Chapter 59: Just Praise Her for Being Beautiful and Having a Refined Temperament

At this year's Venice Film Festival, besides Cao Yang, only Chen Guo from Xiangjiang was selected for the main competition section with "Hollywood Hong Kong."

Coincidentally, the lead actress of "Hollywood Hong Kong" is Xun Ge'er.

This is the second time they have met in Europe this year.

With Xun Ge'er intentionally acting as a go-between, the two film crews gathered privately, and Cao Yang also got to know Chen Guo, an alternative figure in the Xiangjiang film industry—a director who has always insisted on making art-house films.

Chen Guo's films are very similar to those of the domestic Fifth Generation directors, as they all focus their lenses on small, bottom-tier characters, and every one of his films carries a strong sense of realism.

His work is characterized by a realistic style, intense social criticism, and a focus on the fates of the lower classes and marginalized small characters.

Chen Guo has enjoyed using mainland actresses in recent years; the lead actress of "Durian Durian," released last year, was Qin Hailu, and this year's film again features Xun Ge'er.

It is worth mentioning that the lead actresses in both films are bottom-tier prostitutes who moved from the mainland to Xiangjiang.

This is a unique mark of this era.

Perhaps many Xiangjiang people at the time subconsciously believed that these "Northern Girls," who either smuggled themselves in or moved over for various reasons, could do nothing other than work as bottom-tier prostitutes.

Xun Ge'er has a very heavy role in "Hollywood Hong Kong," and many people believe she has a chance to vie for the Venice Best Actress award.

Cao Yang does not deny Xun Ge'er's acting skills, but winning the Venice Best Actress award is a bit difficult.

It is not that Xun Ge'er did not act well.

If this were a director from the Beijing Film Academy, filming a movie about helpless and frustrated marginalized characters with strong criticism, it might actually be possible for Xun Ge'er to make a run for the Venice Best Actress award.

But a Xiangjiang director, lacking the resources and connections of the Beijing Film Academy, finds it very difficult to compete for major awards at the three major European film festivals.

Even Wong Kar-wai, having spent so many years in the three major European festivals, only managed to take home one Best Director award from Cannes.

From their parting at the last Berlin Film Festival to now, a short period of just over half a year, Xun Ge'er did not expect that Cao Yang would have already made another film and that it would be shortlisted for the main competition section of the Venice Film Festival.

Xun Ge'er was truly shocked.

However, thinking about how she went to Berlin with Wang Xiaoshuai last time and came to Venice with Chen Guo this time, Xun Ge'er feels that she is also quite remarkable.

Furthermore, she feels that she still has some possibility of winning the Venice Best Actress award; isn't this type of subject matter always very popular with the three major European festivals?

On September 2nd, Chen Guo's "Hollywood Hong Kong" premiered in Venice, Italy, and Cao Yang brought Yu Feihong and Liu Ye along to show their support.

Chen Guo was very happy to see that Cao Yang could come, and he held Cao Yang's hand, thanking him repeatedly.

There was no help for it; as a director who is still "unknown" in Europe, while it was called a premiere ceremony, there were actually very few people there to show support, and most of them were Chinese.

Cao Yang took a look; in such a small theater, the audience occupancy rate was not even fifty percent.

Not to mention the media; apart from the official Venice reporters, only domestic reporters came to show support. Cao Yang did not even see any Xiangjiang reporters; he did not know if they had failed to come to Venice.

In fact, Chen Guo's fame in Xiangjiang and Taiwan is actually quite significant.

By virtue of "Made in Hong Kong," he won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards in 1997, and in 1998, he won Best Director and Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Yet, this "Made in Hong Kong," which won countless major awards, had a box office of less than two million.

Could it be that his film's box office was so poor that even the Xiangjiang reporters were too lazy to report on it?

The film soon began screening, and as the plot unfolded, Cao Yang found himself unable to comment for a moment.

On the surface, a mainland prostitute has an American backer, swindles money from Xiangjiang people to go live it up in America, while the swindled Xiangjiang people can only rely on a mainland quack to treat their illnesses.

But as long as one understands the metaphors in the film, one will discover that the political implications of this film are too heavy.

