"Lan Li, you know you're a jerk, right?"

Arthur smiled dumbly, and quietly complained, not in a reproachful tone, but a slight sigh, the sadness and embarrassment revealed between the lines made the gurgling sound of time flowing slowly clear, but Arthur and Lan Li sat face to face like this, but they felt the kind of freedom and warmth that belonged to their families like never before, as if they were ...... It's like the scene when Lan Li and Edith get along.

If Edith had said this, Lan Li would have calmly replied "yes", but now in the face of Arthur, the idea of complaining and flirting/flirting is always surging.

So, Lan Li shrugged his shoulders lightly and replied seriously, "I thought that we were used to communicating with reason, not chicken soup for the soul. ”

The answer just now was really cold and direct, and I didn't feel much warmth, "If you like, I can pretend to be a priest, listen to your confession, and then tell you that no matter what choice you make, God will love you." ”

Arthur's smile stopped at the corner of his mouth, and he looked at Lan Li with a loveless expression, and the resentful look made Lan Li's eyebrows rise slightly, and the pride and satisfaction after the prank succeeded quietly spread in his eyes, but Lan Li did not continue to torture Arthur.

After a slight pause, the smile on the corner of his mouth converged, Lan Li considered his words for a moment, and said seriously, "Each of us is making choices every moment, some choices are smaller, and some choices are bigger. But these choices are all the same, there is no such thing as right or wrong, because time cannot be turned back, and decisions cannot be regretted, what we need to do is to choose and then move on steadfastly. ”

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if I hadn't made it and I just rolled around off Broadway or on TV screens, and became a little supporting actor or extra, and finally came back to London in a gloomy way? ”

"I'm scared too. But this fear still didn't stop me from believing that I wanted to fulfill my dream, so I did it. Life is always like this, we are afraid of the unknown, some unknowns can really change the world, but some unknowns are not worth mentioning at all, the only thing that is certain is that until we try, the unknown will always be unknown. ”

"I don't know what your fear is, and I don't know how terrible it is. But if you ask for my opinion, the only thing I can say is that fear and regret only stop us and continue to torment ourselves. ”

It's not just Arthur, it's not just Blue Rite, in fact, Heather, Edith, Elph, George, and Elizabeth, and everyone in life. Everyone is taking on the life they have chosen, some complain and regret their mistakes, and some are resolute and courageous.

The so-called character determines fate, not because character can urge better and more correct choices, but because after making a choice, character can determine one's attitude towards life.

"Charlie, I'm not your answer. Lan Li said softly, "Only you know the answer." ”

Charlie, this is Arthur's middle name. It had been a long time since he had heard Lan Li call himself like that, and he felt a little strange.

Arthur chewed the words carefully, those truths are actually not difficult, the so-called chicken soup for the soul everyone knows, but from Lan Li's mouth, the meaning and weight seem to be different.

He hates to talk to Lan Li, because Lan Li is always too sharp and too thorough, and often tears the mask mercilessly to hit the nail on the head, but he also likes to chat with Lan Li, because Lan Li always knows what he should say, and his seemingly innocuous words are always just right.

"Sebastian, everyone knows the truth, but not everyone can do it. Arthur smiled wryly.

Lan Li nodded in affirmation. In fact, how could this not be the case in his own life? Everyone has their own weaknesses and shackles, and the onlookers always say it easily and easily, and only the authorities know how difficult everything really is, "So you turned to me for help, not Elf." ”

As Lan Li just said, Arthur has made a choice deep down.

Arthur didn't speak, the appetizer had already arrived, he grabbed his knife and fork, and began to enjoy his salad.

Lan Li didn't say anything more, he also grabbed his knife and fork and began to enjoy his French snail.

There was almost no sound on the table, only the faint sound of the knife and fork accidentally touching the disk, but only a faint hint, the silence was a little oppressive, but it also outlined an indescribable elegance, all of which was a habit developed after years of training.

After the appetizer is served, there is a slight gap before the main course is served, which is set aside for the guests to make small talk – which is why a formal meal must start at two hours or even more than four hours, no conversation is allowed during eating, and the time between one dish is dedicated to conversation.

