On this day, the Lumière Hall of the Palais des Festivals was once again lively, with a grand premiere of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", which was second to none among all the films participating in the competition section.

In addition to David Fincher and Martin and other main creators of the crew, there are many blanket stars who come to join in the fun.

No way, this is one of the festival's profit projects, and the red carpet ticket for the film that premieres during the festival is only 15,000 euros.

Compared with those unknown literary films in small countries, the premiere of "Benjamin" has a much greater impact.

Except for the jury and the organizing committee, none of the guests were invited, and more than 100 red carpet guests came to cheer for "Benjamin".

The festival earned 2 million euros.

In terms of art, you have to desperately raise your style, but it's not shabbling to make money.

The jury came with judges such as Huppert, James Gray, Shu Qi, Li Dongcang and Aisha Argento.

John Travolta didn't come over to take care of Harvey and Quentin, but had someone to talk to beforehand.

Martin wasn't worried, and although he didn't ask carefully, he could roughly guess that the Holy Son Tom Cruise had contacted Travolta through Hubbard, the sect leader.

The Sect Master has a lot more influence on Travolta than Harvey.

After taking a group photo with the members of the jury, the main creators of the crew entered the Lumière Hall together.

Aisha Argento thought of some rumors she had heard in Hollywood and quietly approached Martin.

"I attended the premiere of Inglourious Basterds yesterday and heard someone say that Harvey originally wanted you to be the male lead, not Josh Brolin?"

"That's right, I turned him down." "Actually, I don't get along with him, and it's no secret that there are a lot of problems between the foot gang and the face gang in Hollywood," Martin said. ”

Aisha Argento thought of Quentin's old pervert and laughed, "Foot Gang? It's really vivid! ”

Martin shrugged: "I, Leonardo, and Nicholson are the Face Gang. ”

Aisha Argento nodded: "I've heard of it." ”

Martin then entered the theater and found Huppert standing by the third row of aisles, leaning on the back of his chair, chatting with Mene.

Although Huppert was not particularly fluent in English, he still had a good conversation.

In the end, he also accepted Mene's invitation, planning to wait for the premiere of the movie to end and go to supper together.

Just like Leonardo is to supermodels, Uncle Mene is also unique in the eyes of women at the level of aunts.

In the warm applause of the audience, Martin came to the front row with the main creative staff of the crew and sat down.

David Fincher was right next to him and asked, "How did the advance go well?" “

"It's okay." Martin roughly said: "There are a lot of judges who support us. ”

Because of the strategic abandonment of the Palme d'Or, David Fincher's enthusiasm for competing for awards has inevitably dropped a little, and there are some things he doesn't like in the first place, so he simply doesn't participate.

As the film screenings began, the Lumière Hall soon fell silent.

The audience follows the plot of the film and enters the peculiar life of Benjamin Button.

This is a film full of fantasy and beauty, with a plot that clearly discusses themes such as time, love, and life, and is set against the backdrop of changes in American society throughout the 20th century.

Again, this is not a typical Finch movie.

It's more optimistic, magical, moving, and positive than any of Fincher's films, with little to no dark component.

Seeing the end, director James Gray, also from Hollywood, said to several other judges: "I can't imagine that David Fincher actually put down the butcher's knife!" ”

Li Dongcang agreed with this point of view and said in awkward English: "Finch, who has always been a ghostly talent, has a human nature!" ”

Shu Qi said: "Martin's eyes, those eyes are full of drama. ”

Aisha Argento echoed: "From old age to baby, Martin is the same Benjamin, without flaws, simply pushing the limits of an actor. ”

As the president of the jury, Huppert will not easily express her opinion, but as a literary and artistic acting school, she admires Martin's performance in this film.

Martin not only successfully interprets the growth and vicissitudes of the character, giving the character a vivid image, but also further introduces people into a thought-provoking space for people to follow his performance and explore the incredibleness of life, time and love.

The subtitles appeared, and the audience burst into warm applause.

Compared with ordinary premieres, the applause at film festivals is more enthusiastic and lasting, not to mention the already high-quality "Benjamin", and even some barely passing films often get applause that lasts for more than five minutes.

When a film is hyped up by audience applause that lasts seven or eight minutes at a film festival, don't take it too seriously.

Near the side door of the theater, Melanie walked out and picked up her mobile phone to call: "Notify the media, it's started." ”

With the premiere of "Benjamin" over, many media reporters and critics rushed to publish comments on the film and the starring role.

