Chapter 159

On the morning of May 18, 2003, French local time, the new Golden Lion Award winner, Chinese director Boss Lu's new film *Shoplifters*, premiered in Cannes.

The main venue of Cannes is called the Palais des Festivals, which has four halls in total.

The largest is called the Lumière Hall, which generally screens films in the main competition section.

It was also the screening hall for *Shoplifters* today, showing the organizing committee's emphasis on this film and Boss Lu himself.

Film festivals are always inseparable from red carpet topics, but in fact, the red carpets at film festivals are varied.

Besides the most heavyweight opening and closing ceremony red carpets, there are premiere red carpets and various banquet red carpets.

Even party red carpets for famous film and television companies to hold film promotion meetings to sell films.

Fan Bingbing, who was ridiculed as a carpet star in later generations, finally walked on the red carpet today as one of the leads of a Palme d'Or main competition film.

The crew missed the opening ceremony red carpet because of the boiling point entry inspection.

Therefore, her first red carpet was the premiere red carpet of *Shoplifters*, and the level was limited.

Reporters and audiences swarmed in; Boss Lu had limited fans in France, all because EuropaCorp bought the European copyright of his *Whiplash*.

Today, EuropaCorp boss Lu Kasi was also invited to come, followed by a middle-aged man Boss Lu was relatively unfamiliar with.

"Hello, Lu! Your *Whiplash* made us a lot of money!"

Boss Lu smiled and shook hands with him: "Win-win, win-win."

Fan Bingbing stood beside Boss Lu, accompanying him to welcome guests today. She had of course heard of this person's reputation, but she didn't expect Boss Lu to look so familiar with him.

Actually, they had just done one business deal, under the introduction of Kitano Takeshi.

Lu Kasi is a famous French director; his *The Fifth Element* and *Léon: The Professional* are relatively well-known domestically.

But his own reputation in the French film industry is average, for the same reason as Boss Lu's reputation in the domestic art circle now.

Too Hollywood.

France is the birthplace of film and the New Wave; great directors are like stars in the galaxy, Godard, Bresson, and Jean Reno are all master-level figures who have entered the hall.

How could the French, who pursue romanticism and freehand brushwork, look down on this director who has eyes only for money?

Just like the attacks on Boss Lu by Zhu Dake, Huang Shixian, and others.

If you aren't artistic, that's the biggest mistake!

Although Lu Kasi didn't take the artistic route of French directors in film, his personal life was full of romance.

"Lu, your female companion today is too beautiful; may I know her name?"

Fan Bingbing was wearing a gown customized for her by Guo Pei of Beiping Rose Workshop today; it couldn't be called high-end customization, but she was the only one who could take it out domestically now.

Fan Bingbing generously stepped forward to shake hands and greet; her style and demeanor didn't look like a domestic female star walking the red carpet for the first time at all.

A big star is a big star.

"Mr. Lu Kasi, who is this beside you?"

Lu Kasi suddenly smacked his forehead apologetically and introduced the middle-aged man to Boss Lu.

"This is Mr. Luo Si, the president of Paris MK2; he has also long heard of your name, and I invited him to come and support you together."

Boss Lu was stunned for a few seconds, MK2?

This is the largest art film company in France!

Boss Lu had a clear understanding of the Hollywood model in his previous life, but his understanding of the European art film field wasn't much.

Before going to Cannes on this trip, he talked to Hou Xiaoxian on the phone, and the latter mentioned the big name of MK2 to him.

This is an art film company headquartered in Paris, and its relationship with the Cannes organizing committee is very close; even in later generations, there was a scandal where the president of MK2 directly intervened in the members of the Cannes jury.

Boss Lu held high the banner of commercial films, but the two films he made were both art-commercial balance types, so he hadn't paid special attention to MK2 before.

But Jia Kezhang, Hou Xiaoxian, Wang Jiawei, and others of Chinese-language films were very familiar with them.

Especially Wang Jiawei; his early films like *Chungking Express* and *Ashes of Time* were also of high level, but he was always destined not to be with the three major European film festivals.

It wasn't until MK2 became his agent that *Happy Together* immediately entered the main competition section and even won the Best Director Award.

That was the time mentioned earlier when Gong Huang and Adjani tore each other apart.

Still the same sentence: as long as it's the entertainment industry, entertainment business, regardless of domestic or foreign, transactions under the table will never be lacking.

People who don't recognize this rule will find that they have paid everything and have no return; that's because the path was taken wrong.

Boss Lu was of course on the path, immediately shaking Luo Si's hand affectionately.

"Mr. Luo Si, nice to meet you! Please make some comments on my film later; I really want to hear the voices of artists from the birthplace of film."

Flattery, very flattering!

"Director Lu, I'm here!"

