Chapter 286: He was right, they were all wrong

"Nice to meet you. Your film has received extraordinary praise at Cannes. Congratulations."

Gilles Jacob was very polite, his English was also good, and he considered everyone's nationality, picking some simple English words to say.

The old man was kind-hearted and amiable, full of a hypocritical flavor.

Chen Chen Sicheng felt that if he had drunk two taels of wine, he would have immediately torn off his hypocritical mask.

What are you pretending for?

Extraordinary praise, my ass.

I was just chased around like a duck by your people, stop giving me that act.

"Thank you, President Jacob. I am also very happy to meet you." Chen Chen Sicheng vented fiercely in his stomach, bowed slightly, and shook hands respectfully with the respected Cannes President.

Afterward, the Spring Breeze quartet stood in a row, smiling and taking photos with him.

When taking photos with their backs to the Film Festival Palace and facing the red carpet, the scene below inevitably entered the eyes of several people.

"Chen, look here."

"Chen, give me a smile."

"Chen, give me a look like in Twilight."

The biggest feeling Chen Nuo had walking the red carpet this time coming to Cannes was that there would be photographers asking him to do "the twilight gaze."

At this time, he would tuck in his chin, purse his lips, and use a method similar to rolling his eyes to reveal a wild and uninhibited gaze to stare at the other party.

"Amazing!"

"I want one too, Chen!"

"I want a side profile one!"

"I want one too."

This look was really stupid; calling it a pose for a poser is no exaggeration. Actually, it was something Chen Nuo specifically designed in his previous life to flirt with girls, and using it in Twilight in this life also had good results.

Actually, the aesthetic of Europe and America in this era is really similar to that of China more than 10 years later. This expression not only made the number of likes on FB soar, but photographers also became obsessed, falling into a chaotic state of "I want one too."

Having had experience at the Mother premiere ten days ago, Chen Nuo was quite familiar with it this time.

He knew these photographers would want one after another, endlessly.

Wanting to satisfy their requests for extra shots, he would die of exhaustion before he could do it.

Chen Nuo let the photographers on both sides of the red carpet take photos for a while, and then prepared to say goodbye.

But a staff member on-site blocked his way, "Sorry, Chen, it's not your time yet."

"What do you mean?"

"The red carpet time we reserved for you is 3 minutes; you need to stay on the red carpet for 3 minutes. After that, your crew members will arrive. Then, wait for about two minutes, and you can all walk forward together."

After speaking, the man revealed an apologetic expression, "Sorry."

Chen Chen Sicheng watched this scene from afar, feeling his lungs were about to explode with anger.

Before, when Chen Nuo was preparing to leave, he had breathed a sigh of relief.

He felt that the red carpet time Cannes gave Chen Nuo wasn't long either, just about a minute.

Basically, it was the same treatment as Gong Li.

Chen Chen Sicheng felt he could accept this.

But he didn't expect that Chen Nuo was preparing to leave, and someone actually blocked Chen Nuo?

The person who blocked him,

Chen Chen Sicheng looked down from above and saw clearly that it was the person who had chased him away just now.

A sycophant!

Shameless, no face!

Chen Chen Sicheng's mood was completely ruined, and his impression of Cannes from top to bottom was terrible.

He stood at the entrance of the Film Festival Palace, took one last look at the red carpet, gritted his teeth, veins popping on his cheeks, then turned and walked into the gate of the Film Palace.

Chen Nuo didn't notice that he had been glared at; he didn't even notice that the red carpet order of Lou Ye and others was in front of him.

Because the flashes in front of him were too dazzling; being photographed 360 degrees by these people for 3 minutes, he couldn't even smile, so how could he care about Chen Chen Sicheng.

Of course, he couldn't notice that the bespectacled man who had blocked him earlier suddenly curled his lips, revealing a strange smile.

A man's voice was coming through his earpiece: "Well done, Moliere. General Director Frémaux will definitely be very satisfied with you."

Moliere pressed the talk button on his earpiece, "Is there an effect?"

"Of course, the red carpet viewership is climbing again. Well done."

"Thank you."

Chen Nuo felt a century had passed before Bong Joon-ho and Kim Hye-ja finally arrived.

