When people think of the three major European film festivals, it's always easy to have the misconception of, "Oh, Cannes, Cannes with enthusiasm; Venice, the carnival above the city of water, George Clooney is sure to arrive every year; Berlin? Belch...... It seems to be very deserted. ”

This is indeed a misunderstanding, but it is also true.

The Festival de Cannes is open to world cinema, especially Hollywood films, and the United States has won the Palme d'Or the most times in history, 18 times, far higher than Italy, which has won the award 12 times. This has led to a huge global following for the Festival de Cannes, and excellent marketing has made it an easy event for the midsummer of the year.

Venice, as the oldest film festival, is trying to reform every year, relying on Italy's excellent literary film market in the early years, and its authority and professionalism have also reached a certain height, but with the decline of Italian films, Venice's attention has also declined, but Chinese films have always been very popular in Venice, especially Li. Director An has relied on "Brokeback Mountain" and "Lust-Caution" to win the highest award Golden Lion Award twice, which makes him very influential in Asia.

Relatively speaking, the Berlinale has always stubbornly and arrogantly adhered to its professional line, not to mention the list of winners of the high and low, because Berlin has always been determined to encourage the new generation of thoughtful and aspiring directors, and they are particularly keen on dark and strict themes such as politics, society, and war, which leads to even the participating films are very cold and low.

Although it is undeniable that the Berlinale has done the best job of nurturing the next generation of directors, especially the German film industry; However, due to the lack of publicity, the lack of commercial elements, and the fact that it is held every year in the cold winter, the Berlinale has left a cold impression.

Especially after Venice was stolen by the Toronto Film Festival and Berlin was squeezed out by the Oscars, with the advancement of time, the Cannes Film Festival has become more and more powerful in the three major film festivals.

But in fact, in. The worst performance of Chinese films in the three major European film festivals is precisely Cannes, which only relied on "Farewell My Concubine" to reach the top once - and it is tied with "Piano Farewell"; The most outstanding Chinese-language film is Venice, which has won the top award six times, and if you include "Brokeback Mountain" directed by a Chinese director, the number of times can be increased again.

Chinese films have topped the Golden Bear Award four times at the Berlin Film Festival, and "Red Sorghum", "Fragrant Soul Girl", "Wedding Banquet", "Tuya's Marriage" and "White Sun Fireworks" have all been recognized by this honor - among them, "Fragrant Soul Girl" and "Wedding Banquet" are the 43rd joint awards. It can be said that compared with Cannes, where Hollywood tends to be very obvious, the Berlin Film Festival's support for Chinese-language films cannot be underestimated.

Hugo, for his part, has always admired the Berlinale because the Golden Bear winners who come out of here are always able to enjoy films from different angles, such as the Iranian film "A Parting" (a). separation)", such as the American film "The Thin Red Line (the. thin。 red。 line)", such as the Brazilian film "Central Station (Tral. station）”。

Due to the existence of the "Berlin Wall", the Berlinale has been strongly influenced by politics since its inception. Therefore, the films praised by the Berlinale may not be works that can achieve outstanding results in terms of commerciality, but in terms of film ideas, they can make the audience feel the differences in the world, especially the attention to political terror, war and artillery, social problems, and the cultural conflict between the East and the West, which represents not only a kind of film art, but also an ideology of the country and region to which the film belongs, which is also one of the important values hidden behind the artwork.

To put it simply, last year's "Before Sunrise", this is not a typical genre film, nominally a love light comedy, but Hugo uses guò to experiment with the way of personal thoughts, the views of men and women on love, and the impact of life experience on life.

It was a bold attempt, but it was a success, and the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale was an important recognition.

This year's films representing the United States at the Berlinale also continued this style, with "Sense and Sensibility", "Shorty Men in Charge", "Death Row Walk", "Twelve Monkeys", and "Richard III", which can basically be said to be five of the ten Best Picture nominees for the Golden Globe Awards.

But on the whole, the Berlinale has not received enough attention, and the biggest name is Bo Wiedberg, one of the founders of the new Swedish cinema. widerberg), medium. Guotai. Yang, one of the representatives of the new film wave in the Bay Area. Morality. Bertrand Brier, one of the representatives of French New Wave cinema. Blier), not to mention the star-studded Cannes, is not far behind Venice.

