The King of Directors 2000

Chapter 618 Screening of "Dalian by the Sea"

The screening day of "Dalian by the Sea" is the morning of the third day of the film festival, scheduled at nine o'clock.

This time is not very friendly to ordinary viewers.

The weather is too cold now, and the general audience either goes to work or stays at home.

Those who have time are not willing to get up and watch movies at this time.

However, the chief seal of the judging committee, James Schamus, and the judge, Greta Gerwig, got the news and asked them to go there early, otherwise, they might not have good seats.

Both James and Greta were very surprised by this.

The two of them are both from the beautiful country and have known each other a few years ago. This time they went to the screening cinema together.

At this time, the sky was dark, with dense dark clouds, and a cold wind mixed with raindrops.

The passers-by on the street are all in a hurry.

No one has time to linger.

There was no sunlight and the view was too dark.

Even though it was daytime, the cars still had their lights on and their honking sounds continued.

Greta rolled her eyes, her displeasure palpable.

Anyone with eyes can see Greta's bad mood.

She is thirty years old this year. Compared with the popular actresses in Hollywood, she entered this industry very late.

I acted in my first movie when I was about twenty-three years old.

The movie was not a hit, and Greta, as an actress, was not well-known in the beautiful country.

But she also has three other identities. She is also a director, screenwriter, and producer.

As a screenwriter, she has shown unparalleled talent.

"Stairway to Love", "Countless Nights and Weekends", "Solace of the Northland", "40 Daydreams" and so on.

These works made Greta very popular among academics in Hollywood.

Therefore, although Greta is not well-known, she is very popular.

As a talented woman with personality, she hates not being able to sleep until she wakes up naturally.

But this is her first time as a judge at the three major European film festivals, and she thinks this position is extremely qualified.

She still endured it.

James understood that young people like to sleep until eleven or twelve, so he smiled and said: "Greta, you should get up early. The movie we are going to watch is "Dalian by the Sea", which is Li's movie."

"Li...that commercial film director?"

Greta heard the words and answered softly.

James was stunned, "His movies do have commercial elements, but he still has a better balance between commerce and art. His recent movies are all very exciting."

"I think it's too commercial and I don't really like it."

James nodded, "Okay, let's go over and take a look together."

He likes Ang Lee very much. The most important thing about Ang Lee is that his movies are very delicate and emotionally sincere.

Lee Sing-yew's films do have heavy commercial elements, even "Parasite" and "1937" are the same, including last year's "Three Billboards", which also have a lot of commercial settings in order to create tension in the story.

As the chief seal of the film festival jury, it is natural to be as fair and objective as possible.

But everyone has different preferences.

He couldn't say much about Greta's personal hobbies.

Let’s take a look.

Soon after, the car arrived at the Berlin Faro Cinema. James and Greta showed their IDs together and then entered the cinema.

At this time, all the movies shown today have not been officially broadcast.

The staff are anxiously preparing.

Many movie fans have not yet entered the cinema, but you can see that some cinemas have no audience, while others have a lot of viewers.

Among them, there were no people in auditorium 8 where "Dalian by the Sea" was shown.

James was a little surprised. He thought that the three words "Lee Shengyao" should attract many people who love movies.

But I didn't expect this to be the case.

At this moment, a staff member came forward and placed a sign in front of Cinema 8.

I saw two lines written on the sign - "Dalian by the Sea" has been moved to Cinema 15. We apologize for the inconvenience.

James was puzzled, "What's going on?"

The staff shrugged and rolled their eyes at James, "Is it difficult to understand? "Dalian by the Sea" is so popular. Theater No. 8 is a medium-sized theater with two hundred people, and Theater No. 15 can accommodate a thousand people. "

The organizers of the Berlin Film Festival are certainly not fools, they still want to make money.

Since so many viewers wanted to watch "Dalian by the Sea", they put the movie in the lobby.

