Chapter 348 of the text is a filmmaker

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In recent years, Asian cinema seems to have become the mainstream of major film festivals, and the same is true for Chinese-language films, with one or two Chinese-language films entering the competition section of major awards every year.

Out of the importance of Chinese films, Mark Mueller went to Peking once in March and watched more than a dozen new films such as "Ke Ke Xili", "Peacock", "What a Big Sheep", and "**** Night". Among them, he is most optimistic about "Peacock", and then "Ke Ke Xili".

However, although Mark Muller is the chairman of the film festival and loves Chinese films very much, he has no right to make a decision on the selection of films, and whether the film can be shortlisted or not has to be decided by the film review committee, and as a result, his optimistic "Peacock" and "Ke Ke Xili" failed to enter the main competition unit. In this way, there is not a single Chinese film in the main competition unit of this Venice Film Festival, which is not what he wants to see, so he hopes to bring Jia Zhangke's "World" to Venice.

"The World" was Jia Zhangke's first film shot within the system, and the film was completed in March, but due to the tight schedule and his reputation in Cannes, "The World" was returned by Cannes.

For literary films, if they can't enter the three main competition units, there will be a lot of pressure to return to their original costs. So, Jia Zhangke re-edited and filmed, deleted some scenes, invited his old friend Wang Hongwei to reshoot, and added a lot of animation elements.

In the screening room of a theater in Peiping, Mark Mueller, who had finished watching "The World", breathed a sigh of relief that this version was much better than the one he saw in March. The story itself hasn't changed, and there's a lot more interesting stuff. Although the whole film has many flaws, there should be no problem in being shortlisted for the Venice Film Festival: "This time it is not in vain, there have been fewer and fewer high-quality art films in China in the past two years." ”

"Now that Chinese films are moving closer to business, people's hearts are becoming more and more impetuous, and there are fewer and fewer people who can make movies with peace of mind. Li Zhili is the Chinese film selection consultant of the Venice Film Festival, and he sighed when it came to Chinese films, but at this moment, he suddenly remembered something, "By the way, Zhang Ran's "Aviator" has been filmed, and insiders have a very high evaluation of the movie, thinking that it is a rare masterpiece. ”

As the festival's selection consultant, Li Zhili keeps in touch with the Chinese film production team to understand their stories, genres, and directions, and to track their production rhythm and investigate when these films will be released to the market. Zhang Ran is a rising Chinese director in the past two years, and he has won an award at the Tokyo Film Festival, which is the focus of attention. After the start of "The Aviator", Li Zhili communicated with Zhang Ran and kept in touch since then. He originally wanted to see a rough cut of "The Aviator", but Zhang Ran was busy with the promotion of "Time and Space Warrior" recently, and he hasn't been able to see it yet.

Mark Muller pays more attention to the Chinese film industry, and he also knows about the completion of "The Aviator": "It is only a little more than a month before the opening of the film festival, and "The Aviator" has just been completed, and it will definitely be too late in the later stage. Forget it!"

"They used a digital technology that allows them to cut while shooting, and when the film is finished, the rough cut version comes out," Lee explains. They're faster and have the potential to do it!"

Mark Mueller was stunned: "In that case, then ask him to meet." ”

……

On the screen, Zhang Ran flew into the sky with a plane and flew towards the sun. The strong sunlight shook people's eyes almost can't open, and in that strong sunlight, Zhang Ran's shouts floated in the air.

Ahhh

Under normal circumstances, such an exciting scene would have been set off by rousing music, but "The Aviator" has not yet been soundtracked, and the whole scene seems a bit cold and lonely.

The picture switched, a close-up shot of Zhang Jingchu, she raised her head and looked at the sky, her eyes were a little complicated. Suddenly she smiled, and then a tear rolled down her eye.

At the same time, the voiceover sounded, it was Zhang Jingchu's voice: "That was the last time I saw Qiao Zhengfei, and that day I saw him fly into the sun!"

The camera switches again, and the plane in the sky flies farther and farther away, smaller and smaller, and finally disappears completely, as if it really flew into the sun.

The picture is frozen, the movie is over, and the screen is snow-white.

Ning Hao turned his head to look, only to see Mark Muller and Li Zhili with their mouths slightly open, staring at the snow-white screen in a daze. A smile appeared at the corner of Ning Hao's mouth, and he shouted, "Mr. Mueller!"

Mark Mueller came back to his senses, stood up and applauded Zhang Ran: "This is really incredible, too subversive, completely different from your previous works." It's not a Hollywood-style movie at all, and the personal style is too strong. I really didn't expect you to make such a movie. ”

Zhang Ran smiled and waved his hand: "Everyone has a time when they want to express themselves, and this movie is a self-expression." Since it's self-expression, you have to have something of your own. ”

Mark Muller was really glad that he contacted Zhang Ran and saw this movie, otherwise he would regret it for the rest of his life, he grabbed Zhang Ran's hand tightly: "Give me this movie and let me take it to Venice!"

Seeing that Mark Muller likes "The Aviator" so much, Zhang Ran was very pleased: "I am very happy to hear you say this. Don't you know if you'll be able to enter the main competition?"

Mark Muller knows that a film like "The Aviator" does not have to worry about the festival, and if he can't enter the main competition unit, Zhang Ran will vote for another family: "Of course there is no problem, "The Aviator", a film full of exploration and practical spirit, is the most welcome at the Venice Film Festival. ”

Zhang Ran originally wanted to send it to Berlin, but he didn't think about Venice, because sending it to Venice was a bit rushed in terms of time: "It's the end of July, just over a month before the opening of the Venice Film Festival, and I'm not sure that I will finish the post-production before the start of the festival." ”

Mark Mueller is also worried about this: "If you rush it, can you finish it?"