Including entries from the United States, Lee. Ann, Yang. Morality. Chang, Tim Robbins and others, although they are well-known figures in later generations, are still not considered top in 1996, and their international popularity is very limited.

So, when Hugo appeared, he immediately felt the difference between Berlin and Cannes, to put it simply, if Cannes is a carnival duì, then Berlin is a strict seminar, this description may be a bit biased, but it basically reflects the completely different styles of these two film festivals and these two countries.

The day after arriving in Berlin was the premiere of "Walk on Death Row", Hugo did not have time to appreciate the Berlin Film Festival, let alone enjoy the fun of the film as he had in Cannes before.

However, when I arrived at the scene, although there were many people coming and going at the door, it did not seem particularly noisy and chaotic, as if it was just a lively scene in the center of the city on the weekend, the flag of the Berlin Film Festival erected at the gate was hunting in the wind, the iconic golden bear statue belonging to Berlin was coldly dancing on the side, there were no guards in black suits around, there was no welcome from the audience, only a red carpet was spread out alone on the ground, giving people an illusion: Is the premiere over?

With such a question, Hugo stepped out of the car sent by Allen, straightened his collar, and walked forward along the red carpet, but his eyes couldn't help but look around. On the one hand, because of the lack of fan cheers and the clutter of reporters, the atmosphere of the film festival seems too cold; On the one hand, it is because the attitude of the people around him is so calm, but Hugo seems a little out of place, especially the four bodyguards who Joseph insists on carrying behind him - making Hugo look like a fool.

"Hey, Hugo!" A person in front of him on the right shouted loudly, and when he looked up, he saw a happy face with a shallow smile on his face, waving at Hugo.

Sensing that the bodyguards behind him seemed to be about to be dispatched, Hugo hurriedly stopped them, "This is not Salt Lake City. Joseph was obviously worried about the chaos at last year's Sundance Film Festival, so he asked the bodyguards to be on guard at all times, but the calm scene in front of him really seemed very funny.

Hugo also waved at the other party and said in a friendly manner, "Good morning, where are you on your way?" ”

"My friends and I ......" the young boy pointed to a few other friends not far behind him, there were men and women, so lively, they noticed Hugo's gaze, and they all smiled and waved hello to Hugo, "I was about to go to see the screening of 'Death Row Walk', but we have been waiting for this work for a long time, and it is finally released today." ”

If Hugo understood correctly, that is, this group of people were fans who came to the premiere, but why did they look so wrong...... Is it because they are too calm that something is wrong?

This made Hugo stunned, he really didn't know how to deal with such a scene, stammered, "Oh......" and then spoke smoothly, "Oh, thank you, I hope you will enjoy this work." ”

At this time, because Hugo stopped talking to the other party, a small number of pedestrians around him also stopped, which made the four bodyguards vigilant. But none of them gathered around - even if they recognized Hugo, they just stood there and watched the two sides talk in the air.

"We've heard that you've done a great job in this production, and we've been looking forward to it. By the way, we are strong supporters of the abolition of the death penalty! After speaking, the big boy raised his chin towards Hugo with a smile on his face, as if greeting good friends and good brothers, "I hope that after watching the movie, we will not be disappointed." ”

A joke made the group of young people around them all laugh, and many of them shouted loudly, "I will know after watching it, I will always hold on to hope until I leave the cinema." These words made everyone smile even brighter.

Then the big boy turned and left, beckoning his friends and leaving...... Left......

Hugo looked at the backs of the group of pedestrians, but suddenly realized why he felt strange. Perhaps, this is the so-called big name - when a person is enjoying the spotlight, the flash, the cheers, the screams, and suddenly one day the others stop cheering and just treat him as an ordinary person, the huge difference is often difficult to adapt.

Although Hugo has always emphasized that he is just an actor and a singer, his profession is different from ordinary people, and there is nothing different about him; But when he really faced such a situation, he was still a little panicked.

Realizing this, Hugo not only did not feel embarrassed or ashamed, but smiled: this is the Berlinale Film Festival, a platform for films to show their attitude in a haughty and professional manner.