Although Zhang Yuan did not come to Cannes, the organizers still arranged VIP seats for him. This seemingly courteous gesture of solidarity to Zhang Yuan inevitably attracted the attention of the media.

As soon as the opening ceremony ended, some media rushed up to interview Zhang Jian and Wang Dalun.

"May I ask why Director Zhang Yuan didn't come to the Cannes Film Festival?"

"Do the Chinese authorities restrict director Zhang Yuan from leaving the country, and are your films really banned from being shown in your country?"

"It is said that the relevant Chinese authorities have sent a letter asking the organizers to refuse the exhibition of "East Palace and West Palace", is this true?"

"May I ask if the withdrawal of the crew of Director Zhang's "Something to Say" from the Cannes Film Festival has anything to do with this matter?"

……

In the face of the microphone, Zhang Jian could only say: "Director Zhang Yuan can't come to the Cannes Film Festival because he has something temporary." ”

"I don't know what you're asking. ”

"For the specific reason, I don't know the truth. ”

"Well, I don't know. ”

Wang Dalun did not answer any of these questions, and escorted Zhang Jian all the way out of the crowd with a straight face.

In addition to the fact that this matter is already in the news, the intention of these Western media to smear China is also obvious. There are some things you can complain about behind closed doors, and you can even abuse them every day, but you can't tell outsiders, let alone allow outsiders to scold.

In fact, Wang Dalun and Zhang Jian are also very bad, you said that the relevant departments did this kind of fucking thing, and their faces were lost to foreign countries. Fortunately, the Cannes Film Festival has so much media attention that they can't hold on to it, and the next day it was basically peaceful, except for the occasional one or two who don't open their eyes, and almost no media come to ask them these fucking and difficult questions.

However, there is one thing that makes Wang Dalun very happy, and many newspapers on the next day published photos of him with Johnny Depp and Kate Moss, especially a few frontal photos, standing in a decent suit between the two big stars, which actually allowed him to find a bit of international superstar daring.

He collected all the newspapers and prepared to take them back home. On the one hand, he wants to pretend to be forced, and on the other hand, in his words, since the brand he endorses is someone else's money, he has to give someone an explanation.

There is still a week left for the premiere of "East Palace and West Palace", and Wang Dalun and Zhang Jian naturally shuttled through various theaters to watch the excellent films exhibited.

This time is not as good as when he was in Argentina, Wang Dalun, who is already proficient in English, has no pressure to watch this kind of original movie with English letters, and he can even help Zhang Jian translate while watching. And a large part of the films released in Cannes are original English films, which is more convenient without reading subtitles.

Especially several Hollywood blockbusters, such as "Los Angeles Confidential" and "The Fifth Element", although Wang Dalun has seen it in his previous life, the movie is by no means comparable to pirated VCD, and the grand scene has a great visual impact, which makes him very fond of it. Zhang Jian sneered and said cool words, saying that such a blockbuster that purely stimulates people's senses has no artistry at all.

Yes, then go watch a literary film. The two chose the recently popular American-French film "Lovely Girl", which can also be translated as "She's So Beautiful". Of course, it can be sought after by the media, mainly because this movie brings together three Hollywood superstars: Sean Penn, John Travolta, and Robin White.

But after watching the movie, Wang Dalun's first feeling was that he didn't understand, crazy lovers, crazy relationships, crazy no future, it's really incomprehensible......

Although Robin White is the absolute protagonist, her performance is like the radical, ****, drug-addicted, but loved by Forrest Gump all her life. It was Sean Penn's performance that made him very amazing, and he even felt that Sean Penn should be that cute person.

On May 10, "Springtime" premiered, and Wang Dalun and Zhang Jian attended in full costume. This time, Wang Sunglasses was very generous, choosing a screening hall with 500 people, and a lot of media gathered at the door, and many fans were entering the venue one after another, which seemed to be very popular.

Although Wang Sunglasses was shortlisted for the main competition unit of the 51st Venice Film Festival in 94 with "East Evil and West Poison", it is obvious that his brother, who won the Palme d'Or in Cannes, is more sought after.

