Wang Zijun and others were having fun on the beach, but Bai Muyang was wandering outside the venue of the film festival, contacting European and American film companies again and again, hoping to bring "Bloody Lonely City" into the European and American markets.

However, Bai Muyang's actions are obviously a waste of time, although "Bloody Lonely City" was shortlisted for the Cannes Award Critics' Week unit, but because the film has not yet started to be screened at this time, many people are dismissive of Chinese-language films, so after hearing that "Bloody Lonely City" is a war film from Taiwan, they simply disdain it.

Maybe it's a Chinese kung fu movie, and they are still a little interested. As for Chinese-language war films, in the impression of European and American filmmakers, Taiwanese movies [***], mainland movies kill spies, and they feel that even a glance at them has polluted their artistic eyes.

On the seventh day after the opening of the 26th Festival de Cannes, a film screening room was held where the films shortlisted for this year's Critics' Week section were screened.

The Film Critics' Week is the first secondary unit introduced by the Cannes Film Festival since its inception, which mainly exhibits the first or second works of new directors from all over the world that are not yet well known.

At the Cannes Film Festival, the Caméra d'Or for best debut film had not yet been established.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the following is a war film from the Republic of China, called "Bloody Lonely City", and the director of the film is a new Chinese director. By the way, the information shows that he was only 18 years old at the time, and most of the actors in the film were newcomers. The projectionist was changing the copy on the machine, and the chairman of the unit began to introduce according to the information, and the senior media and film critics who watched the movie had been watching the movie for several days, and they had long been aesthetically fatigued.

The debut of an eighteen-year-old rookie director? Or a Chinese director? Joke!

Most of the judges simply dropped their notebooks and pens and leaned back in their seats to watch the movie and go to sleep.

Behind the judges are ordinary media reporters, film dealers and film lovers, who are not very optimistic about Chinese-language films. These people are not like the judges, even if they don't like it, they have to sit down honestly to score the movie, only in the short time when the projectionist changes the film, the ordinary audience instantly leaves out of ten, and only a few people remain.

The light from the projector came out, and a blue curtain rolled out a reel of film, followed by a roaring descending tiger...... The roar of the tiger disturbed the rest of some people, and their faces showed dissatisfaction.

The long subtitles translated into English introduce the background of the war in the Battle of Changde. Sure enough, the film critics and media people who looked at the long subtitles all had an unexpected expression, wondering which guy made a Chinese film shortlisted, did the head show funny?

However, out of professional habits, they still endure the surname, and some film critics are even waiting with interest to watch this war film as a comedy, and write a film review to satirize it when they go back.

=+=+=In another room, the judges of the main competition unit are arguing fiercely.

Famous director Rene. Claire roared with red faces: "Listen, "Bloody Lonely City" is a pioneering film, and I think it is an insult to the Cannes Film Festival to only let it be shortlisted for the Critics' Week section!" It should be in the main competition unit (Cannes Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture and other awards are all produced in this unit)! ”

"No, Claire, it can't be, you should see that it's a complete commercial film." The chairman of the jury, Ingmar. "And he's really an Asian director with little name, just right in Critics' Week." ”

"Into the main competition? Oh my god, you're kidding. Spanish director Deota exaggeratedly said, "Do you think it will win in the main competition?" Claire, I know you've been in the military, and you miss your time in the military. But I advise you, if you're really optimistic about "Bloody Lonely City", put it in Critics' Week, maybe he can still win an award. If it is in the main competition unit, I can guarantee that it has no hope of winning the prize at all. ”

"No, it's not a question of winning or not winning an award." Rene. Claire said, "I think the film is high enough to be in the main competition. He's so brutal and beautiful, he's turned the violence of war into an art of beauty, oh my God, you know? When I watched the movie, it was as if I had gone back in time to the Battle of the Marne. Damn, I was in tears and called my old buddy like crazy at night. What you don't understand, it's art, it's the perfect combination of war and film......"

Looking at Claire as if she was crazy, the others couldn't say anything, and they all looked at Bergman.

