Chapter 229: Top-tier Feedback from Professional Filmmakers

This was one of the acting techniques Liu Yifei had learned in practice, and at this moment in the Lumière Theatre, it was perfectly presented in front of filmmakers from all over the world.

"Strange? You have to know, here!"

"Is a foreign land."

Liu Yifei replied to Leonardo, who was questioning her, word by word, the lens pointed at her face.

A flawless, beautiful face, paired with eyes and makeup filled with mystery and sci-fi, directly broke the fourth wall in the film and met the eyes of the audience!

All the knowledgeable filmmakers at the scene who saw this "Kubrick Stare" couldn't help but applaud!

First, it was a tribute to the master Kubrick, and second, this actress had shaped this shot well, which was considered above standard.

Liu Yifei looked at the applause that lasted for a short while in surprise, and a joy from the bottom of her heart was about to burst through her eye sockets!

She recalled her tireless efforts over the past two years, recalled every scene on the set where she was scolded by Lu Kuan, and recalled her legs that couldn't be lifted after every wire-fu scene!

Do good deeds, don't ask about the future; she had finally been rewarded.

This was far more gratifying and fulfilling than how high an endorsement fee she had received, or how high her popularity and the number of fans she had on the internet.

Liu Yifei's calmness and warning obviously couldn't convince Leonardo; he didn't see the computer screen Liu Yifei had just operated, but the audience saw it.

July 4, 917402?

What does this mean?

A suspense was set here, guiding the audience to continue decoding.

Liu Yifei was still burying her head in operating the system, and Travolta was a bit panicked in the face of this unknown fear, shouting and wanting her to explain.

The system repair was at a critical moment and could not be lost; the Chinese girl was decisive, turning around and giving a hard kick.

Leonardo shouted to stop the dispute: "Calm down! We must be united!"

Liu Yifei didn't answer, finished her work on her own, turned to Travolta and said: "I am copying the data records before the system paralysis so that I can take them back to the base for technical analysis."

"Now I am going to check the area behind the machine room with Leonardo; after the copy is completed, you take the disk and meet us."

The latter was still shocked by her extraordinary combat power and could only nod woodenly.

The protagonist group temporarily became a two-person squad, and the two walked forward with their own thoughts, when Liu Yifei suddenly stopped.

"Did you feel it?"

Leonardo followed her gaze and saw a harvester robot that looked no different in appearance but was much larger in size.

That was the "agricultural machinery" that had attacked the three earlier.

The audience in front of the screen was surprised to find that the robots they had passed along the way were getting bigger and bigger!

Like...

Like continuous iterative biological evolution!

The film lens switched back and forth between several generations of robots: the 294 type over 6 meters tall, the 4107 type over 20 meters tall, and the 27999 type over 60 meters tall, whose top of the head couldn't even be seen.

Liu Yifei's faint voice sounded again: "If these are agricultural robots manufactured by Ximai to hunt livestock, then how big should the livestock be?"

This sentence made Leonardo break out in a cold sweat, staring at Liu Yifei in horror, and Travolta's call came from behind.

"The data is copied, let's retreat quickly!"

He really didn't want to stay for another moment.

The three ran wildly along the way, crossing the jungle, and strange noises came from where they passed.

The special forces squad fired their guns, but except for leaving a few large holes in the towering corn stalks, there was no effect.

Several people finally reached the entrance, and Leonardo suggested contacting other squads.

While waiting for a reply, Leonardo pulled Liu Yifei to a quiet place, holding her shoulders and looking directly at the Chinese girl.

"Tell me, what secret do you know?"

Although Liu Yifei was ice-snow smart and extraordinary in skill, it was the first time she had such intimate contact with a man, and her pretty face couldn't help but turn slightly red.

This was a foreshadowing of a romance between the male and female leads, not a core clue of the whole film.

But it couldn't be missing, otherwise the plot of the two entering the farm together at the end of the film would seem abrupt.