"Da Lun. ”

"Mr. Zhang Jian. ”

My brother came over to say hello warmly.

"Brother, let's take a group photo. ”

After the opening ceremony that day, Wang Dalun regretted how he forgot to take a photo with his brother, and of course he would not let go of the opportunity today.

"Okay!" the elder brother smiled and nodded in agreement.

Zhang Jian's nickname is Zhang Zhao, because when he is there, he always has a camera by his side, ready to capture the lens at any time.

With the camera in Zhang Jian's hand "click, click" twice, the picture of Wang Dalun and his brother standing together happily was instantly frozen.

My brother is Wang Dalun's idol, and I used to only see him on TV or in newspapers and magazines, and I always felt very far away. But after meeting him this time, Wang Dalun found that his brother was very cheerful, loved to laugh, liked to joke, and even had some funny attributes. But he is such an optimistic person, who would have thought that in a few years he would live on his own and leave this world, Wang Dalun sometimes feels very embarrassed when he thinks about it.

Entering the theater, the seats of 500 people were already filled, and the crew arranged them in the front two rows, and there were more than a dozen foreigners in the same row and the first row, which were estimated to be either film dealers or film critics.

The audience is still entering the venue one after another, and it is actually full in the end. And because it was a film shortlisted for the main competition, the president of the Cannes Film Festival also came to cheer. Before the screening, Wang Sunglasses took his brother, Liang Chaowei, Zhang Zhen and other main creators to the stage to make an appearance, and said a few opening remarks, and then the lights dimmed and the official screening.

"Wow!"

At the beginning of the film, there are minutes-long scenes of same-sex sex, and the elder brother and Liang Chaowei are entangled and rolling naked. Foreigners are the best at this, regardless of men and women, as long as they strip naked, they love to watch it. Wang Dalun felt a little embarrassed and uncomfortable.

After finally surviving this difficult few minutes, the style of Wang Sunglasses began, the general loneliness of the characters, the emotions are still so isolated, mutual rejection and mutual attraction, the beauty of the scenery, and the elegance and messiness of photography.

Maybe Wang Sunglasses' storytelling ability is not as superb as Zhang Yuan's, or there is a gap in the script, but in terms of playing technology, there is more than ten directors Zhang Dadao or a hundred old Jia between Zhang Yuan and Wang Sunglasses.

"Springtime" is definitely the most technically outstanding work ever made by Wang Sunglasses. All the places where the technology is played are so good.

For the first time, those signature panning cameras and slow mirrors are so closely attached to the movie itself, and they completely follow the love of the characters to show Wang Sunglasses' film language. Every shot seems to have a point, every shot seems to be talking about something unknown to the people, and the warmth and gloom in those lights and shadows can go all the way through the reflection in front of you and go straight to the hearts of the audience.

Wang Dalun doesn't like his brother's role in He Baorong in the film, the peerless brother in "Farewell My Concubine" has no shadow, only a **** little ruffian. But from a rational point of view, it can very well explain my brother's acting skills.

The theme of the whole movie is only two words - return. The relationship between Lai Yiu-fai and Ho Po-wing is one of seeking pleasure. When one of them gets tired of the relationship, they leave. The rest of the people are inevitably lonely, but loneliness is about to return.

Zhang Zhen stood at the "end of the world" and thought: "At the end, I want to go home." In the spring of 1997, Liang Chaowei realized in Taibei that the reason why Zhang Zhen was able to happily wander abroad was because there was a place to go back. Leung Chaowei has returned to the northern hemisphere, to the Chinese world, and will soon return to Hong Kong. And Hong Kong itself has to go back: this is 1997, the year of the return to the motherland.

As Zhang Zhen said in the movie, "It's fun to go where you haven't been", "Go as far as you can." This innate sense of alienation, the sorrow of youth, the longing for infinity, and the fate of doomed loss and "It's better to start from the beginning", "It's better to go back", "At the end, I want to go home." Helplessness. It precisely reflects the anxiety and ambivalence of Hong Kong people before Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

This is the brilliance of Wang Sunglasses, this is not only a gay love movie, but also a deeper meaning, which is obviously unattainable in this regard. Perhaps this is the only reason why "Springtime" can beat "East Palace and West Palace" to be shortlisted for the main competition unit.