"My brother!"

"Brother!"

Fatty Bong and Chen Nuo walked to one side, letting Kim Hye-ja, who was wearing traditional Korean attire, stand in the center of the red carpet to enjoy the flashes alone.

The two stood shoulder to shoulder, Bong Joon-ho smiling and asking quietly, "Have you heard?"

Chen Nuo said, "What?"

Bong Joon-ho said, "What do you think? I have no hope for the Palme d'Or now, but if you and Teacher Hye-ja also return empty-handed, how can I face President Lee when I go back to Korea?"

Chen Nuo asked curiously, "Hmm, if that's really the case, what will President Lee do to you?"

Bong Joon-ho said, "Don't know. Although the production cost has been recovered now, for CJ Entertainment, what's important has never been money, but..."

Chen Nuo interrupted, "Wait, what do you mean the cost has been recovered? If I remember correctly, it's only premiering in Korea on the 28th, right?"

Bong Joon-ho smiled, "Yes, the 28th. But movies aren't just about box office. Do you know how busy I've been these past few days? Currently, there are over 30 countries' distribution companies talking, and nearly ten countries have already signed contracts."

"I just met with a Brazilian distributor with a CJ producer before coming to the red carpet. Aishiba, I haven't rested properly for three days. However, it seems now. Recovering the production cost before the premiere is no longer a problem."

"But if we don't win an award, there will still be a little bit of trouble, sigh."

"... Didn't you say before that you were prepared to go sunbathe, look at beauties, and be alone?"

Bong Joon-ho said, "Yeah, I thought so too. But at that time, I felt you could win an award, but now... I think it's better not to wait."

So far, from Fan Fan Fan Binbing to Bong Joon-ho, it seems many people don't think he can win the Cannes Best Actor award this time.

This made Chen Nuo a bit confused.

It's like a math problem that looks quite simple in your eyes.

You were picked by the teacher to go to the podium and solve it.

You have confidence in both the process and the answer. Because in your eyes, this problem is quite simple.

However, all the classmates are standing on the opposite side of you, saying you did it wrong.

In the situation where the teacher is noncommittal, even if you are firm, you can't help but re-examine your problem-solving approach, smoothing it out from beginning to end, to see whose problem it is.

Chen Nuo is like this.

When he finished taking photos in the red carpet area, followed Bong Joon-ho to help Kim Hye-ja to Gilles Jacob, exchanged greetings, took photos, and stepped onto the steps again to go to the awards hall in the Film Festival Palace.

Throughout the process, he kept questioning himself.

Was he wrong?

The question of this problem is like this—

There are nine votes in the Cannes jury, and whoever can get the majority of these 9 votes can win the award.

The nine people on this year's Cannes jury are:

Jury President Isabelle Yu Yu Peier, French actress.

Shu Qi: Chinese actress.

Robin Wright Penn: American actress.

Li Cangdong: Famous Korean director.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan: Famous Turkish director.

Asia Argento: Italian actress.

James Gray: American actor.

Hanif Kureishi: British writer.

Except for Hanif Kureishi, who is a writer, the others are directors and actors who enjoy a certain degree of popularity in their respective countries.

These materials are not confidential either. As long as you log on to the Cannes official website, anyone can see them at a glance.

Among them, Li Cangdong, who was originally expected to serve as the jury president of this year's festival, was downgraded by the organizing committee to an ordinary juror, which made Bong Joon-ho mourn like a bereaved dog on the phone at the time.

Chen Nuo said nothing on the phone at the time.

Because he couldn't understand.

It is estimated that the citizens of the Republic of Korea are truly too wealthy.

Perhaps to them, as long as the referee didn't help them play the game, this is a fair match.

But to someone like him who is struggling, if the referee gives him one more controversial throw-in, he would be overjoyed, feeling he had taken a huge advantage.

Under Harvey's interference, Li Cangdong failed to serve as jury president; this is indeed a pity.

But looking at it from another angle, when voting, Yu Yu Peier is one vote, and other ordinary jurors are also one vote.

And he touches his Korean conscience and swears that based on his friendship with Li Cangdong, Li Cangdong will absolutely not joke about such big things like Wong Kar-wai.