The staff member sighed and said, "My daughter also wants to watch it. "Dalian by the Sea" was originally planned to be screened once. In order to let more fans see the movie, the organizer has communicated with Li and will screen it twice. Today One in the morning and one in the afternoon.”

James nodded blankly. He didn't expect "Dalian by the Sea" to be so popular.

Greta pouted, "This is a commercial film."

She then walked to Theater No. 15.

When Greta and James arrived at Cinema No. 15, they found that the fans were all young girls. It was obvious at a glance that they were mainly school girls.

"How could this be?"

The two of them entered the theater with suspicion, only to find that there were a large number of Lu Han fans inside, many of whom even brought support banners and scarves.

"WTF?"

"How is this going?"

Neither of them knew Lu Han. After finding their seats and sitting down, other judges soon came over and everyone communicated in low voices.

James and Greta then realized that Lu Han was a very popular Korean idol group and he had performed in "Dalian by the Sea".

Greta heard this and sneered again and again, "I knew it was another very commercial movie."

Soon the main creator of "Dalian by the Sea" arrived, and Li Shengyao led Lu Han and Zhang Songwen into the theater. Lu Han's fans immediately cheered.

Greta shook her head, crossed her arms and looked disgusted, "Is this a movie? Or a fan meeting."

James also did not expect such a situation to occur.

He could only pray that Lu Han's fans would be quiet after the movie was released.

Otherwise, how can the judges watch the movie with such noise?

Wouldn't this affect the score of "Dalian by the Sea"?

If the two Palme d'Or winners' films fail to enter the final competition, it will be a loss for Lee Sung-yew and the Berlin Film Festival.

After about five minutes, "Dalian by the Sea" officially started.

Although Lu Han's fans are young, their quality is not bad. No one made any noise. At this time, everyone calmed down and watched the movie carefully.

James breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.

He then set his sights on movies.

As a senior filmmaker, he has watched countless movies, and now there are no movies that can excite him.

However, as a person who loves movies, he is still looking forward to new movies. "Dalian by the Sea" shows a snowy world at the beginning, and the male protagonist slowly comes into view. This male protagonist is quite handsome, with a moderate figure, well-dressed, and looks like a decent person, like this People should have friends, have an identity, and like to socialize.

However, the male protagonist is different. The place where he lives is very simple, the place where he works is also lifeless, and there is a deep sadness in his eyes.

The movie gives the audience a small suspense at the beginning. Why is such a decent male protagonist so sad? What has he experienced?

This kind of plot arrangement is not unusual, it is used in many movies.

Greta curled her lips, leaned back, and whispered: "It is indeed a commercial movie."

Although James and Greta have known each other for a long time, even though the Hollywood academics admire Greta very much, even though the two people got along well in the past.

But James felt that Greta's mentality was not good.

As a judge, you naturally have to be fair and impartial, and try to be as objective as possible. You can't just find faults, you have to look at the strengths as well.

The setting just now made him feel great.

"Greta, I have a serious request to you. As a film festival judge, you should evaluate a film more comprehensively, not just as an art film.

What's more, the organizers of the Berlin Film Festival have never said that they only want artistic films and not commercial films. "

When Greta heard this, she groaned and nodded, which was considered a response.

When James saw this, he felt uncomfortable.

But it was screening time for "Dalian by the Sea" and he didn't want to say anything else, lest it disturb other people watching the movie.

The movie then gradually gets deeper.

It explains why the hero is so sad. It turns out that because of his problems, his two children died in the fire.

He has been in grief ever since, and he has thought about committing suicide.

But he also had an older brother who encouraged him and told him to live strong. In order not to disappoint his living relatives, he kept holding on and working hard to live.

But he could never forgive himself, the sadness could not be eliminated, he had always been so sad.

At this time, his brother passed away. According to his brother's suicide note, his brother hoped that he could take care of his nephew and become his guardian.

The hero knows his current situation and he is not suitable to be a guardian.

