National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1273 Local Snake

"Ring ring ring..."

Before he had time to put his luggage away, the phone in Ning Weimin's room rang.

When Ning Weimin picked up the phone, he found out it was the hotel front desk calling.

What he didn't expect was that just as Ning Weimin was thinking about coming to France to meet his friends, an old friend actually came to him.

The hotel receptionist informed him that he had a visitor - Alain Delon.

After agreeing to meet the guest, there was another knock on the door.

As soon as the door was opened, Alain Delon gave Ning Weimin a big hug while speaking English.

"Hey, my dear Chinese friend! I really missed you! It's great to see you in Cannes!"

Although the age gap between the two can be described as that of father and son.

But after spending some time together in the capital, they now look more like brothers who have not seen each other for a long time.

"I'm glad to see you too." Ning Weimin responded with the same enthusiasm.

However, this meeting was too sudden, so he must have been extremely surprised, and couldn't hide his curiosity.

Not only did Alain Delon not come alone, he also brought his current girlfriend, a beautiful girl who was thirty years younger than him.

More importantly, although Ning Weimin had contacted Alain Delon and Deneuve in advance, told them about his marriage, and expressed his intention to attend the Cannes Film Festival for the film "Li Xianglan", he did not inform them of his specific itinerary.

Alain Delon actually appeared like this. It's incredible no matter how you think about it.

"This is my girlfriend, Rosalie van Blimont, she's Dutch and a model. This is my Chinese friend Ning. Oh, by the way, Ning is one of the shareholders of Pierre Cardin, so she's also in the fashion industry. Maybe you guys have a chance to work together."

After hearing Alain Delon's introduction, Ning Weimin quickly shook hands with the girl, "Hello, hello, nice to meet you."

But after a few polite words, he couldn't help but turn around and ask, "But...how did you know I arrived today? We just checked in less than an hour ago..."

Unexpectedly, Alain Delon just smiled without comment, then patted him on the shoulder like an older brother.

He did not give a direct answer to the question, but instead revealed an air of pretentiousness and undisguised pride.

"This is France, this is Cannes, it's my territory. I know exactly where the Prince and Princess of Wales will stay when they come..."

Alain Delon was talking about the fact that Prince Charles and Princess Diana of the United Kingdom are expected to attend this year's Cannes Film Festival.

The news that this special guest will be visiting tomorrow has added a special aura to this year's Cannes Film Festival and is spreading in the streets and alleys.

Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko learned this from the hotel manager as soon as they arrived in Cannes.

But Ning Weimin really couldn't say that Alain Delon was bragging.

Because this guy seems to be getting into trouble all the time in his life, but no matter how much trouble he gets into, there is always someone to clean up his mess.

It is rumored that he has major ties to local French mafia organizations, but it is not known whether this is true or not.

Anyway, the personal bodyguard who had an affair with his wife was shot in the head.

Even though this case caused a sensation throughout Europe, it ultimately came to nothing.

Even no media dared to say anything about Alain Delon's failed marriage.

All these abnormalities show the complexity of Alain Delon's background.

Therefore, Ning Weimin would rather believe it.

Especially now that he was in France, he felt a little confused when facing this local tyrant.

  Who knows whether this guy is the cold and selfish elder brother in "Black Tulip" or the warm and kind younger brother?

But even so, there are some things he cannot tolerate.

"Hey, look, who is this! What a beautiful oriental beauty! Welcome to Cannes! You must be Ning's wife, right? No wonder he is so eager to get married at such a young age..."

I saw Alain Delon's eyes looking at Keiko Matsumoto behind him again.

This guy even showed a charming smile, and habitually stretched his head to hug his wife and kiss her on the cheek.

Ning Weimin quickly stepped forward to stop him.

"No, no, we are Orientals and are not used to such etiquette. Let's just shake hands, just shake hands..."

Ning Weimin was extremely wary of this extremely handsome, playboy.

Who made this guy so bold? There is nothing he dare not do for a woman.