In this way, it is equivalent to having an iron vote among the only nine jurors.

What else are you asking for?

Is it only considered human if you have to be the jury president to feed you?

As for the remaining eight jurors, although Chen Nuo doesn't know any of them and hasn't met any of them,

just because Yu Yu Peier doesn't like him,

is it too arbitrary to think he can't get other people's votes?

With the lesson of Zhang Zhang Ziyi three years ago, he certainly wouldn't dare to hope that Miss Shu Qi would play a personal favor card for him,

but, in the eyes of Robin Wright Penn, this American actress, does his image as a fighter for women on the Oscar red carpet have no extra points?

And is it impossible for it to reach the ears of Europeans and gain the slightest favor from Asia Argento?

Even Isabelle Yu Yu Peier.

Now everyone says Yu Yu Peier doesn't like him.

But Chen Nuo thought about it over and over, and couldn't think of anything about him that would be an eyesore to this future first-line European and American feminist.

On the contrary, he, this Barbie boyfriend, spokesperson for Heston, is clearly on the same path as Yu Yu Peier.

Others might not know, but he knows very clearly.

Six years later, Yu Yu Peier, who is not yet showing her true colors, will tear off her submissive mask and reveal a cold, ruthless feminist face.

Entering the Oscars and Golden Globes with a film with a strong feminist color, "Elle," she hit left and right in various speeches and interviews, hitting the European and American film industry speechless. And it's not just random talk in interviews and social media.

Since 2016, she has really only filmed big female-led movies.

As stated in an interview with her in Elle magazine that Chen Nuo saw at the time, Ms. Yu Yu Peier will spend the rest of her life "emphasizing the diversity and importance of female roles in films, actively striving for equal opportunities and status for women in the film industry, and promoting the improvement of women's status in the entire film industry and social culture."

So,

Fan Fan Fan Binbing thinks he will lose his pants,

Bong Joon-ho has made tragic preparations for returning empty-handed, and has come to a clearance sale for the copyright of "Mother."

And there are many others waiting for him to repeat the scene from three years ago.

But Chen Nuo really didn't feel he was wrong anywhere.

Even if Harvey appeared in front of him at this moment, he might still make another bet with him.

Therefore, when he walked into the Lumière Theatre, where the awards ceremony was located, the expression on his face made the Pitt couple who saw him enter from afar a bit surprised.

"Why does he look in a good mood?"

"Who knows?"

Mr. Pitt said thoughtfully: "Could it be that he heard something again."

Angelina Jolie said: "Relax, dear, tonight has just begun, everything is unknown."

Brad Pitt shrugged and said: "Okay, then do you want to go over and say hello to your friend?"

Angelina Jolie raised the corners of her mouth slightly, blooming a charming smile, and said: "Okay, but you have to know, although I am friends with Chen... but I will always stand on your side."

Mr. Pitt sat in his seat, watching Angelina Jolie walk gracefully toward that young Chinese kid.

For some reason, Mr. Pitt suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart, but it was just a flash.

He saw Chen Nuo notice Angelina's arrival and also stood up, greeting her in advance.

The two greeted each other with a kiss on the cheek, then stood together, exchanging greetings with polite smiles.

Mr. Pitt felt he could guess what these two were talking about; it was nothing more than some polite greetings.

They call each other friends, but he doesn't think his wife really has any friendship with this Chinese kid. It's nothing more than meeting by chance and getting along well.

But when he turned around and looked around, he found that everyone in the hall was now gathered in the front of the first row, watching his wife and that man talking.

There were even some English words and phrases reaching his ears.

"Jolie and... didn't expect it, really good friends."

"Why is Angelina alone?"

"Brad probably doesn't like him."

"Haha, which man likes him, right?"

"That's true."

In Mr. Pitt's heart, the uncomfortable feeling that had just disappeared returned, becoming more gloomy, like a dark fire burning silently.

Angelina Jolie didn't actually spend much time over there, maybe only two or three minutes, but in Mr. Pitt's eyes, it felt like two centuries.

When Jolie smiled gracefully at some fans calling her name in the hall and walked back gracefully. As soon as she sat down, Mr. Pitt grabbed her hand.