However, his brother's funeral had to be organized anyway, so he returned to his hometown where he had been away for a long time.

He met his former good friends, his nephew, and his ex-wife.

My nephew is an energetic and very popular young man.

He remembered that a long time ago, he, his nephew, and his brother had a good relationship and went fishing together.

He tried to change himself for his nephew and found work in his hometown.

But everyone in the small city knew that he killed his children.

No one wanted to hire him, and he was helpless and realized that he could no longer live in his hometown.

After my brother's funeral.

He met his ex-wife again. At this time, his ex-wife was pregnant. She had remarried and had come out. She persuaded the male protagonist to come out.

Inexplicably, he was so sad that he collapsed.

Only then did he realize that after all this time, he was the only one who hadn't come out yet.

He didn't know if this was the right situation, but he knew very well that he couldn't accept it.

He couldn't live with his nephew as if nothing had happened, whether in his hometown or the city where he worked before.

He had a serious conversation with his nephew and made his situation known, stating that he was unable to become his nephew's guardian.

After gaining understanding from his nephew and others, he visited a friend of his brother and fostered his nephew in his home.

And he left his hometown again and returned to the city where he worked before, continuing to suffer endless sorrow.

James looked at the big screen, completely immersed in it.

It’s not that he hates commercial movies, but he has always preferred movies with delicate emotions.

"Dalian by the Sea" plays a little trick at the beginning, and then tells it in a straightforward manner, advancing the story with the most sincere emotions.

There are no big conflicts, no big contradictions, and no magical coincidences.

The plot develops naturally and conforms to the logic of social development.

The stories and characters inside are very real.

No heroes, no positive energy.

And the movie is never boring, the sadness is always there and the emotions are extended.

Coupled with the wonderful performance of the male lead Zhang Songwen and the precise and neat production of Li Shengyao.

These elements make the movie highly watchable.

There are few movies that are so straightforward yet so captivating.

When the movie ended, James couldn't help but applaud.

Greta looked at the big screen with a shocked expression.

She doesn't like movies with too many commercial elements. Lee Sung-yao's previous movies have received constant praise from the outside world, but she doesn't like them very much.

But this "Dalian by the Sea" is indeed different.

It's a completely anti-conventional movie.

In an ordinary movie, the hero and his nephew must redeem each other while getting along, and finally live together with He Meimei.

In better movies, the male protagonist relies on his strong inner strength to complete redemption alone and shoulder the task of raising his nephew.

But "Dalian by the Sea" is different. The movie continues to be sad. Until the end of the movie, the actor still has not come out. He is still very sad and he still cannot forgive himself.

His ex-wife has moved on to the "light" side.

And he was still squatting in a dark corner, sad alone.

After watching it, the audience felt a lingering lingering feeling of sadness.

"Dalian by the Sea" except for the small setting at the beginning, is driven by emotions later on. There is no contradiction and conflict, everything is so real.

Greta likes this setting very much.

She wrote the script herself and wanted to write a script like this.

Greta couldn't help but feel a little ashamed when she thought about her previous thoughts.

Lee Sheng-yew's film this time has really made a huge change. This film does not play with those vain settings, but uses a sincere story to move the audience.

"Greta, you see, this is the strength of a Palme d'Or winner, and Lee's movie is the best movie I have seen in the past year.

Nowadays, there are very few filmmakers who can tell the stories of small people with such patience.

They always like to use some tall background, which is actually useless.

They forget the most touching emotions, and this movie is different. I can completely understand the sadness of the male protagonist. "

Greta nodded, "James, you are right this time. Lee's movie is indeed very good. I underestimated him before."

"After the main creator's speech is over, we will talk to Li."

At this time, Li Shengyao, Lu Han, and Zhang Songwen came to the stage to talk about the film production and accept questions from reporters.

Greta has good eyesight. She found that Li Shengyao was tall and strong, which fit her aesthetic well.

"Okay, I really want to learn from him."

(End of this chapter)