Chapter 113

(Read Chapter 113 first, the system doesn't know why it put this chapter in front)

September 9, 2002, Beijing time, early morning; September 8, 2002, Venice time, evening.

After a "long run" of ten days, the 59th Venice Film Festival finally entered the final climax.

On the sparkling water of the Lido island, the gondolas sway gently, and the red carpet is laid out from the shore, welcoming one filmmaker after another full of longing.

The closing ceremony red carpet is much more shabby than the opening ceremony, because people may have already left more than half...

Since August 28, Venice has screened a total of 144 films, but very few can make it to the end.

Chinese films have had a bumper harvest this year.

Judging from the possibility of winning awards, *The Missing Gun*, *Small Town Spring*, *The Best of Times*, and *Whiplash* have all received invitations to tonight's awards ceremony.

In addition, *Fantasy Tribe* and *Crazy Dance Depression* have already won the Critics' Week Special Award and the Italian Film Academy Award in advance.

Regardless of whether they are leftovers! Tonight, filmmakers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong are particularly united; everyone encourages and blesses each other on the red carpet and walks into the auditorium together.

The awards ceremony is about to begin, and the entire St. Mark's Square is decorated dreamily and brilliantly.

Also brilliant is the Chinese film star Gong Li, who has a graceful posture and shows the style of a big heroine.

She is the host of tonight's awards ceremony.

In the step-by-step opening, Gong Li still did not choose to host in Italian; she seems to have a strong heart and never cares about the eyes of the outside world.

Gong Li is wearing a cheongsam with a strong national style today; from the raised collar and the tight waist, one can still capture the oriental sentiment that Western media is obsessed with.

Removing the mottled traces of time, the beauty has not yet faded.

And the big red flowers on the cheongsam, which had a strong national and rural style back then, have already become exquisite embroidery.

Liu Yifei cannot suppress her excitement, or rather, the entire crew, including the old and strong Tian Zhuangzhuang, is looking forward to tonight's finale.

It seems that only Boss Lu is still light and breezy.

It's not that he is pretending to be cool, it's because Seeing Lu Kuan knows that all his previous layouts and all the cards in his hand have been played out.

From the public relations for Gong Li, to the momentum building and publicity of Takeshi Kitano, Quentin, and others, to openly echoing with the film festival chairman who has Hollywood inclinations.

And the strengthening of the film's commerciality and the weakening of the art film attributes in his script creation and filming earlier.

The cards have been played out, the moves have been used, and tonight we will just watch the outcome.

Some minor awards have ended, and some families are happy and some are sad; finally, it is the relatively weighty "Upstream" unit.

Liu Yifei's palms are full of sweat; although it is not her crew's film, Teacher Tian, as the producer of *Whiplash*, is very close to them, and he is also kind and benevolent.

At this time, she feels quite empathetic and is looking forward to this virtuous elder who has been banned for ten golden years being able to receive this honor.

Boss Lu glances at Tian Zhuangzhuang on the side of the aisle with composure, to see what expression this fifth-generation director who specially shaved his beard and came to Venice has now.

Unfortunately, there is still no ripple on that face full of gullies.

In contrast, Lu Chuan seems less calm.

This is also his first film; the box office performance is good, and the reputation is also very good; now he is just missing an award that can be taken out.

This St. Mark's Award will become the perfect footnote for his career as a sixth-generation director!

The award presenter is Sophia Loren; the Italian actress, who is over seventy, opens the envelope gracefully without setting up much suspense.

"*Small Town Spring*, Zhuangzhuang Tian!"

Seeing Lu Kuan is the first to stand up, leading the crew from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong to offer warm applause!

Tian Zhuangzhuang laughs freely, tidies up his lapels, stands up, hugs Seeing Lu Kuan across the aisle, and walks onto the stage to receive the award.

Boss Lu takes out his Nokia 7650 with a bad taste, aims it at Taro who looks like he has lost his parents, and appreciates his look of having no love for life.

Liu Yifei covers her mouth and chuckles; it is really better not to offend this dog man no matter who you offend.

"Thank you to the organizing committee for giving this old man some comfort he didn't have when he was young."

"Thanks to my actors Xin Baiqing, Hu Jingfan, Wu Jun, thanks to my investors, I wish Chinese films get better and better! Thank you!"

Immediately following is the Organizing Committee Special Award, won by *June Snake* by the Japanese director Sohon Seino.

The Best New Actor Award is won by Moon So-ri from the Korean crew of *Oasis*.

"Next, we invite American film star Tang Mu Hanks to present the Best Actor Award!"

The first truly weighty award has begun, and Feng Yuanzheng also clenches his fists tightly.

He, who originally didn't hold any hope, has been sitting on pins and needles since he knew he was shortlisted, not just for himself.

It is also for Ms. Mersin, who is in her sixties and is both a mother and a teacher, far away in Germany.

Tang Mu Hanks is 46 years old this year, which is the prime age for Hollywood male actors.

At this age, with makeup, he can play all roles from 30 to 55, especially for such an outstanding film star.

His appearance receives enthusiastic cheers from the audience and guests on the scene; it seems that the winner in a while may not necessarily receive so much applause.

"The winner of the Best Actor Award at the 59th Venice Film Festival is!"

Boss Lu suddenly feels his arm being grabbed in pain; a glance out of the corner of his eye shows Liu Yifei's nervous face.