France's oldest professional magazine, Cinémathèque Manual, spoke highly of David Fincher's new work, and also mentioned Martin's performance: "The young Hollywood actor Martin Davis interprets the role of Benjamin Button with superb acting skills, and he vividly shows Benjamin's complex inner and emotional states through delicate expressions and body language!" “

Le Figaro's entertainment page also praised Martin's performance: "Martin successfully showed the process of the actor's reverse growth, and in the transformation from old to young, he performed a unique charm and depth, so that everyone sitting in front of the screen really felt the growth and change of Benjamin." ”

The official house catalogue of the Cannes Film Festival gave "Benjamin" a professional rating of eight points, and also published a comment by Isabelle Huppert: "Martin's seemingly bland performance is precisely the performance of acting skills back to basics, he shows the character's curiosity in childhood, exploration in middle age, and thinking in old age, with a distinct performance outline in front of us!" ”

In the opening days of the festival, at least a dozen films in competition have been released, and there are only two actors who have publicly commented on Huppert - Christopher Waltz and Martin Davis!

The direction of Best Actor is gradually becoming clear.

In the conference room of Wuyang Hotel, the crew is holding a daily routine meeting.

David Fincher has walked out of the meeting, and Bruce has joined in.

Melanie gave an update: "It is now certain that Shu Qi, Li Dongcang, and James Gray will support us among the judges, and our biggest competitor is Christopher Waltz in Inglourious Basterds. ”

Martin held up the pen in his hand: "John Travolta has said that he will support me. ”

Katherine Kennedy was quite curious about how Martin could convince Travolta, after all, the other party had an excellent relationship with Quentin and Harvey.

Melanie said: "In this way, there are at least four jury supporters, and the next key is Huppert. ”

Bruce picked up: "Our men are convincing Huppert. ”

Mene came back late last night, and according to him, he talked to Huppert late.

Martin has been reading the newspapers, and now the situation is very clear, and he and Waltz are far ahead of the other actors.

Frankly speaking, when it comes to roles and performances alone, Waltz is not bad at all.

How can you ensure victory in a race where two people are ahead by a wide margin and the others have little hope of catching up?

Harvey is definitely a good teacher in this regard – knocking out the competition.

Melanie, a professional publicist, also thought of this method and looked at Martin: "I have already contacted the media, what about you?" ”

Bruce answered, "Ready." “

Ivan took a number of photos and delivered the first batch to him last night.

Martin said: "Melanie, you can keep up to date with the jury's movements, and I suggest that you release it a day or two before the jury makes a decision, so that the other party has no room for recovery." ”

Melanie thought for a moment, "Yes." ”

The brief meeting was over, and Martin went out to meet David Fincher for the announcement.

Actress Cate Blanchett returned to London after her premiere last night, citing the fact that she was filming a new film.

Melanie continued to mobilize the media to build momentum for Martin's propaganda.

…………

At the Grand Hotel de Provence, in a conference room, the crew of "Inglourious Basterds" is also in a meeting.

As always, Harvey is in control.

"We have two awards in front of us, the Grand Jury Prize and Best Actor." "My number one goal is to be the best actor," he said. ”

Quentin doesn't care, there is no Palme d'Or, he has no interest in the Grand Jury Prize.

Christopher Waltz bowed slightly to Xavi in gratitude and gratitude.

The deputy, who understood Xavi, answered: "The biggest competitor right now is Martin. ”

Harvey said: "It's very simple, the old way, stink him for the time being!" ”

He had already prepared and handed over a large stack of materials to the crew for public relations: "Contact the media and send it out as soon as possible." ”

After a quick glance at the PR session, I got busy out of the conference room.

In the afternoon of the same day, a French entertainment website revealed that during the filming of "Benjamin", Martin bullied Cate Blanchett more than once, causing Cate Blanchett to be ostracized by the crew and so on.

There are also young actors in the crew who appear through the video.

These can't be said to be complete rumors, Martin and Blanchett's feud is not a secret in the crew, the former is more popular in the crew, and the latter is inevitably isolated.

Subsequently, more media joined the ranks of breaking the news.

The website went to London to interview Cate Blanchett, who declined to comment on the matter.

This in itself expresses an attitude.

"Screen" magazine claimed that Martin's portrayal of Benjamin's character did not rely on his own acting skills at all, but on a large number of CGI, and special effects occupied a key part of the role, which is completely contrary to the spirit of actors and performing arts advocated by the Cannes Film Festival.

Another media reported that the descendants of Fitzgerald, the author of the original book, were very dissatisfied with the large-scale adaptation of the film, believing that the male protagonist portrayed by Martin was not the character Fitzgerald wrote at all.

There are also media outlets that "Benjamin" cost up to $100 million to make and is an outright commercial film.

(End of chapter)