Because they were about to go out, Liu Yifei felt that perhaps she needed these two teammates to help her complete the mission.

She broke free from the restraint slightly with embarrassment and began to reveal the true background of Ximai Farm to the two, and also to the audience.

"32 years ago, my father, Lan Jiangshui, discovered the principle of scale conservation. According to this principle, as long as the principle of conservation is not violated, people can arbitrarily change the speed of time in a designated area."

"For example, people can make the time progress of a certain interval containing a certain amount of matter become twice the original, and at the same time, slow down the time progress of another interval containing the same amount of matter to one-half of the original."

Leonardo and Travolta were stunned; could this be the truth that Ximai Farm could output a batch of crops to the outside world every ten minutes?

The audience was also stunned by such a brain hole; the theoretical exploration of time scale has always been the focus of scientific and amateur scientific research.

In the classic *Interstellar* of later generations, the protagonist in his 40s stayed in the strong gravitational field of a black hole for less than a month, and when he returned, he was still in his 40s.

And his daughter was already old.

Such exploration and expansion of time issues are very common and popular plot clues in sci-fi films.

Especially today in 2004, such a principle, which is called "time scale conservation," has won everyone's attention—what a stunning idea!

Leonardo asked: "Dr. Lan is truly a great scientist; where did this idea originate?"

Here is a piece of private goods smuggled in by Boss Lu:

Liu Yifei replied: "We have a mathematician in ancient China named Zu Chongzhi, who is also the earliest scientist in the world to propose Pi."

"In his book *Shuyiji*, he tells a magical experience of an ancient person named Wang Zhi..."

Every Chinese primary school student has heard this story.

It is that Wang Zhi went up the mountain to cut firewood, watched people play chess, and when he went home, he found that the handle of the axe had rotted away.

The place where he lived was also very different from the original, and his relatives had almost all passed away.

It's just that at this time, where did Westerners think that China had such simple relativity thinking so early, and they whispered to each other.

Some suspected that it was a Chinese film director making it up to add glory to his nation;

Others knew the profound heritage of the ancient Chinese land and believed that this was true history.

Han Lu looked at the discussions emerging at the scene and excitedly wrote a press release:

*Foreign Land* constructs a world view similar to general relativity, the principle germinated from our country's Southern Dynasties Zu Chongzhi, and foreigners at the premiere scene are discussing it.

Truth is not clear without debate; she didn't expect all these Westerners to agree and like Chinese culture, but at least she had to express it bravely.

When Rondo of Buena Vista tore up the pre-sale agreement, he was still mocking Lu Kuan for cutting off the braid on his head, and many Disney-affiliated media mocked him as a Qing Dynasty man.

There was also a large group of the Sixth Generation who had been exhibiting abroad for a long time, reflecting the backwardness of the country.

At this time, Western society still had deep prejudices against us.

This kind of cultural output is a long-term and systematic process, and the Oriental elements in *Foreign Land* are just a beginning.

After the "private goods" were output, Liu Yifei continued to explain.

"The farm is an accelerated time zone; we have passed 5 hours here, but when we cross the exit and return to the human world later, you will find that everyone is still standing in place."

"In their view, we just went in for a moment and came out; even if we lived here for decades or died of old age, it would only have been a day for the outside world."

Liu Yifei sighed heavily, and then talked about the truth she had hidden from the two in the machine room just now.

"The number I was surprised at in the machine room was 917402; the farm was built by humans more than twenty years ago, but it has been spring sowing and autumn harvesting in the farm for more than 900,000 years!"

The audience at the scene was in an uproar! All questions had explanations:

Those gradually larger robot harvesters, those towering crops, and those unknown monsters.

Although the lens hadn't shown their ferocity, they were obviously a bunch of behemoths.

Leonardo wondered: "I have a question; since it was your father who discovered this principle, why was the farm created by Dr. Ximai?"

"And he also became the number two figure of the Earth Federation because of this contribution."