The so-called person hasn't arrived, but the voice has; Jiang Wen is it.

Everyone exchanged greetings in front of the red carpet and the signature wall, followed by the domestic *Purple Butterfly* crew arriving to support.

Zhang Ziyi, Lou Ye, and Liu Ye arrived together, and Boss Lu was again polite in his thanks.

Lu Kasi quietly greeted Boss Lu to the side.

"Lu, I heard from friends on the jury about your film; it's very excellent. Are you interested in impacting the Palme d'Or?"

Boss Lu was a bit dumbfounded, almost thinking that the Jewish An Lushan, Harvey, was standing in front of him.

Lu Kasi, you thick-browed and big-eyed guy, how come you've started doing pimping work too!

No wonder French film fans all scold him for being a slave to Hollywood; this business has been done to the Palme d'Or.

You say you can do film art like this? Like Boss Lu, thinking about these crooked ways every day.

"Mr. Lu Kasi, speak directly; we are friends, we should talk about everything!"

"Heh, Lu is truly a clever person."

"Mr. Luo Si, who just went in, communicated with me privately; he is very interested in your film, and MK2 wants to take down the copyright for the European region."

Luo Si is the vice president of MK2, and the authority to buy films is very large.

Boss Lu understood in his heart; this means letting himself exchange copyright for votes, right?

But this business has risks; this is not quite the same as last year in Venice.

In Venice, he gave *Whiplash* the buff of heaven, earth, and people, and did all the work in place on the surface.

But there was no under-the-table dealing at all, including with Sister Gong Li.

The night Tian Zhuangzhuang introduced him to Sister Gong Li, he didn't even say a word of "please take care of me."

But these French white-skinned pigs are openly manipulating the voting like this; what if a scandal breaks out...

Boss Lu used a delaying tactic: "Very happy that my film has received your recognition. How about this, Mr. Lu Kasi, I will visit you in two days, and we will talk in detail."

Whether to sell, how to sell, are all problems to consider.

He, Boss Lu, must go through a few days of publicity, operation, intensive interviews, and create more momentum for himself.

This way, even if he sells, he can sell for a good price, right?

In addition, he also has to inquire from many aspects whether this matter is reliable, don't be sold and still count money for others.

Seeing him cautious, Lu Kasi also smiled and entered the venue, sitting down and whispering with Luo Si.

"Lu! Meet again!"

Boss Lu turned his head; it was Quentin and Harvey arriving together.

Cannes has the largest trading market among the three major European film festivals; the Jewish An Lushan will definitely not miss the opportunity to fish.

As for Quentin, he brought his *Kill Bill* to participate in the competition; it was that cool film "pointed out" by Boss Lu.

Don't hit the smiling person with your hand, but Harvey's face is a bit unkind today.

"Lu, I was pitted miserably by you; your *Whiplash* almost made me lose money!"

Boss Lu chuckled twice; he had already heard about this from Emil.

*Whiplash* in the original time and space won the Best Editing at Sundance and the Oscars, and the box office in North America was only 14 million, and that was in 2014.

On the contrary, the box office performance in East Asia and Europe was quite good, especially in Japan and South Korea.

There are of course deep reasons for this.

*Whiplash* talks about fascist education, it's a strict teacher producing excellent students.

Such a concept is more easily accepted in East Asia, which is influenced by the Confucian concept of respecting teachers and valuing education, and the audience also feels the same.

Especially in Japan and South Korea, where the hierarchy is strict, students are respectful when they see teachers.

Soon the screening hall was overcrowded; Boss Lu led the creative team to the stage to pay tribute, accept interviews, and then the screening began.

After the dragon mark, Feng Yuanzheng led Zhang Yishan into the supermarket; the "father and son" looked at each other and started action according to the convention.

First a blurred background, and then gradually focused, locked on the father and son Zhang Yishan.

A plain opening.

Then the music started, a long lens followed, locking the audience's perspective on the two.

Boss Lu used a foreground interlaced moving step changing scene technique here; the short picture contains a large number of narrative elements.

The audience in Cannes looked a bit disappointed; this seems to be a gap from the film quality of *Whiplash* they expected.

But the directors who know the business, Jiang Wen, Lou Ye, and Quentin, have already nodded secretly.

The panoramic lens is capable and efficient, shallow focus and depth of field are used alternately, but there is no meaning of showing off skills.

Instead, it makes people feel a rich implication of lingering sound.

If Boss Lu was "cheating" in *Whiplash* by using a large number of eye-catching hits, dirty words, skull light, and close-ups to market the atmosphere.

Then in this *Shoplifters*, this narrative technique, which is as long and meaningful as clear water cabbage, is more sophisticated.

This is a manifestation of the richness of the techniques mastered by a director.