Let’s not even talk about the time when he abandoned his fiancée Romy Schneider for a woman who came to him on her own initiative.

It is said that this guy was not honest when he came to the capital and almost caused big trouble.

It turned out that at the reception at Maxim's restaurant, Alain Delon fell in love with a 20-year-old girl and was stunned by her beauty.

He actually dared to propose to her openly and asked her to be his wife.

It's just the first time we met, and he might be older than the girl's father. Is this something a human would do?

What’s more, the guests attending the meeting that day were not ordinary people. They were all children of cadres, and each of them came from a distinguished background.

Fortunately, the girl was also wise. She just liked the star but was not obsessed with him, so she clearly refused on the spot.

Otherwise, this matter would be very difficult for Pierre Cardin, and they might have offended some important person for no reason.

So, now that Ning Weimin has recognized the other side of Alain Delon, of course he will not let his guard down.

This does not mean that he lacks self-confidence, but rather that a man is declaring his bottom line. This is called taking precautions before problems arise.

Fortunately, Alain Delon is a broad-minded guy and is still very rough in some aspects.

And maybe it’s your own business that you know best.

After all, his girlfriend is still by his side. If he gets jealous, he will suffer the consequences. So they shook hands. Alain Delon and Keiko Matsumoto shook hands lightly before parting. They did not take the opportunity to kiss hands. They were quite restrained and gentlemanly.

Instead, the two women hugged each other intimately, then sat on the sofa in the living room and tried to communicate in English.

At this time, Alain Delon found a chair and sat down, and took out the things he brought for Ning Weimin.

"Here are some documents. For you."

Ning Weimin took the certificate from Alain Delon and saw that it said "Marché du Film Badge".

Not knowing French, he looked up at Alain Delon with a puzzled expression.

"The meaning of the market pass is that this pass has the highest authority and allows you to go anywhere in the film festival. You said you wanted to see the trade market on the basement floor of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, so I applied for it for you. You could have applied for a film practitioner pass, which is cheaper and allows you to go everywhere except the trade market. But unfortunately, you contacted me too late, so I was unable to get a booth for you."

"Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate it."

Ning Weimin suddenly realized what was going on and quickly expressed his gratitude.

"And these, a list of participating films and screenings, and a list of manufacturers in the film trade market. You may need them, too."

Alain Delon was very thoughtful and gave them some detailed information about this year's film festival.

This forced Ning Weimin to admit that Alain Delon, the big brother, was still very reliable in doing things.

To be honest, they came to Cannes on a whim.

Because the time was set too late, it is indeed difficult to obtain the qualification to attend the meeting.

Not to mention that Shochiku Film couldn't solve the problem, even Kurosawa's connections were of no use.

Even Toei, which had a film nominated, said it couldn't smuggle them in.

The original plan was to wait until we got to Cannes and then come up with a temporary solution.

In the end, it was this French local boss who solved their big problem.

I just casually said it on the phone at the beginning, but I didn't expect that it would solve the biggest problem unintentionally.

It seems that the time he spent on this big star in Beijing was not in vain.

As a friend, Alain Delon was quite nice to him, and it was not just a purely drinking and eating acquaintance.

Now, with these legal documents, I can just hang them around my neck and look around freely.

"You came to Cannes this time. Did you hold any position in the film festival? As an expert, do you have any suggestions for me?"

Ning Weimin asked about Alain Delon's arrangements again.

"Ahem, little brother, if you expect me to speak for you in the organizing committee, you will be disappointed. I am just here to have fun because I am bored. I mainly want to get together with you and show my hospitality. I don't hold any position. As for whether I will show up and walk the red carpet? It depends on my mood. Sorry, I can't help you too much if you want to sell copies. At most, I can introduce you to a few European film distributors. For the rest, you can only try your luck in the exhibition hall with business cards and posters."

However, although Alain Delon said this, he still gave a lot of valuable suggestions afterwards.