That severed right hand is grafted with a left hand by a doctor from the mainland; "he" wants to sever this grafted left hand but fails, and this left hand turns out to be unexpectedly useful...

Sigh, all this left and right... during this period, many Xiangjiang people must hold pessimistic and skeptical attitudes.

If any random commercial film director from Xiangjiang had filmed this, it would have been a pure comedy.

But when an art-house director films this, it is hard not to let people interpret it in terms of the political system.

In this film, the director's personal emotional catharsis is too intense, and in some places, it feels slightly out of control; coupled with the heavy use of symbolism and imagery, the presentation and reflection are insufficient, making the film as a whole somewhat extreme and fragmented. After the film ended, during a gap in the conversation between Cao Yang and Chen Guo, Xun Ge'er and Yu Feihong started chatting.

"Your acting was so natural, so good; you really brought this character to life. Unlike me, at the beginning, I was scolded by Cao Yang until I was almost autistic; he said that no matter what I played, I had the same expression and had no acting skills at all."

Yu Feihong showered Xun Ge'er with praise; she genuinely felt that Xun Ge'er acted well and had a lot of spirit.

"Thank you, Sister Feihong."

Xun Ge'er's eyes curved upward, and she was in a great mood; she also felt that she had performed quite well.

"I think you have a very good chance this year; films like this that delve deep into bottom-tier small characters are very easily recognized by the jury. Keep it up, I'm very optimistic about you."

Yu Feihong smiled and offered encouragement.

Xun Ge'er knew that Yu Feihong was also a lead actress in Cao Yang's film.

She had watched quite a few TV dramas starring Yu Feihong and knew very well what Yu Feihong's acting skills were like.

Plus, since Yu Feihong had exposed that she was scolded by Cao Yang for having poor acting skills, Xun Ge'er felt embarrassed to say things like "your acting is also very good" or "you might also win the Venice Best Actress award."

!

Xun Ge'er was afraid that Yu Feihong would think she was being sarcastic.

She could only thank her repeatedly and then keep praising Yu Feihong for being beautiful and having a refined temperament.

Hmm, if you can't praise the acting, then praise the beauty and temperament; that's right.

When Cao Yang was about to leave, he also casually complimented Xun Ge'er's performance, and Xun Ge'er smiled so hard her eyes almost disappeared.

"I hope we have a chance to collaborate."

Cao Yang said politely.

"Okay, I hope to collaborate with Director Cao."

Zhou Xun was even happier; for a moment, she felt that the Venice Best Actress award was not so out of reach after all.

On the way back, Liu Ye, who had already recovered, asked Cao Yang, "Director Cao, what do you think of this film? Why do I keep feeling like this film is a bit eerie?"

"Oh, why is it eerie?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it, I just feel like something is off," Liu Ye said, shaking his head.

Cao Yang thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Perhaps the director himself is confused."

"Then is there a possibility of winning an award?"

Liu Ye asked in a low voice, "Will it have an impact on our film? Aren't these kinds of critical films that reflect bottom-tier marginalized characters very popular at film festivals here?"

"He criticized it, yet he didn't; he is confused himself, unable to let go, and this wavering attitude will not be recognized here."

Cao Yang shook his head, "Forget about this. If you have time to think about these things, you'd be better off memorizing your acceptance speech. Don't be like Li Xiaoran, who got up there, got nervous, stuttered 'I' for a long time, and forgot everything."

"Hey, why would I memorize that stuff? Is it possible I could actually win an award? Even if I said it in Italian, could they give me another language award? If I win, I'll learn from Li Xiaoran and give my acceptance speech in Chinese."

Liu Ye became incredibly excited at the mention of this and entered chatterbox mode, "Besides, last time in Berlin, didn't you also give your acceptance speech in Chinese, Director Cao? I didn't see them snatch the Silver Bear back."

Cao Yang was left between laughter and tears, "What I said was for you to memorize a Chinese acceptance speech."

Liu Ye suddenly leaned in close to Cao Yang and asked in a mysterious, low voice, "Director Cao, did you get some inside information? Don't try to fool me; do we really have a chance to win an award in Venice? To be honest, before coming to Venice, I didn't even dare to think about it."

"Then you can let your imagination run wild now."

(End of chapter)