Lance carefully examined every detail of Robert's expression, not letting go of every small change, trying to seize every opportunity to get closer and impress Robert.

The initiative of the conversation seemed to be in Lance's hands all along, and Robert didn't seem to be resisting, so the whole rhythm advanced very quickly.

Lance keenly caught the flicker of anxiety between Robert's eyebrows, even if he hid it well.

Unlike facing Harvey before, Lance was a little anxious, even a little too eager, at this moment, and immediately opened his mouth to continue, further driving the rhythm of the conversation, "Standing in that besieged city, it is like a closed world. ”

This sentence made Robert lower his eyes, and he refused, and the images of different slums in various places flashed in his mind, and then his thoughts slowly diverged under the traction of Lance.

"Backwardness, confusion, darkness, madness, cruelty, ignorance of thought, spread rapidly but slowly among the people, and then passed down from generation to generation, and everyone is trapped there, unable to break the confinement in any way, but to wither in this besieged city, repeating the filthy and rotten life day after day. The most terrible thing for people is that there is no hope in sight, maybe in the United States, in the slums of Africa; However, what is even more terrifying for that slum called the City of God is that they don't even realize that they have lost hope. ”

Lance's calm words vibrated gently in the air, but they contained endless thoughts surging, just like the seemingly undisturbed sea in the middle of the night, but no one could perceive the turbulent dark tide under that thin layer of hidden blue, and it only took one wave to swallow life directly, silently and completely disappear.

Ian picked up the glass of water on the table, took a sip, and glanced at Lance.

He read about "The City of God"

But he never knew that the story could be so moving, so compelling and so persuasive in Lance's words.

Even if he doesn't have much interest in movies, he can't help but want to go into the cinema and watch it at this time.

And what about Robert?

Raising his gaze, he saw Robert's struggling precipitation in his thoughts.

Fragments of memories were tumbling in Robert's mind, and he used to think the same thing, the cruelest and most terrible thing in the world is that there is no hope, because hope is the source of all motivation, and just a touch of warmth is enough to change a life.

"The Shawshank Redemption"

This is a profound interpretation of this.

But now, Robert was struck by Lance's words, more than "hopeless"

Even more frightening is the numbness - not the loss of the pursuit of hope, but the lack of awareness that hope has faded from one's life.

Robert looked at Lance again and asked, "So, this movie is about the city of God?" ”

Lance nodded and gave an affirmative answer, "Yes!" ”

But when he heard this answer, Robert's expression was a little surprised, obviously not expecting such a result.

In Robert's view, Lance's words are all over the place, and the ultimate purpose is nothing more than to convince himself, although he was indeed moved by Lance, but this is not new to Robert, the Sundance Film Festival has been established for 18 years, and it is naturally impossible for him to be well-informed not to know this.

So, Robert tried to regain control and at the same time learn more about Reims's work.

Generally speaking, Hollywood shoots similar themes, and in the end it will still use "small to big"

In this way, the focus is on one person or several people, and then the biography of Guò presents the background of a region, an era, and an event.

"Motorcycle Diaries"

That's it.

Robert has always believed that Lance has been telling the story of this area of the City of God, which is just the background and the core of the whole story.

But the works that can really realize this heavy core have super high requirements for the director, lens, editor, actors, scripts and other links.

Therefore, Robert's rhetorical question is to make things difficult for Lance, and it is also to express a point of view: let what you say fall into the sky, but after all, you still have to rely on the work to speak, and I am not so easy to buy it.

However, Lance's answer was very different from Robert's assumption, he dug a hole, but did not expect to jump into it.

As if he didn't see Robert's surprise, Lance continued, "This is a story about the city of God, this area, this city is the protagonist, all the characters in it are just supporting characters, I hope to be able to show the city through the relationship between the characters, the stories of the characters, so that people can see the changes that the times have brought to this place, and the inability to change." ”

Robert opened his mouth in surprise, shook his head incredulously, hesitated, or decided to tell the truth, because at this moment his brain has completely shut down, and he really can't find a more suitable response, "You know, this is an extremely bold decision, and it can even be said that it is no different from suicide, to shoot a movie about the city!" ”

In the long history of cinema, there are many movies about cities, but no matter which movie it is, in the final analysis, it is still a story between people and people, and talent is the real protagonist.