As the chairman of the jury, Bergman had to say, "Calm down, Claire, we all know it's a good movie, and we understand your feelings." However, it is really not suitable for entering the main competition unit, where there are many masters, and it is impossible for a newcomer to get good results. Seeing that Claire was about to speak again, Bergman hurriedly said, "I'm not saying that this movie is bad, on the contrary, it gave me a huge shock when I watched it for the first time, so we let such a Chinese film be shortlisted." You know what it means, this is the first Chinese-language film to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival (a few years ago there was also an animated film "Little Tadpole Looking for Mother"). But it's too commercial, you know, sensational, passionate, passionate...... Fans may enjoy watching these, but that's not the core of what makes a good movie. Moreover, our judges have unique tastes, and films that are too commercial can be offensive. Isn't it? We also considered putting it in a kind of attention unit, but its artistic atmosphere was really too weak. ”

A section of interest was created at the Festival de Cannes last year, but it has become the new favorite of the jury and critics. One kind of attention and film critics' week are both about introducing the works of new filmmakers, but the other is more focused on artistic surname, originality and unique taste, while film critics' week has both popular and artistic aesthetic vision.

"No, in my eyes, "Bloody Lonely City" is the best film at this Cannes Film Festival, and it must be transferred to the main competition." Claire insisted.

"No, Claire, you're too one-sided, 'Scarecrow' is the best this edition, that's the real art of cinema. Compared to it, "Bloody Lonely City" is at most an industrial product. An American director, Gabry, said, "What's in 'Bloody Lonely City'? It's just a big production that costs a lot of money, and there is no artistic surname to speak of, and I don't see any artistic ideas expressed by the director at all. ”

"You American filmmakers also know what film art is?" Claire said dismissively, "Hollywood is the world's largest garbage factory!" ”

"You, Fack, you Gallic chicken, ignorant fool!" Gabry rushed over and grabbed Claire by the collar.

"Let go, let go!" Bergman saw that the judges were going to fight, and this was passed out? hurriedly went over to pull, but the two of them scuffled, and it was too late.

"Godard, persuade them!" Bergman couldn't hold the two of them, and hurriedly called the famous French director Godard next to him for help.

Godard is one of the representatives of the French New Wave of cinema, but he is an ultra-leftist, hanging [***] portraits, collecting red books and other things, and a few years ago he also made a movie "Chinese Girl", at the beginning of the film, the daughter of a banker in Paris took advantage of her parents' absence, gathered a few friends to come to her house, listened to Yanjing's radio broadcast, and announced the establishment of the [***] branch in front of the [***] avatar.

As a director, Godard very much approved of "Bloody Lonely City", but after reading "Mao Xuan", he was very disgusted with the Kuomintang, and was skeptical of this film reflecting the Kuomintang army's war of resistance.

Godard said: "Claire, I don't approve of this film moving into the main competition either, and I'm very skeptical of its real surname. ”

=+=+=The judges of Critics' Week obviously don't know about the judges in the main competition because the film they are watching is fighting.

The lengthy subtitles of the background introduction to the war have long been dozing off, and a famous British reporter raised his hand and said: "I don't think we came to see outdated news, and this movie doesn't need to be watched anymore." ”

The chairman of the jury of Critics Week replied to him: "I think it's your loss if you don't finish watching it, Mr. Charlie, maybe you should wait." ”

"Okay." Charlie reluctantly sat back.

The motor of the "Buzz ......" plane sounded, and leaflets of persuasion flew in the air. The camera zooms down to reveal an ancient Chinese city, where teams of soldiers are organizing the evacuation of civilians.

The use of clean shots and editing techniques made the judges on the scene begin to face it squarely, as if the film was not as bad as they imagined.

Angeli is an ordinary journalist for the long-established French film magazine Positif, and her dream is to be like the magazine's editor-in-chief and be a jury member of the Cannes Film Festival.

Angela sat in her seat, feeling a little bored, how nice it would be if she could go to the main competition unit, but she was assigned to this corner.

"This traditional oriental opera is very good." Angela heard the people around her talking, and then she looked up at the screen, only to see an oriental beauty holding a strange musical instrument singing.

The unique oriental flavor made Angela interested, as a reporter for a film magazine, Angela is familiar with only Bruce Lee and Miao Kexiu.

