The King of Directors 2000

The sun is shining brightly, the autumn breeze is gentle, and the birds are singing. It is a good day for leisure and entertainment.

In Hall 3 of City Cinema on Lido Island, almost two hundred people came, all to watch "Three Billboards."

Because of Lee Sing-yao and Maggie Cheung, they are somewhat prestigious among senior movie fans, so many fans who like movies came here.

At the same time, many reporters, film critics, and film festival judges came to watch.

Jiang Wen, Bellutocchi came over.

Bellutucci is the chief judge of this film festival, and his requirements for good movies are relatively normal.

Just like a movie he makes himself, it must first be good-looking, and then it must be both commercial and artistic.

Generally speaking, the movies that Berlutucci likes can be understood by ordinary movie fans.

Under such a general tone, some incomprehensible and weird films were not recognized by the jury.

For example, the new movie "Mobius" by Kim Ki-duk, the winner of the last Golden Lion Award, has an aesthetic that is too personal, and the evaluation given by the jury was vague and incomprehensible.

As the winner of the last Golden Lion Award, Kim Ki-duk's new movie this time did not even make it into the final twenty candidates.

In addition to these people, there are also some colleagues in the industry who specifically support Li Shengyao.

Lee Sheng Yew has won two Palme d'Or awards. There is no doubt that he will become a big boss like Berlutucci in the future. Many directors and actors came to support him. Before entering the cinema, when interviewed by reporters, he said no. Less nice words.

There are Chinese ones and there are foreign ones.

Chen Kexin was one of them. He took Wu Junru into the theater, found a seat and sat down.

Wu Junru just came here last night, and she was here to accompany Chen Kexin.

This time, there are only two Chinese-language films to be re-screened at the Venice Film Festival, and "Sweet Honey" is one of them. Peter Chan is still very proud.

He called Wu Junru over just to show Wu Junru how awesome he was.

Wu Junru only arrived at Lido Island last night. She was very tired as she kept changing modes of transportation along the way.

When I woke up this morning, I still felt very sleepy.

Sitting down at this time, I couldn't help but doze off.

Chen Kexin laughed softly and said: ""Three Billboards" is said to be about a powerful woman. You can take a look."

Sandra Ng curled her lips, "I don't even like those movies of Lee Sung-yew."

Everyone has their own preferences. Wu Junru likes some movies about little girls, like Fenghua idol dramas.

She liked to watch all the TV series produced by Lee Sheng Yew before, but she did not like the movies produced by Lee Sheng Yew later.

While the two couples were discussing, the theater became much quieter. On the big screen in front, the images scrolled and the movie officially started.

Wu Junru thought for a while and said in a low voice: "I'd better take a look. After all, it's Ayu's new movie."

At the beginning of the movie, the camera was directly focused on the face of the heroine played by Maggie Cheung, and then gradually pulled away, showing the heroine driving a car and walking on the road outside the town with her son.

The heroine has a beautiful appearance, a thin figure, cold eyes, and a cold face. There is a sense of impatience all over her body. She caught a glimpse of the billboard on the mountain, and a glimmer of light flashed in her dead eyes.

The heroine had an idea and went to the advertising company in town to rent a billboard.

There are only two employees in the advertising company, the boss and his secretary. The boss wants a higher price, but the heroine said that she does not have that much money.

The boss thought that these three billboards were empty, so he decided to make them cheaper.

So at a very low price, the heroine rented the billboard.

She then paid the bill and wrote the words on three billboards on a piece of paper.

The boss of the advertising company saw the words on the note, and then he laughed and said that he could not write such advertisements. The heroine insisted.

The secretary felt that this would have a hype effect and might give the billboard a higher commercial value.

The boss of the advertising company agreed.

This section looks very dull, but it is quite interesting. There are two suspenses set up here.

One is why the heroine becomes like this, and the other is what the heroine should write on the billboard.

"Ayu's performance is quite good."

Wu Junru was very sleepy at first, but she couldn't help but feel immersed in it while watching the movie.

The movie continues and billboards are erected. These three billboards tell two things. One is that the heroine's daughter was raped and murdered a few years ago, and the other is the inaction of the small town police chief.