Liu Yifei looked at him with burning eyes: "Actually, it's very simple; we humans also evolved from lower organisms after tens of millions of years."

"If we temporarily leave those organisms lower than humans in the farm and ignore them, then after a period of time..."

She didn't continue, and Leonardo and Travolta also closed their eyes in despair.

They could almost imagine what kind of monster had just attacked the fifth squad.

Monsters evolved in the farm!

"In other words? Ximai stole your father's scientific achievements for his own profit?"

Liu Yifei smiled bitterly: "Actually, my father said Ximai is also a genius who has never appeared."

"Just like the distance from Einstein's mass-energy equation to a nuclear fusion power plant, from my father's theory to the practice of Ximai Farm is also extremely difficult."

"But it was completed by Ximai, this genius; I don't know if this is human luck or misfortune..."

During the dialogue between Liu Yifei and the others, the special effects screen was also doing its best to explain and interpret this principle to the audience.

Day and night alternated rapidly so that the sky looked gray, and the artificial sun drew continuous bright lines in the sky;

Natural landscapes such as wind, rain, thunder, lightning, clouds, and fog appeared frequently like a revolving lantern, never ending;

Plants grew wildly and withered like a slow-recorded and fast-played film, so they looked more like animals, while those real animals came and went like fleas;

All organisms were growing, reproducing, and genetically mutating at a speed thousands of times that of humans.

Death chased life at an unimaginable speed while being chased by new life.

The Creator was tirelessly verifying the maximum possibility of life in this accelerated laboratory.

The theme and core intention of the sci-fi film were sublimated here: to what extent should human transformation of the environment be maintained?

How to determine the ethical boundaries of science?

The audience couldn't help but fall into thought: if I were Ximai, would I build such a farm?

"Ah!"

The audience suddenly screamed!

Everyone looked at the screen without knowing why; a large shadow appeared where the three were standing...

The monster of the foreign land is here!

Leonardo was quick-eyed and quick-handed, only having time to hug Liu Yifei and roll to one side, and Travolta was not so lucky.

The two stood up, looked through the scattered smoke and dust, and saw their teammate Travolta had lost his legs, his eyes wide open, muttering to himself.

"What did you say? Hold on, we'll take you out now!"

Leonardo leaned in to listen to his last words.

"Monster... monster..."

Special forces squad member Travolta died in the line of duty, tightly clutching his family photo in his hand.

This plot point is called "all is lost" in Hollywood screenwriting rules, and the film's suppression of the protagonist group officially begins.

Emotions begin to pull; the longer they pull, the more emotional explosion they can give the audience at the end.

The remaining two left the farm in a daze and began to accept days of questioning and report submission.

Leonardo kept his promise to Liu Yifei and didn't tell the truth he knew.

Liu Yifei returned home and recounted the incident to her father, Liang Jiahui, who closed his eyes in despair.

He knew that another evil fruit of humanity had been born.

The time scale in the farm cannot be reversed; it can only be accelerated, not slowed down.

And Ximai will not slow down; this is his political achievement, he wants to be the boss of the Earth Federation, he wants to walk to the highest point step by step!

Liang Jiahui was very painful, and he explained everything to Liu Yifei and Leonardo who came to visit.

Before this, there was a romance foreshadowing of Leonardo's secret love for Liu Yifei, which, like before, was also for the ending.

Liang Jiahui made a decision; he was going to find this student of his in person.

At the same time, he arranged for his daughter and Leonardo to enter the farm again, because the tampering of the computer had confirmed that the monster had evolved higher intelligence.

They were going to bring the most advanced program plug-ins from the outside world to lock the computer for a period of time so that it wouldn't be tampered with by the monster, striving for time for the human world.

After the "all is lost" plot point, it is called the "dark night of the soul."

Liu Yifei and Leonardo entered the foreign land for the second time; they risked their lives to repair the operating system.

All harvester robots were instantly used by them, and they started a dangerous fight with the monsters.