"When are you going to Venice?" Arthur said again, but no longer on the sad topic of his previous journey. After a short period of silence for an appetizer, Arthur's mind seemed to have changed dramatically.

"Next week. Lan Li quietly retreated, back to where they belonged—a little unfamiliar, a little alienated, but at the end of the day, they were more familiar than strangers.

Arthur raised his chin and showed a look of sudden realization, "I heard the news before, this time your work will be the opening film, but it will not be in the main competition, so you need to arrive in Venice early, right?"

Lan Li nodded in affirmation, and explained simply, "Venice still wants us to participate in the main competition, but Warner Bros. disagrees, they are worried about affecting the box office. ”

There seems to be a general consensus in the industry and outside the industry that the Berlin, Cannes and Venice film festivals are still the stage for artworks, even in Cannes, which has the strongest commercial atmosphere, and the works that enter the main competition unit have been recognized by the artistic director and the selection committee, and if they can win the award, then they will immediately enter the awards season system.

All this seems to have gradually become a conventional practice. It is precisely the opposite of commercial films.

Take "The Great Gatsby" as an example, this work is also produced and distributed by Warner Bros., they position the film as a commercial film with an artistic atmosphere, "art" is the adjective prefix, "business" is the subject, in other words, Warner Bros. still has great expectations for the box office.

As a result, "The Great Gatsby" landed at the Cannes Film Festival as the opening film, opening the curtain of this year's film festival, but the film did not enter the main competition unit, drawing a line with art films.

First, Warner Bros. can use the platform of the film festival to ensure the exposure rate and promote the work, and good word-of-mouth feedback will also help the follow-up publicity work; second, the film will not fall into an artistic trap, but can bring the audience a false impression of "quality assurance", and further create space for the box office.

In fact, with the commercialization of the film market, the three major European film festivals now often make compromises and open with commercial films with artistic flavors, even the Berlinale is no exception.

At the beginning of this year, Berlin chose "The Grandmaster" as the opening film - but did not participate in the main competition section, and Cannes went even further, in order to create a topic, even without considering the quality of the work, often selected big-name actors or directors as the opening film - anyway, it did not participate in the main competition, just to create a topic.

Of course, the works that are also the opening film and the main competition unit, although there are not many, are also objective. For example, the Venice Film Festival in 2018 chose Alfonso Cuarón's new film "Roma" as the opening film, but it is also the most important entry in the main competition.

This time "gravity", Warner Bros. is positioned as a commercial film, but the artistic temperament of Alfonso and Lan Li is the biggest guarantee for the quality of the film. After missing Cannes, Warner Bros. sent the film to Venice, Toronto, and finally New York, paving the way for three consecutive film festivals, accumulating word-of-mouth step by step in preparation for the box office.

So, despite the best efforts of the new president of the Venice Film Festival, Alberto Barbera, to extend the invitation, he even went to the United States in person to have a face-to-face conversation and show sincerity, hoping to convince the relevant executives of Warner Bros. to let "gravity" enter the main competition.

The reason is very simple, the blue gift of EGOT has just been realized, and there are already Berlin and Cannes actors in hand, if "gravity" enters the main competition unit of the Venice Film Festival, then the blue ceremony of the actor slam also has the possibility, which is bound to detonate the attention of all the media, which is self-evident for Venice, which has just undergone a change of dynasty.

However, Warner Bros. still refused without any wiggle room.

They don't care if Lan Li can complete the Best Actor Grand Slam, and they don't care what dilemma the Venice Film Festival is facing, the only thing they care about is whether the film can achieve a big success at the box office.

Especially after Kevin Tsujihara took office, he is now in a turbulent and chaotic period, and he needs to replace all key positions with his own lineage and complete the notification from the top down, so he is even more reluctant to give in.

So, the situation is what it is now.

Arthur suddenly mentioned the Venice Film Festival, and Lan Li faintly captured some details, but Arthur didn't speak, and Lan Li didn't take the initiative to poke it. Some things have some decisions, and after all, you still need to take the last step yourself.