The film festival opened on September 7, two days before the premiere of "Killer", Lin Jianguo and Zhao Xiaojun ran freely to watch the North American premieres of several films, but Xu Jing and Zhou Xiaoxun did not go.

The reason is a bit bizarre, in 1977 there was a film called "In Praise of an Older Woman" because some of the erotic scenes in the film were removed by the Ontario electricity inspection authority, which partly promoted the festival. Later films screened at the Toronto Film Festival were allowed to bypass censorship, but a rule was also introduced that ticket buyers must be at least 18 years old. And Xu Jing and Zhou Xiaoxun obviously haven't met this condition yet.

In the past two days, the drizzle has always been intermittent, Zhou Xiaoxun's heart has never been quiet, and from time to time he walks to the window and tilts his head to look at the street scene outside and sighs, like a fledgling eager to fly freely, but under Xu Jing's strict 'oppression', except for shopping in the mall with him, he must not bury his head in books the rest of the time. And Xu Jing contacted the hotel to prepare for the deal of "Hitman".

On the 9th, it seems that in order to welcome the premiere of "Killer", the drizzle and clouds of the past few days have finally waved away, and a few white clouds are floating in the sky, which looks unusually clean and clear, and even the air seems to be filled with a fresh smell of red maple.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Jing and his entourage set off to the Elgin Theater where "Killer" premiered, several people are new faces in North America, neither big stars nor heavyweight filmmakers, although there is also a symbolic red carpet, but there is no fan and a media, the so-called interview and fan meeting are completely omitted, just like ordinary audiences into the theater.

"So few people? This, this won't be a problem, right?" came to the 1,600-person premiere hall of "Killer" and found that there were only a few hundred, less than one-third of the full audience, and most of them were yellow faces, Lin Jianguo couldn't help but worry.

"This is normal, after all, oriental movies are too unfamiliar to Western audiences, and whether they succeed or not will depend on the next few days. Xu Jing explained.

Not to mention Oriental films, even European films, if it weren't for the participation of big-name stars, the first premiere would not necessarily have many audiences. Among the hundreds of viewers who bought tickets for "Killer", except for the yellow people who came to cheer for that intimacy, other whites and blacks were afraid that they came more for curiosity. Speaking of which, "Hitman" is the first Chinese-language film to premiere at this film festival.

In fact, such a situation is not uncommon, in the original time and space in the first eight or nine years of the Polish film "The Ten Commandments" premiered only a few dozen people, but on the second day there were more than 350 people, and the third day began to be full, the Polish director Kieślows has since opened up the popularity of North America.

A few people found a good place to sit down, and "Killer" began quietly.

In the original time and space, "Killer" entered Hollywood as Luc Besson's work, although it retains some traces of France, but the whole film follows the production standards and value scales of mainstream Hollywood commercial films, making it adapt to the global market to the greatest extent.

And Xu Jing filmed it in advance, which is also within the standard and value scale of mainstream Hollywood commercial films, although due to the Chinese context and the relationship between the relatively Chinese set, it is equivalent to incorporating Chinese elements on the basis of copying the original, but it has not changed too much of the taste of the original film, and it will still portray the distinctive personality of the characters, and at the same time tell the romantic and tragic love while skillfully handling and applying the lens and light and shadow modeling, which perfectly combines the artistry and commerciality of the film.

Facts have proved that Xu Jing's version of "Killer", like "Killer" in the original time and space, has also been recognized by North American audiences. The length of the film is about 130 minutes, and no one leaves halfway through, and everyone is immersed in this romantic and tragic story.

When the moving "Shape Of My Heart" sounded, hundreds of spectators applauded as a young girl burst into tears, and the applause echoed through the slightly empty screening room, as if it were full. As the last note of "Shape Of My Heart" dissipated, the applause in the screening room stopped sparsely.

"Thank you, thank you!" Xu Jing pulled Zhou Xiaoxun to the front of the screen and thanked the hundreds of viewers.

"Wow~ Zhou Xiaoxun, I like your movie so much, can you sign it for me?"

"Mika, you're doing a great job, can you sign it for me too?

The audience saw the presence of the main creator and ran to the front desk to ask for autographs, among which Chinese and overseas Chinese understood the cast list and directly called out Zhou Xiaoxun's name, while those non-Chinese and overseas Chinese shouted the name 'Mika' in Zhou Xiaoxun's movie.

As for Xu Jing, he was already 'unrecognizable', and he was naturally ignored by the gorgeous.