Here was the second private item brought in by Boss Lu:

Every monster that appeared was a famous monster in *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, and the crew thoughtfully placed a color picture book on every seat.

On it were the habits, names, and sources of the corresponding monsters.

The audience was shocked again by the mysterious Oriental Chinese culture!

How imaginative must one be to think of these monsters with different shapes thousands of years ago?

Look at the Westerners' own monsters, Godzilla, Jaws, the dinosaurs in *Jurassic Park*, prehistoric giant crocodiles, *Anaconda*...

Look at the monsters of others:

The fire-avoiding strange beast, the one-horned horse;

The man-eating beast that looks like a bird but not a bird, like a leopard but not a leopard, the Gu Diao;

The Li Li, which looks like a pig but has claws on its limbs and has serrations...

He had just heard that it was Guo Pei's work, but this idea came from the young director in front of him.

"Actually, it's nothing big, just a flash of inspiration, how is it worth you making such a fuss?"

Alexander Wang said seriously: "No, absolutely not."

"I just dropped out of Parsons last year and went to *Vogue* for an internship. I have seen many designs that attempt to fuse Chinese and Western culture."

"Unfortunately, they only have ambition, no finished products. I haven't seen a plan of the same level as the one you call Guofeng Zhu Yun."

Boss Lu was a bit dumbfounded; he had just finished chatting with the film fanatic Park Chan-wook yesterday, and today he met the clothing fanatic Alexander Wang.

He had no choice but to sell the bamboo-themed design concept he had used to fool Guo Pei again.

"Too brilliant! Lu Kuan, you are truly a genius!"

Liu Yifei looked at Alexander Wang, who seemed to be about to bow down, speechlessly, thinking that another one had been fooled.

She thought of Zhao Benshan's *Selling Crutches*.

A young man, what a pity, he is about to walk with crutches, 20% progress.

Lu Kuan coughed twice: "Da Ren, can you show me your works too?"

Alexander Wang couldn't ask for more, and immediately took out his work manuscript from his bag and respectfully handed it to the young director.

Boss Lu feigned to stroke his chin from time to time, nodded from time to time, and sighed without speaking from time to time.

He watched Alexander Wang opposite him, who was stunned; he was very eager to get recognition from the director who could film *Foreign Land* and propose the bamboo-themed design idea.

Although he wasn't engaged in clothing design, aesthetics are all connected.

Even Alexander Wang himself could capture some aesthetic concepts in yesterday's film, which was not strange.

He looked at Lu Kuan's serious expression and unconsciously used honorifics again: "Director Lu, what do you think?"

Boss Lu thought to himself, don't rush, I'm still organizing my language.

He hadn't studied much in fashion in his past life; how could he fool this Chinese-American boy into taking the bait?

"Lines and proportions, not bad."

"Especially the Chesterfield coat style you used in this piece, the slim tailoring and the short flat lapel design are very stunning!"

It was a bit bumpy at first, but Boss Lu became more and more proficient in fooling.

"Da Ren, although your design looks simple and easy to understand, it still has a lot of connotation if you study it carefully."

"The horizontal lines, vertical lines, and even the pleats and embroidery of each draft, the curvature, are all very beautiful, not only fitting the flow of the human body but also giving the viewer a very strong visual impact!"

Alexander Wang's hand holding the water cup was trembling with excitement; he dropped out of school and went to *Vogue* for an internship, which was also a great pressure.

If he didn't do well, he might not even be able to go back; perhaps he could only go home to inherit the estate and be a drunken rich second generation.

This was not what he wanted.

Liu Yifei observed his expression silently.

Hmm, the progress bar is almost 50%.

Boss Lu suddenly turned the conversation: "Da Ren, how about you design movie costumes for me?"

Alexander Wang was stunned.

It is very normal for directors to find fashion brands or independent designers to design movie props and costumes.

Giorgio Armani designed costumes for films such as *Gattaca* and *The Untouchables*.

It's just that he was still an intern, so he was going to come out and start his own business?

