will be here in a moment."

"Yifei, I will do your makeup myself today."

In no time at all, Wei Jin had pressed the bare Liu Yifei onto the bed; wouldn't a round before the awards ceremony be the best makeup of all? An hour later, when Wei Jin walked into the dressing room with Liu Yifei, whose face still bore the lingering flush of passion, that personal makeup artist's eyes lit up.

"Xixi, your complexion is truly wonderful today; tonight you will definitely be the most beautiful woman in the room."

Liu Yifei felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing this, pouting her lips and shooting a glance at Wei Jin; this man really knew how to make trouble.

A woman's makeup process is indeed very slow, especially since today was the most important closing ceremony.

While waiting for the woman to finish her makeup, Wei Jin took the time to check domestic news, and the entertainment headline was the casting news for *Resident Evil 5*.

Wei Jin never expected that the casting for this Hollywood blockbuster would be so simple and brutal this time, taking only three days to decide the outcome.

"After careful selection, we sincerely invite Ms. Li Bingbing to play the role of Ada Wong in *Resident Evil 5: Retribution*. Wishing for a pleasant collaboration!"

Looking at the photo of Li Bingbing with Ms. Deng and the director, Wei Jin sighed in his heart; it really is a case of each new generation replacing the old, and Zhang Ziyi was just discarded like that.

More than three hours later, Liu Yifei stood before Wei Jin.

A white strapless cinched-waist long dress, paired with a sky-blue handbag, her long hair draped over her shoulders, looking youthful and beautiful.

A platinum diamond necklace on her swan-like neck, plus bright red lips, further highlighted the fairness of her skin, and paired with a pair of gold high heels, the whole person exuded an elegant and graceful air.

Looking at the outfit, which was completely different from the one at the opening ceremony, Wei Jin nodded with a smile and reached out his hand.

"Let's go, my beautiful girl."

Extending her hand to interlock fingers with the man, a smile appeared on Liu Yifei's face.

"Mm, Brother, let's set off." — The climax of Venice would be tonight, as the various awards would be revealed one by one.

Therefore, although the star power of the closing ceremony was not as dazzling, in terms of scale, it far surpassed the opening ceremony.

Whether it was filmmakers or the media, everyone was paying attention, and with five Chinese films shortlisted for the film festival this year, three of which received invitations to the closing ceremony, all major domestic news websites and official media were broadcasting it live.

At this time, the area in front of the Film Palace was already crowded with tourists, movie buffs, fans, and media from all over the world.

When Wei Jin appeared with Liu Yifei and the film crew, even though he had attended film festivals many times, he was still startled by this "People Mountain People Sea" scene.

The female artists were all dressed to the nines, bringing out all their best tricks.

Qin Hailu, Xiao Taohong, and other domestic actresses were no exception.

By comparison, male artists like Liu Tianwang and Chen Jianbing were much simpler, almost uniformly wearing high-end tailored slim-fit suits.

Wei Jin smiled; this was the first time he had seen so many familiar faces at a film festival.

After chatting with everyone in the red carpet waiting area, it was the turn of the *Whiplash* crew to go on.

On the red carpet of the closing ceremony, every competition section crew that walked here would be stopped by the host for an interview, and Wei Jin's group was no exception.

"Wei, you won the Palme d'Or the first time you went to Cannes; do you have confidence in winning the Golden Lion tonight?"

Hearing this, Wei Jin smiled and shook his head; that time in Cannes was thanks to Wong Kar-wai, and this time it might be difficult, but he still had to go through the motions.

"No matter what award I win, it is an official recognition from the Venice Film Festival. I am only 28 years old and still have plenty of time. Still the same words: the European Big Three, I will conquer them one by one!"

The surrounding media began to exclaim, and the host also looked very surprised; she did not expect Wei Jin to be so fierce.

"Then, I wish you good luck."

"Thank you." — The awards ceremony venue in Venice was similar in scale to the one in Berlin, and still slightly inferior to Cannes.

Under the guidance of the staff, Wei Jin's group arrived at their officially assigned seats.

The seats for *Whiplash* were in the middle of the aisle in the third row, and the other Chinese film crews were also within this range, so everyone could at least exchange a few words.

Currently, only the *People Mountain People Sea* crew had arrived, and Wei Jin exchanged a few words with Xiao Taohong and the others.

Guests on the red carpet began to enter one after another, and the time until the official start grew closer.

Liu Yifei held Wei Jin's arm tighter and tighter, but she had no awards tonight; if anyone should be nervous, it should be Bai Yu and Wang Jinsong.

These two already had visible sweat on their foreheads, and Wei Jin couldn't help but laugh.

"Teacher Wang, Xiaobai, don't be nervous, it's still early."

The awards process for the European Big Three is very simple, but there are many awards, and it would likely be a while before the Main Competition Section.

"Wei Jin, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but my heart is beating wildly right now."

Teacher Wang Jinsong laughed at himself, and Bai Yu on the side was no better; the awards were truly heart-stirring.

However, after chatting with Wei Jin for a while, their moods finally calmed down a bit.

In no time at all, the venue was filled with guests, and the Pingshutuan also walked onto the stage, which meant the awards ceremony was about to officially begin.

Pingshutuan Chairman Darren Aronofsky began to speak on stage.

"Welcome filmmakers from all over the world to gather in Venice. After half a month of fair selection, tonight we will announce the list of winners for this year's film festival."

Second update of the day (End of chapter)