To outsiders, this was just a normal holding of hands between husband and wife, but Angelina Jolie's face changed immediately.

"Brad, no."

"Angie, I see you two were chatting very happily."

"I was just... let go, Brad, you're hurting me."

"Angie, smile, someone is watching us now."

"Brad, you... let go, otherwise I swear I will scream."

"Relax, Angie." Brad Pitt laughed, looking at her with tenderness, "I was just joking with you."

He slowly loosened his grip on Angelina's hand.

Angelina immediately pulled back the hand that had been squeezed white, and said seriously: "Brad, you said you wouldn't do this again."

Brad Pitt said: ". Sorry, I couldn't control myself just now, Angie, forgive me, okay."

Angelina looked at him for a while, then suddenly said: "Forget it. But remember, Brad, no next time."

"Okay, I swear."

Compared to the last time, the host of the 62nd Cannes, this one named "Édouard Baer," seems to be a local French comedy star.

Chen Nuo didn't know this person, and at first, he couldn't understand what this person was saying, but it didn't prevent him from knowing the person's excellence. Because in a short opening talk show, every time this person said something, it would cause laughter from the whole hall.

The Lumière Theatre is not like the Kodak Theatre; there is no big screen on-site, only two roaming cameramen in front of the first row, capturing shots for the audience in front of the TV.

After laughing a few times, Chen Nuo guessed that it should still be the set of making fun of celebrities.

Because this guy suddenly mentioned a "Chen" word on stage, and twisted his body as if dancing, triggering a burst of laughter from the whole hall, and Chen Nuo had to follow along and laugh foolishly a few times.

After surviving this talk show he couldn't understand, he finally entered the awards stage.

The Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony has a lazy, romantic style peculiar to the French.

It is not like the Oscars, full of commercialism from beginning to end, wishing that every link on the scene could be accurate to the second.

Cannes is different; it doesn't have such high viewership, doesn't have so many awards, doesn't have so many advertisements queuing up by the second, and doesn't have any superstar performances.

Although everyone will have a general time limit when giving an acceptance speech, it will definitely not be like the Oscars, using a huge countdown stopwatch to remind the winner that it's time to get off the stage.

This point, compared to the Tokyo Film Festival that Chen Nuo had participated in, Cannes appears more loose and casual.

More importantly, the nine-person jury will sit on the awards stage from beginning to end.

The award presenter is only responsible for giving the trophy and certificate, and the work of announcing the winner will be done by the jury president personally.

This is completely different from the Oscars or other awards.

After entering the awards topic, the first award tonight is still the Caméra d'Or, and the winner is an Australian director.

When Yu Yu Peier, wearing a pure white carved dress, took the microphone and read his name, that Australian indigenous person, Warwick Thornton, was a bit carried away with joy.

After going on stage, holding the Cannes award certificate in one hand and a small gold camera in a box in the other, he spoke for a long time in front of the microphone in a confused manner.

Then it was the second award, the Jury Prize.

This time, like three years ago, it was a double-yolk egg, jointly won by the British film "Fish Tank" and the Korean film "Thirst."

Watching Park Chan-wook, Song Kang-ho, and others go on stage to receive the award with great joy, Bong Joon-ho's expression began to change.

He hadn't spoken since the awards ceremony started, but now, the fat man couldn't hold it anymore, the fat on his face trembling, and he said to Chen Nuo in a low voice: "Brother Chan-wook's "Thirst" also only had 2.6 points, and he could win the Jury Prize? Do we still have hope?"

"Of course, brother." Chen Nuo nodded steadily, "I said before, I feel we haven't lost yet. You gave up too early."

Park Chan-wook stood behind the podium, holding the Jury Prize trophy. It was an exquisite open gift box, with a crystal base inside, on which was a palm tree leaf made of 18k gold, smiling and thanking everyone in Korean.

Bong Joon-ho looked at the stage with complex eyes, then tilted his head and said: "The next one is your Best Actor, brother, do you have confidence?"

Chen Nuo felt his mood couldn't be described as confident or unconfident.

He would rather call his current state "bright."

The timing, location, and people added up to seven and a half points; if this is still the wrong answer, then there is no way.