"Director Lu, you think so highly of me?"

"Of course!"

"There is a proverb in China that says fists fear the young and strong; the design industry is the same. Artists are the profession that least needs to consider age differences."

"Different aesthetic experiences and perceptions of different ages can give birth to works of different styles."

Boss Lu started to step on others: "You should have seen the haute couture of last year's Paris Fashion Week; what is Karl Lagerfeld? Chanel is also too old-fashioned."

"As these people grow older, they are conservative, and their works have gradually lost their spirit."

"So I am more willing to cooperate with young designers, especially after seeing your works just now, simple with a touch of decadence; this kind of idea similar to futurism is very compatible with the style of sci-fi films!"

Everyone longs for recognition, especially from authority.

Boss Lu, who won the Golden Lion and the Cannes Jury Prize, and could make all filmmakers stand up and applaud for 15 minutes yesterday, was obviously among the authorities.

Alexander Wang said gratefully: "Director Lu, thank you very much for your recognition; your praise is the direction of my future efforts."

Liu Yifei observed his expression, 70%.

"It's just... I was invited by Anna to *Vogue* for an internship, and she also has high hopes for me. If I..."

Anna?

The prototype of *The Devil Wears Prada*?

Boss Lu thought of a plan: "Da Ren, you misunderstood!"

"My company's movies and TV shows add up to only four or five a year; such a workload is a waste for a designer of your level!"

"I think you can completely grow in *Vogue* first and absorb their aesthetic nutrients."

"When you feel that you can stand on your own, I can invest in your studio; what do you think?"

I didn't expect this kid to have such good connections; an intern personally recruited by Anna, it would be better to use it as his own medium to see if he could get on the line with *Vogue*.

If he remembered correctly, the Chinese version of *Vogue* would be launched next year.

This magazine is known as the fashion bible, launched in 1892, and is an authority in the fashion world.

If he could exert influence on *Vogue*, it would be more convenient to promote people in the future.

This belongs to mastering the discourse power of the fashion world.

Just like little Liu, a village girl who dresses randomly in life, she can be packaged into a fashion queen in minutes!

Liu Yifei looked at him strangely; how come the progress bar is almost finished and you paused.

There can only be one explanation for Lu Kuan's character; he found another branch plot of the map.

For such a proposal from Boss Lu, Alexander Wang was naturally willing in every way.

"Da Ren, I will have someone send you a few character biographies and historical backgrounds later; you help me design a few costumes for the next film first."

"When I go to New York next time, I will visit you at *Vogue*!"

"No problem, Director Lu!"

——

Every film festival is a pleasant film journey for directors like Lu Kuan.

He can travel through major screening halls without any scruples, enjoying the good films he is interested in like an ordinary audience.

The most critical thing is to communicate and exchange with the directors on the scene after watching the film from the perspective of learning and thinking.

This is very important for absorbing and absorbing the strengths of directors of different countries and styles.

Boss Lu took Liu Yifei to support the screenings of domestic films such as *2046*, *Breaking News*, and *House of Flying Daggers*.

Among them, although *House of Flying Daggers* did not completely eliminate the knot of plot emptiness, it was very friendly to Western audiences.

The screening effect of the second session was especially good, and the audience stood up and applauded many times.

The film's visual impact, music design, and sound effects were all officially praised by magazines such as *Variety* and the venue brochure.

Johnnie To's *Breaking News* also made foreign media exclaim that this is the best genre film in Hong Kong.

Leonardo also invited Lu Kuan to attend the premiere of Brad Pitt's *Troy* and introduced the two to each other.

Pitt brought his wife Jennifer Aniston, that is, Rachel in *Friends*, to the meeting this time.

Because *Troy* is a blockbuster about the Trojan War, and Aniston has Greek ancestry and background.

It can only be said that the commercial hype of Hollywood stars is everywhere.

Liu Yifei was very happy to see Aniston, having a joy of successful star-chasing, and uploaded the group photo of the two to her homepage.