Although the script is copied, the use of lenses and lighting, and the control of narrative rhythm are his own things.

The insiders watched the techniques with relish, but the ordinary audience only saw a clue of the plot reversal until the plot point.

And the director's ambition.

Familiar rhythm, just like the first reversal in *Whiplash*:

The disappearance of the girl Xiaotong made the news, and the whole family panicked and discussed countermeasures.

Zhou Xun decided to let her continue to stay in this home; for disguise, she cut off her long hair and burned her old clothes.

At this time, a close-up full of emotion was given to Zhou Xun, and the focus was on her and Xiaotong's tight hug.

Zhou Xun rubbed the scars on Xiaotong's body; that was the persecution from the original family.

"They said they hit you because you did something wrong or loved you; that's a lie."

"If they loved you, they would hug you tightly like me."

Zhou Xun in the close-up shot performed wildly; with Xiaotong's outstretched finger, a drop of tears just fell, captured by the focused lens.

The big screen has extremely high requirements for the actor's facial expression control; this shot was also NG more than a dozen times.

Faint crying sounds have already come from the scene.

Family and love are common languages of all mankind, regardless of race, regardless of skin color.

Everyone followed the director's narrative into the character's emotions, tasting the bitterness of despair in hope.

The whole family was taken to the police station for interrogation, and the big climax of the film also arrived.

The sobbing sound was louder; female movie fans leaned on the male movie fans' shoulders, and parents hugged the children who came together.

Those who didn't cry were still that group of directors and people in the photography and lighting industry.

They are paying attention to the perfect synergy of the fixed long lens and scene scheduling in the seaside scene;

Paying attention to the picture-in-picture and narrative blank techniques that have appeared many times;

Paying attention to the warm color tone in the room and the high-contrast picture of the harsh and cold outdoors.

This is to highlight the warmth of the "Shoplifters family" and the coldness of the world.

The 116-minute film ended, the subtitles finished, and applause sounded!

This is a kind of noisy agitation different from *Whiplash*, it is the moistening of things silently unique to *Shoplifters*.

The same emotional resonance, one is echoing in the ear like a yellow bell and a big drum, the other is quietly infiltrating the heart like a small bridge and flowing water.

What else is there that this director can't do?

It's too surprising, this is a sense of division where films and techniques of different styles appear on one person at the same time.

Every director has his own temperament, but looking at the two works Boss Lu has released so far.

Whether it's ordinary audiences or insiders, it seems that they can't label him broadly.

Pure commercial is not, niche art is even more not.

If you have to give two words to describe it, you can only say it's good-looking.

The applause lasted for almost ten minutes before the audience under the stage dispersed one after another.

Box office expectations aside, it can be foreseen that this is another work with exploding word-of-mouth.

The mass base for winning awards is there, just see how the professional film critics and reporters give the field journal score.

Jiang Wen held his hand heavily: "I was originally sad about losing the bet, but now I'm already looking forward to it; I hope to reach cooperation soon!"

"Thank you, Director Jiang."

Quentin was still in a dancing manner: "Lu! You always give me surprises; although this film doesn't suit my taste, I appreciate your way of cooking!"

Harvey also puffed up his fat face: "Lu, let's talk about the North American distribution rights when we have time!"

Boss Lu laughed: "Aren't you afraid I'll pit you again?"

The Jewish An Lushan looked helpless and looked at Quentin beside him again.

"No way, I always have extra patience for geniuses; unfortunately, you are both!"

Only Luo Si of MK2 and Lu Kasi greeted each other twice and went out, otherwise they would be squeezed by movie fans and couldn't walk in a while.

The two sides agreed to talk in detail about the copyright problem in the European region in a few days.

Fan Bingbing helped send off the guests who came to support, and Zhang Ziyi specially walked over to hold Fan Bingbing's hand.

"Bingbing, your performance is great; I hope you can gain something!"

In this main competition section, there are only two seedlings, *Purple Butterfly* and *Shoplifters*, in the mainland.

This is hypocritical if you say it's hypocritical, and sincere if you say it's sincere.

Fan Bingbing smiled and hugged her; both female stars had their own thoughts.

It's fake to say how much Zhang Ziyi envies Fan Bingbing; she has heard rumors about Fan Bingbing and Boss Lu, but there are a bit too many female stars rumored with Boss Lu.

She didn't feel that the newcomer in the film circle in front of her had anything special.

But it's not wrong to say hello and make friends.

Fan Bingbing remembered the day she just arrived in Cannes, Zhang Ziyi and her brother Zhang Zinan were high-minded.

Boss Lu is right, an actress's work is 1, and everything else is 0 behind it.

The future big star cheered herself up secretly in her heart.

I, Fan Bingbing, will definitely be popular all over the sky in a while!

(End of chapter)