Chapter 110: The Ambition for the Golden Lion Award

Lu Kuan and Feng Yuanzheng chased away the naive young girl and plunged headlong into the European and American film section, lingering there and forgetting to return.

It must be said that at this point in time, Europe and America had not yet been swept by the many movements of later generations, and the social atmosphere was still extremely open.

There were not many clamoring environmentalists or LGBT groups standing up to lash out at these films for suspected objectification of women, allowing the audience to feast their eyes.

After coming out of "Ken Park," the two went to see "Naked."

This was the new work of German director Doris Dörrie, which bluntly spoiled the exciting content right on the promotional stills.

Boss Lu looked at the rating marked as Level 4 and the long queue outside the exhibition hall, feeling quite torn between laughter and tears.

"Teacher Feng, you say these Europeans watch pigs run all day long, so why are they still so enthusiastic about this stuff?"

Serious films are deserted, but for Level 4 films, I strike with a heavy fist?

Feng Yuanzheng laughed: "Little Lu, you aren't married yet, so you don't understand the logic that 'stealing is better than having a concubine.' Being able to watch such films in an art palace like this is a more stimulating act for these Europeans!"

Boss Lu gave a thumbs up to Feng Yuanzheng, who was well-traveled and had gone to West Berlin to study drama in 1989, and the two queued up to enter the cinema.

It was another round of flesh-and-blood fighting on the screen, but the audience on-site didn't seem very satisfied, booing from time to time.

The German director and the film crew on the sidelines looked very grim.

When the movie ended and the two came out, they saw that two-thirds of the seats were already empty; it seemed too many audience members had left early.

"It looks like the score for this 'Naked' in the festival catalog won't be very high."

Lu Kuan agreed: "It's a bit like being pornographic for the sake of pornography, using the banner of art to create a gimmick; it's fallen into a cliché."

"Especially since this is the work of a German female director, it's a bit too bold."

Feng Yuanzheng laughed: "When I was studying in East Germany, West Berlin was the largest place for prostitution in the world at that time."

"Don't look at Germans as rigorous and rigid; these people are like springs. They usually suppress themselves too hard and can only indulge in sensual pleasures in these aspects to release themselves."

The two sat down at an open-air cafe to wait for the next film, when Liu Yifei suddenly popped out from somewhere, with Liu Xiao following by her side.

"Teacher Feng, Lu Kuan, have you finished watching the movie?"

Liu Yifei blinked at the two behind Liu Xiao's back, with a strong sense of teasing.

Boss Lu looked indifferent: "Yes, Liu Ayi, why don't you sit down and have a cup of coffee? We'll go watch Tom Cruise together in a while."

"Okay!"

Liu Yifei was familiar with him, so naturally, she didn't treat herself as an outsider.

Lu Kuan continued to chat with Feng Yuanzheng.

"Teacher Feng, you studied Grotowski in East Germany, right?"

Feng Yuanzheng's expression cleared slightly, and he took a sip of coffee with a touch of melancholy.

"Yes, many years have passed in a flash."

"Little Lu, do you think our movie can win an award this time?"

Liu Yifei and her mother instantly cast their focused gazes; which actor doesn't hope to achieve something with their first film?

Lu Kuan smiled: "Teacher Feng, this thing called a film festival relies on strength for nominations and luck for winning awards."

"How so?"

Feng Yuanzheng was a drama fanatic, obsessed with stage plays, and his understanding of the inside story of these film awards was far less clear than Boss Lu's.

"There are roughly two models for authoritative film award selections in the world today: the Oscars' 'big pot of rice' and the elite system of the Big Three."

"The Oscars win by quantity, with as many as a thousand judges. It's a mixed bag, which facilitates public relations lobbying by film crews and investors, greatly increasing the lack of transparency in winning awards."

"In this regard, the Hong Kong Film Awards are similar. In 1997, 'The Mad Phoenix' added a subtitle at the end of the film, 'Encouragement to all Hong Kong screenwriters,' just to play the human sentiment card."

This is the same logic as a primary school student writing "Teacher, you've worked hard" at the end of an exam paper, attempting to make the grading teacher show mercy.

The key is that it actually worked...

That year, "The Mad Phoenix" won Best Screenplay at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

"But European film festivals like Cannes and Venice follow an elite route. For example, the judge for this session is Gong Li, which is relatively a benefit for Chinese-language films."

"It's not that she can blatantly show favoritism, but she can prevent us from being at a disadvantage when everyone is evenly matched, or act as a mediator to explain and communicate when there is a cultural gap between the East and the West."

Liu Yifei's interest was piqued: "So we still have some hope, then?"

"The elite award model tests the personal senses of the judges, but a paranoid jury president can also be very frustrating. Teacher Feng, have you forgotten Cannes in '97?"

Feng Yuanzheng was stunned, then shook his head with a bitter smile.

This is a case that Chinese filmmakers have long felt aggrieved about.

At the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, Wong Kar-wai brought "Happy Together" to compete, and Gong Li participated in the voting as the first Chinese judge in Cannes history.

The jury president for that session was Isabelle Adjani.

Adjani is known as the "first divine face of France" and is also a superstar who has won Best Actress awards at international film festivals until her hands went soft.

At that Cannes, "Happy Together" was the only Chinese-language film to be shortlisted for the main competition unit, and Gong Li naturally wanted to protect it.

