Chapter 66: The Most Uncomfortable 90 Minutes

After Shi Ningwei finished his series of questions, the people around him cast sidelong glances at him. Shi Ningwei remained calm and composed, his eyes fixed on Chen Nuo.

The host clearly regretted calling on Shi Ningwei to ask questions. Maintaining a smile on his face, he said: "This friend has quite a lot of questions, but they don't seem to be related to our film, haha. And it's getting late. Director, how about this, let's end the interview segment before the screening here. We can talk about the rest after the audience members have finished watching the film?"

Zhang Yi said: "That works..."

Before the words were finished, Chen Nuo said: "Director, it's fine, I can answer."

The middle-aged man offstage had had his eyes on him from the beginning. Although many people offstage did that, there were few who only looked at him from start to finish. Chen Nuo was not a wooden person; he naturally noticed it.

Although he felt that this person was targeting him and the questions were full of malice, Chen Nuo certainly couldn't avoid them, otherwise he would really become someone just "scraping for money."

Chen Nuo looked at Shi Ningwei and said: "First of all, it's *Return of the Condor Heroes*, not *Legend of the Condor Heroes*, thank you."

The cinema suddenly erupted in laughter. Shi Ningwei also reacted, his old face turning red instantly. Indeed, he had been a bit nervous when he stood up, and in his haste, he had misspoke.

Chen Nuo also smiled and continued: "Secondly, I disagree with your point of view. What is the difference between a TV series and a film? In my opinion, they are both acting, and there is no distinction between high and low. A good actor should treat every role they play with focus, regardless of whether the character is a hero or a beggar, a murderer or a pervert, a bit player in a serial, or a protagonist in a film. My teacher once said, there are no small roles, only small actors. And I want to say to you, there are no TV actors, and no film actors, only actors. Today I am playing Yang Guo; perhaps it cannot help me win an Oscar, but it can help me become a better actor. Thank you."

After he finished speaking, not knowing if it was out of consideration for a child's first live Q&A with reporters, the whole venue erupted in applause.

It was much better than the effect of the host and Zhang Yi doing a crosstalk act earlier.

The host smiled, but he was also afraid of any more trouble. As soon as the applause stopped, he immediately said: "Okay, then our interview segment ends here. Everyone, please take your seats; our film is about to begin. Please be a polite audience, thank you."

As soon as Chen Nuo and the others left the screening hall, the cinema manager came over, looking apologetic, and said: "I'm really sorry, the person who asked the question earlier wasn't on the invitation list; I don't know how he snuck in. I'm really sorry. However, Mr. Chen, you spoke really well! I saw many veteran media people applauding for you."

Chen Nuo smiled and said: "Thank you."

When it came to arguing online, for a time, from the Douyin comment section to the Weibo comment section, Chen Nuo's anonymous alt account had once killed people until heads rolled and blood flowed like a river, pretending to be a passerby every day to madly scold those haters who blacklisted him. How could he be afraid of this little scene?

In the lounge, everyone else had their own things to do, and for a while, only Zhang Yi and Chen Nuo were left. Zhang Yi asked with a laugh: "Why, do you really think film and TV are the same?"

Chen Nuo chuckled: "What do you think?"

Zhang Yi laughed heartily: "You're not very old, but you have a whole set of diplomatic answers; you're really born to eat this bowl of rice. Then, after you finish shooting *Return of the Condor Heroes*, will you continue to take TV series?"

Chen Nuo said: "Definitely not in the short term, but, if the money is enough... why not?"

Zhang Yi laughed: "Well said, only a bastard wouldn't earn money if it's there."

While Chen Nuo was chatting with Zhang Yi and the others in the lounge, the film in the screening hall was also playing smoothly.

Shi Ningwei, having heard Chen Nuo's words earlier, not only wasn't angry, but his perception of him improved even more.

After all, he wasn't acting out of malice. Hearing that Chen Nuo understood what he was doing, he felt at ease.