For example, the work that interprets the emotional entanglement of human beings, "L.A. Confidential"

, "Chinatown"

, "San Francisco"

, "Manhattan"

, "Midnight in Paris"

Wait a minute; For example, the work that pins the worries and metaphors of the times on the future, "Metropolis"

, Blade Runner

, "The Fifth Element"

Wait a minute.

There has never been a work that so boldly and outrageously pinpoints the protagonist of a film to a city, at least not in Robert's memory.

The smile on the corner of Lance's mouth immediately bloomed, "That's why I did everything possible to contact you through Guò Ian, hoping to have the honor of visiting you, and even more so that the Sundance Film Festival can become a stage for self-presentation." ”

The sentence suddenly made Robert realize, but when you think about it, it is also a compliment from Lance - a compliment to the Sundance Film Festival and to Robert, "To be honest, I tried to find a distribution company before, but they all thought I was crazy. Sundance is my last hope, and perhaps, my only hope. ”

Lance didn't hide it, and directly revealed his hole cards, because in front of Robert, these things do not need to be hidden, but can be a sharp weapon - because the Sundance Film Festival is a paradise for all kinds of independent films, and there are also a lot of experimental works.

Robert laughed too, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was too magical, and the smile was completely released, "I believe it is the same." ”

Robert paused slightly, "So, what can I do for you?" ”

If this work is really told as Lance said, with the city of God as the main character, then it is at least worth watching.

Robert also knows that the film festival and those film talents are actually complementary to each other, he provides a stage for independent filmmakers to express themselves, and those excellent films will win more attention for Sundance.

Even Europe's three major film festivals are no exception, with Cannes seeing more and more great productions, Berlin disappearing into the cold winter chills, and Venice, desperate for a balance between art and commerce, is at a loss.

Great works need a stage for the festival, and the festival needs to be enhanced by the great work.

Lance showed a big smile, not hiding the light in his eyes at all, so that Robert clearly felt the energy of happiness, "I need a chance, I hope that the Sundance jury can review my work and see if I can join this year's Sundance." That's all! ”

"That's all?"

Robert also had a smile in the corner of his eye.

Lance nodded firmly, "That's all!" ”

Lance wasn't stupid and had to ask for more.

Robert shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I guess this little favor is still within my ability, and I'll call to see what I can do." ”

With that, Robert smiled and picked up the menu again, "Now, I guess, we should solve the call of the body first." ”

The tight strings in Lance's chest loosened slightly, and he glanced sideways at Ian, and then saw Ian's meaningful eyes looking at him with a smile, as if to say, "This is the first time I've seen you flex your muscles."

This look made Lance raise his eyebrows slightly, revealing a retorting look, "This is just the beginning. ”

This confident look made the smile in Ian's eyes uncontrollably swell.

After lunch, Robert acted quickly and gave Lance a call the next day, "All the judges are in Los Angeles at the moment, if you will, we have three hours at eight o'clock tonight." ”

Three hours, which was enough for Reims.

That night, Lance took the unfinished "City of God" with him

film, came to visit Robert.

Due to the tight schedule, this is still an unfinished first cut version, and there are still many details that Lance is not happy with and needs to be readjusted; But even so, Lance still didn't show his timidity, he didn't even tell Robert that this was the "first cut version"

, but instead visited the review judges as the final version.

Just one hundred and fifty minutes later, Lance left Robert's mansion quietly and undisturbed.

A day later, the registration for the 19th Sundance Film Festival officially ended, and the annual independent film carnival was launched, and the organizing committee announced the list of 32 works, including 16 documentaries and 16 feature films.

"City of God"

The name is impressively listed.