"Ah, but if you don't care about money, maybe you can buy a booth from someone else at a high price to sell your film. After all, every year in Cannes, there are many lucky people who sell copies of their films and close their booths early, so there will always be a place for you. Well, and I have a friend who is in charge of the screening work at the Cannes Film Festival Palace this year. I remember she once told me that many people don't know that there are gaps in the screening time of non-competitive films. If you are lucky, there may be some spare time to arrange your film screening, which is also beneficial to the sales of the film. It can be regarded as paying for a chance to meet the public. You know, showing a movie here will always attract some film buyers who come to the trading market. Of course, you still have to pay extra. And because it is a temporary screening, it can't be uploaded, and the attention it receives is relatively limited. I'm afraid you need to consider these yourself...

"Oh……"

Ning Weimin thought, this is what is called relying on friends when going out, he never thought there was such a method.

Thanks to Alain Delon, an expert in the French film industry, otherwise he would not be able to understand the inside story even if he participated in the two sessions himself.

So he immediately asked Alain Delon about the details and related prices.

It's a pity that Alain Delon only knows a general idea about these things and can't really tell the detailed trading situation.

After all, he is a big star and he would not do something like reselling film festival resources. He would have to ask others for the specific market conditions.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine, Ning."

Alain Delon saw how much Ning Weimin valued this matter, so he comforted him, "If you are really interested, I will help you contact these people tomorrow. Relax, little brother. I dare not say about other places, but in France, even in Europe, my face in the film industry is still useful. Besides, Catherine will also come tomorrow. She is more familiar with the organizing committee than I am. You know how powerful that woman is. There is probably no man in the world who can refuse her request. She also knows that you are coming and will definitely be happy to help. So please relax and enjoy the present."

When talking about Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon couldn't help but smile and wink.

This was a tacit understanding between men, so Ning Weimin had no choice but to laugh along.

"What are you going to do next? Do you want to go to Martinez Beach together? The sunshine and scenery there are quite nice. You must go and see it."

Alain Delon then extended another invitation, and also included different project options, "I have a boat here. If you like, we can go out to sea for a ride, drink beer, fish or something..."

However, Ning Weimin felt a little tired and just wanted to walk around and get familiar with the environment of the small town of Cannes.

She rejected Alain Delon's kindness on the grounds of jet lag.

"No, thank you. We just got here and we still have to pack our bags and adjust to the time difference. Thank you for your invitation. Although I am looking forward to experiencing the scenes in "The Wrath of the Sea" in person and longing to feel the excitement of sailing on the sea with a dangerous man like you, let's forget it today. I don't have the physical and mental strength to support me to do this. I don't want to be wrapped in a canvas by you and sent to the sea to sleep forever. It would be better if we could change the time."

Alain Delon burst into laughter immediately after hearing this.

For no other reason than "The Wrath of Time" was his work in 1960. There is also a Shanghai translation version in the Republic, and the story is the novel "The Talented Mr. Ripley" which has been remade several times.

Alain Delon is the protagonist in the film. Out of hatred and envy of a wealthy life, this poor boy killed the rich second-generation who took him out to sea on a sailboat, wrapped the body in canvas and threw it into the sea.

Ning Weimin's words were undoubtedly a mockery of him based on his role in the film.

Although this movie did not win any awards, Alain Delon's appearance in the film was at its peak.

Moreover, this film has a compact plot, reasonable logic, and particularly good reputation, which played a very important role in Alain Delon's career.

Even in the eyes of many movie fans, Alain Delon's performance in this film is far more charming and more sympathetic than Matt Damon's other version played decades later.

So, Ning Weimin touched Alain Delon's sore spot without even saying it.

Even if he rejected this invitation, Alain Delon would not have any grudge against it.

Instead, he settled for the next best thing and made an appointment with Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko to have dinner together to show his hospitality.

In fact, Alain Delon and his girlfriend Rosalie stayed for just one glass of wine and then left happily together, giving the couple back the freedom of being alone.