However, the town chief is well respected in the town, and the heroine's behavior has annoyed many town residents and police officers.

These people began to make things difficult for the heroine.

Wu Junru and Chen Kexin gave birth to a daughter, and she easily became the heroine.

She whispered to Peter Chan: "This heroine is so pitiful. If I were her, I would do the same thing."

Peter Chan feels that for now, the plot is quite cliche and not exciting. He is a little surprised and feels that this should not be Lee Sheng-yew's work.

The movie continues. The police chief is negotiating with the heroine. He seems very strong. He clearly tells the heroine that her daughter’s case has been in the past for too long, there is a lack of relevant evidence, and it is very likely that someone from outside the area committed the crime. There is nothing that can be done. Detection.

The police chief's words made the heroine very angry, and the two quarreled.

The heroine looks weak, but she has a stubborn temper. No matter how the police chief explains, she just doesn't listen.

At this moment, the police chief suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The audience then learned that the police chief was suffering from an incurable disease and had at most half a year to live. He had applied for retirement and had been approved. He would retire in a month.

He hoped that the heroine would take down the billboard, move on from this incident, and stop being immersed in it.

There is a status change here, the heroine looks more powerful than the police chief.

When Chen Kexin saw it, he whispered: "This design is good and full of tension."

The movie continues, and then the heroine disagrees, and she is targeted by more town residents, as well as the police.

When a dentist was visiting her, he even wanted to trick her and give her advance notice, so he forcefully hammered out two of the dentist's teeth.

Then she didn’t have enough money and she didn’t have the money to renew the lease on the billboard.

Here, the heroine's position changes again and she becomes weak again.

This is the highlight of this movie. The heroine's status is constantly changing, which affects the audience's emotions.

As the movie continues, a stranger helps the heroine pay the advertising fee.

The police chief then committed suicide at home.

The police chief left two letters, one to his family and one to the heroine.

Letters to family members are used to make inheritance arrangements and express love. The letter to the heroine expresses his apology and gives hope. He hopes that the heroine can successfully catch the criminal.

However, the residents of the town did not know that the police chief actually supported the heroine, and it was the police chief who paid for the billboard.

Under such circumstances, the town residents hate the heroine even more.

The heroine was unable to move in the small town. At this time, someone set fire to the billboard.

At this time, the heroine's position is relatively weak.

Just when the audience felt sorry for the heroine, the strong heroine made a homemade Molotov cocktail and threw it into the police station, burning many case files.

The former assistant to the police chief risked his life in the fire to take out the file of the heroine's daughter. Half of his face was burned because he escaped too late.

Under such circumstances, the heroine once again came to a strong position.

Wu Junru has completely taken in it, and her heart is tightly locked on the heroine.

The assistant of the police chief found the heroine, showed the file to the heroine, and helped analyze the characteristics of the murderer.

Although it was of no use, the heroine and her assistant solved the knot, and both of them were able to go into battle with ease.

Soon after, the assistant targeted a very suspicious man. Unfortunately, this man was just bragging. He had indeed raped and killed girls, but not in this town, but in other places.

This hateful man was eventually let go by the police due to lack of evidence.

But everyone knew that there was something wrong with this man. He had committed crimes elsewhere, and the small town police had no right to arrest people across districts.

The heroine and her assistant walked together, and the two planned to use their own methods to deal with the beast.

The movie ends here. The heroine and her assistant got into the car. Whether they succeeded in killing the beast or not, the movie has no conclusion and has an open ending.

The status and role of the heroine are constantly changing, leading the audience to watch the movie in one sitting.

After watching the movie, Sandra Ng said, "Ah Yu's new movie is really wonderful. I finished watching it before I knew it. I think it is better than Lee Sheng-yew's other movies."

Peter Chan nodded, "The script is very well written. Li Shengyao is indeed a master screenwriter. The conflicting design of "Three Billboards" is really brilliant, and the character positions are constantly changing, making it possible to read it in one sitting."

He paused and then said: "Ayu has made money this time. I think this is one of the top three movies of the year."

Wu Junru heard this and said, "Is it so good? Can it be compared with "Sweet Honey"?"

"Dolce Vita" was rated as the second best film of 1997 by "Cahiers du Cinéma".