He slaps away the young girl's An Lushan claw with annoyance.

It's not you winning the award, why are you joining in the fun!

"Hold on! Hold on!"

"The makeup artist tied my bow tie too tight; I have to loosen it."

The audience laughs; it has to be someone from Hollywood who knows how to make a show effect; the three major European film festivals rarely have such hippie award styles.

Feng Yuanzheng becomes Feng Yuanzheng, staring at the Oscar winner on the stage with round eyes.

He holds his breath, only feeling that there has never been such a suffocating moment in his thirty-plus years of life.

Whether a heart hanging in the air is dead or alive, the answer is about to be revealed.

Tang Mu Hanks is very satisfied with his funny effect, and then reads the award list with a straight face again.

"The winner of the Best Actor Award at the 59th Venice Film Festival is!"

"*Whiplash*, Yuanzheng Feng!"

"Ah!!!"

While everyone else is still stunned, Liu Yifei can no longer suppress her scream and stands up to applaud.

She is so happy for Feng Yuanzheng, especially on the square that night, listening to him describe his experience of studying in Germany.

She knows that he is extremely eager to dedicate this award to his mentor in a foreign country.

"Little Lu! Thank you!"

Feng Yuanzheng is already in tears, no longer having the calmness of a powerful actor from the People's Art, and hugs Seeing Lu Kuan tightly.

"Teacher Feng, you deserve it!"

Tian Zhuangzhuang also hugs him to greet him, watching Feng Yuanzheng's figure on stage, but sighs secretly in his heart.

"Little Lu, it's already very good to be able to win the Best Actor award for the first time; don't think too much."

Seeing Lu Kuan feels a bit bitter in his heart; he understands what Tian Zhuangzhuang means.

A masterpiece like *Happy Together* cannot even win the Best Director and Best Actor awards at the same time, let alone him.

But at this time, Boss Lu finds it hard to suppress that glimmer of hope in his heart.

After all, he has worked so hard for so long, and the efforts, layouts, and schemes surrounding the award can be considered painstaking.

Liu Yifei doesn't understand so much, still excitedly applauding for Feng Yuanzheng on stage, listening to his emotional speech.

Feng Yuanzheng adjusts his emotions for a long time.

"I don't even know how I walked up here."

The audience laughs and offers applause kindly again.

"Today, being able to win this honor, I want to thank my motherland, my parents, and my unit, the People's Art."

"I want to thank my director Seeing Lu Kuan even more."

"Although he is only in his twenties this year, he is the most talented and gifted director I have ever come into contact with; I am so lucky to be chosen by you to participate in this excellent film!"

Worthy of being the film festival with the longest tradition in Europe, a perfect spotlight from the executive director on the scene hits Boss Lu's face.

Seeing Lu Kuan, who was joking and celebrating with Little Liu beside him, quickly manages his expression, sits upright, and nods gently to greet him properly.

Feng Yuanzheng changes the subject: "But I don't want to give this trophy to Director Seeing Lu Kuan, nor do I want to give it to myself."

He takes a deep breath and says emotionally: "I want to dedicate this honor of Best Actor to my mentor, Ms. Mersin."

"It was you who took a poor boy in Germany who couldn't even afford to eat into your home and took care of me like a mother."

"You created all favorable conditions without asking for anything in return, allowing me to concentrate on studying acting."

"Without you, there would be no Feng Yuanzheng today and no Best Actor trophy today!"

"Mersin, meine Mutter, ich liebe dich!"

(German: Mersin, my mother, I love you!)

Mersin studied under Grotowski himself and is a well-reputed acting professor in Europe.

There is no lack of audience members on the scene who are moved to tears; like Liu Yifei, who has strong empathy, they offer warm applause to the emotional Chinese male actor.

Boss Lu sighs secretly in his heart; what is called a sincere heart is a dojo.

Only a drama fanatic like Feng Yuanzheng can dedicate himself to acting so purely.

With the crown of Best Actor in his pocket, his expectation for the Golden Lion Award is no longer so strong.

Things in life are not satisfactory eight or nine times out of ten; at least he won a Best Actor award, so this trip is not in vain.

Next is the Best Actress crown, won by American actress Julianne Moore.

Julianne Moore is the heroine of *Jurassic Park 2*; she won her first Oscar in 2015, becoming the first person in history to win the Three Golds and the Oscar Best Actress Grand Slam.

The Best Director and Jury Grand Prize are won by filmmakers from Scotland and Russia respectively, and then it is the announcement of the Golden Lion Award.

The big award must of course be presented by the jury chairman Gong Li herself.

She gracefully comes to the front of the stage, opens the envelope, faces the audience, and prepares to read the shortlisted films and the winning film.

In fact, by the time the conference reached this point, some keen reporters and filmmakers already felt that the wind direction was wrong.

Asian films seem to be very popular, and American actresses have also won the Best Actress award, while European films have gained very little, basically all leftovers.

Boss Lu is also slandering in his heart, could it be that this Deharden wants to unite Cao to resist Wu?

Asia and Hollywood together declare war on Venice?

You are going to reverse the heaven and earth!

He silently looks at Tian Zhuangzhuang, and both see a glimmer of hope in each other's eyes.

"Shortlisted films, *The Sisters of the Brothel*, *Whiplash*, *Dolls*, *Frida*, *Love Journey*."

"The film that finally won the Golden Lion Award at this film festival is!"

(End of chapter)