A young couple was sitting behind Shi Ningwei's seat. For ten minutes after the film started, they kept whispering, and some of their words even reached Shi Ningwei's ears. It seemed the boy had just received a text message from someone, which the girl had seen, and she was therefore very angry.

Shi Ningwei was also very annoyed in his heart, wanting to turn around and scold them several times, but he held back.

Because regardless of whether the audience was arguing or sleeping, the plot on the big screen was proceeding methodically, minute by minute. The trivialities in the alleyway all revealed a deep malice toward the mute, and the young girl Xiaozhu became the only ray of light in the mute's life.

Shi Ningwei slowly immersed himself in the analysis of Chen Nuo's acting style, forgetting about the couple arguing in the back row. He was very surprised by the performance-based acting style Chen Nuo presented in the film. In this film, he couldn't feel that the fashionable and handsome young man from earlier and the mute in the film were the same person. Not just the personality, but there were huge differences in appearance as well.

Shi Ningwei studied it carefully and discovered that it was because Chen Nuo kept his facial muscles in a tense state while acting, making his contours quite different from usual. Coupled with the old-fashioned clothing and facial makeup, it was really hard to recognize that it was the same person if one didn't look closely.

He believed this must be the result of Director Zhang Yi's excellent guidance.

And after having this discovery, Shi Ningwei watched even more intently. He almost forgot about time. When the film ended in that wide-angle high-altitude shot, he suddenly woke up, looked at his watch, and found that it was only 1:30 AM, meaning the film's duration was only about 90 minutes.

Shi Ningwei didn't know if it was because it had been edited, but these 90 minutes were probably the most uncomfortable 90 minutes Shi Ningwei had spent in recent years.

Shi Ningwei had seen countless films and considered himself hard-hearted, but he couldn't quite handle this. The young couple in the back row didn't know when they had stopped arguing; the girl was sobbing in a low voice.

When Zhang Yi, Chen Nuo, Li Xiaotian, and other creative team members returned to the stage with the host, the applause that rang out was somewhat sparse.

The host was a veteran of a hundred battles and had long had a contingency plan for such a scene. He laughed it off and said: "Everyone, come, let's applaud for Director Zhang Yi and Chen Nuo's wonderful performance."

The applause remained sparse, because the vast majority of the audience was wiping away tears.

The host didn't change his expression and said: "Facing the enthusiastic applause, let's invite the three creators to say a few words to everyone here in turn."

During the post-screening exchange segment, Shi Ningwei didn't care much about what Zhang Yi or Chen Nuo said, and he couldn't even remember if there was a truly enthusiastic round of applause later. After returning to the hotel from the cinema at the fastest speed, he opened his laptop almost without any rest and began typing away.

In Shi Ningwei's view, what this film was about didn't matter, and how it was acted didn't matter; what truly mattered was that such a heavy realist work could actually be released domestically, which was absolutely a miracle.

It could be said that his thoughts flowed like a spring. He typed out a film review of nearly 3,000 words in one breath, and then looked at the time, only to find it had taken less than two hours, which was also a miracle for him.

After re-checking it once and modifying some wording and typos, Shi Ningwei felt this should be the best, most profound, and most thoughtful film review he had written in recent years.

Copy and paste. He hesitated slightly when writing the title, and finally wrote: "We Are All Mutes." Okay, publish.

Shi Ningwei clicked the mouse.

At this moment, his mood was as satisfied as if he had just ejaculated.

He lit a cigarette to refresh himself, then opened QQ.

As expected, he had already accumulated over 500 messages, and they were still constantly updating. You have to know, it was already around 4:00 AM at this time.

As soon as he clicked it open, a few of the latest messages popped up.

Shencheng Albert: "Those judges in Berlin really weren't messing around..."

A Lotus: "I think he just played himself. I don't believe a newcomer who has never acted before could act like this."

Ningning: "Same opinion. Just like Xia Yu."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 67 =====