The key was that the film quality was indeed excellent, giving her the confidence to cheer for Chinese-language films.

Unfortunately, Adjani thought the same; she also bore the heavy responsibility of defending the honor of French cinema, especially on home turf like Cannes.

So these two great leading ladies slammed the table and tore each other apart at the jury meeting, making the group of male judges tremble.

In the end, they found a balance: Wong Kar-wai won Best Director, but the excellent Tony Leung missed out on the Best Actor award.

This story has a sequel: Gong Li found a boyfriend in 2017, the French electronic music master Jean-Michel, and Adjani was once his fiancée.

Perhaps this is the revenge of the Empress Gong 20 years later?

In any case, all of the above shows how important a heavyweight jury president is.

Tian Zhuangzhuang and Lu Kuan went to visit Gong Li on their first day in Venice with exactly this intention.

It's just that Lu Kuan was a bit puzzled at this moment: where did Feng Yuanzheng, a drama fanatic who had always been indifferent to fame and wealth, get such a great obsession with winning an award?

Feng Yuanzheng responded to Lu Kuan's question with a bitter smile, as if he had fallen into painful memories.

"In 1986, Ms. Mersin from East Germany came to the Beijing People's Art Theatre for exchanges, and I came into contact with the Grotowski performance school for the first time."

Liu Yifei listened to him with sparkling eyes; after all, she now also considers herself a successor to the Grotowski performance school!

Lu Kuan nodded. Those years were the honeymoon period for Sino-Western artistic exchange. Apart from Stanislavski and Brecht, it was the first time the country knew there was a school called Grotowski.

Later, Lin Zhaohua, the vice president of the People's Art Theatre, went to Germany and invited Mersin. This old artist, over sixty years old, taught in Beijing at her own expense.

The Grotowski she brought had a huge impact on the drama fanatic Feng Yuanzheng.

"In 1989, I went to West Berlin, registered at the University of the Arts, and studied acting under Ms. Mersin."

"At that time, we didn't just study acting; we also had to study lighting, repair stage art, repair costume design, and repair body movement. Except for working part-time, I devoted almost all my time to study."

"Ms. Mersin felt that I was very talented and shouldn't spend time earning money to subsidize myself when I was young, so she took me to live in her home and gave me 800 marks for living expenses every month."

The three of them were all surprised; the last person who could be so selfless was Norman Bethune.

"Teacher Feng, then how did you return to the country later?"

Liu Yifei associated it with herself; she returned to the country to be an actress, could it be that Feng Yuanzheng did too?

"Ms. Mersin took care of me like her own son, but although the pear garden is good, it is not a place to stay for long."

"According to her plan, I would study all the way to a doctorate in drama, then inherit her mantle and carry forward Grotowski."

"But!"

"But I wanted to be an actor! I went to the People's Art Theatre for the sake of acting. In Germany, I was just a stranger playing bit parts and could never become a lead."

Liu Yifei glanced at Lu Kuan, thinking of what Lu Kuan had said to her at Anita Mui's residence in Hong Kong that day.

There is only one reason to support you in becoming a real actor, and that is that you like acting, nothing more.

Excellent people are always the same; Anita Mui is like this, and Feng Yuanzheng is like this. Persistence stems from love.

The atmosphere was a bit dull, so Boss Lu joked: "Fortunately, Ms. Mersin didn't keep you, otherwise 'Whiplash' would have lost a great leading man."

Feng Yuanzheng shook his head desolately.

"In the last half year in Germany, I was very tormented. I talked to her three times, and finally decided to return to the country to look for opportunities to be an actor."

"The day I arrived in West Berlin, she was the one who picked me up. At that time, the Berlin Wall was still there, and she came across from East Berlin."

"When I left, the Berlin Wall had long been torn down, but Ms. Mersin's figure never appeared."

Feng Yuanzheng's eyes were slightly red, showing the important status of this female artist who took care of and taught him like a mother in a foreign land.

Liu Yifei was a person with strong empathy, and she asked cautiously: "Then did you ever go back to see her later?"

"I went, many times. After I had some small achievements in the country, I went to visit her with gifts, but she was always angry with me and firmly refused to see me."

Artists are paranoid; she could cultivate Feng Yuanzheng like a child with all her heart, but in her disappointment, she could also treat him like a stranger.

"Little Lu, the reason I care so much about whether 'Whiplash' can win an award, or whether I can win an award myself, is that I want to prove it to her."

"That my return to the country was the right choice, that my becoming an actor was the right choice, and that I am truly practicing and promoting Grotowski in my acting—this is more meaningful than me being a drama professor."

Lu Kuan nodded knowingly. Feng Yuanzheng became the president of the People's Art Theatre in 2022, and was also the first head of the People's Art Theatre to come from an acting background.

This drama fanatic had been implementing and practicing his ideals all along.

"Come on! Raise your glasses! Wishing 'Whiplash' can achieve something in a few days!"

The broadcast of the Film Palace suddenly rang out, startling a flock of white pigeons by the open-air square of the Lido.

Whether it was Lu Kuan, who was realizing his past-life film dream, Liu Yifei, who had just caught a glimpse of the path of acting, or Feng Yuanzheng, who wanted to prove himself to his mentor.

At this moment, their thoughts were flying with the flapping white pigeons, looking forward to "Whiplash" leaving a heavy mark in Venice.

(End of chapter)