Anyway, his US stock account, under Obama's 787 billion US dollar US economic stimulus plan and the Federal Reserve's crazy QE in March, rebounded by nearly 30% between the two major stock indices from March to now, and the money earned was enough for him to pay for his impulsive bet, without really having to spend Fan Fan Fan Binbing's money.

Thinking of this, Chen Nuo couldn't help but want to look back and find where Fan Fan Fan Binbing and Liu Qi Yifei were.

Fan Fan Fan Binbing didn't know if it was because she showed off in front of her little sister Feifei, but now she had to finish acting even with tears.

She really gave up walking the closing ceremony red carpet, and together with Liu Qi Yifei, Liu Liu Xiaoli, and Qi Yuntian, the four of them took the gift tickets Cannes gave Chen Nuo, and before Chen Nuo entered, they quietly sneaked into the Lumière.

Chen Nuo only knew their seats were on the second floor of the hall, but he really didn't know the specific location.

When he was a bit nervous in his heart, wanting to find the backup group,

the presenter for the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award appeared amidst the host's exaggerated high-pitched introduction, shining brightly.

She is exactly the Miss Zhang Zhang Ziyi from China, who just turned thirty this year.

I saw Miss Zhang wearing a bright pink Chanel haute couture long dress, like a mermaid. The design of the whole dress was particularly bold, the entire back was hollowed out, and even the butt crack was about to be exposed.

Compared to the backless long dress Chen Nuo sourly commented on Fan Fan Fan Binbing, it was not on the same level of open.

Zhang Zhang Ziyi walked to the podium, looking a bit nervous, and the English she spoke seemed rigid, with a heavy accent.

Chen Nuo felt that this level of spoken language would indeed be a bit difficult to enter Hollywood, and even when communicating with her Israeli billionaire boyfriend, it couldn't be said to be very smooth, right?

Chen Nuo, what a petty man.

Until now, he is still jealous of what happened three years ago.

So much so that after Zhang Zhang Ziyi appeared, he kept picking faults in his heart.

"... As an actor, I am very honored to be here to present the award for the best actor in the world."

Zhang Zhang Ziyi's gaze swept across Chen Nuo's face in the first row to the left, which was probably only five or six meters away from her. The smile on her face didn't change at all, making it impossible for people to see her true thoughts.

But only Zhang Zhang Ziyi herself knew that if Chen Nuo won the award, he would become the second Chinese actor after Maggie Cheung to win both Berlin and Cannes acting awards.

For this, her mood was particularly complex.

So complex that she had to act as if nothing had happened.

After Zhang Zhang Ziyi's brief English introduction, Édouard Baer pretended to be fascinated by the Zhang goddess, chattering a lot of words Chen Nuo couldn't understand, causing laughter from the whole hall, and he had to follow along and pull the corners of his mouth with stiff muscles.

After the damn joke was finished, the Frenchman finally remembered the business.

Amidst Édouard Baer's introduction, Isabelle Yu Yu Peier stood up for the third time tonight.

The moment she stood up, her expression was as relaxed as if she were going to pick flowers in the suburbs; it was impossible to tell who this 50-something French actress liked or hated.

Unlike the first two times when she stood up and announced the winner's name, her speech this time was clearly longer, with a few more sentences at the beginning.

Chen Nuo didn't know what Yu Yu Peier said, but it should have been some explosive words, because many French people in Lumière were buzzing and exclaiming, and the whole hall was buzzing.

His palms were a bit sweaty, and he was a bit uneasy.

At this moment, he suddenly felt several gazes from the jury seat, falling straight on his face.

One was Li Cangdong, one was Shu Qi, and another was that British male writer Hanif Kureishi.

What does this mean?

Chen Nuo's heart rate accelerated.

The next second,

amidst Yu Yu Peier's full-mouth French, two words suddenly popped out, which were out of place with the soft French and appeared rigid and stubborn, and the key was that they were correctly arranged in the order of Chinese:

"Chen Nuo."

I don't know what Yu Yu Peier said before, or what she said after,

but the moment these two words were spoken.

All of Chen Nuo's guesses, all his doubts, and all his questions instantly vanished.

Amidst the applause that resounded through the hall, only one thought remained in his heart: He was right, they

(End of chapter)