May 13 was indeed not a lucky day, as world pop superstar MJ made a surprise arrival at Cannes for the premiere of "Ghosts". This news immediately detonated the entire Cannes, almost 10,000 people were empty, and almost all the police in Cannes went to the scene to maintain order.

At the premiere of "East Palace and West Palace" held at the same time, there were only three or two poor kittens in the 200-person theater, and many of them were Chinese students. They are all here for the words that attract the attention of Chinese people, such as domestic production, comradery, and banned films.

Johnny Depp and his supermodel Kate Moss did not come without invitation. Of course, at the premiere of "The Adventures of Heroic Boys" the next day, Wang Dalun did not need to hold stinky feet. We Chinese pay attention to a courtesy.

Fortunately, after MJ left Cannes the next day, the attendance rate of "East Palace and West Palace" began to slowly increase, and although there were no full scenes, the overall response was not bad. After all, excluding the factors on politics, in terms of the movie itself, "East Palace and West Palace" is also a good movie.

During this period, Wang Dalun went to see a Japanese movie called "Eel". Director Shohei Imamura is one of Asia's premier directors, and Wang Dalun has heard of his name since film school. As early as 1983, Shohei Imamura won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his remake of "Narayama Festival Examination".

Wang Dalun didn't go to see this movie for the name of director Shohei Imamura, but the title of "Eel", or a Japanese movie, always reminds him of the dirty picture of watching his sister kill an eel.

Of course, there can't be such a plot in the movie, it is a story about a man who is spiritually imprisoned and a woman who is imprisoned by pain, and slowly come together. Before Wang Dalun watched this movie, he was completely relaxed, but when he watched the whole movie, it was like experiencing a dark world.

The film is very cruel, in the face of the bottom line of human nature, the director always tries his best to describe the original state of life that is free from moral shackles, so that life is pushed by ** and instinct, until it is ruined. This is perhaps the truest and most natural thing in human nature.

The slippery and damp eel raised in a small bathtub runs through the whole film, and its existence represents the invisible ****, the evil that cannot be shaken off, and the desire for redemption.

The director expresses the different attributes between humans and animals in a purer way, blurring the boundaries between human and animal nature, so that the simplest side of life and the ugliest side of life are presented to the audience at the same time, and the audience sees the beauty and ugliness, the good and the sin, the good and the cruel, the perseverance and the renunciation...... And none of this is about morality, it's just a pure act, a foreshadowing for salvation.

And when you watch the whole movie, you can know yourself more clearly, and deal with those fleeting little evils more rationally.

In fact, what Zhang Yuan wants to express in "East Palace and West Palace" is also these things, but it is far inferior to it. Even in terms of storytelling, if "Eel" scored 10, then "East Palace and West Palace" could only score 5.

On May 20, the Cannes International Film Festival closed.

The most important awards: Best Actress went to British actress Kathy Burke, Sean Penn won the Best Actor crown for his good acting skills in "The Lovely Son", Chinese director Uncle An's "The Ice Storm" won the best screenplay, the biggest upset was Best Director, Wang Sunglasses defeated the popular Shohei Imamura to win Best Director, and the Jury Prize was awarded to the Canadian film "Unexpected Spring", but Wang Dalun did not go to see this film. The Palme d'Or laid a double yolk in the critically acclaimed Japanese film "Eel" and the less spectacular Iranian film "The Taste of Cherries".

In addition to the literary film "Lovely People", which won the actor and technical awards, several other Hollywood blockbusters were all destroyed. Once again, it proves that the so-called Hollywood blockbusters are not popular in Cannes.

"East Palace and West Palace", which was shortlisted for a kind of attention unit, is naturally empty-handed. However, the copy sold quite well. Since the sponsorship of the Southern Fund under the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture and the Bars Foundation in Rotterdam are not in return, Zhang Yuan, as one of the producers, has made a lot of money this time, which can be regarded as compensation for him.