And *Friends* will also officially end in May 2004, becoming a beautiful memory for a generation at home and abroad.

There is also Park Chan-wook's *Oldboy*, which can be called a god-level film of a generation; Lu Kuan and Quentin, who also attended, discussed from the beginning to the end in the audience.

All agreed that this is the best film in Korea now.

On May 23, 2004, the Cannes Film Festival entered the final climax, the award ceremony.

It stands to reason that Boss Lu doesn't have to stay in Cannes until now; *Foreign Land* participated in the non-competition section.

After the premiere and interview, his promotional purpose for bringing the film to this Cannes had already been achieved.

The reason why he was invited to attend the final award ceremony was because he wanted to watch the lottery he bought for 9.5 million US dollars last year!

*Fahrenheit 9/11*!

Of course, he also wanted to see if Zhang Manyu could be crowned Best Actress.

After the premiere, she had already verbally agreed to star in *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, so this was also a support for his future female lead.

By the way, Quentin also invited him to be an award presenter to present the Jury Prize.

The Asian film elements of this Cannes are especially rich.

In addition to the previously introduced Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimou, and others, the film *Travel* by director Yang Chao and actor Geng Le was nominated for the Golden Camera.

Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's *Tropical Malady* won the Jury Special Prize.

There is also a 14-year-old Japanese kid, Yuya Yagira, who actually won the Best Actor, which simply made Tony Leung vomit blood; this time he came to Cannes with great hope.

Wong Kar-wai's *2046* was distributed by mk2, and they were very optimistic that this film could shine like *In the Mood for Love* back then.

Followed by the honor of Best Actress.

Liu Yifei and Lu Kuan sat under the stage.

"Do you think Sister Manyu will win?"

"Yes."

Liu Yifei was curious: "Did you calculate it? Or did Quentin tell you?"

She suddenly realized: "Oh! I know, did Quentin tell you she would win Best Actress, so you asked her to be the female lead."

"This way your new film will have a Best Actress joining, and the box office will also have some guarantee?"

Boss Lu smiled: "You guessed the ending, but didn't guess the beginning."

"The films in this Cannes are almost all male-lead films, and there are very few outstanding female roles."

"Zhang Manyu's only two competitors are Zhang Ziyi and Charlize Theron; I don't think Zhang Ziyi is very good, and as for Charlize Theron, she acted in a biographical film, and the room for play is limited."

Liu Yifei nodded: "Emily in *Clean* is indeed very outstanding."

She went to see Zhang Manyu's *Clean* with Lu Kuan, and it was also on the scene that the latter agreed to star in Lu Kuan's new film as the female lead.

"The gentleness and implicitness of the Oriental beauty in *Clean* has always been her strength; in other words, this role is Zhang Manyu's comfort zone."

"It means the same as the roles of Zhao Linger, Wang Yuyan, and Little Dragon Maiden you played, all of which are roles that fit the character's own personality."

Lu Kuan seemed to suddenly remember something: "By the way, how did Zhang Jizhong arrange your filming schedule for *The Return of the Condor Heroes*?"

There is a follow-up filming task for *Zhu Xian* from July to October, but the Lu Xueqi she plays will only appear in a few episodes in September.

However, the previous time couldn't be emptied out, because she had to run global roadshows with *Foreign Land*, which was not the progress of one city a day in the country.

"Siwei has communicated with him; the crew starts filming in late September, and I can join the crew in October."

It was mainly because everyone was too curious about how the mysterious Eastern elements and top-tier special effects scenes in the film were born from the hands of a young Chinese director.

During this period in 2004, Westerners still had many prejudices against the country.

In their eyes, China seemed to be a vast and desolate large village, and the common people were ignorant and of low quality.

But what did they see today?

It was a masterpiece of a genius director and a wonderful performance by a Chinese actress who was beautiful and intelligent.

And the Chinatown in the film, the developed street scene filmed in Shanghai, is that really China?