Zhang Ran thought for a while and said, "It should be able to be completed, but I can't guarantee it." You'll be shortlisted in early August. If you announce the list, and we don't finish the late game, it's not good for you, or for me. So forget it!"

In fact, every film festival will encounter this situation, and the directors who are optimistic or the works may not be able to catch up due to later reasons. Especially for directors like Wang Jiawei, the film festival has begun, and his later stage may not be completed. Back then, Hou Xiaoxian's "Red Balloon" was not finished because it was not completed, and as a result, it had to be shortlisted for a kind of attention unit. To solve this problem, the Festival de Cannes is racking its brains. For example, after Cannes films announce the main competition films in mid-April, they often announce that some films will be added to the main competition later, which is the so-called "surprise list".

Zhang Ran is not a big director, but he is also a rising star that has attracted much attention, especially now that "Time and Space Warrior" is being screened around the world, and his new film will enter the Venice Film Festival, which will bring a certain amount of attention to the film festival. What's more, this movie is really unique, a real masterpiece, and it would be a great shame to miss such a movie.

Unwilling to give up, Mark Mueller asked, "How sure are you that you will finish the post-production before the festival?"

Zhang Ran groaned: "Ninety percent!"

Mark Müller breathed a sigh of relief and grasped it very quickly, and immediately said: "This year I played the leading role in the Venice Film Festival, in order to increase the suspense of the film festival. I did a part called Surprise Movie. A surprise film is a film that we didn't announce before, and when the festival is almost over, it is officially announced at the last minute before the awards begin, which can increase the suspense of the film festival and make the Golden Lion Award even more confusing. We were going to make Kim Ki-duk's "Empty Room" a surprise movie, and now I think it's better to have "The Aviator" as a surprise movie. In case "The Aviator" can't be completed, then this year's surprise movie will be canceled. ”

Zhang Ran had heard of the surprise movies at the Venice Film Festival, and Jia Zhangke's "The Good Man of the Three Gorges" appeared in Venice in the form of a surprise movie, so he said: "This method is good!"

After that, Zhang Ran chatted with Mark Mueller for a while, and while the two were chatting, the studio staff carved the rough cut version into a DVD. Mark Mueller needs to bring the DVD back to the selection committee and wait for them to see it before they can decide whether "The Aviator" can make it to the main competition.

After getting the DVD, Mark Mueller stood up and patted Zhang Ran on the shoulder: "Zhang Ran, please, it must be completed before the film festival." I really enjoyed this movie and hope to premiere it in Venice!"

Zhang Ran smiled and nodded: "I'll do my best to complete it!"

Mark Mueller didn't say much, and said goodbye to Zhang Ran: "Then I won't bother you, goodbye!"

Zhang Ran originally wanted to invite Mark Muller to dinner, but the old man insisted on leaving, saying that he wanted to bring the film back to the selection committee as much as possible. Zhang Ran didn't insist, sent Mark Muller to the elevator, and then returned to the studio to continue to be busy.

A week later, Zhang Ran received a call from Mark Mueller.

Mark Mueller asked about the later progress of "The Aviator", and after learning about Yiqiē Shun lì, he smiled and said, "Zhang Ran, congratulations." The matter has been decided. "The Aviator" is this year's surprise movie!"

Although this result was expected, Zhang Ran couldn't help but smile: "Thank you, Mark, this is really good news!"

After chatting with Mark Mueller, Zhang Ran hung up the phone. He was just about to put his phone in his pocket when it rang again.

It was Han Shanping's phone.

As soon as the phone was connected, Han Shanping's voice came: "Zhang Ran has something to inform you, there is a seminar on "Time and Space Warrior" next week, you are a film director, and you will speak at that time." Prepare yourself!"

Zhang Ran thought it was a meeting organized by Han Shanping, and said directly: "Mr. Han, I have a stomach ache next week, forget it!"

Han Shanping's nose is almost out of breath, and he has a stomachache next week, your stomach ache is a weather forecast, and it is also predicted, he coughed, and said: "Zhang Ran, this is not a joke, the specifications of this seminar are very high, it is sponsored by the ****** Literature and Art Bureau, the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and undertaken by the China Film Archive." At that time, there will be many leaders present, according to the Tong Bureau, Vice Minister Luo of the ****** will attend this seminar, as well as representatives of academia, commentaries, and the media, Zhang Yimou does not have this treatment, you must not drop the chain!"

Zhang Ran was startled when he heard ****** Vice Minister, why did all the people ****** come?

Han Shanping smiled and comforted: "Don't be nervous, the main thing is that "Time and Space Warrior" is a big hit overseas, and it has exceeded 150 million in China, which has attracted the attention of the leaders. The main purpose of this seminar is to summarize the enlightenment brought by "Time and Space Warrior" to Chinese films in terms of creation, production, and operation, and to provide suggestions for the future of Chinese films. ”

Zhang Ran asked puzzledly: "Can you use such a big battle to make suggestions******?"

Han Shanping asked, "Do you usually watch "News Network"?"

Zhang Ran said: "I don't look at it often, sometimes I look twice." ”

Han Shanping explained: "In addition to the discussion itself, the seminar is actually to convey a message to the society, the state will increase support for the film industry, and Chinese films going out is one of the key points of attention!" (~^~)