When he saw that the army was marching and searching near Changde City, wantonly killing innocent civilians, the director's realistic and cruel approach made Angela scold in a low voice: "Damn Nazis! ”

A group of Chinese civilians hid in the reeds, and the wayfinding soldiers walked by them, while the tense music and realistic facial expressions made Angela nervous.

Not only Angela, but anyone who was watching the movie seriously couldn't help but sweat for those civilians, and when they saw one of the babies about to open their mouths to cry, some people screamed nervously.

A big hand full of dirt and wrinkles was hidden on the baby's mouth and nose, and the baby's mother held her child in her arms, and when all the troops had passed, the civilians finally escaped, and the moviegoers were relieved.

But they soon fell silent, and the mother of the baby took her hand away and suddenly cried in a low cry of bitterness—the baby had been suffocated for a long time.

"Boom!"

The moviegoers didn't have time to be heavy, and suddenly there were cannonballs flying all over the sky. At this time, even Hollywood did not have such realistic war pictures, and those senior media and film critics who were judges were shocked there, and they had long since abandoned their artistic surnames and were attracted by its real pictures.

"Oh, the director is a madman, how much explosives is needed!" Someone was surprised.

"I feel like I'm on the battlefield!"

"I'm sure it's a war!"

"Boom!"

A cannonball falls on the soldier in the trench, the soldier's body is torn apart, flesh and blood are flying, and the arm that has been mutilated flies towards the camera.

"No, it's bloody." A woman shouted.

When fans in Hong Kong and Taiwan watch "Bloody Lonely City", they stand on the position of national righteousness and are full of hatred for the army, so it is easy to be provoked.

And when these European and American audiences watched the film, although they were brought into the Chinese side by the director, their feelings were not as deep as those of Hong Kong and Taiwan audiences, and they just stood from the natural perspective of the weak, hoping that the weak could defeat the strong.

Wang Zijun arranged bloody battle scenes again and again, which made them a little unbearable to witness, shocked and even a little irritable at the same time. Except for perverts, no one likes to watch slaughter, even the weak in the film slaughtering the strong during the Battle of the City Gate.

When the generals of the Yue Army gave up chemical weapons and insisted on organizing death squads to charge, they also won the respect of many moviegoers. And when the film begins to say that the young officer who was preparing for the end of the war and held an exhibition died in hand-to-hand combat, Wang Zijun gave him a painful slow-motion close-up, his slightly open mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

From here, Asian audiences see the joy of revenge, while Western audiences read the director's anti-war ideas.

From the beginning of sympathy for the weak - the middle [***] team and civilians, to the halfway through the two sides of the level, opposition to the war, until the army used chemical weapons, the heroic soldiers helplessly died, the balance in the hearts of these viewers once again tilted in favor of the middle [***] team.

Then there is the venting of heroism, then the death of the protagonist, the fall of the hero, and the breakout battle, a group of wounded soldiers become heroes again, fighting and biting the enemy.

Many people were puzzled and surprised, because according to their thinking, the battle was fought like this, and even if the Chinese side surrendered, it would be the most heroic soldiers. But they actually used wounded soldiers to cut off the back...... This is contrary to the spirit of humanitarianism.

But the feeling in their hearts is strange, the spirit of "donating one's life to the country, seeing death as if it were going home" in Chinese culture is infecting them through the words and deeds of the movie characters.

The war ended, leaving behind a ruined city.

When the heroine looked up at the war memorial with her child in her arms, the audience and the judges with heavy hearts finally applauded spontaneously, and there was no longer the contempt for Chinese-language films at the beginning.

There are many countries in Asia that have been invaded by Yuben, so they are very excited after watching the film and are happy that [***] defeated Yuben; However, Western audiences from a different perspective feel a little heavy and sad after watching it.

"It's an unspeakable film." Angela thought to herself, she looked around, and she was the only reporter left, and the others had left long before the movie started. Perhaps they think it makes more sense to interview famous directors elsewhere than to waste time here.

"I'm going to do the scoop." Angela anxiously waited for the judges to score and then went to find the director of the film.

And the judges were buzzing, and it was clear that the film had brought them a huge controversy.

(To be continued)