Zhang Yimou has the most say in this point; he took *Keep Cool* to Venice back then.

During the interview segment, the most asked question by foreign reporters was why your prison is so advanced; was it filmed in Japan or South Korea?

The direct reason for most foreigners' prejudice is a lack of understanding, and many people's most direct channel of understanding is domestic films.

This is filmed by your own people, so it should be true, right?

And over the years, most of the art films that have been able to go abroad are from the Sixth Generation.

Most of them reflect the poor and backward social outlook and the extremely low weaknesses of human nature; can you blame foreigners for looking at the leopard and seeing only a spot, and their prejudices deepening?

Therefore, in this *Foreign Land*, without destroying the overall plot, Lu Kuan brought in some private goods.

In the subsequent film promotion and promotion, these Chinese elements will also be promoted as one of the selling points.

The reporter from France's most authoritative film media *Le Figaro* took the microphone.

"Director Lu Kuan, first of all, I want to congratulate your film on behalf of *Le Figaro* for being loved by so many people, but there are also many Chinese elements in the film. May I ask if those are real or your artistic fabrication?"

Lu Kuan guessed that foreign reporters would ask these questions, which was actually conducive to his promotion of Chinese culture.

"Of course it's real."

"The monsters in the film come from the ancient Chinese book *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, which was written during our country's Warring States period; at that time, your European Rome hadn't even been founded."

"As for Zu Chongzhi and *Shuyiji*, who recorded the earliest relativity story, they are figures recorded in official history, and the Pi he proposed was more than 1,000 years earlier than the West!"

Reporters in the interview hall let out a gasp.

Before Rome was founded? They didn't even know which period of history that was.

This 1,000-year figure was even more shocking; the United States had only been founded for more than 200 years in total.

A reporter from the *Los Angeles Times* asked: "Director Lu Kuan, I have been to your crew in Vancouver to interview you before. You are a director who is proficient in Hollywood screenwriting rules and filming concepts. Why don't you consider developing in Hollywood?"

Boss Lu smiled: "Thank you for your recognition. Film is the seventh art of humanity, and every director is an artist."

"An artist's creation must be rooted in the soil of their own nation and culture, just like the Chinese elements in the film just now; this is our most precious wealth."

He paused, and the conversation turned: "As for Hollywood, I am also looking forward to learning and improving, because this is the center of world film at present."

The American reporter seemed dissatisfied with his answer and continued to ask: "You also said that Hollywood is the center of world film now, so don't you feel it's a waste of your talent to develop in the backward domestic market?"

Liu Yifei was a bit unhappy listening to the arrogant tone of the American devil, but she knew Lu Kuan would slap his face.

"The world is developing, just like our China, which once occupied a dominant position in the world for thousands of years, but now it is a chaser."

"Similarly, the domestic film market is also developing rapidly, especially after Director Zhang Yimou's *Hero* in 2002, the potential of the film market has been valued and liberated."

"According to the current development speed and the increase in the number of screens in the country, in at most 15 years, China will definitely surpass North America and become the world's largest box office market!"

As soon as this was said, not only the American reporter who showed disdain, but even Leonardo and the others in the crew shook their heads with a bitter smile.

They admired Lu Kuan's talent, but they couldn't agree with such an exaggerated prediction.

Perhaps only the silly Liu Yifei at the scene had always believed in him without doubt.

If Lu Kuan's popularization of Chinese culture was barely recognized by the reporters at the scene, then such "big talk" was obviously a bit inappropriate.

What a joke?

The current volume of China's film market has just exceeded 100 million US dollars; how much is the United States?

Nearly 10 billion!

This is simply a bigger gap than when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China!

Boss Lu didn't care: "Xu Ke some people think I'm bragging, but this is a simple wish of mine."

"And precisely because of this, I have called on directors in the country to make commercial films and genre films together, and learn the strengths of the Hollywood system, just like this *Foreign Land* I filmed myself."