With a good reputation on the first day, the number of moviegoers of "Killer" skyrocketed on the second day, with an attendance rate of nearly seventy percent, and it was directly full on the third day, so that many admiring audiences could not buy tickets at all, and sighed for this.

But it is impossible for the organizers to set a precedent for "Killer" to increase the number of screenings alone, after all, the film festival has to release hundreds of films in ten days, so naturally it cannot crowd out the resources of other films. And those viewers who want to watch "Hitman" have to wait for it to be released in North America in desperation.

Maybe it was the enthusiastic response to "Killer" a few days ago, and there were seventy or eighty media present at the media screening, although it was not as large as the hundreds of companies that moved decades later, but after all, the times are different. In addition to media reporters, there are some film critics and film companies from all over the world who come to the festival. Due to the new faces, Xu Jing and Zhou Xiaoxun and others started the screening after a brief introduction to the film, and the interview session was placed later.

The original "Hitman" was able to win the affirmation of professional film critics and the media in the blockbuster year of 94, and it is naturally not far from being in this little-known year. With more than two hours of screening, "Hitman" also won the full house of media reporters and film critics.

"Hello everyone, thank you very much for coming to the premiere of "Hitman", I am the director and star of this film, Xu Jing, and I am very happy to bring this film to meet you. Amid the endless applause, Xu Jing and Zhou Xiaoxun walked to the front desk, and when he spoke fluent English, there was an uproar below, and the reporters and film critics present were naturally surprised by his youth.

"Mr. Xu, are you an adult?" a reporter asked.

"I'm about to come of age. In fact, if you hadn't communicated with the organizer in advance, you might have to attend a premiere where you couldn't see the main creators. A small joke was made, and the reporters in front of him couldn't help but laugh.

"I would venture to ask, Xu, how did you come up with this film? It's hard to believe that this is done by someone under the age of eighteen, especially since this is a film involving pedophilia. Inevitably, a female reporter questioned.

"Thank you for this lady's question, I think that's what most of the people here have a lot of questions about. Art comes from life but is higher than life, in fact, many elements in this film are derived from my personal life experience. ”

Xu Jing paused when he said this, the expression in his eyes gradually dissipated, and he fell into memories, and the memories of wandering around in the original time and space and the bits and pieces with Zhou Xiaoxun in this time and space were intertwined in his mind.

"For a long time, I had a strange disease, my brain was not very healthy, and my mental age was only about 12 years old, which was an age full of illusions. At the same time, it is not accepted by people, just like Michael in the film, although he is in a lively city, he is always lonely. Later, when I recovered from my illness and learned a lot about film, I came up with the idea of making a movie. ”

seemed to feel his sadness, Zhou Xiaoxun beside him clenched his hand, and Xu Jing's eyes returned to clarity.

"So, the Killer isn't a pedophile, it's more of a fairy tale for me, about two little children, a girl and a boy. In their hearts, they were all twelve years old. The affection between them is a lonely person's longing for the purest feelings, and a longing for spiritual dependence and stability of a wandering person. ”

Speaking of this, Xu Jing showed a sunny and warm smile and continued.

"Don't be surprised if you think I'm too mature to be an eighteen-year-old boy, it's because I've been 'young' for too long, thank you. ”

"Bang ~ Bang ~ Bang ... Xu Jing's words won the applause of everyone present, his experience is full of legends, such an inspirational and warm story can always move people's hearts, and the media reporters and film critics present will naturally not be stingy with applause.

"Xu, I feel very sorry for what happened to you, but after all, the film has some pedophilic suggestiveness for the audience, and it may not be able to pass the film censorship of the United States, what do you think about this?"

"I'm sorry that Hitman can't be released in some countries and regions, but I respect the relevant regulations in all countries and regions. Regarding the censorship of films in the United States, in fact, I have prepared two versions for this, what you just watched is the director's version, and in the official version, I cut out the clips that do not meet the relevant regulations. ”

Xu Jing has some knowledge of film censorship in North America, and the 62 and 97 versions of "Lolita" have changed Lolita's age to 14 years old because the film cannot involve pedophilia, but a large number of bed scenes in the film still cause great controversy and criticism. Compared with Luc Besson's official version, Xu Jing's official version of "Killer" actually only cut a few suggestive scenes, and still retains many scenes that are not related to love and childhood, but are very ornamental and foreshadowing.

"In addition, on the evening of the 17th, I will hold a cocktail party at the Hilton Hotel, and all media reporters and friends who are interested in the copyright of "Hitman" are welcome to attend, thank you. In the end, Xu Jing finally said the main purpose of the trip.