This movie has always been the pride of Wu Junru and Peter Chan.

Chen Kexin nodded, "It's difficult to compare because of different themes, but I think this movie is outstanding. It is the most exciting movie I have seen so far this year, better than "Palermo" and "Philomena" Better looking.”

"Palermo" and "Philomena" are the films with the best reputation after screening so far in this film program.

When Chen Kexin said this, he obviously gave a very high evaluation.

……

In front of Chen Kexin, in the middle of the first row of the auditorium, sat an old man with white hair.

Italian national treasure director Bellutocchi watched the movie and nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Wen was sitting next to Bellutucci. When he saw Bellutucci's appearance, he said, "Mr. Zhuxi, what do you think of this movie?"

Jiang Wen didn't have a new movie released this time, so he came to be a judge.

Because he and Lee Sheng-yew are both Chinese, in order to avoid reporters saying that he favors compatriots and has behind-the-scenes dealings, he has not publicly expressed his opinions on "Three Billboards."

Seeing that Berutoqi was very interested at this time, he decided to chat for a few words.

Upon hearing this, Berlutochi chuckled and said: "Jiang, as you can see, this movie is very brilliant. It is a very ordinary story. The plot design makes the story much more exciting. Every link is connected. I have not seen such a movie for a long time." A well-crafted plot.”

Jiang Wen was happy for Li Shengyao, "What about other aspects?"

"The rhythm of this movie is very good, with constant ups and downs. It keeps the audience in suspense from beginning to end. If the rhythm is good, the movie will be good to watch.

In addition, the cinematography of this movie is very mature. In the two scenes of burning billboards and the confrontation between the heroine and the police chief, the shots are very good. Together with the excellent acting skills of the actors, the characters are established and the atmosphere of the movie is raised. .

The soundtrack is also good, when to rise and when to slow down, everything is just right.

If I hadn't known Li for a long time, I would have felt that this movie was made by an old director. "

Bellutucci has known Lee Sing Yew for a long time and has watched some of Lee Sing Yew's movies.

But generally speaking, he only liked "Parasite" among Lee Sing-yew's previous films. He thought "Parasite" was interesting enough, but other films were not good enough.

But he didn't expect that watching "Three Billboards" this time would make his calm heart feel a little more excited.

So he rated it very highly.

Jiang Wen heard Bellutocchi's words and thought of his own feelings watching the movie, which was also rare.

Everything about this movie is very good, very mature, and it doesn't feel like the work of a young director at all.

I didn't expect this to be Li Shengyao's work.

After "Parasite" was released last year, Jiang Wen liked it very much. He thought that after "1937" and "Parasite" were released in succession, Lee Sheng-yew would use up a lot of ideas, and Lee Sheng-yew would probably revise it in the next two or three years.

But I didn't expect that Lee Sheng-yew would work even harder, making three movies in a row this time.

This second "Three Billboards" is very good, a movie on the level of "Parasite".

Of course "Parasite" is about class conflict, and "Three Billboards" is about a vengeful mother.

Generally speaking, the story of "Three Billboards" does not have that strong impact, which is where "Three Billboards" falls short.

But no matter what, this movie is excellent and a rare good movie.

Lee Sheng-yew seems to have an inexhaustible supply of ideas, and he continues to produce good movies. In the entire history of Chinese-language films, only Lao Mouzi in his prime has done this.

Thinking of this, Jiang Wen couldn't help but feel a little envious.

He makes a good movie, but it takes several years of repair before he can make another good movie.

At this moment, Bellutucci stood up and said, "Ginger, let's go, we should go watch other movies.

Alas, there are many good films in this film festival, but there are very few films that are eye-catching, very mature, and excellent. I hope there will be films like "Three Billboards" in the future. "

Jiang Wen nodded, "There is still great hope."

He glanced at Bellutucci and immediately understood that "Three Billboards" would be among the final twenty film candidates.

You are considered a finalist, and you might actually have a chance to win the prize.

Thinking that Lee Sheng Yew had won the Palme d'Or twice before and now has the opportunity to win the award again, even a proud person like Jiang Wen admired Lee Sheng Yew a little.

(End of this chapter)