"Without such sci-fi films to guide the development and progress of the film industry, relying solely on art films cannot resist the dumping of Hollywood films."

After accepting the cumbersome interviews, Boss Lu didn't forget the appointment with Park Chan-wook, and the two met at the Carlton restaurant.

"Congratulations again, Director Lu Kuan."

"By the way, this is a Korean actor, my male lead Choi Min-sik, who also watched your film today and came specifically to pay a visit."

Park Chan-wook led the two to greet and chat, and then sat down to dine together.

"Director Lu Kuan, today I not only watched your film but also listened to your interview."

"I strongly agree with your point of view that artists should be rooted in their own national culture, as well as the point of view of learning the Hollywood industrial system!"

"You are truly my confidant!"

Boss Lu smiled and was polite; this old Park spoke quite nicely!

Just like what the detective Song Kang-ho said in Bong Joon-ho's *Memories of Murder* in 2003.

"The United States is so big, so they use their brains to solve cases; our Korea is only this big, so we can use our feet."

This line is a joke, to highlight the character's personality.

But to a certain extent, it also reflects the narrowness of the Korean region and the distress it brings to filmmakers' creation.

Korea's territory is only a pitiful 100,000 square kilometers, but it is crowded with 50 million people in this small place.

Coupled with the distorted political and economic structure in the country, film directors like Park Chan-wook are very eager to break out of the shackles of the narrow territory and gain recognition from the European and American mainstream.

Therefore, Boss Lu was not surprised at all by Park Chan-wook's evaluation and point of view of him.

This is the most radical representative of the Korean film industry, significantly blending the three major film languages and creative themes of Hollywood, French, and Spanish, and at the same time, he has gone the earliest and furthest in international production.

"Director Park is too polite; we are all East Asian filmmakers, and we are all influenced by Confucian culture, so we should have a common language."

There must be a common language; can a grandfather and a grandson not have a common language!

"Yes! I also like Greater Chinese culture very much, but it is a pity that as a foreigner, I know very little about it!"

This is not his bragging; in 2022, Park Chan-wook filmed *Decision to Leave* starring Tang Wei, which featured *Classic of Mountains and Seas*.

Among them, Hae-jun tells the story of the hand-drawn *Classic of Mountains and Seas* to Hae-dong's grandmother, and *Classic of Mountains and Seas* appears again, and Hae-jun cracks the truth of the Ki Do-soo murder case on this occasion.

In other words, this is the symbolic carrier of his Oriental philosophical thoughts.

It's just that the Koreans themselves are relatively lacking in these cultural treasures, so they only take ours to show off.

Show off if you want, just don't say it's your own.

"Director Park, I might go to Korea to promote *Foreign Land* in the next two months. At that time, please introduce me to a few excellent directors in your country, and let's discuss and learn from each other, okay?"

Park Chan-wook was so happy that his mouth couldn't close: "Good, good, good! I can't ask for more, I can't ask for more, Bong Joon-ho and the others will definitely be very happy!"

Learn from each other, my foot; Boss Lu mainly wanted to trick them into bringing famous actors to stand on the stage for the promotion of *Foreign Land*!

Did I, Boss Lu, get to know you for nothing?

Don't you know that I never leave empty-handed?

Park Chan-wook and Lu Kuan were chatting vigorously, and Choi Min-sik kept poking his fellow director under the table like a life-threatening urge.

The former then realized and opened his mouth.

"Director Lu, I heard that you are the boss of the largest private film company in China now. I have a request; please forgive me for any rudeness!"

Lu Kuan was stunned for a moment and glanced at Choi Min-sik on the side.

This Park Chan-wook is a film fanatic; it should be the idea of this favorite male actor of his, right?

"Please speak."

"It's like this, I have a friend whose daughter is also a film and television artist, and she wants to develop in mainland China."

"He inquired, and your company is now one of the top large companies in the country, so..."

Boss Lu was really a bit curious: "What's her daughter's name?"

"Jang Na-ra."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 230 =====